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The Adrian Robles murder trial is expected to finish testimony by Dec. 14, Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Brian Hill said this week.
Robles is accused of fatally stabbing 44-year-old Mesa resident Robert Burke Simpson on April 15, 2010, at Arroyo Burro Beach.
Attorneys delivered opening statements Nov. 6, and at least a dozen witnesses already have testified in front of the jury, which will be visiting the beach park to get a better idea of the crime scene, Hill said.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Hilary Dozer is prosecuting the case, and Robles is being represented by attorney Steve Balash.
Robles has pleaded not guilty to the charges of murder with special allegations, and street terrorism.
Both Robles and Simpson were at the beach with friends that day, and the stabbing came after a verbal and physical altercation between members of the two groups, according to testimony.
Robles' then-friend Rudy Gallegos — who has a "P" for the Westside Projects gang tattooed on his cheek — has testified about that day at the beach, and the two women with them — Brittany Weiler and Vanessa Ochoa — have both been criminally charged in connection to the case.
Weiler has pleaded no contest to accessory to murder for her role in driving the car away from the beach with all four people inside.
This week, witnesses who were at the beach the day of the slaying testified about their interactions with Robles' group, and about the stabbing.
Chuck Wickersham testified that he had been talking with two young Latino men he identified as "P" and "Mike," who showed him a pointed "thrusting" knife earlier in the day. Wickersham left the beach before his friend, Simpson, arrived, and only learned about the stabbing from his son-in-law later, he said.
Like many witnesses, Wickersham remembered that the two men seen at the beach had tattoos on their heads, one had a face tattoo and the other had a lot of neck tattoos.
Santa Barbara County sheriff's Deputy Desiree Thome testified about her response to the scene and interview of Amy Hoch, a friend of Simpson who said she saw the stabbing and stayed with Simpson as he bled to death.
"She was hysterical," recalled Thome, adding that other deputies had difficulty getting her to talk. "She had copious amounts of blood all over her ... She was literally saturated," she said.
With much effort, Thome said, she was able to get information from Hoch about the day's events.
Hoch had said she saw the suspect walk up to Simpson and strike him. Simpson doubled over, which made Hoch suspect he had been hit in the genitalia, but saw the stab wound as she approached, Thome said.
Hoch knelt next to Simpson and comforted him, as an off-duty nurse tried to render aid. Simpson died later at the scene.
Hoch described the "suspect group" as two "short gangster" men and two females. The two men looked very similar, with one wearing a blue sports jersey and the other with a "P" tattoo on his cheek and "projects" on the back of his head, Thome recalled hearing.
Balash has questioned witness' recollections, especially when some details differ from earlier statements given to authorities.
In his opening statements, he said many witnesses had been drinking and/or smoking marijuana on the day Simpson was stabbed, which could affect their memories of the event.
For example, Wickersham's recorded interview on April 18 talks about buying beer, Balash said, but Wickersham said this week that he didn't buy any alcohol that day.
The trial is scheduled to continue Monday.
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NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale men's hockey team looks to gain momentum from a four-point home weekend as it closes out the regular season with a road trip to New Jersey and Hamden, Conn. The Elis are competing for home ice in the playoffs and leverage heading into the ECAC Hockey Tournament, which begins next weekend. The Bulldogs, coming off wins over Dartmouth and Harvard, travel to Hobey Baker Rink at Princeton (8-13-6, 6-11-3 ECAC) on Friday at 7 before battling New Haven County rival Quinnipiac (16-11-5, 8-8-4) at 7 on Saturday at High Point Solutions Arena. Saturday night's contest airs live on SNY TV.
Yale can finish as high as fourth and as low as ninth. Fourth, which would require some help from other teams, is the last first-round bye position. Teams finishing fifth through eighth host a best-of-three series next weekend. The Bulldogs have earned the bye the last three seasons. They clinch a home series for next week with one win. There will likely be plenty of ties in the standings after Saturday, so here's the tie-breaking procedure to determine seeding.
1. Head to Head
2. Wins
3. Comparison of results against the top four teams
4. Comparison of results against top eight teams
5. Goal differential in head to head competition
6. Goal differential in games against the top four teams
7. Goal differential in games against the top eight teams
The Blue outscored Dartmouth and Harvard by a combined 12-4 while outshooting the Ivy rivals 65-56 during a pair of overflow crowds at the Whale. The Elis scored six times on 18 advantages while killing off 10 of 11 penalties.
Kenny Agostino had two goals and four points, Kevin Limbert hit the net twice and Brian O'Neill added three assists as the Bulldogs outshot the Crimson 37-26 on the way to a 7-1 win at home last Saturday before a packed Whale. There were 23 penalties resulting in 65 minutes of box time in one of the hardest hitting games of the year. The Elis converted three of their 11 advantages, while Harvard went 1-for-4, and Yale's Nick Maricic stopped 25 of 26 shots.
Five Yale players scored as the Bulldogs beat Dartmouth before a sold out Ingalls Rink on Feb. 17. Brian O'Neill had a goal and two assists, Kevin Peel had a goal and an assist and Andrew Miller chipped in a pair of helpers for the Elis, who were outshot 30-28. Nick Maricic made 27 saves and killed off all seven Big Green advantages while the Blue went 3-for-7 on the power play.
The Elis won both meetings last winter and is 1-0-1 against the Tigers this year. The teams skated to a 2-2 tie on opening night this season in a non-league game before the Blue won 6-2 at New Haven last month. Yale now leads the series 129-101-9 heading into the 250th contest. In October's Ivy Shootout at Thompson Arena, the Bulldogs, who outshot the Tigers 30-28, erased a 1-0 deficit and built a 2-1 lead. Five different Yale players notched points while Jeff Malcolm made 26 saves. He needed 23 saves to get the win at home last month and got goals from six different teammates.
Princeton split last weekend's trip through the Capitol District, beating RPI and falling to Union. Sophomore F Andrew Calof, who had the winner at Troy, leads the Tigers with 11 goals and 23 points. Mike Condon made 24 saves to earn the win in goal.
Quinnipiac leads (7-5-1) the series that began with Yale in 2005-06. The Bulldogs swept last year, but the Bobcats won at the Whale last month. Brian O'Neill had the lone Yale goal in a 2-1 loss on Jan. 6. Jeff Malcolm made 23 saves as both teams put 25 shots on target and went 1-for-3 with the advantage.
Quinnipiac, which received eight votes in this week's uscho.com national poll, earned a split in New York by beating RPI and then losing to Union. Eric Hartzell, who had the win over Yale last month, stopped 24 shots to beat the Engineers 3-1. Junior F Jeremy Langlois leads the Cats with 16 goals, but sophomore F Connor Jones has a team-high 31 points
Yale's eight penalties against the Crimson were a season-high, while Harvard's 15 were a high for a Yale opponent this winter (Harvard was called for just one penalty in the January game)… Saturday was the largest margin of victory over Harvard since a 7-1 game in 1998… Kevin Peel now ranks sixth among Yale defensemen in career goals (15) and his is 10th in points (48)… Freshman F Anthony Day notched his first collegiate point with an assist on Friday's first goal and then added his first career goal on Saturday… Yale has yet to notch a shorthanded goal this year... Kevin Limbert's two goals against Harvard on Feb. 18 were a career-high.
More than 50 former Yale hockey players returned last weekend to take part in the annual alumni weekend activities that included the games against Dartmouth and Harvard, meals and receptions in the Schley Room and a reunion game for which 35 former Bulldogs suited up. John Sather '92 took game MVP honors as his white team won 14-10. The oldest player on the ice was James Trowbridge '60, the youngest was Jeff Dwyer '04.
The Elis have played nine one-goal games this season and have just two victories in those contests. Two of the losses were in overtime (both on power-play goals, at Clarkson/vs. SLU) where the Blue is 0-2-2 this year.
Yale has outshot opponents by 126 (34-30 average) this season while having 13 more goals. The Elis had the edge in shots in seven straight games before Dartmouth snapped the streak on Feb. 17. Yale's most shots on goal (53) in a game this year came in a 7-6 loss to Sacred Heart.
Yale is 6-1 when getting two or more power-play goals, so last weekend's six-man advantage tallies were big in the wins. The Yale power play (6th in Division I, 23.8) was ranked among the top three in Division I for most of the first half of the season. The Elis hit the net with the advantage in each of the first eight games, got stopped against Boston College and then reeled off another eight-game streak. However, the Blue had just four PPGs over eight outings heading into last week.
Yale ranks seventh in scoring offense (3.4) and 38th in defense (2.8) in Division I. The Bulldog penalty-kill is fourth (87.0), while the Elis are 34th in penalty minutes (13.0). The Yale power-play unit is sixth (23.8).
Junior F Andrew Miller (96 gp, 23-86-109) ranks sixth in Division I with .92 assists per game and is 25th in points (1.15). He is one of college hockey's premier offensive catalysts. Miller, not known for his goal scoring, leads the team with 24 helpers and is fifth on the school's career list. He is best at creating space, setting up teammates and winning draws. Miller, a 2010-11 first-team All-ECAC pick, was voted "best passer" by his teammates the last two seasons while he had 12-33-45 in 2010-11. He was No. 4 in the nation with .97 assists per game (tops in ECAC). More impressive is that 22 of his 33 assists were primary ones. His team-high 33 helpers (2nd best at Yale and five behind Mark Kaufmann '93) were a sophomore school record while 45 points were second on the team. He probably had his best offensive weekend as a collegian on Feb. 25-26 when he hit the net three times against Colgate/Cornell combined. Miller (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), was 12th in the nation with 1.29 points per contest and registered the most (34 as a freshman) points by a Yale rookie since Tom Walsh set the bar with 41 in 1984-85. The speedy forward was the 2008-09 USA Junior Player of the Year and 2007 Michigan High School Mr. Hockey. In 2009-10 he was second among conference rookies with one point per game, which also put him fourth in the country for newcomers. He ranked eighth in Division I that year with .85 assists per outing.
Yale's captain, Brian O'Neill (129 gp, 66-87-153) has five goals over his last five games (10 points). He was named ECAC Hockey Player of the Month for January after netting eight goals and 14 points in nine games. O'Neill, who leads the squad with 18 goals and 36 points, continues to climb over some old Bulldogs and former NHL players on the school's career stats list. Yale's Hobey Baker Candidate is now fifth in points, fourth in assists and seventh in goals on the school's career list. O'Neill ranks sixth in the nation and second in the ECAC (.67) in goals per game, he is 11th (1.33) in points in the nation this year. He was a 2010-11 first-team All-ECAC selection and has led the team in scoring the last two seasons. O'Neill had a career-high four goals (most by a Bulldog since 2003) this year against Bentley. His four tallies against the Falcons on Jan. 1, 2012, were on consecutive scores. That eclipsed his hat trick at Clarkson on Feb. 12, 2011. He ranked 15th nationally with 1.29 points per game last year. He began 2010-11 with a 3-2-5 weekend in the two wins including 2-1-3 and the GWG against Dartmouth on Oct. 30. The year before, he led the Elis with 29 assists and 45 points while ranking seventh in the country with 1.32 PPG. O'Neill (Yardley, Pa.) made the 2008-09 CHN and ECAC Hockey All-Rookie teams after going 12-14-26.
Yale sophomore forward Kenny Agostino (Flanders, NJ) was the hottest Bulldog last weekend with three goals and five points. His three tallies were all pretty plays with shots that found small openings. Agostino, who came within a step of making the U.S. National Junior Team this winter, has a rare accomplishment this season: He scored goals in conseutive games with under 35 seconds left in regulation, one for a win and another to send it to overtime. Agostino beat Dartmouth at Hanover with 34.8 ticks remaining, followed by a GTG against SLU with 34.2 left at home. He is the top scoring Eli sophomore with 13-15-28 after going 3-3-6 over the last two weekends. His best game this year was 2-2-4 vs. UConn and at home against Harvard. Agostino became the first Yale newcomer in 30 years to record five points in one game on Jan. 2, 2011. He notched three goals and two assists against Holy Cross and became the school's first freshman to tally five points since former Olympian and NHL star Bob Brooke '83 established the school rookie record against Dartmouth in 1980. Yale's rookie of the year last winter after scoring 11 goals and 25 points, Agostino was the HCA National Rookie of the Month for January (8-4-12), the first Bulldog to receive that award. He was ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week on Jan. 23 (3 goals vs. Clarkson/SLU), becoming the only Bulldog to earn conference rookie honors in 2010-11. The former Delbarton School star had a goal and three assists before the holiday break, and 10 goals and 11 assists after. He ranked 11th nationally among rookies with .86 points per game.
Junior Nick Maricic (Alta Loma, Calif.) earned his second and third wins of the year by stopping 52 of 56 shots and holding opponents scoreless on 10 of 11 advantages. Maricic, who has wins over Dartmouth (twice) and Harvard, had a career-high 33 saves against Union on Jan. 20 (same total vs. Princeton in 2009).
Junior Jeff Malcolm, who has started all but three games this season in the Yale net, had a shutout streak of three (Colgate, RPI, Union) games and 226:39 minutes (parts of 5 games) in November and was named ECAC Hockey Goalie of the Week after stopping all 72 shots in wins at No. 8 Union and RPI on Nov. 11-12. The three straight SHOs tied the school record set by Ryan Rondeau '11 last winter. His scoreless streak fell short of the 240:53 by Rondeau. His career record is 15-13-2 with a 2.81 GAA and three shutouts.
Freshman Connor Wilson (Cary, NC) made his collegiate regular reason debut by playing the last 34 minutes of the Feb. 11 Cornell game. Wilson made seven saves and allowed one goal at Ithaca. He stopped 11 of 12 shots in one period of work against the exhibition against the Russian Red Stars on Dec. 28.
There are seven defensemen on the Yale roster: two seniors, a junior, a sophomore and three freshmen. Newcomer Tommy Fallen (Plymouth, Minn.) leads the Yale blueliners with 4-14-18, while his .67 points per game rank 26th among Division I defensemen (he is 29th among rookies). Senior Kevin Peel (Onoway, Alb.) returned from injury to notch three points last weekend and has 4-7-11, while classmate Nick Jaskowiak (Bloomington, Minn.) is third with 2-8-10. Junior Colin Dueck (Calgary, Alb.) and sophomore Gus Young (Dedham, Mass.) are the other regulars, while rookies Matt Killian (Basking Ridge, NJ) and Bennett Carroccio (Armonk, NY) have also made contributions.
Yale could play in the first round of the ECAC Hockey Tournament or earn a bye and play the following weekend in a best-of-three series.
The current Yale roster is comprised of leaders and scholars. Here are some examples.
22 were captains of hockey teams before coming to New Haven
13 captained another sports team
17 won a scholar-athlete award
14 graduated in top 10 percent of their senior class
The Yale players were surveyed about each other, and here are the results:
Best Passer: Andrew Miller (Jr, F)
Fastest on Skates: Brian O'Neill (Sr, F)
Hardest Shot: Antoine Laganiere (Jr, F)
Best Forechecker: Chad Ziegler (Sr, F)
Strongest: Josh Balch (Jr, F)
Most Likely to become a coach: Josh Balch
Best Singer: Colin Dueck (Jr, D)
Most Unique Hobby: Brian O'Neill (model airplanes)
Best Sense of Humor: Charles Brockett (Sr, F)
Biggest Appetite: Charles Brockett
Best Dresser: Andrew Miller
Want your sister to date: Anthony Day (Fr, F)
The Yale roster includes players from 13 different states and three provinces. New York and Minnesota are represented by three players from each state while Alberta brings in four players.
The United States Hockey League contributed 10 players to the Bulldog roster. There are four from the British Columbia Hockey League, one from the Atlantic Junior Hockey League and another from the Eastern Junior Hockey League. Ten Yale student-athletes came directly from prep schools.
Of the 18 Yale players who have decided on majors, 12 of them will earn degrees in political science. There are a pair of economics majors. Four Elis don't have any teammates sharing majors: Clinton Bourbonais (biomechanical engineering), Kevin Limbert (mechanical engineering), Nick Maricic (philosophy) and Colin Dueck (psychology).
Yale and Fairfield hosted the 2009 and 2011 NCAA East Regional Tournaments in Bridgeport at Webster Bank's Arena at Harbor Yard, and the Bulldogs participated in both. The 2012 East Regional is slated for the Yard, which has hosted numerous NCAA events.
Yale hockey celebrated the re-dedication of Ingalls Rink (3,500 capacity) on Jan. 16, 2010. The rink built in 1958 has been modernized while adding 13,000 square feet of operational space. The additions include locker rooms and space for strength & conditioning (including skating treadmill), student-athlete study area, medical & training, officials, video, coaches, equipment, reception and more. There are new historical displays, concession stands and bathrooms for the building nicknamed the "Whale" because of its humpback-shaped roof.
The Whale (Ingalls Rink) has been a tough place for visitors in recent years. Yale, which enjoyed its first undefeated (15-0-1, only Division I team to do that) regular season at Ingalls last winter, finished 17-1-1 at home (8-6 this year). That was the most wins ever in New Haven for a Yale team (The Blue went unbeaten at New Haven in 1928-29). The Bulldogs are 48-15-3 over the last three-plus seasons at the Whale and 12-10-3 in home ECAC playoff games all time.
There are 23 former Yale hockey players skating professionally, including eight from the class of 2011. Broc Little has 23-24-47 in 39 games in Sweden. Chris Higgins has 11-18-29 in 48 gp for Vancouver, while Brad Mills has played 27 games for the NJ Devils. Here are the Bulldog pros, youngest to oldest:
Chris Cahill '11 (Cincinnati Cyclones, ECHL)
Denny Kearney '11 (Trenton Titans, ECHL)
Broc Little '11 (HockeyAllsvenskan, VIK Västerås HK, Sweden)
Jimmy Martin '11 (Florida Everblades, ECHL)
Brendon Mason '11 (Nybro Vikings, Sweden)
Mike Matczak '11 (Kalamazoo Wings, ECHL)
Ryan Rondeau '11 (Laredo Buck, CHL)
Ken Trentowski '11 (Brooklyn Aviators, FHL)
Sean Backman '10 (Bridgeport Sound Tigers, AHL)
Ryan Donald '10 (Florida Everblades, ECHL)
Mark Arcobello '10 (Oklahoma City Barons, AHL)
Billy Blase '10 (Neuilly-sur-Marne, France)
Tom Dignard (Belfast Giants, EIHL)
Alec Richards '09 (Rockford Icehogs, AHL)
Brennan Turner '09 (Dundee Stars, EIHL)
David Meckler '09 (Manchester Monarchs, AHL)
Blair Yaworski '08 (Utah Grizzlies, ECHL)
Jean-Francois Boucher (Saint-George COOL-FM, LNAH)
Matt Cohen '07 (Fife Flyers, EIHL)
Brad Mills '07 (New Jersey Devils, NHL)
Chris Higgins '05 (Vancouver Canucks, NHL)
Joe Callahan '05 (Hamilton Bulldogs, AHL)
Ray Giroux '98 (ChelyabinskTraktor, KL)
Three players on the current Yale roster have been drafted by NHL teams: Gus Young (Colorado, 7th, 184, 2009); Kenny Agostino (Pittsburgh, 5th, 140, 2010); Brad Peltz (Ottawa, 7th, 190, 2009).
Pay-per-view broadcasts of Yale hockey regular season home games are available on yalebulldogs.com. The Yale Athletic Department production is almost entirely student run: Sam Dorward '13 is the producer; Tom Stokes '12 and Patrick Ouziel '13 are the cameramen; Evan Ellis '12, the Voice of Yale Hockey, and Max Valenstein '13 are the broadcasters.
Here are some important things to know if you are covering the Bulldogs or just working a game at Ingalls. Interviews: Yale head coach Keith Allain and select players are available on a semi-regular basis each week at Ingalls Rink, typically Thursdays at 2:30 p.m. If you would like to attend these informal media sessions, please contact Sports Publicity Director Steve Conn. Post-game:interviews with Yale personnel are conducted in one of the youth locker rooms at ice level on the home side of the building. Let Steve Conn know who you would like to speak with immediately after the game. Media Gate List: Attendants stationed at the front and back of the rink have a media gate list to check off your name. Parking: The same list is used for PARKING in the garage (entrance off Prospect Street) behind the rink.
filed by Steve Conn, Yale Sports Publicity Director
image of Kevin Limbert by Chad Lyons

