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Just four years after taking up rowing, Dan Brown is setting his sights on a World Championship medal. The 31-year-old from Tilehurst has been named in the Great Britain squad that will be competing in Amsterdam next month. His selection is a fitting reward for his courage and determination following an accident that nearly cost him his life. In 2003, the former Little Heath School boy was involved in an horrific car crash, breaking bones in his legs, back, ribs and arms. It ended his football career at a time when he was playing for a team in Wokingham. But Brown was determined to stay in sport; one which makes allowances for severed nerves in his left wrist and fingers and also his weakened ankle. He tried his hand at rowing, took an instant liking to being on the river and soon started to take it up seriously. Initially he joined Reading Rowing Club, but later switched to Upper Thames RC at Henley. Two or three training sessions a day, six days a week, has brought its rewards. At the national championships in Nottingham last October he won a silver medal in the open legs, trunk and arms single sculls category, losing out to Henley RC’s Samuel Murray. Brown continued to make rapid progress and last Thursday he was named in the GB four that will contest the legs-trunk-arms mixed coxed fours in Amsterdam. “I worked really hard to get into the crew, so I am really pleased to have made it,” he said after a training session at the Redgrave and Pinsent Lake in Caversham. He teams up with Caversham-based Pamela Ralph from Leander Club, Nottingham RC’s Grace Clough, James Fox from University of London and cox James Oliver, also from Leander. Brown can only benefit from being in the same boat as Ralph, who is one of the most successful rowers in the GB camp. She won a gold medal at the London Paralympic Games, followed last year by golds at the World Rowing Cup at Eton Dorney and the World Championships in Korea. This year, Ralph steered her LTA mixed four to more success at the second World Cup in France. Brown, who prefers to row as part of a four or eight rather than being a single scull, is hoping that he will be joining Ralph and the rest of their crew on the winner’s podium in Amsterdam. The 67-stong GB squad also includes Reading’s most successful rower, Sam Townsend, who is part of the formidable quad along with Charles Cousins, his former Reading University BC colleague, Graeme Thomas and Peter Lambert. Another University of Reading alumni, Alex Gregory, is in the all-conquering open men’s four with Mohamed Sibhi, George Nash and Andrew Triggs Hodge. The women’s eight includes Reading University BC’s Caragh McMurty and Olivia Carnegie-Brown, the former Reading RC member and Queen Anne’s School pupil. The University’s Adam Freeman-Pask will carry GB’s hopes in the lightweight single scull.

Ex-Westlife singer Shane Filan has been given three points on his driving licence and fined £200 for a speeding offence in Epsom. Staines Magistrates' Court heard on Friday how the 34-year-old Irish heartthrob - who lives with his family in Cobham - was caught driving at 38mph on the 30mph-limit B280 Christ Church Road on November 9 last year. The court was told he was given the opportunity to take a speed awareness course and sent a conditional offer notice, but in both instances there was no reply. Peter Renshaw, chair of the magistrates, ordered that three points be put on Filan's licence, and also imposed a £200 fine, £85 costs and a £20 victim surcharge. The singer - who released his debut solo album in 2013 after being declared bankrupt the year before - did not attend the hearing.

Oh hey, 2013. You’re just around the corner. You’re going to be a good one, I just know it. You know how I know? Because 2012 was a ca-razy year. Truth be told, it was a bit of a rough one. There were some really good ups, but there were a lot of downs. We had some spills and tumbles. We had some moments of wanting to pull our hair out. We had some baking fails and some fights and some ugly-cry attacks in the bathroom at midnight. We had some I-shouldn’t-have-eaten-that-extra-scoop-of-ice-cream moments and Oh-my-gosh-give-me-that-extra-scoop-of-ice-cream moments. We had some times where we were sure of where we were going to live, and then we were so not sure of where we were going to live. We weren’t sure of where we were going, period. And yes, we know some of that stuff will happen again. Some of that stuff will still linger into the new year and we’re going to have to figure it out. But we also know that we’ve come a long dang way in 2012. So watch out, 2013. Because I’m so ready for you. I’ll be honest — I’m not the biggest fan of New Year’s. I’d much rather lounge around at home in my pajamas with my cat on my lap eating Chinese food and watching movies with the one I love than going out and partying like it’s 1999. I’ve been known to try and ignore the holiday altogether and even go to bed before midnight. In my twenties. Also: I’m the coolest. This year, we’ll be doing a bit of both, and I’m totally OK with that. We’re certainly not planning to need these bloody marias in the morning, if you smell what I’m stepping in, but we’re going to drink them anyway. Because they’re delicious. And I bet they’ll taste even better in 2013. In case you don’t know how to make a bloody mary, or a bloody maria — made with tequila instead of vodka — the concept is pretty simple: Pour a little bit of this and a little bit of that into a cocktail shaker, shake the heck out of it, strain and serve with a garnish or two or five. You can add more lime juice or take out the spice, throw in a dash of celery salt or a celery stick, muddle in some cilantro or leave it out. You can make it however you want it to be — kind of like the new year. So let’s make this a good one. Bloody Maria A Girl Versus Dough original (with pro tips from my husband, The Resident Bloody Mary Maker/Drinker) Yields: 1 cocktail Ingredients: Handful cilantro leaves (optional) Dash hot sauce (Cholula or Tobasco work best) Dash Worcestershire sauce 5 ounces chilled fresh tomato juice 2 ounces silver tequila 1 ounce fresh lime juice Dash chipotle chili powder (optional) Celery sticks and lime wedges for garnish (optional) Directions: Place a handful of cilantro leaves in the bottom of a glass. Use the back of a spoon to muddle the leaves slightly. Set aside. Place a few ice cubes in a cocktail shaker. Add hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, tomato juice, tequila, lime juice and chili powder. Give cocktail shaker a few good shakes. Strain mixture into prepared glass. Top with a few more ice cubes, garnish with a celery stick and a lime wedge and toast to the happiest new year yet. I once had a cry-fest-alone watching the Sex In The City marathon with my cat. In my 20’s. I get you. Valerie — Kindred spirits, you and me. Happy New Year! I have found another twenties human who rather lounge than party! This is a good year. This News year spent it have a 12 hr dance party on a gaming console with drinks. Not ashamed. Belinda — A good year, indeed. And your New Year’s plans sound AMAZING. I’d totally do the same, without shame. Bloody Marias? It is a better year already. ~Brenda Brenda — Agreed. You don’t need a reason or an (excuse) to drink this! It looks DELISH! Never heard of a Bloody Maria before, while on our honeymoon in Cancun we had a Bloody Ceasar..it was bloody good. Can’t wait to try this version Lisa — Truth. No excuse needed to drink this magic. I’ve heard of a Bloody Caesar and always wanted to try one but haven’t yet… it’s on the to-do list!

Bradford City's chief scout Archie Christie has appointed Wayne Allison as a development coach, as the Bantams look to build a team capable of challenging for honours in the future. The idea is to further City's development of young players, rather than react to holes in the first-team by dipping into the transfer window. But Christie's new plan will take time, Allison warned. "It's not a two-month thing," he said. "There is a plan and it's over a course of years. "Now, rather than making decisions on players there and then, you can work with them and develop them for another two or three years." Allison believes that the new scheme will allow City to sign more talented young players and continue to develop them throughout their career. For the Bantams, the hope is that it creates a platform to build an entire generation of players capable of pushing for promotion, year after year. "It's a totally different approach. You are developing a player and hopefully priming him for a successful and long career," Allison added. "For me, it's a big job and a very interesting one. I see this set-up as being very progressive with Archie and the rest of the staff. We've also increased the number of scouts, which is fantastic because we can recruit the better type of players. "We're putting down an infrastructure with the development squad which is very sustainable. When we get to the Championship and hopefully beyond, everything is then in place." Allison's appointment won't be the first time he's worked with manager Peter Jackson. When Jackson was in charge of Huddersfield Town, he bough Allison from Swindon for £800,000. And Allison is eager for the opportunity to work under Jackson again. He explained: "He's great to be around the place and his enthusiasm is infectious. You want to play for him. "I wanted to play for him, now I want to work for him." Article Comments

North Korea North KoreaSouth Korea Geoffrey Cain on Apr 26, 2013 @ 9:22 AMApr 26, 2013 @ 9:22 AM PublishedS. Korea to remove remaining workers from joint N. Korea factorySouth Korean trucks turn back after they were banned from having access to Kaesong joint industrial park in North Korea, at a military checkpoint of the inter-Korean transit office in Paju on April 4, 2013. South Korea has decided to remove the remaining 175 workers at Kaesong after North Korea refused to engage in talks.SEOUL, South Korea — The few remaining South Korean workers will be removed from the Kaesong industrial complex, a joint venture with the North, ending hope the standoff between the two sides will be resolved. The announcement came.Most of the workers left the complex but 175 of them who chose to stay have been camping out in the complex in the hope of saving their businesses.South Korean officials say the North is blocking necessary shipments of food and medical supplies, creating an “urgent” humanitarian problem.North Korea removed its own 50,000 workers at the beginning of April.South Korea's unification minister said that the decision to remove the workers was "unavoidable" after Pyongyang refused to participate in talks. "Our companies that have invested in the Kaesong industrial complex, trusting inter-Korean agreements and the North’s promise, are suffering from serious damage and pain," Ryoo Kihl-jae said. "The North has not allowed minimum humanitarian measures such as food and medical aid for our people who have tried to protect the Kaesong complex to the end.The operations remain "temporarily suspended" according to both governments, and not completely shut down. Despite the rhetoric, Lee Hochul, a political science professor at Incheon National University in South Korea, told USA Today that neither side has mentioned a permanent shutdown of the industrial complex."This is a war of pride between the Koreas, but they are conducting it while leaving some room for talks," Lee said. "Once drills end and tension subsides, they may try to revive contact over Kaesong."Both sides are stepping up a tit-for-tat exchange after the North Korean war bluster — which made international headlines for the past two months — died down this week. Experts say neither North or South Korea want to take the blame for fully closing the zone, so are taking incremental steps.At the same time, North Korea's warning on Thursday that it could send so-called nuclear-armed kamikaze pilots to attack American forces signifies a creative twist after two months of war talk. The announcement came on the anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Army.Published in the English-language KCNA, the comment was probably intended for international consumption.

Gloucester Rugby: Jonny May aiming to unleash frustrations on Bath Posted: April 11, 2014| Gloucester Rugby: Jonny May aiming to unleash frustrations on Bath JONNY May is determined to unleash his frustrations on Bath in today’s West Country derby. Gloucester are still seething following their Amlin Challenge Cup exit which has been slammed as unacceptable by Nigel Davies. May, who scored a try in the defeat, admits he is still haunted by the lifeless performance at Adams Park but he insists a showdown with Bath is the perfect opportunity for the Cherry and Whites to exorcise their ghosts. He said: “It was really disappointing. If we had given it everything and lost we could have accepted a defeat but we didn’t and that was the toughest thing coming off the pitch knowing that. Related content “It was a great opportunity for us but it’s done now and all we can do is make sure we go out there and get the mental side right against Bath. “Even though we have had a short turnaround it was one of those where you want to get back on the pitch the very next day and there’s no better way to get back out there against our local rivals at a sold out Kingsholm. “Everyone, the players, coaches, supporters are owed a performance and we just want to get out there.” Gloucester remain in the hunt for a place in next season’s European Rugby Champions Cup but must finish seventh to qualify for a play-off. They are currently three points adrift of their European conquerors London Wasps who sit in the all-important play-off position. May remains confident the Cherry and Whites can salvage something from their season but he insists they must come out firing at a capacity Kingsholm to down their West Country rivals. He added: “They always seem to be tight games but they’re that little bit special and different. “The supporters love it so there will certainly be a good atmosphere. “For everyone involved it’s important that we get off to a good start but even more importantly we have to produce a performance throughout the game. “It’s been a tough season for us and we only have ourselves to blame but I’m sure we can put a different perspective on our season if we win our next four games. “If we beat Bath at home it will definitely give us something to be proud of.” Nigel Davies has made four changes to the side that lost to Wasps with Mike Tindall recovering from a calf injury to take his place in the midfield. Martyn Thomas is also preferred to Rob Cook at full-back, while Will James and Gareth Evans come in for James Hudson and Ben Morgan respectively in the pack. Bath have not triumphed at Kingsholm in a league encounter since 2006 but will be aiming to cement their place in the top four. They have made five changes with Kyle Eastmond ousting Matt Banahan at centre and Paul James, David Wilson, Stuart Hooper and Leroy Houston all returning to the pack. May, who bagged two tries at the Rec last season will go head to head with free scoring Fijian Semesa Rokoduguni and he is relishing the challenge. May added: “He’s a big, powerful bloke but I play good wings every week and will relish the challenge. “But they have very good players and have threats all over the pitch so we will have to be at our best.”

The deputy mayor has revealed that because of changes to the club's financial state the city has withdrawn the grant that started in 1998EXCLUSIVE By Hocine Harzoune Jean Vuillermoz has why Paris Saint-Germain will no longer receive monetary backing from the capital's local authority. Les Parisiens were paid €1 million every season by the governing organisation, but after their recent takeover the city decided to withdraw the funding, while maintaining a good relationship with the club. "The judgment of this grant does not mean that we should not maintain close ties with PSG. We will organise and we will keep these ties," Vuillermoz told Goal.com. "The decision was taken after the consideration of several factors. First of all, we have to look at what the communities want and then we have to consider the very high budget that PSG has this season." The deputy mayor of sports also revealed he was a fan of the club and was looking forward to witnessing the team's development in the future. "Am I a supporter? Yes of course! PSG are on course to be champions and they will be great internationally in the future."

Man pleads guilty to kidnap of Wyoming girl, 10 A Montana nature photographer was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to kidnapping and sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl in Wyoming who was later found wandering in the mountains outside Cody. Jesse Paul Speer, 41, of Manhattan, Mont., said in court that he found his victim at the county library in October 2012 and tricked her into accompanying him by saying he needed help finding a lost puppy. When the girl had second thoughts, Speer said he pulled a gun and bound her hands and ankles before driving her into the wilderness outside Yellowstone National Park, where he abused her, he said. He offered no explanation for what he called the "evil that sprang from my heart." His account of the kidnapping was backed up by an affidavit from law enforcement officials. About four hours after her abduction, a pair of hunters found the girl wandering at night along a dirt road about 20 miles southeast of Cody. Wyoming District Judge Steven Cranfill sentenced Speer after he pleaded guilty to aggravated kidnapping, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and two counts of sexual abuse of a minor. was given 30 to 50 years on the abuse counts and a life term for the kidnapping. The judge said the abduction has forever changed Cody, a picturesque town of fewer than 10,000 that serves as the eastern gateway for Yellowstone National Park. The victim's mother said in a statement read into the court record by an advocate that her daughter still has panic attacks and nightmares caused by the abuse. "He infected her life forever, took her innocence from her," the statement said. The mother's name was not provided in court. Speer appeared in court in shackles and wearing an orange prison jumpsuit. He showed no pleaded guilty under an agreement with prosecutors that was approved by the victim's family, who hoped to avoid a trial, Skoric said. The agreement did not contain a sentencing recommendation.. What do you think?

Roundup of Saturday's late events OHL Rangers 4, Otters 2: At Erie Insurance Arena, despite's Dansk's 44-save performance. Hayden Hodgson gave the Otters (17-32-3-5) an early 1-0 lead. Connor Brown scored the other goal, which pulled the Otters within 3-2 with 6:14 left. But Matt Puempel's empty-net sealed the win for the Rangers (33-15-1-7). MEN'S HOCKEY RIT 5, Mercyhurst 3: The Mercyhurst men's hockey team suffered its second heartbreaking loss in as many nights Saturday as they surrendered a pair of goals in the last minute of a 5-3 loss to RIT at the Mercyhrust Ice Center. The Lakers (14-13-3, 11-9-2) scored three times in the seocnd period to take a 3-2 lead, but surrendered the equalizing goal in the third period before goals by Matt Garbowsky and Dan Schuler in the final minute allowed RIT (12-13-5, 10-9-4) to escape with the win. Garbowsky and Chris Saracino scored in the first period for RIT to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead before Mercyhurst stormed back in the second period. Zac Frischmon put the Lakers on the board before Matthew Zay tied the game with a power-play goal late in the second period. Just more than 2 minutes later, Ryan Misiak scored on assists from Daniel Bahntge and Zay to give the Lakers a 3-2 lead. Jeff Smith scored to knot the game at 3-3 early in the third period for RIT. Jordan Ruby made 27 saves to earn the win, while Mercyhurst's Max Strang allowed four goals on 33 shots. Mercyhurst will return to the ice Friday when its visits Niagara for the first game of a home-and-home series. COLLEGE BASKETBALL MEN Niagara County Community College 97, Mercyhurst North East 87: At North East, E.J. Sandoval led four players in double figures with 26 points for the winners, who improved to 19-7 overall and 10-2 in WNYAC play. Ben Jones scored 29 points to lead Mercyhurst North East (13-12, 6-5). WOMEN Mercyhurst North East 89, Niagara County Community College 76: At North East, Kirsten Holmes poured in 31 points, hitting on a sizzling 13-of-17 from the floor, to pace the Saints (14-9, 5-4) to an WNYAC win over Niagara (13-13, 4-5). Holmes added six rebounds, six assists and six steals for the Saints. Jessica Curry paced Niagara with 28 points. COLLEGE WRESTLING Iowa 31, Edinboro 6: At Iowa City, Iowa, No. 2-ranked Iowa won the final six bouts as the Hawkeyes topped No. 15 Edinboro 31-6 in a non-conference wrestling match on Saturday. Iowa scored two straight major decisions at 125 pounds and 133 to start the match. The Fighting Scots responded with decisions by Mitchell Port and David Habat in the next two bouts to make the score 8-6. However, the Hawkeyes (19-1) went on to win three of the last six bouts by major decision and one by technical fall to earn the lopsided win. Edinboro (9-5) will return to the mat on Friday against Pittsburgh. COLLEGE SWIMMING At. SATURDAY'S RESULTS Rangers 4, Otters 2 Kitchener 1 2 1 -- 4 Erie 1 0 1 -- 2 1st Period -- 1. Erie, Hayden Hodgson 7 (Wigle, Kuzmyk), 5:28. 2. Kitchener, Ben Thomson 12 (Murphy, Meighan), 17:54. Penalties -- None. 2nd Period -- 3. Kitchener, Joshua Leivo 25 (Marcantuoni), 3:52. 4. Kitchener, Brent Pedersen 13 (Bailey, Fanelli), 7:03 (pp). Penalties -- Cairns (E) tripping, 6:46. 3rd Period -- 5. Erie, Connor Brown 26 (Fox, Cairns), 13:46. 6. Kitchener, Matt Puempel 27 (McEneny), 18:47 (en). Penalties -- McDowell (E) delay of game, 15:29; Labardo (E) 10-min. misconduct, 19:01. Shots on goal -- Kitchener, 19-22-7--48; Erie, 10-4-8--22. Goaltenders -- Kitchener, Joel Vienneau 24-12-2-7 (22 shots, 20 saves); Erie, Oscar Dansk 9-17-2-3 (47 shots, 44 saves). Power plays -- Kitchener (1-2), Erie (0-0). Referees -- Dave Koziel, Ben Wilson. Linesmen -- Adam Harris, Jesse Wilmot. Attendance -- 4,191. Three stars - Ben Thomson, Rangers (goal) -- Oscar Dansk, Otters (44 saves) --- Ryan Murphy, Rangers (assist) COLLEGE HOCKEY Men AHA RIT 5, Mercyhurst 3 RIT 2 0 3 -- 5 Mercyhurst 0 3 0 -- 3 1st Period -- 1. RIT, Matt Garbowsky (Colavecchia), 7:37 (pp). 2. RIT, Chris Saracino (unassisted), 15:26. Penalties -- Kuqali (R) tripping, 5:29; Blakey (M) boarding, 6:13; Bodo (M) hooking, 9:20; Cure (M) 10-minute misconduct, 16:38; Descoteaux (M) roughing, 19:48. 2nd Period -- 3. Mercyhurst, Zac Frischmon (Bahntge), 6:25. 4. Mercyhurst, Matthew Zay (Bodo, Just), 16:36 (pp). 5. Mercyhurst, Ryan Misiak (Bahntge, Zay), 18:42. Penalties -- Raibl (R) cross-checking, 15:42. 3rd Period -- 6. RIT, Jeff Smith (Lynch), 5:08. 7. RIT, Garbowsky (McGowan, Schuler), 19:06. 8. RIT, Dan Schuler (unassisted), 19:30 (en). Penalties -- None. Shots on Goal -- RIT 14-5-15--34; Mercyhurst 9-15-6--30. Goaltenders -- RIT, Jordan Ruby (30 shots, 27 saves); Mercyhurst, Max Strang (33 shots, 29 saves). Power play -- RIT (1-3); Mercyhurst (1-3). COLLEGE SWIMMING NCAC Championships At Kenyon University Women 1. Denison 1654, 2. Kenyon 1604.5, 3. DePauw 904.5, 4. Wooster 792, 5. Wittenberg 766.5, 6. Allegheny 638, 7. Oberlin 516, 8. Ohio Wesleyan 402.5, 9. Hiram 228 Allegheny point winners 1,650 freestyle -- 10. Karl 18:14.02, 23. Beers 19:05.77, 25. Jones 19:19.21, 28. Izzo 2:02.51; 200 butterfly -- 8. Durot 2:10.81, 13. Herlitzka 2:13.29, 14. Bryson 2:16.06; 100 freestyle -- 19. Walsh 54.47, 21. Lyons 54.77; 200 backstroke -- 16. Wieckowska 2:12.46, 24. Beers 2:19.95; 200 breaststroke -- 17. Krowitz 2:33.07, 18. Schneider 2:33.11; 400 freestyle relay -- Walsh, Karl, Durot, Lyons 3:38.68. Men 1. Denison 1704, 2. Kenyon 1515, 3. DePauw 987, 4. Wabash 717.5, 5. Wooster 591, 6. Wittenberg 563, 7. Allegheny 505, 8. Oberlin 492, 9. Ohio Wesleyan 413.5, 10. Hiram 181 Allegheny point winners 1,650 freestyle -- 6. Richman 16:24.78, 10. Devenney 16:50.47, 12. Grigsby 16:57.49, 18. Bolen 17:47.74; 200 butterfly -- 10. Crooks 1:57.92, 15. Csumitta 2:02.35; 100 freestyle -- 11. Intrieri 46.20 200 breaststroke -- 18. Bean 2:12.05, 20. Eiben 2:17.18, Retta 2:20.57 400 freestyle relay -- Intrieri, Bean, Crooks, Csumitta 3:16.20; 3 mtr diving -- Palmer 345.45. PSAC championships At Mechanicsburg Men Team standings: 1. West Chester 573, 2. Bloomsburg 328, 3. Clarion 319, 4. Gannon 318, 5. Edinboro 261, 6. Indiana (Pa.) 253, 7. Shippensburg 198. Edinboro, Gannon Point winners 400 individual medley -- 4. Dovale (G) 4:08.25, 8. Bissell (G) 4:16.58, 13. Bricarell (G) 4:20.32, 15. Cvetich (E) 4:25.44. 100 butterfly -- 3. Bean (G) 50.12; 6. Chase (G) 50.77, 7. Suroviec (E) 51.57. /b>200 freestyle -- 6. Coughran (G) 1:42.78, 7. Carter (G) 1:44.45, 13. Thatcher (E) 1:46.89, 16. Sestak (E) 1:48.09. 100 breaststroke -- 12. Malecki (E) 59.30, 14. Fisher (G) 59.51. 100 backstroke -- 2. Romanini (E) 51.95, 3. Chrzanowski (G) 51.63, 4. Suroviec (E) 51.95, 7. Decsey (G) 53.05, 13. Dippold (E) 55.18. 800 freestyle relay -- 2. Gannon (Chrzanowski, Coughran, Carter, Dovale) 6:52.76, 4. Edinboro (Beabout, Thatcher, Dippold, Romanini) 7:02.03. Women Team standings: 1. West Chester 508, 2. Clarion 305.5, 3. Indiana (Pa.) 268, 4. Gannon 250, 5. Edinboro 234, 6. Bloomsburg 221, 7. Shippensburg 193, 8. California (Pa.) 137.5, 9. East Stroudsburg 134, 10. Lock Haven 115. Edinboro, Gannon point winners 400 individual medley -- 9. Williams (G) 4:35.11, 16. Fischl (G) 4:50.22. 100 butterfly -- 3. Tarbell (E) 57.35; 14. Knapp (G) 59.37, 16. Wargo (E) 1:00.77. 200 freestyle -- 2. Schrecongost (E) 1:52.41, 5. Joseph (G) 1:53.84, 6. Moretti (E) 1:54.12, 9. Lazenby (G) 1:53.93, 16. Kelly (E) 1:57.53. 100 breaststroke -- 7. Fischl (G) 1:06.61, 8. Vincent (G) 1:07.39, 16. McDaniels (G) 1:07.98. 100 backstroke -- 3. Berdine (E) 56.51, 8. Williams (G) 58.46, 10. Lockmyer (E) 58.96, 13. Summers (G) 1:00.05. 800 freestyle relay -- 5. Gannon (Lydic, Ruggiero, Lazenby, Joseph) 7:41.91, 6. Edinboro (Moretti, Joy, Kelly, Schrecongost) 7:42.44. COLLEGE WRESTLING Late Saturday Non-conference IOWA--31 EDINBORO--6 125 -- McDonough (I) md Mines, 14-3; 133 -- Ramos (I) md Schopp, 9-0; 141 -- Port (E) d Ballweg, 5-0; 149 -- Habat (E) d Grothus, 7-2; 157 -- St. John (I) md Fuller, 13-2; 165 -- Moore (I) d Greisheimer, 5-3; 174 -- Evans (I) tf Jennings, 19-3; 184 -- Lofthouse (I) d Pickett, 11-7; 197 -- Burak (I) md Bosch, 17-5; Hwt -- Telford (I) md James, 13-2 What do you think?

June 3, 2013 SEATTLE - The men's Varsity 8 boat has been named the GoHuskies.com SAOTW for the week of May 27-June 2. The Huskies made history on the final day of the IRA Championship Regatta at Lake Natoma, three-peating as national champions after a dominating performance at the 111th Annual IRA National Championships. The No. 1 Huskies capped a perfect weekend by sweeping all five grand finals to win their third-consecutive and 16th overall National Championship. Washington also won its seventh-consecutive Ten Eyck Award, given to the team that earns the most overall points. The Huskies broke their own record in the IRA history books, with no team ever winning more than four Ten Eyck awards in a row until the Huskies made it five in 2011, six in 2012, and now seven in 2013. The last team to win three or more IRA Championships in a row was Washington's Pac-12 rival California, who won four consecutive title from 1999-2002, but never swept all five finals as the Huskies have done the past two years. The Huskies re-wrote the Washington record books, becoming the first team in Washington men's rowing long and storied history to win three consecutive championship rings. No team in any other collegiate sport has been as dominant as the Washington men have been during their championship stretch. Since head coach Michael Callahan took over the men's program from women's coach Bob Ernst, the program has won four national titles, finished second twice, never lost a Ten Eyck award and accomplished a feat no other program in collegiate rowing has ever accomplished--sweeping every IRA category at the finals. And they've done that twice now. By the 1000 meter mark Washington had taken control of the race and it was clear that nobody was going to be able to catch the determined Huskies. As it should be, Washington crossed the line with their fastest time of the season--5:39.68--to extend the varsity eight's undefeated streak--now at three years. The Huskies haven't lost since the 2010 IRA varsity eight final, a mind-boggling streak in any sport. Other nominees include: Chris Williams (men's golf), second Varsity 4 (women's rowing) and Victoria Hayward (softball).

[tag: science] This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/111,372, filed Sep. 10, 2002, now pending, which is a national stage of PCT International Application No. 01/PCT/IB00/01532 A1, filed Oct. 24, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,118,586, and claims priority to Italian Application No. CE99A000004, filed Oct. 25, 1999, the entirety of all of which are incorporated herein by reference. very invention will become clear from the following detailed description, provided by way of non-limiting example with reference to the appended drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a forceps of the invention, FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the forceps of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a section view taken on the line III-III of FIG. 1, FIGS. 4 and 5 are respective plan views of each of the two half-shells of a forceps constituting an alternative embodiment of the invention, FIG. 6 is a section taken on the line VI-VI of FIG. 4, FIG. 7 is a section view taken on the line VII-VII of FIG. 5, and FIGS. 8 and 9 are views corresponding to FIGS. 5 and 7, respectively, of a further embodiment of a detail of a forceps of the invention. A biopsy forceps, for example, for endoscopic biopsy, comprises (FIGS. 1-3) two half-shells 10 a, 10 b each having a front rim 12 and a base wall 14. The half-shells 10 a, 10 b are mounted in conventional manner, for example, on a support element 16 so that they can adopt a first, opened-out configuration (shown in the drawings) and a second, closed configuration in which the rims 12 of the two half-shells 10 a, 10 b are in contact with one another. The half-shell 10 b container element 22, can be withdrawn through the endoscope duct. The biopsy samples which are enclosed inside the cavity 20 do not therefore have any substantial contact with the duct, which could constitute a potential source of histological contamination. FIGS. 4 to 7 show an alternative embodiment of the half-shells of a biopsy forceps according to the invention, which half-shells can be mounted on a support element in a manner similar to that described with reference to FIGS. 1-3. In this embodiment, the half-shell 10 a with which the container element 20 is not associated has (FIGS. 4 and 6) a base wall 14 having a central portion 26 which is raised substantially to the level of the rim 12, and an annular, recessed, peripheral portion 28. The half-shell 10 b, on the other hand, (FIGS. 5 and 7) has, in its base wall 14, the hole 18 in which the end of the beaker-shaped container element 22 is fixed by means of an annular layer of adhesive 30, this end being open and having a restricted neck. The internal cavity 20 of the container element 22 thus constitutes a continuation of the space inside the half-shell 10 b. The container element 22 also has openings 24 in its base and side walls. The principle of the operation of the forceps having the half-shells just mentioned is substantially similar to that described with reference to FIGS. 1-3. The particular shape of the half-shell 10 a enables a greater pressure to be exerted on the biopsy samples, directing them towards the cavity 20 of the element 22. FIGS. 8 and 9 show a variant of the fixing of the container element 22 to the half-shell 10 b, which is an alternative to the use of the above-described layer of adhesive. In this case, the open end of the element 22 has a hooked rim for engaging a rim of complementary shape of the hole 18 of the half-shell 10 b. This engagement is preferably secured by a mechanical element such as a spring ring 32..

USC Upstate earns Atlantic Sun softball championship Spartans snag automatic berth in NCAA tournament; Byrnes product Griffin named tourney MVP USC Upstate softball players celebrate by dousing head coach Chris Hawkins on Saturday in Nashville, Tenn.ATLANTIC SUN CONFERENCE Published: Saturday, May 11, 2013 at 3:15 a.m. Last Modified: Sunday, May 12, 2013 at 12:51 a.m. Cheyenne Griffin got her birthday cake — at least the first one — on the night before the opening game of the Atlantic Sun Conference softball tournament. She added the icing later. Griffin, a Byrnes High School product, was named MVP after USC Upstate swept a doubleheader Saturday in Nashville, Tenn., against host team Lipscomb, 4-1 and 7-5, to win the event and earn and automatic berth in the NCAA tournament. The Spartans on Sunday (10 p.m., ESPNU) will find out when and where they will be playing. USC Upstate softball, which was ranked in the Top 25 earlier this season, became the first team from the school to qualify for an NCAA postseason tournament. Cross country standout Gilbert Kemboi made it to a national event last fall. “It's something I can put on my bucket list as having accomplished,” USC Upstate head coach Chris Hawkins said. “And I could not have accomplished it with a better group of girls.” Griffin, a sophomore first baseman who had hit four home runs all season, had three in the tournament. She hit two Friday, her 20th birthday, in a pair of games that put USC Upstate (41-10) in the championship. “I knew we weren't coming here to lose. So, yeah, this is what I planned to be doing on my birthday weekend,” Griffin said. “… As soon as we got here, we went to a restaurant and they brought out a cake. From then on, it was like my birthday for about four days.” Hawkins said the team celebrated Griffin so much that he wasn't sure which day was her actual birthday. “I ate so much cake,” he said, “that I didn't even realize it was her birthday when it came around.” Griffin was joined on the all-tournament team by Shellie Robinson, Meredith Barnes and pitcher Jamie Ujvari, who was on the mound when the Spartans clinched the monumental victory on a fly ball to Robinson in center. Hawkins said he did not have his eyes on the field as Lipscomb's best hitter took a mighty swing in the seventh inning with two players on base. Lipscomb, which knocked USC Upstate into the losers' bracket, is the only team in the league with a winning record against the Spartans. “I was looking into our dugout. I just couldn't look anywhere else,” Hawkins said. “Lipscomb always finds a way to win and I was thinking, ‘Oh, my gosh, it's going to happen again.' … (The Lipscomb batter) probably missed the pitch by a quarter of an inch but popped it up.” Robinson gloved it to touch off a celebration, not exactly a birthday celebration, but certainly one that benefitted the birthday girl. “It was awesome,” Griffin said. “As soon as I saw the ball fall in Shellie's glove, I just threw my glove up and ran to Jamie. I hugged her and we pretty much fell into a dogpile. It was a moment that I'll never forget.” Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.

I’m always on the lookout for a quick, easy meal that doesn’t sacrifice taste. While searching for a new way to use bok choy,* I ran across a recipe that killed two birds with one stone! This shiitake bok choy soup is easy, tasty, and it took 10 minutes to put together, tops, said the hubby, who served as my recipe tester. * Hey, stir fry is good, but I don’t necessarily want it every week. I had already rehydrated and chopped the mushrooms earlier in the day, and by the time I was ready to head out for an evening run, all that was left to do was chop the bok choy and scallions and put it all together. Fortunately for me, and thanks to my awesome hubby, when I got home, I had a sleeping baby in her crib, and dinner already on the table! Shiitake Bok Choy Soup Based on this recipe, originally from Gourmet, February 1999 1 oz. dried shiitake mushrooms** 1 bunch bok choy 4 scallions 5 1/2 cups (approximately) vegetable broth Japanese rice seasoning (optional) 12 oz soba noodles*** soy sauce Bring 1 cup of water to a boil and add the mushrooms. Turn the heat down and simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes. Drain, reserving the liquid. Allow the mushrooms to cool and then slice them. Cut the bok choy crosswise into 1/4-inch thick slices. Cut the scallions diagonally into thin slices. Add enough vegetable broth to the mushroom liquid to make 6 cups total. Add rice seasoning to taste (if using) and bring the mixture to a boil in a large pot. Add the bok choy, mushrooms, and noodles. Simmer the soup, uncovered, until the noodles are tender. Season with soy sauce and stir in scallions. ** I used dried shiitakes, since I wasn’t in the mood to pay a lot more for fresh, but you could substitute 1/2 lb fresh and omit the reconstitution. *** I used Annie Chun’s FreshPak noodles, which are already cooked. Looks great, especially now in the cold months. Thanks for the recipe. -Pepper Yep, perfect for the kind of weather we’re having now — cold and rainy. Hope you try it out! Mushrooms!! My Mom and I went on a mushroom kick when I was in my teens. I’m going to send her this recipe. She’ll love it. Awesome, hope she enjoys it! Mmmmmmm. Sounds delish! If only my hubby would eat mushrooms! Oh, I feel your pain! My hubby hated mushrooms with a passion until a couple of years ago. One day he just decided to be open-minded, and he was okay with them from then on — woo hoo! Funny. I posted the exact same recipe. I loved this – so easy and so good. How funny! Great minds think alike.

UTSA to face Old Dominion in second round of Conference USA Tournament EL PASO — No. 15 seed UTSA will look to carry the momentum from Tuesday's 90-89 come-from-behind victory against 10th-seeded Tulsa into the second round of this week's Conference USA Tournament when it faces No. 7 seed Old Dominion at 8:30 p.m. (CT) on Wednesday at Memorial Gym. Miki Turner scored a career-high 32 points, including the game-winning free throw with 12 seconds remaining, to help the Roadrunners (14-16) rally from a 15-point second-half deficit in Tuesday's opening round. Turner, who registered the fifth-highest scoring performance in program history, was joined in double figures by Mathilde Hergott, who netted 18 on the strength of a career-high six 3-pointers, and Ashley Spaletta, who scored 17 and tied a season-high with five triples. The victory completed a first-round sweep by lower-seeded teams, which was a first in C-USA Tournament history. The Roadrunners set season highs in points (90), field goals (30), and 3-pointers (13) and the 90 points are tied for seventh-most in a single tournament game in league annals, while the 179 combined points were the second-most (record: 180, Memphis (93)/DePaul (87), 1996). The 13 three-pointers also were second-most in a tournament contest. Old Dominion (16-14) earned a first-round bye after posting a 9-7 in conference play, including a 68-57 victory at UTSA back on Feb. 22 in the first-ever meeting between the two programs. Four different Lady Monarchs scored in double figures in the win with Galaisha Goodhope leading the way with 16 points. The triumph was ODU's second straight after a brief two-game skid and was the beginning of its current five-game winning streak. Shae Kelley, a first-team All-C-USA selection, leads the Lady Monarchs with 18.1 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. Wednesday's winner will face No. 2 seed Southern Mississippi (24-5) at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday in the tournament quarterfinals.

Kurt and Marlene Dramm have completed the planned ownership transfer of the Dramm Corporation to their son Hans Dramm and daughter Heidi Dramm Becker. Kurt and Marlene Dramm have completed the planned ownership transfer of the Dramm Corporation to their son Hans Dramm and daughter Heidi Dramm Becker. “The Dramm Family has been in continuous businesses including meat, flowers and manufacturing since 1853.” said Kurt Dramm, . Hans Dramm has been named chief executive officer. He also will continue his responsibilities as chief financial officer and as a member of the company's board of directors. “It is wonderful to have the stewardship of the Dramm Corporation continue through the succession to the next generation of family members,” said Hans Dramm, “I’m honored to accept my new responsibilities but also buoyed by our strong history and the support and commitment of our dedicated employees. Since returning to the Dramm fold six years ago, I’ve learned a great deal about Dramm’s special position in the grower and retail lawn and garden sectors... Dramm is grateful for the enduring loyalty and support of our customers and we are committed to maintaining the highest quality products and customer service in the industry. We consider our employees and customers as members of an extended family. Dramm is and will continue to be a family company.” Heidi Dramm Becker has been named executive vice president. Heidi’s responsibilities center on corporate identity and communications and she continues to serve as a member of the board of directors and as the face of the Dramm brand in all of the marketing and advertising materials. “It is an honor and a privilege to play a role in carrying on our family’s history of the Dramm Corporation.” said Heidi Dramm Becker, “As the Dramm Corporation moves into the future, we will continue to build on the tradition and values of the past generations. Values that were put in place by my grandfather and grandmother (John Dramm and Perdita Dramm), my father and mother (Kurt Dramm and Marlene Dramm) and several other family members and employees, all of whom have been 'gardeners of the corporation.'" Kurt Becker, son-in-law, has also been named executive vice president. Kurt continues his responsibilities as director of commercial sales and marketing and serves as a member of the Board of Directors. For further information please go to [1]. Links: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

Hülkenberg: Alonso was eating me alive! 30 March 2014 – Nico Hülkenberg says that he had no chance to defend against Fernando Alonso during the closing stages of the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang. Hülkenberg stopped just twice during the race whereas his rivals pitted on three occasions, including the Ferrari of Alonso and the Spaniard dispensed with Hülkenberg with a handful of laps remaining. Hülkenberg nonetheless finished the race in fifth place for Force India. "It was quite unspectacular, I was lonely for many parts of the race but I was relieved and happy at that," he told BBC of his race. "After the start I had a gap behind me and it was easier to manage tyres and fuel." Hülkenberg defended against Alonso for a couple of corners but lost out to the Ferrari driver at Turn 3 and settled for fifth place. "Alonso was eating me alive! I was trying but there was no way to hold him up," he said. "The car wasn’t as comfortable on the medium tyre either." The German driver admits he was expecting Force India's rivals to be closer and is expecting next weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix to present a different challenge. "I was expecting McLaren and Williams to be all over us but that wasn’t the case," he added. "We were pretty strong out there, which is encouraging. I think Bahrain is a different ball game. Lots of stop and go and short corners, we’ve done a lot of testing there but the race is at a different time of day now."

[tag: legal] Kurt Mix's attorney Joan McPhee said the forewoman in Mix's December trial told a then-deadlocked jury that she had heard statements that affirmed her view that Mix was guilty. She overheard on an elevator that people in addition to Mix were facing trial. Mix was on trial for deleting text messages in what prosecutors said was an attempt to hamper the government's criminal investigation of the spill. Both sides agree that other jurors never heard the substance of the forewoman's information because they stopped her before she shared it. But McPhee argued the forewoman communicated to jurors that she had heard information that "affirmed her view that the correct verdict was guilty." That was soon followed by the formerly deadlocked jury convicting Mix on one of two obstruction counts, she said. Prosecutors said there's no evidence the forewoman's information made a difference in the deliberations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Saulino noted the forewoman voted to acquit Mix on the second count. Prosecutors also argued the evidence regarding the juror was gathered illegally by defense attorneys who should not have interviewed jurors after the trial without court supervision. McPhee said the defense team learned of the overheard conversation and its possible effect on the jury while making a legal and proper inquiry of jurors, aimed at getting "professional feedback" about the way the case was presented. U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval said the defense team should have contacted the court rather than interview jurors. "You made a mistake, Ms. McPhee," Duval said. The hearing also dealt with motions to order a new trial or to simply declare Mix not guilty based on what the defense said was insufficient evidence. Mix was accused of deliberately deleted text messages to and from a supervisor and a BP contractor to stymie a grand jury's investigation of the spill. The subject matter was the amount of oil flowing from the blown-out well. McPhee said there is ample evidence that Mix shared information about the flow rate throughout the government investigation and that his deletion of the single string of emails fell far short of what is needed for a conviction. McPhee also pointed to character references made in court on behalf of Mix. "Kurt Mix is a person of uncommon decency, integrity and honesty," she said, later adding, "Good people make mistakes all the time." Another Mix attorney, Michael McGovern, said prosecutors failed to prove that Mix knew the information he deleted would be pertinent to a grand jury investigation that he did not know about and that had not yet even begun. Prosecutors said there was a great deal of evidence and that Mix knew of the possibility of a grand jury investigation. "This was no accident," Saulino said. "Mr. Mix intentionally deleted a text message string with his supervisor." Mix was on a team of experts who tried in vain to stop the flow of oil using a technique called "top kill." He had access to internal data about how much crude was flowing from the blown-out well. Saulino said he failed to disclose, at key times, that evidence indicated the flow was far greater than what the top kill technique could stop. Duval gave no indication when he would rule.

