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VANCEBORO � Josh Cuthbertson isn�t the only offensive weapon on the basketball court for the West Craven Eagles.
VANCEBORO � Josh Cuthbertson isn�t the only offensive weapon on the basketball court for the West Craven Eagles.
Senior point guard Demetres Abrams is making his presence known.
Cuthbertson and Abrams combined for 55 points to lead the Eagles to a 70-48 win over New Bern Friday in Vanceboro.
Abrams, who converted 10-of-11 from the foul line, scored 10 points in the final quarter. He had a three-point play and a 3-pointer to put the game out of reach.
He finished with 27 points.
�When Josh has the ball, and everyone�s keying on him, he will drive and kick it out to me, and I will score,� Abrams said. �My teammates are confident in me to knock them down.�
Cuthbertson poured in 28 points and snagged 12 rebounds.
�Josh and Demetres have been playing together for so long and they both work so hard,� West Craven coach Bryan Goehring said. �They push each other and make each other better. They understand it takes both of them.�
With the scored tied 8-8, West Craven dominated the second quarter to build a 31-19 lead at halftime. The Eagles (7-3) extended their cushion to 19 after three quarters.
Tyrone Brown contributed six points and five boards.
�At halftime, I told them that I didn�t think we were focused coming in,� Goehring said. �I told them they had to re-focus in the second half or it was going to be an ugly game. They responded.�
New Bern sophomore Miller Mills recorded 11 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Jailen Ganus tallied a team-high 20 points. Sophomore Michael Hughes scored eight for the Bears.
West Craven 64, New Bern 38
VANCEBORO � Jamie Cherry scored 22 points to lead a balanced West Craven attack in a 64-38 win over visiting New Bern on Friday.
Cherry notched 15 points in the first half as the Eagles jumped out to a 36-14 halftime advantage. Cherry grabbed nine rebounds and handed out three assists.
New Bern stayed close early, trailing just 16-9 after the first quarter.
West Craven (7-3) pulled away, finishing the half on an 18-1 run.
Nishedra Brown contributed 14 points and eight steals for West Craven. Kaylee Koerperich racked up 11 points and 11 rebounds,
and Jasmine Raynor scored 12 points.
�Games like tonight, and this is no disrespect to New Bern, but we felt like we were a little bit quicker and more athletic than them,� West Craven coach David Fernandez said. �To be able to get four girls into double figures, it meant we were moving the ball around.�
West Craven, playing its third game of the week, forced 22 turnovers and barely won the rebounding battle, 44-42.
New Bern (1-11) lost its third game of the week.
�There are times you have to set goals for your team and look for improvement with each goal,� New Bern coach Bill Bondurant said. �At the beginning of the season, we letting letting teams get into transition and scoring. We fixed that.
�Boxing out, we were letting teams get to many rebounds. We fixed that a little bit. We are making improvements.�
The Bears were paced by senior J.J. Jones� 16 points and four steals. Tyra London posted eight points and 12 rebounds. Breanna Coor and Tomisha Davis each notched five points.
Coor ripped down seven rebounds.
�For J.J., this is her senior year, and she would like to see us have a better record,� Bondurant said. �We are pleased that she is not quitting and giving up. She is coming out and giving 100 percent and playing hard.�
West Craven hosts a holiday tournament on Thursday and Friday. New Bern travels to Dixon for a tournament on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Box score
NEW BERN (48): Michael Hughes 8, Miller Mills 11, Jeffrey Taylor 2, Jailen Ganus 20, Chris Mimms 2, Colin Jacobs 2, Theron Noble 2.
WEST CRAVEN (70): Josh Cuthbertson 28, Demetres Abrams 27, Tyrone Brown 6, Anthony Oates 2, Alkeim Harley 3, Jared Fulcher 2.
NEW BERN (38): J.J. Jones 16, Tyra London 8, No. 15 4, Breanna Coor 5, Tomisha Davis 5.
WEST CRAVEN (64): Jamie Cherry 22, Nishedra Brown 14, Nyeesha Roundtree 3, Jasmine Raynor 12, Kaylee Koerperich 11, Rendi Wetherington 2.
Adam Thompson can be reached at 252-635-5669 or at firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow Adam on Twitter @Adam_matic.


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Whakapapa's Volcanic Terrain Hooks Big Mountain Skiers
Whakapapa Ski Area's volcanic landscape is a haven for big mountain skiers looking for the ultimate in challenging terrain.
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As the upper reaches of the planet warm up and northern ski resorts start winding down for the season, things are just beginning to grind into gear down here on our southern mountains.
Mt Ruapehu sits proudly as the dominant feature of the Central North Island, towering over the lowlands and bearing the brunt of the early winter storms that roll in from Antarctica. This mountain is an active volcano, part of a World Heritage National Park and home to New Zealand's largest ski area, Whakapapa.
If you've never skied on a volcano, active or otherwise, you're in for a treat. The volcanic landscape of Whakapapa Ski Area lends itself to brilliant terrain features for skiers and snowboarders. Think natural halfpipes, chutes, bowls and drops over the edge of centuries-old lava flows. It's little wonder some of the southern hemisphere's best extreme skiing comps are held in this part of the country.
Whakapapa Ski Area really is a wonderland for experienced riders of all disciplines. Long, continuous runs full of natural terrain features are heaven for the big mountain skier. The big bowls of the Black Magic backcountry area draw snowboarders and adventurous skiers to their depths, and The Pinnacles provide steep chutes and drops for adrenalin seekers.
Much of the ski area can be viewed from the deck of the gob-smackingly gorgeous Knoll Ridge Café, meaning if you don't want to venture onto the slopes or you're giving those legs a rest, you can watch the action with a grandstand view. It could well be one of the most memorable moments of your trip, sitting on the deck or at one of the floor-to-ceiling picture windows with your tipple of choice in hand, watching brave snow-goers tackle the challenges of the Pinnacles above.
Getting to Whakapapa Ski Area is a breeze. Fly direct to Auckland, then join a domestic flight to Taupo or hire a car from Auckland Airport and take the 3.5 hour drive south.
Whakapapa lies 1 hour 15 minutes south of Taupo so is an easy day trip from the lakeside town. In any event, it pays to have your own transport in this region so you can get around and discover the huge range of off-mountain activities (skydiving, bungy jumping and jet boating are just some of the thrills on offer), geothermal hot pools for soaking tired ski legs and the grandiose landscapes that are just begging to be photographed.
Winter deals can be found at www.greatlaketaupo.com/winter