subset: commoncrawl


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Caught On Tape: Woman Goes On A Wild High-Speed Chase In California! (Doin Donuts & Flickin Off Cops)
LOS ANGELES - A driver tried to ram a Long Beach car, prompting an hour-long, high-speed chase Friday in which the woman drove the car in circles, went the wrong way on a tollway and even got out of the car to gesture at officers, authorities said. The woman was arrested after about a 40-mile pursuit and could face charges of reckless driving, California Highway Patrol Officer Gabe Montoya said. Her name was not immediately known.
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Production of the Mustang started in Dearborn, Michigan on March 9, 1964 and the automobile was presented to the public on April 17, 1964 at the New york city World's Fair. It is Ford's third earliest nameplate currently in production. Original sales forecasts predicted less than 100,000 systems for the very first year. This mark was exceeded in 3 months from rollout. Another 318,000 would be sold during the model year (a record), and in its first eighteen months, more than one million Mustangs were constructed. Looking for Mustangs for sale in Lake City FL is easy now. Just use the internet to search for them near you.
Classic Mustangs For Sale
All these were VIN-identified as 1965 designs, however a number of modifications were made at the traditional opening of the brand-new design year (beginning August 1964), consisting of the addition of back-up lights on some models, the introduction of generators to change generators, and an upgrade of the V8 engine from 260 cu in to 289 cu in. When it comes to a minimum of some six-cylinder Mustangs fitted with the 101 hp 170 cu in Falcon engine, the rush into production consisted of some unusual quirks, such as a horn ring bearing the 'Ford Falcon' logo underneath a trim ring emblazoned with 'Ford Mustang.' These attributes made sufficient distinction to call for classification of the 121,538 earlier ones as "1964 1/2" model-year Mustangs, a distinction that has actually withstood with perfectionists. Buy Classic Mustangs in Lake City FL and live the muscle car dream.
The 1973 OPEC oil embargo brought with it more stringent pollution laws and the desire for fuel-efficiency. This was also the very first time in automotive history that the Big 3 were needing to take on imports. The brand-new Mustang II was smaller sized than the first variation but, due to the added equipment required to satisfy new United States emission and security policies, was heavier than the very first model. Performance was lowered and in the very first year just 385,993 cars were offered. Second generation Mustangs were available in between 1974 and 1978 and available in a coupe and hatchback version. 1979 the Mustang was redesigned a 3rd time. This time it was based on the bigger Fox platform and the interior was truly huge enough for 4 people. The trunk was bigger and so was the engine bay. The body designs offered included a coupe, hatchback and in 1983 a convertible. In 1979 the 3rd generation Mustang functioned as an Indianapolis 500 pace vehicle and Ford developed 10,478 celebratory replicas. The 3rd generation Mustangs were produced from 1979 to 1982. Now has never been a better time to buy the Ford Mustang Of Your Dreams in Lake City FL with special collector financing available.
4th generation design was available from 1994 to 2004. 1994 Brought about the first major redesign for the Mustang in 15 years. Patrick Schiavone included numerous styling from earlier Mustangs. The base design had a 3.8 OHV V6 engine from 1994 to 1998, and was mated to a conventional 5-speed manual transmission or optional 4-speed automatic.


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ATHENS, Ga. (Feb. 26, 2010) - After sluggish performance at No.16 Wake Forest last Saturday the ETSU men's tennis team looks to bounce back this weekend, as head coach Yaser Zaatini's club returns to action at No. 9 Georgia. The Bucs and Bulldogs will swing into action at 2 p.m., Saturday inside the Dan Magill Tennis Center in Athens, Ga.
After winning back-to-back contests to open the month, 62nd-ranked ETSU (2-5) has dropped its last three matches - all against ranked opponents.
Individually, the Bucs will look for strong play out of its No. 2 doubles team of freshman Jesus Bandres (Caracas, Venezuela) and sophomore Sander Gille (Kuringen, Belgium), in addition to the singles play of sophomore Robin Akser (Ornskoldsvik, Sweden).
Bandres and Gille, who is ranked 52nd nationally, enter the match with a 4-3 record, while Akser is tied with junior teammate Grega Teraz (Mojstrana, Sloviena) for a team-best four wins in singles play.
Georgia (5-2) opens its first outdoor match after the Bulldogs fell to No. 2 Virginia and No. 10 Florida two weekends ago.
The host Bulldogs - who will also be the 2010 host of the NCAA National Championships later this spring - should provided a tough challenge for ETSU at home. Georgia's last lost at the Dan Magill Tennis Center came 66 matches ago in 2005.
This season, Georgia is a perfect 4-0 in Athens with victories over Atlantic Sun Conference rival USC Upstate, No. 44 Northwestern, No. 22 North Carolina and No. 30 Georgia Tech.
Individually, UGA is led by 12th-ranked Javier Garrapiz and 104th-ranked Nate Schnugg. Garrapiz is 3-3 this spring, while Schnugg is 2-4.
Saturday's match will be the third straight season ETSU has competed against Georgia. A year ago, ETSU near upset the third-ranked Bulldogs. The Bucs - who were ranked 37th at the time - grabbed an early 2-0 lead before UGA rallied for the eventual 5-2 win.
Attached above is a link to live scoring courtesy of the University Georgia Athletic Department.
For more information on the ETSU men's tennis team please visit www.ETSUBucs.com.


