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Kevin Grandia | February 24, 2009
By Kevin Grandia • Tuesday, February 24, 2009 - 11:42
Like last year, the Heartland Institute is making it clear that no Big Oil companies are behind this year's "International Conference on Climate Change" being held in New York in a couple of weeks.
The Heartland states on their website that:"The Heartland Institute, a 25-year-old national nonpartisan think-tank based in Chicago, said all of the event's expenses will be covered by admission fees and individual and foundation donors to Heartland. No corporate dollars or sponsorships earmarked for the event were solicited or accepted."
Of course, the whole thing becomes a little more gray when you look into the listed "co-sponsors" of the Heartland's event, or should I say a little slick.
We've researched the funding history of all the organizations that the Heartland Institute has listed as co-sponsors for their 2009 International Conference on Climate Change and have found that over the years these groups have received in excess of $47 million from oil companies and right-wing foundations.
Interesting enough, the vast majority of the funding (76%) is not from who most would expect, but from a much quieter organization called the Scaife Family of Foundations. According the Media Transparency project, the Scaife Family of Foundations is, "financed by the Mellon industrial, oil and banking fortune. At one time its largest single holding was stock in the Gulf Oil Corporation. [Scaife] Became active in funding conservative causes in 1973, when Richard Mellon Scaife became chairman of the foundation."
Here's the permanent page we built with all the research on DeSmogBlog: Heartland Institute's 2009 Climate Conference in New York: funding history of the sponsors
And here's a PDF version you can download: Heartland Institute's 2009 Climate Conference in New York: funding history of the sponsors
Here's the breakdown:
ExxonMobil (1998-2006): $6,199,000
Koch Foundations (1986-2006): $4,438,920
Scaife Foundations (1985-2006): $36,868,640
Grand Total: $47,506,560
[By the way, DeSmogBlog will be at the Heartland event again this year]
And here's the detailed breakdown by organization:
Accuracy in Academia
BMI is the sister organization to the large Media Research Center which has received $202,500 from ExxonMobil since 1998.
European Center for Economic Growth
No funding records from ExxonMobil, Scaife, or Koch.
Freedom Foundation of Minnesota
No funding records from ExxonMobil, Scaife, or Koch.
Free to Choose Network
No funding records from ExxonMobil, Scaife, or Koch.
Frontiers of Freedom
Received $1,182,000 from ExxonMobil between 1998-2006.
Received $75,000 from Koch Foundations between 2004-2006.
George C. Marshall Institute
Received $745,000 from ExxonMobil between 1998-2006.
Received $30,000 from Koch Foundations in 2004.
Received $3,182,000 from Scaife Foundations between 1985-2006.
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
No funding records from ExxonMobil, Scaife, or Koch.
Here is a link to other funding.
F.A. v. Hayek Institute
No funding records from ExxonMobil, Scaife, or Koch.
The Heritage Foundation
Received $565,000 from ExxonMobil between 1998-2006.
Received $2,417,000 from Koch Foundations between 1986-2005.
Received $23,096,640 from Scaife Foundations between 1985-2006.
No funding records from ExxonMobil, Scaife, or Koch.
International Climate and Environmental Change Assessment Project (ICECAP)
No funding records from ExxonMobil, Scaife, or Koch.
Initiative for Public Policy Analysis (Fomerly the Institute of Public Policy Analysis)
No funding records from ExxonMobil, Scaife, or Koch.
Institute for Private Enterprise
No funding records from ExxonMobil, Scaife, or Koch.
Institute for Public Affairs
No funding records from ExxonMobil, Scaife, or Koch.
Instituto De Libre Impresa
No funding records from ExxonMobil, Scaife, or Koch.
Instituto Juan De Mariana
No funding records from ExxonMobil, Scaife, or Koch.
Instituto Liberdade
No funding records from ExxonMobil, Scaife, or Koch.
Instituto Bruno Leoni
No funding records from ExxonMobil, Scaife, or Koch.
International Climate Science Coalition
No funding records from ExxonMobil, Scaife, or Koch.
The Lavoisier Group
No funding records from ExxonMobil, Scaife, or Koch.
Liberales Institut
No funding records from ExxonMobil, Scaife, or Koch.
Liberty Institute
No funding records from ExxonMobil, Scaife, or Koch.
Here is a link to their other funding.
John Locke Foundation
No funding from ExxonMobil
Received $97,000 from Koch Foundations between 1995-2005.
Received $5,000 from Scaife Foundations.
Manhattan Libertarian Party
No funding records from ExxonMobil, Scaife, or Koch.
Mannkal Economic Foundation
No funding records from ExxonMobil, Scaife, or Koch.
Minimal Government Thinkers
No funding records from ExxonMobil, Scaife, or Koch.
New Zealand Centre for Political Research
No funding records from ExxonMobil, Scaife, or Koch.
Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine
No funding records from ExxonMobil, Scaife, or Koch.
Public Interest Institute
No funding records from ExxonMobil, Scaife, or Koch.
Here is a link to other funding.
Science and Public Policy Institute
No funding records from ExxonMobil, Scaife, or Koch.
Science and Envirionmental Policy Project
Received $20,000 from ExxonMobil between 1998-2000.
60 Plus Association
No funding records from ExxonMobil, Scaife, or Koch.
Sovereignty International
No funding records from ExxonMobil, Scaife, or Koch.
Tennessee Center for Policy Research
No funding records from ExxonMobil, Scaife, or Koch.
Young America's Foundation
Received $85,000 from Koch Foundations between 1996-1999.
This month we're giving away FREE copies Nobel Laureate Dr. Andrew Weaver's new book Keeping Our Cool: Canada in a Warming World.
Go here to find out more details about DeSmogBlog's monthly book give-away.
John Mashey replied on Permalink
I've been guessing the foundations were more important for a while, and warning people of that, but this is an even higher percentage than I expected. Thanks for the good work tracking this stuff down!
I gew up near Pittsburgh, and used torun computer programs in *Scaife* Hall at Carnegie-*Mellon* University, i..e., postiive contributions of science and technology. Too bad that Richard Mellon Scaife has chosen other routes.
Kevin Grandia replied on Permalink
I had keyed in on Koch Industries a while back, but moved on. I think all of these foundations need a real triple-take for their involvement in the climate denial industry.
Here's the post I wrote way back when on Koch: http://www.desmogblog.com/why-exxon-makes-koch-giggle
ah yes... scaife
Scaife is one foundation which has been begging for scrutiny. thanks Kevin!
Mediawatch replied on Permalink
Nice find, nice research
Thank you very much for the research and bringing this to our attention.
Coordinated local (127.0.0.1) activism
Kevin, it seems that a few of these think tanks share more than funding sources – they've shown up on Frank Bi's Twisty Maze of Think Tanks with the same IP addresses and host servers. Talk about an echo chamber?
Lords and vassals in the think-tank world?
I think an interesting exercise will be to examine the flow of money between the various groups, and compare this flow to how the groups are mapped out over the Internet.
Interestingly, the Alternate Solutions Institute (asinstitute.org), which received money from Atlas (atlasusa.org) in 2008, has moved from 188.8.131.52 – same IP as atlasusa.org – to 126.96.36.199, which is the IP for the Atlas project Un Monde Libre:
Sous la direction du Dr. Tom Palmer, le projet "Atlas Global Initiative for Free Trade, Peace and Prosperity" de l'Atlas Economic Research Foundation regroupe des équipes et des sites russophone, arabophone, persophone, kurdophone, azeri, sinophone, lusophone, malais et anglophone : …
So ASI got money from Atlas, and moved from one server shared with Atlas to another server shared with Atlas.
All this seems to give support to my earlier surmise that Atlas is the actual owner of 188.8.131.52. It also suggests that ASI is, in a way, a 'vassal' of Atlas in the think-tank world.
– bi
climate criminal replied on Permalink
Excellent Work!
Excellent Work!
GingerLadySlipper replied on Permalink
Very interesting! I've been
Very interesting! I've been wondering where the $$ behind Heartland's conference comes from.
Richard Scaife provided major funding for the 'Arkansas Project' to get Bill Clinton.
Richard Scaiffe? From the
Richard Scaiffe?
From the same article, Hillary Clinton called Scaiffe part of "a vast right-wing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband since the day he announced for president."
paul s's smokebombs
Trying to counter an indisputable fact with an irrelevant opinion.
How clever of you, paul s. How clever.
[Scalfe and Larry's] involvement in what became known as "the Arkansas Project" – an aggressive and ultimately fruitless attempt to discredit a sitting president – marked a clear departure from years of relatively anonymous philanthropy, and Scaife could not have foreseen the consequences: He became a celebrity.
The full realization of the trouble he had made for himself probably came one day last September when he appeared, under subpoena, before a federal grand jury in Fort Smith, Ark., that was investigating possible tampering with a federal witness. On that day, Scaife could have felt he was being treated like a suspect – not the status a Mellon from Pittsburgh worth perhaps a billion dollars expects. According to several associates, Scaife was furious.
The Arkansas Project was apparently cooked up largely by Larry, 63, who has worked for Scaife for 30 years. A former Marine with a deeply ideological view of the world, Larry had developed a powerful dislike for Clinton. "I noticed a change in Dick Larry – at the mention of Clinton he became almost hyperthyroid," said one prominent figure in the conservative world who knows Larry well. A second prominent conservative close to him said: "I never saw Dick Larry do anything like this before. The only thing I can figure is that Larry dislikes Clinton intensely."
– bi
And what's your point Frank?
And what's your point Frank? That people actually work to change politics and the politicians who govern them? MoveOn.org has done the same thing just from the opposite side of the political spectrum.