subset: commoncrawl


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Does the Bible Have Errors?
from R.C. Sproul Aug 16, 2019 Category: Articles"The Bible is the Word of God, which errs." From the advent of neoorthodox theology in the early twentieth century, this assertion has become a mantra among those who want to have a high view of Scripture while avoiding the academic liability of asserting biblical infallibility and inerrancy. But this... Keep Reading
Top 5 Commentaries on the Book of Galatians
from Keith Mathison Nov 08, 2008 Category: ArticlesThe book of Galatians is sometimes referred to as "the charter of Christian liberty." In it, Paul fights tooth and nail for the doctrine of justification by faith alone in Christ alone. There are a number of helpful commentaries on this epistle, and the following are five of the best. Keep Reading
The Old Mission Field
from Gene Edward Veith Nov 07, 2008 Category: ArticlesMissionaries from Europe and America took Christianity to the ends of the earth and evangelized Africa and Asia. Now, as Christianity declines in the West, churches from the old mission field are the ones defending historic Christianity and are evangelizing Europe and America. Keep Reading
A Visible Word
from Keith Mathison Nov 05, 2008 Category: ArticlesRobert Bruce (1551-1631) is not a household name, even among knowledgeable Reformed Christians. He was at one time, however, one of the most important leaders in the Church of Scotland. He was the successor of John Knox and James Lawson and preached at the Great Kirk of St. Giles in Edinburgh. St. Giles holds a prominent place in Reformation history, being the site where Knox preached his first sermon on the Reformation. The Mystery of the Lord's Supper (Christian Heritage) contains five sermons preached by Bruce at St. Giles in February and March of the year 1589. Keep Reading
Hear R.C. read The Prince's Poison Cup
from Chris Larson Nov 04, 2008 Category: ArticlesIn the midst of the election cacophony, take a break and listen to today's Renewing Your Mind broadcast. Dr. Sproul provides a dramatic reading of his newest children's book The Prince's Poison Cup. Produced by John M. Duncan, this audiobook has a full musical score with sound effects. It's a delightful 16 minutes. Keep Reading
The World Upside Down
from Burk Parsons Nov 04, 2008 Category: ArticlesIt's hard to believe that it was nearly a decade ago that we witnessed the turn of the third millennium. If you recall, on New Year's Day several network TV stations featured live coverage from around the world. It was an international spectacle with an estimated viewing audience of more than one billion worldwide. With great intrigue I watched as each culture welcomed the new millennium in its own way according to the customs of its heritage. Fireworks, music, singing, dancing, parades- -- all in celebration of the new millennium. Keep Reading
A Vote for Righteousness
from Chris Larson Nov 03, 2008 Category: R.C. SproulIf you have not listened to today's radio broadcast of Renewing Your Mind with Dr. R.C. Sproul, you can do so here. "Principles for Choosing a Leader" can also be downloaded here. Keep Reading
Columns from Tabletalk Magazine, November 2008
from Various Nov 03, 2008 Category: ArticlesThe November edition of Tabletalk is out. This month's theme is "The Church of Jesus Christ and its Impact Around the World." The issue looks at the global church, rejoicing in the worldwide witness of the Christian faith. Keep Reading
When an Architect Should "Take a Mulligan"
from Keith Mathison Nov 02, 2008 Category: ArticlesI was recently skimming a book about Cambridge University and ran across a picture of the new Divinity Faculty building completed in 2000. Having looked at page after page of pictures of the centuries-old buildings of Cambridge, I was taken aback by the design chosen for this new structure. I decided to do an online search to see what the old building looked like. It's quite a contrast. Here is a picture of the old Divinity Faculty building: Keep Reading
Top 5 Commentaries on The Song of Songs
from Keith Mathison Nov 01, 2008 Category: ArticlesIt is somewhat difficult to recommend a "Top 5" list on the Song of Songs because one's inclusion of commentaries in the list will largely depend on whether one takes an allegorical or non-allegorical approach to the book. The list below is based on my own non-allegorical approach to the book. Keep Reading
Video: Journey to The Reformation Study Bible
from Chris Larson Oct 31, 2008 Category: ArticlesTurn to the Word that turned the world upside down. In this 8-minute video, we learn from Dr. R.C. Sproul the importance of Scripture as the Protestant Reformation ignited Europe with the flame of truth. He also writes about it here. Keep Reading