IF11: The Secrets to Using Digital Tools to Spur Innovation IF11: The Secrets to Using Digital Tools to Spur Innovation Collaboration is critical for sustainable innovation, and there's no shortage of digital tools to help people and their companies make the connection, FMYI President Justin Yuen told attendees at the GreenBiz Innovation Forum. It's important to select a tool that helps your business achieve its goals. Cool tools are good, but it's essential to avoid getting mired in a tool's cool factor and losing sight of your objective. "To me, it's always about the people, not certain technology," Yuen said. "The focus really starts on knowing the audience you want to reach, the information you want to share, but most importantly, the action you want to come out of it. "Obviously there's many, many tools to communicate with folks. There's websites, email, discussion forums -- but my main interest is: How do you bring people together to create action?" Yuen offered his insights as the founder of social collaboration software company FMYI (it stands for For My Information). His firm creates private social networks for firms and organizations that are interested in connecting people for work-related purposes and specific goals. He started the company almost eight years ago in Oregon, following a career at Nike where he managed corporate sustainable development. His goal was to build a business with "minimum environmental impact and maximum societal value." Central to that aim, he said, are two key principles: 1. Collaboration is at the heart of sustainability. Collaboration must occur to fully realize sustainability. 2. Innovation requires implementation of ideas and taking action. Ideas are not worth anything unless they are put into action. The company and Yuen have been wildly successful; FMYI is one of Oregon's fastest growing private firms and Yuen's accolades include being named to the list of 2011 Pivotal Leaders in cleantech. The company's clients have included Aflac, HBO, Hyatt, Sony, Target, Office Depot, Fox, Macy's, Disney and more than 10,000 others. Drawing from that experience, Yuen's advice included tips on: Suitability Sites that work well for teenagers aren't likely to be suitable for the working world. Usability is the key, Yuen said, and the only way to determine that is through vigorously testing the site or the tool.,.

Designed in 1924 by Cross & Cross Architects, the 21-story 250 Park Avenue is located across the street from access to Grand Central Terminal in Midtown. A recent capital improvement program resulted in the 540,000-square-foot tower earning what was at the time New York City’s fifth Gold rating under the LEED for Existing Buildings rating system. 250 Park Avenue was actually the first building to acquire air rights from Grand Central Station after its construction. The tower was originally named the Postum Building – after the Postum Cereal Company – and, later, was named for General Mills. A classic marble and stone lobby leads to wood-trimmed elevator corridors and cabs. Flexible floorplates offering full and partial occupancy, coupled with modern building infrastructure, make 250 Park Avenue attractive to tenants of every size and stripe. With a strong institutional owner and prime Midtown location, 250 Park Avenue’s sustainable features are the perfect 21st- century-addition to this historic, pre-war trophy property. - Address - 250 Park Ave, New York, New York - Submarket - Grand Central - Certifications - LEED–EB: OM, Gold; Energy Star - Stories - 21 - Owner - AEW Capital Management - Architect - Cross & Cross Architects - Year Built - 1924 - Square Footage - 540,000 square feet; flexible floor plates - Notes - One of first five buildings in New York City to earn a Gold rating under LEED–EB; earned Energy Star awards in 2008 (77), 2009 (79), 2010 (80), and 2011 (75); retail tenants include Audi Park Avenue and HSBC Features - State-of-the-Art Security Systems - Upgraded HVAC System

100 Best one in the series884okeoJ | July 14, 2014 | Review of Mass Effect 2 Digital Deluxe NA - PC. 77 A Good Indie Game884okeoJ | July 13, 2014 | Review of Papo Yo Soundtrack Game Bundle - PC Papo and Yo is an indie game that is heavily story and puzzle driven. The gameplay is fairly good, with controls that are responsive and puzzles that are creative. The graphics are not the best, but the fantastic art style more than makes up for this technological shortcoming. The soundtrack is fantastic, and I definitely recommend buying the game bundled with the full OST. It enhances the overall experience like not much music can. The story is the main focus of the game, juxtaposing the real world issues of a boy being abused by his father and his fantastical imagination. The plot is quite creative, and the ending packs quite an emotional punch. For people who love story in video games, Papo & Yo is a great game. 85 Fantastic Spectacle Fighter884okeoJ | July 13, 2014 | Review of Metal Gear Rising Revengeance - PC. 86 Fantastic DLC884okeoJ | July 13, 2014 | Review of Crusader Kings II Europa Universalis IV Converter DLC - PC As opposed to most of Crusader Kings II's rather bland portrait packs and music bundles, the Crusader Kings II to Europa Universalis IV converter is simply splendid. It bridges the two games in a way I can't remember happening ever before. The ability to transfer a save file is great for people who want a more well-rounded experience, which this DLC gives. for anyone who owns both these games, you NEED this DLC. 92 The horrors of war884okeoJ | July 13, 2014 | Review of Spec Ops The Line Overflow - PC When I heard about Spec Ops: The Line, I wrote it off as a generic third person shooter with a sub-average story. As it turns out, this gritty war story is anything but. The plot of Spec Ops is one of the more disturbing ones I have ever played through. It starts as a typical middle eastern war affair, but as the game progresses, delves into the mind of your main character, making you question your every decision in a way few games do. The graphics are beautiful for the time, and the gameplay is quite good. Spec Ops: The Line is a must-play. 77 Bloody fun884okeoJ | July 13, 2014 | Review of The Darkness II Overflow - PC. 93 Return to Deus Ex Form884okeoJ | July 13, 2014 | Review of Deus Ex Deus Ex Human Revolution Directors Cut - PC After Invisible War dragged the Deus Ex name through the mud, Human Revolution brings the series back up to its very high standards. You have multiple ways to go through each mission, and multiple ways to build your character. While there isn't as much freedom as the original Deus Ex, Human Revolution is still an impressive game. The graphics are quite good, and the music is fantastic. The FPS and RPG elements are balanced well, and the game as a whole is a rewarding experience. Definitely pick this game up if you haven't already. 85 Great addition!884okeoJ | July 13, 2014 | Review of Borderlands 2 Headhunter 5 Son of Crawmerax MAC - PC. 79 Nostalgic Classic884okeoJ | July 12, 2014 | Review of Age of Mythology Extended Edition (4) - PC. 87 Extremely underrated RPG884okeoJ | July 12, 2014 | Review of Sid Meiers Pirates Steam - PC. 79 Fairly Fun Multiplayer884okeoJ | July 12, 2014 | Review of The Ship - PC. 55 Inferior Zoo Tycoon884okeoJ | July 12, 2014 | Review of Zoo Empire - PC. 84 Great Game!884okeoJ | July 8, 2014 | Review of Valiant Hearts The Great War NA - PC Valiant Hearts explores an area rarely explored in video games, that of the first World War. It is primarily a puzzle game that focuses heavily on story telling and artistic merit. In those ways, this game passes with flying colors. The hand-drawn graphics add a lot to the game, and the story is absolutely fantastic. It makes you care about the characters in a way not many games these days do. The weak part of the game is the gameplay. The puzzles are all fairly rudimentary, and there are no innovative mechanics. That being said, this is not a game which relies on addictive gameplay, more on story. In conclusion, Valiant Hearts is a great story based game that is a definite buy for anyone looking for a World War 1 game. 75 Surgeon Simulator with tea884okeoJ | July 7, 2014 | Review of AmpuTea - PC This game is a love-it-or-hate-it type of game. If you're the type of person who enjoys a slightly unfair challenge that that of Surgeon Simulator, you'll love ampu-tea. The gameplay is very similar, as well as the graphic style. If you enjoy games like Surgeon Simulator and Octodad, Ampu-Tea is a must-buy. 68 Had a lot of potential884okeoJ | July 7, 2014 | Review of Lifeless Planet - PC. 88 Great Open World Game884okeoJ | July 4, 2014 | Review of Far Cry 3 NA - PC Far Cry 3 is the best Far Cry game yet. It perfects the balance between fun and serious storytelling, and will leave you satisfied long after the game is finished. The story is somewhat uninspired, telling a story of Jason Brody, a man stranded on an island who has to rescue his friends while dealing with a psychopathic man named Vaas. What I really enjoyed about Far Cry 3 was the surreal and mythical elements sprinkled in throughout the course of the story, which I thought gave the game much more intrigue. The graphics are fantastic, and the voice work is great. The RPG elements are blended well with the first person shooter gameplay, which is fantastic. You're given an incredible amount of freedom on the island to roam, hunt wildlife, and take over outposts. If you're a fan of open world games, this is a perfect game for you. 98 The Grandfather of Stealth Games884okeoJ | July 4, 2014 | Review of Thief Gold - PC. 79 Heavily GTA Inspired Mafia Game884okeoJ | July 4, 2014 | Review of Mafia II Overflow - PC. 93 Pure Fun884okeoJ | July 4, 2014 | Review of Just Cause 2 - PC Just Cause 2 is quite possibly the most fun I've ever had in a video game. Anything you can think of can be done, from playing tetherball with two 747s to attaching a Winnebago to a fighter jet. The game throws the laws of physics and reality out the window to give you an absolutely incredible gaming experience. The graphics of Just Cause 2 are great for the time, and have aged fairly well over the years. The game doesn't restrict you like others do, giving you the feeling of absolute freedom. The story of Just Cause 2 is almost non-existent after the first few hours. I found myself focusing less on the campaign and more on making ridiculous situations with the help of my grappling gun and world props. The island of Panau is enormous with boatloads of content. There are also mods to prolong the life of Just Cause 2 even longer, with the most prominent one being the multiplayer mod. This takes all the ridiculous fun of Just Cause 2 and adds your friends to the mix. This allows you to perform even more crazy stunts and tricks. In conclusion, Just Cause 2 is incredibly fun, and is a must-play for anyone searching for a great sandbox game. 85 Atmosphere at its best884okeoJ | July 3, 2014 | Review of Alice Madness Returns NA Origin - PC. 62 Decent Addition884okeoJ | July 3, 2014 | Review of Borderlands 2 Headhunter 2 Wattle Gobbler MAC - PC. 85 Best DLC Yet884okeoJ | July 3, 2014 | Review of Borderlands 2 Mr Torgues Campaign of Carnage MAC - PC. 77 Cool Halloween Themed DLC884okeoJ | July 3, 2014 | Review of Borderlands 2 Headhunter 1 TK Bahas Bloody Harvest MAC - PC! 80 Collection not really worth it884okeoJ | July 3, 2014 | Review of Crusader Kings II Collection - PC Crusader Kings II is a fantastic game. It may have a learning curve like a brick wall, but once you get over that, it is pure Paradox Interactive strategy goodness.If you thought Civilization V is too casual for you, Crusader Kings II has you covered. The music is fantastic, and the graphics are passable. The real meat is in the gameplay, where you are given an abundance of freedom to make your own choices on how you want to play. Although Crusader Kings II is a fantastic game, I cannot recommend buying the collection unless you are a diehard fan. The reason for this is that the majority of DLC is unnecessary for a lot of people. While a few pieces of DLC are actually gamechanging, the portrait packs and songs of faith are really not worth it unless you really care about immersion. Unless you're one of those people, just buy Crusader Kings II, and the DLCs that actually give you content, like Sword of Islam. (separately) Unless immersion is the most important thing for you in CK2, odds are you won't need the portrait packs and music. 100 Absolutely Brilliant884okeoJ | July 2, 2014 | Review of Portal - PC. 86 If you want a game like Civ, look no further!884okeoJ | July 2, 2014 | Review of Warlock Master of the Arcane - PC Warlock: Master of the Arcane is a fantastic strategy game that is easily accessible to new players, as well as rewarding to veterans. The hex based land and "spell" research will be instantly familiar to anyone who has played any of the Sid Meier Civilization games. The main difference between this and Civilization is the lesser focus on keeping your citizens happy and city management as there is in the latter game. Warlock is more about exploring and taking portals into other worlds than anything else. The graphics of Warlock are fairly good, and the music is excellent. For any strategy fan, old or new, Warlock: Master of the Arcane is an excellent game. 97 Incredible Game884okeoJ | July 2, 2014 | Review of The Witcher II Assassins of Kings - PC The Witcher 2 is one of the best RPGs I have ever played, and is easily the best looking. The visuals of this game are some of the best ever, and the voice acting is incredible as well. All of the music fits perfectly with the game, enhancing an already incredible experience. The first Witcher was a great game, but its successor improves in every conceivable way. The somewhat clunky combat of the first game has been made more fluid, the RPG elements have been improved even more, and the story is stronger than the first Witcher. In stark contrast to games like Skyrim, the Witcher 2 has an incredible amount of depth, with uniquely different areas of the map. While it may seem daunting to beginners, the Witcher 2's RPG mechanics are some of the best I've seen in a very long time. The Witcher 2 is an incredible game that should be in everyone's library. Even if you didn't play the first game, the Witcher 2's plot doesn't need a huge amount of backstory. I cannot recommend the Witcher 2 enough. 76 Fun, Witty Poker Game884okeoJ | July 2, 2014 | Review of Poker Night 2 - PC. 43 Constantly Crashes884okeoJ | July 2, 2014 | Review of Burnout Paradise Ultimate Box NA Origin - PC. 91 Bethesda does it again884okeoJ | July 2, 2014 | Review of Fallout 3 Game of the Year Edition - PC I've always liked the Fallout games more than I liked the Elder Scrolls games, and Fallout 3 shows perfectly why. The atmosphere is unlike anything out on PC. Just stepping out into a radioactive DC wasteland and seeing the vast expanse of nuclear fallout is breathtaking. The segments of the game in the DC metro can be legitimately terrifying at times, with ghouls popping out of the shadows. The VATS system is very well implemented and is a creative conversion of turn based combat to a first person shooter. Non-VATS combat is one of the weaker parts of the game, as there are no iron sights to use for your guns. The RPG elements are spread well over the first person shooter canvas, with you being able to create your own play style with a multitude of skills to level in. The graphics of Fallout are okay for the time it was released, but the music is incredible. The selection of mid-1900's songs the game uses just help more to immerse yourself. The plot is pretty good, but the ending is subpar unless you have the Broken Steel DLC. Overall, Fallout 3 is a great game for anyone who is an RPG lover. 96 Still Amazing884okeoJ | July 2, 2014 | Review of DOOM Classic Complete - PC. 7 Terrible Title884okeoJ | July 2, 2014 | Review of Kane and Lynch 2 Dog Days - PC. 81 Pure Survival Awesomeness884okeoJ | July 2, 2014 | Review of Killing Floor - PC The Killing Floor may only do one thing, but it does that one thing very, very well. Tripwire interactive has created a great wave-based horror game that can rival Left 4 Dead 2 in terms of pure fun. The graphics are passable, but the soundtrack is great. What Killing Floor does better than Left 4 Dead 2 is gameplay. The way guns handle in Killing Floor creates a much more visceral feel than Left 4 Dead. However, the main problem with Killing Floor is lack of variety in game modes. While some mods can fix this, Left 4 Dead 2 has much more variety in game types. Although Killing Floor sports incredible wave based survival, some extra variety could have helped the title compete more. If you're someone who enjoys survival based games, Killing Floor is a great choice. 89 Fantastic Co-op Zombie Fun!884okeoJ | July 2, 2014 | Review of Left 4 Dead 2 - PC Left 4 Dead 2 is a game best suited to playing with your friends, and by that I mean "if you don't play with friends you'll get yelled at nonstop". One of Left 4 Dead 2's only flaws is the incredibly toxic community, which makes it imperative to play with friends. The visuals of Left 4 Dead 2 are quite good, as well as the sound design and voice acting. The gameplay is quite enjoyable as well, with numerous guns to choose from and many different zombie types. The best mode overall is versus mode, where you can play as either a zombie or a survivor. This unique spin on the zombie genre gives it the edge over other games, like Killing Floor. If have some friends to play with, you should definitely give Left 4 Dead 2 a try. 76 Pretty cool DLC884okeoJ | July 2, 2014 | Review of Borderlands 2 Creature Slaughter Dome MAC - PC. 92 Almost as good as the first884okeoJ | July 2, 2014 | Review of BioShock 2 Steam - PC Bioshock 2 is a game with much more focus on the gameplay than the original Bioshock. You now play as a Big Daddy named Subject Delta, who has to traverse Rapture to rescue his Little Sister, named Eleanor. While some people bash this game for having a weaker plot, the story is still great. Although not as good as that of Bioshock's, Bioshock 2's story is still an emotional and powerful ride. Bioshock 2 has vastly improved gameplay over its predecessor. You can now have a plasmid in one hand and a gun in the other, which allows for much smoother gameplay and combat. You can also use a Big Daddy drill for even more combat variety. For fans of the first game, Bioshock 2 is a must-play. While some may bash it, it is still a fantastic game. 79 Great throwback to older shooters884okeoJ | July 2, 2014 | Review of Wolfenstein The New Order POST - PC Wolfenstein: The New Order is an excellent return to the wide-open levels and ridiculous guns of older shooters. In an alternate timeline, where Nazi Germany won World War II and control the world, you must defeat them once and for all. The plot is not one of The New Order's strong suits, although the atmosphere is quite good. The graphics are fairly good for a 2014 release, but some of the textures look quite dated. The game is well optimized for PC's, and rarely dips in frames. The most important part of the game is the shooting, which is done very well. Over the course of the game, you evolve into an unstoppable Nazi killing machine capable of dual wielding assault rifles and doing many more ridiculous things. If you are a fan of old school shooters, you should definitely give the New Order a try. 42 Not as good as Telltale's newer games884okeoJ | July 2, 2014 | Review of Back to the Future - PC. 96 Peerless Point & Click884okeoJ | July 2, 2014 | Review of The Walking Dead - PC. 86 Awesome noir experience884okeoJ | July 2, 2014 | Review of The Wolf Among Us - PC The Wolf Among Us had a lot to live up to after the fantastic Walking Dead season 1. Fortunately, The Wolf Among Us is almost if not as good it's zombie-based predecessor. The setting is much more original than that of the Walking Dead, as TWAU is based in a New York City where "fables", real life versions of fairy-tale creatures live. The story that takes place in this setting is incredible, mixing mystery, suspense, and fantasy into one of the most gripping gaming experiences of the year thus far. The graphics are improved from the Walking Dead, with better textures, animations, and models. The gameplay is about the same, with mild puzzles as well as some quick-time events to mix things up. My main problem with The Wolf Among Us is the lesser emotional impact it has to the Walking Dead. I felt a lot less connected with the TWAU characters than I did with The Walking Dead, making it less impactful when a minor/main character kicked the bucket. In summary, The Walking Dead is a marginally better game, but the Wolf Among Us is a must-play for any fan of Telltale's works. 93 Second-best superhero game ever884okeoJ | July 2, 2014 | Review of Batman Arkham Asylum Game of the Year Overflow 1 - PC Arkham Asylum is a masterpiece of a superhero game. The story is a typical Batman story, and that's not a bad thing. The entire game is reminiscent of the Batman animated series, with even voice actors from the show voicing their in-game counterparts. The graphics are great for the time it was released, and the visuals have some nice extra touches as well, such as Batman's cape showing wear and tear. The free flow combat is amazing, feeling fluid as you beat your away through countless thugs. The stealth is also great, making you feel like you actually are the caped crusader. The game's real problems come with its boss battles. With the exception of the wonderful Scarecrow segments, all the boss encounters are below average at best. When facing off against the Killer Croc, a boss battle that had been built up to since the beginning, you merely have to shock him with batarangs until he gives up. The final boss is also mediocre as well, with the Joker simply throwing thugs at you until you win or you die. However, boss battles are quite possibly the only glaring fault of this game. Everything else is fantastic, with great atmosphere and good story. This game is a must-play for fans of Batman, beat-em-ups, or stealth. 100 One of the best PC games ever884okeoJ | July 2, 2014 | Review of Deus Ex Game of the Year Edition Steam - PC Deus Ex is one of the best games ever made, and for good reason. There are so many ways to play and reach your objective, giving the game extreme re-playability. The RPG elements are done very well, allowing you to customize JC Denton in whatever way you want, to suit your certain playstyle. The graphics certainly haven't aged well, but given that this game was released more than a decade ago, that's to be expected. The music, however, is fantastic, contributing to the great atmosphere of Deus Ex. Both first person shooter and RPG elements are well balanced, combining in the perfect way. 54 Great Game, AWFUL Port884okeoJ | July 1, 2014 | Review of Dark Souls Prepare to Die Edition NA - PC Dark Souls on consoles is a great game with good controls and graphics. PC, on the other hand, is a completely different story. It is nearly impossible to play Dark Souls without a controller, which means extra hassle for people who enjoy using keyboard and mouse. Dark Souls also has its resolution permanently set at 1024x720, even for monitors larger than that. The whole game is a mess without multiple mods and patches to help straighten things out. While it helps, you shouldn't have to rely on mods to make a game work. However, once the stars align in your favor and the game is actually playable, you are greeted with a tough but fair RPG that is one of the best in recent memory. The gameplay is great, the bosses are impressive, and the atmosphere is unmatched. However, if you're really wanting to play Dark Souls, get it on consoles if you can. 78 Great team game884okeoJ | July 1, 2014 | Review of Guns of Icarus Online - PC. 24 Not nearly all it's cracked up to be884okeoJ | June 30, 2014 | Review of Goat Simulator - PC. 92 Infinite Possibilities884okeoJ | June 30, 2014 | Review of Kerbal Space Program - PC. 71 A Decent Bargain Find884okeoJ | June 30, 2014 | Review of BioShock Infinite Season Pass MAC - PC. 78 Brutal Fun884okeoJ | June 30, 2014 | Review of Chivalry Medieval Warfare Overflow 1 - PC If you shy away from the sight of blood, this game probably isn't for you. However, if you're anyone else, this game is a must-play. Chivalry Medieval Warfare is the standalone version of a popular source mod, and it is a fast paced brutal multiplayer experience. The combat mechanics are fairly easy to learn, and hard to master. The melee combat is some of the best I've seen in a multiplayer game, and the ranged combat is decent as well. The game looks fairly good for an indie game, and it runs fairly well. There is also customization for your warrior, which is a nice touch for those who want to decorate their knight. Chivalry is a great and unique game that is a definite buy. 97 A Masterpiece884okeoJ | June 30, 2014 | Review of BioShock NA Overflow 1 - PC A spiritual successor to System Shock, Bioshock is one of the greatest games ever made. The atmosphere is absolutely perfect, with Rapture being one of the most vividly imagined gaming worlds ever made. The gunplay is excellent, giving you access to both plasmids and conventional weapons in a way where you can use both in an extremely satisfying manner. The story is fantastic, and the soundtrack is haunting, fitting the overall mood of the game perfectly. Bioshock's graphics still hold up today, and the game runs perfectly fine on any number of PCs without frame drops. One of the most unique experiences in gaming, Bioshock is a must-play. 73 Tough but Fair884okeoJ | June 30, 2014 | Review of Super Meat Boy - PC. 84 Dated yet Great884okeoJ | June 30, 2014 | Review of The Elder Scrolls III Morrowind Game of The Year Edition - PC. 83 Awesome Shoot n' Loot!884okeoJ | June 30, 2014 | Review of Borderlands 2 MAC - PC. 100 Flawless.884okeoJ | June 30, 2014 | Review of Batman Arkham City Game of the Year Overflow 1 - PC. 66 A Classic Resurfaces884okeoJ | June 30, 2014 | Review of Age of Empires II HD Edition (1) - PC.

In a bid to mimic the success of the Offshore Technology Conference, Houston business and political leaders are launching an annual summit they hope will raise the city's global image as a medical hub. The leaders announced the effort, a partnership with a German organization that produces the world's largest medical trade show, Thursday at the Texas Medical Center, which will host the conference starting in 2014. "While we still want to attract top conferences to Houston, we decided we should build our own events, showcasing our strengths," said Mayor Annise Parker. "We want to be the medical conference of the Americas, attracting people from all over the world, and partnering with a franchise will help us achieve that." Parker said she wants to do the same thing with two other important local economic sectors, aerospace and the Port of Houston. She said the medical conference will give Houston a "second beachhead" in addition to the technology conference. The German medical conference, begun in the late 1960s, now attracts more than 135,000 visitors and 4,500 exhibitors from 120 countries. By comparison, the OTC 2012 featured 2,500 exhibitors from 46 countries and nearly 90,000 attendees, the most since the oil boom years of 1981 and 1982, when attendance topped 100,000. Houston leaders acknowledged Thursday that it will take some time to build such a medical conference audience here. They said they're optimistic about the potential because of the coupling of the Medical Center's intellectual firepower and the potential built-in audience from MEDICA, the German event. "This is not going to be another OTC, at least not until it's had some decades to grow," said Greg Ortale, president and CEO of the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau. "But it is going to be a substantial medical convention and trade show within the United States. We'll see where it goes." Poor history Ortale, who said he's anticipating an attendance of just a few thousand next year, acknowledged that Houston's recent history of attracting medical conferences has been "appallingly inadequate." Eight years ago, the bureau gathered doctors at Trevisio, the posh Medical Center restaurant where Thursday's announcement also was made, to solicit their help in luring medical conferences to Houston. But little came of the initiative. While MEDICA's focus will be the conference's trade show, Texas Medical Center President Dr. Robert Robbins will head the effort to put together the plenary sessions. The 2014 themes will be cancer, cardiology and emergency medicine, historic strengths of the medical center. Logical choice Joachim Schafer, managing director of Messe Dusseldorf, the organization that produces MEDICA, said Houston was an obvious choice for a North American event because of its assets in the Medical Center and because of its geographical reach into Central and South America. The company also has partnerships in Bangkok, Singapore, India and China. Houston organizers said they'll start rolling out their campaign for the conference Friday, including their website (). They have a contract with MEDICA for five years and automatic renewal for five more. The conference will be held April 28-30 at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

April 26, 2006 Harrisonburg, Va. - In a game that featured four ties, the No. 16 ranked James Madison University Dukes defended its home turf and won a 7-6 overtime thriller over the No. 3 ranked Georgetown Hoyas today JMU Lacrosse Complex. The Hoyas fall to 11-3 overall while JMU improves to 12-4. The last five games between the schools have been decided by three goals or less Georgetown now leads the all-time series 9-5 and JMU evened the series at 3-3 in games played in Harrisonburg. In the first three minute overtime session, Kim Griffin scored in traffic off a Brooke McKenzie assist for the eventual-game winning goal. Coco Stanwick (Baltimore, Md/Notre Dame Prep) notched her sixth three-goal game of the season to go along with seven draw controls while junior Sara Zorzi (Timonium, Md./Roland Park Country School) handed out two more assists for a team-leading 21 helpers. Paige Andrews (Newtown Square, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) tallied twice. Maggie Koch (Philadelphia, Pa./Springside) made a career-high 13 saves while sophomore Patty Piotrowicz (Plymouth Whitemarsh, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) scooped three ground balls. Senior Stephanie Zodtner (Wayne Pa./Conestoga) caused two turnovers The teams were tied at 2-2 at halftime. Georgetown went ahead at the 20:02 mark on a pretty Stanwick goal after the junior took a pass from Zan Morley (Philadelphia, Pa./Springside). The Hoyas extended their lead to 2-0 less than three minutes later when, from behind the net, Stanwick fed Paige Andrews for her 14th marker of the season. JMU sliced the lead to 2-1 when Lynlea Cronin scored two unassisted goals, one at the 13:17 mark and the game-tying goal with just five seconds to go before halftime. The Hoyas turned it over 12 times in the opening period but Maggie Koch made ten saves in the Hoya net in the first half. Almost three minutes into the second half, Cronin notched her third unassisted marker as the Dukes took a 3-2 lead. The Hoyas scored the game's next two goals for a 4-3 bulge. Jordan Trautman (Mystic, Conn.Loomis Chaffee) scored after taking a pass from Stanwick at 23:27. Less than a minute later, Stanwick scored goal number two on the afternoon after an assist from Zorzi at 22:30. Cronin drew a foul inside the eight meter and notched a free position goal at 18:50 to knot the contest at 4-4. Georgetown regained the lead 5-4 after a long offensive possession that spanned nearly four minutes. Andrews tallied her second goal of the game after taking a nice pass from Schuyler Sutton (Annapolis, Md./Severn). GU took their second two-goal lead of the game at 8:44. After another four-plus possession, Zorzi was behind the net and once again found Stanwick on the doorstep as Stanwick notched her sixth three-goal game of the season. Cronin kept James Madison within striking distance at 6:25 with her fifth goal of the afternoon before Julie Stone tied the game at 6-6 at the 4:59 mark. Patty Piotrowicz caused a turnover as JMU attempted the game-winner on the game's final possession to send the game into overtime. GU plays their final regular-season home game of the season on Sat. April 29 when the Hoyas face No. 20 Loyola at the Multi-Sport Field at 1 p.m. The four Georgetown seniors who will be participating on their final home game will be recognized prior to the contest. -

Le Triomphe de l’amour, New Jersey’s chamber music ensemble performing music of the Baroque on period instruments, will present a concert on Saturday, October 30 at the Unitarian Church of Princeton. The concert, titled “Mr. Handel and Friends at Home,” presents music enjoyed in Handel’s house in London. Guest artist Daniela Pierson, baroque violin, joins members of the ensemble Laura Heimes, soprano; John Burkhalter, recorder; Donna Fournier, viola da gamba; and Janet Palumbo, harpsichord. John Burkhalter will present a pre-concert talk at 7:30 pm; the concert begins at 8:00 pm. In his talk, Mr. Burkhalter will discuss the musical practice in 18th-century London of friends gathering to sing and play musical instruments for mutual entertainment. From 1723 until his death in 1759, George Frederic Handel lived at what is now No. 25 Brook Street, London. It was in this house that he composed many of his most celebrated works, including the Messiah, his last major English oratorio, Jeptha, and the Music for the Royal Fireworks. Within his chambers, preliminary rehearsals for the opera Alcina took place as well. Handel's neighbor on Brook Street, Mary Pendarves, later Mrs. Delany, recorded in brilliant letters the musical activities that took place at Mr. Handel’s home as well as at her own town house just down the street. Friends and musicians gathered to perform and to listen to the newest solo compostions, fresh from the pens of Handel and his contemporaries, as well as chamber arrangements of the most popular songs and dances from larger works, engraved and distributed by Handel’s publisher John Walsh. The concert will include instrumental and vocal chamber music by Handel and his contemporaries. Violinist Daniela Pierson will be featured in Handel’s Violin Sonata in E major. Harpsichordist Janet Palumbo will perform Handel’s Harpsichord Suite in D minor and Handel’s most enduring work for solo harpsichord, the “Harmonious Blacksmith” Variations. Carl Friedrich Abel was another German-born composer who spent much of his career in London; his Prelude and Allegro for solo viola da gamba will be performed by Donna Fournier. Mr. Burhkalter, on recorder, will be featured in Walsh’s arrangements of airs from several Handel operas, including Alcina and Julius Caesar. Soprano Laura Heimes will perform airs from Handel’s oratorios and operas, in chamber music arrangements published in London and meant to allow smaller ensembles of musicians to perform these favorite songs in private house concerts. Ms. Heimes will sing “Oh had I Jubal’s lyre” from the oratorio Joshua and “Lusinghe più care d’amore” from Alexander. Also on the program are Thomas Arne’s cantata Cymon and Iphegenia and songs from Comus and his English opera Eliza. Music by Pepusch, Boyce, and Giardini will complete the program. The music on this program will be prepared using original sources in the Roan-Burkhalter collection of rare 17th-18th century musical prints. Violinist Daniela Pierson has performed with Le Triomphe de l’amour many times, thrilling audiences with her expressive and energetic playing. Soprano Laura Heimes has been praised for her “sumptuous tone and shimmering clarity” and has been a featured soloist in concerts from Carnegie Hall to California’s Carmel Bach Festival. She has taught at Westminster Choir College and Swarthmore and has recordings available on several labels. John Burkhalter is a well-known lecturer on cultural history. Janet Palumbo, a founding member of the ensemble, has been featured on Brazilian national television. Le Triomphe de l’amour has recordings available on the Lyrichord and A Casa Disco labels. Tickets may be purchased at the door for $20 general admission, $18 for senior citizens, and $5 for students. For information, call (609) 252-0522 or visit the ensemble’s website at. This concert is made possible in part by the Mercer County Cultural and Heritage Commission through funding from the Mercer County Board of Chosen Freeholders, and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/ Department of State, A Partner Agency of the National Endowment of the Arts. Back **Denotes member of the Guild for Early Music

Martin Kaymer extended his lead to six shots at Pinehurst (AP) Ryder Cup hero Martin Kaymer evoked memories of Rory McIlroy's runaway victory in 2011 as he continued to dominate the 114th US Open. Kaymer's opening 65 was the lowest score ever in the US Open at Pinehurst, eclipsing the 66 recorded by Sweden's Peter Hedblom in 2005 and giving him a three-shot lead over the chasing pack. And the 29-year-old German swiftly extended his advantage to six shots as he looked to repeat his wire-to-wire victory in the Players Championship last month and become the first player to win golf's so-called unofficial 'fifth major' and the US Open in the same year. Kaymer had covered the back nine in 31 on Thursday and quickly demonstrated his liking for it on Friday with a birdie on the 627-yard par-five 10th - his opening hole. The former world number one missed from 12 feet for birdie on the 12th but quickly made amends, holing from twice the distance on the next. He looked in danger of dropping a shot when he raced his birdie putt on the 14th 10 feet past the hole, but calmly holed for par and then got up and down from a greenside bunker on the 15th. Another birdie from 25 feet on the 16th took Kaymer to eight under par and brought to mind McIlroy's record-breaking victory at Congressional; the Northern Irishman's winning total of 16 under par was the lowest in championship history, while he was also the first player ever to get to double digits under par in the first two rounds. Asked on Wednesday what score he would be happy with after four rounds, Kaymer had said eight over par. At eight under after 27 holes, the former US PGA champion was six clear of Zimbabwe's Brendon de Jonge, American journeyman Fran Quinn and Dustin Johnson, with Graeme McDowell and Kevin Na among the later starters. Promoted stories The last of Quinn's three previous US Open appearances was 18 years ago and he was a combined 25 over par in his national championship before shooting a two-under 68 on Thursday. "It is only one round, but it's nice to put up the great score the first day," Quinn said. "But you know you have to keep it going. It was everything that I could want and more. It's a dream and I hope I don't wake up until Sunday." The 49-year-old, whose 15-year-old son Owen is caddying for him this week, had birdied the first and third to move into outright second but dropped shots on the fourth and fifth. Kaymer's progress was relentless, a birdie from three feet on the par-five fifth taking him to 10 under par and eight shots clear of the field. After his opening round he said no-one should expect him to shoot another 65, but pars on the closing four holes would see him do exactly that and record a halfway total of 130, one better than the record McIlroy set in 2011. Promoted Stories

Microsoft Releases Information on Security Patches Prematurely In an apparent slipup by the software giant, the bulletins that contained information to five of its security updates were published before the patches were made available. According to industry experts, this has never happened before and it is likely a case of jumping the gun. The gaffe is unprecedented, said Andrew Storms, director of security operations at nCircle Security. "I don't remember this ever happening," said Storms."From what Microsoft had given us yesterday, none of these [bulletins] were terribly exciting or worrisome. So I see this as an embarrassment of procedure rather than a giant disclosure," Storms said. Microsoft said that the security patches would be released on schedule this Tuesday to patch 15 vulnerabilities in Windows, Excel, SharePoint and other products in its portfolio.Two of the vulnerabilities are in Windows; five in Excel, the spreadsheet included with Office; two in non-application Office components; and six in SharePoint and associated software, such as Groove and Office Web Apps. At least two of the 15 vulnerabilities are related to "DLL load hijacking", (DLL) since November last year. For the full report, please follow this link.

News LG Unveils PenTouch Plasma TVs at IFA LG Unveils PenTouch Plasma TVs at IFA LG Electronics has unveiled a new range of PenTouch HDTVs at IFA. Available in 50-inch and 60-inch assortments, LG's latest breed of plasma screens enable users to interact with onscreen content via a stylus pen when the TV is connected to a personal computer. The 60-inch iteration will feature active 3D technology, and it'll be shipped with a pair of 3D glasses as well. On top of that, we also understand that the TVs also come with its own PenTouch application, which allows budding artists to doodle or draw directly on the display. Files can be saved for further edits. Other software include the Gallery, which features a digital photo frame, and Family Calendar, which enables you to leave to-do lists or notes for your family. Here's what was stated in LG's official press release: $2,199. $1,699 and $1,099, respectively." Note that all prices are in US currency, and that the PenTouch HDTV models are only available in the States as of now. No further word was given from LG for their UK and Asian launch dates.

University of Hartford alumni Lee Ann C. Leahy ’84 and Scott Orenstein ’83, MBA ’84 were inducted into the Barney School of Business Hall of Fame on Jan. 30. Leahy is a partner in the Boston office of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, the world’s largest professional services firm and the fifth largest privately owned organization in the United States. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University. Orenstein is a fashion retail industry consultant and former president of G.H. Bass & Co., a company known for creating and defining trends in the footwear industry since 1876. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a Master of Business Administration from the University. Orenstein and Leahy were selected from a group of 18,000 Barney School of Business alumni for their achievements that reflect Barney’s mission to “prepare leaders and decision-makers who are globally aware and socially responsible.” During an induction ceremony held on campus, Barney School Dean James Fairfield-Sonn presented Orenstein and Leahy with commemorative plaques. Framed photographs of the two new inductees will hang alongside photos of previous inductees in a Barney executive classroom. The Barney School of Business Hall of Fame began in 2009. Leahy is the first woman to be inducted into the Barney School Hall of Fame. She is a certified public accountant with more than 28 years of diversified audit and consulting experience who serves higher education and healthcare clients throughout the Northeast. She also frequently speaks to audiences on internal controls, audit committee effectiveness, and other governance issues, and their impact on higher education and healthcare institutions. She has been a member of the Barney School Board of Visitors for several years, serves as vice chair of the board of directors of the Animal Rescue League of Boston and chairs its Finance and Audit Committee.Orenstein is currently a fashion industry consultant. He was president of G.H. Bass & Co. from 2003 to 2012 during which time he re-launched the original Bass Weejun (the original penny loafer) brand, established quality control improvements, and initiated the new lifestyle look of Bass Earth. Prior to Bass, he was senior vice president and general merchandise manager for Geoffrey Beene retail and senior Student Leadership Association and serves on multiple boards, including the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America.

Accident report for the weekend ending Oct. 14 Tuesday, Oct. 9 Firefighters responded to a small grass fire in the ditch near Northfield Boulevard and Joan Avenue at 8:36 a.m. The cause of the fire was unknown. A single vehicle crash was reported near the intersection of 150th Street and Jacob Avenue at 11:19 a.m. A vehicle had crashed into a tree. One person was reported injured. A crop fire was reported in the 14000 block of South 90th Street at 6:20 p.m. The fire was out when responders arrived. Joyelle White, 32, Hastings, was cited for careless driving after a crash at the Hastings Burger King. White struck the vehicle in front of her while in the drive-through. Police detected an odor of alcohol and gave White a preliminary breath test, which read .097. A second breath test read .07. The incident was reported at 9:45 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 10 Two vehicles collided at the intersection of 22nd Street and Pleasant Drive at 9:53 a.m. One vehicle made a right turn in front of another vehicle and was struck. A driver dropped his phone and rear-ended another vehicle at the intersection of 10th and Tyler streets at 3:13 p.m. Cited was Scott Opheim, 31, Stillwater. Thursday, Oct. 11 A vehicle was found off the road in the 2400 block of Ravenna Trail at 4:04 a.m. The vehicle appeared to have been westbound when it veered off to the right and struck a fence and trees. Police located the driver, who said he swerved to miss a deer. A two-vehicle crash was reported at 5:22 p.m. at the intersection of highways 61 and 316. One person was reported injured. Friday, Oct. 12 Two vehicles collided at the intersection of Highway 55 and Pine Street at 7:07 p.m. One driver attempted to make a left turn from Highway 55 onto Pine Street and struck an oncoming vehicle. Brenda Arnst, 62, Hastings, was cited for failure to yield. Saturday, Oct. 13 Hastings firefighters provided mutual aid at a building fire in Prescott at 2:48 a.m. Hastings sent 11 firefighters with an engine, ladder truck, ambulance and a staff vehicle. Monday, Oct. 15 Firefighters found construction material on fire behind a building in the 4600 block of 200th Street. The fire was extinguished, and the Dakota County Sheriff's Office issued a citation for the illegal fire. Information for this report is obtained from both the Hastings police and fire departments.