"YOU DID IT TOO!!!!!!!!!" part 47,659,847
MoveOn.org has done the same thing just from the opposite side of the political spectrum.
You mean launching open-ended witchhunts 'investigations' of politicians which turn up nothing? Then no.
Again, the CLINTON DID IT TOO!!!!!!!!!!!! excuse is as old as the Roman Coliseum.
– bi
You're telling me MoveOn and
You're telling me MoveOn and various other leftist organisations didn't campaign openly to discredit a sitting President?
MoveOn, Michael Moore and large elements of the Democratic party have been on a witchhunt for the last 8 years. They still believe the 2000 election was 'stolen' from them and have spread that fabricated smear to the public for years.
Shifting goalposts
MoveOn and various other leftist organisations
Oh, so first you made a claim about "MoveOn.org", and then when I called you on it, you changed it to a claim about "MoveOn and various other leftist organisations".
In other words, your defence of Scaife's actions is full of garbage.
– bi
More on Scaife
Scaife is one of the "Four Sisters" who own the Heritage Foundation and AEI, "think tanks" that have been bamboozling Americans with bizarre misinformation for four decades now (Koch owns the similar Cato). In addition, the Sisters created or took over publications like Commentary and First Things, which scoop up people who are e.g. anti-abortion or pro-Israel and brainwash them into being e.g. global warming deniers and pro wealth gap and corporate malfeasance. This is why anti-abortionists always seem bizarrely to be supply siders as well. The Sisters also fund everything David Horowitz does as well as the Spectator, which I don't believe ever made money and probably never had any purpose other than to destroy Bill Clinton.
In my opinion, the Sisters are much more dangerous that Murdoch because they are so under the radar for most Americans. For instance, you always have somebody from Heritage spewing their bullshit on the News Hour, but anybody who knows anything about Heritage knows it amounts to the same as televising an "expert" from Lyndon Larouche's Executive Intelligence Review.
That sure isn't much money.
That sure isn't much money. At best a tiny fraction of what governments and green groups have spent promoting AGW.
Here we go again
Don't you know any other songs, paul s?
I think...
I think paul s isn't getting paid enough to write another song.
Lack of fair wages can be a bit of a problem in the Shilling for Oil industry. :)
– bi
It's getting to be a bit of a bore
The argument that paul s keeps trying to make about how much (or little) per capita the oil money represents is pathetic. Look at the annual frenzy over Super Bowl ads. Coca Cola spends $X gazillion on a 45 second ad. Divide that by the anticipated viewership and, voila: they spent $1.25 US per person. A tiny per capita investment can be pretty effing significant, or they wouldn't bother spend $X gazillion on the ad. Marketters know this. Put your money where it will get the most bang for the buck. The deniers also know this.
Please stop striking the same note, paul s. We heard you the first time, and it stopped there.
Speaking of per capita...
$1.25 per person FEMACK?
$1.25 per person FEMACK? Exxon has spent less then a penny, per person, per year supposedly "confusing" the public about the state of climate change.
Propaganda can't be done on such miserly sums.
I'll just repeat my link, since paul s clearly refuses to see it
The EPA spends $27 per person per year on stuff which aren't noise campaigns.
Conclusion: ARGH!!!!! BIG GUMMINT!!!!! FREEDOM IS DOOMED!!!!! OH NOES!!!!!
– bi
I don't know why I am doing this – maybe I just can't get down to work … but here goes.
Your analysis is simplistic and naive, Paul, as are most denial arguments. Go take a course in statistics. It would be a better use of your time than endlessly posting the same lame mantra.
My analysis is simple and
My analysis is simple and accurate FEMACK. One can not create enough noise or sufficient disinformation for a penny per person. It can not be done. It is impossible. No one here has ever shown evidence it can be done, yet the myth lives. Why?
because when you have a population of +300million and two or three tv's and/or computers in every other house, the pennies add up pretty quickly. And like so many other things, it's not the size that matters, it's what you do with it. But enough, already. Lift your head up for a moment and look around. We've moved on.
This is the reason governments are pro AGW.
They are hungry!! http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE51P4Q920090226
'Skepticism' strikes again
This is the reason governments are pro AGW.
They are hungry!!
Oh, sure, it definitely can't be because AGW is a real problem, can it?
So instead of wasting money attacking imaginary problems such as AGW, we should instead wisely spend the money by focusing on the real problems that face the world today… such as the ever-looming threat of the Worldwide Phantom Soviet Empire.
– bi
Jim Eager replied on Permalink
It's a tiny fraction of what governments and green groups have spent on doing actual science.
And thank God for that.
What will 'skeptics' do with all the 'equal money' anyway?
Climate change inactivists such as Senator Inhofe keep complaining about not having the same amount of money as those filthy hippie greens, but they never say what they're going to do with that amount of money if they do get it.
Are they going to buy some nice big supercomputers to run climate models and show the IPCC to be completely wrong?
Or are they going to just spend it all on noise campaigns like they've been doing?
– bi
Peter Moss replied on Permalink
So paul, how much do
So paul, how much do governments and green groups spend on "promoting AGW"? And what's your source?
Governments and green groups
Shorter paul s: Citing sources of 'information' is ELITIST!!!!!!
Peter Moss replied on Permalink
Governments and green groups spending stats
Thanks paul s. I thought so. I knew you couldn't answer the question.
The answer is there Peter
The answer is there Peter but I'm not going to spend days gathering stats to show something that is common knowledge.
Check your units!
Strictly speaking, Paul's correct, but it's an idiotic comparison. He's comparing per-capita expenditures for lobbyists ("a penny per person") to total expenditures from green groups and government ("spend a lot more than a penny per year", note lack of "per person"). Disingenuous, Paul.
This is why we ask you to cite your damn sources. Put up or shut up.
Peter Moss replied on Permalink
Since when did the amount of
Since when did the amount of money spent by green groups and governments specifically to promote AGW become 'common knowledge'? Heck, even the research Kevin did for this thread tracking down the amount of money spent by the denialists took some effort, and would scarcely be considered some kind of background 'common knowledge'. At present, there is no 'common knowledge' that exists about the exact amount of money spent by either side.
Your assertion that the denier side is being out-spent by its opponents rests on several assumptions: 1) The definition of a green group… (legislative lobbyists? environmental organizations? green energy busniesses? Al Gore?, book publishers? anyone who agrees with AGW?, etc.) I know several Social Ecologists who don't believe in AGW and think it's all a plot to institute population control. 2) That the amount of money could be a knowable entity (it's difficult enough keeping track of the denier funding, and even that amount is only what has been openly declared) 3) That the amount of money earmarked specifically to 'promote AGW' could be known apart from campaigns to promote energy conservation in general, or promote wilderness conservation in general, or promote fighting air pollution in general. 4) That governments actually 'promote AGW'. Last time I checked, Harper was agnostic about the cause of climate change, unlike, say, Sarah Palin's Alaskan government. I seriously doubt there is ANY government money being spent specifically to promote the idea of AGW in a targeted political campaign (unless, of course, you consider any form of government funded scientific research into climate change to be 'promotion of AGW'). And if there is such quantifiable amounts of government money, it certainly wouldn't constitute 'common knowledge'.
Your excuse that you would need to 'spend days gathering stats to show something that is common knowledge' is not only incoherent, it's sandbagging.
Show me the money.
Jim Eager replied on Permalink
"The answer is there Peter"
As in it's a matter of faith.
Statistsics to back up our assertions????
We don't need no stinking statistics.
Ian Forrester replied on Permalink
Once again paul s shows how stupid and misinformed he is
Paul s, the groups who give out money to spread lies and disinformation (listed in Kevin's post above) really don't spend very much since the cretins that work for them are easily satisified and boast (e.g. Tim Ball) that they don't get very much. Plus other cretins like you who spread the lies and disinformation for nothing (or at least that is what you claim) means that they get widespread distribution of their lies and misinformation for a very low expenditure of cash.
The Government and Green Groups you so deprecatingly refer to actually spend the majority of their money on conducting research or supporting others who do do actual research. The last time I looked at a Government Grant or Contract application there was no line item for "PR expenditures". Therefore these groups (Governments and Green groups) do not spend enough counteracting the lies and disinformation put out by you are your ilk.
As I have asked you many times before, why are you so anti-science and anti-scientist?
mascereye replied on Permalink
so nice to see you posting. have you ever met anyone on the skeptic side that wasn't a moron. btw, where did algore get the $300,000,000 he is spending on his "campaign?" and thanks for outing me as a dentist! if you would have asked i certainly would have let u know…and if i knew my ip address i would have made it readily available…btw, i have a B.S. in geology from the C. O. Wooster and my field work was done at Princeton Univ. Dental school at Howard Univ.. next time just ask, i have nothing to hide.
Ian Forrester replied on Permalink
masacara eyes asks rhetorical questions
To answer your rhetorical question, no I have never met an AGW denier who was not a moron, especially ones who claim to have a science background. That makes them both dishonest and moronic.
Your posts show that you are a fully fledged member of the AGW denier band of deceitful morons. You do not once provide any scientific evidence to back up your claims but spout the regurgitated rubbish which was dismissed by all intelligent people years ago. You are nothing but a useless troll.
Pat Neuman replied on Permalink
New book by Michaels and Balling
I found a bio page on Michaels at desmogblog but couldn't find one for Balling.
Help needed.
Ian Forrester replied on Permalink
Here is an article linking SEPP TASCC and deTocqueville
Here is an article which links the original deniers (SEPP, TASSC and the Alexis deTocqueville Institution) with the foundations funding the Heartland conference.
climate criminal replied on Permalink
The long history of Denial
The long history of Denial
For those who are new to DeSmogBlog, the history of denial is long and despicable. The modern denial industry has its now infamous roots in the Tobacco Industry's subversive disinformation campaign intended to discredit science that threatened the tobacco industry's business. When the disgraceful tactics were discovered, all the papers were archived on www.tobaccodocuments.org as a record of the lies and deceit.