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Status & DNS Servers
|dns1.name-services.com (188.8.131.52)
dns2.name-services.com (184.108.40.206)
dns3.name-services.com (184.108.40.206)
dns4.name-services.com (188.8.131.52)
dns5.name-services.com (220.127.116.11)
|Whois Agent
|Whois Privacy Protection Service, Inc.
|PO Box 639, C/O gins.me, Kirkland, WA, 98083, US
More Info
Domain Name: GINS.ME Registry Domain ID: D108500000010768921-AGRS Registrar WHOIS Server: Registrar URL: http://www.enom.com Updated Date: 2017-02-06T13:09:12Z Creation Date: 2013-12-25T01:07:21Z Registry Expiry Date: 2017-12-25T01:07:21Z Registrar: eNom, Inc. Registrar IANA ID: 48 Registrar Abuse Contact Email: Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited https://icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited Domain Status: autoRenewPeriod https://icann.org/epp#autoRenewPeriod Registry Registrant ID: 3fe1422ca8b63e90 Registrant Name: Whois Agent Registrant Organization: Whois Privacy Protection Service, Inc. Registrant Street: PO Box 639 Registrant Street: C/O gins.me Registrant City: Kirkland Registrant State/Province: WA Registrant Postal Code: 98083 Registrant Country: US Registrant Phone: +1.4252740657 Registrant Phone Ext: Registrant Fax: Registrant Fax Ext: Registrant Email: email@example.com Registry Admin ID: 3fe1422ca8b63e90 Admin Name: Whois Agent Admin Organization: Whois Privacy Protection Service, Inc. Admin Street: PO Box 639 Admin Street: C/O gins.me Admin City: Kirkland Admin State/Province: WA Admin Postal Code: 98083 Admin Country: US Admin Phone: +1.4252740657 Admin Phone Ext: Admin Fax: Admin Fax Ext: Admin Email: firstname.lastname@example.com Registry Tech ID: 3fe1422ca8b63e90 Tech Name: Whois Agent Tech Organization: Whois Privacy Protection Service, Inc. Tech Street: PO Box 639 Tech Street: C/O gins.me Tech City: Kirkland Tech State/Province: WA Tech Postal Code: 98083 Tech Country: US Tech Phone: +1.4252740657 Tech Phone Ext: Tech Fax: Tech Fax Ext: Tech Email: firstname.lastname@example.com Name Server: DNS1.NAME-SERVICES.COM Name Server: DNS2.NAME-SERVICES.COM Name Server: DNS3.NAME-SERVICES.COM Name Server: DNS4.NAME-SERVICES.COM Name Server: DNS5.NAME-SERVICES.COM DNSSEC: unsigned URL of the ICANN Whois Inaccuracy Complaint Form: https://www.icann.org/wicf/ >>> Last update of WHOIS database: 2017-02-07T02:47:04Z <<< For more information on Whois status codes, please visit https://icann.org/epp Access to WHOIS information is provided to assist persons in determining the contents of a domain name registration record in the registry database. The data in this record is provided by The Registry Operator for informational purposes only, and accuracy is not guaranteed. This service is intended only for query-based access. You agree that you will use this data only for lawful purposes and that, under no circumstances will you use this data to(a) allow, enable, or otherwise support the transmission by e-mail, telephone, or facsimile of mass unsolicited, commercial advertising or solicitations to entities other than the data recipient's own existing customers; or (b) enable high volume, automated, electronic processes that send queries or data to the systems of Registry Operator, a Registrar, or Afilias except as reasonably necessary to register domain names or modify existing registrations. All rights reserved. Registry Operator reserves the right to modify these terms at any time. By submitting this query, you agree to abide by this policy.
Data updated: 2017-02-07 02:48:04


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Well, after a bit of time away from the game, enough of us decided that we missed the feeling of slaying internet dragons alongside each other.....Soooo we all sat down and ironed out a realistic gameplan that did not involve the insane time commitment as well as maintaining our alt armies.
Our new approach will take us down the more casual path, leaving us with plenty of that ever so valuable free time to spend doing all the other wonderful things us nerds enjoy (movies, sleeping, jobs, books, pets, family, outdoors, and even more video games). However, even though we may be taking a more casual approach, we are still looking to keep the standards high when it comes to personal skill and learning curve. Our current raid schedule/format will be:
Tue-Thurs 9pm CST-1am CST
No alts required
If this sounds interesting to you, the raid times fit your schedule, and you think you are the quality of player we're looking for; dont hesitate to throw in an application to Join the Legion!
For the Horde!


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Sponsor a Survivor
Why Sponsor a Survivor?
The destruction caused by landmines doesn't end when the bomb detonates and the debris settles. Those who survive are left with life-altering injuries. Many landmine survivors cannot afford the treatment they need in order to move forward.
MLI's Survivors' Assistance program helps people, particularly children, who have been injured by mines by providing prostheses, rehabilitative treatment, vocational training in areas such as carpet weaving, embroidery and tailoring, and physicians' training so doctors can become experts in the field of rehabilitation in their native, mine-affected countries. You can read more about survivors in specific countries and their stories here.
** (pictured to the left) Mohammad, a young boy in Yemen, lost his arms and eyesight in his left eye after accidentally picking up a landmine last year. He was recently sponsored by the Laura J. Niles Foundation and the Parkinson family, and last month he received prosthetic arms and eye glasses. Mohammad is incredibly excited to be able to have working arms again! Read his "Word of Thanks" letter and see some new pictures of him sporting his new arms!
How You Can Help
Supporting MLI's Survivors' Assistance Program helps provide prosthetics, wheel chairs, crutches, medical treatment, vocational training and physical training to those affected by landmines.
Learn More About This Program
To learn more about the Survivors' Assistance program and how you can sponsor a recovery please email us firstname.lastname@example.com or call us 703-243-9200.


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My first blog post, and an unlikely subject for me as someone who really has very little interest in sport. However, I am obsessed about what makes a successful entrepreneur and what I learnt tonight from Sir Jackie Stewart crystallised something I had already worked out: the qualities which make someone excel in sport bring great success when applied in business.
Jackie is a world-wide motor sport legend, but has been incredibly successful in business too. Which was harder for Jackie? Sport – because, quite simply, if you're not number one you're a nobody. Your business can still be top 10 in the rankings and be a massive success, but unless you're first in the world of sport you're a failure.
Think of an average sportsman, think of all the preparation and practise he puts in before an event – the days of football players turning up before a match and having a quick stretch to prepare are long gone. But how many people in business do nothing more than a quick stretch to prepare for a big meeting?
To succeed in sport you have to focus then practise and prepare.
It's the same in business. The most impressive candidates I have interviewed for jobs in the last year all had a professional sporting background and now it's something I will actively look for. They understand focus, determination and (depending on the sport) team-work in spades.