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Make America Great Again
Join Date: Oct 2006
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The "we need the 2nd amendment to fight tyranny" argument is amusing.
This thread is reserved specifically for the pro-gun argument, claiming that most (if not all) forms of gun control are unconstitutional because the 2nd amendment is intended to protect us from governmental tyranny. I believe it is a hollow argument made by hypocritical people.
This argument almost altogether surfaces from the conservative movement and DC conservatives. The argument goes as follows: if we enact a bunch of gun control measures, the government will have a much easier pathway towards installing tyrannical rule by force.
And yet this same conservative movement has been on the front lines arguing for limits to amendments much more crucial to protecting us from tyranny. Friedersdorf, proving once again that he's one of the best commentators on the internet, cites specifically the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th amendments, all of which have been weakened through various legislation in the 21st century, with conservatives cheering every time.
I think there are various arguments to be made for gun proliferation, and protection from tyranny may be one of them. But coming from a bloc of folks who've supported suspending habeus corpus, attacking privacy, and embracing enhanced interrogation... it's sure as shit a hollow one to make.
The Strangest Conservative Priority: Prepping a '2nd Amendment Solution'
The Bill of Rights offers much smarter, more effective ways to safeguard liberty than preparing for armed insurrection.
By Conor Friedersdorf
Jan 2 2013, 6:00 AM ET509
In the National Review, Kevin Williamson argues that nearly everyone calling for gun control either doesn't understand or refuses to address the actual purpose of the 2nd Amendment. They talk, he says, as if there's no legitimate reason for an American to have military grade weapons, as if the 2nd Amendment protects mere hunting and home security. "The purpose of having citizens armed with paramilitary weapons is to allow them to engage in paramilitary actions," Williamson writes. "There is no legitimate exception to the Second Amendment for military-style weapons, because military-style weapons are precisely what the Second Amendment guarantees our right to keep and bear. The purpose of the Second Amendment is to secure our ability to oppose enemies foreign and domestic, a guarantee against disorder and tyranny."
Walter E. Williams makes a similar argument in a Townhall column. "There have been people who've ridiculed the protections afforded by the Second Amendment, asking what chance would citizens have against the military might of the U.S. government," he writes. "Military might isn't always the deciding factor. Our 1776 War of Independence was against the mightiest nation on the face of the earth -- Great Britain. In Syria, the rebels are making life uncomfortable for the much-better-equipped Syrian regime. Today's Americans are vastly better-armed than our founders, Warsaw Ghetto Jews and Syrian rebels. There are about 300 million privately held firearms owned by Americans. That's nothing to sneeze at. And notice that the people who support gun control are the very people who want to control and dictate our lives."
What do I think about this relatively common argument within the conservative movement? For now, I'll refrain from answering. If you're looking for considered objections, read Matt Steinglass in The Economist. In this item, we're going to proceed as if the arguments above are correct -- that there is a real danger of the U.S. government growing tyrannical; that the people must preserve checks on its power; and that the Framers best understood how to do so.
I respect that general reasoning.
What I can't respect are the conservatives who invoke it during political battles over gun control, even as they ignore or actively oppose so many other important attempts to safeguard liberty.
Their inconsistency is incoherent.
Let me explain at greater length what I mean.
Even if we presume that the 2nd Amendment exists partly so that citizens can rise up if the government gets tyrannical, it is undeniable that the Framers built other safeguards into the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to prevent things from ever getting so bad as to warrant an insurrection. Federalism was one such safeguard; the separation of powers into three branches was another; and the balance of the Bill of Rights was the last of the major safeguards.
If a "2nd Amendment solution" is ever warranted, it'll mean our system already failed in numerous ways; that "solution" is also easily the most costly and dangerous of the safeguards we have.
It would probably mean another Civil War.
Yet the conservative movement is only reliable when it defends the 2nd Amendment. Otherwise, it is an inconsistent advocate for safeguarding liberty. Conservatives pay occasional lip service to federalism, but are generally hypocrites on the subject, voting for bills like No Child Left Behind, supporting a federally administered War on Drugs, and advocating for federal legislation on marriage. (Texas governor Rick Perry is the quintessential hypocrite on this subject).
And on the Bill of Rights, the conservative movement is far worse. Throughout the War on Terrorism, organizations like the ACLU and the Center of Constitutional Rights have reliably objected to Bush/Cheney/Obama policies, including warrantless spying on innocent Americans, indefinite detention without charges or trial, and the extrajudicial assassination of Americans. The Nation and Mother Jones reliably admit that the executive power claims made by Bush/Yoo/Obama/Koh exceed Madisonian limits and prudence informed by common sense.
Meanwhile, on the right, The Heritage Foundation, National Review, The Weekly Standard, and sundry others are more often than not active cheerleaders for those very same War on Terror policies. Due process? Warrants? Congressional oversight? You must have a pre-9/11 mindset.
It's one thing to argue that gun control legislation is a nonstarter, despite tens of thousands of deaths by gunshot per year, because the safeguards articulated in the Bill of Rights are sacrosanct. I can respect that... but not from people who simultaneously insist that 3,000 dead in a terrorist attack justifies departing from the plain text of the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Eighth amendments, and giving the president de-facto power to declare war without Congressional approval.
The conservative movement has a broad, textualist reading of the 2nd Amendment... and nothing else.
I don't understand a subset of the rank-and-file either.
If you're a gun owner who worries that gun control today could make tyranny easier to impose tomorrow, I get that, and if you worry about federal excesses generally, I have no argument with you.
I think law-abiding Americans should always be allowed to own guns.
But if you're a conservative gun owner who worries that gun control today could make tyranny easier to impose tomorrow, and you support warrantless spying, indefinite detention, and secret drone strikes on Americans accused of terrorism, what explains your seeming schizophrenia?
Think of it this way.
If you were a malign leader intent on imposing tyranny, what would you find more useful, banning high-capacity magazines... or a vast archive of the bank records, phone calls, texts and emails of millions of citizens that you could access in secret? Would you, as a malign leader, feel more empowered by a background check requirement on gun purchases... or the ability to legally kill anyone in secret on your say so alone? The powers the Republican Party has given to the presidency since 9/11 would obviously enable far more grave abuses in the hands of a would be tyrant than any gun control legislation with even a miniscule chance of passing Congress. So why are so many liberty-invoking 2nd Amendment absolutists reliable Republican voters, as if the GOP's stance on that issue somehow makes up for its shortcomings? And why do they so seldom speak up about threats to the Bill of Rights that don't involve guns?
In the National Review piece I quoted at the beginning of this article, Kevin Williamson approvingly quotes "the words of Supreme Court justice Joseph Story -- who was, it bears noting, appointed to the Court by the guy who wrote the Constitution." Here's the quoted passage:
It's time to admit as much.
I believe in an individual right to bear arms, and I have no problem with Americans who advocate on behalf of that right. If the feds start rounding up innocents to slaughter I have no problem with an armed citizenry fighting back. But folks who want to guard against a tyrannical government are foolish to focus on the 2nd Amendment while abandoning numerous other rights for fear of terrorism. The right to bear arms is the costliest liberty we have, in terms of innocent lives lost as an unintended byproduct; it is very unlikely to be exercised against the U.S. government in the foreseeable future; and its benefits are less important to securing liberty than habeus corpus and due process, as the experience of other free peoples demonstrates. I understand why people advocate on behalf of the right to bear arms, despite the costs; I don't understand why so many behave as if it is the most important safeguard against tyranny to maintain.
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I don't think it is a huge leap in judgement to say that the founding fathers thought that through.
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As awesome as that Tripod website is.
Are you currently part of a well regulated militia?
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At level two equipment number 15 it says you need a Michigan road map.
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Not a bad way to make a buck.
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Be a good Missourian & join yours
Looks like the Missourians are pretty into it.
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"I am a witness to history.
"I cannot tell you that Hitler took Austria by tanks and guns; it would distort history.
If you remember the plot of the Sound of Music, the Von Trapp family escaped over the Alps rather than submit to the Nazis. Kitty wasn't so lucky. Her family chose to stay in her native Austria. She was 10 years old, but bright and aware. And she was watching.
"We elected him by a landslide – 98 percent of the vote," she recalls.
She wasn't old enough to vote in 1938 – approaching her 11th birthday. But she remembers.
"Everyone thinks that Hitler just rolled in with his tanks and took Austria by force."
No so.
Hitler is welcomed to Austria
"In 1938, Austria was in deep Depression. Nearly one-third of our workforce was unemployed. We had 25 percent inflation and 25 percent bank loan interest rates.
Farmers and business people were declaring bankruptcy daily. Young people were going from house to house begging for food. Not that they didn't want to work; there simply weren't any jobs.
"My mother was a Christian woman and believed in helping people in need. Every day we cooked a big kettle of soup and baked bread to feed those poor, hungry people – about 30 daily.'
"We looked to our neighbor on the north, Germany, where Hitler had been in power since 1933." she recalls. "We had been told that they didn't have unemployment or crime, and they had a high standard of living.
"Nothing was ever said about persecution of any group – Jewish or otherwise. We were led to believe that everyone in Germany was happy. We wanted the same way of life in Austria. We were promised that a vote for Hitler would mean the end of unemployment and help for the family. Hitler also said that businesses would be assisted, and farmers would get their farms back.
"Ninety-eight percent of the population voted to annex Austria to Germany and have Hitler for our ruler.
"We were overjoyed," remembers Kitty, "and for three days we danced in the streets and had candlelight parades. The new government opened up big field kitchens and
everyone was fed.
"After the election, German officials were appointed, and, like a miracle, we suddenly had law and order. Three or four weeks later, everyone was employed. The government made sure that a lot of work was created through the Public Work Service.
"Hitler decided we should have equal rights for women. Before this, it was a custom that married Austrian women did not work outside the home. An able-bodied husband would be looked down on if he couldn't support his family. Many women in the teaching profession were elated that they could retain the jobs they previously had been re- quired to give up for marriage.
"Then we lost religious education for kids
"Our education was nationalized. I attended a very good public school.. The population was predominantly Catholic, so we had religion in our schools. The day we elected Hitler (March 13, 1938), I walked into my schoolroom to find the crucifix replaced by Hitler's picture hanging next to a Nazi flag. Our teacher, a very devout woman, stood up and told the class we wouldn't pray or have religion anymore. Instead, we sang 'Deutschland, Deutschland, Uber Alles,' and had physical education.
"Sunday became National Youth Day with compulsory attendance. Parents were not pleased about the sudden change in curriculum. They were told that if they did not send us, they would receive a stiff letter of warning the first time. The second time they would be fined the equivalent of $300, and the third time they would be subject to jail."
And then things got worse.
"The first two hours consisted of political indoctrination. The rest of the day we had sports. As time went along, we loved it. Oh, we had so much fun and got our sports equipment free.
"We would go home and gleefully tell our parents about the wonderful time we had.
"My mother was very unhappy," remembers Kitty. "When the next term started, she took me out of public school and put me in a convent. I told her she couldn't do that and she told me that someday when I grew up, I would be grateful. There was a very good curriculum, but hardly any fun – no sports, and no political indoctrination.
"I hated it at first but felt I could tolerate it. Every once in a while, on holidays, I went home. I would go back to my old friends and ask what was going on and what they were doing.
"Their loose lifestyle was very alarming to me. They lived without religion. By that time, unwed mothers were glorified for having a baby for Hitler.
"It seemed strange to me that our society changed so suddenly. As time went along, I realized what a great deed my mother did so that I wasn't exposed to that kind of humanistic philosophy.
"In 1939, the war started, and a food bank was established. All food was rationed and could only be purchased using food stamps. At the same time, a full-employment law was passed which meant if you didn't work, you didn't get a ration card, and, if you didn't have a card, you starved to death.