A number of those individuals transferred their efforts from disputing and denying the link between smoking and cancer; to disputing and denying the link between Fossil-fuels, CO2 and climate change. Basically, they followed the money.
Here are links that reveal some of the people and organisations that were active in the Tobacco Industry denial industry.
'de Tocqueville' Heartland
4 documents
"de Tocqueville" "Dr. S. Fred Singer"
67 documents
"Dr. S. Fred Singer"
86 documents
798 documents
Heartland TASSC
9 documents
They've been deceiving us for decades!
PS This was triggered by Ian Forrester's mention of 'de Tocqueville' in his small but perfectly formed post.
And regarding the Heartland 'conference'...
I'm curious to know what the take-home message for this year will be. :)
Also, I have a few naughty ideas for things to do at the 'conference', but I'm not sure I want to talk about them in public. :) :)
– bi
Heartland sponsors and funders
Co-sponsorship for the Heartland International Conference on Climate Change costs nothing, and Heartland Institute has received no funding from either Koch or Scaife for a decade or more.
You mean...
No corporate dollars or sponsorships earmarked for the event were solicited or accepted.
So Heartland may still accept donations from foundations receiving money from Scaife as long as they're not specifically earmarked for this particular event.
John Mashey replied on Permalink
No: it just says Heartland saysthey didn't take money from corporations earmarked for this event.
1) They may get money from corporations to do what they do. I.e., when they pitch foundations, I'm sure they describe their activities, including saying how successful their conferences are.
2) they may get money from other foundations, which may have gotten money from corporations or yet other foundations.
Remember, Hearltand has long gotten tobacco funding, i.e., from an idnustry that only exists because it remains able to get children addicted to nicotine while their brains are forming. Few smokers start when adults (say >21), and even if they do, are much more able to stop than those who started in their teens. Hence, nothing they do should be a surprise.
John Mashey replied on Permalink
Funding web
I assume this is what Kevin was working from, but while Heartland no longer says where its money comes from, except that its mostly fondations, the Sarah Scaife and related (Allegheny, Carthage) foundations' gifts for the last few years are here:
Given that some foundations end up cosponsoring or acting as conduits for money, it is nontrivial to figure out where money actually came from oriignally, but it is clear that Scaife, Koch, Olin, and a few others supply a lot of the foundation money. It's very cost-effective compared to buying primte-time commercials saying "use more oil and coal".
mascereye replied on Permalink
this is a hopeless and small group who will only berate you. not really worth the effort. did algore say he has a $300,000,000 warchest to promote agw?? where did he get that money? sorry i can't site it but algore did say it…oh wait..he is a liar so i will try to find a source.


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The New Year is almost here and I've been thinking about what I want to accomplish in the coming year. I have a few scrapping goals that I'm hoping to work on and I thought it would be great to share with the community and then we can help each other get there! (See here for personal goals.)
1. Learn Illustrator/practice drawing
2. Practice with drawing tablet.
3. Journaling - I'm terrible at journaling, and it's often on my list of things to improve. So you can expect some challenges and discussion on this.
1. We have a big family reunion this summer and I'm working on a family scrapbook. I got an initial start a few months ago, but it was so overwhelming I put it on the back shelf for a while. It's been ruminating in my head for a while and it's time to bring it out again.
2. I also want to scrap my photos from my recent Egypt trip, as well as a trip a year ago to Israel. Then I'll be more or less caught up with travel photos and can work on a new project (like daily, regular life).
3. Organize my Photoshop Brushes.

subset: commoncrawl


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After Blacklist reared its head at this year's E3, many Splinter Cell fans feared that the renowned action game would be cutting back on its exacting stealth gameplay. There might be hope, guys.
This new playthrough of the same level shown at E3 shows a sneakier take on Sam Fisher's infiltration of a terrorist cell compound. So, while Michael Ironside may not be doing Sam's voice anymore, Blacklist could still have some of the signature experience that made Splinter Cell so awesome.


text:
Jeff Dahn Day 1 features: Justin Smith | Brandon Murray
MINNEAPOLIS – As the best amateur baseball players in the country gather at the Perfect Game National Showcase at the Metrodome this week to show off their skills to scouts of the collegiate and professional ranks, one name in particular stands out: Alex Jackson. Although he is the No. 1 ranked prospect for the 2014 class by Perfect Game, the young man does not display any overconfidence or cockiness about him. In fact, he is quite the opposite; an extremely humble individual blessed with the gifts he's been given and trying to overachieve with everything he does.
Jackson, a two-year veteran of Perfect Game events, recognizes the importance of attending the National.
"It's definitely a great feeling coming out here and being able to play with the best of the best," said Jackson. "I just come out here trying to do what everyone else is trying to do. (I'm) just trying to go out there and show everybody your skill sets, and just complete and play the game we love."
"It's good to see my son and the other kids here that have put in the hard work and time and dedication and commitment that it takes to play a game that's as difficult as baseball," said Jackson's father, Dorian, who travelled with Alex to Minneapolis.
The California standout turned heads on his first day at the showcase, setting an event record with a 91 mph throw from the catcher position, and he also threw 98 mph fro the outfield. A potential five-tool player from behind the plate, Jackson also ran a 6.83-second 60-yard dash and showed a great approach at the plate with a lot of power.
With the tools he possesses and pure athleticism he shows on the field, he may not play catcher for much longer. "Whether I end up catching, (playing) third base, (or) outfield, I'm just gonna go out there and give it my best all the time," Jackson responded when asked if his future will be somewhere other than behind the plate. He gets plenty of action all over the field.
The California native is a member of the San Diego Show, arguably one of the best travel ball teams in the country, and has played with a lot of big name talents like Ian Clarkin and Gosuke Katoh, who were taken in the first and second rounds respectively by the New York Yankees.
"It's an awesome thing," Jackson said about playing with such a talented travel club. "It's almost like you don't even need to think. Everyone's just in the spot they need to be. It's almost like it's one person playing the game by himself."
The San Diego Show is not the only uniform Katoh and Jackson share. Both are products of Rancho Bernardo High School in Escondido, Calif. Jackson credits Katoh with being a great mentor as he has progressed through his high school years.
"He taught me a lot about leadership and how to be a leader by example, Jackson said of Katoh. "He's probably the hardest worker I've ever played with. The way he goes about himself, he's definitely a very special person."
This week, however, is all about Alex Jackson. The young man who displays characteristics and maturity beyond his years has a great supporting cast in his family.
"I think what I've appreciated most about Alex is how he's grown as a young man," said Jackson's father. "He's an extremely responsible young man. He's extremely humble, almost humble to a fault."
Dorian Jackson couldn't be more proud of the person Alex has become and continues to become. Desperately trying to fight the tears, Dorian proudly pointed down to the field at Alex and said, "To look on the field and see 'Jackson' on his shirt, the way he represents the family, what more could you ask for? He just makes us all proud and I'm not even talking about as a baseball player, I'm talking about as a person.
"I see the way he treats the younger kids. He'll stop and he'll give them whatever time he can. It's just a blessing to see him do those kinds of things. We say, 'Hey, at the end of the day this game is gonna come and go, but the way you treat people, your character, your love and discipline you have, they are gonna be with you your entire life,' and he represents that."
Alex Jackson realizes how fortunate he is to be able to play baseball at the level he does and refuses take it for granted. His work ethic will pay off for him in a big way, and it will go far beyond the diamond.
– Matt Rodriguez
Live Streaming
For the second straight year the Perfect Game National Showcase is available for everyone to watch online. The live stream to all of the workouts, batting practice sessions and games can be found on iHigh's dedicated Perfect Game page:
Day 1 Workouts
The first day of the PG National Showcase kicked off as it usually does, as the first six teams (Columbia Blue, Gold, Green, Maroon, Navy and Purple) took their turns running the 60-yard dash prior to conducting the outfield, infield and catching drills, in addition to batting practice, before the first game kicked off in the early afternoon.
Carl Chester ran the fastest time on Day 1 with a 6.28 60-time. Chester also threw 93 mph from the outfield.
Jack Flaherty, a member of Perfect Game's No. 1 high school team in the nation, Harvard-Westlake, opened quite a few eyes by posting a 6.37 60-time, the second best on Day 1. Known more for his bat than for his wheels, he also showed a really nice swing, hitting several balls hard to the opposite field. He also added a booming double in Game that sailed over the center fielder's head in deep right-center, the farthest, and loudest, hit of the event so far in game action.
Leading the outfielders in arm strength was Michael Gettys, who set an event record with a 100 mph reading on his throws from right field. Gettys also ran an impressive 6.43 second 60 and look very impressive at the plate during batting practice.
Alex Jackson, as noted above, posted the second best throw from the outfield at 98 mph, and he too set his own event record with a 91 mph throw from behind the plate. His 1.75 POP time was also the best on the day. Jackson continued to wow onlookers with his BP session, using extremely quick hands to send towering flies to all parts of the field, and far out of the park, seemingly with little effort.
Chase Vallot also stood out behind the plate during the catching drills, with an easy release and arm strength, finishing second with a 89 mph throw down to second and a 1.87 POP time.
Twenty-five players threw 90 mph or better from the outfield. Nick Gordon had the best infield velocity of the day at 94, while Braxton Davidson showed the best arm at first base with a 88 mph throw.