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COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Freshman Rebecca Cline led the women's squad while senior Sam Taylor paced the men at the TTU Invitational Friday, held at Southern Hills Golf Course. Both teams ended the home meet with strong second-place finishes. Three on the men's team recorded career-best times, while six of the women's runners also chalked up personal bests.
Taylor, from Soddy-Daisy, ran a second-best time of 27:35 in the meet. He was followed by freshman Matt Bishop from Morristown, who finished in sixth place with a time of 28:21. A cluster of Tech runners followed not far behind. Senior Joe DeLorenzo came in ninth with a time of 28:46. Chris Bishop, a sophomore from Morristown, covered the 8K course in 28:50 and came in 10th. Coming in 11th was sophomore John Greene with a time of 29:06. Daniel Francis, a junior from Morganton, N.C., came in 12th and timed at 29:15.
Close behind was Tyler Eads, a freshman from Tullahoma, who came in 14th with a time of 29:30. Freshman Nathan Snow of Collierville clocked in a career-best time of 29:53 and finished 15th. Adam McLeod, a freshman from Kingsport, placed 19th after posting a time of 30:46. Following at his heels was senior Ben Shassere who was timed at 31:02 and came in 20th.
Sophomore Kolbe Andrzejewski completed the course in a career-best 31:55 and came in 27th. Steven Bretz, a sophomore from Hendersonville, finished 29th with a time of 32:48. Nathan Livesey, a sophomore from Oak Ridge, was clocked in at 32:53 and came in 30th. Coming in with a personal-best time of 35:42 was sophomore Drew DeLorenzo, who finished 36th.
The women were paced with a strong performance from Cline, a freshman from Spring Hill, who came in fifth after posting a career-best time of 20:20. Close behind was freshman Peri Winborne, who came in seventh with a near-personal-best time of 20:41. Leah Bradley, a junior from McDonough, Ga., completed the 5K course in a personal-best 21:10 and finished 11th.
Several Tech runners followed in a cluster close behind. Sophomore Beth Miller from Watertown, Wis., came in 13th with a time of 21:18, which ties her personal-best. Traci Jones, a junior from Aiken, S.C., finished in 21:27 and placed 14th. Freshman Emily Williams posted a time of 21:34 and finished 15th. Not far behind was Amelia McCoy, a freshman from Crossville, who placed 16th with a time of 21:41.
A group of three Tech runners followed nearby and all ended with personal bests. Emily Weinzetl, a junior from San Antonio, Tex., clocked in a time of 22:01 and finished 19th. Right behind was freshman Meghan O'Donoghue from Talbott with a time of 22:07 and placing 20th. Freshman Brittany Brown came in 21st with her time of 22:23.
Yeshi Dohrmann, a freshman from Tullahoma, finished in 23:42 and placed 26th. Sophomore Ashley Clark reached the finish line with a time of 24:14 and came in 31st. Jenna Philpott, a sophomore from Manchester, completed with a time of 26:46 and placed 35th.
The Tech cross country teams are off for a week, then will hit the road to Indiana, where they will participate in the Evansville Invitational to be held on October 16th.


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STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — A new report commissioned by Joe Paterno's family challenges the conclusion by former FBI director Louis Freeh that the late Penn State coach conspired to conceal child sex abuse allegations against retired defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.
An executive summary of the critique released Sunday said the "observations" of Paterno by Freeh in July were unfounded. The team reviewing Freeh's work included former U.S. Attorney General and Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburgh, who called the report fundamentally flawed and incomplete, resulting in a "rush to injustice."
The family released was what billed as an exhaustive response on paterno.com. It called Freeh's report a disservice to Paterno, the university community and Sandusky's victims.
Freeh's findings were cited by the NCAA when college sports' governing body levied unprecedented sanctions against the football program for the Sandusky scandal.
Paternos issue report, challenge Freeh's findings
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A head-on car crash in the Bay of Plenty today killed a woman and left six other travellers, including two children, in hospital.
One, a boy aged 14, was in a "very critical" condition tonight.
Emergency services were called to State Highway 2 near Poplar Lane, in Te Puke, shortly after 4pm.
The woman, aged 33, died at the scene, and the six survivors were taken to Tauranga Hospital. The 14-year-old was later flown to Waikato Hospital. The other people had minor to moderate injuries.
St John spokesman Norm Ngatai said of the accident: "That was a major one for us. We had quite a few units on the scene - three ambulances and two managers ..."
The Fire Service cut free one of the injured from the wreckage, as well as the body of the woman.


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Last year, i began to admire the beautiful work of Marte Marie Forsberg, her love of light was as strong as mine so last early last fall, we decided to plan a workshop together "Finding the Light"in a place that made both our hearts sing.
Join Marte Marie Forsberg and I for a small and intimate workshop in the Beautiful country side of Scotland as you learn to tell a story through breathtaking landscape, throughfully prepared dishes and stunning light.
Your home for four nights will be a beautiful Castle in Scotland built in 1590 in the beautiful village of Glenluce. We will explore the region together, learn to tell a visual story through light using food and lifestyle as subjects. We will take walks by the sea, visit a quaint village, share evening meals by candlelight, enjoy meaningful conversations, watch sunsets and maybe evening star gaze.
Single Occupancy $2375. Double Occupancy $2175.
This is an intimate workshop for five.
Workshop Includes:
Four nights in a beautiful historic castle in Scotland
Three days of full instruction
Visit to local makers and markets
four breakfast
three lunches
four dinners
refreshments throughout.
a final evening dinner filled with music.
transportation during workshop ( excluding flight and transport ion to the workshop)
50% Percent due open registration -double occupancy $1087.5 Single occupancy $1187.50 final payment due April 15th. 2014
There is no refunds for this workshop, please know that you can make before you purchase.
We recommend travelers insurance.
registration is now open here