"Women who stayed home to raise their families didn't have any marketable skills and often had to take jobs more suited for men.
"Soon after this, the draft was implemented.
"It was compulsory for young people, male and female, to give one year to the labor corps," remembers Kitty. "During the day, the girls worked on the farms, and at night they returned to their barracks for military training just like the boys.
"They were trained to be anti-aircraft gunners and participated in the signal corps. After the labor corps, they were not discharged but were used in the front lines.
"When I go back to Austria to visit my family and friends, most of these women are emotional cripples because they just were not equipped to handle the horrors of combat.
"Three months before I turned 18, I was severely injured in an air raid attack. I nearly had a leg amputated, so I was spared having to go into the labor corps and into military service.
"When the mothers had to go out into the work force, the government immediately established child care centers.
"You could take your children ages four weeks old to school age and leave them there around-the-clock, seven days a week, under the total care of the government.
"The state raised a whole generation of children. There were no motherly women to take care of the children, just people highly trained in child psychology. By this time, no one talked about equal rights. We knew we had been had.
"Before Hitler, we had very good medical care. Many American doctors trained at the University of Vienna..
"After Hitler, health care was socialized, free for everyone. Doctors were salaried by the government. The problem was, since it was free, the people were going to the doctors for everything.
"When the good doctor arrived at his office at 8 a.m., 40 people were already waiting and, at the same time, the hospitals were full.
"If you needed elective surgery, you had to wait a year or two for your turn. There was no money for research as it was poured into socialized medicine. Research at the medical schools literally stopped, so the best doctors left Austria and emigrated to other countries.
"As for healthcare, our tax rates went up to 80 percent of our income. Newlyweds immediately received a $1,000 loan from the government to establish a household. We had big programs for families.
"All day care and education were free. High schools were taken over by the government and college tuition was subsidized. Everyone was entitled to free handouts, such as food stamps, clothing, and housing.
"We had another agency designed to monitor business. My brother-in-law owned a restaurant that had square tables.
"Government officials told him he had to replace them with round tables because people might bump themselves on the corners. Then they said he had to have additional bathroom facilities. It was just a small dairy business with a snack bar. He couldn't meet all the demands.
"Soon, he went out of business. If the government owned the large businesses and not many small ones existed, it could be in control.
"We had consumer protection, too
"We were told how to shop and what to buy. Free enterprise was essentially abolished. We had a planning agency specially designed for farmers. The agents would go to the farms, count the livestock, and then tell the farmers what to produce, and how to produce it.
"In 1944, I was a student teacher in a small village in the Alps. The villagers were surrounded by mountain passes which, in the winter, were closed off with snow, causing people to be isolated.
"So people intermarried and offspring were sometimes retarded. When I arrived, I was told there were 15 mentally retarded adults, but they were all useful and did good manual work.
"I knew one, named Vincent, very well. He was a janitor of the school. One day I looked out the window and saw Vincent and others getting into a van.
"I asked my superior where they were going. She said to an institution where the State Health Department would teach them a trade, and to read and write. The families were required to sign papers with a little clause that they could not visit for 6 months.
"They were told visits would interfere with the program and might cause homesickness.
"As time passed, letters started to dribble back saying these people died a natural, merciful death. The villagers were not fooled. We suspected what was happening. Those people left in excellent physical health and all died within 6 months. We called this euthanasia.
"Next came gun registration. People were getting injured by guns. Hitler said that the real way to catch criminals (we still had a few) was by matching serial numbers on guns. Most citizens were law-abiding and dutifully marched to the police station to register their firearms. Not long afterwards, the police said that it was best for everyone to turn in their guns. The authorities already knew who had them, so it was futile not to comply voluntarily.
"No more freedom of speech. Anyone who said something against the government was taken away. We knew many people who were arrested, not only Jews, but also priests and ministers who spoke up.
"Totalitarianism didn't come quickly, it took 5 years from 1938 until 1943, to realize full dictatorship in Austria. Had it happened overnight, my countrymen would have fought to the last breath. Instead, we had creeping gradualism. Now, our only weapons were broom handles. The whole idea sounds almost unbelievable that the state, little by little eroded our freedom."
"This is my eyewitness account.
"It's true. Those of us who sailed past the Statue of Liberty came to a country of unbelievable freedom and opportunity.
"America is truly is the greatest country in the world. "Don't let freedom slip away.
"After America, there is no place to go."
Kitty Werthmann
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"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father ... And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
"If the people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny." - Thomas Jefferson
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Holy ****ing shit.
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To understand the Constitution, one uses the vernacular of the time to understand the meaning of words, which shows the meaning and intent of the Framers. In this case, "militia" meant the people—the whole of the people.
The framers were not enamored with the idea of a large standing army. Whenever govts tried to infringe the rights of the people or take their liberties, they would attempt to destroy the militia. It was the militia that wrested power from govt, just as we did under King George III. Our govt, today, is doing much worse things than King George III did back then.
If they infringe on our guns, as totalitarian Feinstein is doing, the govt has to give up their guns too.
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I've been running from schools to soccer to coaching to errands to to PTA meetings to hockey on The Soccer Mom Steeplechase, enjoying the weather, albeit a little busily. And while getting all that crud done, I've been thinking an awful lot about the enigmatic inner workings of the Seattle Public Schools. Particularly the central offices. If you're not from Seattle, you may want to stop here (seriously), although sometimes bureaucratic maneuvering can be entertaining. And our Superintendent can stay on message like nobody's business. Girlfriend is apparently deeply committed to ensuring consistent accountability through benchmarking and performance metrics while reaching out to the community for feedback to better improve the system.
Yep, she really does type and talk like that. Or someone types like that for her (hey, 6 PR people have come into the central offices since her arrival), and she reads it aloud. Which-ev-uh.
Either way, it's like a nightmarish bureaucratic Peanuts grown-up who won't answer your questions. Wha-wha-wha consistency wha-wha-wha accountability wha-wha-wha... you get the idea. I read over the Superintendent's proposed budget for 2009-2010 early this summer (fun!), and I was struck by the claim that Central Administration had been reduced from 124.7 the previous year to 112.9 (page 15. This has already been discussed on the Save Seattle Schools blog).
Except it was categorized as "core administration." And the bulk of reductions done in the central office were done by doing things like firing the copy machine maintenance folks and the guy who fixes the blinds (to be totally fair, those folks are listed as central office staff reductions, rather than core administration reductions, which is misleading, but not completely grody). I thought it was... odd.
So I poked around on the OSPI site a little (that's The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction for the state of WA), because the public records request I made about the central offices will take over a month to get any kind of answer on. That's neither here nor there, just... what it is (and whether or not you think there are too many people in the downtown offices, they do have actual jobs to complete that have nothing to do with answering questions from the public). And on the OSPI website, strangely, Central Administration Full Time Employees come in at 390 full time employees for 2008-2009.
Weird, right? I mean, really weird. How is it, exactly, that the Superintendent, in her proposed budget, can say that "Core Administration" was 124.7, and yet the Central Administration category on OSPI fills out at 390? That's not including the teaching or principal corps, because I read the documents through to make sure I wasn't getting all budget-bleary (I find budgets a bit dull).
I THINK it's possible that by calling it "Core Administration" instead of "Central," there isn't really any kind of official category. It's like me re-categorizing "yard work" as "outdoor maintenance" so that I can count working on my tan and giving myself an al fresco pedicure in the category. Because those are maintenance, right? And outdoors! And then I could tell Stumpy I put in a ton of hours on outdoor maintenance and insist that I'm being truthful. Because I would be! I would also be an a**hole, but that's a whole 'nother problem. Stumpy's problem, really.
Also, just FYI, those 390 people working downtown are a few more than the 278 in 1997-1998, when enrollment in SPS was a couple thousand kids higher than it is today. The teaching and principal corps, in the same period, have remained fairly stable.
It's probably clear that I don't have undying affection for SPS's downtown offices. I've already sworn that they won't be getting a Christmas card from me. So I wondered if my tendency not to give them the benefit of the doubt was shading my interpretation of the data. So I compared them to other districts. 6 other districts. Turns out, when other districts have lost students, they've also made reductions in their central offices. Bellevue gained students and still made central office cuts. Seattle? Not so much. Hopefully this (admittedly kind of crappy) chart is readable on blogger. You may need to sort out how to enlarge it or something. I have no idea. Or, as some east coast folk say, I have no idear. Same people who say leath-uh. At least the "r" gets recycled.
So. You don't want blue (enrollment loss) or red (central office increases). Ideally, in fact, you'd like to be pink (healthy enrollment growth) and green (central office cuts). Second best would be blue and green, because at least the losses are linked. Yes, I get that unless you're quite preppy, you might prefer red and blue as a color combo over pink and green, but, well, I digress. Again.
So guess what Seattle has both of? That's right! You don't win any prizes, but good guess!
Enrollment loss AND central office increases. The largest central office full-time employee increase of any of the six districts I examined, as it happens. And given that central office growth has accelerated during our Superintendent's tenure, why, exactly are we being told that it's decreased? And that it's about a third of the size it appears to actually be?
It all gets more interesting (to me, and it's my damn blog) because last fall the State Auditor chastisted Seattle Public Schools for their over-staffing in the central office. They pointed out (among other things) that Seattle has "39% more executives, managers and supervisors per student than average for 10 districts." Huh.
The district responded in a distinctly whiny, we're sooooo special sort of way by saying: we're bigger and our problems are more complex, and so we need all those people (page 3 of Appendix E-7, your reader may show it as pge 128/142). Yes, I paraphrased.
Interestingly enough (again, to me), the district also cited a report from McKinsey to say that they're super-duper complicated. I happened to read that report. Buried in there, it also shows that Central Office growth was well out of proportion to any other segment of growth. Here's a chart that uses the McKinsey data (from page 22 of the report) to illustrate it a leeeettle more clearly.
Ooopsie! Guess who's growth outpaces everyone else's? (You know people would read this and think about it if I could give away some Manolos or Louboutins for correct answers. But, thanks, Mom, for taking the time to look it over) Yup. Central Office growth significantly outpaces spending growth in any other sector. Hmmm. I'm not sure that the McKinsey report makes the best defense, there, kids.
The kicker (for me) is that the time period that the State Auditor was evaluating was for 2004-2006. Since the end of 2006, central administration has risen even further, from 350 in the 2005-2006 school year to 390 in the 2008-2009 school year.
Think about it. Even as the district whinged and cringed that we're different, so different rules apply to us, and the State Auditor was noting they are crazy-overstaffed downtown, they were staffing up downtown.
Now, I would guess if you asked how, exactly, this load of nonsense has come to pass, your answer would sound alot like this: "Here at SPS, we're committed to every student achieving and everyone accountable, and we're putting benchmarks in place using best practices to examine the performance metrics." Or something like that. You could probably play a game called "Benchmark Bingo" while you listened. Again, though, I got nothin' for you in the way of prizes.
Accountability may be the buzz-word in Seattle Public Schools, but it looks like somebody downtown may be very, very good at playing an old-fashioned game with chutzpah: a shell game.
* Yo. Let's keep this in perspective. This is my personal blog, where I can be as uncorked and snarky as I feel like. That's very, VERY different than thinking that everyone who works in SPS administration is corrupt and awful. Because that would be silly. Still, looking this information over raised some serious questions for me, and hopefully for you, if you've gotten this far. But data can be interpreted many different ways. And you should look at the raw data for yourself, which is why all the links to mind-numbing information are included.