A pair of hard-hitting, left-handed hitting first baseman hit back-to-back for the Gold team, Justin Bellinger and Davidson. Bellinger drove a handful of bombs to the upper deck in right field, with Bellinger doing the same on one of his first swings. Both are already ranked among the top prospects in the high school class of 2014 and have done nothing but cement that position with their early showing.
The overall consensus was that Jackson, Bellinger and Davidson, all members of the Gold squad, had the best rounds of BP on the day.
Read the Perfect Game National Showcase scout blogs for all of the workout results and more details reports:
National Impressions
• The first four pitchers that took the mound at this year's National Showcase were extremely impressive. Hawaiian lefty Kodi Medeiros kicked off the event with arguably the most impressive pure pitching performance on the day. He sat 91-93, touching 94, using a slinging, low three-quarters delivery that created a fair amount of deception and made him especially tough on left-handed hitters. The arm angle also complemented his low-80s slider, showing the ability to change speeds and throw strikes with both pitches.
Starting opposite Medeiros was Brandon Murray, who first pitch recorded 98 mph, easily the hardest thrown pitch on the day. Murray has a tall and sturdy frame with a power arm. He took a little off of his fastball during his second inning of work, working more in the 93-95 range while mixing in a promising breaking ball.
Another left-hander, Carson Sands, followed Medeiros for the Purple team. While Sands wasn't as dynamic, he worked in the 88-91 range peaking at 92, and showed the ability to get some sink on the pitch while throwing downhill. He also threw a big breaking 74 curveball.
Luis Ortiz was up next, yet another powerfully built right-hander to follow Murray. Ortiz pitched aggressively, showing good feel for both his 93-95 fastball and his 82-84 slider. He has easy arm strength and speed, and wasn't afraid to throw his slider, going right after hitters.
• Luke Bonfield had two very hard hit balls in Game 1, the first of which as a double he stroked up the middle off of an Ortiz' slider. He displayed very good bat speed and the ability to square up the ball consistently hard during batting practice as well.
• The defensive play of the day was made by shortstop Max George of the Navy squad. On a hard hit ball, he made a nice diving stab of a ball deep in the hole, snapped to his feet and fired a strike to first base to record the out.
• Also in Game 1, catcher Colby Fitch made a strong, accurate throw to third base to retire a would-be base-stealer.
• Foster Griffin was the highlight of Game 2. With a tall, sturdy and still-projectable frame, the 6-foot-5, 195-pound left-hander worked quickly and efficiently, showing a promising and polished three-pitch repertoire that including a 88-90 mph fastball that touched 92. He moved all of his pitches around and showed good command of the strike zone.
• Right-hander Sam Proctor also showed well in Game 2, working at 91-92 with his fastball while mixing in a promising 75-76 curveball. His arm speed on both pitches was impressive, making it easy to believe he'll be throwing harder, more consistently with a sharper version of his breaking ball in the near future.
• Right handed pitchers Cameron Varga and Spencer Adams caused for a repeat of Game 1 by coming out firing in Game 3. Varga took the mound first, working at 93-95 with a sharp 79-83 mph slider. At 6-foot-3, 205-pounds, Varga is built like a prototypical workhorse.
Spencer Adams was more about projection and really showed an aggressive, take-charge approach on the mound. The ultra-projectable, 6-foot-5, 180-pounder offers plenty of room for added strength, and pounded the strike zone with a 91-93 mph fastball. He also showed very good feel for his low-80s changeup and a two-plane mid-80s slider. Adams displayed very good arm speed, and his attack mode approach to pitching was just as impressive as Medeiros earlier in the day.
• Jeff Harding, Jr. followed Varga for the Gold squad in Game 3, and while he doesn't have the same size at 5-foot-11, 196 pounds, he made up for his lack of size in his fearless approach and power fastball. He sat at 92 mph, peaking at 93, and went right after hitters up and in.
• In addition to Flaherty's booming double as noted earlier, Willie Rios also added a two-bagger in Game 3, ripping a pitch down the third base line allowing him to pull into second base standing up. Rios also threw in the 90s from the mound.
• Keven Pimentel was the last pitcher to take the mound for the Gold team, another good-sized rigthy that dialed his fastball up to 94, pitching comfortably at 91-92. Most impressive was his ability to spot his fastball on the corners, working the bottom half of the zone well to induce weak ground balls.


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© BASF Business | June 28, 2019
BASF streamlines with 6'000 job losses
With an organisational realignment, BASF expects savings of EUR 300 million, as part of the ongoing excellence program, which is anticipated to contribute EUR 2 billion to earnings annually from the end of 2021 onwards.
In the course of the strategy implementation, BASF expects a reduction of a total of around 6,000 positions worldwide until the end of 2021. This decrease results from "the organisational simplification and from efficiency gains in administration and services as well as in the operating divisions", a press release states. BASF will continue to need additional employees in fields like production or digitalisation, depending on future growth rates. "We will set up the new organisation with a clear focus on leveraging synergies, reducing interfaces and enabling flexibility and creativity," said Dr. Martin Brudermüller, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF. "We want our customers to experience a new BASF. To achieve this, we have to live a new BASF. We will therefore continue to develop our organisation to work more effectively and efficiently. In this way, we will ensure the success of our customers, strengthen our competitiveness, and grow profitably as a company." Ludwigshafen: Early negotiations for new site agreement In view of the current changes and further changes planned until the end of 2021, management and employee representatives have jointly decided to move forward the start of negotiations on a new site agreement for the BASF SE. The current site agreement is valid until the end of December 2020. The goal is to sign a new agreement in the first half of 2020.
Foxconn and Heraeus sign MoU Foxconn Technology Group and Heraeus have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for a strategic cooperation within the space of 5G.
BAE to pick up Collins Aerospace's GPS business and Raytheon's ATR business BAE Systems has reached definitive agreements for the proposed acquisitions of Collins Aerospace's military Global Positioning System (GPS) business and Raytheon's Airborne Tactical Radios (ATR) business.
JEOL Ltd. acquires Integrated Dynamic Electron Solutions JEOL Ltd. , manufacturer of semiconductor equipment and other industrial instruments and equipment, announced the acquisition of Integrated Dynamic Electron Solutions Inc. (IDES), an entrepreneurial venture specializing in technologies related to transmission electron microscopy (TEM).
NEXT receives major order for Indian government program NEXT Biometrics has received an order for UIDAI and STQC certified fingerprint biometric readers in India with a value of USD 750,000.
Sponsored content by CMLCML manufactures Metal Substrate solutions Printed circuit boards (PCBs) plays an important role in our day to day life. Whether it's the car you're driving, the phone that you're scrolling through or computers that you're sending emails from. What happens when you use heat generating components on a PCB? That's right, cooling is needed!
Cadence completes acquisition of AWR from NI Cadence Design Systems, Inc. has completed the acquisition of AWR Corporation from National Instruments Corporation.
Fiat Chrysler and Foxconn plans EV joint venture A new competitor in the industry for electric vehicles are in the making.
Collins Aerospace inks multimillion-dollar space contract Collins Aerospace Systems has signed a contract with Lockheed Martin to provide critical subsystems to support production of NASA's Orion spacecraft fleet for Artemis missions III through VIII.
Imagination Technologies expands with new European design centre Imagination Technologies has opened a new design centre in Timisoara, Romania. The centre will focus on IP designed for artificial intelligence (AI) and computer vision.
AKI Electronic becomes Schurter Electronics As part of the further integration into the Schurter Group, AKI Electronic spol. s r.o. changes its name to SCHURTER Electronics spol. s r.o.
From Bosch to Silicon Mobility - Kallenbach takes the helm Automotive semiconductor company, Silicon Mobility, has appointed former Robert Bosch GmbH executive Rainer Kallenbach as CEO of the company as of January 6, 2020. The current CEO Bruno Paucard will remain with the company as COO and on the Board of Directors.
NEXT Biometrics reorganises - reduces headcount NEXT Biometrics says it is executing a program to optimise the organisation and cost base with its strategic priorities and market opportunities; which also translates to layoffs
LPKF delivers laser system to semiconductor industry customer In December, LPKF delivered – for the first time – a highly automated version of its LIDE system for integration into a semiconductor fab to an unnamed semiconductor manufacturers.
ROHM company SiCrystal & STMicro ink wafer supply deal ROHM and STMicroelectronics have signed a multi-year silicon carbide (SiC) wafers supply agreement with SiCrystal, a ROHM group company having a top share of SiC wafers in Europe.
Cadence expands collaboration with Broadcom Cadence Design Systems says it has expanded its collaboration with Broadcom Inc. for the creation of semiconductor solutions targeting next-generation networking, broadband, enterprise storage, wireless and industrial applications.
Marvell expands R&D footprint in India Marvell has announced the addition of its new facility in Bangalore, part of Marvell India Private Limited, the company's second largest research and development (R&D) effort spanning three sites – Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad.
imec spin-off raises €4,5 million in funding MICLEDI Microdisplays, the latest spin-off of imec, has raised EUR 4,5 million seed capital from imec.xpand, with participation of PMV and FIDIMEC.
Synopsys to acquire certain IP assets of INVECAS The acquisition broadens the company's IP portfolio and adds a team of experienced R&D engineers to the company's development department.
Fire at Kioxia's Yokkaichi NAND fab A fire broke out at Kioxia's Yokkaichi plant – a joint venture facility owned by Kioxia and Western Digital – in Japan on January 7.
New Hella electronics JV starts production in China The joint venture HELLA BHAP Electronics has started production. The company was founded in 2018 by HELLA and BHAP, one of the largest automotive suppliers in China.
European backing for Prodrive's growth plans The European Investment Bank is providing a EUR 50 million loan to Dutch technology company Prodrive Technologies.