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The Knicks enter Sunday's matinee matchup against Dallas coming off their first loss in almost two weeks. The Knicks faltered badly friday at Madison Square Garden against the Hornets and look to start another winning streak on Sunday against the defending world champions. The 20-11 Dallas Mavericks come into the world's most famous arena riding a 6 game winning streak. For the Knicks, Carmelo Anthony will sit out but JR Smith and Baron Davis could potentially make their Knick debuts. Linsanity died down in the media after the Knicks disappointing Friday "performance" but that may end up being a good thing for the Knicks young point guard. Jeremy Lin even admitted in his post game interview that the media has been a bit overwhelming at times. I think Lin will come out and play well today and I expect this to be a hell of a game.
Here's what to watch for:
- JR Smith and Baron Davis are expected to play. In yet another mid-season talent infusion, the Knicks will begin incorporating new players into their system. Point guard Baron Davis, who has sat out all year with a herniated disk in his back, and shooting guard JR Smith, who's brain is often herniated, are expected to suit up and play. Both players will come off the bench and will start out playing spot minutes. Davis' production and health will be key to the Knicks success moving forward. Jeremy Lin has been spectacular but you can see him wearing down more and more every game. Due to the Knicks lack of competent point guards not named Jeremy Lin, the Knick starter has been forced to play an average of 37.5 minutes over his past 5 games. Davis should be able to get in there and make an impact when Lin needs a break. His potential to give starter caliber minutes coming off the bench could really solidify the Knicks backcourt. Another member of the backcourt, shooting guard JR Smith, is expected to make an impact. Billy "Chuck" Walker sucking every game in absence of Melo has been incredibly frustrating and unproductive. Walker can now be replaced by the explosive JR Smith. Tomorrow, Walker will still start in place of Carmelo Anthony but when Melo gets back Chucky's minutes are going to drop. Smith plays the 2/3 wing position just like Walker but he is far more talented. So far this year, the Knicks "bench" has ranked 26th in the NBA in bench scoring. They had a game in which the bench scored 4 points. This bench has sucked. JR Smith gives them an explosive scorer that they did not previously have. How much of an impact will these players have tomorrow? Who knows. I do not expect either player to play major minutes but that does not mean they won't have an impact. I am interested to see how mobile Davis looks with his bad back and I want to see what kind of shape JR Smith is in. He has been playing in China but this faster paced Lin-powered offense should give us a good idea of how truly in shape Smith is. Obviously it will take both players multiple games to work out the cinks (SEE ESPN. NO 'H') of adjusting to a new system but I expect both players to make a great impact. Bill Walker ladies and gentlemen:
- Tyson Chandler should be hyped for this game. Yes, I actually just said hyped in a blog post. I think Chandler is going to be fired up and ready to go today against his former team. The Knicks center has been nothing short of amazing this year and I expect him to play great against the Mavs. Brendan Haywood and Ian Mahimi are a formidable interior defensive duo but I think Chandler will find lanes on the pick and roll to slam a couple alley oops. It should be fun to watch.
- Hey Amar'e, can we get some defense? On Friday, Amar'e Stoudemire's performance defensively was… well… it was pathetic, lazy and flat out disgusting. Gustavo Ayon continually schooled the Knicks max-contract star and finished the game with a double-double. Today, Stoudemire faces the tandem of Dirk Nowitzki and Lamar Odom. They are just a bit better than Gustavo Ayon. The Knicks need optimal defensive effort from Stoudemire. They stand no chance if Amar'e is giving up baskets every other possession. I think Jeffries will be featured a lot in this game in that he is long enough and athletic enough to stay with and potentially bother both Nowitzki and
KardashianOdom. You wanna hear Lamar Odom crying? It's pretty funny actually.
- I want to see Bibby get in against Jason Kidd. Not because it will give the Knicks any advantages, rather they'll probably be disadvantaged, but because it would be comical to see two 400 year old point guards running around the court.
- Jeremy Lin should have an advantage. There have been multiple reports saying that the Mavericks plan to use Shawn Marion to guard the Knicks young point guard. I imagine at times, Lin will be matched up against Jason Kidd who is
38038 years old. If Lin is on his game, his swirling dervish style of play should reign superior over the Mavericks defensive efforts. I think this can be a game in which Lin scores 25-30 points. Dallas is a solid defensive team but they are no longer the defensive caliber team that won the NBA championship last season. I think the Knicks should be able to take advantage of Dirk on the pick and roll. I think the Knicks can beat the Mavericks with their athleticism cutting into the lane and spreading the floor. While the Knicks are one of the strongest rebounding teams in the league, Dallas is very mediocre. I think the Knicks, if they put in the effort (YES AMAR'E STOUDEMIRE I AM SPEAKING TO YOU!), can get some second chance points cleaning up the offensive glass. Lin needs to get to the rim and finish. When he doesn't finish, the Knicks should be able to clean up pretty nicely on the glass. That is simple basketball 101. Lets see if the Knicks can execute.
- Hey Knicks, can we get some three point shooting? The Knicks 3 point shooting sucks. They are ranked 29th in the league at 3 point shooting percentage (29.9%) while Dallas is also ranked in the bottom half of the league at 18th (32.9%). On Friday, the Knicks lost to New Orleans by 4 points in a game where they shot 4/24 from beyond the arc. 4/24 is absolutely abysmal and unacceptable. If the Knicks are able to have some success shooting the 3 ball, they should have a good chance to win. If they shoot 17% from downtown, there is a good chance they will lose. This is not New Orleans or the Kings or the Wizards. The Mavs are the defending champs and they are hot right now. Bad 3 point shooting won't get it done. The Knicks need to hit the 3 ball and they need to execute the offense today.
- Jeremy Lin's high school coach will be sitting court side. The man who coached Lin at Palo Alto High School, Peter Diepenbrock, will be sitting with Spike Lee during the game. Spike will wear Lin's high school jersey, as he did on Friday (pictured above). As much as I love the jersey, I have to say that his outfit was almost as ugly as Drew Gooden's braided beard. I can't wait to see if Spike will pull out hot pink under armor, a Hue Hefner smoking jacket or maybe a nice meat suit to go along with Lin's jersey. Spike's outfits over the years only seem to get more flamboyant and asinine. I can't wait to see what he comes up with.
- Why the hell would you wear that hat??