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The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation will conduct two sessions of the Dodgers Youth Baseball Camp in the summer of 2014. Session 1 will be held June 26, 27, 30 & July 1 and Session 2 will be held July 29, 30, 31 and August 1. Camp will feature daily instruction by members of the Dodgers coaching staff and Dodgers alumni. Campers will learn about hitting, fielding, base running, throwing and pitching as well as team play, sportsmanship and conditioning. Enrollment is open to children 7-12 and all proceeds benefit the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation.
At every regular season game, fans are given the opportunity to post a birthday, anniversary, congratulatory or welcome message to family and friends through the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation Ribbon Board Message. For just $75 you can order your own personalized message to appear on the new Ribbon Board located below the Left Field Dodger Vision screen above the Left Field Pavilion. Ribbon Board Message »
The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation will host silent auctions during Friday and Sunday home games, as well as other select promotional nights throughout the 2014 season. Bid on autographed baseballs, photos and jerseys from your favorite current Dodger players and legends.
The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation's "Community Wall of Fame" offers fans a special souvenir that will last a lifetime. Be immortalized in Dodger Stadium, recognize your love for the Dodgers, and ensure the Dodgers dedicated community efforts continue to touch as many individuals as possible. Ensure your place in Dodger Stadium forever with a ball in the Wall of Fame »