Murata acquires 3DHaptics company Murata Manufacturing and MIRAISENS, which offers haptic solutions technology using 3DHaptics technology, have signed an agreement for MIRAISENS to become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Murata Manufacturing.
Diodes updates on Lite-On acquisition Since the initial announcement of the acquisition back in August, 2019, all customary closing conditions have been met, including approval by the Lite-On shareholders. In conjunction, Diodes has been working through the final process of securing the required regulatory approvals in both Taiwan and China.Load more news


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Talks progress between NFL, referees
A person familiar with the situation says the NFL and its locked-out officials have resumed talks in an attempt to resolve an impasse that has created a firestorm over the use of replacements refs.
The talks began again Wednesday after both sides met through Monday night, breaking off at 2 a.m. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the discussions were not made public. The person would not characterize the talks.
Negotiations have been ongoing the past week but have taken on heightened urgency following the "Monday Night Football" game. That's when Seattle beat Green Bay 14-12 on a missed call by an official on the final play.
Even President Barack Obama has weighed in on the dispute. He tweeted Tuesday that "NFL fans on both sides of the aisle hope the refs' lockout is settled soon."


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August 12, 2008, 8:31 am
Saunders wins Adams County contract
Centennial-based Saunders Construction has won the contract for the new $76 million Adams County Government Center.
The new facility, to be located at Interstate 76 and E-470 in Brighton, will be a five-story, 270,000-square-foot building with an underground parking garage with up to 30 stalls.
Saunders is expected to break ground on the project in March. Completion is slated for March 2011.
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- Home
- Engine Porting Kit
Engine Porting Kit
Engine Porting Kit
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- A must for any performance engine build
About Engine Porting Kit
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Attention California Residents - Proposition 65
WARNING - Cancer and Reproductive Harm - www.P65Warnings.ca.gov


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Monday, September 21, 2009
I've been blabbing on and on about Brewfest these past couple of days but today I did the unthinkable: I actually joined a group to kill Coren Direbrew.
I'm usually shy about these sort of things and this is only the second time I've participated in a boss kill during a WoW holiday. When this happens, I have to bluff my way through because I don't want people to know that I'm a raw noob. Luckily I knew a few basics about how the Coren Direbrew thing worked.
The idea is that there's a daily quest to kill this guy during Brewfest only. Ideally, all 5 people in the group should have this quest so that each of the 5 can summon him. That's the most efficient way of doing it.
Coren is inside Blackrock Depths. I won't tell you how to get there because you should know by now. If not, it's easy to search for it online. Once you get inside the instance, immediately to your right is a bunch of boxes that you can click on. There might be some non-elite mobs that you need to kill first. Use one of the boxes and a Mole Machine will burrow out of the ground to take you to the Grim Guzzler bar where Coren is located.
Once at the bar, each player takes turns in handing in the quest and "talking" to Coren. Coren's friendly until you talk to him and he has 3 non-elite buddies with him. He has a little over 300K HP. Once you talk to him, he turns hostile and the fun starts.
The fight is one of the easiest I've come to experience. As DPS, I just went through my routine. At one point Coren might summon a Mole Machine with some non-elite mobs that will attack players at random but by that time the main boss should be very low or almost dead.
I did get a piece of loot, a trinket called Coren's Chromium Coaster which has some very good stats on it but on second thoughts it's not much better than what I already have: Darkmoon Card: Death and Gnomish Lightning Generator. One of the other very nice drops was Tankard O' Terror which is an iLvl 226 1-H BoE mace (which BTW screams Enhancement Shaman to me) and I was hoping that we would get a chance to greed for it but a pally in the group said he needed it so he won it. Meh, whatever, I was just grateful that I got to experience this group. If I'd won that mace, I would have probably sold it for a hefty profit.
Killing Coren Direbrew for the first time awards the achievement Direbrewfest. He also drops a barrel that starts a quest asking you to return it to a Brewfest NPC for 40 Brewfest Prize Tokens. In all, it was a very nice experience and the only thing I regret is not doing it in the first day as well. Now I will try to complete it daily until the end of the holiday.
15 comments:
A handy tip: You can ignore the adds that pop out of the mole machine and just wail on Coren Direbrew 'til he's dead.
- September 22, 2009 at 12:14 AM
- CreepTheProphet said...
- September 22, 2009 at 1:28 AM
- Celebrandil said...
I visited him two times now and got 12 or 13 kills in total (some people switched to their alts for an extra summon). The Brewfest kodo dropped once, but a friend won the roll. ^^
Sadly you only get the quest with the 40 token rewards when you loot him for the first time. That is bad because now I have to do the daily quest virtually every day and some ram raiding as well, to get my 350 tokens for the meta achievement (and my proto drake). I think I won't be able to get the meta if I miss a single daily.
Well maybe if Blizzard would finally fix the Dark Iron invasion event, then it'd be far easier to get the tokens...
- September 22, 2009 at 2:41 AM
- Skaut said...
Yep, joined a group with my hunter as well yesterday for this one. And if they fix the Dark Iron attacks on my server then he will have the Brewmaster title!
With our group, we saw 5 different trinkets drop(and no mounts) and I didn't get a one. The Paladin tank took 2 of them. Oh well. At least I got the achievement and hopefully soon the title. Still need to run this with my druid and mage for them to get their titles as well. It just isn't easy for me to find my way into a group. But this one is totally worth it!
- September 22, 2009 at 7:40 AM
Even though I usually avoid grouping whenever possible, I find grouping to kill Coren a lot of fun. After nine kills I've seen the Kodo drop once (didn't win it though >.<) and I was able to snatch the Coaster trinket yesterday. I'm planning on doing him every day on my hunter and as often as possible on my (terribly undergeared) druid. Hopefully I'll have both of the mounts and also the stam trinkets before the event is over. (Whaat? Those trinkets have to be awesome for soloing!)
- September 22, 2009 at 10:33 AM
- Darth Solo said...
I knew there was something fishy about the dailies.
It sucks that the barrel only drops once, it would have been easier to get all the required tokens for the meta. I'm not sure I can make it though, I have to buy 3 pieces of garb + the membership.
I realize I was stupid that I let that pally roll for the BoE mace. That's not a pally mace. From now on I'm gonna Need on the BoE items regardless of the group composition. I will inform everyone of how I plan to do it and I will drop out if they don't like it. I don't know anyone in the PUG and I don't owe them anything. It's not easy to pass on 2000G.
- September 22, 2009 at 6:35 PM
Hi There,
A long time solo-er here just wanting to thank you for your great blog that never ceases to provide me with new idea's.
I have been on a pet binge lately after being inspired by your efforts and, during a huge lag fest (these 3 simple transactions took over 15 mins) last night on Amun'thul managed to buy the Brewfest pink elekk, learn the summon and then sell the item straight back to the vendor saving me 100 tokens ;) Now its just the Brew of the month club and the Coren fight and Ive completed Brewfest!
- September 23, 2009 at 8:06 PM
- Darraxus said...
A nice little trick to finish brewfest without getting 550 tokens or whatever. Save enough for the garb, buy ad equip it. Go to Dalaran and get the achievement. GO back to the vendor and return your garb and pick up the brew of the year and the elephant
- September 23, 2009 at 9:31 PM
- Darth Solo said...
@Rumankoke thanks a lot! It's nice to hear that.
@Darraxus damn! Does that really work? It must be a bug, no?
In other news, yesterday the Kodo mount dropped for my group but I didn't win it. Meh. Today however, the remote dropped and I won the roll. Yay!
- September 23, 2009 at 10:02 PM
- Celebrandil said...
Nope it's not a bug, it's perfectly legal. So don't make the mistake of buying the membership first if you aim for the meta. Get the three pieces of Brewfest clothes and after the achievement return them for a full refund, then become a member and a mighty brewmaster!
- September 24, 2009 at 2:40 AM
- Darth Solo said...
Wow that's amazing! The problem is that I only see 1 daily every day and that doesn't give me a whole lot of tokens. Are the dailies also bugged? I thought the one with the ram racing was always available but it never is.
- September 24, 2009 at 8:06 PM
The ram racing is available every day but it doesn't show up as a quest. Just speak to the NPC you picked up the original quest from and he'll offer it via the conversation.
- September 25, 2009 at 4:02 PM
- Darth Solo said...
Doh! WTH... I tried speaking to all the NPCs in the area and none of them seemed to offer the quest. I must try again...
- September 25, 2009 at 6:45 PM
Coren is a pushover. I almost have the tokens needed for the clothes + beer subscription + pet. I've been incredibly lucky with rolls too - picked up BOTH +170 stam trinkets and the remote with the first two groups. Having the remote makes getting a group together so much easier. Going to keep trying for one (or both) of the mounts.
- September 28, 2009 at 2:06 PM
- Darth Solo said...
He is a pushover but I've been in a couple of groups where people wiped repeatedly. In one group we had a brand-spanking-new level 80 DK tank (gnome to boot!) who couldn't hold aggro for the first 3 fights such that our Warlock died each time due to over-DPS-ing. Then the tank realized he wasn't wearing tanking gear and he switched. Oh well, fun times. And more recently, a guy started the quest before everyone had gotten inside the room via the remote. One of the group wiped again. But hey, shit happens!
- September 28, 2009 at 9:37 PM


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SCAA 2006 U.S. Barista Championship
Posted by TheShot on 01 Mar 2006 | Tagged as: Barista, Machine
Is your barista worthy?
The Specialty Coffee Association of America is holding their annual convention in Charlotte, NC beginning April 7. One of the main events coinciding with the conference is the 2006 United States Barista Championship. From Business Wire: Barista Champion to Be Revealed from Among Nationwide Competitors; The Specialty Coffee Association of America's 2006 United States Barista Championship, Hosted by Krups, Takes Place April 7-10 in Charlotte, N.C. (Since when did press release headlines become novellas?)