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|align each row so they add up to 100
|Level 9 - Gruelling
|Creative Crafthouse
|Other Wood Puzzles, Dave Janelle
|5 in diameter x 0.8 in x / 12.8 cm x 2.1 cm
Product Description
Can your rotate the rings to get all 6 columns to add to 100 at the same time? Only 1 solution, but 5700 possible permutations of the wheel.
A very beautiful puzzle designed and precision made by CreativeCrafthouse in their Florida shop. The base measures 5" in diameter. The base is 1/4" thick and the rings 1/8" thick.
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Justice Thomas writes the unsurprising opinion:
In contrast to state-sponsored courtroom practices, the effect on a defendant's fair-trial rights of the spectator conduct to which Musladin objects is an open question in our jurisprudence. This Court has never addressed a claim that such private-actor courtroom conduct was so inherently prejudicial that it deprived a defendant of a fair trial. And although the Court articulated the test for inherent prejudice that applies to state conduct in Williams and Flynn, we have never applied that test to spectators' conduct. Indeed, part of the legal test of Williams and Flynn—asking whether the practices furthered an essential state interest—suggests that those cases apply only to state-sponsored practices....There are no dissenting opinions, but there are three concurrences, from Stevens, Kennedy, and Souter. From Souter's opinion:
Given the lack of holdings from this Court regarding the potentially prejudicial effect of spectators' courtroom conduct of the kind involved here, it cannot be said that the state court "unreasonabl[y] appli[ed] clearly established Federal law." §2254(d)(1). No holding of this Court required the California Court of Appeal to apply the test of Williams and Flynn to the spectators' conduct here. Therefore, the state court's decision was not contrary to or an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law.
[O]ne could not seriously deny that allowing spectators at a criminal trial to wear visible buttons with the victim's photo can raise a risk of improper considerations. The display is no part of the evidence going to guilt or innocence, and the buttons are at once an appeal for sympathy for the victim (and perhaps for those who wear the buttons) and a call for some response from those who see them. On the jurors' part, that expected response could well seem to be a verdict of guilty, and a sympathetic urge to assuage the grief or rage of survivors with a conviction would be the paradigm of improper consideration.Does this mean the case might have been better litigated? The First Amendment argument could have been developed. (Justice Stevens makes a point of saying that argument is obviously meritless.) And there could have been more concrete information about what these buttons were like. Justice Thomas had something to say about that too:
The only debatable question is whether the risk in a given case reaches the "unacceptable" level. While there is a fair argument that any level of risk from wearing buttons in a courtroom is unacceptable, two considerations keep me from concluding that the state court acted unreasonably in failing to see the issue this way and reverse the conviction. First, of the several courts that have considered the influence of spectators' buttons, the majority have left convictions standing. See, e.g., State v. Speed, 265 Kan. 26, 47–48, 961 P. 2d 13, 29–30 (1998); State v. Braxton, 344 N. C. 702, 709–710, 477 S. E. 2d 172, 176–177 (1996); State v. Lord, 128 Wash. App. 216, 219–223, 114 P. 3d 1241, 1243–1245 (2005); Nguyen v. State, 977 S. W. 2d 450, 457 (Tex. App. 1998). I am wary of assuming that every trial and reviewing judge in those cases was unreasonable as well as mistaken in failing to embrace a no-risk standard, and so I would find it hard to say the state judges were unreasonable in this case, given the lack of detail about the buttons' display. Second, an interest in protected expression on the part of the spectators wearing mourners' buttons has been raised, but not given focus or careful attention in this or any other case that has come to our notice. Although I do not find such a First Amendment interest intuitively strong here, in the absence of developed argument it would be preferable not to decide whether protection of speech could require acceptance of some risk raised by spectators' buttons.
The record contains little concrete information about the buttons. The buttons were apparently two to four inches in diameter and displayed only a photograph of [the victim] Studer. It is not clear how many family members wore the buttons or how many days of the trial they wore them.But perhaps the buttons were small and rarely worn, in which case, it wasn't a bad decision to leave out the details.


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All the ingredients are there for "Any Day Now" to be a poignant drama. It's almost tailor-made to open up the tear ducts. And perhaps that's the problem. It wants so badly to be seen as an important, bold piece of racially themed television that it lays on the heavy vibes a tad too thick. Which is unfortunate, because any show with Annie Potts is worthy of attention.
Designed as a sort of early 1960s female buddy version of the short-lived 1991 NBC drama "I'll Fly Away" (with a little bit of the 1984-85 ABC series "Call to Glory" thrown in), this hour — the first homegrown original dramatic series for Lifetime — hops back and forth between eras to document the complicated relationship of Mary Elizabeth O'Brian (Potts) and Rene Jackson (Lorraine Toussaint).
Despite their skin color, the white Mary Elizabeth and the black Rene were best pals growing up in segregated Alabama during the early '60s, in the shadow of the civil rights movement. Mae Middleton portrays the young tomboy Mary, Shari Dyon Perry the pint size Rene. Both young actresses pull off their roles with aplomb under Jeff Bleckner's direction. Truth be told, their relationship as girls is more interesting than that of their elder versions, though the washed out sepia tone of the flashbacks is a bit cliched.
As the show picks up the relationship between the fortysomething women, they are estranged, having been that way since age 19, when Mary Elizabeth became pregnant by childhood sweetheart Collier Sims (played by Chris Mulkey as an adult) and Rene offered something less than her full support. But now, Rene's civil-rights lawyer father, James (Courtney B. Vance in the pilot), has died, spurring Mary Elizabeth to show up for the funeral and bury the hatchet.
Both Potts and Toussaint are effective in their portrayals of women who took radically different paths — Potts' character marrying a beer-guzzling semi-bum and popping out a couple of kids, Toussaint's becoming a high-powered lawyer and career woman who puts off the family thing, perhaps forever.
But in the pilot script by exec producers Nancy Miller and Deborah Joy LeVine, the childhood editions of their characters prove far more compelling as they traverse the muddy waters of racial injustice in the Deep South. It seems, in hindsight, that a series built around the girls would be more effective than one that hops hyperactively between then and now to paint its portrait of friendship against all odds.
As "Any Day Now" moves forward, its storyline will work to capture the racial divisions of '50s Alabama — blacks forced to ride in the back of the bus and use separate water fountains, and being treated as thieves in retail establishments — and will use the civil-rights backdrop as a meter to measure progress today.
It's a terrific concept. But in playing out that hand, the series should perhaps take itself a mite less seriously if it expects to keep viewers coming back week after week.