Nuclear waste dump opens Protesters gather to protest first shipment to WIPPCraig Fritz/The New Mexican The first truck carried about 600 pounds of plutonium-tainted clothing, gloves, filters, coveralls and metal cans from the Los Alamos National Laboratory 270 miles southeast to Carlsbad. Unless opponents can secure another injunction, 10 federal defense plants from around the nation will send 37,000 truckloads to WIPP. The trucks will haul material left over from Cold War-era nuclear bomb production lines. DOE officials and their partisans were jubilant. "We won the Cold War by building nuclear weapons, but we have not cleaned up the legacy of the Cold War and its waste," Energy Secretary Bill Richardson told The New York Times. "The opening of this facility is a step to meeting this obligation." Opponents vowed to keep fighting the project, saying the federal government needs a state hazardous-waste permit to open, even though its first few drums won't contain any conventional hazardous wastes. But only handfuls of protesters showed up along the WIPP route. One of the stalwarts, Santa Fe businessman Richard Johnson, said, "I couldn't be sleeping when the first truck went by after all this struggle." *Tony Davis

'Scholarship, sainthood and simplicity' Frank C. Craighead Jr., a world-renowned grizzly bear researcher, environmentalist and author, died in Jackson, Wyo., on Oct 21. He was 85. Craighead and his brother, John, who lives in Missoula, Mont., were best known for their pioneering research on the great bear, Ursus arctos horribilis. Among the first people to track wildlife using radio transmitters, the Craigheads followed and observed bears in Yellowstone National Park from 1959 to the early 1970s. They did chin-ups to prepare themselves for tree climbing, should they be chased, and they crawled into dens and observed bruins during every phase of the bears' lives. Sticklers about their reputation as independent researchers, they quit studying in Yellowstone when the Park Service imposed conditions on their work that they found unacceptable. The Craigheads warned that suddenly closing garbage dumps in Yellowstone, a plan proposed by the Park Service to return bears to natural diets, would put grizzlies in conflict with people. Their theory proved correct when the dumps were abruptly shut and scores of bears were killed foraging for food in developments and campsites. But Frank Craighead's work went beyond science. Many people credit him and his brother with launching the careers of a generation of aspiring biologists and environmentalists and bringing the notion of conservation into the American imagination. Chris Servheen, the federal grizzly bear recovery coordinator for Wyoming and nearby states, remembers watching, as a youth, a National Geographic television program on the Craighead brothers working with grizzlies. "From that point on, I wanted to do what I do today," says Servheen. "Those guys were just so important to the education of so many people by providing examples, by being willing to speak up and do the right thing when it really counted." Craighead wrote a moving account of his Yellowstone work, Track of the Grizzly, and later For Everything There is a Season, a delightful guide to how Jackson Hole wildlife acts and reacts during different seasons. It was impossible to walk with Craighead in the outdoors without learning something about the animals around you. He could spot a raven, determine that it was a juvenile by the way it flew, and locate its parents nearby. "Craighead was a towering figure in the world of bears and wilderness," says Louisa Willcox of the Sierra Club's Montana chapter. His life, she says, was a blend of "scholarship, sainthood and simplicity." "He lived consistently with his principles," says Willcox. "While doing so, he raised our standards all around." Donations in Frank Craighead's name can be made to the Frank Craighead Memorial Fund, c/o the Craighead Environmental Research Institute, P.O. Box 113, Moose, WY 83012.

Fairland falls to bigger, better Bishop Hartley PROCTORVILLE, Ohio — The speed and athleticism of Bishop Hartley were too overpowering and too much Friday in a 56-6 victory at Fairland. Bishop Hartley, the No. 1 team in Ohio Division IV, Region 14, used an up-tempo attack which allowed them to score quickly and improve to 5-0. The Hawks didn’t face a third down until less than three minutes into the first half, their only one of the contest. They scored on all seven of their possessions, including all six in the first half to take a 42-0 lead. In the first half alone, the Hawks had 483 yards compared to the Dragons 41. Five of their six first half scoring drives were less than two minutes in length, with the sixth taking 2:03. The most plays in which they had the ball on a drive were six, which was on their final drive of the first half. Fairland (2-3) attempted to slow Bishop Hartley’s momentum by not snapping the ball until the last few seconds of the play clock. While it might have limited the opposition from putting more points on the scoreboard, the Dragons were still unable to put together any offense. The Dragons didn’t cross the 50-yard line during the first half and collected just four first downs in the game’s opening half. With numerous NCAA Division I prospects on their roster, the Hawks were able to zoom by the Dragons and break numerous tackles. Ja’Wuan Woodley, a verbal commit to Toledo racked up 116 yards on the ground on just four carries and scored twice. He added 26 receiving yards. Bishop Hartley found the end zone in each quarter, including three times in both the first and second periods. Woodley started the game with a 42 yard TD scamper just 40 seconds in. Two rushing touchdowns by Marcellus Calhoun in the first built the lead to 21-0. Quarterback Jared Brandewie, who went 5-for-7 for 210 yards, connected with wideout Alonzo Saxton on the first play of the second quarter for an 86-yard touchdown pass. Rushing touchdowns from Dominique Scott (50 yards) and Woodley (16 yards) added to the halftime margin. The third and fourth quarters were trimmed to 10 minutes. Hez Moore of the Hawks had one carry in the game, a 72-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Fairland’s touchdown was a Tyree Ceasar 1-yard run in the fourth period, and Moore took the ensuing kickoff back 65 yards for another Bishop Hartley score. The Hawks outgained the Dragons, 556 yards to 84. BISHOP HARTLEY 21 21 7 7 — 56 FAIRLAND 0 0 0 6 — 6 BH — Woodley 42 run (Barringer kick) BH — Calhoun 6 run (Barringer kick) BH — Calhoun 2 run (Barringer kick) BH — Saxton 86 pass from Brandewie (Barringer kick) BH — Scott 50 run (Barringer kick) BH — Woodley 16 run (Barringer kick) BH — Moore 72 run (Barringer kick) FA — Ceaser 1 run (run failed) BH — Moore 65 kickoff return (Barringer kick) BH FA Total yards 556 84 First downs 11 9 Rushes-yards 19-346 44-84 Comp-Att-Int 5-7-0 0-4-0 Passing yards 210 0 Penalties-Yds 11-65 4-25 Fumbles-Lost 1-0 2-0 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING — BH: Woodley 4-116, 2 TD; Moore 1-72, TD; Mackowiak 4-56; Scott 1-50, TD; Calhoun 5-38 2 TD; Austin 1-13; Smith-Davis 1-5; Gault 2-(-4). FA: Murphy 13-50; Ceasar 22-34 TD; Short 1-3; Midkiff 1-0; Willis 5-(-1); Yancey 2-(-2). PASSING — BH: Brandewie 5-of-7, 210 yards, TD. FA: Short 0-of-4. RECEIVING — BH: Saxton 2-131, TD; Scott 1-37; Woodley 1-26; Matuska 1-16.

Scotland open their European Championship campaign in Dortmund in September against the strong favourites for Group D. But an experimental German side couldn't break down the well-organised Poles in front of almost 40,000 fans. Germany were without Mesut Ozil, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Philipp Lahm and numerous other star names, so Joachim Low gave many of his talented youngsters a start and a debut to Hoffenheim striker Kevin Volland, who has scored 11 times in the Bundesliga this season. Germany captain, Schalke's Julian Draxler, almost opened the scoring midway through the first half but was denied by Artur Boruc, Poland's captain for the night. The former Celtic No.1 celebrated a clean sheet while winning his 57th cap. At the opposite end, Hannover keeper Ron-Robert Zieler made a fine stop from Zwolle striker Mateus Klich. Boruc was beaten in the 32nd minute when a German corner was swung in and Stuttgart full back Antonio Rudiger's header was cleared off the line by Cologne's Slawomir Peszko. But the home side were wasteful, despite having the vast majority of the possession. Poland, who were beaten by Scotland in a March friendly in Warsaw offered very little as the game progressed. Boruc denied Schalke's impressive 18-year-old midfielder Max Meyer in the second half with a fine save and Augsburg's Andre Hahn went close at the end.

Nuloom Continues To Bloom Posted on April 5, 2012 by Only three years old, Nuloom continues to focus its business on the Internet, which accounts for more than 40 percent of business, said Nicole Mousave, CEO. "We're not after brick-and-mortar stores," said Mousave. "Our intent is to cater to online retailers--that's why that number is so high. We don't go to 900 stores." And the company also sees that its customers' tastes change rapidly. "Their need for a specific design does not last long," she said. "In that we are more like the apparel industry than home decor." Among its new items are graphic, modern rug designs, including its New Vision collection, which is made in India of 100 percent New Zealand wool with viscose accents. "The Internet is a great place to find hard-to-find things," she said, including more unusual rugs such as crochet, leather and felted items. "You will not find much selection in stores." Members-only retailers are like catalogs, she added. "There's an editorial process in selecting rugs." Her company has worked with those sites since its beginning, as these types of sites are "essential for a young company like Nuloom," she said. "It has exposed Nuloom to thousands more consumers than if we were in 10,000 stores nationwide."

Join our mailing list. It's so wizard. axel f. 20 January, 2015 3:56 pm Off the Theme Music LP, directed by J. Rocc. 17 December, 2014 11:49 pm Brand new video from the latest AXEL F. “Theme Music” album for the song “Superman Remix” featuring Krondon & Phil Da Agony from Strong Arm Steady and Pok. The video was directed by J. Rocc & Truly Odd. 16 November, 2014 9:39 pm Taken from the upcoming album Theme Music out November 25th via Bang Ya Head Entertainment. 4 September, 2013 8:55 pm World Famous Beat Junkie and Stones Throw affiliate, J. Rocc, teamed up with Madlib collaborator and one of Oxnard’s finest, MED, for their group AXEL F.. Their joint “Sofa Set” EP is currently out now via Bang Ya Head Entertainment and is the pre-cursor to their upcoming full length album dropping later this year.

Virginia Tech will travel to Maryland on Tuesday night to face the Terrapins in Comcast Center. The game, televised by The ACC Network, will tip-off at 8 p.m. About Tonight’s Game The Hokies are 9-19 on the season and 2-14 in ACC action. The Terrapins are 15-14 overall and 7-9 in the ACC after a 77-73, double overtime loss at Clemson on Sunday afternoon. No. 19/21 UNC 60, VT 56 The Hokies dropped a heart-breaker at home to North Carolina, 60-56, on Saturday in Cassell Coliseum on Senior Day. Jarell Eddie, making his final appearance in Cassell Coliseum, led the Hokies with 18 points and Devin Wilson added 15 points and seven assists. Tech outrebounded the Tar Heels in the loss. Wilson Sets New Standards Devin Wilson set a new Virginia Tech freshman record in the home loss to Virginia. He now has 134 assists this season, the most ever for a Tech freshman, breaking the old mark of 113, set by Hank Thorns in the 2007-08 season. Wilson also set a new Tech freshman record with 174 free throw attempts, surpassing the old mark of 164 attempts by Dale Solomon in the 1978-79 season Scoring 1,100 Jarell Eddie currently has 1,147 points at Virginia Tech and is 36th in career scoring for the Hokies. Injury Update Adam Smith (left calf strain), Ben Emelogu (left ankle) and Cadarian Raines (left ankle) are out for tonight’s game. Up Next The Hokies wrap-up the regular season on Saturday, as they travel to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech. The game, televised by ESPN2, will tip at 2 p.m. Television/Internet - The ACC Network Tim Brant & Cory Alexander Radio - Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network For updates on Virginia Tech men's basketball, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_MBBall

Top-Rated 'GMA' Faces 'Nightmare' Contract Talks Multiple sources tell THR that Josh Elliott, Robin Roberts and Lara Spencer are all negotiating new deals. A version of this story first appeared in the Nov. 1 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.. RELATED: NBC News Chief on Ronan Farrow at MSNBC, Matt Lauer's Value and the Future of 'Today' Not surprisingly, agents for the GMA crew quietly have been playing the field. Sources say representatives for Spencer, 44, and Elliott, 42, in particular have spoken to executives at NBC News. Both joined the show as anchors in 2011 as ABC News brass reconfigured GMA from its traditional dual-anchor format into an ensemble -- a successful move that Today also adopted recently.. Certainly, GMA's strong performance during the past year and a half gives its crew no small amount of leverage. The morning show had its largest audience in more than 21 years for the 2012-13 season. (Nielsen's electronic database began in September 1991.) It also bested Today by its widest margin (86,000) among viewers 25-to-54, the demographic upon which news programs are sold. The show's ratings remained impressively steady with multiple fill-in anchors including Amy Robach and Elizabeth Vargas. STORY: TV Ratings: 'Good Morning America' Tops 'Today' For First Full Season Since 1993 "They definitely have leverage," says another source. "But there's also leverage on the other side." That's because while Spencer and Elliott are integral to the GMA team and its historic toppling of Today's 16-year morning-news ratings win streak, big TV news jobs are scarce. Anchor George Stephanopoulos, 52, who is paid nearly $6 million a year, according to sources, is signed through 2014. Although Spencer and Elliott can't hope to make that amount, the priority at ABC News is to keep the GMA team together. Says a network source: "Are there going to be big negotiations on the No. 1 morning show?

Dallas vs. OKC: Age Before Beauty It’s almost impossible to quantify in a tangible way, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there. The value of having experienced, battle tested veterans on an NBA roster during the playoffs is priceless and accounts for unexpected game and series victories every year. Game four of the Western Conference Finals fits that description, with Dallas winning a game most teams wouldn’t. Down 15 with four minutes left you could see the Mavs as a team consciously decide to “flip the switch” and get back in the game, at the last possible moment they could have. As Jason Terry put it after the game, “We showed championship mettle.” “This is the sign of a veteran team coming through, and Dirk hitting some big shots, J Kidd was everywhere,” said Shawn Marion. “We stopped them on defense during that run and they couldn’t get nothing.” Dirk will get the glory for hitting some clutch shots down the stretch, but every Mavs player that I have seen interviewed after the game went out of their way to mention Jason Kidd’s performance. The eldest veteran on a team of veterans, Kidd played his best ball of the series in the fourth quarter and overtime. His 17 points were the most he’s scored in the last two series, hitting three three pointers and contributing seven assists, five rebounds and four steals in the typical Kidd stat line we’re used to seeing. For as much as Dallas’ veterans have stepped up and answered the call when needed, Russell Westbrook has done the exact opposite. In that fourth period when Harden was gone and it was him and Durant versus the Mavs essentially, Westbrook didn’t do much to stop the hemorrhaging or give the Mavs a reason to back off Durant. Westbrook (7-22) and Durant (8-22) were a combined 15 of 44 from the field in game four. The Thunder turned the ball over 25 times. For as much that was made out of the Thunder dealing Jeff Green to the Celtics for Kendrick Perkins and how much worse it supposedly made the Celtics, that trade has had at least that much of detrimental impact on the OKC offense in a way that was overlooked. Could it be that the trade actually made both teams worse? Other than James Harden, who is the Thunder’s third scoring option? It would have been Jeff Green. When Harden fouled out early in the fourth period, the Thunder’s offense stagnated and the Mavericks kicked it up a notch, knowing that on defense all they had to do was stop “Durantula” and Westbrook. Which essentially made it five on two because none of the Thunder’s other three players on the floor was ever regarded as a threat. Whatever you want to call what the Mavs did to the Thunder at the end of the fourth quarter and OT, it’s what that old guy at seemingly every YMCA or open gym across the country knows already. Even though he’s 25 years older and you’re quicker, stronger and younger, you can’t get a shot off and you have no rhythm. His “Rec Specs” are easy to mock, and so are his Converse’s, but you can’t because you’re winded and he isn’t, hitting every 15 footer and grabbing every loose ball. And you can’t figure out why. That is experience, and there is no substitute for it. (Image Credit:)

Dropping from the $75,000 level and a two-time winner over this surface, on wet tracks and winner of his only two starts at today’s distance, four-year-old Judge T C colt reunites with Mike Luzzi, who can take advantage of the Scott Schwartz trainee’s versatility and favorable draw. And given that his performance figures are only competitive on best, securing value is a possibility despite overnight favoritism. Among his rivals, most of the speedsters are a tricky read but we'll include three rivals coming off New Pace Top Equiform patterns. Taking Judge William to win at 5-2 or greater, keying him first and second in trifectas with Lion By My Side (4-1), San Naa (6-1) and Green Spirit (7-2). Running Totals: (351) 107-71-47 Total Dollar Return: $753.80 [win selections only]

Peewee Longway is one of a few one-time Brick Squad rappers currently carrying on Gucci Mane's legacy while he's locked up. The ATL rapper hit us with the impressive Running Round The Lobby mixtape last summer, and has now unleashed his newest batch of songs with the incredibly titled, The Blue M&M. The 21-track project features a who's who of new Atlanta, with guest appearances from Young Thug, Migos (solo and united), and Jose Guapo, as well as a notable co-sign from ASAP Rocky. Production comes courtesy of Metro Boomin, The Honorable C.N.O.T.E., Dun Deal, KE On The Track, C4, and many more. 01. Everyday Switcharoo (Prod By Big K) 02. Cheetah Print (Prod By Honorable C Note) 03. Blue Benjamin (Prod By Breezey Muzik) 04. That Boy Right There (Prod By Zaytoven & Cassius Jay) 05. How High (Prod By Honorable C Note) 06. Pretty Penny Feat. Offset (Prod. By Mucho) 07. Cinco De Mayo Feat. Hoodrich Pablo Juan (Prod By Mucho) 08. African Diamonds Feat. Hoodrich Pablo Juan (Prod By Mucho) 09. Came In Feat. Migos (Prod By Mucho) 10. Sneakin N Geekin (Prod By Metro Boomin) 11. Ola Feat. Offset (Prod By Zaytoven) 12. FRFR Feat. Quavo (Prod By Mucho) 13. OG Gas 14. Juice Feat. Young Thug (Prod. By Cash Money AP) 15. Took Chances Feat. Jose Guapo (Prod By Will A Fool) 16. Documentary Feat. Offset (Prod By Krazy Blacc) 17. Hotel Feat. Woop (Prod By KE On The Track) 18. Energy Kit (Prod By C4 & Honorable C Note) 19. Situation Feat. Offset (Prod By Dun Deal) 20. Switcharoo Feat. Migos (Prod By Zaytoven) 21. Servin Lean (Remix) (Bonus) Feat. ASAP Rocky (Prod By Honorable C Note)

Space Odyssey On a summer day in 1969, as American hearts pounded in cadence to Neil Armstrong's first step on the moon, NASA engineer Tom Moser's heart almost stopped cold. About two weeks before the epic launch, Moser's boss at the Johnson Space Center in Houston had assigned him a top-secret mission. Congress had quietly surface. To those watching at home, Armstrong's giant leap off the ladder looked like zealousness. space suit, you know, and the whole Apollo program is over. So my heart went right to my throat." Turned out that Armstrong was just excited. Moser swallowed, and his heart returned to his chest. Today, Moser remains a man on a mission, but this time the world isn't watching. Even Texas isn't paying much notice as he navigates a cosmic plan for new-age spacecraft to blast off from Texas soil. Once in orbit, the spacecraft would spew its cargo of satellites, which would allow. The NASA engineer in charge of developing the 22,000-piece tile puzzle that made up the shuttle's thermal-protection system, Moser had devoted 16 years of his life to the program. He has just about seen it all. If he accomplishes this next mission, though, he will get to see one thing he never has seen: a space launch within the borders of his home state of Texas. A different kind of space odyssey is upon us. Within the next ten could take no more than a couple of hours, and the vehicle could be ready to fly again in as few as two days. Earlier this year, Lockheed Martin put out a call to bidders to host a spaceport for its winged VentureStar, an RLV being developed with a $900 million boost from NASA. Similar in design and flight to a space shuttle, VentureStar would launch vertically and land on a runway. If two VentureStar vehicles are christened as planned in late 2003, they would fly a combined 40 times a year, maybe 50, if they also make deliveries to the International Space Station. Lockheed would need final assembly of VentureStar to occur at the spaceport, because the vehicle's 128-foot wingspan and 127-foot length make it impractical to transport it intact over land. States are viewing the VentureStar spaceport as a plum that could bring with it as many as 3,000 quality jobs. In Texas, it is also seen as having the potential to alter the entire economic makeup of a region by propelling it. Narrowing down the possible spaceport locations in Texas is only his first hurdle. Things will get a lot tougher later, because at least 18 states are wooing VentureStar, which plans to select one or two spaceport locations by the end of 1999. "I want Texas to be the leading aerospace state among all states," said Moser, who grew up in Houston. "And right now, we're not." That honor would fall to Florida or California, the states in which every notable U.S. space launch has taken place. Florida has the Kennedy Space Center and the Cape Canaveral Air Station. California has Vandenberg and Edwards Air Force bases. Each state is expected to offer to expand those facilities for VentureStar. "The bad news for Texas is that Florida and California have existing launch facilities," Moser said. smallest amount of money possible to get their $4 billion program off the ground. "Sure, we'd always like to have dictatorial control over what goes on at our spaceport," said Ron Williams, vice president of aerospace for Sverdrup Corporation, the VentureStar partner in charge of selecting and developing the spaceport location. "But it's a tradeoff between having that control and saving money by developing a site that can use existing infrastructure." A technical evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of each possible Texas site has revealed that none up front, so that leaves other incentives, such as breaks on taxes and utility fees that can reduce spaceport operating costs and private investment. "Economics is what will sway the VentureStar folks," said Walter Cunningham, chairman of the Texas Aerospace Commission, a nine-member board that governs the agency. start a series of test voyages, blasting off from a 25-acre launching site at Edwards Air Force Base being built specially for this mission. The flights of X-33, which will neither carry payloads nor fly into orbit, are to assess whether VentureStar's hardware, software and support systems work well together. If X-33 test flights are successful, then all systems are go on VentureStar. VentureStar, the Range Rover of the RLVs, can carry a 50,000-pound payload in its 15-foot-by-50-foot cargo bay. Big and strong enough to haul a Greyhound bus, VentureStar has a payload capacity and cargo bay dimensions similar to those of a space shuttle. But while the shuttle is sleek, VentureStar is squarish. The biggest design difference between the two, however, is that the shuttle launches with two rocket boosters that break off the vehicle shortly after liftoff; VentureStar, in contrast,, said farthest be activated shortly before the craft touched down on land. The orbital vehicle, powered by a single rocket engine, would deliver its payload and return to Earth, also with the aid of parachutes and air bags. Moser said that if VentureStar doesn't choose Texas for a spaceport, other companies, such as Kistler, might. But Robert Wang, Kistler's chairman, said the company is close to finalizing an agreement to build a spaceport in Nevada, which would open in 2000. The Australia and Nevada spaceports should be sufficient for Kistler's fleet of rockets, Wang said. At least four other aerospace companies are developing RLVs, with each design more bizarre than the next. One has rotary blades on its nose cone, takes off like a rocket, but lands like a helicopter. Another is a needle-nosed space plane that spits out its payload from a forward hatch that opens like a Venus's-flytrap. Another space plane reaches an altitude of 20,000 feet while tethered to a modified Boeing 747 or other commercial airplane before disconnecting and zooming into orbit on the strength of its own engine. Although none of these other RLVs is as far along in development as VentureStar or K-1, Kistler's Wang said he believes the commercial satellite market can only grow, which would necessitate more RLVs. Tens of billions of dollars have already been invested in global satellite communications networks. Motorola's Iridium, for example, is up and operating, allowing callers to use a wireless telephone from anywhere on Earth. On the horizon for a 2003 launching is Teledesic, a $9 billion effort initially financed by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, that is to offer businesses Internet access at speeds 2,000 times faster than a 28.8K baud modem and the unlimited ability to teleconference and link computer systems. Iridium uses 66 satellites; Teledesic would employ 288. Satellites must be replaced about every five to seven years, and industry experts estimate that 1,400 low-orbiting communication satellites will be launched in the next ten years. That's a conservative estimate based only on satellite networks already in place or in planning. "As we lower the launch costs dramatically," Wang said, ," said created an atmosphere much like that of a courtroom before a verdict is read. This, too, is by design. Moser wants Texas's bid for a spaceport to be all-for-one and one-for-all: Cooperation should when he puts them all together in one room like this, his strategy works masterfully. They sit and listen as representatives of a consulting firm that studied each of the proposed sites report how the sites they so obviously should be blue. But few are so bold as, six to one. said, not a cutting of the roster. Chris Kraft, who was Moser's boss as director of the Johnson Space Center from 1972 to 1982, said Moser is one of those 500 or so engineers who actually knows how to manage people. "Engineers notoriously are idiots when it comes to management," said Kraft, who is retired in Clear Lake. said. said. "I'm 65 years old, and I remember the Flash Gordon days when I was a kid. I think we've already passed them days." Jobs are also on the minds of the folks pushing the spaceport in Brazoria County, but economic revolution is of interest to the boosters from South Texas, where the unemployment rate, as high as 16 percent in some areas, soars higher than anywhere else in the state. "We realize it's a long shot, but we have a responsibility to pursue it as far as we can," said Shirley Clowers, president of the Harlingen Area Chamber of Commerce and liaison to a coalition formed to lure the spaceport to South Texas. "This sort of thing can change the entire complexion of South Texas because of the potential for spinoff industry and job creation." Moser has helped her see that potential. "He's definitely a marketing person," Clowers said. said. But the aluminum extension rod had been covered with an anti-corrosive coating that did not take well to the vacuum-like atmosphere of the moon. When the astronauts tried to pull the rod to its full extension, it stuck. And that's why the flag on the moon looks like it is waving in the breeze, even though the moon has no wind. It's because the flag could not be stretched to its full extension along the stuck aluminum rod. "After that, we made sure all of the flags looked exactly the same way," Moser said. "But the first one was an error." Again, what looked like disaster for Tom Moser turned out okay. His plans worked out just fine. He's counting on that happening again, with all of Texas)

Are We There Yet? Restaurants We're Excited About for 2013 >>IMAGE." From Mobile to Mortar At least four different food truck operators are busy making their brick-and-mortar dreams real, with one of those opening any day now: the Eatsie Boys, who have moved into the old Kraftsmen Bakery space on Montrose and totally transformed the little restaurant into something all their own. Look for favorites from the food truck itself as well as a slew of new dishes and a coffee program set up by David Buehrer of Greenway Coffee & Tea -- and, of course, plenty of E-Boys ice cream. Pi Pizza and Bernie's Burger Bus are also scouting for permanent locations of their own, which they hope to have open this year. And that worst-kept secret? That would be the downtown location of The Modular, run by Joshua Martinez and one of his old cohorts from the truck. We'll let you guess who... Can't Pass It Up I've already heard people saying that The Pass -- the second part of The Pass & Provisions, which opened earlier this month -- is the best Texas restaurant to come along in years, although I've yet to go myself. Paula Disbrowe of Southern Living called The Pass & Provisions "[t]he most refined and disarmingly delicious meal I've had in recent memory." Houston food writer Joanne Witt called her dinner at The Pass the "best meal I have had in Houston this year." And my friend Peggy Lane -- who is possessed of a silver palate, and whose palate I trust implicitly -- said of chefs Seth Siegel-Gardner and Terrence Gallivan's food: recently on Twitter: "The Pass [is] exemplary in taste, texture, presentation, beverage, service. Skip the plane ticket, stay in HTX and eat here." Crafts & Drafts Between not-so-newcomers Premium Draught, Cottonwood and Oak Forest Chill, even-newer-newcomers Witchcraft Tavern & Provision Co. and Crisp Wine Bar & Eatery are making the Greater Heights a hotspot for craft beer lovers. Both Witchcraft and Crisp only opened this month, but I'm already excited to see if the two restaurants/bars keep up the quality that's already apparent at each establishment. The owners of both places are well-established Houston restaurateurs in their own right, however, so I expect both to be welcome additions to the area. East End Eating After many months of patient waiting, hot doggery Moon Tower Inn expects to reopen in 2013 after initially closing for a three-month remodel in October 2011. In keeping with its infamous "shut up and wait" attitude towards anyone expecting fast food, Moon Tower posted on its Facebook page in November: 3 days! 3 months! 3 years! who gives a shit!?! we'll be back open as soon as she's perfect and not a second before. you obviously don't have anywhere to be, or you wouldn't still be here. just SHUT UP AND WAIT. But a grand reopening isn't all that owners Brandon Young and Evan Shannon have planned for their East End home. The pair have also been hard at work opening two additional projects: The Gift Horse Lounge and The Slice and Foam Co.. "The lounge will be a small neighborhood bar with good drinks and great prices," says Young of The Gift Horse, "as well as the best jukebox in H-town." And nearby, the pizzas at The Slice and Foam." Wonder Twin Powers, Activate! Form of...a Steakhouse! What do you get when you take two Houstonians most known for their magical meat powers and combine them into one powerhouse restaurant? CK's Steakhouse from Ronnie Killen and Ricky Craig. The steakhouse plans to open in Heights -- not too far from Hubcap Grill, owned by Craig, and will incorporate many of the techniques employed to great acclaim at Killen's Steakhouse in Pearland, owned by Killen. The new steakhouse serves, in a way, to replace the plans that Killen had to open an outpost of that popular Pearland restaurant -- plans which fell through when negotiations with the landlords at the proposed location (the site of the former Bedford and Stella Sola) didn't work out. According to Alison Cook at the Chronicle, CK's Steakhouse will offer "more adventurous dishes that don't necessarily play well at the Pearland location." Seconds, Please A planned second location of Coppa Ristorante Italiano in Rice Village brings an infusion of fresh blood to an area in which restaurants seemingly open and then stay open for life. But owners Charles Clark and Grant Cooper have even bigger plans for the restaurant in the long run, hinting to CultureMap's Sarah Rufca that they want Coppa to be the next Carrabba's. Another young restaurant with big plans for expansion (although probably not as big as Coppa's...yet) is Liberty Kitchen, which announced plans to move into the old Vida Sexy Tex-Mex space on San Felipe. In a press release, owners Lee Ellis and Lance Fegen called Liberty Kitchen Bar & Oysterette "a "big brother to the original Liberty Kitchen," and said that it "should be described as 'similar but not the same.'" And the brand-new, free-standing Facundo Cafe at 3713 Alba Road will soon offer an alternative to getting your breakfast taco and burger fix inside the car wash on Ella at the original Facundo Cafe. (Although, let's be honest -- isn't that part of the charm in the first place?) Makeovers in Montrose Two promising but underperforming spaces in Montrose are set to have strong new tenants from proven showrunners -- just what the area needs to continue dominating the rest of the city when it comes to the biggest and brightest new restaurants. Brooklyn Athletic Club plans to use the underused bocce ball court and welcoming outdoor space when it opens inside the former Zimm's Little Deck on Richmond. "It's like a country club where everyone is a member, minus the pretension, or an icehouse spun on its side and made more upscale," owner Shepard Ross -- a partner in Glass Wall and BRC Gastropub -- told CultureMap's Sarah Rufca. And in the old Nabi space, Pistolero's will be moving in soon. According to Eater Houston editor Eric Sandler, Pistolero's will offer "a menu of Latin and Mexican flavors that will delight and pair well with tequila and lime." It's owner is Shawn Bermudez, who also runs the popular Boondocks and Royal Oak bars just down the street and who is a partner in the equally popular Koagie Hots food truck. Serious Sushi MF Sushi, Houston's newest upscale sushi restaurant, could very well shake things up on the serious sushi scene. Chef Chris Kinjo operated MF Buckhead in Atlanta to much critical acclaim before moving to Houston this year. MF Sushi, located next door to Nazar's at Westheimer and Fountainview, is billing itself as "sushi tapas and lounge" and an "elite escape." And although the menu section of its Web site is still under construction, MF Izakaya says that it plans to offer "flown-in Japanese fish to almost-unattainable sake." Kinjo told Eater Houston in a long but worth-reading interview: "Every cut of fish, when I make sashimi, it's, literally, everything's aligned. It's like an architectural drawing. When I move, I'm thinking 10 steps ahead. It's a flow. I don't pause when I work. My head doesn't move. It's just my hands and my body. It's speed and accuracy. Trying to perfect everything." Watch out Uchi. MF Sushi is gunning for you. Follow Eating Our Words on Facebook and on Twitter @EatingOurWords Related Locations 903 Westheimer Houston, TX 77006 924 Congress St. Houston, TX 77002 706 Main St. Houston, TX 77002 908 Congress Ave. Houston, TX 77002 No address listed Houston, TX 77019 No address listed Houston, TX 77006 No address listed Houston, TX 77007 807 Taft St. Houston, TX 77019 1221 W. 11th St. Houston, TX 77008 2220 Bevis St. Houston, TX 77008 3004 Canal Houston, TX 77003 https: 5555 Washington Houston, TX 77007 1050 Studewood St. Houston, TX 77008 4224 San Felipe St. Houston, TX 77027 3103 Ella Houston, TX 77018 601 Richmond Ave. Houston, TX 77006 601 Richmond Ave. Houston, TX 77006 5887 Westheimer Road Houston, TX 77057 Get the Food & Drink Newsletter Our weekly guide to Houston dining includes food news and reviews, as well as dining events and interviews with chefs and restaurant owners. Sponsor Content

NEW." The vote was reported in The New York Times. Columbia is the latest in a string of Ivy League schools to consider overtures to ROTC following the repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which many universities considered discriminatory. Harvard University officials announced last month that they would formally recognize the Naval ROTC 40 years after the program was banned, and Yale and Brown universities are considering lifting their bans. ROTC has units at more than 300 campuses nationwide. Columbia banned ROTC in 1969 amid student outrage over the Vietnam War. The move came during a period of campus unrest that included student strikes and the occupation of a main academic building. Militant members of Columbia's chapter of Students for a Democratic Society helped form the radical Weathermen. At least one former Weatherman was critical of Columbia's decision to bring ROTC back. "The U.S. armed forces are a blight on the planet," Brian Flanagan told the Times. "I don't support soldiers – I think they're war criminals. So obviously, I'm against ROTC coming back." Columbia's University Senate, which helps set university policy, voted 53 to 10 six years ago to keep ROTC out. The decisive issue this time was the repeal of the military's ban on openly gay service members.

"Don has a disagreement with a client; Pete entertains a guest; Peggy tries to motivate the staff." That's the official synopsis for Mad Men Season 6, Episode 3, "The Collaborators" -- remember, last week's season premiere was actually Episodes 1-2 aired back-to-back in a two-hour special -- and if you're a Mad Men fan, you're used to such cryptic previews from Matthew Weiner and crew. But don't despair! We've got the scoop on what to expect from tonight's Mad Men episode, "The Collaborators." And be sure to read our Mad Men Season 6 Episode 1-2 Recap to catch up on all the premiere details before Episode 3 airs tonight at 10 p.m. ET. CLICK HERE To Read Our Mad Men Season 6, Episode 3, "The Collaborators" Recap! Mad Men Season 6 Episode 3 was directed by Jon Hamm, and from his comments on the experience we gather this episode is going to give us a nice dose of Pete Campbell -- and the return of Trudy! "I actually had an incredible scene that I directed with [Vincent Kartheiser] and Alison Brie, where I was like, 'I could shoot this all day,'" Hamm dished. "It was a long scene and it was a lot of story in the scene but it was like a little one-act play. I felt bad that they were both so good that we didn't have to do it 100 times. They're both such wonderful actors that I could go to each one and say, 'OK do the thing that you did where you're not quite that way and a little more this way,' and then watch them play off each other. I was like, 'Let's do this all day! This is great!' That's Vincent. And Alison as well. Vincent, his creation of Pete Campbell is ever evolving and for my money always interesting." RELATED ARTICLE: Mad Men Season 6 Premiere Recap: Don Draper Back To Bad Habits With Death On His Mind More Mad Men Season 6, Episode 3 hints have come from Christina Hendricks, who plays fan favorite Joan Harris (neé Holloway). Season 5 held a lot of drama for Joan, who kicked her loser surgeon husband to the curb after he volunteered to go back to Vietnam without consulting her, and later gave in to requests by certain SCDP partners and slept with an important business ally to help them land a deal with Jaguar. In exchange for such a drastic compromise in Joan's pride and principles, she demanded to be made partner. The Mad Men premiere gave barely a glimpse of Joan, disappointing scores of fans who have been eagerly awaiting the continuation of her storyline. But given Hendricks' comments on her experience working with Jon Hamm as director, we're confident we'll get more Joan in "The Collaborators." And Hendricks' comments on what's next for Joan are mighty encouraging! "We definitely are exploring the fact that we have seen her all of a sudden become partner and what that means," Hendricks said. ." Of course, these are the same questions we had leading up to the Mad Men Season 6 premiere -- and Episode 1-2 didn't do much to answer them. Last week's two-hour special revolved around Don Draper's melancholy and anxiety. For the first ten minutes of the episode, which opened with Don and Megan on a Christmas-season vacation in Waikiki, Draper said nothing as his young wife pranced and chattered around him. As Megan danced the hula and hit the boardwalk to pick up some reefer to stash in her bikini bottoms, Don slouched around with a zombie gaze. He seemed bitterly unhappy throughout the episode, making conversation only as necessary (other than his strange bromantic efforts with a surgeon in his building, whose wife Don turned out to be boinking). Near the end of the episode, Don pitched an ad campaign to the hotel that had sponsored his Hawaii vacation which showed footsteps leading into the surf and the tagline "Hawaii: The Jumping Off Point." NEW EPISODE: CLICK HERE To Watch Mad Men Season 6, Episode 4 "To Have and To Hold" Live Stream And Read Spoilers! The client, Don's SCDP colleagues, and large swaths of viewers at home interpreted hints of suicide in the ad. The hotel people called it "morbid," and Don was left going back to the drawing board. The episode wrapped up with the revelation that Don was cheating on Megan with the surgeon's wife, starting the New Year with a roll in the hay. That Don's still a cheater didn't shock anyone, but there was something surprising about the scene where Don lies in the dark next to his latest mistress: He seems utterly miserable. When the lovely lady asks what Don wants for the new year, Don replies, "I wanna stop doing this." We wonder if he'll be able to accomplish that before Megan finds out. Megan might not be a fan favorite, but her character has always been pretty sharp when it comes to catching on to Don Draper's bad habits. In Season 5, the newest Mrs. Draper never hesitated to call Don out for coming home late or failing to respect her wishes, resulting in a few major blow-ups of a kind we never saw between Don and Betty. What's going to happen if Megan finds out Don's been sleeping with the neighbor? Mad Men "The Doorway" seemed to set the stage for another season of misery and death themes, but Weiner has hinted that this may not exactly be the case. The creator of Mad Men even (ostensibly) rejected the suicide interpretation of Draper's hotel ad, and seemed to imply that Don's creative genius of early seasons is not only back, but bigger than ever. "When you look at this ad, the audience is going to know this is a good ad, and by the 1970s there are a lot of ads like this," Weiner said. "But the agency is going to have to pitch this to the client for eight years before they do it." And as for Don Draper's newest affair, Weiner said, ." Does that put Season 6 Don Draper on a path to redemption as he looks for new ways to satisfy his melancholy and reconcile his identity crisis, or will he simply fade away as his old coping mechanisms lose their potency? We think it could go either way at this point. Hopefully, "The Collaborators" will make it clearer which route we're taking. As for what's in store for Peggy Olson in Mad Men Season 6, Episode 3, one of the photos from "The Collaborators" released by AMC has us excited. This one is really worth a thousand words: Peggy stands tall in what looks like one of her best outfits yet and that sophisticated new bob (no girlish flip-curls in 1968!), her chin up and her hands on her hips. She looks determined to lay down the law, and we can't wait to see it happened. One of the best moments of Mad Men "The Doorway" was when she passed a sub sandwich to her underachieving staff and told them to split it, "because you're not leaving tonight." Ha! Betty Francis, Don Draper's ex-wife, got plenty of camera time in the premiere. The icy blonde had slimmed down since Season 5, but wasn't quite back to her old Grace Kelly physique of Seasons 1-4. Betty gave us some of the strangest surprises in "The Doorway," dropping by the Village to slum it with the "hippies" (more "street rats" than the San Francisco flower children usually depicted in '60s-centric media) in a slovenly squat as she looked for a young girl who'd been staying with the Francis family. It was fun to see Betty interacting with the young radicals, helping them make goulash with their stolen groceries and snarking it out with the leader of the pack over her bourgeois background. By the end of the episode, Betty had dyed her signature blonde hair to a dark, dark brown. The times, they are a-changin'! Be sure to read our recap after the episode and share your thoughts in the comments! CLICK HERE To Read Our Recap Of Mad Men Season 6, Episode 3 "The Collaborators" To watch Mad Men Season 6, Episode 3 "The Collaborators," tune into AMC at 10:00 p.m. ET. Mad Men is also available for live streaming free online HERE, but please be advised that it isn't legal, and you should use it at your own risk. iDesign Times cannot be responsible for anything that occurs outside of this web domain.

At the end of May 2015, Ahmed Khalil of Al Ahli Dubaï and United Arab Emirates tops the list of The World’s Best Top Goalscorer 2015 with 9 goals. Khalil scored 5 goals for his club in AFC Champions League and 4 goals for the National Team of UAE. He is followed by 3 players with 8 goals : Argentine Gustavo Bou of Racing Club de Avellaneda, Brazilian Ricardo Goulart of Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao and Macedonian Riste Naumov of Ayeyawady United, each of them having scored 8 goals only with his club in continental cups. 31 players with Carlos Bacca (Colombia/Sevilla FC), Neymar (Brazil/FC Barcelona) or Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Real Madrid CF), scored 5 or more goals. By nationality, 10 come from CONMEBOL, 10 from AFC, 7 from UEFA, 3 from CAF and 1 from OFC. By club football, 15 play in AFC, 8 in UEFA, 5 in CONMEBOL and 1 in each of CONCACAF, CAF and OFC. Argentina is the country with the most players (4), followed by Brazil, Spain and UAE (2 each).