Baristas are facing an uphill battle for legitimacy. Making a fine espresso is a lot like gourmet cooking — it demands quality ingredients, quality equipment, temperature, pressure, timing, skill, and consistency. And in a number of places in Italy, for example, being a great barista is an artisan craft with a legitimate career path.
Unfortunately, the proliferation of Starbucks in this country has publicly equated the profession with little more than a minimum wage McDonald's fry cook. And as Starbucks needed to hire thousands of new employees to fuel their growth, they hired more of what was cheap and available in the marketplace: employees with less skills and lower wages. This progression was also largely facilitated by their widespread switch to push-button Verismo machines that a monkey could operate.
Bam! Goes the Weasel
Events like the USBC (and, ultimately, the World Barista Championship) help to elevate the profession and recognize the commitment and skills of those who truly are masters of an art … and science. Other advances include the recent introduction of Barista Magazine (to which I subscribe as a pro bono amateur barista myself).
Some baristas hope to one day see public legitimization of their profession reach the level of the "celebrity barista" — something of a public representative for the specialty coffee industry, not unlike the way that the Food Network has crowned many a celebrity chef (deserving or otherwise).
But despite the achievements of the world's greatest baristas, I don't see them ever making good television. Although they're not accountants, baristas aren't exactly known for having the most, shall we say, effervescent of personalities. (And I've probably been served by more baristas than anyone in SF over the past three years.) And while espresso machines are proliferating in the home, there's a huge difference between the maestro with a three-group La Marzocco FB-70 … and someone at home, watching on TV, struggling with their Krups machine and pre-ground coffee pod.
It makes great espresso … once you change the light bulb
Speaking of Krups machines and seeking legitimacy… did I read that press release headline correctly? "Hosted by Krups"? And for the third year running?
I wrote about general experiences with Krups espresso machines in a previous post. I simply cannot imagine any self-respecting, professional barista doing anything less but snickering at the association of Krups with this competition. It's like having the World Pastry Cup hosted by the Easy-Bake Oven.
Both the baristas and the sponsors are clearly hoping to use this event to reach out, educate the public, and improve their image. The only question that remains is who will win this tug of war: the champion baristas pulling up Krups' image, or Krups pulling the image of the profession down with them?
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3 Responses to "SCAA 2006 U.S. Barista Championship"
[…] Yesterday (Saturday, March 4) I attended my first SCAA barista competition. Held at the Sheraton Sonoma County in Petaluma, the Western Regionals are a competitive prelude to next month's U.S. Barista Championship. (Petaluma: it's not just world arm wrestling championships anymore.) […]
[…] Conference attendance includes over 8,000 people from around the globe. The article makes mention of the 2006 U.S. Barista Championship, which will crown a winner tomorrow. Hopefully, none of the winners have to go home with a Krups machine (the event's main sponsor). […]
[…] Some of the branding recommendations even include showcasing some of Starbucks' best baristas ("Starbucks must give permission to store partners to showcase their flair and personality while on the bar"). Really — only a few of us coffee geeks, an unprofitable minority, even care about these things. To the rest of the world, a "barista" is hardly an elevated profession. Due to the likes of Starbucks, the barista has become a modern symbol of downscale jobs, skills, and wages. Coffee's version of the minimum wage McDonald's fry cook. […]


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Syria: outsiders support terrorism and US & Saudi Arabian jigsaw under Obama
Syria: outsiders support terrorism and US & Saudi Arabian jigsaw under Obama
Murad Makhmudov and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
The so-called "Friends of Syria People" held a meeting in Turkey, a nation which invaded Cyprus and where the Kurds have been brutally suppressed for decades, with the end result being to increase terrorist forces and to ignite sectarianism. Issues related to preventing further bloodshed, crushing terrorism, genuine dialogue, and so forth; were clearly not on the agenda. Instead the most hostile forces showed their hand by supporting mutiny, arming the terrorist opposition, and seeking to weaken the position of Syria in the Middle East.
Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, expressed her dismay at the Istanbul meeting which stipulated supporting the military option by providing greater logistical support. She commented that this will "run counter to the goal of a peaceful settlement of the Syrian problem."
In an article published by RIA Novosti (Russian Federation) it is stated that "Calls by some of the countries in the Friends of Syria People group to supply arms and render logistical support to the Syrian opposition are at odds with the Syrian peace plan outlined in the UN-backed Annan Plan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday."
However, "the Syrian problem" is clearly not an internal issue which can be solved by all interested parties. On the contrary, the Istanbul meeting highlights the role of outside meddling and that certain nations not only ignited the crisis but they desire to enforce their diktat on the Syrian people. This applies to supporting sectarianism, terrorism, and an agenda which will destroy the last major bastion of secularism in the Arabic speaking Middle East. Therefore, the war mongering reality of the "Friends of Syria People" was made clear by Hillary Clinton who is intent on doing the bidding of Saudi Arabia and other nations which have ulterior motives.
America, not content with the deadly carnage of over 100,000 people being killed in Iraq, and knowing that sectarianism haunts this nation, is still intent on spreading disinformation and more chaos to the Middle East. Obviously, issues related to 90% of Christians fleeing Homs in Syria means nothing to the American administration. This isn't surprising because 60% of all Christians have fled the carnage of Iraq after the American led invasion and at no time did this concern the political hierarchy in Washington.
Syria under the leadership of Bashar al-Assad supports the unity of the Syrian people irrespective of religion. Secularism is the binding theme which enables different sects within Islam and Christianity to co-exist and the same applies to the Druze community. However, the "radical Sunni Islamic agenda" of Saudi Arabia, the Muslim Brotherhood, Al Qaeda, and other "dark forces," care little about religious pluralism and the rights of women. Instead, they all want to crush "progressive forces" which support modernization and a strong unitary state based on religious pluralism. After all, "the reality of Syria" shames the gender and religious apartheid of Saudi Arabia.
Sunni Muslim clerics in Syria who support a unified Syria also have much to fear from "radical Sunni Islamic forces." They know full well that in nations like Pakistan that firstly the Sunni Islamists attacked the role of women; then they persecuted non-Muslims; this was followed by attacking Ahmadiyya Muslims; then sectarian attacks killed thousands of Shia; and now moderate Sunni Muslim leaders face death and persecution if they support religious co-existence and speak out against Sunni Islamists. Equally alarming, is that the "ray of sunshine" within the Sunni Islamic community is then "strangled" by Sunni Islamic indoctrination emanating from Saudi Arabia – with the upshot being the crushing of natural diverse thought patterns because of "the rule of fear."
In Indonesia, a nation where secularism is enshrined it is clear that "traditional Sunni Islam" in this land is also facing the "wrath of the Sunni Islamic inquisition." In Somalia the same is happening because Sufi Muslims are now deemed to be infidels and clearly the hands of Saudi Arabia and international terrorism are behind the rise of such backwardness and hatred. Therefore, the rich civilization of Syria, which is nurtured by all the communities of this nation, faces an uphill struggle to preserve their richness from the encroachment of Talibanization and outside meddling.
Homs, the media distortion, is a precursor of what the opposition would do to the people of Syria. This applies to sectarianism and the religious cleansing of minorities based on the reality that the vast majority of Christians have been forced to flee to areas under the control of the Syrian army. Indeed, the Syrian army is a unified military whereby all religious communities serve the people of Syria by fighting to protect the "rich mosaic of this nation" from hostile forces which seek chaos and sectarianism.
It is abundantly clear that Sunni Islamic terrorism is spreading its hatred against all moderate forces in Syria. Terrorists and their ideology of hate seek to rule by fear and the victims of their hatred are all moderates within Syria irrespective of religious affiliation or having no religion. Therefore, the government of Syria and the armed forces are inclusive and central mechanisms are fighting to protect the "rich mosaic of Syria" from the "dark forces" of "monoculture."
In an article by Anne Barnard, New York Times, called Syrian Rebels Continue Assassination Campaign, Killing 2 Military Officials, it is stated that "It was hard to tell whether the assassinations represented a coincidence or a new degree of organization on the part of rebels who recently announced the formation of military councils in various cities to coordinate the loosely knit armed groups."
"Either way, the tactics — along with roadside bombings of military vehicles and buses carrying pro-government fighters — are similar to those of insurgents in places like Iraq, where the American military characterized them as "terrorist" attacks, as Mr. Assad does."
"Mr. Assad and his supporters say that they have the right to use force against an unpredictable armed movement that is attacking institutions of the state — and that Western critics of his military response are hypocrites."
It would appear that Iraq means nothing to the American administration and this applies to the one hundred thousand plus individuals who died; the dire reality of sectarianism; the negative impact of the "new Iraq" for women; the 60% reduction of the Christian community; and other negatives which means that Iraq is still suffering from a war based on "the manipulation of language" and "fabrication." The Obama administration appears not to even care for innocent American soldiers who were forced into the "Iraqi quagmire" by political leaders who had an agenda. After all, the Obama administration knows full well that the same Sunni Islamic terrorist networks which killed innocent civilians and thousands of American soldiers in Iraq – is now, astonishingly, the same network which is being used by the so-called opposition in order to spread carnage in Syria (following the Libya model). This means that the Obama administration and individuals like Hillary Clinton are in the same anti-Bashar al-Assad alliance, which includes terrorist networks that killed American soldiers. For it is abundantly clear that Sunni Islamists based in Iraq are now moving to Syria and killing innocents.