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I try to eat fish (well, seafood in general) as often as I can. Not only because I actually like seafood (contrary to popular belief as I am forever extolling the virtues of pork), and C loves seafood, but also because (and this may be the shallowest reason of all, so please just humor me) I live in a tropical archipelago and I believe it is my solemn duty to live the island life to the fullest…even if I actually live in a little flat in the middle of a quite-polluted and over-crowded city.
So how do I like to inject a little tropical salsa into my stodgy city life? (Oh Jo! It's not that stodgy and you know it!) By wearing tank tops and flip-flops at every occasion, by using my sarongs as décor, by buying tanning oil in the middle of a busy work week, and by eating seafood to remind myself that "Yes! I am surrounded by fish because I live in a tropical paradise!"
I can feel summer starting to sharpen its claws on my back, drawing rivers of sweat instead of blood. Technically, I have upwards of 7,000 islands to which I can escape, basking in the sun and eating juicy ripe mangoes. But, in reality, there is work to be done, budgets to be drawn, and schedules to be managed…so a beach getaway will just have to wait. But until then, I can put on my flip-flops, play some samba on the Ipod, and feast on some fish.
Steamed Maliputo
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 large onion, half sliced and half chopped
- 2 native tomatoes, chopped
- 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
- 1 lemon, slice the middle portion thinly, use the end portions for zest and juice
- 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and cut into thin strips
- 1 medium sized maliputo (or other white-fleshed fish like lapu-lapu, pompano, or maya-maya), gutted and cleaned
- 2-3 teaspoon sesame oil
- 3 teaspoons soy sauce
- Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- Parchment paper
- Line a bamboo steamer with a square of parchment paper, leaving a bit of an overhang.
- Rub fish with sea salt and cracked black pepper inside the cavity and out. Place on parchment inside the bamboo steamer.
- Mix the garlic, chopped onions, tomatoes, cilantro, lemon zest, and ginger. Stuff what you can of this mixture in the cavity of the fish, along with a couple of the lemon slices. Scatter whatever is left of the mixture around the fish.
- Drizzle fish with the lemon juice, sesame oil and soy sauce. Top with the rest of the lemon and onion slices. Fold in parchment (it doesn't have to close completely as it will cook in a steamer anyway) and close the steamer.
- Heat water in a wok until it comes to a rapid simmer. Place steamer in the wok (making sure the water does not touch the contents!) and cook for 15-20 minutes.
Serve the fish in the steamer, because one of the chief joys of owning a bamboo steamer (aside from the fact that they are workhorses in the kitchen and are cheap to boot) is the drama of you taking it to the table (oooh!) and whipping off the cover theatrically (aaah!) to reveal the succulent goodness that lies inside.
Malitputo is a catadromous fish that is either similar, or actually is (I've seen both views) talakitok (Trevally/Jack). Its white flesh is firm and incredibly flavorful. When steamed it becomes so moist and almost buttery that my eyelids go all a-flutter when I eat it. (I get mine at the Salcedo Market when they have it)
Whether you are in the sun or in the shade, have a happy weekend! :)


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World's Largest Chicken Nugget Is 51 Pounds of Cluckin' Deliciousness
Not all chicken nuggets come in those micro-dinosaur-shaped, easy-for-your-kids-to-digest sizes.
Take a good look at the photo above. It's the world's largest chicken nugget and it comes from Empire Kosher Poultry. It weighs a robust 51.1 pounds, which makes us wonder exactly how much the chicken it came from weighs.
It took about 45 minutes to cook the nugget in a 500-gallon fryer. It's covered in two-and-a-half pounds of breading and is roughly the equivalent of 720 normal nuggets.
If Empire is going to cook up some giant nuggets, how about making some in the shape of a dinosaur? Kids would love that.


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WASHINGTON (AP) — Veterans waiting more than a year for a decision on their disability claims are moving to the front of the line, under a new program announced Friday.
The Department of Veterans Affairs is responding to criticism about the soaring number of claims that have been pending for longer than 125 days. The VA said that of the nearly 900,000 claims pending in the system, some 250,000 are from veterans who have been waiting at least a year for a decision.
Veterans receive disability compensation for injuries and illness incurred or aggravated during their active military service. The amount of the compensation is based on a rating assigned by the VA.
Allison Hickey, the VA undersecretary who oversees the Veterans Benefits Administration, says provisional decisions will be made based on the evidence currently in the veteran's file. In some cases, medical exams will be required, and those will be expedited.
Veterans whose claims are granted would get compensation immediately. Veterans whose claims are denied will have a year to submit more information, and if the decision is reversed, benefits will be paid retroactively back to when the claim was first submitted.
Lawmakers approved of the plan to focus on the oldest claims first, but Democratic Rep. Mike Michaud of Maine emphasized that it doesn't resolve the systemic problems that the VA faces because it relies on paper files. The VA is rolling out a new computer system designed to improve efficiency, but not all regional offices will have that system until the end of the year.
VA moves to process oldest disability claims first
WASHINGTON (AP) — Veterans waiting more than a year for a decision on their disability claims are moving to the front of the line, under a new program announced Friday.