text: Five Insects Display Resistance to Engineered Seeds, Study Says June 10, 2013 10:01 AM Tweet TAGS: Marketing, Overseas December 18, 2014 By Bloomberg Email Five of 13 major crop pests have evolved resistance to corn and cotton genetically engineered to make their own insecticide, providing lessons for extending the usefulness of such technologies, University of Arizona researchers said in a study. The increase in resistance, from one insect species in 2005, was expected because the crops are more widely planted, pests have been exposed to the insecticides for more years and monitoring efforts have improved, according to the study published today in the journal Nature Biotechnology. Some technologies have kept resistance at bay for more than than 15 years while others succumb in as few as two years, the study said. More than 1 billion acres worldwide have been planted with crops engineered to produce insecticidal proteins derived from Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt, a soil bacterium, reducing use of chemical insecticides, the study said. Where data shows large numbers of resistant pests are living in fields, and where the resistant trait is not recessive, regulators need to take stronger actions, the study said. "When risk is indicated, either take more stringent measures to delay resistance, such as requiring larger refuges, or this pest will probably evolve resistance quickly to this Bt crop," Bruce Tabashnik, a University of Arizona entomologist and the paper's lead author, said in a statement accompanying the study. Regulators try to delay resistance by requiring farmers who plant Bt crops to also plant a "refuge" on adjacent land using non-Bt crops. The reasoning is that bugs not exposed to the toxin will mate with any resistant insects, creating a new generation that is once again susceptible to the insecticide. Armyworms, Borers The study analyzed data from 77 studies on 13 pest species on five continents. Three of the five cases of resistance are in the U.S., where about half of the world's Bt crop acreage is planted. Rootworms are the most recent insect to develop resistance, overcoming Monsanto Co.'s rootworm-killing corn in at least two U.S. states, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in January, confirming earlier university studies. Other instances of field-evolved resistance in Bt corn include fall armyworms in Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, and maize-stem borers in South Africa, the researchers said. Bt-resistant insects in cotton include pink bollworms in India and bollworms in the U.S. "Perhaps the most compelling evidence that refuges work comes from the pink bollworm, which evolved resistance rapidly to Bt cotton in India, but not in the U.S.," Tabashnik said in the statement. "Same pest, same Bt protein, but very different outcomes." Indian farmer compliance with planting refuges "was low," while institutional support in the U.S. helped farmers implement "an effective refuge strategy" for pink bollworms, he said. Read more pest news. Check out the AgWeb online pest guide. Find your Extension specialist. Back to news


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Move over, J.K. Rowling.
A 14-year-old Williamstown teen recently became a published author when her short story was chosen from more than 800 submitted to be in a book.
Carly Middleton, who will be a freshman at Williamstown High School, is one of 50 young writers from fifth to 10th grade showcased in
"Your Stories: Volume 1" by teenage author Taylor Joseph.
She is the daughter of Greg and Misty Middleton.
Hundreds of additional incoming freshmen and transfer students have accepted merit-based scholarships to attend Eastern Kentucky University.
Grant County recipients include:
• Christopher Fortner of Corinth - Music Department Scholarship
• Lisa Garant of Williamstown - Presidential Scholarship
• Emma Harris of Williamstown - Regents Scholarship
• Ciarra Krist of Dry Ridge - Music Department Scholarship
• Easton McClanahan of Williamstown - Governor's Scholar Regents
Andrew Jones, of Williamstown High School, Evan Beach and Courtney Jaconette, both of Grant County High School, are the 2012 recipients of college scholarships from Farm Bureau. Jones, Beach and Jaconette each received a $500 Grant County Farm Bureau Scholarship.
These awards are four of the 234 college scholarships worth a total of $302,450 that the Grant County Farm Bureau, Kentucky Farm Bureau Education Foundation and numerous other individual county Farm Bureaus awarded this year to deserving students from across the Commonwealth.
Kalli Beach, of Dry Ridge, has been named to the Gateway Community and Technical College Dean's List for spring 2012. The academic list recognizes students who achieve a grade point average of 3.5 or above for the semester. Her parents are Nelson and Lisa Beach of Dry Ridge, brother, Jordan Beach of Dry Ridge and grandmother, Irene Kees, of Georgetown.
Megan Schultz graduated from The University of Kentucky with Summa Cum Laude with Honors and a Bachelors in Biology from on May 6, 2012. She is the daughter of Michael P. Schultz of Dry Ridge and Theresa Harris of Dry Ridge.
She started her education at Crittenden Mt. Zion Elementary School followed with Grant County Middle School and then Grant County High School where she graduated as salutatorian or second in her class. She will be returning to The University of Kentucky this fall to study medicine.
Curtis Scott Clemons of Williamstown graduated with bachelor of science in pastoral ministries from Campbellsville University. Clemons is a graduate of Grant County High School in Dry Ridge and is the son of Sharon Clemons of Williamstown.
Grant Wallace of Crittenden received a bachelor of science in chemistry at the 189th commencement ceremony at Centre College. Janet H. Brown, executive director of the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), was the featured commencement speaker. The Class of 2012 is the largest in Centre's history. Members of the class include three Fulbright recipients; two Peace Corps volunteers; and two Teach for America corps members. In addition, 67 students graduated with honors: seven summa cum laude, 24 magna cum laude and 36 cum laude.
Steven Sigmon
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The Grant County News is your source for local news, sports, events, and information in Dry Ridge, KY and the surrounding area.


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triple20 needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 113 designs submitted by 38 freelance designers.
We're all about the sport of soft-tip darts, and we're looking for a creative logo for our term 'BullShooter'.
If you're wondering what the heck bullshooter means...did you ever shoot a game of darts?
That small area in the center of the dart board is called the 'bullseye'. It's a high scoring region on the board, integral to the most popular games.
Sooner or later, everyone shooting a game of darts needs to become a
'bull' shooter.
Dart players around the globe!
We want the logo to incorporate the term bullshooter, as
well as a simple, but memorable icon/graphic/silhouette
of a bull in action with the theme of darts.
For example, this is the image to beat:
You're the artist. Go wild!
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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In 1850, Walter Potter was 15 years old when he first began experimenting with taxidermy. By the age of 19, Potter had already created his best-known taxidermy tableaux, "The Death and Burial of Cock Robin" which was displayed, along with his other work, at a pub his family owned in Bramber, West Sussex. Potter's taxidermy dioramas feature anthropomorphized animals acting out Victorian life scenes. During the Victorian era, taxidermy was a popular practice, and in 1880, a dedicated museum building was opened because the tableaux at the pub had created quite a scene. Over time, the interest in taxidermy declined, and the museum was moved before closing down.
Though Potter's dioramas could be considered morbid, especially by modern standards, there's something Beatrix Potteresque (no relation) about his work, mostly in its strange and whimsical Victorianism. "Kittens' Wedding" was Potter's last tableaux before his death in 1890; this piece was auctioned at Bonham's (along with most of the collection) in 2003 for £21,150 (around $35,500). Among those present at the auction were artists Peter Blake, David Bailey, and Damien Hirst, who reportedly bid £1 million (almost $1.7) for Potter's entire collection, but it was rejected by the auctioneers. This caused the owners of the collection to sue Bonham's because they believed such an offer should have been immediately accepted in order to keep the collection in tact. In 2007, Hirst told The Guardian that "Kittens' Wedding" was one of his favorites of Potter's work: "All these kittens dressed up in costumes, even wearing jewellery. The kittens don't look much like kittens, but that's not the point."
The Telegraph notes, "To a modern eye […]these 'freaks of nature' appear eerily macabre. Indeed, some Victorian viewers were outraged by the grotesquery and criticised Potter for abuse of animals, despite a museum disclaimer stating that no animals had been deliberately killed for the collection." But then they later explain that not all of Potter's tableaux were sourced ethically. Before neutering was commonplace, freely roaming farm kittens would often be killed off. Potter had an agreement with a local farmer who provided the kittens; this would explain the high number of participants in his tableaux.
The accompanying images are sourced from Dr. Pat Morris and Joanna Ebenstein's book about Potter and his work, "Walter Potter's Curious World of Taxidermy," released earlier this year. Ebenstein says that she's interested in "the context that creates these things, and why certain things come to be seen as bizarre to us, when obviously they weren't at the time." (via telegraph)