Hillary Clinton during an interview with the BBC comments that "We have a very dangerous set of actors in the region, Al-Qaeda, Hamas, and those who are on our terrorist list, to be sure, supporting – claiming to support the opposition [in Syria]." If you watch the video by the BBC (link provided at the end of the article) then right at the end Hillary Clinton comments that "many parts of Syria are unaffected" but what she doesn't say is that this is because these areas are firmly under the control of the government of Syria.
In the interview with the BBC it is clear that Hillary Clinton isn't giving information about the bigger picture. However, in The Daily Telegraph (United Kingdom paper) in an article called Libya's new rulers offer weapons to Syrian rebels which was written by Ruth Sherlock, it is stated that ""There is something being planned to send weapons and even Libyan fighters to Syria," said a Libyan source, speaking on condition of anonymity. "There is a military intervention on the way. Within a few weeks you will see."
"The Telegraph has also learned that preliminary discussions about arms supplies took place when members of the Syrian National Council [SNC] – the country's main opposition movement – visited Libya earlier this month."
"The Libyans are offering money, training and weapons to the Syrian National Council," added Wisam Taris, a human rights campaigner with links to the SNC."
"The disclosure came as rebels raided an air force base outside the city of Homs and killed six pilots, according to a statement by the country's military."
Webster Griffin Tarpley, author of George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography (1992) states in his article called The CIA's Libya Rebels: The Same Terrorists who Killed US, NATO Troops in Iraq, that "According to West Point authors Joseph Felter and Brian Fishman, Saudi Arabia took first place as regards absolute numbers of jihadis sent to combat the United States and other coalition members in Iraq during the time frame in question. Libya, a country less than one fourth as populous, took second place. Saudi Arabia sent 41% of the fighters. According to Felter and Fishman, "Libya was the next most common country of origin, with 18.8% (112) of the fighters listing their nationality stating they hailed from Libya."
This means that almost one fifth of the foreign fighters entering Iraq across the Syrian border came from Libya, a country of just over 6 million people. A higher proportion of Libyans were interested in fighting in Iraq than any other country contributing mujahedin. Felter and Fishman point out: "Almost 19 percent of the fighters in the Sinjar Records came from Libya alone. Furthermore, Libya contributed far more fighters per capita than any other nationality in the Sinjar Records, including Saudi Arabia." (See the chart from the West Point report, page 9)."
Therefore, note how America supports Saudi Arabia and the forces of Libya who defeated the regime with the help of NATO. Also, note that both Saudi Arabia and Islamist movements in Libya were the main parts of the world where foreign Sunni Islamic terrorists were fighting and killing American soldiers in Iraq. This once more backs up the fact that America is allowing its own soldiers to die for political reasons, while supporting the forces which are killing them. This is similar to attacking secular Iraq after September 11 despite nearly all Islamists who did this terrorist attack being from Saudi Arabia.
Further down in the same article it states that "Looking back at the tragic experience of US efforts to incite the population of Afghanistan against the Soviet occupation in the years after 1979, it should be clear that the policy of the Reagan White House to arm the Afghan mujahedin with Stinger missiles and other modern weapons turned out to be highly destructive for the United States. As current Defense Secretary Robert Gates comes close to admitting in his memoirs, Al Qaeda was created during those years by the United States as a form of Arab Legion against the Soviet presence, with long-term results which have been highly lamented."
The article continues by stating that "For those who attempt to follow the ins and outs of the CIA's management of its various patsy organizations inside the realm of presumed Islamic terrorism, it may be useful to trace the transformation of the LIFG-AQIM from deadly enemy to close ally. This phenomenon is closely linked to the general reversal of the ideological fronts of US imperialism that marks the divide between the Bush-Cheney-neocon administrations and the current Obama-Brzezinski-International Crisis Group regime. The Bush approach was to use the alleged presence of Al Qaeda as a reason for direct military attack. The Obama method is to use Al Qaeda to overthrow independent governments, and then either Balkanize and partition the countries in question, or else use them as kamikaze puppets against larger enemies like Russia, China, or Iran. This approach implies a more or less open fraternization with terrorist groups, which was signaled in a general way in Obama's famous Cairo speech of 2009. The links of the Obama campaign to the terrorist organizations deployed by the CIA against Russia were already a matter of public record three years ago."
Irrespective of different information from many sides it is clear that secular Syria is the last nation in the American-Saudi Arabian "Sunni Islamic jigsaw" being played out by the Obama administration. Bush had naively believed that democracy would become a domino theory in the Middle East after the invasion of Iraq, with the main emphasis being Iran but clearly this never happened and over 100,000 people have been killed by this failed policy. The Obama administration, on the other hand, is clearly anti-secular in the Middle East and within the American-Saudi Arabian "Sunni Islamic jigsaw."
Therefore, supporting aspects of the Al Qaeda Islamist network and Muslim Brotherhood objectives can be seen by the collapse of secular governments during the leadership of Obama. This means that the multi-religious reality of Syria under Bashar al-Assad and the secular nature of this nation is a threat to the American-Saudi Arabian "Sunni Islamic jigsaw" based on the policies of the current government of America, when it comes to the Middle East and North Africa.
The government of Syria is fighting for the rich civilization of the Levant where you have countless Muslim and Christian sects and where women have a million times more freedom than the US supported regime of Saudi Arabia. The roles of women were expendable in Afghanistan, Libya and Iraq. Therefore, the same will happen in Syria if the terrorist opposition defeats the secular government of Bashar al-Assad.
What is clear is that the government of Bashar al-Assad is fighting for an inclusive Syria where Sunni Muslims, Alawites, Christians, the Druze, and others, have religious freedom and where women have rights that can only be dreamed about in Saudi Arabia. The armed forces of Syria are trying to protect this rich diversity from outside forces which are meddling in the internal affairs of this nation. Also, the government of Syria knows the nightmare of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Pakistan, after Sunni Islamists grew in power. Therefore, the government of Syria is fighting for the richness of the Levant. However, nations like America and Saudi Arabia are supporting networks which desire a Sunni Islamic monoculture and where all religious minorities are crushed – this will be followed by Saudi Arabia spreading its indoctrination and crushing liberal thought patterns within Sunni Islam in Syria.
This civilizational war is being manipulated by many media outlets but images of modern day Syria under Bashar al-Assad highlights the mosaic of this country. In stark contrast the reality of Saudi Arabia is based on the suppression of all non-Muslims, keeping women in the shadows, crushing the Shia, and maintaining that moderate forces within Sunni Islam are kept out in order to enforce a puritanical Sunni Islamic state – which is ruled by un-puritanical elites who have enormous wealth bases.


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The case of a lifetime / For Cary Stayner, there was something about Jeff Rinek that put him at ease - and made him want to talk
Cary Stayner was sentenced Thursday to die for committing three murders near Yosemite National Park in 1999. For FBI agent Jeff Rinek, it was the climax of a case that took a momentous turn on July 24, 1999. On that day, Rinek, who had thought his career was all but over, would find vindication -- and compassion for the man inside the monster.
The call was damned inconvenient.
FBI agent Jeff Rinek was used to getting pulled away from home on Saturdays. But this weekend the boys were away. He and Lori had the house to themselves. For 15 years, she had put up with him working odd hours on cases too horrible to imagine.
Now the bureau wanted him to pick up some guy named Cary Stayner -- a possible material witness to a murder -- at a nudist resort in Wilton. It wasn't Rinek's case. His office just needed a driver.
All he knew was that three days earlier, on July 21, 1999, a young Yosemite nature guide had been killed. Yosemite was a sore spot for Rinek. In February, he was removed as lead agent on an investigation involving three slain Yosemite tourists. It had been a humiliating experience -- one that had deeply shaken Rinek's faith in the bureau.
As Rinek showered, put on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, it didn't seem possible that the earlier case and this recent killing could be related. He kissed Lori goodbye. He was amazed his wife tolerated all the extra hours he put in. Yet she always did.
He had missed countless special occasions -- anniversaries, family parties. When a chase through Sacramento kept him from making his wife's 37th birthday party, Rinek dialed Lori on his cell phone and made the suspect apologize to her for interfering with their plans.
Stunts like that made Rinek popular among the other agents, but not among his bosses. He was a little too coarse for the bureau's buttoned-down supervisors. He used profanity and had once been written up for using sexually explicit language in the office. He was dinged for insubordination, and got into a few too many faces a few too many times.
At 47, he was a little more than two years away from early retirement. He figured the top brass would be happy if he took it. And he wouldn't miss them a bit. It was a shame, though. He liked the work.
Winding down his narrow driveway in his FBI-issued Ford, he wondered whether there was any way he could get this over with quickly and salvage the rest of the day.
Rinek chose the back roads, not the highway, from his house, 40 miles east of Sacramento. Some might call it poetic that the town he lived in was called Rescue. Rinek's specialty was rescuing children.
He kept a heavy foot on the gas pedal during the 50-mile drive to Wilton. When he got to Laguna Del Sol, the resort's manager was waiting for him at the gate. Two other agents and two Sacramento sheriff's deputies also had arrived. Rinek had never been to a nudist camp. He scanned the gathering naked crowd, but was disappointed with what he saw. The women were mostly out of shape.
He and John Boles, a cocky young agent, were directed to the resort's restaurant. Stayner was inside eating breakfast. Rinek, like most people in the area, knew of the Stayner family. Stayner's younger brother, Steven, made national headlines in 1980, after he escaped from his abductor, Kenneth Parnell, a convicted child molester.
Steven was held and sexually abused by Parnell for seven years after his kidnapping in 1972. His story had been chronicled in a book and dramatized in a television miniseries. And after surviving a hellish childhood of abuse, Steven died in a motorcycle crash in 1989.
Rinek wanted to talk to Stayner about his brother. The bureau wanted to talk to him about the Yosemite murder. Rinek thought Stayner might have been a former boyfriend of the victim.