989 Sports' NCAA Final Four 2001 and NCAA GameBreaker made it to stores today. The only college basketball and football games available yet for the PlayStation 2, Final Four delivers 60 fps of motion-captured animation and commentary from ESPN's Quinn Buckner, while GameBreaker features more motion-captured animation and announcer Keith Jackson. "NCAA Final Four 2001 is the only way to enjoy intense, true-to-life college hoops on the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system," said Ami Blaire, director, product marketing, Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. "The 989 Sports team has utilized the PlayStation 2 system's power to crank up the college realism through detailed players, arenas and animations plus school-specific fight songs and chants that offer the intensity and true spirit of Final Four tourney action." "NCAA GameBreaker 2001 for the PlayStation captures the true spirit of college sports," said Ami Blaire, director, product marketing, Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. "From its graphics and gameplay, the inclusion of realistic elements such as all 115 Division I-A programs, and the play-by-play call of broadcast icon Keith Jackson, NCAA GameBreaker 2001 transports gamers right into the college action, bringing them closer to the real thing than ever before." Both NCAA Final Four 2001 and NCAA GameBreaker 2001 are available in stores now. You must be logged in to post a comment.blog comments powered by Disqus

Over the Thanksgiving break, Copenhagen-based development studio Zero Point software announced that it is currently working on a brand new first-person shooter for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Windows PC platforms. The first of a planned trilogy and game known as "Project IM" will be steeped heavily in science-fiction lore and focus on co-op gameplay and realistic mechanics. As is the trend with next-gen shooters, Project IM will also utilize Epic's Unreal Engine 3 technology and is currently in the pre-development and negotiation phase (re: it's in need of a publisher). Additional gameplay details are pretty scarce. Though it is known that the storyline is set far into a "believable future" where players assume the role of a newly-enlisted Special Forces soldier armed to the teeth with weapons, armor, and gadgetry. Moreover, up to four simultaneous players will be able to participate cooperatively and missions will be randomized and non-linear. Tactical and role-playing elements are also expected. To view the first demo trailer for yourself, just click on the media page below. There are a handful of new screenshots to go along with it, and Zero Point expects to release a full three-minute concept trailer in Q1 2006. Check back for more as it develops. You must be logged in to post a comment.blog comments powered by Disqus

Intro (Revision 108) The Bonfire When the narrator has finished piping your intrest, cycle through the seven characters, hearing each of their backstories and hopes for the cave. It is important to note that the three characters you choose will trigger character specific levels for their particular wants and needs. However the levels inbetween these character dependent trials, such as the mine carts, are experienced within all playthroughs regardless of the character choices for your party. Select your chosen character and use the left analog stick to venture to your right. Using the interaction button, pick up the crowbar once it is highlighted (this is possible once the name of any interacted object appears). Take the opposite path from the beginning and head on the left past the other characters. Once the barricade is highlighted, interact three times on the boards to clear the path forward. Once finished, DONT DROP THE CROWBAR! You will be needing it again shortly. Make your way left, getting used to the various controls the game has to offer (action/interact, powers, jump, drop item). Once you passed through that first barricade obstacle, you registered your character as the first party member. This allows you to use the directional buttons to choose your second member and take them through, and following that same sequence your final member. Head on down the tunnel until you come across a large, non-climbable ledge. Go right here and using the action button on the crate to move it under this ledge. As the narrator humorously suggests, you will need three individuals here to break the bridge and venture onward. So go ahead and place all three party members on the bridge. This will cause the bridge to break, leading to the gift shop! Top Wiki Contributors Need assistance with editing this wiki? Check out these resources:

Danish architect Henriette Vamberg. Picture: ADAM McLEAN Parking in Wollongong's city centre needs to be rarer and even more expensive to truly revitalise the town, a leading international planner says. Danish "city expert" and urban planner Henriette Vamberg has been visiting Wollongong for the past week to work with the council to make the city more liveable, and some of her ideas may surprise residents who regularly complain about the city's lack of free parking. Hailing from Gehl Architects - the Copenhagen firm which has helped unclog New York's polluted streets, rebuild shaken Christchurch and transform Melbourne's laneways - Ms Vamberg spoke about a number of lessons from other cities at a public forum held at the Wollongong Town Hall this week. Her strongest message: people should walk or ride, not drive in the city centre. A cyclist navigates the streets of Copenhagen, where bike riding is encouraged. "One of the fundamental principles in Copenhagen is that everyone should be able to walk or bicycle in the city centre, and that should be an integrated way of moving," she said. "This deals very much with how to make a lively city, because the more we can see faces outside, the more we feel that the city is populated." "It's about having people visible outside." To provide parking for out-of-town visitors, the Copenhagen council established parking stations outside the city. But, in a move that would have Wollongong residents up in arms, the council raises fees when the parking stations have less than a 5 per cent vacancy to force people to use bikes or public transport. Making parking more expensive may be on the cards. As a result, former parking lots have been transformed into active cafe and restaurant strips, and bike use overtook cars several years ago. The streets are full of bike lanes to make it easy for cyclists to get through the city, and rush-hour lanes allow those riding at a constant 20 kilometres per hour to skip traffic lights completely. While these policies have had striking effects on the health of Copenhagen's citizens and environment - the city saves more than $385 million in health costs each year - Ms Vamberg said this was not why people chose to ride. "Riding is just a way of getting around now, it's nothing to brag about or tell your friends about and you don't have to wear spandex to do it," she said. "People in Copenhagen ride their bikes in summer and even in the dead of winter - so when people say it's too windy, it's too hilly, it's too hot, it's too cold, I just show them these pictures of people riding through the snow. "We had to evaluate what we wanted, do we want to drive into the city centre in a car or do we actually want a city with more space for people?" Wollongong residents advocating for Crown Street Mall to be reopened to traffic may also be surprised by Ms Vamberg's philosophies, which have helped transform Copenhagen from an almost bankrupt and traffic-clogged CBD to a prospering city of open, bustling pedestrian squares. "When the first pedestrian-only street was made in the 1960s, the businesses didn't want it," she said. "But then retailers from other areas started saying they wanted a pedestrian street as well, because they could see the benefits because people were moving slowly through the city and stopping at the stores. "When all this first started in 1962, people said 'we're not Italians, we don't spend time outside drinking coffee all the time'." "But now we say, 'well, we're more Italian than the Italians', because we are so eager to get outdoors." Gehl Architects used similar principles to help revitalise New York's CBD about five years ago, turning traffic-jammed streets like Times Square, Madison Square or Ninth Avenue into pedestrian squares and bicycle lanes. At first, businesses paid to paint the lanes and squares on to the New York roadways but the difference in trade was so profound that the city voted to keep the changes permanently. "There was an 84 per cent increase in stationary activities in Times Square, so businesses are performing better and have increased turnover," she said. "It's been good for economics and good for quality of life." For those who protest that Copenhagen and New York are very different to Wollongong, Ms Vamberg offers the case study of Malmo. Many Wollongong residents may not have heard of the former industrial centre rapidly transforming into a cosmopolitan town, but Ms Vamberg says Sweden's third-largest city has plenty to teach us. Malmo has a population of about 350,000 people, and - like Wollongong - is a satellite city located a 45-minute commute across the bridge to Copenhagen, and previously an industrial centre. "But, now that the industry has started leaving, it is building up an education workforce who want liveability, quality of life and more leisure time." Industrial land is being redeveloped, with one section of the city will house 20,000 extra people and 10,000 more university students over the next 30 years. So far the buildings have been designed by 17 developers and 21 architects to ensure heights and designs are diverse. This has resulted in large and small apartments, allowing people to move between blocks and live in the city from their student days, as professionals and into old age. The lack of cars in the city squares and a large amount of pedestrian activity in parks and promenades means the city centre is safe because of passive surveillance, and wind generators and solar panels make it completely self sufficient for power. Related reading Wollongong Hospital parking angst More parking meters pop up in CBD UOW students shut out residents Thirroul station parking 'solution'

INTERVIEW: IMAX Sees No Slowdown in China, Seeks More Local Films By Aaron Back on September 20, 2012 - films on its giant, high-resolution screens--a hedge against Chinese regulators' practice of imposing blackout periods on screenings of foreign films, Mr. Gelfond told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview. IMAX's box-office revenue per screen in China was up 30% in the first half from a year earlier, he said. The company collects a percentage of box-office receipts from both cinemas and studios for films shown on its jumbo screens, for which moviegoers pay a premium. "I haven't seen any evidence at all of consumers losing the appetite to spend the incremental money to see an IMAX film," Mr. Gelfond said. The number of IMAX screens in China is set to grow by about 50% this year, to more than 100 from around 70 at the end of 2011. IMAX has contracts to build a further 140, which would bring the total in China to around 240, compared with around 350 in the U.S., Mr. Gelfond said. Read the entire article on The Wall Street Journal's website.

Most Popular Titles With Shaquille O'Neal - Job Types - Movies or TV - Genres - Keywords - IMDb Rating - Instant Watch Options - In Theaters - On TV - Release Year,695,27678 4.,118 5. Saturday Night Live (1975– ) TV-14 | 90 min | Comedy, Music The classic late night live sketch comedy show. Creator: Lorne Michaels | Stars: Don Pardo, Lenny Pickett, Darrell Hammond, Seth Meyers Votes: 29,914: 58,245: 227,555 9.64 10.,603 12.: 85,95636,890 17., Vince McMahon, Jim Ross Votes: 4,749 Votes: 2,802 20., Gustavo Carr, Emme Rylan Votes: 12,741 21. In Living Color (1990–1994) 30 min | Comedy An afro-american focused comedy sketch show. Creator: Keenen Ivory Wayans | Stars: Keenen Ivory Wayans, Jim Carrey, Kelly Coffield Park, David Alan Grier Votes: 6,519 22.,471 23.. Uncle Grandpa (2010– ) TV-PG | 15 min | Animation, Comedy, Fantasy The misadventures of a magical uncle and grandpa to everyone in the world and his friends. Creators: Peter Browngardt, Katie Krentz | Stars: Peter Browngardt, Kevin Michael Richardson, Eric Bauza, Adam DeVine Votes: 2,30746 Mychal Smith Votes: 6,615 31.: 19,122 32.,628 33. Votes: 8,931 34.,012,888 38. Comedy Central Roast of Justin Bieber (2015 TV Special) Comedy Several roasters, and the master himself Kevin Hart, make fun of Justin Bieber. Writers: Benji Aflalo, Josh Comers, Michael Ferrucci, Jesse Joyce, Chris McGuire, Vanessa Ramos, George Reinblatt, Michael Rowe, Kevin Schini, Frank Sebastiano | Stars: Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart, Natasha Leggero, Justin Bieber Votes: 1,71932: 20,596 43. 45. Votes: 18,989 Votes: 15,714 49. Rebound (2005) PG | 103 min | Comedy, Family, Sport An acclaimed college basketball,837 50.,013

By Eric Kohn | Indiewire April 26, 2011 at 6:25AM Richard Kuchera, the supremely flawed subject of Joshua Neale's documentary "Despicable Dick and Righteous Richard," has a personality ready-made for the movies. A recovering alcoholic attempting to make up with everyone affected by his behavior, the North Dakota resident is a tragically slapstick figure, doomed to continually screw up no matter how sincerely he tries to correct his life. After half a century of shameless alcoholic binges, audacious con jobs and relentless philandering with little regard for the various friends and relatives he wounded along the way, Kuchera has spent a dozen years stuck on steps eight and nine of a 12-step recovery program. Those two notches require that he make amends with the long list of people he has wronged, which proves no easy feat. As he travels around, meeting with sons, daughters, ex-wives and old girlfriends, nobody gives Kuchera an easy out -- including Kuchera himself. Shot in a verité style with a folksy soundtrack that underscores the man's dwindling carefree outlook, the movie puts secular redemption under the microscope, using Kuchera's journey as its singularly amusing case study. Kuchera falls in line with a variety of existing screen characters, both real and fictional. His sloppy shot at redemption resembles the setup of "My Name is Earl," while his apparent inability to recognize his continuing misdeeds calls to mind Kenny Powers, the bumbling star of HBO's "Eastbound and Down." Primarily, though, Kuchera bears a marked similarity to Jack Rebney, the crotchety real-life focus of last year's "Winnebago Man." Like Rebney, the 69-year-old Kuchera has a dark, murky past and wears a constant look of regret. Both men are at once hilarious and sad manifestations of their many mistakes. However, while Rebney became an unlikely celebrity when a tape of his angry outbursts went viral, Kuchera is a nobody with nothing at stake except for his personal satisfaction, which calls his motives into question. "He's not capable of feeling empathy for other people," Kuchera's second wife says, an observation illustrated by a scene in the middle of his cross-country mea culpa, when he insists on taking his wife to a strip club on his 69th birthday, despite her constant protests. "I like a lot of my wrong behaviors," he sighs. Neale's main asset is an ability to capture these painfully intimate asides. As Kuchera recalls his devilish track record, which includes spousal abuse and relentless infidelity, he often sobs. He's either legitimately good-intentioned or wishes he could be. (At one point, he tries to give advice to his current flame's rebellious teenage son, and awkwardly strikes out.) Those witnessing Kuchera's apparent remorse debate the ramifications of feeling bad for him: "It's so easy to be negative about what our old man has done," says one of Kuchera's sons, praising his behavior for being boldly antiestablishment. Viewers can watch Kuchera decide for themselves whether this argument has merit. After a while, Kuchera's constant chatter with his estranged community grows tiresome. Because the improvement of his behavior is never complete, Neale can't find a satisfying end to his story. Having explored the scenario and the psychological intricacies of its compelling antihero, "Despicable Dick" never arrives at a firm conclusion, but the journey is fascinating precisely because of that. HOW WILL IT PLAY? If embraced by the world of addiction recovery, "Despicable Dick" could have a healthy life in limited release, possibly aided by strong grassroots efforts that bring the movie to audiences who can identify with Kuchera's plight. criticWIRE grade: B+

Lucero with Rocky Votolato and Drag the River Trio Cat's Cradle, Carrboro Thursday, Nov. 16, 9 p.m. Tickets: $10-$12 "You used to love me/ A drunkard running wild in the streets/ C'mon baby, what else would you have me be?" Lucero frontman Ben Nichols has never shied from a good tune about booze or women. In fact, those topics constitute the bulk of the band's repertoire, but the calloused crooner has more to offer than whiskey hymns and broken-heart ballads: He's earnest, honest and, most importantly, consistent. Like a sturdier, Southern-reared Westerberg, Nichols has shaped Lucero into the quintessential American rock 'n' roll band, less interested with excessive experimentation than the strength of his songs. While Lucero's alt-country peers in Drive-By Truckers and partners in crime Against Me! constantly strive to reinvent themselves, Lucero slowly perfects its individual science. You know, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. That tradition is built on its own history: Lucero formed in 1998 in the wake of Nichols' previous Schwarzenbachian escapade, Red 40. Allowing his predisposition for the Man in Black to take over, the Tennessee-via-Arkansas punker began scavenging Memphis bars and bands for likeminded musicians. He found them, resulting in 2000's recently reissued Attack Tapes LP and the My Best Girl 7" (complete with Jawbreaker cover). Both helped push the group to the foreground of the underground rock scene. They've been there ever since. Unable to break beyond the perennial next-big-thing tag they've held for the past half-decade, Lucero continues to do the things that seemingly work best for them: eat, sleep, drink, tour, drink, record and drink. A steady diet of the Southern-rock life grants Nichols the comfort in his songs, regardless of accompaniment; sometimes it's a mandolin, sometimes it's an organ, but it's always Nichols. i love WXYC, except fpr the low power, hillsborough hardley gets it, metaphorically speaking. the sound quality is horrible. can … almost as good a my son, nique No recently-read stories.

[tag: science] Before considering the phenotypic effects of the so-called albino or c-series of alleles (chromosome 7) it should be emphasized that although albinism is epistatic to all other coat-color determinants, i.e., all mice, regardless of genotype, lack pigment in the presence of c/c ( Plate 2-A), albino mice nevertheless possess a full complement of pigment cells. Thus the inability of albino animals to produce pigment stems not from an absence of melanocytes, as is the case for white spotting, but from a deficiency and/or alteration of the structure of tyrosinase in melanocytes which are otherwise normal. Evidence that albino animals possess a nonfunctioning population of melanocytesappropriately known as "amelanotic melanocytes"stems from a variety of observations, most of which were made in the mouse. When the hair bulbs of albino mice are examined histologically and compared with those originating from white-spotted areas, they are strikingly different. Whereas the hair bulbs of white-spotted areas are characterized by matrices consisting of regularly arranged cells of equal size, (Figures 3-10 and 3-11), albino hair bulbs contain, in addition, many large "clear" cells in their upper bulb region ( Chase and Rauch, 1950; Silvers, 1956) ( Figure 3-12a). Since these large cells with an apparently hyaline cytoplasm are similar in morphology and location to the pigment-containing cells found in lightly pigmented phenotypes ( Figure 3-12b), they are considered to be amelanotic melanocytes ( Silvers, 1956). Further evidence for this conclusion stems from the observation that the experimentally depigmented melanocytes of black and yellow mice maintained on a biotin-deficient diet are indistinguishable from the clear cells of albinos, though they retain their dopa-positive character ( Quevedo, 1956). Moreover, both clear cells and melanocytes exhibit similar sensitivities to X-rays. Thus, when the skin of albino mice in the resting stage of hair growth is exposed to 1200 r of irradiation, a dose known to destroy almost completely the melanocyte population in resting hairs of pigmented animals ( Chase, 1949; Chase and Rauch, 1950), there is a marked destruction of follicular clear cells ( Quevedo, 1957). This similar radiosensitivity of clear cells and melanocytes, added to the morphological evidence noted above, indicate further that clear cells are in fact amelanotic melanocytes. This conclusion was substantiated again when it was demonstrated that clear cells, like melanocytes, are derived from the neural crest. The neural crest originates embryologically between the junction of the neural tube and its overlying ectoderm and is initially continuous from head to tail. As development proceeds, however, its constituent cells migrate ventrolaterally on either side of the spinal cord and at the same time become segmentally clustered (see Chapter 1, note 3). In the mouse this anterior to posterior and mediolateral migration of neural crest cells, from their place of origin to their definitive positions, takes place between the eighth and twelfth day of embryonic development (the gestation in mouse is about 20 days), as demonstrated in the classic experiments of Rawles ( 1940, 1947, 1953). Thus, by transplanting tissues derived from various regions of C57BL/6 mouse embryos of different ages to the coelom of the chick embryo, Rawles was able to demonstrate that only those explants which included cells of neural crest origin produced melanocytes. She found neural crest cells to be confined to the region of the neural tube in 8.5- to 9-day-old embryos and only when this region was included in grafts of this age did melanocytes develop. By approximately 11 days of age, however, she found that cells of neural crest origin had made their way into almost all regions of the body so that skin ectoderm and adhering mesoderm removed from almost any level of the trunk (but not from the limb buds) produced pigmented hairs when transplanted to the chick coelom. Limb buds receive migrating melanoblasts between the eleventh and twelfth days of gestation and only at this time did limb-bud ectoderm and adhering mesoderm give rise to pigmented hairs. Once this "timetable" for the migratory pathway of neural crest cells was established, and it was substantiated that the melanocytes of pigmented animals were derived from these cells, it was easy to demonstrate that they likewise differentiated into the clear cell or putative amelanotic melanocyte population of albino animals. This was accomplished by showing that hair bulbs in the skin of grafts which differentiated from albino embryo explants possessed clear cells only when the explant was known to contain cells of neural crest origin ( Silvers, 1958c) (Figure 3-13a and d). Indeed, the fact that the hair bulbs of skin known to be deprived of its neural crest component were indistinguishable from those normally originating in white-spotted areas (Figure 3-13b and c) provided the strongest evidence that white spotting resulted from an absence of melanocytes, pigmented or otherwise ( Silvers, 1958c). 10 When one considers that the albino mutation was already known and maintained in mice in Greek and Roman times, and, in fact was the first mammalian trait to be analyzed following the rediscovery of Mendel's principles ( Cúenot, 1902; Castle and Allen, 1903), it is somewhat surprising that descriptions of other c-locus mutations are of much more recent vintage. The second mutation to be recorded at this locus, ce (for extreme dilution), was fist described in 1921 by Detlefsen. 11 The mutant animal was caught in a corn crib in Illinois and on a first and cursory examination gave the appearance of being a slightly stained or dirty black-eyed white. The animal darkened with age however and eventually acquired a brownish shade, "a little lighter than an ordinary pink-eyed brown with a slight dull yellowish cast" ( Detlefsen, 1921). Examination of the hair revealed no clear evidence of an agouti pattern, the base of the hair being light and the apical portion being pigmented. The ventral surface of the mutant was noticeably lighter than the dorsum and dark pigment was quite pronounced in the skin of the ears and scrotum. Detlefsen also observed that the eyes of mutant animals at birth were somewhat less heavily pigmented than the wild type and that this difference persisted for some time. The eyes of adult animals were, however, very similar in color to those of intensely pigmented mice. Detlefsen demonstrated quite clearly that this mutation was a c-locus allele and that it expressed itself when heterozygous with albinism. ce/c mice (on a nonagouti background) are roughly intermediate in color between ce and c homozygotes and, although the amount of pigment in their eyes is reduced from normal, they nevertheless have enough pigment to make them appear black-eyed on superficial inspection ( Grüneberg, 1952). The ce allele when combined with lethal yellow ( Ay) completely removes all phaeomelanin and consequently Ay/;ce/ce and Ay/;ce/c mice are blackeyed white. a/a;ce/ce mice can be described as pale brown and A/;ce/ce animals, the genotype described by Detlefsen, are significantly lighter as a consequence of the fact that the yellow band of the agouti hair is completely diluted out. Almost immediately after ce was found and described, Feldman ( 1922) recorded another c-locus allele which he designated cr (for ruby-eyed) but which has come to be known as chinchilla ( cch). This mutation, which is higher on the scale than ce, was procured from a fancier. It too has a more drastic effect on reducing the intensity of phaeomelanin than eumelanin. Thus, as described by Feldman ( 1922) "the black agouti type of the homozygous mutant possesses black pigment which is reduced to a very dark dull slate-color, while yellow is greatly reduced and appears about intermediate between white and the normal yellow of the wild type." a/a;B/B;cch/cch animals are readily distinguishable from phenotypically gray A/A;B/B;cch/cch ( Plate 2-B) and are best described as a medium shade of sepia. Ay/;B/;cch/cch mice are a faint cream or ivory-color. When the black agouti type of the mutant is heterozygous for albinism ( A/;B/;cch/c), the eumelanin pigment is further reduced to a brownish shade while the yellow band is reduced almost to white. Thus a/a;B/;cch/c mice are a dull brown color, a little lighter than the typical chocolate ( a/a;b/b) phenotype. One of the most interesting features of the cch mutation, and one to which we will return ( Section D), is that while as noted above it drastically reduces phaeomelanin production, and significantly reduces the expression of black pigment, it does not influence the deposition of brown pigment [a dilution of brown ( b/b) pigment starts only with cch/c and is progressively more severe in ce/ce and ce/c genotypes, respectively ( Grüneberg, 1952)]. Thus a/a;b/b;cch/cch and a/a;b/b;cch/ce are virtually indistinguishable from a/a;b/b;C/C animals.). 12 A fifth allele in the albino series was also described by Feldman ( 1935) and was known as intense chinchilla ( ci). As far as I am aware, this mutation is no longer available. The mutation, which represented the most intense of the series below C, as first noted in a chinchilla stock. When homozygous this allele had such a very slight affect on the synthesis of black pigment that it was not possible to distinguish a/a;B/;ci/ci mice from a/a;B/;C/ animals with certainty. On the other hand, in accord with the other alleles at the locus, it had a more pronounced influence on phaeomelanin diluting the intense yellow pigment characteristic of C/C genotypes to a pale ocherous yellow color, bordering on a lemon tint ( Feldman, 1935). Because ci/ci had very little, if any, influence on black pigment and a less drastic effect on yellow than the lower alleles of the series, A/;B/;ci/ci animals appeared to be not very different from the wild type. Intense chinchilla like the other members of the series was phenotypically completely recessive to full color, at least on a nonagouti background. It also displayed incomplete dominance over the lower alleles of the series. The effects which the c-series of alleles considered above have in the presence of nonagouti ( a/a), lethal yellow ( Ay/), and pink-eyed dilution ( p/p) are summarized in Table 3-2. Inasmuch as p/p has a drastic effect on eumelanin synthesis, but little influence on phaeomelanin production (see Chapter 4, Section II, A), while these c-series alleles reduce yellow pigment more than black, it is not surprising that Ay/;ci/ci and A/A;ci/ci;p/p mice are significantly lighter than a/a;ci/ci animals and that Ay/;cch/cch and A/A;cch/cch;p/p genotypes are lighter than a/a;cch/cch mice. Indeed, these interactions are especially conspicuous on a black-and-tan ( at/) background where one can compare the effects of these genes on eumelanin and phaeomelanin production in the same host. In 1964 a mouse slightly different from an albino was observed in an AKR ( a/a;c/c) x DBA/2J ( a/a;b/b;d/d) litter. At maturity this animal had pink eyes and a coat a shade darker than albino with a luster or sheen. Breeding tests revealed that it carried a mutant allele at the c-locus which was named "platinum" and designated cp. a/a;B/;cp/cp animals are lighter than the corresponding ce/ce genotype and have pink eyes. a/a;cp/c heterozygotes have a phenotype intermediate between cp/cp and albinism ( Dickie, 1966a). The most interesting feature of this mutation is its expression in lethal yellow mice. Inasmuch as cp/cp has a more drastic effect on eumelanin than ce/ce and the latter produces black-eyed whites in combination with Ay/, one might expect Ay/a;cp/cp mice likewise to be white but with pink-eyes, i.e., indistinguishable from true albinos. However, this is not the case for while such animals have pink-eyes they nevertheless are pigmented, resembling a/a;cp/cp but with a definite yellowish tinge ( Plate 2-C) (Poole and Silvers, unpublished). 13 This mutation is therefore enigmatic in that it has a greater influence than ce/ce in inhibiting eumelanin synthesis but a less drastic effect than ce/ce in inhibiting eumelanin synthesis but a less drastic effect than ce/ce on phaeomelanin production. Inasmuch as mutant genes which produce light or white body fur and dark extremities are common in mammals, e.g., the Himalayan rabbit, Siamese cat, "albino" guinea pig, and "partial albino" hamster, and the mutation responsible for this phenotype appears in all cases to be one of an allelic series similar to the c-series in mice, it is surprising that it has been only within the last two decades that a "himalayan" mutation has been recorded in mice. 14 The deviant animals occurred also in an AKR/J ( a/a;c/c) x DBA/2J ( a/a;b/b;d/d) litter and breeding tests confirmed that a mutation at the c-locus, appropriately designated "himalayan" (ch), was responsible for its phenotype ( M.C. Green, 1961). According to M.C. Green ( 1961) a/a;ch/ch mice ( Plate 2-D) "are indistinguishable from albinos at birth. At about one week of age they are slightly darker than albinos, particularly on the tail. The juvenile coat, when fully grown, is pale tan with little evidence of darkening of the extremities except on the tail. The body color may be uniform or may be slightly lighter across the shoulders and darker toward the tail. At the first molt the nose, ears, tail and scrotum, but not the feet, become considerably darker, and the rest of the body becomes lighter. The dark hair on the nose extends back to about the anterior border of the eyes. The body fur, both dorsal and ventral, is lightest on the anterior half of the body and darkens gradually from the middle of the body back to the tail. There is often a particularly dark ring of body fur next to the tail and the skin of the scrotum may be very dark. The ears are darkest on their anterior border. The feet never become dark as they do in the Himalayan rabbit. At subsequent molts the body may become somewhat lighter and the extremities darker, but there is considerable variation." Green also notes that "the eyes of ch/ch mice are not pigmented at birth but become darker with age, and are ruby colored at weaning." Of course the most interesting feature of the himalayan mouse is that, like the Himalayan rabbit ( Schultz, 1915) and Siamese cat ( N. Iljin and V. Iljin, 1930), its ability to produce melanin is promoted by low temperatures ( M.C. Green, 1961; Coleman, 1962; Moyer, 1966). When heterozygous with albinism, himalayan ( ch/c) mice are indistinguishable at birth from either c/c or ch/ch homozygotes (they all lack pigment). Within about a week, however, they develop a very pale buff phenotype which is roughly intermediate between the color of ch/ch and albino mice. Moreover, this intermediate level of pigmentation persists since the extremities of ch/c mice never become as dark as in ch/ch animals. The expression of an intermediate level of pigmentation also occurs when ch is heterozygous with ce and cch. On an agouti background, ch/ce mice are dark eyed from birth with a pale coat which subsequently darkens at its extremities. Consequently the extremities of the adult heterozygotes are darker than the extremities of the corresponding ce/ce homozygote, but lighter than the extremities of ch/ch mice. On the other hand, the rest of the body displays a level of pigmentation lighter than A/;ce/ce but darker than A/;ch/ch adult mice ( M.C. Green, 1961). cch/ch heterozygotes are significantly lighter than cch/cch animals. Whereas, as noted above, the a/a;cch/cch mouse is a dull black or sepia color, the a/a;cch/ch adult is a light golden brown. Furthermore, although the nose and tail of this animal are darker than the rest of the body, they too are not as dark as in the cch/cch mouse ( M.C.Green, 1961). Thus the himalayan allele like the other lower alleles of the c-locus produces intermediate phenotypes when heterozygous. However, unlike the other alleles, ch appears to occupy two positions in the c-series hierarchy. While in depth of color produced it is below cch in the series, it is above ce in the color of the extremities but below this allele insofar as its affect on the color of the trunk is concerned. The final c-locus allele chinchilla-mottled ( cm) originally known as c22H was found in the progeny of a neutron-irradiated male ( R.J.S. Phillips, 1966b). cm/cm and cm/cch animals on a nonagouti, black ( a/a;B/) background are mottled displaying patches of normal cch/cch fur and patches of a lighter fur fairly similar to cch/c in intensity (R.J.S. Phillips, 1966b, 1970a). The amount of each color varies considerably. cm/cm mice can be distinguished from cm/cch heterozygotes by their whiter belly color ( R.J.S. Phillips, 1970a). While there is no evidence that this variegation is caused by a translocation, the cm phenotype is influenced by a dominant modifying gene, probably independent of c, which has provisionally been called "modifier" and designated M(cm). cm/cm;M(cm/M(cm) mice are almost white; they also appear to be smaller than normal ( R.J.S. Phillips, 1970a) (see Chapter 7, Section VI). In addition to the specific alleles noted above, L. Russell ( 1979) has reported the occurrence of 16 mosaic, or fractional, c-locus mutants which were characterized by area(s) of lighter fur or mottling. 15 Although these deviants arose in the course of radiation experiments, they probably were not radiation induced. If they were, this would indicate that the bulk of spontaneous c-locus mutations are fractionals ( L. Russell, 1979). Since in this group of mutants about one-half of the germinal tissue carried the mutation, it appears that they were derived from an overall blastomere population that was one-half mutant. As pointed out by Russell, "such a population could result from mutation in one strand of the gamete DNA; in a daughter chromosome derived from pronuclear DNA synthesis of the zygote; or in one of the first two blastomeres prior to replication." A considerable number of lethal c-locus deviants have also been recovered from radiation experiments (see Russell et al., 1979). Many of these deviants, in addition to preventing melanin synthesis (see Rittenhouse, 1970), have other very different effects. Indeed, because they are associated with such a diverse, and seemingly unrelated, series of abnormal conditions they undoubtedly represent chromosomal deletions for genetic material other than just the albino locus (Erickson et al., 1968, 1974a; Gluecksohn-Waelsch et al., 1974; L. Russell et al., 1979; L. Russell and Raymer, 1979). 16 Before leaving the subject of the phenotypic effects of c-locus alleles, it should be noted that there are some situations in which C is not completely dominant over the other alleles of the series. This occurs in the presence of p/p (pink-eyed dilute); the genotypes a/a;B/B;p/p;C/c and a/a;b/b;p/p;C/c are clearly lighter in color than the corresponding C/C types ( Snell, 1941). It likewise occurs in lethal yellow, black-and-tan ( at), and agouti mice (and presumably in all phaeomelanin containing regions of agouti-locus genotypes). In Ay (and A) mice C/c, C/ch, and C/ce genotypes are noticeably lighter, especially on the ventrum, than the corresponding C-homozygote. The influence in agouti animals is limited to the yellow portion of the hair and in at/at animals to the ventrum. 17 Contrary to what might be expected, C/ce genotypes appear slightly lighter than C/c mice (Poole and Silvers, unpublished). That this effect is a consequence of a direct interaction between the c- and a-loci, and not due to a general influence of the c-locus on phaeomelanin synthesis, is provided by the fact that it does not occur in recessive yellow mice. Thus a/a;e/e;C/C and a/a;e/e;C/c animals are indistinguishable (Poole and Silvers, unpublished). 18 Dunn and Einsele ( 1938) compared the amount of pigment present in the hairs of both black and brown agouti animals bearing different c-locus alleles and found that, in general, the reduction in intensity of hair color was accompanied by a parallel graded reduction in the amount of melanin as measured by weight. Moreover, since they found that in combinations with black (but not brown) the chief tangible factor accompanying this decrease was the size of the pigment granule, they concluded that it was via this influence on granule size that the c-locus controlled the quantity of melanin produced in black animals. Although this effect on granule size was confirmed by E. Russell ( 1946, 1948, 1949a), her more detailed investigations revealed that in some cases changes in the level of pigmentation produced by the albino series also involved the number, shape, color intensity, and distribution of the granules in the hair. Some estimates of the total eumelanin present in B/B and b/b animals of different c-locus genotypes, as reported in the studies of Dunn and Einsele ( 1938) and E. Russell ( 1948), are presented in Table 3-3. It is clear from these data that c-locus substitutions reduce pigment much less in brown than in black mice. Indeed as already noted, on a nonagouti brown background the genotypes C/, cch/cch, and cch/ce all possess the same amount of pigment. This is especially conspicuous in brown-and-tan ( at/;b/b) mice where these c-locus genotypes all have an intensely pigmented (chocolate) dorsum but can readily be distinguished by the color of their phaeomelanin-containing ventral hairs. More detailed data on the effect of three albino series alleles ( C, cch, and ce) on a number of pigment granule attributes in black, brown, and yellow mice, as derived from the data of E. Russell ( 1946) by Grüneberg ( 1952), are given in Table 3-4. Here it can be noted that in a/a;B/B genotypes the number of pigment granules is not reduced significantly from step C/C to cch/cch (see Figure 4-6) but is very significantly reduced in ce homozygotes. On the other hand, there is a progressive diminution of granule size from C/C to ce/ce accompanied by, and believed to be responsible for ( E. Russell, 1949a), changes in granule shape and color intensity. Hence, whereas the significant reduction in color intensity displayed by a/a;B/B;ce/ce mice results predominantly from a reduction in the number of granules, the much less conspicuous phenotypic difference between a/a;B/B;C/C and a/a;B/B;cch/cch animals is primarily a consequence of granule size (see Figure 4-6). In brown animals the albino series does not influence granule size, though, as noted in Table 3-4, it reduces granule number. In yellow mice, however, as well as in the yellow-pigmented regions of other agouti-locus genotypes, c-locus substitutions have a slight influence on granule size although here, too, their predominant effect is on granule number. It therefore appears that in black mice there are a maximum number of pigment granules that can be produced and since this level is attained in cch/cch animals, any further increase in the quantity of pigment must stem from an increase in granule size. In brown mice, on the other hand, the influence of c-locus alleles seems to be limited both by the number of granules and their size, i.e., there seems to be a size beyond which b/b granules cannot grow, and since both of these attributes reach a maximum in cch/cch (actually cch/ce) mice, this allele has no diluting influence on the chocolate phenotype ( E. Russell, 1949b). Since all the evidence indicates that the action of the c-series of alleles is a general one, affecting the level of the whole pigmentation reaction rather than influencing the type of pigment produced, it should come as no surprise that these alleles appear to produce their effect by controlling the activity of tyrosinase. Evidence for this was initially obtained in mice by L. Russell and W. Russell ( 1948) who incubated lightly fixed, 30-micron sections of skin, from 6- to 7-day-old animals, of different c-locus genotypes, in either buffered dopa or "control" solution. The change in the intensity of pigment in the hair follicles resulting from this treatment was then compared to a series of "standards" and graded. Although this method demonstrated that the intensity of the pigment formed corresponded to what would be expected from visual examination of the genotypes, i.e., C/C > cch/cch > ce/ce > c/c, the reactions much more closely reflected the influence of these genotypes on phaeomelanin than on eumelanin synthesis, regardless of whether the piece of skin possessed yellow pigment or not (see also W. Russell et al., 1948). More recently Coleman ( 1962) has determined the amount of [2-14C] tyrosine that is incorporated into slices of skin from infant mice of different c-locus genotypes and although his results ( Table 3-5) are similar to those of the Russells', they nevertheless provide some new and significant information. Probably the most significant is that while a/a;B/B;C/c and a/a;B/B;C/ch animals are indistinguishable phenotypically from the corresponding C-homozygote, they incorporate only about 50% as much tyrosine. This suggests that at this biochemical level there is no dominance of C over other c-series alleles. It may also explain why in the presence of those a-alleles which promote the synthesis of phaeomelanin, C/c heterozygotes produce less of this pigment than C-homozygotes. Coleman's results, as noted in the table, also indicate that a/a;cch/cch mice incorporate less tyrosine than either a/a;C/C or a/a;C/c animals, a result consistent with their slightly lighter phenotype, and that the level of incorporation is still further reduced in the even more lightly pigmented a/a;cch/cch;p/p and a/a;cch/c;p/p genotypes. The values for animals of these last two genotypes are included to emphasize that although this situation is similar to a/a;C/C and a/a;C/c in that the amount of tyrosine incorporated by the heterozygote is about half that of the homozygote, in this instance homozygotes ( cch/cch and heterozygotes ( cch/c) are easily distinguished visually. 19 The results with himalayan mice are particularly interesting inasmuch as, already noted, their phenotype is temperature dependent; if raised in a cold environment their pigmentation becomes significantly darker and, conversely, at warm temperatures, lighter. 20 This indicates that in these animals tyrosinase is heat labile and in accord with this is the fact that when skin slices from 5-day-old C/C and ch/ch animals are incubated at 55 C for periods up to 1 hour, the incorporation of tyrosine is decreased by 10% in the C/C skin but by about 70% in the himalayan skin. This thermolability of tyrosinase under the influence of the ch allele is important because it suggests that perhaps all alleles at the c-locus control the protein structure and not the quantity of the enzyme ( Coleman, 1962; see also Foster, 1967; Foster et al., 1972). 21 As already noted a number of investigations have disclosed that there are multiple forms of tyrosinase in mice (Holstein et al., 1967, 1971; Burnett et al., 1969) and some of these are influenced by the c-locus ( Wolfe and Coleman, 1966). Thus an electrophoretic study of tyrosinases isolated from the skin of different c-locus genotypes has revealed not only quantitative but qualitative differences ( Wolfe and Coleman, 1966). Tyrosinase from C/C mice produce two distinct tyrosinase bands on electrophoresis whereas similar preparations from cch/cch animals produce only a single, albeit faster moving, one. Himalayan tyrosinase also displays two tyrosinases, a fast moving one which corresponds to the fastest-moving wild type form and one which moves much slower than its counterpart in wild type mice ( Wolfe and Coleman, 1966). If the major influence of the c-series of alleles is on the structure of tyrosinase, it is difficult to explain how such a structural change in the protein could influence both the size and number of pigment granules. One possibility, however, is that the abnormal protein is not produced at a normal rate, or, more likely, that it is unable to conjugate properly with the other proteins destined to form the melanin matrix ( Coleman, 1962). On the other hand, there is some evidence which suggests that the albino locus might be more correctly regarded as a regulator rather than a structural locus for tyrosinase ( Hearing, 1973; see also Chian and Wilgram, 1967; Pomerantz and Li, 1971). The influence of the c-locus on the ultrastructure of the melanin granule has received considerable attention. Moyer ( 1966) examined the granules of chinchilla, himalayan, extreme dilute, and albino mice and concluded that the development of the granule in albino genotypes parallels that in nonalbinos. Indeed, the only difference he noted was that the granules of albino mice did not possess any melanin and, therefore, did not display any second-order periodicity ( Figure 3-14). In contrast all pigmented c-locus genotypes were characterized by a second-order periodicity which was determined by their b-locus constitution, an observation consistent with the fact that the c-locus affects the amount, rather than the quality, of melanin. Moyer also observed that whereas there was no obvious difference in the size, shape, and number of cch/cch, ch/ch and C/ retinal granules, their number, as well as their size, was reduced in ce/ce and c/c mice. This coincides with the effect these alleles have on the granules of the hair. Hearing and his colleagues ( Hearing et al., 1973) also found that the premelanosomes formed in the retinal and choroid of albino mice were similar to those of pigmented animals except for the absence of melanin. they also noticed in both of these locations that the number of premelanosomes decreased after several weeks postpartum. Rittenhouse ( 1968b), on the other hand, has reported that the fine structure of albino and pigmented granules is significantly different. As previously noted (see Section I, F) she found that there was a distinct difference in the ultrastructure of a/a;B/B and a/a;b/b hair bulb granules and consequently one might have anticipated that B/B and b/b albino granules would likewise be different. This however, was not the case. According to Rittenhouse the failure of albino granules to melanize is accompanied by changes in granule structure such that there appears to be no distinct difference between the hair bulb granules of brown-albino and black-albino mice. Animals of both genotypes contain some granules which resemble those of the "black" type (ovals with longitudinal strands, or small circles with spiral or circular patterns) and others which are more typically those of the "brown" variety (large circles with a complex disorderly internal structure). Since this absence of melanization occurs along with a shift toward the "black" pattern in b/b;c/c melanocytes, these two changes could be related. Accordingly Rittenhouse suggests that the disorganized framework of b/b granules may tend to acquire the more orderly organization of black granules if not stabilized almost immediately by at least a light melanization. Whether this is the case and/or whether at least some of the "brown" type granules represent granules which, because they are not melanized, are disintegrating ( Rittenhouse, 1968b), remains to be resolved. Regardless, Rittenhouse ( 1968b) observed that this shift toward a pattern of longitudinal strands and membranes characteristic of B/B granules also occurs when p/p and b/b are incorporated into the same genome (see Chapter 4, Section II, E). In addition to an absence of melanin, the central visual pathways of albino mice [and of other albino mammals ( Lund, 1965; Guillery et al., 1971; Creel, 1971; Witkop et al., 1976)] are abnormal. Parts of the retina that normally give rise to uncrossed retinofugal axons send axons across the midline. Although the manner in which the albino gene acts upon the retinal cells to affect the chiasmic growth of their axons is not known, Guillery and his associates (1973) have shown that its influence is extracellular. This was demonstrated by taking advantage of Cattanach's flecked translocation (Cattanach, 1961, 1974; Ohno and Cattanach, 1962; for excellent review see Eicher, 1970b). This translocation involves the transfer of the normal allele at the albino locus to the X-chromosome where, in females, it is subject to "Lyonization" (see Chapter 8, Section I). Thus female mice which are homozygous for c and heterozygous for this translocation display the characteristic albino-variegated or flecked coat, and in the pigment layer of the retina one sees small patches of pigmented cells intermingled with patches of albino cells ( Deol and Whitten, 1972). Guillery and his colleagues reasoned that if, in the production of the abnormal chiasmatic pathway, each ganglion cell acted independently and the specification of a cell as ipsilateral or contralateral depended upon the enzymes produced within that cell, then a flecked mouse should have an abnormal pathway approximately half as large as that of an albino mouse. This seemed especially reasonable inasmuch as the effect which c has on pigmentation is intracellular. On the other hand, if the mechanism responsible for the abnormality was intercellular, and involved materials which diffused between cells, or involved mechanical interactions between cells, then flecked mice could display an abnormality equal to that of albino mice, a defect somewhere between albino and normal animals, or no abnormality at all. This latter situation apparently prevails as in contrast to the albino mouse where the ipsilateral component is, as expected, markedly smaller than in pigmented animals, in flecked mice this component is, surprisingly, somewhat larger than in pigmented mice. The precise relationship between the influence of the albino locus on pigment formation and on the normal development of the eye remains to be determined. On the one hand the lack of tyrosine may affect the concentration of some other substance which can diffuse between cells and influence the course taken by some of the ganglion axons; on the other hand, c could affect a process that is independent of tyrosine synthesis, and this process could act upon the ganglion cells ( Guillery et al., 1973). Before concluding this section there is one investigation which should be noted because it provides good evidence that albinism (or the absence of this condition) can influence behavior. Taking advantage of a mutation from C to c in the C57BL/6 strain, Fuller ( 1967) demonstrated that the performance of mice in certain test situation was affected solely on the basis of their c-locus genotype. c/c mice escaped more slowly from water, were less active in an open field, and made more errors on a black-and-white discrimination task than C/ animals. Although the cause of these differences in performance is not known, it raises the possibility that other coat color determinants also may influence this kind of behavior.