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some LAST.FM API functions are deprecated
from the last.fm page ...
As of today, the artist.getImages method returns a deprecation notice.
The method has been de-listed for over a year now, and this change finalises the deprecation.
Other API methods are also being reviewed and will be changed to reflect our licensing restrictions.
The Last.fm web-slingers
i will investigate other free API alternatives
best regards


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Definitions of nine
a. - Eight and one more; one less than ten; as, nine miles. 2
n. - The number greater than eight by a unit; nine units or objects. 2
n. - A symbol representing nine units, as 9 or ix. 2
The word "nine" uses 4 letters: E I N N.
No direct anagrams for nine found in this word list.
Words formed by adding one letter before or after nine (in bold), or to einn in any order:
a - inane b - benni d - inned l - linen p - penni r - inner renin s - nines u - ennui v - venin
Shorter words found within nine:
en in inn ne
List shorter words within nine, sorted by length
Words formed from any letters in nine, plus an optional blank or existing letter
List all words starting with nine, words containing nine or words ending with nine
All words formed from nine by changing one letter
Other words with the same letter pairs: ni in ne
Browse words starting with nine by next letter
Previous word in list: nincompoops
Next word in list: ninebark
Some random words: djin vang lea sike eel niblick llama
This is not a dictionary, it's a word game wordfinder.
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General Comments: Futures closed higher despite ideas of good harvest weather and active movement of beans to ports in western Africa. Reports of dry weather in Ivory Coast that could hurt development supported the market. Internal prices are reported weak in much of Africa on ideas of weak demand. The weather is good in West Africa, with more moderate temperatures and some rains. It is hotter and drier again in Ivory Coast this week, but the rest of the region is in good condition. Ivory Coast is starting to see showers, but will need more rain soon. The mid crop harvest is about over, and less than expected production along with smaller beans is reported. Malaysia and Indonesia crops appear to be in good condition and weather is called favorable.
Overnight News: Scattered showers are expected in West Africa. Temperatures will average near to above normal. Malaysia and Indonesia should see episodes of isolated showers. Temperatures should average near normal. Brazil will get mostly dry conditions and warm temperatures. ICE certified stocks are lower today at 4.873 million bags. ICE said that 23 delivery notices were posted today and that total deliveries for the month are 372 contracts.
Chart Trends: Trends in New York are up with objectives of 2260 September. Support is at 2200, 2170, and 2130 September, with resistance at 2250, 2280, and 2300 September. Trends in London are mixed. Support is at 1440, 1420, and 1360 September, with resistance at 1470, 1490, and 1520 September.
General Comments: Futures were higher on follow through buying. It was a low volume session with the holiday yesterday, and today could be a low volume session as well. Futures held the short term range. It is possible that futures can work lower again as demand has turned soft. Ideas of better production conditions in the US caused some selling interest. Texas is reporting light precipitation, mostly in southern areas. Dry weather is being reported in the Delta and showers and storms are seen in the Southeast. The weather should help support crop development in the Delta and Southeast, and could help in Texas. Weather for Cotton appears good in India, Pakistan, and China.
Overnight News: The Delta should be dry and Southeast will see showers and rains. Temperatures will average near to above normal. Texas will be mostly dry. Temperatures will average near to above normal. The USDA spot price is now 82.78 ct/lb. ICE said that certified Cotton stocks are now 0.623 million bales, from 0.623 million yesterday. ICE said that 53 notices were posted today and that total deliveries are now 2,515 contracts. USDA said that net Upland Cotton export sales were 34,.500 bales this year and 41,500 bales next year. Net Pima sales were 2,900 bales this year and 1,700 bales next year
Chart Trends: Trends in Cotton are mixed. Support is at 86.20, 85.20, and 84.00 October, with resistance of 88.00, 88.20, and 89.70 October.
Next page: Orange juice, Coffee and Sugar


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Bowl I Tangerine Tango
A collaboration between color-experts Pantone, Denmark's ROOM COPENHAGEN, and the renowned Holscher Design studio, the Pantone Universe collection of everyday home essentials is a practical way to bring an iconic hue home. The scientifically formulated Pantone-colored interior of Bowl I pops against a stark white body. Made of durable melamine, this shallow, sculptural vessel can be used as a snazzy serving bowl, or a stylish centerpiece.


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Lough homers, hits three doubles to lead Royals over Twins
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- David Lough hit three doubles, then launched a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning that led the Kansas City Royals over the Minnesota Twins 9-8 Sunday.
Lough hit his second homer of the season, sending a solo drive off Jared Burton (1-5) into the right-field seats for an 8-7 lead.
Eric Hosmer added a solo homer in the ninth for the Royals. Johnny Giavotella had three hits.
Aaron Crow (5-3) pitched 1 2-3 scoreless innings. Greg Holland got his 17th save in 19 chances despite giving up a home run to Trevor Plouffe in the ninth.
Minnesota, which trailed 5-1 after four innings, got a two-run homer from Justin Morneau and an RBI double by pinch-hitter Josh Willingham to tie it at 7 in the seventh.
Ervin Santana allowed three earned runs and five hits in six innings for Kansas City. He has gone at least six innings in each of his 16 starts this season, the longest active streak in majors.
It has been a strong June for the right-hander. In six starts, he has a 1.99 ERA, limiting opponents to 27 hits and two home runs in 40 2-3 innings.
The Royals led 5-4 when Lough, the Royals' eighth-place hitter, doubled in the sixth off reliever Ryan Pressly and took third as Giavotella blooped a double to left-center between three fielders. Alex Gordon was walked to intentionally load the bases before Alcides Escobar hit a two-run single.
Kevin Correia, the Twins' most consistent starter, gave up five earned runs in five innings.
The Royals scored three times in the fourth. Lough hit an RBI double off the right-field wall and Giavotella had an RBI single for a 5-1 lead. Giavotella was recalled Saturday from Triple-A Omaha when the Royals designated outfielder Jeff Francoeur for assignment.
Clete Thomas homered in the Minnesota fifth.
NOTES: Morneau is hitting .354 with 11 doubles, three home runs and 24 RBIs in his last 25 home games. ... Billy Butler was 2 for 4, and is hitting .486 (17 for 35) against Twins this year. ... Scott Diamond (5-7, 5.40) is scheduled to start Monday for Minnesota when the New York Yankees arrive for a four-game series. New York is scheduled to counter with Andy Pettitte (5-6, 4.22). ... Luis Mendoza (2-4, 4.16) is set to start for Kansas City on Tuesday when it opens a six-game homestand against Cleveland. Corey Kluber (6-5, 4.16) is to start for the Indians.


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With his new book coming out next month and having finally revealed his identity this week, we couldn't think of a better time to reveal a recent project we've been working on in honor of Eben Weiss AKA The Bike Snob. So without further ado, we present the…
Scattante Americano – BSNYC Edition
As you can see, we've taken the essence of the Bike Snob's personal steed and boiled it down to a practical everyday bicycle. It's got trendy yet functional "wheelbrows", flat handlebars, rear rack, and yes, even a front brake! We also added subtle graphics to let everyone know that you have the custom BSNYC colorway:
All You Haters Buy My Bike!
Here at Performance, we lead the way in practical, well-priced bicycles and now with the style & panache of Mr. Weiss, we're ready to break Fixed Gear Culture right back open!


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Pulsations (11.08.12)
Here are the latest Pulsations, links to fresh stories and visuals about Japan, shout-outs to fellow bloggers, and highly clickable stuff that we think you might enjoy.
In no particular order, they are . . .
- School Lunch for October 25th, 2012 (from Lunch Break Japan): Does a lunch of nikujaga, rice and natto with miso soup appeal? But what if it's locally made or comes in a clever package? No? OK … then how about a KitKat?
- おたより Exhibition (from Hello Sandwich): Does a visual feast of crafty things make you happy? If you missed the exhibition of envelopes designed by school kids and adults in Ginza, Hello Sandwich gives a big taste of what was on display.
- And This Concludes the 2012 U.S. Presidential Election . . . Now Let's Have a Laugh! (from Skeptikai): Did you catch the "First Lady Debate?" Apparently some people did though it didn't take place. Blogger Ryo compiles a list of funny videos regarding the recent U.S. election and comments on the Democrats' message to the Republicans.
- Akaoni Design (from Japanese Design): Pay detailed attention to the packaging of food products? Check out some of these by Akaoni Design, a creative studio that was honored with the Yamagata Excellent Design Award twice last year.
- Night Person Climbs to the Top Level Faster than Day Person? (from Japan Style): Is physical strength crucial to climbing the corporate ladder successfully? This blogger talks about a recent survey on the type of people who get promoted faster. What do you think?
Visual Pulse
On a diet but can't get off chips completely? This ad is featuring Korean pop group KARA spells out the low calorie snack Soy Carat is the way to go.