When he and the other investigators walked into the restaurant, Stayner stood and raised his hands above his head. They thought it was a little strange. So Boles handcuffed him as a precaution.
Some of the patrons in the restaurant were nude, but Stayner was wearing shorts, a short-sleeved shirt and baseball cap. At 37, he was a good-looking guy: tall, well-built, rugged.
"You ever see the movie 'Billy Jack'?" Rinek asked him as they walked toward his car. "You look just like him."
Stayner said he'd never seen the 1971 film, and they kept walking.
"No kidding," Rinek said. "I don't know why we're here. They want us to interview you. Would you be willing to be interviewed here or back at the office?"
"Back at the office," Stayner responded.
Rinek opened the car door and Stayner got in. The two men sat there for a while in silence. The crowd of gapers was moving closer, so Rinek figured he had better follow strict procedure just in case Stayner turned out to be more than a witness.
"I'm going to read you your rights now," Rinek told him.
To the agent, it was just routine.
It would turn out that Rinek had spent his whole life preparing for this day, this case, this man.
Rinek turned the key in the ignition and with Stayner's guidance left the nudist camp, found his way to Highway 99 and headed north. Boles followed in another car.
The 40-minute drive to FBI headquarters in Sacramento turned into 90 minutes because of road construction. But the delay was fortuitous. There was something about Rinek that made Stayner relax -- and talk. People were often caught off guard by the agent. He had the body of a wrestler, the bushy mustache of the Marlboro man, but the spirituality of a clergyman. He took confessions, and people seemed to want to give them to him.
So when the agent said, "Tell me about your brother," Stayner suddenly wanted to talk about the ordeal that started 27 years ago.
His little brother, Steven, then 7, had been walking home from Charles Wright Elementary School in Merced just a few weeks before Christmas. Parnell, posing as a church minister, offered to give Stevie a ride home and the second-grader accepted.
But Parnell would never stop at the Stayner home. Instead, he drove all the way to Cathy's Valley, about 40 miles away. There, Parnell, accomplice Ervin Edward Murphy and Stevie holed up in a little red cabin. Parnell renamed Steven "Dennis," and for the next seven years he passed the boy off as his son by day and used him for sex at night.
When Stevie was 14, Parnell kidnapped and brought home 5-year-old Timmy White. Steven wanted to save Timmy, so he summoned up enough courage to escape. The two hitchhiked from Manchester, a tiny coastal town in Mendocino County, into Ukiah, where they walked to the police station.
Cary Stayner was 18 when his brother came home. He was returning from a camping trip at Yosemite when he heard the news of Stevie's escape on the radio. By the time he got to Merced, news crews had taken over the small town.
Rinek asked him how he felt about the investigation into his brother's disappearance. "Did law enforcement treat you and your family OK, and was there anything we could have done better?"
Stayner got emotional and said he thought Parnell got off easy -- he was only sentenced to seven years in prison for the kidnappings. He also voiced anger at the driver who killed his brother during the hit-and-run accident in 1989.
Rinek listened to Stayner as he talked. He watched as his passenger's eyes welled up with tears. He had seen that kind of sadness countless times in the family members of victims. And it still ripped his guts out.
For almost as long as he could remember, Rinek dreamed of being an FBI agent. He remembered when agents showed up at his father's funeral home in Philadelphia one summer. Some mobbed-up guy was getting buried. The agents watched people coming and going and took pictures of license plates on parked cars. Rinek was drawn to the good guys in the bad suits, not the bad guys in the good suits.
After graduating from a small liberal arts school in Reading, Pa., with a degree in history, Rinek was accepted into law school. But he couldn't afford to go. So he took a job working as a clerk for the FBI in Washington, D.C., and attended accounting classes at night. The FBI liked agents to be lawyers or accountants.
When he was 26, the bureau offered him a job as a special agent. By 1980, Rinek was transferred to New York City, where he worked on white-collar crime and foreign counterintelligence.
But the job was turning out to be a disappointment -- a lot of tedious paperwork and not enough time in the field.
One good thing had happened, though. Rinek had met a young, pretty woman. Her name was Lori Firman and she was getting over a divorce. The pair started spending a lot of time together and married in 1984 on the back porch of the vintage farm house they had lovingly restored.
Three years later, their first son was born and they named him Joe. When Lori gave birth to their second boy, Jordan, life should have been wonderful for the couple. But Rinek was suffocating in the FBI's New York office and Joe was very sick.
He was diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome, a complex set of symptoms caused by renal diseases. The doctors prescribed medication that didn't help and the 3-year-old got worse.
About that time, Rinek was informed that he would finally be getting out of New York -- a commitment of five years that had become 11. There was an opening at the FBI's Sacramento office.
So the Rineks packed up a moving truck, loaded the kids, three dogs and six cats in the car and drove west. They got as far as Omaha, Neb., when Joe was rushed to an emergency room. For the next week, they sat by Joe's bedside and prayed he wouldn't die.
He pulled through and the family made it to Sacramento. But Joe's health was still fragile and would be for several years to come. It made Rinek painfully aware that the young were so vulnerable, and their hold on life so tenuous.
Part two: Little boy lost
Chronicle staff writer Stacy Finz covered the slayings of Carole and Juli Sund, Silvina Pelosso and Joie Ruth Armstrong, and stayed on the story when their killer, Cary Stayner, was caught on July 24, 1999. She covered his murder trial this year. FBI agents Jeff Rinek and Nick Rossi were given permission by Michael Mason, the new head of the Sacramento office, to be interviewed. Other investigators, family members of the victims, prosecutors and defense attorneys were also interviewed. In addition, information from court documents, testimony and a transcript of the Stayner confession was used in this report.


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tapestrymusic needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 81 designs submitted by 30 freelance designers.
Established full line music store (guitars, amplifiers, drums, band/string instruments, print music, repairs, music lessons) needs an updated logo. We do not sell CDs or do any recordings. We're about to redesign our website and need something new. The logo will help dictate the web colors/design. Design will also be used for print and possibly embroidered products later, so please keep in mind. Prize increased to $350-we will guarantee a winner!
Tapestry Music
- For background/about us and to view our current logo, visit:tapestrymusic.com
- Our customers are a varied lot: guitar beginners and pros, children learning violin or starting a band instrument, seniors buying sheet music, rockers with tattoos and classical music types can be in our store at the same time. So what represent us can't be slanted to one area (like hard rock versus band instruments) over another.
- Classic and simple look heading to almost a corporate feel. Music stores usually have a cute logo or a garish one that the electric guitar sales guy drew up. We want to look like a serious mainstream business while showing we're about music. Has to appeal to a broad customer base.
- We need this for business cards, store signage and print advertising as well.
- It would be interesting to see if our current logo can be adapted somehow-we've used it for 12 years. Or maybe you have a great new look?
- Our company color has been burgundy/wine so I hope to stay in a similiar warm color scheme with maybe a complimentary color.
- Feel free to incorporate non-music ideas in your approach. There's some wonderful design work going on here in other contests.
- Any questions? Please feel free to contact me.
- Please avoid the usual cutesy music symbol references like treble clefs, etc. unless you have a cool way of incorporating it into the design.
- No bright neon colors like oranges, lime greens, etc. Stay classic.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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For the fourth time, MaverickServers is hosting a Quake 3 level design competition. Mappers from the community are encouraged to participate; veteran mappers and those looking to get into mapping are welcome to join in on the fun. Prizes will be awarded to the best maps. Sapphire, Wacom, Kot-in-Action and Massacre Servers are already sponsoring and there are more to come. The contest will start on June 2nd and run for 10 weeks until August 11th. Judging will occur for 1 week after. Registration deadline is on June 23rd. This group will track the progress of the maps, being created during this event. This reaches from scribbles, to blocking and alpha testing to the final mappack. Other material like for example interviews with the level designers will be released as well.
There are no registered leaders of this group. This can be granted to the right person on request. Also why don't you join the community, we welcome creators and consumers alike and look forward to your comments.


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Floyd Landis
Bicycle Racer
Date Of Birth:
14 October 1975
Place Of Birth:
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Best Known As:
2006 Tour de France winner who lost his title
Floyd Landis won the prestigious Tour de France in 2006 as the leader of the Phonak bicycle team, but his win was marred when he tested positive for synthetic testosterone. The highlight of the Tour was Landis's sensational ride in stage 17, when his solo breakaway over the French mountains beat the field by nearly six minutes. Even more remarkably, Landis rode with a degenerating right hip: he announced during the Tour that he would have hip replacement surgery later in 2006. Landis grew up in a Mennonite family in Pennsylvania and began riding mountain bikes as a teen. He moved to California at age 20, switched to road bikes, and turned pro in 1999. He rode with the U.S. Postal (later Discovery Channel) team from 2002-2004, helping teammate Lance Armstrong win the Tour de France each year, before switching to Phonak in 2005. Landis's winning time in the 2006 Tour was 89 hours, 39 minutes and 30 seconds. However, the week after Landis's big win, the Phonak team announced that he had tested positive for excessive levels of testosterone after his stunning 17th stage. After a second test also showed elevated testosterone levels, he was fired by his team and faced the loss of his 2006 title. Landis denied having taken testosterone and is conducting an ongoing legal fight to have the test results overturned.
Extra Credit:
According to the official site for Tour de France, Landis was 1.78 meters (5′ 10″) tall and weighed 68 kilograms (150 pounds) at the time of the 2006 race… Phonak, his cycling team for the 2006 Tour de France, is a Swiss maker of hearing aids. Phonak stopped sponsoring the team at the end of the 2006 season… Landis first broke his hip during a training ride in 2003. The hip was surgically repaired in an operation in September of 2006.
See also:
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