David Beckham is many things. He’s the world’s most famous soccer (aka football) star, though he just retired after the 2012/13 season. He is a model, advertising pitchman, a dad and the husband of a Spice Girl. David Beckham was the face of London’s successful bid to obtain the 2014 Olympics, and of England’s unsuccessful one to land the 2018 World Cup. He is the published author of three books, a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and if not the most famous Englishman alive today, certainly in the top five or 10. One thing David Beckham is not, however, is a knight. At least in 2014, the 38-year-old mega-star will not be called “Sir David.” And that decision recently set off a heated internal power struggle on the committee of elite Britons who decide such things. Every year, an “Honours Commitee” made up of leading civil servants, politicians and other prominent British subjects sends a list to the queen of who should receive the nation’s ultimate honor, knighthood. This year, Lord Sebastian Coe a leading member of the committee who also chairs a subcommittee that specializes in picking sports figures for knighthood, was a strong backer of David Beckham. Coe’s support was based not only on Beckham’s remarkable football career, but on his dedication to bringing the Olympics to London. With Coe in his court, Beckham was believed to be a a slam dunk for knighthood in 2014, The Daily Mail reported. But it didn’t work out that way. According to inside sources quoted in the Mail and in Britain’s Daily Mirror newspaper, after last year’s award of knighthood to bicyclist Bradley Wiggins, only 33 years old and still active in his sport, a majority of committee members felt that to dole out another honor to a young athlete would be unseemly. “It was unfair to say this was too soon. It was more than six years ago that he helped London win the right to host the Olympic Games,” said one unnamed source quoted in the Mirror. “The faceless wonders who decided honors are happy to dole them out to time-serving politicians but not sports heroes who have achieved far more.” Beckham and perhaps even more so, his wife Victoria — once known as “Posh Spice,” a member of England’s popular 1990s girl-group The Spice Girls — were expecting the honor. Mrs. David Beckham especially was said to be “mortified” by the rejection, according to Ireland’s Independent newspaper. “Victoria’s so embarrassed – she’s told a lot of people in LA that they’d been led to expect it. It totally ruined the holiday,” one close David Beckham associate revealed.

The first trailer for James Wan’s The Conjuring has arrived online. The Saw director’s latest horror flick is reportedly based on a true story. The film follows a family as they slowly come to the horrifying realization that they are not alone in their new home. The film boasts an impressive cast, including Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Ron Livingston, and Lili Taylor. Wilson and Wan previously worked together on the filmmaker’s 2010 genre flick Insidious. The Conjuring has officially been described as follows: “Before there was Amityville, there was Harrisville..” Although the new trailer for the movie doesn’t give too much away, it has an uncanny way of getting under your skin. James Wan said during a New York Comic Con panel that he wanted to put a twist on the supernatural investigators-versus-otherworldly forces genre. In addition to the trailer embedded below, the promotional team behind The Conjuring have also unveiled a brand new poster. Both set the stage for what could be one of 2013’s more interesting horror flicks. This isn’t the only James Wan movie that’s currently scheduled for release this year. The director is currently filming the sequel to his box office hit Insidious. The follow-up is expected to arrive in theaters on August 30. The trailer for Wan’s latest horror movie has been embedded below. Here’s the old school poster for the movie. The Conjuring is slated to arrive in theaters during the very crowded summer blockbuster season. Horror fanatics should mark their calendars for July 19. What do you think about the trailer? Wish we had some footage of our original investigation of this 18th-Century farmhouse from back when we first investigated it, even prior to alerting Ed and Lorraine Warren! We do however have footage from one of our more recent investigations there. Tis on ye olde to-do list. Waiting patiently! You need to make a documentary about your cases! I guess if you support the Current Administration on Capitol Hill, then you also support abortion . I thought you were a group that helps people, this is the furthest thing from helping unborn babies . Here is some investigation footage taken from the actual house… not the movie set. Enjoy.:) ~ Keith

As crazy of an expectation as it was, many wanted LeBron James to suck it up and play through cramps. Never mind that his quadriceps were spazzing out like a brat in the cereal aisle of Target. Many wanted James to respond to the moment by powering through it and leading the Miami Heat to victory in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. But really, Game 2 on Sunday is the time for James to respond. Whatever he wants to prove about his toughness, about his clutchness, about his belonging in the realm of the game's greats, he needs to say it with his play moving forward. Certainly, his untimely cramps -- brought on by the broken air conditioning in San Antonio -- cost the Heat the series opener. But what still hangs in the balance is a chance for James to bully his way into legend status. As a matter of fact, the cramp storyline makes it even more legendary, even more sensational, if he leads the Heat to an upset. A win over these San Antonio Spurs is the kind of feather James doesn't have in his cap yet. San Antonio is a legitimate Goliath. The Spurs have four Hall of Famers, the deeper roster, home court advantage and revenge motivations. King James is usually fighting to live up to expectations. Especially since he bolted to Miami, hype has been his biggest enemy. Rarely is he the underdog. Not at this stage in a season. But at the peak of his career, James finds himself in one of those rare opportunities. Especially after Game 1, the Spurs are the obvious favorites. And Miami's fourth-quarter collapse was striking evidence of how James is needed to carry this team. A triumph like this is exactly the jewel King James needs for his crown. He will have bested San Antonio's Big Three twice. On top of that, it will be a three-peat, feats accomplished by a rare few. And the storyline of the cramps and the AT&T Center's wardrobe malfunction only adds to the lore. That might be enough to jack Kobe Bryant's spot on basketball's totem pole. If James responds. One is Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, a three-time All-Star. The other is A's third baseman Josh Donaldson, the self-proclaimed "worst player in baseball" a couple years ago. Donaldson hasn't merely had a good start to the 2014 campaign. He's on one of those wait-who-is-this-guy runs. He's been a beast on the road. In his first 32 away games, he batted .299 with 10 homers, 27 RBIs and a combined on-base and slugging percentage of 1.009. That's good, FYI. Donaldson is a lock to be an All-Star. He should be an early favorite for MVP. He's also entering that leave-for-Yankees-money territory. Actually, the coward's way out is sour grapes. Blatt, the coach for Maccabi Tel Aviv, is arguably one of the world's premiere offensive minds. If Kerr lands him as a top assistant, that would be a coup -- especially considering Blatt would be a legit head coaching candidate. Clearly, Kerr is serious about elevating the Warriors offense. Contact Marcus Thompson II at mthomps2@bayareanewsgroup.com.

Tower Group International Ltd. announced Nov. 14 that it is restating previously filed audited annual consolidated financial statements for 2011 and 2012, which are contained in Tower’s March 31, 2013 10-K annual report for 2012. Such financial statements “should no longer be relied upon,” the company said, attributing the revision to “inadvertent mistakes” in the classification of insurance premiums by line of business used in the loss reserving process. Although the correction of these errors does not increase the previously announced charge of roughly $365 million, Tower’s management “has concluded…that material weaknesses exist in internal control over financial reporting related to the company’s loss reserving and premiums receivable reconciliation processes.” Tower also said that “there is substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.” In addition to the 2011 and 2012 statements, Tower will also revise its previously filed audited annual consolidated financial statements for the year ended Dec. 31, 2010 contained in the 2012 annual report, the company announced. Giving some background about the restatements, Tower said: “Following management review of the matter with the audit committee of Tower’s board of directors, and upon management’s recommendation, the audit committee reached the conclusion on Nov. 7, 2013 that previously issued financial statements of the company covering one or more periods for which the company is required to provide financial statements need to be revised or restated and/or may no longer be relied upon because of the inadvertent mistakes….” The statement said that the audit committee authorized the company’s chief financial officer and principal accounting officer to consult with an independent accounting firm to determine which specific financial statements should be revised or restated. The officers reached their conclusions on Nov. 12 and advised the board of their determination. On Oct. 7, the company previously determined and announced that its June 30, 2013 loss reserves were strengthened by approximately $365 million. During a subsequent review of its reserve analyses for prior years, Tower determined that inadvertent mistakes in classification of insurance premiums by line of business used in the loss reserving process resulted in: - An increase in the loss and loss adjustment expenses by $9.6 million, $21.7 million and $5.7 million for the years ended Dec. 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively. - A decrease in the reinsurance recoverables on unpaid losses asset balance by $37.0 million, $27.4 million and $5.7 million as of Dec. 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively. In Thursday’s statement, Tower said it was not aware of these and other inadvertent mistakes when it announced the Oct. 7, 2013 reserve charge and also stated that “the correction of these errors does not increase the previously announced charge of approximately $365 million.” Referring to management’s conclusion that internal controls over the loss reserving and premiums receivable reconciliation processes had “material weaknesses,” Tower said it has “now concluded its internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of Dec. 31, 2012 and disclosure controls procedures were not effective as of Dec. 31, 2012.” “A material weakness is a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis,” the statement explains. Tower expects to file restated 2012 and second-quarter 2013 statements “as soon as practicable,” and to report third-quarter results soon after. Thursday’s statement included a preliminary summary balance sheet as of June 30, 2013, showing shareholders’ equity of $580 million as of June 30. Commenting on the status of the board’s review of strategic alternatives, however, the company issued the following statement: “On October 7, 2013, Tower announced that its board of directors is reviewing a range of strategic options with its lead financial advisor, JP Morgan Securities LLC. The company experienced significant losses and reductions of statutory surplus in its insurance subsidiaries in 2013, and there are currently no commitments or assurances to raise additional capital, execute strategic alternatives or to liquidate certain investments at prices sufficient to repay the outstanding balance under its credit facility. Until the completion of a definitive executable plan to repay the credit facility, there is substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.” This article originally appeared on CarrierManagement.com See also related articles: - Tower Reserve Charge Prompts Fitch Downgrade, Carrier Review of Options - Reinsurance Deals Inked to Help Troubled Tower Group - Tower Group to Release 2Q in Early October; Reserve Adjustment Under Wraps - A.M. Best Puts Tower Ratings Under Review - Tower Group, Meadowbrook Filing Delays Prompt Shareholder Investigations [/pullquote]

Perfecting the art of the bookcaseComment on this story Washington - I,” says Jill Goldberg, the founder of Hudson Interior Designs in Boston. “It’s just like a little kid with a stuffed animal that they want to hold on to.” At some point, though, I realised professional organisers to get their suggestions of how best to display my book collection. . This wasn’t an exercise in de-cluttering; it was an attempt to find a way to cohabit says. “Books are an enormous part of creating texture and warmth in a house.” And displaying books creatively, in combination with other meaningful treasures from your travels or childhood, can turn them from clutter into a conversation piece, says Andreas Charalambous, principal architect at Forma Design in Washington. “If you provide someone with the infrastructure or backdrop to place things in an orderly manner, it ends up being pleasing to look at. You don’t want to just hide these things behind a closet door, because then they lose their importance.”: * Organise in a way that works for you. Books can be organised alphabetically, or by size, subject, author or colour. As long as it reflects how you think about and retrieve your books, it’s fine, says Cynthia Lindsey, president of Organising colour, starting with red and going through the spectrum to violet, creating a rainbow of book spines, Goldberg says. This can work well for people who have a lot of books, says Goldberg, who helped a family with hundreds of books stage them by colour in their home library. Other clients prefer to display books of one colour, such as white or blue, to create a calming feel, Morris said. But some people prefer to organise their books by subject, to make them easier to find. It’s hard for me to imagine separating the brown-spined Jane Eyre from her black-spined Brontë cousins. That’s fine, too, Morris says. She suggests ordering books by size within those categories to keep the finished product looking neat. Either put the tallest books on the outside and work towards the smaller, or put the tallest in the middle of the shelf and have them get smaller as they fan out. * Find a way to neutralise them. Amy Trager, a professional organiser based in Chicago, suggested flipping the books around so the pages are facing out, instead of the spine, to cut down on the visual clutter of the books’ different colours and sizes. That only works, of course, if you don’t need to quickly access specific books, but it’s a great way to add texture and a neutral, toned-down feeling to your space. Trager had a coloured wall, fading into the background. * Mix it up. Blend horizontal and vertical stacks of books to create visual interest on your shelves, Morris suggests. Arrange vertical books on the ends of the shelf, with horizontal stacks in the middle. Or use a few art books stacked on their sides as a bookend. agree. Duly noted. * Integrate some meaningful or beautiful objects to break up the books. Those horizontally stacked books can be a great place to put a small frame or vase, says Morris. Choose a variety of items or art that is meaningful to you, and try to keep things around the same size. If you are using framed photos or art, use the same colour frame throughout. Group objects on top of the bookcase in sets of odd numbers, such as three or five. Or, Lindsey adds, keep the top of the bookcase empty for a clean, uncluttered look. * Find balance. If you have a bookcase with more than one column of shelves (like mine), Morris suggests using the same pattern in opposite corners to create a balanced effect. For example, on the top left and bottom right shelves you could pull the middle books out and turn them so they are horizontal, then put a picture on top. * Think beyond the bookcase. Book collections don’t have to be limited to a traditional shelving unit. Morris says she once had a client who had a shelf across the top of a headboard for a line of shallow books. She has also seen books stacked above and below coffee tables and on ladders that lean against the wall. Lindsey encourages people to get creative with the placement and design of their books to enhance their homes. Tips for organising your books: * Get stuff out from under the bookcase. * Mementoes are better used interspersed throughout the shelves. * Don’t cram things on top of the books. * Move cookbooks to the kitchen, where they’re used. * Arrange books by colour or size to make the shelf look less cluttered. * Combine vertical and horizontal stacks for visual interest. * Use photos with matching frames to break things up but not make it too busy. * Create balance by making opposite corners match. – Washington Post

Today’s Manx Independent reports on a last-minute plan to bring more entertainment to Douglas Promenade for the TT. It comes after fears that fans would be disappointed. The story is on page 1. Also this week: A plan to preserve our uplands and re-introduce grouse The Treasury Minister is considering abolishing personal allowance credits It’s all change at Onchan Commissioners A top public health official backs Allan Bell’s stance on cannabis decriminalisation. Douglas lighthouse is for sale A man has appeared in court accused of possessing indecent images The driver of a car allegedly involved in the Tholt-y-Will tragedy has appeared in court again We meet a woman who’s planning to have her head shaved to raise money for charity after her six-month-old baby died from cot death A TT world series could start as early as 2017 Treasury Minister Eddie Teare tells the Keys he can’t sign a blank cheque to sort out the problems identified at the hospital He also points out that any changes to the National Insurance fund would need UK approval because the island has a reciprocal agreement with it A 99-year-old tells us about his achievement at the Guild A number of jobs are added to the exemptions for the work permit We join Brownies as they turn detective for a mystery at the museum A magazine distributed in the island has got the date for Tynwald Day wrong A bare-chested man punched bouncers at a Douglas nightspot, a court was told Another man, who hurled furniture around in anger, has also been to court We learn about the scarcity of food in the island in the First World War in the latest of our features about life 100 years ago Our Island Life section looks forward to Tenors Unlimited’s performance The Western Open Studios Art Trail was a big success over the weekend. Our centre pages has lots of photos from it The work of two influential artists is going to wow visitors in Port St Mary soon, while there’s an interesting exhibition currently going on in Laxey Columnist Pullyman remembers what it was like a few decades ago in Pulrose. If you say there’s nothing to do in the Isle of Man, you can’t have read the island’s What’s On guide. We have two pages every week. And if you’d rather watch the telly, we can help you there too. We have a seven-day guide for the main channels, so there’s no need to fork out for a television listings magazine or get Repetitive Strain Injury by clicking on your remote control going up and down the menus tryinng to work out what’s on the different television channels next Tuesday night, for example. The paper has 13 action-packed pages of sport, including a two-page special on the Manx National Rally. The back page spotlights Keith Gerrard’s injury fears We also look forward to the football Cup final against Hertfordshire The Manx Independent is in the shops now. It has all the news you need to know. Almost Done! By registering you are agreeing to the Terms and Conditions of the website.

Tidal Bay out of Grand National Racing:Leading Grand National contender Tidal Bay has suffered a “tiny stress fracture” and will not run at Aintree on April 6th. Allotted top-weight of 11st 10lb in the English showpiece, the Paul Nicholls-trained 12-year-old has not run since winning the Lexus Chase ahead of Flemenstar and Sir Des Champs at Leopardstown over Christmas. He was forced to miss the Argento Chase at Cheltenham last month when reported to be lame, and Nicholls said in his Betfair blog: . “As soon as I got the news, I immediately rang Mr (Graham) Wylie and we agreed to release this statement as soon as possible.” Don't have an account? Sign Up

Similarly, of the nine active white players who are in the NBA top 50 in career win shares, eight grew up abroad. This is a pattern that needs some explanation.. 50 comments: THIS is why young American white boys don't play basketball anymore. Nothing more, nothing less. [Sorry, Twoof.] What about Gheorghe Mureşan? The Netherlands also produced Swen Nater, though he did attend high school in California. Do the Baltics and the Balkans have anything else in common, which might explain this? I've heard "Dinaric" blood was an advantage in some sports, but Lithuania is outside that racial zone, right? I think Fredette may surprise a few skeptics as well as disappoint a few people in Utah. He'll probably help Sacramento at the gate as well; hard not to see that as deliberately arranged behind the scenes by the NBA. Steve, The NBA has a pretty useful list of "international" players on its official site. The list is updated each season based on opening-day rosters. I'll take a quick run through the list for you. I'll skip countries that obviously don't produce white players. Some players from mostly white countries aren't white themselves; I'll give you the rundown on those as well. Argentina: All four are white. Australia: 2 out of 3 white. David Andersen also holds a Danish passport. Andrew Bogut is the son of Croatian immigrants. Patrick Mills is an Indigenous Australian, with one parent from each of the two main subgroups in that community (Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders). Brazil: Tiago Splitter is clearly white. Anderson Varejão may wear his hair in an Afro style, but he looks to be primarily white if not totally so. The other two (Nenê and Leandro Barbosa) are black. Canada: Nash is the only white among the four listed. (See below for a fifth not on the list.) France: All of the league's French players are black. (Parker has a white mother, as does Joakim Noah—but Noah isn't on the list for a reason you'll find out below.) Georgia (as in former USSR): Zaza Pachulia Germany: Dirk is the only German-born player in the league, but there's another white in the league who represents Germany internationally, as you'll see below. Iran: Hamed Haddadi Israel: Omri Casspi Italy: All three are white. Latvia: Andris Biedrins Lithuania: All three are white. Two of them played college ball in the US—Linas Kleiza at Missouri and Darius Songaila at Wake Forest. Mexico: Eduardo Nájera looks heavily if not totally Spanish. He's from Northern Mexico (Chihuahua city, to be exact), and played college ball at Oklahoma. Montenegro: Nikola Pekovic Netherlands: Neither of the two on the list are white, although both were born in the Netherlands. Francisco Elson is black and of Surinamese descent. Dan Gadzuric is mixed—black father and Serbian mother. (Elson played at Cal, Gadzuric at UCLA.) Poland: Marcin Gortat Puerto Rico: Hard to tell where either of the players, Carlos Arroyo or J. J. Barea, fits in the spectrum. They do seem to be more mixed than, say, Nájera, but not as much as Noah or Gadzuric. Serbia: All four white. Slovenia: All three white. Spain: All four white. Sweden: Jonas Jerebko. His father is an American who played professionally in Sweden and settled there. Switzerland: Thabo Sefolosha is mixed—mother a well-known (white) Swiss painter, father a black South African. Turkey: All five white. Ukraine: Kyrylo Fesenko Venezuela: Greivis Vásquez (who played at Maryland) appears to be mostly if not completely white, though some pictures I've seen of him make me wonder. Note that the league defines "international" as players born outside the 50 states and DC—Puerto Ricans and Virgin Islanders are classified as "international" even though they're US citizens by birth. That's why Joakim Noah isn't on the NBA's international list; he was born in New York City and spent most of his youth in the US. There are a few other US-born whites I know of in the NBA who represent other countries internationally: Chris Kaman—Born in Grand Rapids and raised in its suburbs; represents Germany by virtue of a German grandparent. Kosta Koufos—Born and raised in Canton, Ohio, but represents Greece. Both parents are Greek immigrants.. Andy Rautins—Born in Syracuse and raised in that area, but represents Canada, where he's coached by his father (Leo Rautins, former Cuse star and NBA player). So now Turks are white? I think that one of the reasons why Europeans are more likely to play basketball than white Americans is that the sport has become associated with black criminality in the United States. Since there are fewer blacks in Europe, basketball was less likely to be associated with crime over there. In other words, basketball is seen as a thug sport in the United States but not in Europe. I don't really follow Basketball, but there is a professional league here in Germany which attracts quite a number of players from abroad, including many from the United States. Quite a number of these players are white (click on the English sounding names): If you read the story of Josh Harrellson you wonder why there are any white guys in the NBA. Two separate coaching staffs at Kentucky basically dared this guy to quit, even as recently as December. Now he's drafted in the 2nd round. I guess what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. spain has plenty of good basketball players. argentina also has good white players currently in the NBA. IMO, the college system and playing with the new generation of arrogant black players have not been good for young whitey's self esteem--even tho these new generation of bigger, stronger, faster black players lack fundamental skills like shooting and a back-to-the-basket game that their predecessors had. Add that to the fact that gentlemen no longer play basketball since it became football without the padding. "This is a pattern that needs some explanation." Oh Steve would you please stop this and get real? There IS no disparate impact, there is white disengagement from anything 365Black. Sports is combat. From Day Dot, white boys are taught to give in to blacks, humor them, run away, because of what Anonymous #1 linked to. Basketball is 365Black. It's a garbage sport played by garbage people. Probably more white boys are playing Ultimate Frisbee than b-ball nowadays. Or LaCrosse. Blacks across the country are attacking whites and instead your old-man middle-aged blog highlights ladies rooms in firehouses. I'm fascinated by how much "bandwagon" effects influence NBA draft position. During the Western Conference finals this year, Serge Ibaka, the first Congolese NBA player, played fairly well. So naturally in this draft one player from the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) was taken in the lottery and another player from the Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville) was taken in the late second round. What parent wants to immerse their kid in the culture that has grown up around basketball today? The NBA has overplayed it's hand in trying to tap into the naivete and natural rebelliousness of young kids. Basketball has become a class marker like full body tats. It's not what the mass of middle class anything aspires to - unless they can play it in the safety of some suburban enclave. Are you still beating this dead horse, Sailer? Seriously, how many times have you pondered this? Steve, You say that whites have turned against basketball as if they were high-achievers who have simply moved on to something else. The fact is that white gentile culture has declined for decades now and this has manifested itself in a variety of ways. Basketball is just one small piece of the story. American whites want to avoid the violent, criminal nature of young blacks. So they avoid basketball. European whites can enjoy basketball without having to surround themselves with such dangerous people. I played basketball. At lower levels it was fun. By high school the team was almost all black and I had nothing in common with my teammates and no desire to hang out with them. Less fun. And it gets really old to be constantly called "white boy" in an aggressive, violent tone -- by both opponents and teammates. Also played baseball. The few black guys on our baseball team were treated 100x better than me and the other white guy on the basketball team. It's not just basketball. I see it in my own suburban area. The white kids are taking up lacrosse, soccer, golf, track, hockey and leaving basketball, football, baseball. White parents make decisions, consciously or not, about what sport their kid's gonna play based on who else is playing it. But that just makes sense, right? I remember Steve Sailer theorizing that bullying might be what is keeping white players away from basketball. One thing I have noticed over the years is that basketball culture is intensely hostile to white people. Funny thing is that ESPN hires a lot of racist blacks to cover basketball. Just listen to this ugly, fat faced goof called Vincent Thomas. Just Google Do You Still Hate Duke? and check out what he wrote for Slam Online. Here are some select quotes-- My Pops was a Georgetown fan because, like many of his cronies, he was enamored with John Thompson the Fearless and Defiant Black Leader.... ....So, still in middle school, I picked up the Sports Illustrated college basketball preview. “Here Come The Hot Shots” was the title. It had Billy Owens dunking on the cover. That freshmen class featured ‘Zo, Owens, the great Chris Jackson … and Christian Laettner. (he then goes on to refer to the school Laettner went to as smarmy and elitist and calls Laettner "just some" prep school "buster".) And, yeah, I’m gonna go ahead and admit it: I thought America’s love affair with Duke — from both the fans and the media — had a conspicuous racial component. “Come on preppy, hard-working white guys that play the game the right way! Beat those black guys!” I even convinced myself that Coach K recruited stereotypes to perpetuate an image of being an anti-”black black” program. A squad full of white dudes and a few whitewashed black guys. ...I still had this overwhelming feeling that this was an aristocratic institution. It was like Duke was a discriminating country club. As a teenager, I almost came to blows with my only friend or associate that had the audacity to be a Duke fan … from the hood. “You sellout,” I shouted. “What? You wanna throw Nelson Mandela back in prison, too?!” Crazy. But that’s how I was on it back then. If you rooted for Duke, you were like a pro-apartheid Afrikaan, to me. And now? I mean, can you really gin up authentic hate, rage, antipathy and rancor for that squad Duke trotted out? It was a mediocre starting lineup and bench full of lead-foot Opies. My younger brother and I scanned that bench and couldn’t stop laughing. It was like Krzyzewski was being a prankster or something. That’s when Scottie Reynolds and Dante Cunningham walloped them into glum, sheepish submission. And I watched it all without even the slightest sense of vindication. That’s when I asked myself, “Do you still hate Duke?” I guess not." Of course, those white "jokes" ended up winning the championship the very next year in 2010 (Duke started three white players that year and had several white players coming off the bench). Bet this Vincent Thomas dork feels like a foolish moron now. But watching this slowed brained chump try to write a column is like watching the Special Olympics. You just end up pitying him. Vincent Thomas now ooks and eeks for ESPN, and continues to look like that black boy from Saturday Night Live. As for the intense racist anger many blacks and liberal whites feel about white players, I can see why white players stop playing the game in high school. I feel like I'm selling my people out when I just watch the game on TV. Imagine playing a game with these racist ghetto chumps in front of a crowd of white liberal pussies. Sure, you can toughen up and tolerate it, but it makes more sense to play another sport that has fewer blacks. Yeah, the threat of getting in a fistfight is a BRILLIANT reason to forego a potential a 6 year 72 million contract. Don't forget, too, that David Stern is considered among the best/most sophisticated commissioners out there (admittedly, there's a low bar...). His emphasis on developing the NBA outside of the U.S. could be a factor; think international TV distribution, product sales, etc. I've read that the tallest people in the world are the people of the Dinaric Alps (former Yugoslavia). By the way, many other mountanous areas (the Caucasus, the Pyrinees, the Andes, the Himalayas, Tibet, Afghanistan) produce short people. So the mountainous nature of the Balkans is probably not the cuase. I wonder if the Romans, who ran Illyria for centuries, ever wrote anything about the locals' height. Just curious about how persistent this trait of theirs is. OT: Nick Paumgarten's in-depth study of online dating in the New Yorker confirms every single prediction from evolutionary psychology about how the sexes behave: eh, don't want to get into it this too much right now, but the draft produces some hard to explain weirdness these days. in round 2 you had teams drafting african africans who were so obscure the experts didn't know who they were. one team drafted an african who was averaging 0 points per game in some foreign league. meanwhile good NCAA players who are way, way better than these random international nobodies, were not drafted. the undrafted guys get to be free agents which can often be better than being drafted by a team where they don't fit in well, but it's a head scratcher. seems like many teams are deliberately taking foreign players who will never be good enough to play a single NBA game, rather than take proven americans who would at least average 12 minutes and 3 or 4 points. "Yeah, the threat of getting in a fistfight is a BRILLIANT reason to forego a potential a 6 year 72 million contract." Which you then multiply by the ratio of number of NBA player to total number of scholastic and collegiate players in the world. That gives you the probability-adjusted payout, which ends up being, what, a few pennies? "OT: Nick Paumgarten's in-depth study of online dating in the New Yorker confirms every single prediction from evolutionary psychology about how the sexes behave:" So evolution's losers, who don't marry their high school sweethearts and start pumping out kids instantly, are the one's who act the way evolutionary psychology predicts? Ouch! Sucks for evolutionary psychology! It turns out they were researching the fringes of behavior! Jimmer and Kyle Singler failed probability science. I was raised in a racially diverse/integrated basketball hotbed. I realize now that the reason I didn't experience the anti-white fury of blacks was b/c we had all literally been friends since kindergarten. The first time I experienced it was in college (in the very same town, actually). I subsequently encountered younger kids from my hometown (typically younger brothers of friends) who were just beginning to avoid basketball b/c of the blacks. That would have been the early 90's. You can choose your terms (fear, distaste, whatever) and your anecdotal evidence may vary, but it's hard to believe that anyone who has any experience in this area can deny the obvious. Ignore it, yes. But, not deny it. I've tended to blame modern liberalism (rather than anything innate in blacks' nature), but I find it increasingly difficult. It seems the black athletic edge in basketball is monumental at heights shorter than 6'6". There's no point debating it. What we are talking about are the tall guys. Every white guy you referenced is a forward or center. Rubio from Spain is a short-ish guard, but the Spanish are swarthy and he's a freak. Maybe European guys are simply taller than white American guys. Most of the white Europeans you reference are German, Polish, eastern bloc, etc, whereas most white Americans are English or Irish stock. Scandinavian men are tall on average, but I'm not aware of any Swedish or Norwegian man, living or dead, that is 6'10". "Jimmer and Kyle Singler failed probability science." Mighta failed physics, too. I wonder if they just float in the ether, then? After all, gravity's a physical force... Yeah, the threat of getting in a fistfight is a BRILLIANT reason to forego a potential a 6 year 72 million contract. Given that the fulcrum of the judo throw was roughly the base of White Bread's neck, I'd say that the kid is lucky not to be a quadraplegic. It seems the black athletic edge in basketball is monumental at heights shorter than 6'6". There's no point debating it. If you mean the edge they are given by the NBA in the draft, sure. I'm not sure that's based on anything tangible though. Is Kyrie Irving actually a much better guard than Fredette? Time will tell, but based on their college careers I can't see why Irving was picked no 1. I am not sold on Steve's argument that whites in foreign countries excel in the NBA because they dont have to compete with blacks.If that were true, why dont more whites who play soccer in the USA excel in the Premier League and Serie A.There is not a suburb in the US where there are not lots of whites playing soccer If there's not already a "law", we can make one now. White American players have a handicap which can be expressed in inches (of height). That is, a white American has to be at least x inches taller than a similarly skilled black to be rated as equal in the NBA's eyes. If Fredette was some amount taller than he is, and some amount taller than Kyrie Irving, he'd have gone first or maybe second in the draft. What is that amount? About four inches I think. Based on Galactic Overlord's breakdown, it's clear that having ancestors who were adapted to hilly or mountainous places is a big factor. That also correlates with a heavier reliance on pastoralism, once the farmers took all the good land at lower elevation. Why so few with ancestors from England, France, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, etc.? Yet there's a Georgian, a Persian, an Israeli, lots of Turks, a Greek, an etc. It looks like these ethnic groups do well even when they move to the Netherlands, Australia, and so on. So it may not be so much a nurture effect of their ancestral environment, but how it shaped their genes. I have no clue what makes a person good a basketball other than height, which we've already seen is probably not the main factor for why some whites rather than others make it big-time. But it's worth looking at what about herders dwelling at higher elevation would make them better at basketball. They have a pronounced culture of honor and revenge, and they don't back down even over small things. Maybe that kind of fierce independence makes them less likely to get bullied on the court, where it's easier than in other sports to get isolated from your teammates and have to rely on yourself. You guys might be on to something regarding the cultural milieu. I have noticed that foreign born whites do seem less intimidated by the posturing of American born blacks in sports like basketball and boxing, particularly if they come from a poorer country like Argentina, Brazil, or the former Eastern bloc countries. It's often amusing in boxing in particular, because guys from the working class environs in Europe and South America seem genuinely baffled by why posturing is supposed to make them pee their pants in fear, and the black dudes seem equally baffled as to why it isn't working on European or South American whites when it works on American whites like clockwork. Steve what is the point of these kind of discussion if you're not going to discuss the height of the players involved? How many of these guys are 6'7 and over? 'Cause in that case we're talking about genetic freaks. Maybe you could name all the white guys> 6'7" playing ANY Sport other Pro Sport than BB? Like uh, and then there's who'it. If you're 7'2" and can walk and chew gum at the same time you're an NBA prospect. Lots of BB players from Croatia and Estonia because these two countries have a lot of freakishly large people. there was almost no discussion about this, because like always, the NBA is now strictly about lebron james, lebron james, lebron james, and the 2011 finals were not about the mavericks winning but the heat losing. but nowitzki totally outplayed bryant, durant, wade, and james, head to head, and back to back to back. that was easily one of the greatest NBA playoff performances of all-time. en route to the title, he broke the NBA record for consecutive free throws made. imagine if nowitzki had played with 3 other hall of fame players in their prime the way bird did. the mavericks would have like 4 titles by now. nowitzki is 1 of only 4 players in NBA history to average over 25 points and 10 rebounds a game in the playoffs. contrary to the tremendous abuse he took over the last 10 years in the US sports media, he was never the reason the mavericks couldn't win. in fact he just won the title over james, wade, and bosh, and the second best player on his team was jason terry. (note bill simmons pointed out much of this as well). in reality, for a while now, the biggest problem with the mavericks was erick dampier. as soon as the mavericks replaced him, they won the title. that bascially zero basketball analysts could see this made me really call into question their expertise. by 2009, erick dampier, a starter, was often scoring 0 points per game in the playoffs, while nowitzki was routinely scoring over 30. yet it was always said to be dirk's fault when the mavericks lost a close playoff game by 3 or 4 points. what if garbage dampier had scored just 2 buckets a game? some things never change though. erick dampier scored 0 points per game for the heat, keeping his playoff scoring average over the last couple years intact. Early puberty onset by Blacks eliminates many White Americans in integrated areas (explaining why Whitopia graduates are the only ones making it to the highest level). Also, Euro leagues discriminate in the favor of its people: limiting foreign players on their squads. Meanwhile, American feeder leagues (i.e. college ball) discriminate AGAINST Whites, due to affirmative action. It all adds up to severe under-representation. "Given that the fulcrum of the judo throw was roughly the base of White Bread's neck, I'd say that the kid is lucky not to be a quadraplegic." I think you watch too many late-night movies on cable. "Is Kyrie Irving actually a much better guard than Fredette? Time will tell, but based on their college careers I can't see why Irving was picked no 1." Irving is 19, Jimmer is 22. If IRving stayed in college until he was senior, he would have been so dominant they would have had to change the rules. "and the black dudes seem equally baffled as to why it isn't working on European or South American whites when it works on American whites like clockwork." Dude, you're speaking like you have a little experience there. Forgot to add Russia in my breakdown. Both white—Andrei Kirilenko (who took out US citizenship last year) is 6-9, Timofey Mozgov is 7-1. "...most white Americans are English or Irish stock." Wrong. Germans have been by far the biggest white ethnic group in the United States for over a century. About as many Americans have a German ancestor as have a Irish or English ancestor combined. To the anonymous commenter who remarked on the height of these players: Here's the whole list of non-US whites (or at least mostly-whites) on 2010 opening day rosters under 6-7: Carlos Delfino (6-6, Argentina) Manu Ginóbili (6-6, Argentina) Steve Nash (6-3, South Africa-born Canadian; Welsh mother and English father) Andy Rautins (6-5, Canada). Not on the NBA's international list because he was born and raised in the US. Lithuanian descent. Goran Dragic (6-4, Slovenia) Beno Udrih (6-3, Slovenia) José Calderón (6-3, Spain) Rudy Fernández (6-6, Spain) Greivis Vásquez (6-6, Venezuela) If Carlos Arroyo and J. J. Barea are counted as white, add two more; Arroyo is 6-2 and Barea is listed at 6-0 but is widely thought to be noticeably shorter. Ricky Rubio is currently listed at 6-4. In short: The bulk of non-US whites in the NBA are clearly at least 6-7 (as listed), and many of the others are pretty close to that height. BTW, I also forgot to throw in the UK in my original rundown. All three on the NBA international list are black. Kelenna Azubuike is of Nigerian origin though born in London; he actually does not have British citizenship. Pops Mensah-Bonsu is of Ghanaian descent and also born in London. Luol Deng was born in what will soon be the independent country of Southern Sudan. After escaping the civil war there, his family eventually settled in London, and Deng is now naturalized in the UK. Another UK-born player, Ben Gordon (also black), is not on the NBA international list; he has lived in the US from infancy. All four played college ball in the US. Dude, you're speaking like you have a little experience there. No, I just assume most white guys they meet at home act that way or they wouldn't keep doing it. I can vividly remember Bernard Hopkins taunting Joe Calzaghe, going on and on " I will never lose to a white boy " and Calzaghe just standing there looking puzzled as to why that was supposed to intimidate him. I'm guessing that was the first white boy that didn't respond the way Hopkins wanted and so he kept repeating himself like he was trying to get the cadence just right. You can watch the exchange on Youtube. David Stern is an idiot. He's failed absolutely to develop the NBA into anything resembling money for the league. All those Kobe shirts in China are run off predictably by pirates (who are part of the crony capitalist system). No TV revenue, no affiliate league, no nothing out of China. Or Europe for that matter. That's why the NBA is in lock-out. Like the NFL it has no outside revenues other than US-based TV, tickets, and merchandise. None of which has grown to cover owners debt service (many borrowed against their teams). See also the Mets and the Wilpon family. Or Los Dodgers filing for bankruptcy (I wrote that their problem was demographics, poor Mexicans don't buy real pricey season tickets and lots of merchandise, instead they beat White fans into comas). Basketball is a sport for Black thugs in the US. Thats what it is, and what it will remain. If you are a talented White guy who is tall, its easier to be a QB, or a pitcher, and not deal with unrelenting hostility from team-mates, coaches, fans, and the like. Basketball belongs to Alan Iverson, LeBron James, and Ron Artest. Thats what league owners, coaches, players, and fans want. About Hopkins, Kelly Pavlik (an white american) had the talent to beat him. I think he was a favorite before their match. But Kelly was unprofessional IMO in a way typical to the white american boxers. Everyone kept telling him that his small town coach couldn`t teach him anymore more stuff in particular counter punching and he needs to move on. But of course Pavlik was too loyal for his mentor. Needles to say Hopkins fought a tactical fight using Pavlik`s weaknesses and won (on points). Then there was Baby Joe Mesi who tried to fight like Marciano or Lamotta and ended with brain damage. And always if there is some guy who tries to fight like Tyson, it`s an american white guy. About Hopkins, Kelly Pavlik (an white american) had the talent to beat him. I didn't see the fight but i'll assume you are probably right, Pavlik beat Taylor twice, and Taylor beat Hopkins twice, so Pavlik with his power should have knocked out Hopkins, but Hopkins had a far superior trainer I'm guessing, particularly if he was still with Freddie Roach. Additionally, Pavlik apparently has a drinking problem, so that may have had something to do with it as well. "and the black dudes seem equally baffled as to why it isn't working on European or South American whites when it works on American whites like clockwork." Dude, you're speaking like you have a little experience there. Well, Truth, I'm talking from experience. I flatly refuse to put up with any BS from blacks and I would literally rather die than take lifetime crap from blacks the way US whites have for the past forty years. You don't know anything about me, feller, but believe me, for someone who spent his entire young life hating "the nazis," for me to now, more or less, take their side says something. (I mean, I don't consider myself one, but I will no longer hold it against anyone who is.) "I would literally rather die than take lifetime crap from blacks the way US whites have for the past forty years." Or you could just move to rural Idaho. "for someone who spent his entire young life hating "the nazis," for me to now, more or less, take their side says something." So you hate the Jews too?