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Arton Chau needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 24 designs submitted by 13 freelance designers.
Need a logo that shows our company is an advocate for the consumer and also gives the feeling of security that home ownership can have.
Home Buyers Alliance
We are company that specialize in Home ownership and helping current homeowners out of difficult situations. Our services included loan modification, short sale negotiations, foreclosure alternatives, Bankruptcy consideration, Credit repair and Restoration and How to buy foreclosures with little or no down payment. We arrange financing with the most competitive interest rates.
- Item 1...Tagline: Offering a Streamline Approach to the Home Buying Process
- Item 2... Color is in the greenish/tuquoise family
- Item 3... Gives the feeling of Unity, Security, Consumer Advocacy, Cost Saving, Great Value
- Item 4... New way of thinking
- Item 1...Childish
- Item 2...Not too high tech, however, new way of thinking is good
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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The Asian-Pacific aspect of the conflict also rendered one other signal contribution to the war's course. In the early months of 1942, German commanders urged a coordinated Axis strategy of a German advance down through the Middle East to link up with a Japanese naval thrust across the Indian Ocean. This would sever the last connection between China and its allies, ending its participation in the war and freeing up large Japanese ground forces for the Pacific — or for use against the Soviet Union. It would likewise collapse Great Britain's position in India and the Middle East, a devastating blow almost certain to bring down Prime Minister Winston Churchill's government, and eliminate the Allies' supply route through the Persian Gulf, along which the United States shipped the majority of Lend-Lease armaments destined for the Soviets. The American victories at Midway and then Guadalcanal, however, foreclosed what loomed as the Axis powers' last realistic chance to win the war.
The date of the Pearl Harbor attack additionally affords a benchmark for gauging the European and Asian-Pacific conflicts. Adolf Hitler's Germany needed roughly 28 months to conquer an expanse of the globe spanning four time zones and encompassing about 225 million people. In just six months from December 1941, imperial Japan burst from her stalemate in China to master territories from the borders of India in the east; across Southeast Asia, China, and Korea; northeast to the Aleutian Islands; and southward to New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. The empire blanketed seven time zones and included about 400 million people.
If this portrait of the scale of the Asian-Pacific war constitutes a revelation to contemporary Americans, full grasp of the savagery of that conflict likewise provokes surprise. There are no certain figures for the overall death toll in World War II. Published totals now customarily range from 50 million to 65 million — the fact that even today there is no agreement on deaths to within 10 million to 15 million is stunning. The toll in the Asian-Pacific theaters is generally placed between 17 million and 27 million. Thus, at least a third and possibly closer to half the conflict's worldwide deaths occurred in the Asian and Pacific areas.
Further proof of the Far Eastern conflict's savagery is the starling contrast between the ratio of noncombatant deaths to military deaths in the European and the Asian-Pacific wars. Because Nazi Germany has, for good reason, become a symbol of evil, most Americans assume the proportion of civilian deaths was much higher in Europe. The reality is that the ratio in Europe is somewhere between 1 to 1.3 noncombatant deaths for every military death. In the Asian-Pacific theaters, however, 3 to perhaps as many as 5 noncombatants died for each combatant who was killed. Moreover, approximately 90 percent of those noncombatant deaths were not Japanese. The number of civilians killed in all the bombings of Japan, including the atomic blasts, only runs between 2 and 4 percent of all noncombatant deaths in the Asian-Pacific theaters.
Without a doubt, the clash between Germany and the Soviet Union featured mass barbarities and the widespread killing of prisoners of war. In the Pacific, however, imperial Japan adopted a bastardized version of the ancient Bushido warrior code between the 1920s and 1941 that inculcated the norm for every Japanese serviceman that surrender was an act of unbearable shame. For each Japanese soldier, airman, and sailor, battle could only end in victory or extinction. Between 1937 and 1945, there was no organized surrender of any Japanese unit in any skirmish, battle, or campaign. That's a record utterly without historical parallel for a nation-state. Thus, the elemental force propelling the Pacific war into the unsurpassed depths of savagery was not race, but culture.
There is yet another startling disconnect between American memory and actual history. While the American public during World War II grasped the importance of stopping Hitler's grand design of world conquest and they knew generally of the ruthlessness of Nazi Germany, only a minuscule number of Americans prior to April 1945 comprehended the reality of what is now referred to as the Holocaust. As late as November 1944, a Gallup poll showed that while three out of four Americans acknowledged Jews as Hitler's special target, only 3 percent believed that the Nazi regime had killed even as a many as one million Jews. The overwhelming majority of Americans placed the figure at far less, and only an infinitesimal number credited the scattered accounts of mass, industrialized-scale murder. It was only in April 1945, as British and U.S. forces overran concentration camps in Germany, that the reality of what Nazi Germany had perpetrated hit the vast majority of the American people.
In stark contrast to contemporary U.S. attitudes about Hitler's Germany stands American knowledge about Japan. From 1937 to 1941, the American public was showered with graphic imagery from China of Japanese savagery; some images depicted bestiality so extreme that they were not published. By contrast, Germany made sure no such damning visual evidence escaped its orbit. Thus, prior to Pearl Harbor, the American people had no reason to judge Hitler's Germany as inherently more evil than Japan; if anything, the reverse was true. This perception reflected an important reality. When Hitler attacked Poland in September 1939, his regime had at most killed tens of thousands. As of that date, Japan had slaughtered literally millions of Chinese and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin's death toll likewise was in seven figures, at least. Hitler's slaughters only moved into the millions range in the second half of 1941.
Millions of viewers will approach The Pacific with one urgent question: How does it compare — indeed can it compare — with Band of Brothers ? At one level the parallels seem obvious. Both view the war through the eyes of men in one unit. Band of Brothers followed the paratroopers of E Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. The Pacific follows three main figures each serving in a separate infantry regiment of the 1st Marine Division: Robert Leckie (1st Marine Regiment), Eugene Sledge (5th Marines), and John Basilone (7th Marines).
What is counterintuitive about this chasm between a company and a division as the "unit" is that the average viewer will more swiftly bond with the Marines in The Pacific . Even fervent admirers of Band of Brothers confess that it takes multiple viewings to sort out all the individuals from part one to part ten. The Pacific immediately introduces the three central Marines and locates the key secondary characters as satellites to each main character. The viewer quickly recognizes "Runner," "Hoosier," and "Chuckler" with Leckie; J. P. Morgan and "Manny" Rodriguez with Basilone; and R. V. Burgin, Bill Leyden, and Merriel "Snafu" Shelton with Sledge. The key exception to this pattern is Sid Phillips, who links Leckie (Sid's one of his buddies) and Sledge (Sid's childhood friend from Mobile, Alabama). The structure translates directly into rapid and intense emotional investment with the characters. Added to that is the high tension the series produces by demonstrating early that there's no guarantee any particular Marine will survive.
The Pacific displays the same meticulous attention to technical detail and special-effects wizardry that characterized Band of Brothers . As with the earlier miniseries, fanatics will find the rare misstep along the way, but uniforms and equipment, language and weapons' effects overwhelmingly meet the extraordinary detailed standards set by Band of Brothers . The action sequences are, in my opinion, even more riveting for two reasons. The first is that action in the jungles or Pacific islands compelled combat at extremely close range. The second is that, unlike the Germans, the Japanese chose to fight predominantely at night. While their predilection for nocturnal combat rested on tactical considerations, psychologically it also recruited man's most primitive fears. The depiction of the struggles in darkness presents a far tougher cinematic challenge that the production brilliantly surmounts.
The Pacific also excels in another key dimension. Few would suggest that the Japanese were a more menacing battlefield foe than the Germans or that fighting in Europe lacked daunting physical challenges. But virtually all World War II veterans agreed that the physical rigors of fighting in dense, damp, and terrifying jungles in the Pacific and the absence of any trappings of civilization set apart combat against the Japanese. Thus, one of the triumphs of The Pacific is the graphic re-creation of that incredibly alien and depressing environment.
Viewers of The Pacific will note that it's even more relentless than Band of Brothers in maintaining the perspective of front-line infantry. This does, however, produce some regrettable but inevitable consequences. Absent is much context of the larger picture, like strategy, the campaigns fought by the U.S. Army and Australians, or even air and sea battles fought in conjunction with the Marines' struggles ashore. Moreover, some will argue that the Japanese appear stripped of all humanity. It's true that there's no extended treatment of any individual Japanese — nor could there be under the terms of the fighting dictated by Japan. But even within those limits, the sophisticated script harbors a telling collective picture more nuanced than simply a collage of targets or tormentors. And the wrenching sequences on Okinawa, where large numbers of civilians are horrifically caught in the middle of the battle, refute any argument that only the Marines earn sympathy.
The Pacific will be a cultural event on the level with Band of Brothers . It can and should provoke thought and controversy. But even as a committed admirer of Band of Brothers , my ultimate verdict must be that The Pacific is grimmer and greater.