[tag: how-to] Resolved questions How can I improve my english accent? Answers Sort by: Best Answer - Chosen by the Asker The best way to improve your pronounciation is to listen to lots of audio materials with the accent you'd like to adopt, and to practice repeating phrases from the audio while trying to sound as similar as possible. This can be tough to do alone. Recording yourself doing this so you can play it back may help. <br/> <br/>Do consider that accents can have different associations in countries where your target language is spoken. There are lots of British accents and according to where you live, you Watching movies, TV, and listening to music are good ways of improving your accent (be it British or American), but it would be best to get a native speaker to help you out with that. As you watch or listen, simply try to imitate the way they say the words and, with the help of a native, perfect your accent. I suggest daily practice and whenever you speak the language try to speak it with the accent. In my opinion, it is best to speak a language without having much of an accent since you are bet Everybody has an accent!!!...All languages....Midwest...southern draw....ect...What really matters is that people understand you....In America as in China there can be differant accents depending on where you are at.....Do not waste time on accent...Practice correct English...your accent will be natural... Watch movies and listen to songs. If you watch the same movies over and over again, repeating phrases after the actors say them, you will feel much more natural with your accent. If you listen to songs repeatedly and sing along, it teaches you how words flow together in English, which is very important in sounding more comfortable with the language. Native speakers do not annunciate every sound, so to sound more natural you will have to learn where we combine sounds. Music is a great way of doing.

- Thousands." Miranda solicitors contact Home Secretary and police David Miranda's solicitors have written to the Home Secretary and Metropolitan Police commissioner warning them not to inspect files confiscated by police at Heathrow. Law firm Bindmans LLP said they have sought assurances that "there will be no inspection, copying, disclosure, transfer, distribution or interference, in any way, with our client's data pending determination of our client's claim." Miranda was detained at Heathrow Airport under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 on Sunday as he changed planes on a journey from Berlin to his home in Brazil. Advertisement What is Schedule 7 of the UK Terrorism Act? The Guardian newspaper has criticised Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act, which police used to detain David Miranda at Heathrow airport for nine hours. - Schedule 7 applies only at airports, ports and border areas, allowing officers to stop, search, question and detain individuals - Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger called it "a vacuum" with no checks and balances - Detainees must provide "any information in his possession the examining officer requests" - Police can hold individuals for up to nine hours - The Home Office says more than 97 per cent of examinations last less than an hour - Police say property not returned straight away can be kept for up to seven days, or longer if it is required "for use as part of a criminal investigation" - The Home Office states Schedule 7 should be used solely for the purpose of ascertaining if a person is involved in "acts of terrorism" - David Anderson, the government's independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, has called its use to detain Miranda "unusual". David Miranda's solicitors have said they are challenging the "legality of the action" to detain him under Schedule 7. No. 10 deny political involvement in Miranda detention A Downing Street source said David Cameron was "kept abreast of the operation " to detain David Miranda, but denied any political involvement in the decision, adding: "The Government does not direct police investigations." Miranda taking 'civil action' to get laptop files back David Miranda is taking a civil action against the Government and wants files confiscated by police at Heathrow airport to be returned, the editor of the Guardian newspaper has said. Alan Rusbridger told BBC News it was "suspicious" that Miranda was held at Heathrow: Miranda lawyers 'to demand return of laptop' Guardian journalist Lisa O'Carroll said lawyers for David Claim his detention at Heathrow was "unlawful" and that he will demand the return of his seized laptop. Advertisement Lib Dems: Miranda detention 'abuse of terrorism powers' Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Julian Huppert has said David Miranda's detention was "not acceptable" and "a clear abuse of terrorism powers": David Miranda 'taking legal action' against Home Office The Guardian is supporting legal action taken by David Miranda against the Home Office after he was detained for nine hours at Heathrow Airport, the newspaper's editor has told the BBC. UK: 'Highly sensitive stolen information would help terrorism' The Home Office has defended the decision to detain David Miranda under terrorism laws, saying the Government and police "have a duty to protect the public and our national security". Scotland Yard has defended the use of the Terrorism Act to detain Mr Miranda as he changed planes on a journey from Berlin to his home in Brazil as "legally and procedurally sound". And the Home Office appeared to back the decision as a spokesman said: Police minister evasive over David Miranda detention Police and Criminal Justice Minister Damian Green avoided addressing questions from ITV News about whether the detention of David Miranda at Heathrow airport was "politically" motivated. Despite being repeatedly asked about potential "political involvement", the Minister only responded that protecting the public from terrorism was "extremely important" and the matter would be addressed by terror law reviewer David Anderson..

As we reported back in November AOL, which bought the software's previous owner Nullsoft in June 1999 for US$80 million in stock, was set to shut down Winamp in December, without stating a reason. But the new deal, announced today, means radio software firm Radionomy has acquired Winamp and Shoutcast from AOL for a "cash and share deal" worth between $5 and $10 million, and will keep the software running. The sale will give AOL a 12 percent stake in Radionomy, an online media platform that currently offers more than 6000 amateur and professional internet radio stations. The addition of Shoutcast to its lineup will push that number to around 60,000, representing roughly half the internet radio stations currently in operation. Winamp is still downloaded three million times per month, and Radionomy CEO Alexandre Saboundjian told TechCrunch that the plan is to maintain both Winamp and Shoutcast as going concerns. "We want to rebuild the story for Winamp," he told the tech news website. "We think the future can be great because the strategy is not just desktop but mobile and cars and so much more." The Winamp website still carries a message warning of its December demise and the paid version of the software isn't available at the time of writing, but it's expected these issues will be rectified shortly.

/Leadership Vice Presidents To assist the Office of the President in managing IU’s immense research and educational resources and to help it pursue its key initiatives, the Board of Trustees approved the expansion of IU’s management structure in 2005. Today, its leadership includes: - Charles R. Bantz - Executive VP and Chancellor, IUPUI Office of the Executive Vice President - John Applegate - Executive VP for University Academic Affairs Academic Affairs - MaryFrances McCourt - Senior VP, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer Financial Affairs - Fred Glass - VP and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Indiana Hoosiers - Jorge José - VP for Research - James Wimbush - VP for Diversity, Equity, and Multicultural Affairs - Thomas Morrison - VP for Capital Planning and Facilities - Lauren Robel - Executive VP and Provost, IU Bloomington Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President - Mike Sample - VP for Public Affairs and Government Relations - Jacqueline A. Simmons - VP and General Counsel - William B. Stephan - VP for Engagement - Jay Hess - VP for University Clinical Affairs School of Medicine - Bradley C. Wheeler - VP for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer Office of the Vice President for Information Technology - David Zaret - VP for International Affairs Office of the Vice President for International Affairs

Local library system opts against exit interview policy The James River Valley Library System will not have an exit interview policy for employees, its board of directors decided Wednesday. “Number one, are we big enough to be in need of an exit interview policy?” said Joe Rector, library director. About six employees have left the Library System in the past six months, said Jennifer Senger, the library’s assistant director. The majority of those were due to retirement, and one person moved. “I have gotten calls from at least four people that are employed here, and they have a concern that we have lost 10 people here in the last whatever amount of time,” said Char Freeberg, Library Board member. She said she asked those who called what was going on and whether they had spoken with the library director, and added “I don’t get an answer.” Rector said that was frustrating, because one person who quit was unhappy but would not talk to him about the problem. He also said that sometimes the library system has an issue with turf — “where people have said ‘this is my job and something else is not my job, I wasn’t hired for that.’ But not only that, that people want to control the turf …” Rector emphasized the importance of flexibility and collaboration, so that things still get done when individual employees are absent. “We need the staff to be willing to learn new things and adapt to new things,” Rector said. “… we need to move forward in this organization. We cannot stay exactly where we are.” He encouraged library employees to come to him with problems. Sun reporter Kari Lucin can be reached at (701) 952-8453 or by email at klucin@jamestownsun.com

Ed 50 members. This ensemble recorded its first album Let Us Go Into the House of the Lord at the Ephesian Church of God in Christ in Berkeley, California, hoping to sell 500 copies. "Oh Happy Day" was just one of the eight songs on the album. When radio stations of the San Francisco Bay area started playing "Oh Happy Day", it became very popular. Featuring the lead vocal of Dorothy Combs Morrison, the subsequently released single rocketed to sales of over a million copies within two months. It crossed over to the pop charts making U.S. #4 and UK #2 and #1 in the German Singles Charts in 1969. It then became an international success, selling more than 7 million copies worldwide, and Hawkins was awarded his first Grammy for it. Hawkins' arrangement of the song was eventually covered by The Four Seasons on their 1970 album Half & Half. Altogether Hawkins has won four Grammy Awards: In 2007, Hawkins was inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame and attended the formal awards show in 2009. Paul Anka's duet partner Odia Coates was also a member of the Edwin Hawkins Singers.

[tag: legal] To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog: In this en banc decision, the Delaware Supreme Court answered a certified question of law from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The certified question was whether, under the “fraud exception” to Delaware’s continuous ownership rule, shareholder plaintiffs may maintain a derivative suit after a merger that divests them of their ownership interest in the corporation on whose behalf they sue by alleging that the merger at issue was necessitated by, and is inseparable from, the alleged fraud that is the subject of their derivative claims. The Supreme Court answered the question in the negative and ratified and reaffirmed the continuous ownership rule and the “fraud exception” recognized by its holding in Lewis v. Anderson, 477 A.2d 1040 (Del. 1984). Plaintiffs in the underlying federal action filed their derivative claims on behalf of Countrywide Financial Corporation (“Countrywide”) in California in October 2007. On July 1, 2008, a stock-for-stock merger between Countrywide and Bank of America (“BofA”) closed, and all outstanding Countrywide shares were exchanged for BofA shares. Defendants in the federal action then moved for judgment on the pleadings on the grounds that plaintiffs lost derivative standing as a result of the merger. On December 11, 2008, the district court granted defendants’ motion for judgment on the pleadings and dismissed all the derivative claims. Following the district court’s ruling, the Court of Chancery approved the settlement of direct claims challenging the merger that were pending in Delaware. In approving the settlement, the Court of Chancery found that the merger had not been motivated by any desire to eliminate derivative standing. The derivative plaintiffs objected to the settlement and appealed the Court of Chancery’s approval to the Delaware Supreme Court. In affirming the approval of the settlement, the Supreme Court, in a decision captioned Arkansas Teacher Retirement Systems v. Caiafa,stated that the Vice Chancellor had “denied the objection and approved the settlement, allowing [BofA] to close its acquisition of Countrywide, thus extinguishing [the plaintiffs’] standing to pursue derivative claims.” The Supreme Court explained that the conditions to satisfy the “fraud exception” were not present because the record did “not reflect that the [Countrywide] directors prospectively sought and approved a merger, solely to deprive stockholders of standing to bring a derivative action.” In its Arkansas Teacher decision, the Supreme Court in dictum discussed certain direct claims that the plaintiffs could have but did not present to the Court of Chancery. The Supreme Court stated that the plaintiffs theoretically could have pled a claim for a single, inseparable fraud alleging that pre-merger fraudulent conduct made the merger a fait accompli. Based on the dictum in the Supreme Court’s ruling, the derivative plaintiffs returned to the district court in California and sought reconsideration of the order dismissing their derivative claims. They argued that in Arkansas Teacher the Delaware Supreme Court clarified the scope of the “fraud exception” to Delaware’s continuous ownership rule and confirmed that the derivative plaintiffs had post-merger derivative standing. The district court denied the plaintiffs’ motion for reconsideration, the plaintiffs appealed to the Ninth Circuit, and the Ninth Circuit certified the above question regarding continuous ownership and the “fraud exception” to the Delaware Supreme Court. In answering the certified question, the Supreme Court reaffirmed that the “fraud exception” to the continuous ownership rule is available only if the merger itself is subject to a claim of fraud, being perpetrated merely to deprive stockholders of standing to bring a derivative action. The Court clarified that its discussion of “inseparable fraud” in dictum in the Arkansas Teacher decision was different. The discussion of “inseparable fraud” referred to a situation where pre-merger conduct makes a merger inevitable. Such conduct gives rise to a direct claim that can survive the merger, but not a derivative claim. The Supreme Court pointed out that its discussion in Arkansas Teacher recognized that any injury flowing from the “inseparable fraud” would be suffered by the stockholders rather than the corporation and any recovery would go to the stockholders rather than the corporation, thus supporting its conclusion that an “inseparable fraud” claim would be a direct claim. The Court observed that the plaintiffs had not alleged an “inseparable fraud” claim and that the Arkansas Teacher decision unequivocally held that the Countrywide-BofA merger had extinguished the plaintiffs’ derivative standing. The Court ultimately held that Arkansas Teacher did not clarify, expand, or constitute a new material change in Lewis v. Anderson’s continuous ownership rule or the “fraud exception.”

Join Our Mailing List Seville is the capital city of the Province of the same name. It lies along the left bank of the Guadalquivir River in Southwest Andalusia in the land region known as the Guadalquivir Basin. The Basin is a dry but extremely fertile region in the hottest part of the country. Its average yearly temperature is 18 degrees centigrade. Population of Seville is approximately 700,000 people with a minimal Jewish presence. The mythical origins of Seville date back to the Phoenicians, who, it is said, established an ancient city with the aide of Hercules. Recorded history begins with the Carthaginians in 256 BCE who occupied the city, but encountered strong resistance from the natives. In the last decade of the 3rd century the Carthaginians burned the city to the ground. When the Romans (206 B.C.E.) marched into the Guadalquivir valley, they rebuilt the city as a rest and recuperation site for their legions. As in other parts of Spain, the Visigoths (400-710) brought Christianity to Seville and the series of Church Councils played an increasingly important role in the region's culture. During the Arab occupation (711), Seville emerged as the second most important city, after Cordoba, in the Ummayad Caliphate. When Cordoba fell to the Berbers in 1031, Seville's stature increased. Under the rule of Al Mutamid, the city maintained a wealthy, picturesque and vibrant society.Al Mutamid, however, made the tragic mistake of inviting the African Almoravides into Andalusia to assist in defending Seville against the Christians from the north. The fanatic Muslim sect eventually expelled the king and took power. During the Reconquest, Seville fell to the Castilian navy (1248) and many Muslims fled, leaving the city to be repopulated by Castilians. Seville became the first site for an Inquisition Tribunal in 1481, and it is where Columbus landed upon his return from the new world. An ancient tradition places Jews in Seville at the time of the destruction of the first Temple (586 BCE). In fact, several influential Jewish families of Seville (Abrabanel included) claim to be descendants of King David. Amazingly, there is even some speculation that Jews settled in this region as far back as the 11th century B.C.E. The source of this belief rests on the identification of Seville with the distant port of Tarshish which is mentioned in the Bible. "For the king had a Tarshish fleet on the sea, along with Hiram's fleet. Once every three years, the Tarshish fleet came in, bearing gold and silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks."(I Kings 10:22) The presence of Jews in Seville at the time of the Visigoths is more easily verified. Anti-Jewish polemics by Isidore, the archbishop of Seville, are part of the historical record. Another historical source describes a Jewish guard, assembled by the Moors in 712, and charged with defending the city. During the Ummayad Caliphate, Seville prospered and the Jews who lived there were engaged in commerce, medicine and the dyeing industry. The Juderia was in the western part of the city, in what is now the parishes of Santa Magdalena and San Lorenzo. Later, after the Berber invasion (1013), Seville served as a refuge for Jews who were fleeing persecution. Under the Almoravides, the Jewish community in Seville prospered, but as in other parts of Andalusia, the Almohade conquest brought death and destruction. When Seville was reconquered by the Christians (1248), the Jews welcomed them with open arms. They presented Ferdinand III with a key to the city, which has been preserved in the cathedral treasury. For a period of time, the Jewish community was revived. Though they were taxed heavily, they received real estate, and good land for farming. Those who participated in annual fairs and were granted freedom to trade and exemption from taxes. At one point, tax registers indicate that the Jewish community of Seville paid 115, 333 maravedis and 5 solidos; a staggering sum for a community of about 200 families. Gradually, as the reconquest succeeded, and the Christians no longer needed money, or help from the Jews, live became increasingly more difficult. An important turning point came with the anti-Jewish activities of archdeacon Martinez, who was the confessor to the child king's mother. Though he was repeatedly ordered to stop his diatribes, Martinez succeeded in arousing passionate hatred among the masses. In 1391, disaster struck in Seville. The entire Jewish community was nearly destroyed and the synagogues were converted to churches. The once vibrant community never recovered and along with the other Jews of Andalusia, they were exiled in 1483.

The City Commission on Thursday voted to defer five projects and instead place the funding of median and sidewalk improvements on State of Franklin Road between Roan and Buffalo street at the top of its priority list. Earlier this month commissioners directed the Public Works Department staff to develop a detailed cost estimate, which is between $175,000 and $200,000, if constructed using in-house labor. The project is not included in the fiscal 2014 budget and will require holding off on the other projects to properly fund it. “We’ll be putting in new crosswalks on State of Franklin at Roan, Spring and Buffalo streets and adding center medians between Buffalo and Roan,” Public Works Director Phil Pindzola said. “We’ll also be putting in a new median on Buffalo from State of Franklin to Cherry Street.” The deferred projects include municipal parking lot resurfacing ($150,000); Freedom Hall parking lot resurfacing ($100,000); Walnut Street/State of Franklin intersection improvements ($100,000); Winged Deer Park playground equipment ($50,000); and Carnegie Park playground equipment and parking lot improvements ($20,000). The two parking lot resurfacing projects and the intersection improvements are funded with unspent bond proceeds. The two park projects are funded directly by a general fund transfer and the State of Franklin project will be funded with previously issued bond proceeds. “We are attempting to prioritize pedestrian safety downtown,” Pindzola added. “This also should lower speeds of the motorists traveling through that area. Also, we’ll be eliminating a crosswalk between Spring and Roan. Our studies showed that at night, most pedestrians do not use that crosswalk, so we’re doing this to eliminate a ‘conflict crossing.’ ” Additional lighting also is planned, including lighting at the ground level. Public Works staff will be meeting with the Johnson City Power Board to coordinate construction schedules. Commissioners also discussed flooding at Memorial Park Community Center. Orange sandbags were evident at various doors at the center before and after a significant rain event a few weeks ago. Several commissioners toured the site a few days ago, and before approving a more than $535,000 final payment Thursday to Rentenbach Constructors, commissioners wanted to make sure that flooding issues were not due to faulty design or construction. Mayor Ralph Van Brocklin asked Tommy Burleson, the city’s construction agent, if there was any “culpability” on the part of the contractor. “The culprit is the rain,” Burleson said. “It is not a design issue. The building was constructed for a 100-year flood, but saturated ground from rain events is not allowing water to saturate and to drain into stormwater systems.” Commissioner Jeff Banyas finished, saying he’d just like to see the sandbags “out of there” and that he wanted to make sure the situation was taken care of when City Manager Pete Peterson looked over at Assistant City Manager Charlie Stahl and said, “Charlie, go get a truck and get the sandbags out of there.” It was hard to tell whether he was joking or a bit riled, or both. “It’s not going to be an expensive fix,” Peterson added. He also said the detention pond at the front of the facility “has never overflowed.” On Aug. 8, the Johnson City Press left a telephone message with Development Services Director Angie Carrier, who oversees codes enforcement. She did not return the call but emailed Community Relations about the inquiry. “I’m not sure as the amount of sandbags that he is referring to or how many exits were affected, but in general as long as ingress and egress is not impeded, a code would not be violated,” she wrote. According to the city’s building codes, all buildings “not provided with adequate egress” are unlawful (Title 12, Chapter 1, section 12-107). Meanwhile, a second reading of an ordinance to rezone property located at 920 N. State of Franklin Road from medical services to planned arterial business remains on hold. Earlier this month, commissioners deferred a second reading after agreeing to order a study of potential problems linked with high-vehicle counts and crowded streets neat the proposed 29-acre parcel that would support a $20 million retail development by Nashville’s GBT Realty. City officials said this week the study should be complete in mid-September. The study is not being conducted by the city. It is being done by Nashville’s Gresham, Smith & Partners, the developer’s civil engineer of choice, which also develops site plans for GBT. Mike Hunkler, Gresham, Smith & Partners principal-in-charge, talks about the company’s association with the developer on GS&P’s website: “We became GBT’s civil engineer on multiple projects happening simultaneously and on very fast-paced schedules. Our goal was to complete a set of site-development construction and bid drawings for the initial permitting submittal within two weeks of our notice to proceed. It was, and is, multitasking on steroids.”

"It's an easy party to pull off," says Nancy Siler, vice president of consumer affairs at Wilton. "Our celebration experts have created a patriotic-themed spread of sweet and savory treats to provide star-spangled fun for everyone." Start the festivities off with a bang using festive tableware and decorations like Fourth of July party pics -- a simple way to add spark to any celebration. Play up the Independence Day theme throughout -- from beverage to dessert. "Serve an easy-to-eat meal dressed up with holiday colors," says Siler. "All Star Sliders on Cornbread Buns are a delicious spin on the classic burger. The cornbread buns are baked using the Wilton Star Whoopie Pie Pan to add a festive twist to the traditional bun. Patriot's Peanut Butter Popcorn -- a yummy mix of popcorn, peanut butter and colored candies -- is an ideal salty-sweet treat. Packed in star-studded gift bags, this easy-to-make goodie is a party favorite and a perfect take-home for guests." Cool down when the temperature rises with refreshing, fruity Red and Blue Raspberry Lemonade. Have a blast decking out the glasses with stripes, stars and swirls using edible blue Sparkle Gel. What's more fun than the fireworks finale? Dessert! Guests will ooh and aah over Banana Split Surprise Cake -- a decadent dessert with a surprise strawberry ice cream center. It's a new take on cake and ice cream, great for serving a crowd. Visit wilton.com for more celebration ideas or to order baking and decorating supplies. All Star Sliders on Cornbread Buns Makes 12 buns and 12 sliders Cornbread Buns 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 3/4 cup yellow cornmeal 1 tablespoon granulated sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 3/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 3/4 cup sour cream 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 2 eggs, lightly beaten Preheat oven to 350F. Spray Star Whoopie Pie Pan with vegetable cooking spray. In medium bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt and pepper. Add sour cream, oil and eggs, stirring just until smooth. Fill cavities 3/4 full, spreading batter to edges of star. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until center of bun springs back when touched. Cool in pan 5 minutes; remove to cooling grid. Repeat with remaining batter. Sliders 3/4 pound ground chuck 1 egg, lightly beaten ½ small yellow onion, minced (about 1/3 cup) 1/3 cup shredded pepper-jack cheese 1 teaspoon garlic powder ¼ teaspoon chili powder 5 to 6 dashes hot sauce, or to taste Preheat grill or broiler to medium high heat. In large bowl, combine all ingredients until well incorporated. Form into twelve 2-1/2-inch patties. Cook 2 to 3 minutes per side. Serve with star buns and your favorite condiments. Patriot's Peanut Butter Popcorn Makes about 8 cups 1 bag (3.2 ounces) butter flavored microwave popcorn 1/2 cup peanut butter 1/4 cup firmly-packed brown sugar 1 bottle (3 ounces) Patriotic Nonpareils or other patriotic sprinkles 1 package (12 ounces) Red Candy Melts Candy Make popcorn according to package directions. In large bowl, microwave peanut butter and brown sugar for 1 minute; stir to combine. Add popcorn and stir until well coated. Sprinkle liberally with nonpareils, stirring to distribute. Spread onto parchment-lined sheet pan. Melt Candy Melts Candy according to package directions. Drizzle over popcorn. Let set at least 10 minutes before serving. Red and Blue Raspberry Lemonade Makes about 8 servings 1-1/3 cups (about 6 ounces) fresh raspberries, divided 1 can (12 ounces) frozen lemonade concentrate Water Blue Sparkle Gel Place one raspberry in each cavity of the Star Ice Cube Silicone Mold. Cover with water; freeze several hours to set. Reserve remaining raspberries. In large pitcher, mix lemonade according to package instructions. In food processor or blender, pulse remaining raspberries until smooth; strain through sieve to remove seeds. Stir raspberry puree into lemonade. Serve with raspberry ice cubes in glasses decorated with Blue Sparkle Gel. Banana Split Surprise Cake Makes 8 to 10 servings 2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened 1-3/4 cups granulated sugar 4 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 3 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1-1/4 cups) 1 cup sour cream 1 cup (about 8 ounces) hot fudge sauce 1 pint (about 2 cups) strawberry ice cream, softened 1 box (10 ounces) Vanilla Whipped Icing Mix Fresh strawberries, halved Star Pics Preheat oven 350F. Spray Fancy Fill pans from set with vegetable cooking spray. In medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside. In large bowl, beat butter and sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla and mashed banana; mix well. Add flour mixture alternately with sour cream; blend thoroughly but do not overmix. Pour into prepared pans. Bake 33 to 38 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on rack; remove from pan and cool completely. Divide fudge sauce and spread evenly into cavities of cake; freeze 10 minutes. At same time, remove strawberry ice cream to soften. Fill cake cavities with ice cream. Assemble cake by inverting top layer onto bottom layer. Prepare icing mix according to package directions. Ice top and sides of cake; freeze at least 2 hours or until ready to serve. Garnish with strawberries and star pics.

/20/2011 23:50 Leon Recanati makes a presentation to Yehoram Gaon B&W_311. (photo credit:Rafi Deloya) ■ POPULAR SINGER and commentator on current affairs Yigal Bashan suggested in his radio program on Reshet Bet last Friday that retired champion footballer Haim Revivo would be the best person to mend fences between Israel and Turkey. Revivo played for various Turkish teams and once succeeded in having a game rescheduled so that he would not have to play on Yom Kippur. When he left Turkey, one of the people who asked him to reconsider was none other than Turkish Prime Minister Recip Tayyip Erdogan, who happens to be a keen football fan and who admired Revivo’s prowess on the field. In political statements during his 2005 visit to Israel, Erdogan mentioned jokingly that he would have been happy to compromise on several issues if Revivo had remained in Turkey.■ UP UNTIL last Thursday, professional and amateur bookmakers were taking bets as to whether it would be Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres or neither who would represent Israel at the United Nations General Assembly. There were some people who were on tenterhooks in case it was Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman who has been known to make the most undiplomatic of statements at diplomatic gatherings.But though he was reportedly unwilling to go, it was Netanyahu who took up the gauntlet. What prompted him? Who knows. But he or one of his top aides may very well have been listening to the Israel Radio interview with former Israel ambassador to the UN Dan Gillerman who, while certain that Peres would do a great job in presenting Israel’s case, said that it should be Netanyahu who delivers the address because he is the one who was invited.Whatever faults anyone may find with the prime minister, even Kadima leader Tzipi Livni, the most aggressive and vociferous of his critics, would concede that as a public speaker, he’s top-notch, and speaks English as if it was his mother tongue. But Livni can’t resist being acerbic where Netanyahu is concerned and in an Israel Radio interview shortly after the announcement, she said it was not good enough for him to speechify. He had to actually take a decision ■ NOTWITHSTANDING GEO-POLITICAL and economic upheavals in the region and around the world, Israel’s incoming tourism figures are only two percent below those of the first nine months of 2010, which was a record year, Minister of Tourism Stas Misezhnikov said on Monday evening at the annual toast to the Jewish New Year hosted by the Israel Hotel Association at the Tel Aviv Hilton. Misezhnikov said Israel is sending out the message that despite events in the region, is a safe and attractive tourism destination. He added that this message will be intensified at upcoming world tourism fairs and exhibitions. If he had a hat, said Misezhnikov, he would raise it to the hoteliers in admiration for what they are doing for Israel’s economy.IHA President Ami Federmann also focused on pleasing occupancy rates in the hotels, which he said never failed to surprise given the convulsive nature of the region and the high prices in Israeli hotels. Tourism is a very sensitive barometer, he said, and has not been seriously affected by global and regional events. Yet despite the stability in incoming tourism and the profitability of the industry, it does not attract new investors, a phenomenon that Federmann said must be investigated and resolved.IHA director-general Shmuel Tzurel welcomed diplomatic representatives from 28 countries: owners and general managers of hotels, airlines and car rental companies, travel agents, restaurant proprietors, MK Yoel Hasson and Tiberias Mayor Zohar Oved. He praised Misezhnikov for making an unprecedented budget available for tourism promotion and for his role in the cancellation of visa requirements for people coming to Israel from Russia and Ukraine, resulting in a huge increase of visitors from those countries.There were new faces among the diplomats at the event, including those of China’s ambassador designate Gao Yanping and Philippines ambassador designate Generoso Calonge who had been scheduled to present their credentials to President Shimon Peres on September 7, but the ceremony had been canceled due to the death of the president’s brother. They and other ambassadors designate are waiting for it to be rescheduled.■ DESPITE CLAIMS to the contrary by government ministers and representatives of the National Insurance Institute, there are starving people in Israel. An incredulous Peerli Shahar, who each year before Passover and Rosh Hashana conducts a program on Israel Radio’s Reshet Bet to match people who want to be invited for a festive dinner with those who want to host them, heard again and again from people who distribute food to the needy that there are children who suffer from severe stomach cramps brought on by hunger. “But surely people have bread!” exclaimed Shahar increduolously.Many wonderful Israelis all over the country who quickly responded to the program. Some religious families offered to put up as many as half a dozen strangers for the three-day holiday. A representative of an organization that cares for Holocaust survivors offered to transport them to and from any place to which they were invited, and stressed how important it was for them not be alone, but not to be treated as charity cases either. A clothing merchant called to offer dozens of new outfits to children and teenagers. Other callers offered cash donations to pay for food parcels.■ THE VALUE of benefit performances by Israeli singers and musicians is inestimable. There’s hardly a charitable organization that hasn’t reaped the bounty of their generosity.And it’s not just the up-and-coming celebs who perform gratis so that they will become better known to more people. It’s also the stars at the top of the pyramid.Case in point is Yehoram Gaon, who last week sang on behalf of the Israel Cancer Association at a gala evening hosted by Yossi Maiman, who heads the Merhav Group and who in the past chaired the ICA’s doorknock campaign.The crowd, which gathered in Maiman’s spacious garden in Herzliya Pituah, happily sang along with Gaon. Since he knew most of the people there, it almost seemed a family affair. Especially moving was his rendition of Jerusalem of Gold.Among those in attendance was the singer’s nephew Moshe Gaon, along with Shula and Leon Recanati, MK Anastasia Michaeli, Batsheva Bublil, Tali and Meshulam Riklis, Bruno Landsberg, brothers Dan and Gad Propper, David Franklin, Ran Rahav, and many other well known personalities. Yehoram Gaon has a very special place in his heart for ICA, which for many years was presided over by his late brother Benny Gaon (the father of Moshe), who before becoming president had been chairman of the ICA.Unfortunately, Benny Gaon, who did so much to help people with cancer, was a victim of it himself. ICA director general Miri Ziv in thanking donors for their generosity, reminded them that today’s research is tomorrow’s therapy. ICA vice chairman Leon Recanati presented Gaon with a plaque to add to the many that already adorn the walls of his home. Now that the Habima strike is over, Gaon can look forward to appearing with Gila Almagor in Friedrich Durrenmatt’s “The Visit of the Old Lady,” which is scheduled to be the curtain raiser for the revamped Habima theater at its opening on November 15.■ AT THIS year’s Mexican Independence Day reception hosted at his residence by Mexican ambassador Federico Salas, Housing and Construction minister Ariel Atias acknowledged Mexico’s position in the Group of 20 and the fact that Mexico will host the 2010 G-20 with the participation not only of finance ministers of the 20 member countries but also of the heads of government, who will discuss financial markets and world economy.Atias naturally hoped that Mexico would support Israel in the vote this week on the inclusion of Palestine as a member state of the United Nations, and was quite forthright in his expectations. He also spoke of areas of cooperation between Israel and Mexico such as water technology, tourism and archaeology. As always the décor of the back garden featured the traditional red, green and white colors of Mexico. There was a rich assortment of Mexican delicacies washed down with Corona beer. One of the highlights of the evening was a raffle, with prizes ranging from food baskets from Tres Pesos to a roundtrip Mexican Airlines ticket to Mexico. As always, the crowd sang along with the popular Mexican songs sung by the Mexican musicians.■ COSTA RICA, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, whose Independence Days actually fall the day before Mexico’s, this year celebrated it a day after, and also changed their geographic location. Now that there are no longer any embassies in Jerusalem (with the exception of the Christian embassy), Costa Rica and El Salvador, which until a couple of years back made a point of hosting their Independence Day festivities in the capital, held a joint celebration at the Holon Design Museum. The Israeli government was represented by Shas party leader Eli Yishai.Guests had to stand for the national anthems of the four host countries as well as to that of Israel. But that wasn’t the end of it. The next day, El Salvador ambassador Susana Hasenson hosted a fun day of Central American and Caribbean caricatures, art, music and stories at the Holon Mediatec, so for her it was quite an uplifting week.■ REPRESENTATIVES OF the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, officers from the Israel Defense Forces, defense attaches from various embassies, members of the Indian Jewish community in Israel, members of the Haifa Historical Society and Deputy Mayor of Haifa Brig.Gen. (Res) Hedva Almog joined Indian ambassador Navtej Sarna and other representatives of the Indian Embassy in the annual commemoration ceremony to honor the memories of Indian cavalry soldiers who laid down their lives in the courageous September 23, 1918 charge to liberate Haifa. These brave soldiers are traditionally commemorated by the Indian army at Haifa Day ceremonies far from where the action took place. But in Israel, Haifa Day is commemorated at the Indian cemetery, where this year Sarna sought to make the sacrifice of Indian soldiers better known through the release of a new book produced by the Indian embassy in cooperation with the Commonwealth Graves Commission: “Memorials of Indian Soldiers in Israel.” Some 900 Indian soldiers were laid to rest in cemeteries throughout the country. Sarna said the book would help to create awareness not only of these soldiers but also of many more Indian soldiers whose names are not in any cemetery in the region, but whose courage while fighting on this soil formed part of the mosaic in the relationship between India and Israel.■ WHILE MANY eyes this week are focused on New York and how the UN will react to the Palestinian bid for statehood, New York broadcaster John Batchelor came to Jerusalem to “devote the new week to broadcasting about the complex security threat to the State of Israel and the 31-year peace along the Negev desert border with the Sinai Peninsula.”Batchelor is the host of “The John Batchelor Show,” a two-hour national radio show covering politics, the economy, literature, culture, etc. During his week in Israel, Batchelor is broadcasting live for five nights and is being joined by transplanted American 77 WABC’s Aaron Klein. The show can be heard live on 77 WABC in New York and globally on, with podcasts available at.■ PEOPLE LIKE Shavei Israel founder and Chairman Michael Freund, who writes a regular column in The Jerusalem Post are not the only ones finding individuals and groups with Jewish roots and bringing them back into the fold. Others include Rabbi Moshe Pinchuk, head of the Jewish Heritage Center at Netanya Academic College, Prof. Michael Corinaldi, Head of NAC’s new International Institute for the Study of Secret Jews (Anusim) and Gloria Mound, the founder of Casa Shalom, who has devoted decades of her life to studying the history of anusim and tracing their descendants scattered throughout the world.In recent years, after apologizing for the Inquisition and expulsion of 1492, Spain is interested in forging links with people whose lineage can be traced to the Jews of 15th century Spain. To this end, the Spanish embassy in Sofia, Bulgiaria, in cooperation with Cervantes Institute, joined forces with La Casa de Sefarad and the Bulgarian Jewish organization Shalom to organize a three-day global meeting of representatives of Sephardic communities from around the world, who met together in Sofia, long recognized as a city of coexistence where Christians, Jews and Muslims live in harmony.Here in Israel, the event was preempted by NAC’s meeting with ambassadors and other diplomats from Costa Rica, Peru, Colombia, Uruguay, Panama, Guatemala, Honduras and Chile, which are host countries to communities of anusim. It was hoped that through the good offices of the diplomats, cultural bridges could be built between Israel and these communities.Following introductory remarks by Pinchuk, Corinaldi, explained the background of anusim, the descendants of conversos – those Jews who were forcibly converted to Catholicism in Spain and Portugal.Mound, who is a senior advisor to Corinaldi, related her experiences starting 37 years ago visiting the Balearic Islands, where she subsequently did ground-breaking research on the descendents of the secret Jews living there, and has even managed to prove the Jewish ancestry of specific anusim in order for them to be eligible to marry koh

NEW YORK (Oct. 20) The 3,000th anniversary of the founding of Jerusalem as the first capital of Israel by King David was marked here by the New York Jewish community at a city-wide celebration tonight at Madison Square Garden. Dr. Israel Goldstein, chairman of the Jerusalem Anniversary Committee, announced that more than 20,000 persons were present for “this historic salute to the world’s foremost spiritual center.” Admission to the celebration was by purchase of State of Israel Bonds. Funds derived from the sale of Israel Bonds in connection with the celebration will be used to rebuild and industrialize Jerusalem and help strengthen the economy of the young nation. Dr. Goldstein presided at the ceremonies, and speakers included Henry Morgenthau, Jr., former Secretary of the Treasury and chairman of the board of governors of the State of Israel Bond Organization; Rudolf G. Sonneborn, president of the Israel Bond Organization; and Mayor Vincent R. Impellitteri, who presented the official greetings of the City of New York to the City of Jerusalem. Ambassador Abba S. Eban, Israel’s envoy to the United States, and Zeev Shepher, Deputy Speaker of the Israel Parliament, who headed a special delegation of eight members of the Knesset, also participated. Highlight of the celebration was the presentation of a music-dance drama, “City of the Ages, ” written by Maurice Samuel and starring Edward G. Robinson, Cary Grant and Jose Ferrer. The drama depicted the development of Jerusalem and its significance as the spiritual center of Jewish life and religion. A special religious service was held during the celebration program when a priceless Torah, sent as a gift from the people of Jerusalem, was presented to the Jewish people of New York. The Torah, made in Jerusalem from salvaged parchments damaged by the Nazis, was accepted by Dr. Goldstein on behalf of the Jewish community of New York. Another feature of the ceremony was the kindling of a silver-headed peace torch which Mr. Shepher presented to Mr. Morgenthau. The torch, which was used in a similar ceremony recently on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem, was kindled in a ritual dating back to Jerusalem 3,000 years ago, and which calls upon the nations of the world to dwell together in peace.

WASHINGTON (Nov. 13) Gen. George S. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, issued two statements today, expressing regret about his anti-Jewish and ant-Israel remarks. One was to the Jewish War Veterans’ national commander, Judge Paul Ribner of Philadelphia, who called the “explanation” by Brown “inadequate.” and ordered the JWV staff in Washington to proceed with a news conference today at which the JWV reiterated its demand for Brown’s dismissal for “vicious anti-Semitic canards.” Brown’s other statement was issued through the Pentagon after Secretary of Defense James C. Schlesinger, in apparent agreement that the first statement was inadequate, telephoned Hyman Bookbinder, Washington representative of the American Jewish Committee. The AJCommittee office here told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that Brown would be issuing another statement to the press at the Pentagon. The JTA was informed by the JWV that Brown had telephoned Ribner in Philadelphia as Ribner was leaving for London and that Ribner, in rejecting the apology, said “We protest profoundly this kind of restricted country club locker room viciousness which we have attacked for years.” The JWV, at the press conference here, denounced Brown’s remarks as showing him to be “a propagandist, whether by Innocence or design” for various anti Semitic groups. SAYS HIS STATEMENT WAS RAMBLING In his statement to the JWV, Brown said “my true feelings” toward the JWV and America’s Jewish population “are those of respect and appreciation” and that those feelings “were not reflected in my statements at Duke University on Oct. 10, which are now being reported in the press.” He added that “in a rather rambling treatment of a difficult and complex subject, the words came out rather poorly. I share with you and all of America the pride you and the members of your organization feel in their patriotism and sacrifice, and I am aware of the tremendously important contributions to our country made by citizens of the Jewish faith.” He also said that “I deeply regret that my poorly articulated statements have offended a segment of the American population.” In his Pentagon statement, Brown repeated that “my unfounded and all too casual remarks” were “wholly unrepresentative of my continuing respect for the role played by Jewish citizens which I have just repeated to the Jewish War Veterans.” However, he added a comment about American Jews and Israel, declaring that “my improper comments could be read to suggest that the American Jewish community and Israel are somehow the same. Americans of Jewish background have an understandable interest in the future of Israel parallel to similar sentiments among other Americans, all of whom at one time or another trace their descent to other lands.” Brown stressed that he did, “in fact, appreciate the great support and the deep interest in the nature of our security problems and our defenses that the American Jewish community has steadily demonstrated.”

JERUSALEM (JTA) — A Jordanian man named Yitzhak Rabin won his battle to join the Israel Defense Forces. After a 16-year battle, Yitzhak Rabin Namsy, 18, earlier this week was granted Israeli citizenship and is eligible to enlist in the Israeli army. The boy was named by his Jordanian parents in honor of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who signed a peace treaty with Jordan in 1994 and was assassinated in 1995. But the family suffered harassment in Jordan due to the name and were forced when Yitzhak was a baby to flee to Israel, where they continue to live in exile. Interior Minister Gideon Sa’ar personally traveled to Eilat to present the 18-year-old with his Israeli identification card, according to the Israeli newspaper Maariv.

Men's and women's tennis drop matches to Trine University (Posted March 7, 2011) HILTON HEAD, S.C. -- Juniata College men's and women's tennis took on Trine University from Indiana on the first day of the teams' spring break trip to Hilton Head, S.C., with both squads dropping decisions to the Thunder. The men fell 6-3 to Trine, while the women suffered a 7-2 loss. Katie Healy (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) won both her singles and doubles matches to lead the Juniata women's team, while the men played well in their doubles matches to take two of the possible three points. Women's Tennis Trine 7, Juniata 2 D1 - Katie Healy/Megan Phillips (JUN) def. Jennifer Wall/Lauren Schlueter (TRINE), 8-6 D2 - Chrissy Uphaus/Samantha Willmann (TRINE) def. Stacie Beegle/Lauren Perow (JUN), 8-1 D3 - Susan Breirling/Kaylynne Goeslein (TRINE) def. Rachel Adams/Laura Gregory (JUN), 8-4 S1 - Healy (JUN) def. Jen Wall, 6-4, 1-6, 10-5 S2 - Schlueter (TRINE) def. Phillips, 6-4, 5-7, 10-6 S3 - Uphaus (TRINE) def. Beegle, 6-3, 6-4 S4 - Willmann (TRINE) def. Perow, 6-2, 1-6, 11-9 S5 - Breirling (TRINE) def. Adams, 6-1, 6-2 S6 - Goeslein (TRINE) def. Hilary Walsh, 6-2, 6-4 Men's Tennis Trine 6, Juniata 3 D1 - Justin Wisniewski/Elliott Perow (JUN) def. Dan Desper/Joe Dunbar (TRINE), 8-6 D2 - Arnab Chakrabarti/Scott Andrews (JUN) def. Chris Gin/Trevor Derby (TRINE), 9-8 (7-4) D3 - David Murray/Nick Ihrie (TRINE) def. Brice Morey/Michael Showers, 8-1 S1 - Desper (TRINE) def. Wisniewski, 6-3, 6-2 S2 - Dunbar (TRINE) def. Perow, 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 11-9 S3 - Gin (TRINE) def. Morey (6-4, 7-5) S4 - Murray (TRINE) def. Chakrabarti, 6-4, 6-3 S5 - Ihrie (TRINE) def. Showers, 6-3, 6-2 S6 - Andrews (JUN) def. Derby, 3-6, 6-2, 10-5 -30- Our readers respond... Be the first to provide a response. Contact John Wall at wallj@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3132 for more information.

January 7, 2013 History on the move: Purple Masque Theatre getting new home in West Stadium By Communications and Marketing As Kansas State University celebrates its first 150 years, a dramatic part of the university's history will be moving to a new home -- ghost and all. The university's own Purple Masque Theatre, currently in East Stadium, is getting a new home in West Stadium. A projected completion date is summer 2014. The East Stadium space served as the scene shop for the university's old Auditorium until the building was burned in 1965. The East Stadium space continued to serve as the scene shop for the theatre program, but would sometimes be cleaned up and used as a performance space as well. However, most performances were done in such places as Williams Auditorium, All Faiths Chapel and near the courtyard area at the K-State Student Union. When McCain Auditorium opened in 1970, the scene shop activities that had been in the Purple Masque were moved to the new auditorium. For the next few years, the theatre program treated the Purple Masque as a black box theatre. Frozen into its current configuration in 1974, the Purple Masque Theatre is now used for drama therapy, acting and directing, student showcases, play readings, workshops, playwrights' stage, acting recitals, scene rehearsals, Ebony Theatre performances, various traveling drama therapy performance groups, and final scenes for the Principles of Directing course. "The new facility will let us do many things more easily and will function at a higher technical level to a larger audience," said John Uthoff, associate professor in the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. "We also will be able to teach the course Stage Makeup for the first time in our own facilities and not in McCain's." The Purple Masque's current space and has been improved by various projects since 1974. It also was shut down in 1978-1979 due to flooding issues. While theatre program faculty, staff and students are looking forward to the new Purple Masque Theatre, they hope one of the unique features of the current location will join them on the west side of the stadium: Nick the ghost, the football player who is said to haunt the East Stadium digs. "We're planning a seance to get Nick to move with us when the new Purple Masque is built," said Marci Maullar, managing director of the K-State theatre program. "It just wouldn't be the same without him." Renderings of the new Purple Masque Theatre are available at.

So far, 2014 is starting out as the quietest year for tornadoes on record. The first major severe weather outbreak of the season is forecast to wallop portions of the central and eastern USA Thursday and Friday. While the biggest threats will be powerful wind gusts, flash flooding and large hail, a few tornadoes are also possible, AccuWeather predicts. More than 60 million people live in the risk areas, said AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Sosnowski. The Storm Prediction Center has placed parts of the mid-South under a "moderate" risk for severe storms Thursday. Severe storms could rattle cities such as Memphis, Nashville and Louisville on Thursday. "The greatest risk for a handful of tornadoes will be where the air is the warmest and most humid, which is most likely from western Tennessee to northwestern Mississippi on Thursday," according to AccuWeather meteorologist Henry Margusity. On Friday, the potential for strong to severe storms will reach from northern Florida to Pennsylvania, New Jersey and southern New York state. So far this year, according to preliminary data, there have been only three reports of tornadoes across the USA, said Greg Carbin, warning coordination meteorologist with the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla. This is the lowest number in 60 years of official weather records. In a typical year, the U.S. sees about 64 tornadoes in the first two months of the year, based on data from 1991-2010 from the National Climatic Data Center. While few people seem to be enjoying the bitterly cold weather this winter, it's been the main cause of the quiet tornado season: "Unusually cold weather across the continental U.S. is a contributing factor to keeping tornado activity limited during the winter months," said Carbin. Speaking of winter, the same storm that produces the severe threat will have a narrow, but likely potent winter side Thursday, according to Weather Channel meteorologist Kevin Roth. Heavy, wind-driven snow is forecast from north Kansas to northwest Michigan, he said. As of Wednesday afternoon, the National Weather Service had posted blizzard warnings for much of northern Iowa and southern Minnesota for Thursday, where up to 3-6 inches of snow are possible, along with howling wind gusts of up to 40 mph. Winter storm warnings were also in place for much of Wisconsin and northern Michigan. Join the Conversation To find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQs

The Weeknd’s latest album, Kiss Land, was generally well-received, but didn’t exactly shatter worlds musically or monetarily. However, his latest track, “Devil May Cry,” showcases his songwriting and singing ability better than any track on the album. The song will appear on the upcoming Hunger Games: Catching Fire soundtrack, which comes out on November 19th (the movie is out on the 22nd). The track is definitely more polished than past efforts, which makes sense–this is the “lead single” off a major Hollywood blockbuster. The sparse, acoustic-guitar-driven production feels simultaneously fresh and familiar, and his vocal melodies aren’t exactly innovative, but are fresh enough to hit home sonically. For someone who started out as a bed-room producer/singer uploading experimental tracks anonymously to YouTube, this is a huge step up. The top-notch production-value could also be attributed to the legend himself, Rick Rubin: . @iTunes i wanted to go for an uplifting and conquering yet melancholy mood. rick rubin helped me bring it to life. — The Weeknd (@theweeknd) November 12, 2013 However, this track is more soulful than most pop songs today. The production is more inspired–the dark, enormous bass synth he uses for the drop surpasses the everyday, run-of-the mill, preset-heavy sounds you’ll hear from the Aviciis and the Gagas out there; the drums sound weirder. Whatever happens in the future, it’s clear The Weeknd is going to stay a major player in the game. Get away for the Weeknd in style.

[tag: science] - Text Size: - ASmall Text - AMedium Text - ALarge Text The family of the missing Colorado man found death in Iowa tells KCCI that Grant Frazier was a family man with no enemies. But an autopsy conducted Thursday showed Frazier's cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma and multiple stab wounds. The manner of death was listed as a homicide. Guy Frazier talked to KCCI before the autopsy report came back Thursday afternoon. He said his brother, Grant, would have done anything for his family, friends or neighbors. "He was a loving and dedicated father -- and a nice human being," said Guy Frazier. Frazier said his family was shocked to hear the 61-year-old father of three went missing earlier this month. Frazier was last seen Feb. 16 in Colorado with a 21-year-old woman, Bionca Rogers. Rogers has been arrested in Iowa in connection with the case, but her relationship with Grant Frazier remains a mystery to his family. "None whatsoever, we have never heard of this woman before," said Guy Frazier. Police in Colorado and Iowa have heard of Rogers. Court records show she has a criminal history including assault, drunken driving and disorderly conduct. In Colorado, just one day before Frazier was reported missing, police stopped a vehicle that Rogers was riding in and found three loaded guns. On Feb. 25, Grant Frazier was found dead in his car in Newton, Iowa, in an apartment complex parking lot. The apartment complex manager said the car had been in the lot for five days before police checked it. "There are a lot of unknowns at this point," said Guy Frazier. Frazier said the family hopes to find the answers to all the questions surrounding his brother's death. "We're looking forward to this working its way through the court system and all the details coming out," said Guy Frazier. Rogers is being held without bond in Cedar Rapids. The Colorado district attorney is working to extradite her back to Colorado. The case remains under investigation.

Jay Brodsky '00: Bringing a 150-year-old media company into the Internet age By Rachel Farrell Jay Brodsky '00 can tell you what life was like before the World Wide Web went mainstream. Shortly after receiving an applied science degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1991, Brodsky was working as an operations/marketing manager for Interactive Media in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. At the time, the most advanced media technology available was a voice-processing product called "audiotex," which allowed Brodsky to create prerecorded messages about the news and make them accessible to users via phone. But when the World Wide Web took over the media landscape, Brodsky's job was turned on its head. "People needed that same sort of news content, but on the Web, instead of the phone," he says. "Suddenly, the Internet made my work make sense." More than a decade later, Brodsky's work hardly resembles that of his audiotex days. Now serving as chief information officer for Atlantic Media Company in Washington D.C., he directs technology efforts for publications such as The Atlantic, National Journal and Government Executive. In the midst of a poor economy and dying media market, Brodsky is tasked with finding ways to use the Web to keep Atlantic Media's publications relevant while holding fast to its roots and mission. The solution, Brodsky says, is remembering why these publications were published in the first place. The Atlantic, for example, was launched in 1857 by a group of Boston-based intellectuals, including Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who needed an outlet for exchanging ideas. "They [published] it to start a public debate and get people thinking about ideas, sharing their thoughts and having some back-and-forth discussion," he says. So how do you recreate that same environment today? "Blogs. It's today's way of getting intellectuals together to express their opinions." Before joining Atlantic Media in 2007, Brodsky directed technology operations for the digital media operations of National Public Radio for two years and at Tribune Media Services in Chicago for more than 10 years. He enrolled in the Kellogg School's Part Time MBA Program while working full time in order to broaden his skill set and advance his career at the Tribune Company. The degree had an added bonus: Post-graduation, Brodsky used the Kellogg directory to connect with an alumnus, who helped him land a position with NPR. Along with beefing up blog content, Brodsky has spent the past two years supporting The Atlantic's online efforts by posting issues to its free-access Web site. While some industry experts say the move is risky — given its potential to reduce subscription numbers — it has broadened the magazine's readership. Circulation is projected to be up 12 percent, from 400,000 in 2008 to 450,000 in 2009. (By contrast, newspaper circulation dropped 5 percent in 2008, compared to 2 percent in previous years.) In addition, a digital version of The Atlantic is available for download on Amazon Kindle, a wireless reading device. However, Atlantic Media's readers are somewhat divided when it comes to certain features on the Web. For instance, when Andrew Sullivan, one of The Atlantic's most popular bloggers, polled his readers about whether he should add a "comments" section to his blog, 60 percent voted against it. The Atlantic's readers also appear "most interested in words," Brodsky says, as opposed to podcasts or videos, although a video of a reporter interviewing Bill Cosby generated a fair amount of traffic on the Web site. And while more people are reading online versions of the magazines than ever before, there are still a large number of subscribers who prefer to read them in print. "In some cases," Brodsky admits, "[reading a magazine online] isn't quite as compelling as sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee and thumbing through the latest issue."

2012 got off to an emotional start as the state said good-bye to one of its most controversial politicians: former Governor and Congressman Bill Janklow. Janklow died in January at the age of 72 from inoperable brain cancer. The combative Republican dominated South Dakota government for more than a quarter century, inspiring both fierce support and criticism. "We're all here for one reason and one reason only, to celebrate the life of the greatest governor the state has ever had," former Senator Tom Daschle said at Janklow's funeral. But even Janklow wouldn't have been able to deal with Mother Nature this past summer. KELOLAND experienced one of the worst droughts in decades. "You have good years and you have bad years and this one is not going to be so good," Bridgewater farmer Phil Hofer said As pasture land and crops dried up, many farmers and ranchers began to feel the heat. Many were left with no choice but to sell off their herds. "It came down to the decision. We were spending more money to feed the cows than they were producing in milk. There was no other choice; we had to sell," Lillian Heeren said. Sioux Falls Mayor Mike Heuther did a good job of selling the idea of building a new Events Center. Work got underway on the $115 million Denny Sanford PREMIER Center. The 12,000-seat facility is expected to be open in late 2014. Violence erupted on the streets of Sioux Falls on September 11 when a hair salon manager was gunned down in a parking lot. Amanda Connors was trying to warn a co-worker that her abusive boyfriend was on his way to the store. Connors' mother talked about the girl she raised and the future she'll miss. "Take care of the things today. Tell the people you're with that you love them. That was Amanda's last message to me; 'I'll talk to you tomorrow morning.' And we didn't get that chance; tomorrow is never promised," Cathy Connors said. South Dakotans also said good-bye to Indian Activist Russell Means. Means was on the front lines of the American Indian Movement. He led the 1973 takeover of Wounded Knee, a standoff with the federal government that lasted 71 days. AIM sought a return to Native American traditions while standing up for treaty rights. Means disagreed with critics who said AIM's aggressive tactics were counter-productive. "The American Indian Movement only involved itself in violence in self-defense! Never did we attack, never!" Means exclaimed. In October, South Dakotans also paid their last respects to former Senator and one-time Presidential Candidate George McGovern. At his funeral, colleagues talked about the man who was a voice for the voiceless and an inspiration to the Democratic Party. "There's a little girl in Malawi who has never heard the name George McGovern, who has enough to eat and an education. There's a young man in Kenya committed to peace and justice. It is up to us to carry on that legacy forward. We love you Senator," Rep. Jim McGovern, who isn't related to McGovern but worked as an intern in his office, said. The state executed two prisoners in 2012. It took 22 years but Donald Moeller died by lethal injection in late October for the brutal rape and murder of nine-year-old Becky O'Connell. Becky's mother raised money to drive from New York to witness Moeller's execution. "No, it won't give me closure. Relief that he's finally gone and he's not breathing anymore. I'm looking forward to the light show when he changes color. There'll finally be justice for Bec," Tina Curl said. The other inmate executed was Eric Robert. He too died by lethal injection for killing a correctional officer during a failed prison escape. And one of the most inspiring stories of 2012 was watching South Dakota Highway Patrolman Andrew Steen walk out of the hospital on December 14, after spending eight weeks in recovery. He was run over by a suspected drunk driver and suffered a traumatic brain injury. "I've gotten thousands of people praying for me, so that saved my life," Steen said. It's a life that got to spend time with his family this holiday season. "We got our boy back and we can't have a better gift than that," Steen's mother, Tricia Steen, said. Friends and relatives also said good-bye to former U.S. Sen. Jim Abdnor. He was best known nationally as the South Dakota Republican who ousted Democratic Sen. George McGovern from the Senate in 1980. But those at the funeral say Abdnor was a humble man who loved talking with people and served as a mentor to many. Jim Abdnor was 89 For more of the top stories from this past year, watch this week's Inside KELOLAND.

News Release Media & Communication Directorate Royal Hashemite Court (Jordan) Jordan, Japan set to boost cooperation after 60 years of ties Amman, 30 June 2014 His Majesty King Abdullah on Monday received a delegation from the Japanese House of Representatives headed by Ichiro Aisawa at the Husseiniya Palace. During the meeting, King Abdullah expressed Jordan’s keenness to build on the historic friendship between the two countries, which celebrate the 60th anniversary for the establishment of diplomatic relations this year. Discussions also covered ways to boost ties at the economic and development levels. In this regard, the King reiterated the importance of cooperation and partnership between the lower houses of the two countries, especially in the fields related to parliamentary and legislative work. His Majesty underlined the Kingdom’s stance on regional issues and developments and his efforts to achieve security, stability and peace for the people of the Middle East, noting that Japan, among other international parties, can play a pivotal role in achieving this goal. The King outlined the repercussions of the Syrian crisis on neighbouring countries and the entire region, referring to the burdens Jordan is shouldering as a result of hosting about 1.3 million Syrians, including more than 600,000 registered refugees. Regarding the recent developments in Iraq, His Majesty expressed full support to a solution that guarantees the stability and unity of Iraq and its people, stressing the importance of finding an inclusive political solution that engages all segments of the Iraqi people in the political process. During the meeting, the King also expressed Jordan’s ability to deal with various challenges and developments in the region and remain an oasis of peace and stability, calling on the international community to keep supporting the Kingdom to deal with such challenges. They also discussed the efforts needed to achieve a peaceful solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that leads to the establishment of a viable and independent Palestinian state within the 1967 lines and with East Jerusalem as its capital. Ichiro conveyed the greetings of the Japanese emperor and prime minister to His Majesty and the Jordanian people, stressing the strong bilateral relations between the two countries which will be further boosted by the King’s visit to Japan soon. Members of the delegation expressed their appreciation for the Jordanian role in supporting efforts to achieve regional security and stability, noting that Japan is keen to boost relations with Jordan at all levels. Royal Court Chief Fayez Tarawneh and His Majesty’s Office Director Imad Fakhoury also attended the meeting.

Bush and Cheney: Cautious to a Fault as Investors? President Bush and Vice-President Cheney have been bold -- some critics would say reckless -- on the world stage, but as investors they are a couple of shrinking violets. Bush has just 2% to 4% of his money in stock and balanced funds, according to his recently released 2006 financial disclosure report. The remainder is in money-under-the-mattress investments: bank checking accounts, certificates of deposit, money-market mutual funds and Treasury bills and notes. Bush lists between $4.6 million and $9.7 million in these ultra-low-risk investments. By contrast, he has a meager $205,000 in stock and balanced funds. By comparison, Cheney looks almost aggressive, with 28% in stocks, stock options and stock funds. The rest is spread among bond funds -- and also includes at least $1.6 million and as much as $6.3 million in the same type of super-safe investments that Bush favors. These computations count only the President's and Vice-President's liquid assets that are available for investing. They don't include, for instance, Bush's Texas ranch, worth $1 million to $5 million, or land in McLean, Va., that Cheney owns that is likewise worth between $1 million and $5 million. (Financial disclosure reports require officials to list their assets only within wide ranges.) If those were counted, the pair's allocation to stocks and stock funds would be even smaller. Bush's allocation also doesn't account for between $1 million and $5 million that the President has in a blind trust. There is, of course, no way to know how that money is invested. Advertisement The Vice-President, meanwhile, is making a big bet on a decline in the dollar and a pickup in inflation -- just as he was in 2005 (See Are Dick Cheney's Money Managers Betting on Bad News?). He owns between $5 million and $25 million in American Century International Bond fund, which will benefit handsomely from a continued fall in the value of the greenback. What's more, 65% to 71% of the Vice-President's investments in stock funds are in foreign stock funds, which would also be helped by a further drop in the dollar. Another $2.5 million to $11 million is in Vanguard Inflation-Protected Securities fund, which invests in bonds whose returns are tied to the gains in consumer prices. To be sure, Bush and Cheney are hardly in danger of becoming impoverished when they leave office. Bush lists assets of between $7.6 million and $20.1 million, while Cheney reports assets of between $21.4 million and $100 million. And once you reach a certain level of wealth, it can be more important to protect what you have than to try to aggressively expand your portfolio. Moreover, if they chose to, Bush and Cheney could earn vast sums after they leave office by writing and giving speeches. Why the aversion to risk? Still, it's puzzling why they aren't more interested in making their money grow. Since 1926, stocks have returned twice as much as bonds -- an annualized 11.5% for stocks to 5.5% for bonds. Meanwhile, inflation has averaged about 3% a year. By investing more in stocks or stock funds, Bush and Cheney could amass larger fortunes to contribute to political causes or charity. Indeed, Cheney has between $1 million and $5 million in unexercised stock options in Halliburton, of which he once served as chief executive officer, and he has irrevocably assigned the after-tax proceeds of those options to charity. What's more, both men set examples for the rest of us. Increasingly, Americans determine their own destiny by picking their own investments in 401(k) plans and other similar workplace retirement programs. In pushing his now-defunct plan to allow Social Security participants to invest through private accounts, Bush repeatedly extolled the benefits of the stock market. "A Social Security system that includes personal accounts will give all Americans.... a stake in the greatest creator of wealth the world has ever known," he said in a speech two years ago. Bush's successful push to lower the capital gains tax rate to 15% was justified largely on the basis that it would encourage more people to invest in the stock market, thus giving companies more capital with which to grow. So what's wrong with these two capitalists? Both men are certainly cognizant of the public scrutiny that attends their investments. For that reason, they must place a huge value on avoiding controversy. However, diversified mutual funds pose no conflict-of-interest problems, and, indeed, both men own them. And Cheney has been willing to court criticism by investing so heavily in an international bond fund. Neither the President's nor the Vice-President's office was available to comment on why the two men invest so conservatively. However, their investments have barely changed since last year, and spokesmen for both said then that outside money managers control the money -- and that neither Bush nor Cheney pay any attention to their investments. Of course, they have far more important things to worry about. But perhaps they should devote just a few minutes to making their money work harder for them. --Reporting by Lisa Dixon Steven T. Goldberg (bio) is an investment adviser and freelance writer.

Hardin Valley girls, Bearden boys win AAA sectional track titles State sectional track meets typically finish fast, with little down time for rest between events for participating athletes. Fatigue didn't stop Emily Yarnell of Hardin Valley Academy and Logan McCarter of Sevier County from shining last Friday in the Section 1-AAA Meet in Johnson City. They cleaned up with plenty of wins, when just a top-four finish from an individual or relay team was good enough to qualify for the state meet. The Hardin Valley girls won the section meet with 135.5 points, some 38.5 clear of runner-up West. Bearden took the boys' title with 67.5 points — just 4.5 ahead of West. "We had a really good day," said Hardin Valley coach Bryan Brown. Yarnell, a University of Tennessee track signee, ensured that. She won the 100 meters (11.96 seconds), the 200 (25.33) and helped the 400 relay (48.22) and 800 relay (1:42.42) to victories. The 800 relay set a meet record. Catholic senior Megan Ferowich won the 1600 (5:08.38), 3200 (11:02.46) and ran a leg in Catholic's winning 3200 relay (9:38.24) that included: Natali Knight, Ashley Welborn and Camille Baker. Shayla Goins, a senior at Campbell County, was another multiple-event winner. She was first in the shot put (38 feet, 1½ inches) and discus (119-9). Other winners on the girls' side included Clinton's Vickie Franse (400 in 57.20), West's 1600 relay (Tamara Hundley, Bianca Hatfield, Maya Barroso, Riley Campbell in 4:02.74), Campbell County's Kristin Chapman (high jump in 5-6), Hardin Valley's Ashley Kessler (pole vault in 11-0) and West's Barroso (long jump in 17-7½). On the boys' side, McCarter set a meet record in the 200 in 21.73. McCarter also teamed with Brett Pippin, Dexter Robbins and Connor Bailey to win the 400 relay (42.57) and 800 relay (1:29.02). The Sevier County junior, who was a 2011 All-PrepXtra Team selection at wide receiver, added on a title in the long jump (22-11¾). "Our wide receivers coach Jonathan Brewer wants all our skill position players to run track. I just started my freshman year, to get faster," said the 6-foot-2, 170-pound McCarter. "Last year, we got our (400 and 800) relay team to state. This year, I just kept it going. I like it a lot. "I'm hoping it gets me noticed by some college coaches. I'm glad I get the opportunity to (go to state). I try to make the most of my opportunities." Bearden's Skyler Winchester won the 3200 in 9:25.47 and joined with J.J. Shankles, Ben Pollack and Cory Oegema to win the 3200 relay (7:59.18). Other winners were: West's A'Darrius Sanders (300 hurdles in 38.6), Karns' Shaquille Cantrell (400 in 49.7), Powell's Andrew Ogle (800 in 1:55.77), Maryville's Matthew Warriner (1600 in 4:21.51), Jefferson County's Blake Isom (high jump in 6-8), West's Hank Mary (pole vault in 13-6) and Jefferson County's Patrick Darby (discus in 138-10). Class A/AA schools will be competing today in the East Sectional at Red Bank in Chattanooga. The state meet takes place May 21-25 at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro.

Lobbyists and Nevada business owners are concerned that language in the bill that raises taxes by $836 million could unintentionally end up tripling business taxes, including those on casino companies. Gambling industry lobbyist Greg Ferraro said there is an error in the tax increase just passed by the Legislature and that the industry intends to work with Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, the state Taxation Department and the Tax Commission to clarify that the Legislature did not intend to apply the new 2 percent payroll tax to the payrolls of casino companies. That law was meant to apply to banks and other financial institutions. "It is a mistake that needs to be fixed,"Ferraro said Monday."No one believes it was intended for gaming. I think it was a drafting error." Sierra Pacific Resources, holding company for subsidiaries Nevada Power and Sierra Pacific Power companies, also is studying the legislation. "It adds a question mark for us. We'll need to investigate it further,"said Karl Walquist, spokesman for the state's largest utility. During the public discussions before the law was approved July 21, the higher payroll tax never was mentioned as applying to the casino industry or any business other than financial institutions. Gambling companies, like most other firms, will pay an 0.7 percent tax on their payrolls starting Oct. 1. Gov. Kenny Guinn has been informed of the problem, but he is not even thinking about calling the Legislature back into session, according to a spokesman. The Legislature adjourned July 22 after a 120-day regular session and two special sessions. Legislative Counsel Brenda Erdoes said she sees no problem in the new tax law. The law defines financial institutions as companies that are"primarily engaged"in various activities, including those"engaged in the business of lending money"and"providing credit,"according to Erdoes. Though casinos carry out those activities, Erdoes noted, that is not their primary activity.State Taxation Director Chuck Chinnock agrees with Erdoes. He said he has been asked to look into the problem. Chinnock added the Tax Commission will try to develop regulations before Oct. 1 that clarify the intent of the new tax law. The commission would hold public hearings on the regulations. "One of the reasons we have public hearings is to get input as to what was intended by the Legislature,"Chinnock said. Before any regulation is adopted, it must return to the Legislature for review to ensure it meets lawmakers'intent. Members of the Legislative Commission, a group of 12 legislators who meet in periods when the entire Legislature is not in session, conduct reviews of regulations. Sam McMullen, lobbyist for the Nevada Bankers Association, said few outsiders got a look at the final tax plan before it was approved last week. "It never had a hearing. There was no chance for input,"he said."The world is only now looking at the language and seeing what it means and whom it applies to."

With the train track on the south end of Pocatello, sometimes it is held up by a train, for emergency responders that can be difficult in an emergency situation. Firefighters say with this new Cheyenne Connector, it should make it easier and quicker for them to respond on the south end of Pocatello. "Huge difference for the people in the south end of town and how fast we can get to them and get help to them, and it really improves the speed in which we can have an engine actually make a fire attack,” says, Michael Williams, Assistant Chief Public Safety Pocatello Fire Department. City engineer Deirdre Castillo says that phase 2 includes widening the roadway to four travel lanes and three bridges where I-15 is going to be two different bridges. The connector will ultimately end up coming out by the Community of Christ Church and linking to south Bannock Hwy. "so that's going push us into two construction seasons,” says, Castillo. The City Engineer says the interstate should remain open through the process of this phase of the project. "I would just say that there would be minor detours or delays while we are in construction, but I don't see anything major,” added Castillo. Castillo says that Right-of-way has been acquired for full build out and they have all agreements in place to move forward. The project is expected to be completed in 2015. Here are the most recent story comments.View All

The Liberal Bulldogs opened their season one week after their high school season ended. The Dogs split at Woodward Wednesday night. Woodward won 7-2 but Liberal won 11-5. In game one, Woodward out hit Liberal 9-7 but the Bulldogs left eight men on base. Woodward scored three in the first and four in the fourth. In game two, the Dogs scored one in the first, two in the second, six in the third, one in the fourth, and one in the seventh. Liberal won despite leaving nine more men on base. Tim Fitzgerald pitched four and two thirds innings in the win. Kaiden Long pitched two and one third innings and also doubled in the win. Lorenzo Pando was 4-6 on the day. Brandyn Terrazas added a pair of hits. Liberal plays at Hooker on Monday. ©2015 Seward County Broadcasting Company, Inc. 1410 N. Western Ave. Liberal, KS 67901

[tag: science] Detail Information Publications12 Clinicians' management strategies for patients with dyspepsia: a qualitative approachKerstin Knutsson Faculty of Odontology, Centre for Oral Health Sciences, Malmo University, Malmo, Sweden BMC Gastroenterol 5:15. 2005..Clinicians believe that the management strategies of their colleagues are similar to their own... Changes in health beliefs after labelling with hypercholesterolaemiaMargareta Troein Department of Community Medicine, Lund University, Malmo, Sweden Scand J Public Health 30:76-9. 2002..As anxiety may have adverse effects, such as making patients avoid the desired action, this could complicate adequate patient treatment... Humanities for medical students? A qualitative study of a medical humanities curriculum in a medical school programCaroline Wachtler Lund University, Sweden BMC Med Educ 6:16. 2006..The aim of this study was to explore problems that can arise with the establishment of a medical humanities curriculum in a medical school program...... General practitioners' conceptions of depressive disorders in relation to regional sales levels of antidepressive drugs. A study based on a postal survey and ecological dataStig J Andersson Department of Community Medicine, Lund University, Malmo, Sweden Scand J Prim Health Care 23:11-7. 2005..To examine how local sales levels of antidepressive agents (ADs) correlated with GPs' conceptions of depressive disorders and of factors that may influence their work with depressed patients... General practitioners' conceptions about treatment of depression and factors that may influence their practice in this area. A postal surveyStig J Andersson Department of Clinical Sciences Malmo, Family Medicine, Lund University, MAS, S 20502 Malmo, Sweden BMC Fam Pract 6:21. 2005..Therefore we wanted to examine Swedish GPs' conceptions of depressive disorders and their treatment and GPs' ideas of factors that may influence their manner of work with depressive patients... A hidden curriculum: mapping cultural competency in a medical programmeCaroline Wachtler Lund University, Lund, Sweden Med Educ 37:861-8. 2003..Recently, medical schools have begun to recognise a need for cultural competency training. However, few reports have been published that articulate and evaluate cultural competency in medical curricula... What shapes GPs' work with depressed patients? A qualitative interview studyStig J Andersson The NEPI Foundation, Malmo, Lund University, Sweden Fam Pract 19:623-31. 2002..The ways that GPs treat depressed patients have been criticized in a number of studies... Influence of self-registration on audit participants and their non-participating colleagues. A retrospective study of medical records concerning prescription patternsEva Lena Strandberg Blekinge R and D Unit, Karlshamn, Sweden Scand J Prim Health Care 23:42-6. 2005..To compare participants and non-participants early in the process of an audit on treatment of respiratory tract infections (RTIs) and to analyse any effect of the actual self-registration on the prescription of antibiotics in both groups... [Family practice consultants in hospitals--a bridge over troubled water]Gösta Eliasson Familjemedicinska institutet, Stockholm Lakartidningen 100:2240-1. 2003 [The introductory course--a new start of medical education at the University of Lund]Göran Thomé Medicinska fakultetens centrum för undervisning och lärande, Lunds universitet Lakartidningen 103:2227-30. 2006 The meaning of quality work from the general practitioner's perspective: an interview studyEva Lena Strandberg Blekinge R and D Unit, Erik Dahlbergsv, 30, SE 374 37 Karlshamn, Sweden BMC Fam Pract 7:60. 2006..The aim of the study was to obtain a deeper understanding of the meaning of quality work from the general practitioner's perspective...

PHOTO BY STEVE STEINER Mark Morton, vice president of Lykes Brothers Land Acquisitions Inc., explains various aspects of a proposed distribution center planned in Moore Haven. PHOTO BY STEVE STEINER The goal of the proposed distribution center, according to Mark Morton, is for Florida to take advantage of opportuniities of moving goods to overseas markets via the wider and deeper Panama Cana. PHOTO BY STEVE STEINER Florida stands to profit when work on expanding the Panama Canal is complete, according to Mark Morton, vice president of Lykes Land Investments, Inc., a division of Lykes Brothers. PHOTO BY STEVE STEINER The approximation of railroads and highways are a plus in choosing Moore Haven as the site of a distribution center being proposed by Lykes Brothers and A. Duda and Sons in a joint venture. PHOTO BY STEVE STEINER The projected economic benefits of the proposed Americas Gateway Logistics Center are spelled out. Will a proposed distribution center that has not yet even broken ground prove a source of jobs for residents of Hardee, DeSoto and Highlands counties? Roger Hood, president and CEO of Heartland Workforce, hopes so, even though the facility — the Americas Gateway Logistic Center — will be located in Moore Haven, in Glades County. Even if the center comes to fruition — which Hood said calls for the construction of a 30-million-square-foot distribution center — it could mean a one-way commute from a minimum of 40-plus miles, if one lives in Lake Placid, to more than 80-plus miles if one hails from Wauchula. Hood did not believe that would be a problem. “I would assume because of the size, our residents will get jobs,” Hood said. He further explained that Hardee, DeSoto and Highland counties, as well as Glades, Hendry and Okeechobee counties and some communities in neighboring counties, make up one of only three Rural Areas of Critical Economic Concern in Florida. “The state set aside these areas because of low wages, limited infrastructure and other factors.” The need for jobs in Hardee, DeSoto and Highlands counties, which make up Region 19 of the Florida Department of Economic Development’s 24 regions, is acute. According to the most recent census, the population is 161,073, but only 67,667 residents are in the labor force. Even excluding parents who stay at home, children and the infirm and the elderly, it still translates to approximately 94,000 people without work. The FDEC’s calculations place the average annual wage at $29,769, the lowest in Florida. Average annual wages in neighboring areas ranged between $35,596-$45,111. As part of the proceedings of the Wednesday Heartland Workforce Joint Board Meeting, Mark Morton, vice president of Lykes Land Investments, made a presentation on “Americas Gateway Logistics Center.” This is a joint venture between Lykes Brothers and A. Duda and Sons. According to a handout, the facility will be Florida’s premier land logistics solution, an integrated multi-model hub on 4,700 acres (with a potential additional 2,000 acres) to be located in southern central Florida. It will, said Morton, double exports coming out of Florida. He attributed it to the Panama Canal, currently undergoing widening and deepening of its locks, to accommodate modern cargo vessels. “Florida used to be considered at the end of the supply chain,” Morton said, but no longer. “We’re the closest to the Panama Canal.” That, said Morton, meant Florida, with its ports and air terminals, was closest to South America, east Africa, Australia and parts of Asia. In his PowerPoint presentation, he showed that while American manufacturers only export 1 percent of their goods, an overwhelming majority are located east of the Mississippi River. Morton said it makes sense for those manufacturers to ship their goods to the Americas Gateway Logistics Center, and from there ship them overseas. However, the main concern on the minds of those in attendance was job creation. At the low end of the scale, by 2030, it was projected that 23,858 jobs would be created; these were jobs both directly and indirectly affiliated with the logistics center; of the latter it meant retail, hotels, restaurants, and jobs tied in to the trucking and shipping industries. The most likely scenario was that 64,983 jobs would be created. At its most ultimate scenario, a total of 99,556 jobs would be created by 2030. What is RACEC? A Rural Area Critical of Economic Concern is defined as rural communities, or a region composed of rural communities that have been adversely affected by extraordinary economic events or natural disasters. In this region, the South Central RACEC consists of DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, and Okeechobee counties, and the cities of Pahokee, Belle Glade, and South Bay (Palm Beach County), and Immokalee (Collier County). The other two RACECs are Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Liberty, Wakulla, and Washington counties, and the city of Freeport in Walton County in the northwest region; and Baker, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lafayette, Levy, Madison, Putnam, Suwannee, Taylor, and Union counties in the north central region. Reader Comments (0) Submit your comment below: * = Required information

!Converted with LaTeX2HTML 95.1 (Fri Jan 20 1995) by Nikos Drakos (nikos@cbl.leeds.ac.uk), CBLU, University of Leeds > drum, tympani, 2 harps, female chorus, and strings. The obvious common thread among the composers featured in tonight's concert is that they were all French. But they also shared other defining characteristics: all were innovators, and all excelled at orchestration, the art of selecting instrumental combinations to achieve a desired sound. Berlioz wrote one of the first (and still definitive) books on the subject, and one of Ravel's greatest accomplishments was his incomparable orchestral setting of Mussorgsky's monumental piano composition, Pictures at an Exhibition. But in some ways Claude Debussy, one of the first ``impressionist'' composers, was the most gifted of the three. Like the French painters whose work lent a label to Debussy's musical style, he preferred the subtle to the blatant, quiet harmonies to blaring statements, and an overall texture that gently encouraged the listener to become immersed in the artist's experience. This led him into an exploration of instrumental tone color that had never before, and perhaps has never since, been so thoroughly developed. One of the finest examples of Debussy's style is the three-movement Nocturnes for orchestra. These pieces have a long and somewhat checkered history; in 1892 the composer wrote that he was nearly finished with Trois Scènes au Crépuscule (``Three Twilight Scenes''), an orchestral triptych after poems by Henri de Régnier. This version has been lost, as has been an 1894 incarnation intended as a violin concerto for Eugène Ysaÿe. But the ideas resurfaced in 1899 to become the Nocturnes we know today, and it is a testament to Debussy's mastery of instrumentation that it is now impossible to imagine the work in any other form. While working on the violin-solo version, Debussy commented that it was ``a study in gray painting,'' but this description is really a disservice. Certainly the work employs pastel tones rather than bold colors, but there is no lack of variety. The warmth of Nuages (``Clouds'') recalls a summer love affair, with the English horn bringing languid caresses. Fétes (``Festivals'') is a restrained yet joyous celebration, the sort that generates lifelong memories without ever disturbing the neighbors. Finally, Sirènes (``Sirens'') builds on a simple two-note motive to seduce the listener into Debussy's river, just as dangerously as the mythological beauties who have lured innumerable sailors to their doom over the centuries. It is fortunate indeed that enraptured audiences are given a moment after the concert to regroup, lest they drown themselves in the thrall of French Impressionism's supreme achievement! © 1996, Geoff Kuenning This Web page written by Geoff Kuenning Return to Geoff Kuenning's home page. Return to Symphony of the Canyons home page.

The first live show of the season on "The Voice" on Monday night was not without glitches. There was the usual minor stuff: the coaches talking over one another or having to rush through their notes because of time constraints. And then there was one whopper. While Team Shakira country vocalist Kristen Merlin was singing a super-impassioned rendition of "Stay" by Sugarland, on which she hoped to showcase her vulnerability, her mic suddenly went silent. Just completely cut out. There she was, singing her heart out — or so it appeared — but we could hear none of it. Eventually, as the song ended, someone ran out to hand Merlin another mic, but the snafu was heartbreaking. So much practice, so much at stake — if the audience who would vote to determine her fate couldn't hear Merlin sing, would it all be for naught. But the coaches — all four of them — stood to give Merlin a standing ovation, and their response nearly moved her to tears. Adam Levine marveled that when she was confronted with something "bigger and scarier" than anyone in her position should have to contend with, she "handled it so gracefully." He would have been "in a puddle" of his "own nerves," weeping and sucking his thumb, or throwing a "hissy fit" and running off stage, he said; Merlin had kept totally cool. The other coaches focused on the audible part of Merlin's performance. Blake Shelton said she kept "getting better and better" and sounded "incredible." Usher said he'd been "able to have, like, an intimate moment" with Merlin's voice, admiring its "texture" and "yodel." Shakira called the performance "heartfelt" and "moving" and said she'd gotten lost in the moment, "just mesmerized by what you were doing," its "sentiment" and "sincerity." Will Merlin get dinged by voters for a glitch that was not her fault? Or will they support her despite — or because of — it? We will find out on Tuesday night, in the season's first voter-determined results show. PHOTOS: Concerts by The Times Of course, the fates of Merlin's fellow Top 12 members hang in the balance as well. Each of them also performed on Monday. Here's how: —Team Usher's Bria Kelly boldly sought to put her bluesy spin onAdele's "Rolling in the Deep." The song choice could have proved suicidal, but Kelly changed it up and held her own. Shakira complimented Kelly on her "grit" and said she loved it when she got "all fierce" and showed what she was made of. Levine called her rendition "angsty," "young" and "different," but said he would have preferred it in a higher key. Shelton "loved the rock edge" Kelly had brought and understood the lower key to have been strategic. Usher called the song choice "courageous" and added that he'd "felt fire," passion and "energy" in Kelly's performance. —Team Adam's singing barista Delvin Choice dedicated his performance of the Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody" to his "mommy and daddy," who were about to celebrate their 25th anniversary. Shelton said he'd been wrong the previous week when he said Choice sang better when he let his hair down, because his hair was "back in the calzone or whatever" this week and he still sang the heck out of the song. Usher called Choice a "threat vocally" with an "amazing talent" and said he'd made a song about "pain" and "sad emotion" a little happier. "I don't know if that's a good or bad thing," Usher said, "but I know I enjoyed it." Shakira complimented Choice on the "perfect" delivery of his falsettos, trills and runs, and said she'd lost herself in his "silky" vocals. Levine said he'd gotten the "goosebumps" he'd hoped for. —Team Shakira's Dani Moz tackled Pink's "Just Give Me a Reason" and succeeded in her goal of not making her performance "too musical theater." Levine said he thought Moz did a "fantastic" job "budgeting" her breath and overcoming nerves and pressure, but wished for more dynamics. Shelton said Levine was "wrong … so wrong," contending that Moz had in fact chosen a key moment to take the song in a powerful direction. Shakira called the dynamics "perfect" and said Moz had "the sickest range." Moz had done, she said, "unbelievably well." —Shelton gave team member Audra McLaughlin, a country singer from Philadelphia, Juice Newton's "Angel of the Morning." At the beginning, McLaughlin's articulation was a bit muddy, but she made up for it with impressive power at the end. Usher called the performance "incredible," complimenting McLaughlin's vocal "character" and her ability to "hold a note forever." "I have to pee if I hold a note that long," Usher said. Levine quipped that when Shelton holds notes that long "he actually does pee." Shelton responded that he'd peed when McLaughlin held her note. Levine said that, in fact, Shelton was "peeing right now." And then, finally, the coaches called a halt to the bathroom humor. Levine sad McLaughlin was "always fantastic." Shelton said he didn't think her intended career as a medical assistant was her true path. "You, I swear, are one of my favorite country singers," he told McLaughlin. INTERACTIVE: Discover songs of L.A. —Usher team member T.J. Wilkins, the music student from South L.A., sang John Mayer's "Waiting on the World to Change," motivated by friends "who got killed on the street" and saying he wanted to be an agent of change. Wilkins' performance earned a standing ovation not just from his own coach, but also from rival coach Shakira, who called herself his "cheerleader." "I'm always rooting for you, T.J., because you are so pure, so sincere," she said, adding that she adored his voice and showmanship. Shelton agreed that it was difficult not to pull for Wilkins, even though he wasn't on Shelton's team, because there was something "infectious" about him — "in a good way." Usher called him an "artist" and a "leader" who'd had a "breakthrough moment" and complimented him on his "cool" new haircut. —Team Adam's Christina Grimmie, the YouTube star whom Usher has called a "baby Celine Dion" and Levine said had "huge pop star" potential, took on Katy Perry's "Dark Horse." She said she wanted to kill it, and she did. Shelton called her "the artist to beat" on Team Adam. "You are 100% proof that dynamite comes in small packages," Shelton said, marveling at the amount of sound that could come out "of such a tiny human being." "Give it up for the tiny people," Shakira hollered, complimenting Grimmie's range and falsetto and saying she'd "nailed it." Levine said he continued to be "more and more impressed and surprised" by Grimmie's abilities and said the "greatest thing" about the performance was her originality. "I might as well have been watching the VMAs," he said. "It was so yours. It belonged to you." Usher said she'd interpreted the song in a way that would allow people to see "who she will be as an artist" and echoed Shelton's contention that Grimmie was Team Adam's best contender —Shelton gave former Celine Dion vocal director Sisaundra Lewis Elton John's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me," hoping she'd "lay back" a little and "show a little finesse." Lewis gave a performance that roused both her own coach and Usher to their feet. "Every time you come out here, you just blow everybody's socks off. It's just crazy," Usher said, comparing Lewis to Patti LaBelle. Levine complimented Lewis on her "restraint" and control, especially considering how much she really liked "to sing for the fences." Shelton said he hoped Lewis, who'd left the music industry for a decade to dedicate time to her family, was "taking all this in." "People love you," he said. —Team Adam's rockin' former nanny Kat Perkins took on Heart's "Magic Man," turning in a performance that left Shelton in disbelief that she'd ever made her living as a babysitter. "What in the world?" he said. "You're a rock star." Usher noted that "dealing with children, there's a lot of aggression that builds up," and it was "great that it came out here." Perkins' voice, Usher said, was "dope … so powerful and steady. You know what you're doing, you know why you're here, and you're just introducing your voice to the world as a solo artist." Perkins had what it takes, he said, "to be on radio right now." Levine said Perkins had tackled songs that were "impossible to sing" — by Steve Perry and Ann Wilson — and had performed them "with the same power and charisma and proficiency and soul" the original singers had. —Sweet Team Blake Texas boy Jake Worthington was tasked with introducing a new generation of country music fans to Travis Tritt's "Anymore." It was not his best performance. Still, Shakira called him perhaps "the most endearing contestant" on the show. "When you sing, I believe every word you say," she told Worthington. Shelton said Shakira was right. "Honesty, especially in country music, goes 80% of the way" to winning people over, he said. Fans of the genre "want to be told a story by somebody they believe." He thought Worthington's pitch had been perfect, as had his emotional approach. "You nailed it, dude," he said. "You made me proud." —Tess Boyer, of Team Shakira and formerly of Teams Usher and Blake, tried to give a "modern" female interpretation of Bon Jovi's "I'll Be There for You." Shelton called her the artist to beat on Team Shakira. Usher told Boyer that all the coaches "as a collective, celebrate you." Shakira said Boyer's "prowess as a technical singer" was undeniable and noted that she was "so damn smart," taking in every note and dedicating herself to improvement, saying the attitude she brought to life showed in her performances. —Josh Kaufman, Usher's genius steal from Team Adam, performed Sam Smith's "Stay With Me" — soulfully, resonantly. Shakira declared herself to be "a fan," admiring the way Kaufman had begun the song in an "understated" and "contained" way and then knocked everyone out as it went on. "Your skills as a vocalist are just extraordinary," she said. Levine said he was "so stupid" to have let Kaufman go, telling him, "every time you get up there, I realize it more and more." He knew Kaufman would come far in the competition, Levine said, and while he thought it would be as a member of his own team, "I don't even care. Because you're here and that's all that really matters." Shelton called Kaufman Team Usher's "guy to beat." And Usher said Kaufman had shown commitment and command and had "completely made this my night." Who will go home? Who knows. Feel free to use the comments section to share your responses to the performances — and your predictions. ALSO: The Voice' recap: Usher picks his best three 'The Voice' recap: Playoffs! Blake Shelton taps his top 3 'The Voice' recap: Teams Shakira and Adam wow in playoffs PHOTOS AND MORE PHOTOS: Concerts by the Times PHOTOS: Unexpected musical collaborations PHOTOS: Musician feuds: The dirt & detailsCopyright © 2015, Los Angeles Times

Hilary Krane, '89: Levi's Top Lawyer Hilary Krane, ’89, journeys to the Law School from her home in California to participate in meetings of the Visiting Committee. Passing through the Green Lounge, Krane may have even more reason to be pleased with what she sees than do her fellow committee members. After all, how many of them can look around and see a large percentage of students happily making use of products produced by companies they lead? Krane is senior vice president and general counsel of Levi Strauss and Company, a position she assumed in January of this year. She is one of the twelve members of the company’s managerial governing body, its Worldwide Leadership Team. “It’s gratifying to be allowed to play an important role at an iconic American company with an enormous global footprint, the largest apparel company in the world,” she said. “Not to mention that Levi Strauss is a great organization with admirable values—and my kids think my job is cool.” In addition to heading up the vast network of lawyers required by a Fortune 500 company that does business in 130 countries, Krane advises the Levi Strauss board and the company’s executives. Among her top priorities is protecting the company’s brand, particularly from rampant counterfeiting. “Our brand is really the heart of our business,” she said. “Maintaining its integrity requires constant vigilance, often against the shadiest of characters in the most far-flung places. It’s an even more consuming task than I had expected.” So inculcated has brand protection become in her own life, she said, that she finds herself scrutinizing the backsides of passersby to assure herself that the Levi Strauss-labeled jeans they are wearing are the genuine article. There are reasons beyond corporate pride for Krane to enjoy returning to Chicago. For one thing, it’s her home town. She was born and raised on Dearborn Street. Her father, Howard Krane, ’57, a partner at Kirkland & Ellis, chaired the University of Chicago Board of Trustees from 1992 to 1997. It was also in Chicago that Krane spent her formative years as an attorney. After graduation she clerked for Judge Milton Shadur, ’49, of the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. It was an experience she describes as “one of the all-time great learning experiences anyone could have.” Then she worked for four years in the Chicago office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom, where a combination of committed mentoring and challenging assignments further propelled her learning. “I was often boxing above my weight class, but I was always supported and taught, so the experience was tremendously valuable,” she recalled. In 1994, a teaching opportunity for her husband, George Bulkeley, required a family move and led her to transfer to Skadden’s San Francisco office. Not long afterward she joined PriceWaterhouse (now PricewaterhouseCoopers) as an in-house litigation attorney. When PricewaterhouseCoopers outsourced litigation a couple of years after she arrived there, she was kept on as assistant general counsel, advising the firm and its partners with respect to a broad range of legal issues. Soon she was tapped to head up the legal arm of the company’s worldwide advisory practice, a four-billion-dollar enterprise. She was named a PricewaterhouseCoopers partner in 2000. The exhaustive nationwide search that Levi Strauss conducted for the ideal replacement for its previous general counsel, who had held that position for many years, led to her hiring. She says, “Considering my lack of direct apparel-industry experience in my relative youth, Levi’s made a gutsy call in hiring me," she said. "I’m determined to rise to the challenge.” Discussing the Law School from her Visiting Committee perspective, Krane sees a thematic consistency with her other endeavors. “Knowing your brand and sticking to your values are essential for building a great franchise,” she said. “Just as PriceWaterhouse and Levi’s do, the Law School under Dean Levmore’s able leadership continues to be true to what it stands for. I’m proud to be a graduate and pleased to contribute to furthering the mission of such a vital institution.”

Canadian theatre to make Hong Kong debut **************************************** Théatre des Confettis from Canada will make its Hong Kong debut next month with the performance of "Goodies, Beasties and Sweethearts". Inside what could be called "The Cake", a highly improbable place where the attraction of child-sized food is illustrated by contrasts in proportion, hard and soft and true and false, a trail of tiny rooms carefully prepared with food objects leads to a mini-cabaret where a series of living tableaux awaits. The audience is free to move from one room to the next on their own and there is no guide. Adults who choose not to accompany their children inside the cake can observe their progress from the outside, through portholes. They can then join their children in the cabaret for the show. A combination of installation and a wordless performance with live music accompaniment, "Goodies, Beasties and Sweethearts" will be held at the following venues. As there will be no seating for the shows, causal wear is suggested for audience to enter the "delicious" universe. Exhibition Hall, Hong Kong City Hall March 17 (Friday) 8pm March 18 (Saturday) 10am, 3pm and 8pm March 19 (Sunday) 10am, 3pm and 5pm March 20 (Monday) 8pm March 22 (Wednesday) 8pm Exhibition Gallery, Kwai Tsing Theatre March 24 (Friday) 8pm March 25 (Saturday) 10am, 3pm and 8pm March 26 (Sunday) 10am, 3pm and 5pm Exhibition Gallery, Tuen Mun Town Hall March 31 (Friday) 8pm April 1 (Saturday) 10am, 3pm and 8pm April 2 (Sunday) 10am and 3pm Founded in 1977, Théatre des Confettis has always placed children at the centre of its work, cherishing their talent for subversion, their heartfelt and sometimes crazy reactions, their laughter and their tears, and their fresh, curious and wide-awake approach. The company has so far created 20 shows and toured extensively throughout Canada, the United States and Europe, taking part in more than 30 international festivals. More than 2,400 presentations have been viewed by more than 540,000 audience members. The quality of its shows has earned it many awards and distinctions, including winner of the Prix de la critique awarded by L'Association québécoise des critiques de théatre and Masque award from the Académie québécoise du théatre. "Goodies, Beasties and Sweethearts" is one of the entertaining programmes in "Family Fiesta" series presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. The series also includes "A Super Fun Concert" by The Moscow State Puppets Theatre named after Sergei Obraztsov (Russia); "Modern Journey to the West" by Chung Ying Theatre Company; "Parent-child Workshop on A cappella" by Gay Singers; "Papa Ali Baba" by Theatre Ensemble; "Funtastic China" by the Hong Kong Music Lover Chinese Orchestra; "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" by Theatre Hikosen (Japan); Concert by Hong Kong Children's Symphony Orchestra and "Little Swan Lake" by Ming Ri Institute for Arts Education and Guangxi Puppet Art Troupe. Please refer to individual programme leaflets for details. Tickets priced at $140. For enquiries about the programmes, call 2268 7323 or visit . Ticketing enquiries and reservations can be made on 2734 9009 and credit card telephone bookings on 2111 5999. Tickets can also be booked online at . Ends/Monday, February 13, 2006 NNNN [News Archive] [Back to Top] 2003 © | Important notices | Last revision date: 19 September, 2014

Jonestown Palmyra man charged with trespass A Palmyra man was arrested after he allegedly entered an apartment at the Buck Hotel, 32 W. Market St., three times on Sunday. Thomas Hreniuk, 26, was charged with criminal trespass, criminal mischief and public drunkenness, state police said. He was placed in Lebanon County prison in lieu of $9,500 bail. Hreniuk allegedly entered an apartment and stood in the doorway before he was taken downstairs to the bar area at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, state police said. About 30 minutes later, Hreniuk allegedly kicked in the door and re-entered the apartment and was again taken to the bar. Five minutes later, Hreniuk allegedly entered the apartment through an outside door before walking out of the apartment after he was confronted, police said. Hreniuk was located later and taken into custody. Dauphin County Two victims involved in fatal crash ID'd State police at Harrisburg on Monday identified two Waynesboro, Franklin County, women as the victims of a fatal one-vehicle crash on Interstate 81 in East Hanover Township. Heidelberg Township FARM ACCIDENT: Schaefferstown Fire Co., fire police and Schaefferstown and First Aid and Safety Patrol ambulances were dispatched to Cherry Lane and Gibble Road for a forklift that overturned. No one was trapped, according to dispatch reports. Berks County BURGLARY: Farnsworth, 71 Farnsworth Drive, Bethel Township, reported that someone entered the business by prying open a side door and stole approximately $1,775 in cash, a camera and various hand tools before fleeing the scene between 2 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. Sunday, state police at Hamburg said. Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call police at 610-562-6885. HARASSMENT: Two men called a convenience store employee outside the store on Midway Road in Bethel Township and fought him before they fled east on Midway Road at 12:40 a.m. Thursday, state police at Hamburg said. The suspects are described as a thin man, about 5-foot-6 to 6-foot, wearing capri-like pants, a black T-shirt and a baseball hat; and a man, 5-foot-6 to 6-foot, wearing pants and a black T-shirt, a baseball hat and glasses. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 610-562-6885. FIRE ALARM: Myerstown's Goodwill and Keystone Hook & Ladder fire companies were dispatched to Glenn Mitstifier Garage, 512 Frystown Road, Bethel Township, at 4:12 p.m. Monday. Union CRASH: A 17-year-old Palmyra boy lost control of his car while traveling west on Monroe Valley Road at the intersection with Moechlin Lane at 11:46 a.m. Sunday. State police at Lickdale said that as the teen approached the curve near the intersection, he applied the car's brakes but lost control of the vehicle. Police said the car then crossed the double yellow line and into the lane of travel for another vehicle driven by Violet M. Witter, 23, Jonestown. The teenager's car struck the front bumper of Witter's car, then continued off the roadway and came to rest in a ditch to the south of Monroe Valley Road, while Witter's car was turned 90 degrees to the north at the point of impact, coming to final rest, police said. No one was hurt, police said. The 17-year-old driver, whom police did not identify, was cited with driving at an unsafe speed, according to police. OVEN FIRE: Campbelltown Volunteer Fire Co. was dispatched to a dwelling fire at 333 Park Ave. in Derry Township at 8:14 p.m. Sunday. DWELLING FIRE: Palmyra Citizens Fire Co. was dispatched to 37 Sweet Arrow Drive, Hummelstown, at 12:54 p.m. Monday. CRIMINAL MISCHIEF: Anthony Moeller, 850 Hoffer Road, Annville, told state police at Harrisburg that someone damaged his mailbox at 529 Pine Road, East Hanover Township, between midnight and 6:30 a.m. Friday. Damage was estimated at $100. North Lebanon CRASH: A car driven by Katherine Hayes, 17, of 68 Clover Place, North Cornwall Township, pulled out from a driveway in the 1600 block of Heilmandale Road and collided with a car driven by Herbert Yingst, 72, of 45 McGillstown Road, North Annville Township, that was traveling west at 12:45 p.m. Sunday, police said. No injuries were reported. Both cars were towed. FIRE ALARM: Annville's Union Hose, Cleona, Ebenezer and Speedwell fire companies, city fire crews and First Aid and Safety Patrol were dispatched to Valspar, 3050 Hanford Drive, at 8:20 p.m. Sunday. CRASH: Glenn Lebanon, Rural Security and Weavertown fire companies and First Aid and Safety Patrol were dispatched to North Seventh Street and North Eighth Avenue for a head-on collision at 3:49 p.m. Monday. Bethel CRIMINAL MISCHIEF: An unknown object was used to dent a white fence in the 100 block of Elm Avenue between midnight and 5:43 p.m. Saturday, state police said. A garden hose was cut with a sharp object. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 717-865-2194. HARASSMENT: William Stutzman Jr., 52, of Fredericksburg, was charged after he allegedly punched Jeffrey Geesaman, 54, of Fredericksburg, in the neck during an argument on Route 22 just east of Legionaire Road at 10:49 p.m. Saturday, state police said. CRASH: Fredericksburg Fire Co. was dispatched to Golf Road and South Pine Grove Street for an accident at 4:02 p.m. Monday. SPILL CONTROL: Fredericksburg Fire Co. was dispatched to Saams Lane and South Pine Grove Street at 3:56 p.m. Monday. Jonestown THEFT: Money and credit cards were taken from a vehicle on South Walnut Street between midnight and 6:15 a.m. May 10, state police said. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 717-865-2194. North Cornwall PHONE TAKEN: A Lebanon woman who left her cellphone in a restroom at Golden Corral, 1147 Quentin Road, told police that the phone was not found after she called the restaurant at 1:45 p.m. Sunday. The white iPhone 4S had a clear case. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 717-274-0464. CRASH: A vehicle driven by John Hollopeter, 63, Manheim, was traveling north on Route 72 when it struck the rear of a vehicle driven by Drew Shimko, 38, Jonestown, that was stopped just south of Rocherty Road at 12:42 p.m. Sunday, police said. No injuries were reported. VEHICLE CHASE: Taquan Bradford, 20, Lebanon, was charged with fleeing or attempting to elude police, reckless driving and several other traffic offenses after a chase in the area of 120 S. 16th St. at 2:29 p.m. Saturday, police said. Bradford drove his vehicle through an alley and side street before parking it in a private lot. HIT AND RUN: A gray truck backed into an unattended First Aid and Safety Patrol ambulance at White Deer Run, 3030 Chestnut St., at 6:49 a.m. May 13, police said. During an investigation, police determined that Keith Adams, 29, Jonestown, was the driver of the truck. Adams was cited with an accidents involving unattended vehicle or property offense and other traffic offenses. STOLEN PLATE: Charles Spivey, 19, Harrisburg, was charged with receiving stolen property, fraudulent use or removal of registration plate and unauthorized use or removal of registration plate after police determined that he was allegedly aware that a stolen registration plate was attached to his vehicle in a parking lot at Highland Glen apartments at 2:30 p.m. May 13, police said. Spivey allowed others to operate the vehicle, according to police. FIRE ALARM: Neversink, Friendship and Cornwall fire companies, city fire crews and First Aid and Safety Patrol were dispatched for smoke in the laundry room at Elmcroft, 860 Norman Drive, at 11:29 a.m. Monday. South Lebanon DISORDERLY CONDUCT: Michelle Stoner, 34, of 699 Cherry St., was charged with using vulgar language during an argument with another parent at a children's baseball game played at AES Ironwood Park at 6:20 p.m. Friday. South Londonderry DUI: Steven Bedard, 40, Canada, was charged with driving under the influence after a vehicle stop at Lynmar Avenue and Route 322 at 6:35 p.m. April 26, police said. His blood-alcohol content was 0.154 percent, according to police. The legal limit is 0.08. Palmyra DUI: Jasmine Kinsey, 23, of 709 S. Second St., South Lebanon Township, was charged with driving under the influence, driving under suspension and two other vehicle citations after a traffic stop in the first block of North Railroad Street at 2:37 a.m. May 5, police said. Lebanon SPILL CONTROL: City fire crews were dispatched to 1124 Lehman St. for an oil spill from a disabled vehicle at 4:46 p.m. Monday. Annville CRASH: Annville's Union Hose and Cleona fire companies, First Aid and Safety Patrol and Central Medical Ambulance Service of Cleona were dispatched to an accident at 119 S. White Oak St. at 5:40 p.m. Monday.

And let thine eye look like a friend onThe scene is rich, as scenes in Shakespeare always are, with the play of language. Hamlet agrees that death is common, meaning the opposite of noble, but Gertrude had said that death is common, meaning the opposite of particular. With his downcast eyes the Prince may seem to seek for his father in the dust, but that is where his father in fact does lie-or perhaps does not, for the scene ends (ironically, just as Hamlet has said of his father, "I shall not look upon his like again") with Horatio's announcement of the ghost, and Hamlet's eye will soon "look like a friend" on the dead Denmark up in the air on the battlements rather than down in the dust on the floor. Denmark. Do not forever with thy lids Seek for thy noble father in the dust. Thou know'st 'tis common; all that lives must die, Passing through nature to eternity. Hamlet: Aye, Madam, 'tis common. Gertrude: If it be, Why seems it so particular with thee? So too this second scene in Hamlet is rich with themes the play will later develop: the newly remarried Queen's embarrassment before the still-grieving Prince; her new husband's uneasy possession of the throne; her kittenish tendency-the impulse of the aging coquette-to please and comfort men; perhaps even her genuine and loving wish to see her son consoled. And yet, though Gertrude has complex reasons to want an end to Hamlet's public mourning, her actual argument is simple: recollecting at last our knowledge that death is "common," remembering at length our certainty that "all that lives must die," we ought to leave off weeping. Claudius too, and for equally complex reasons, seeks an end to Hamlet's mourning. "You must know, your father lost a father," he continues his wife's argument, "That father lost, lost his." Reflection ought to bring to mind the "common theme" of nature: not just that fathers die, but that fathers must die. To persevereHamlet, of course, is not consoled-as the audience knows he surely ought not to be. Claudius, seeking some expression for the universality of death, lights on the obvious trope, "From the first corpse till he that died today." But the first corpse was Abel, murdered by his brother, and the most recent corpse is Hamlet's father, also murdered by a brother. Claudius-in the manner Freud taught us to watch for in Shakespeare- unconsciously confesses his guilt even as he tries to check the grief of the last mourner for his victim. In obstinate condolment corpse till he that died today, "This must be so." Something more, however, than merely guilty motives is wrong with the argument Gertrude and Claudius offer Hamlet. The crimes of the King and Queen are not incidentals in an otherwise valid consolation, but signals of the consolation's invalidity. And the fact that Shakespeare puts it in the mouths of the guilty pair shows, I think, his awareness of that invalidity. What consolation, after all, is "This must be so"? Who tries to console a child for her broken doll by telling her that all dolls break, it's what dolls do? Offered as a consolation, death's universality would be comic if it were not so sad. What could a child feel at being assured that not only has her old doll broken, but so will every other doll she owns? Knowledge of universal death ought logically to make grief worse, not better: not only has my father died, but so will my mother, my spouse, my children, my friends, and everyone I ever love. The world is full of theories about Hamlet, each more fantastic than the last. One theory I find helpful, however, claims that the play- in part, at least-presents the revulsion of medieval Christianity at the Renaissance revival of pagan philosophy. Fragments of Neoplatonism and Aristotelianism, the major schools of ancient philosophy, survived throughout the Middle Ages and had been reconciled to some degree with Christian theology. But the Renaissance rediscovered the minor, unassimilated schools of ancient pagan thought: Cynicism, Epicureanism, Skepticism, and, especially, Stoicism. Indeed, from Shakespeare's time through the nineteenth century, "philosophical" meant in English primarily what in the twentieth century we would call "stoical." The woolly arguments of Gertrude and Claudius are thus not new, but merely bad examples of a general revival that marks Renaissance thought. In Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, in Renaissance translations of Seneca and Boethius, in the Renaissance forgery that claimed to be Cicero's long-lost treatise on consolation, in Petrarch, and in Montaigne, there are better examples of the Renaissance rediscovery of ancient modes of consolation, and less troublesome instances of the Renaissance restoration of the ancient pagan scorn for grief. In our preference for the grief of Hamlet above the consolation of Gertrude and Claudius, however, Shakespeare shows us the problem created by this Renaissance revival. We are unfair to both drama and philosophy when we suppose that Shakespeare wrote philosophy. And even where playwrights are philosophers (as the Roman Stoic philosopher Seneca was), their plays have heroes more heroic than Hamlet and villains more villainous than Claudius. But Shakespeare shows (as Christopher Marlowe showed before him) that tragic clashes do not require paragons. Hamlet is no saintly Christian: "Now could I drink hot blood," he swears. And Claudius is no noble Roman Stoic: a murderer, carouser, plotter, and seducer of his brother's wife, he could never have been "philosophical" in the stoical sense of the word-never have hidden his fright when the play within the play manages "to catch the conscience of the King," never have proved in suicide "more an antique Roman than a Dane." But the clash between Hamlet and Claudius may nonetheless be in part a clash between Christianity and Stoicism, for Hamlet's mind moves in a way that St. Augustine would recognize and Claudius' mind in a way that Seneca would know. It takes a Christian (albeit a bad one) to hesitate to kill a kneeling man-as Hamlet at least claims to hesitate to kill Claudius-for fear that, slain at prayer, the victim escape hellfire. It takes a Stoic (albeit a bad one) to urge his victim's son to contemplate the naturalness of death. The irony of Claudius' argument for consolation deserves our notice: Who better to trust than a murderer, after all, for the news that all men die? No theory of Hamlet completely explains the notoriously difficult play, of course. And yet, some awareness of a clash between Christianity and Stoicism in the play gives us an insight into the oddity of being consoled by death's universality: To take solace for the death of one human being in the fact that all human beings die is on its face absurd or even spiteful. But the logical invalidity of a consolation does not prevent it from being psychologically consoling, and there is, as the Stoics saw, a way in which universal death may actually console us for a particular death. Hamlet's problem, and ours, is that this Stoical way of consoling grief ends in a denial of the reality of the dead person for whom the mourner grieves-a denial Gertrude and Claudius undoubtedly desire. The knowledge of universal death often involves a second abstraction as well, in the knowledge that everyone at some time must suffer grief. "There is a form of consolation, extremely commonplace I grant you, which we ought always to have on our lips and in our hearts," writes Cicero, to remember that we are human beings, born under a law which renders our life a target for all the slings and arrows of fortune, and it is not for us to refuse to live under the conditions of our birth, nor to resent so impatiently the misfortunes we can by no process of forethought avoid, but, by recalling to mind what has befallen others, to induce the reflection that what has happened to ourselves is nothing new.As a thought, it must be acknowledged, this is mean and spiteful: it is vile to be consoled for suffering by the thought that everyone else must sometime suffer too. But as a thinking, this is in fact the most abstracting of consolations. To think it, we must perform a sort of double abstraction: first losing our own particular humanity in the abstraction to universal humanity, and then losing our own particular loss in the universality of that universal humanity's universal experience of loss. Few of us can think many thoughts at once, and the complexity of this abstraction may be one reason for its apparent consolation: the thinking of it takes so much thought, we must put aside some grief. But even could we hold in mind every horror of our grief, still we are offered an escape from grief by this ancient Stoic thought that all the world must suffer-for the self who contemplates universal suffering is not the self who suffers. The ancients were not children and did not imagine that they would live forever or that they must not mention death. "Always think on death," Seneca writes to a dying man, "that you may never fear it." But already in Rome's Silver Age, traditional words of consolation for grief had come to seem tired, old, and used. Seneca himself writes of his need for new expressions. Pliny begs for arguments "uncommon and resistless." A century later, Fronto (a famous orator and the teacher of the Stoic Emperor, Marcus Aurelius) observes the unlikeliness that "poets' songs or philosophers' precepts" will much console anyone for the loss of a child. Complaints about a tradition, however, testify to its existence. It was Hellenistic Greek writers who developed and bequeathed to Rome the Consolatio-a formal essay of consolation, full of standard metaphors and arguments, and repeated turns of phrase. This ancient genre, in its Renaissance translation and imitation, is the ultimate source of the second-hand and second-rate arguments for consolation Claudius and Gertrude offer Hamlet. But the ancient Consolatio, even in its most polished Latin form (in Seneca's hands, most famously), does not escape the immorality that Hamlet, I believe, senses in the arguments of his mother and stepfather. Long before the Hellenistic Age, philosophers had written on consolation for fear at the death of the self, and mourners written on their sorrow at the death of others. Plato mentions consolation in both the third and tenth books of the Republic, and consolation is a constant theme in the trio of dialogues about Socrates' death. Though we have lost a celebrated essay on death by Democritus and a dialogue by Aristotle, the surviving pseudo-Platonic Axiochus reveals the common Greek philosophical concern for consoling the fear of death. We have as well, from the earliest times, elegiac poetry, funeral orations, and gravestone inscriptions. But the Consolatio as a genre is born only when Hellenistic writers adapted these philosophical analyses and funeral phrases to arguments against grief. By all accounts, Cicero was the first Roman to perform this adaptation, and in their early days, formal Latin consolationes could be distinguished from informal notes of sympathy and from poetry. But, so powerful does Cicero's tradition become, little difference remained in later writers between the consolations offered in prose-formal or informal-and consolations in poetic epicedia: there are "definite words," writes Cicero, appropriate to grief. Cicero is not an inconsiderable philosopher, but he begins a tradition of Latin consolation with serious philosophical problems. Several arguments typify the Consolatio, and mark it as a genre. Some of these-"It is utter folly," Cicero observes, "to be uselessly overcome by sorrow when one realizes that there is no possible advantage"; we are bound, he adds, by "the dictates of consistency" to cease mourning-simply beg the question. Why ought we to do what is useful? Why ought we to be consistent with our past behavior? Only if we had already accepted usefulness and consistency (which is to say, already accepted an active rationality defined in opposition to the passion of our grief) would we find consolation in an appeal to usefulness and consistency. The other typical arguments fare no better. Cicero writes that we must "anticipate by our wisdom what the passage of time is sure to bring us," while his friend Servius Sulpicius argues that the dead themselves would stop our mourning if they could. Both these consolations are logically incomplete-what could personified Wisdom or the ghostly dead tell us except some other consolation?-and both betray a temporal confusion by importing future and past into the present. This temporal confusion is the overwhelming device of the Consolatio, and, once having noticed it, we find it everywhere. All the typical consolations of the Consolatio assert the consoling power of the abstraction involved in knowing that everyone must die. To speak of usefulness is to bring the future within touch of the present. To speak of consistency is to bring the present within touch of the past. Knowledge of coming forgetfulness uses the future to testify against present grief, and knowledge of the dead uses the testimony of the past. There is something absurd about a proof that all we love must someday cease to be. We know it by a sure induction. Things do not remain as we left them: our mothers and our fathers die, our friends, the places that we knew, the objects we regard. But this fact that all things die does not itself die. Nothing in the perpetual flux of Heraclitus is comprehensible, any more than we can step into the same flowing river twice. But our knowledge of the impermanence of things is itself a sort of permanence. We comprehend a deathless unity when we observe the dying multiplicity. Explanations of this ceaseless flux range from Aristotle's definition of time as the measure of motion to Isaac Newton's equitable and absolute temporal flow. But all such explanations offer an escape from corruptible particulars to bright, unchanging universals. And though Aristotle himself notes time's terrible destruction, and though Newtonian physics is itself a science of change, still we stand outside destruction when we see it; the perceiver of time is not in the time that he perceives. When we contemplate the stream of time, we transcend death in thought: thinking of our span of days, and supposing thus beyond them. It seemed to the Stoics that this fact might be used for consolation not just of our fear at our own coming death, but of our grief at other people's death, as well. Only if nothing were to die could we banish grief. But since things do die, the only way to say they do not is to emphasize the fact they do. This is less paradoxical than it sounds. To be consoled for grief by the thought that death is common is either absurd or spiteful. And yet, there is a consolation in the universal, for the ability to think of death implies the thinker stands above that death. In that horrifying letter in which he urges a dying man to think about death, Seneca means to be consoling: the more we emphasize death and destruction, the more we will rise above them; the more we think on death and destruction, the less real they will become. When the Stoic says that all men die, he means that they do not. There is, of course, a remedy for grief in "the long lapse of time," as Cicero writes, "slow-working, it is true, but effectual." And yet, he adds, "it is not the mere lapse of time that produces this effect, but continued reflection. For if the circumstances are the same, and the person is the same, how can there be any change in the grief felt?" Our experience certainly is that grief weakens in time; indeed, in Mourning and Melancholia Freud describes grief as a form of insanity that we do not bother to treat as insane because we are confident that it will pass. But this, as Cicero sees, is exactly the problem. The passage of time, taken by itself, cannot be what dilutes our grief, for the cause of that grief remains untouched by time: the real person whom we really loved is just as dead and gone. Grief must be drowned, rather, by some event that happens in that passage of time. For Cicero, this event is a slow but inevitable re-emergence of rationality. "There is no grief that is not diminished and mitigated by the lapse of years," Sulpicius reminds him when Cicero himself seemed to over-mourn his daughter's early death; "To await that lapse, instead of hastening to forestall the effect by applying your wisdom, is not creditable to you." For Freud, too, time brings about a rationalization in which we accept the world of possibilities as actually constituted-in which we no longer seek the impossible object but become sane once again. And yet, what right has grief to grow so thin? "Let love clasp grief lest both be drowned," as Tennyson demands in In Memoriam, Let darkness keep her raven gloss. Oh, better to be drunk with loss, To dance with death, to beat the ground Than that the victor hours should scornBeyond the bare claim that grief ought to end, neither the philosopher nor the psychologist can give a reason for grief to end. We do a disservice to the dead when we accept and rationalize in abstraction the fact of death. We forget the life that was, we kill the corpse a second time, when we abandon grief's struggle to maintain the always present absence of the beloved dead person whom we mourn. The long result of love. . . . The Stoics, in other words, are factually right: in abstraction to the knowledge of universal death, we can hasten the loss of grief's sharp edge that time will eventually bring about anyway. But that does not make it morally right that we forget, and still less does it make right that we hasten the day of forgetting. It is true that, insensibly, we do in fact let the dead slip away. "Surprised by joy-impatient as the Wind," Wordsworth writes after his daughter's death, I turned to share the transport-Oh! withAnd it is true that the world does in fact go on in spite of grief. But neither of these facts makes it right that we forget or ever cease to grieve. whom But thee, deep buried in the silent tomb . . . ? But how could I forget thee? through what power, Even for the least division of an hour, Have I been so beguiled as to be blind To my most grievous loss! The first guilt felt in grief is that the guilty lover dares to live, even in grief; the second guilt is that the lover dares to live even after grief has ceased. Gradually, in care for other things, in the wants and the needs of the body, perhaps even in the burden of charity, the bustle draws us back and we cease at length to grieve. And one bright day, we notice that we have ceased to grieve, and all the world goes black in guilty grief again. But the inwardness of grief decays and we find it harder and harder to summon up the ghostly present absence of the dead. Like Wordsworth, C. S. Lewis, in his painstaking self-scrutiny after the death of his wife, observes the strange sharp guilt that accompanies the first awareness of having been for a moment not grieving-the guilt that accompanies the knowledge that grief is dying. This guilt has always seemed to me to reflect a genuine moral impulse. The idea that death is common may remind us that we lack the strength and time to grieve for all the dead. "I had not thought death had undone so many," T. S. Eliot remembers from Dante (remembering from Virgil, remembering from Homer). But that we must fail to grieve for all gives no sanction to our failure; virtue is not heroic save when it aims at what lies beyond our power. And, more important, that we must fail to grieve for all gives no reason to cease to grieve for some. I do not know all the dead, but those dead whom I know depend in some important way upon my grief: On some fond breast the parting soul relies,as Thomas Gray claims in his Elegy in a Country Churchyard. Some pious drops the closing eye requires, Even from the tomb the voice of Nature cries, Even in our ashes live their wonted fires The fact remains, as Cicero and Freud both saw, that-despite the guilt we feel as it fades-grief does seem to fade. But its fading ought to be a cause for deep suspicion to a moral imagination. "The only thing grief has taught me is to know how shallow it is," Emerson writes after the death of his son. Something which I fancied was a part of me, which could not be torn away without tearing me, nor enlarged without enriching me, falls off from me, and leaves no scar. . I grieve that grief can teach me nothing, nor carry me one step into real nature. . . . I take this evanescence and lubricity of all objects which lets them slip through our fingers then when we clutch hardest, to be the most unhandsome part of our condition.The desire of Gertrude and Claudius to hasten Hamlet's forgetting proceeds, I believe, from a hope to implicate the Prince psychologically in their crime-a complicated ploy in which they hope that Hamlet will equate his griever's guilt with their agent's guilt and thereby find a psychologically compelling motive to hurry his forgetting. And Hamlet is saved from this ploy only by his suspicion of himself confronting the conflicting moral demands assailing him. Unless the dead will stand again before us as themselves-unless death is in fact unreal-there is no consolation. "The immortality of souls brings us not the slightest consolation," Fronto observes in a letter to Marcus Aurelius, seeing that in this life we are bereft of our best-beloved ones. We miss the well-known gait, the voice, the features, the free air; we mourn over the pitiable face of the dead, the lips sealed, the eyes turned, the hue of life all fled. Be the immortality of the soul ever so established, that will be a theme for the disputations of philosophers, it will never assuage the yearning of a parent.According to some interpretations of Hamlet, the Prince's obstinate grief may have conjured or projected the ghost upon the Danish battlements, for he can find even a troubled consolation only in actual sight of his father. So too, perhaps, when Jesus wept for Lazarus, the consolation he chose was to call the corpse forth from the grave. A clear reading of Hamlet, a clear reading of ourselves, requires that we not lie to ourselves about this, any more than Hamlet does- though his honesty drives him nearly mad. Short of the immediate opening of the graves-short of resurrection now-there is no consolation: only the vilest of abstractions and the most self-serving of forgettings.

During the fall and spring 2012 and 2013 athletic seasons, Liberty teams claimed 10 of 18 Big South Conference championships, a feat that ultimately helped Liberty secure its 11th Sasser Cup. This is Liberty’s sixth consecutive year bringing home the award, which is the longest streak in Big South history. According bigsouthsports.com, the Sasser Cup is given to the school with the best overall athletic year. The winner is determined by a wieghted point system based on regular season and tournament finishes. Liberty beat out Coastal Carolina by less than one point. “We would be very disappointed if we didn’t win (the Sasser Cup), but it’s always going to be a battle,” Barber said. Despite receiving a fifth seed in the north division for the Big South Championship, the men’s basketball team won four games in five days to capture the conference title. The Flames football team overcame a 0-4 start to gain a share of the Big South Championship. Barber has still managed to take Liberty Athletics to new heights during his tenure. In addition to winning the Sasser Cup six straight years, Liberty is continuing to renovate its athletic facilities and strengthen its programs. “We have a great commitment here at Liberty for athletics, starting with the chancellor down … the school has made a great commitment to us,” Barber said. In addition to the Sasser Cup, Liberty also claimed the Women’s All-Sports Trophy. This is the fourth consecutive year and the fifth time in six seasons Liberty has won the award. With a new baseball stadium, training facilities and practice facilities taking root in the past year, as well as plans for a football stadium renovation and a new softball stadium in the works, Liberty may very well be on its way to becoming one of the top programs in the nation. “I think we’ll have a number of our programs that will be top 20 in the country,” Barber said. “The way Liberty is growing, we may get there sooner than many would expect.”

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Attachmate Catches Mono, Red Hat Takes a Cloud PaaS. It is still unclear as to what the future holds for Mono. However, users need not worry too much, this is open source after all (and as such, there is no vendor lock-in, right?) As an open source project, even if Attachmate drops support, a community of developers could still choose to push the effort forward. If there an itch to scratch. 2. Ubuntu CTO Leaves Is there trouble at Canonical? Matt Zimmerman, the CTO of Ubuntu Linux is leaving Canonical. Zimmerman has been the CTO for the past seven years. According to Zimmerman, he's moving on to try something new, although he expects to remain involved in Ubuntu as a technical contributor or volunteer. Zimmerman isn't the only Canonical executive on the way out the door. Neil Levine, who helped to head up Canonical's cloud efforts, is also reportedly leaving the company. While Zimmerman's departure after seven years is not necessarily a cause for alarm, the company has undergone some significant shifts over the past couple of years. Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth is no longer the CEO of Canonical, although he maintains an active role as the leader of the Linux project. Jane Silber is the new CEO of Canonical and was formerly the COO. The position of COO was supposed to go to noted Linux blogger Matt Asay. Asay however, lasted only a few months as COO. Ubuntu has also made a big change with the Unity interface. The Unity move is one that some in the Linux community praised while others have criticized. While it's not yet clear who will replace Zimmerman, multiple leaders within the Ubuntu community could step up, including Mark Shuttleworth himself. 3. Red Hat Summit This past week was Red Hat's annual Summit event in Boston. In years past, multiple themes emerged, but for 2011 there was one key focus -- the cloud. Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) announced a new Infrastructure-as-a-Service offering called CloudForms at the event. CloudForms includes components from more than 60 open source projects, including the Red Hat led Apache Deltacloud project for cloud abstraction. Red Hat also took aim at VMware with a new Platform-as-a-Service offering called OpenShift. The OpenShift PaaS includes multiple components, including technology from a company called Makara, which Red Hat acquired in 2010. While Red Hat is an open source company, OpenShift itself is not entirely open source, according to Red Hat's own admission. However, it will be, eventually, one day. 4. Linux 2.6.39 -rc6 Nears Release The next Linux kernel took another step toward its final release this past week. Linus Torvalds announced the sixth release candidate (rc6) for the 2.6.39 kernel. Torvalds noted that 2.6.39 -rc6 is not likely to be the final release candidate. He added that the 2.6.39 kernel is not in bad shape though. The 2.6.39 kernel will include a new block device plugging model, which will improve Linux system performance. The 2.6.39 kernel looks to be on track to be generally available by the end of May, meaning it's too late for Fedora 15 and too early for Ubuntu 11.10. Distros like Arch or Gentoo are likely to benefit first from 2.6.39, as will the openSUSE Tumbleweed rolling release. 5. KDE Updates While much of the Linux Planet continues to debate GNOME 3, its associated GNOME Shell and Unity, the KDE community just keeps motoring along. This past week, the KDE project released KDE 4.6.3. The focus for 4.6.3 is bug fixes and translation updates. So no, not big changes, but still an important update and one that continues to demonstrate the maturity of KDE 4.6 and the KDE project itself.

But a decision on whether or not he makes Falcons' match-day 22 will not be made until after training on Friday. Eng. "Our policy with Jonny, or any other injured player for that matter, has never changed," said Falcons rugby director Rob Andrew. "If he is fit, then he will be considered for selection. If not, then we will keep going with his rehab until he is fully ready. "We have delayed naming our team until noon on Friday, purely because we have given the squad Wednesday and Thursday off training following a big game against Leeds at Headingley on Tuesday, so we have not had a chance to assess them ahead of this weekend. "We will train on Friday morning, take a look at the players and then make our selection from there." If he is given the all-clear, then Wilkinson is likely to feature among the replacements for a potential first outing since mid-November. Falcons officials, meanwhile, are confident the Worcester game will go ahead at Kingston Park, despite Wednesday's heavy snowfall in the north-east. More than 7,500 tickets have already been sold.