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Finance panel OKs external probe of education budget deficit
An external audit of the $2 million deficit in the Board of Education's budget was approved Wednesday by the Board of Finance, despite concerns voiced by the school board leader.
The audit, approved unanimously after a two-hour discussion, will investigate the cause of the shortfall that accumulated in the school district's health insurance fund, but was revealed only a few weeks ago.
Superintendent of Schools Elliott Landon has already warned that, in order to compensate for most of the deficit, the 2014-15 budget he will propose will require more than 2 percent of a projected 6.5 percent spending hike.
While all finance board members backed the external audit, Board of Education Chairwoman Elaine Whitney expressed concern over getting an accurate accounting of the shortfall in a timely fashion since the school board needs to present its 2014-15 budget to the finance panel on Jan. 21.
"That's less than two weeks away," she told finance board members.
"The information you need is the information we want," said finance member Tom Lasersohn.
Education officials, however, still aren't certain of the exact amount of the deficit, initially estimated at $1,988,709.
On Monday, the school board approved an ad hoc committee with three of its members and the school district's business manager to investigate the problem.
Finance board members, however, agreed the matter needs to be investigated by an independent, external auditor. Members of the Representative Town Meeting had expressed similar sentiments at their meeting Tuesday night.
Lasersohn said there appears to be a $1.1 million variance in the health insurance account between March 19 and May 25. "We need to find out what happened and how it happened and who had the information," he said. "This is not just a budget issue, it's an overall management problem."
"This is public money and we need to now how it was spent," said finance member Janis Collins
She said the finance board should have known "there was a significant variance" in the health insurance account before Nov. 25, the date the finance board first learned of the shortfall -- a revelation that shocked several of the finance members.
"We need good information and we need it done quickly, properly and transparently," said Jennifer Tooker, a finance board member who until her November election, had been a school board member.
Finance board member Brian Stern said getting to the crux of the matter is important to maintain public confidence in school officials. That's why, he added, an independent, in-depth inquiry of the deficit and how it occurred is important. "It needs to be totally independent and antiseptic," he said.
Stern said the town charter recommends that all departments have a full audit once every four years.
"The Board of Education has had none in a while," he added.
"We need an independent assessment," said finance member Michael Rea. "We need to move on this. Let's get our feet on the ground."
Whitney told the finance board members the school board has "a very good idea of where we are at" in figuring out what caused the shortfall.
"I am clear when and where it happened," added school board member Paul Block, when he took to the podium. "It's not as hard as it needs to be."
The anticipated shortfall has been attributed by education officials, in large part, to underfunding the health insurance account for school district employees. The shortfall was uncovered by Elio Longo, the school district's business manager, who brought it to Landon's attention on Nov. 20.
Without the money needed to cover the deficit, as well as $750,000 in "safety net" money, the new budget request would have risen about 4.3 percent over the current budget of $104 million, according to Landon.
The superintendent also told the board that, after looking at ways to partially fund the shortfall, $200,000 could be saved in the cost of utilities and supplies in the current budget.
The first meeting of the Board of Education's ad hoc committee will take place at 1 p.m. Thursday in Town Hall.


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|Flashing a little leather. Even when the ball is ruled foul.
Headley came to the majors as the next great Padre power hitter, and he charged out of the gate. Headley hit HRs in 2 of his first 4 games after being called up for good in 2008. Since? He hit 34 HR in his next 517 games. Freese didn't make it to the majors with as high of a set of expectations as Headley did, but he's hit the ball about as well. Freese's OPS+ (116) is slightly better than Headley's (105), but their career slash lines are pretty close:
- Freese .298/.354/.429
- Headley .269/.343/.392
Defensively the edge goes to Headley, and it's not particularly close. In his three years as the everyday starter he has excelled with the glove. Chase Headley was ranked the #1 defensive third baseman on the Dewan Plus/Minus scale (which can be found at Bill James' website), saving 19 runs. Last season he was 10th but still credited with saving 2 runs in his 113 games. Freese, on the other hand, has never had a positive runs saved number. This year he was -1. Last year he was -4. If you watched any of the World Series, you saw Freese get eaten up by several ground balls to third. He looked slow. And no, I am not counting the pop up that hit him in the head in Game 6. Headley in a rout.
Then there's the injury bug. In his three major league seasons, Freese has yet to play 100 regular season games. Over the same span Chase Headley has yet to play LESS than 100 regular season games. San Diego suffers from a systemic lack of infield prospects. Suppose Freese had stayed with the Padres and reached the majors, with Headley having been moved. The Padres would have had to have someone play almost as many games at third as Freese did. Could you see Jesus Guzman trying to man the hot corner for the 40% of the season Freese is on the DL? Better offensively, worse defensively.
Because to his injuries, Freese lags Headley in fWAR. For the 3 years in question Freese's WAR is 4.4. Headley's is more than double that (9.1). It's what we expect given the disparity in playing time and defense.
What is the point of this exercise? To show that Headley has been a better bet than Freese over the past 3 years in terms of defense and durability. The Padres have been better off with Headley at third than they would have been had Freese taken over the hot corner. Those recently bashing Kevin Towers for that late 2007 trade have lost sight of this fact.


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Plants and animals have captured the attention of many conservationists for decades. This same attention is yet to be extended to the usually overlooked but an extremely important group - fungi. The Global Fungal Red List Initiative intends to turn the tide on this scenario and draw people's attention to the plight faced by this unique kingdom.
An 18 month-long programme has been initiated by the Global Fungal Red List Initiative to increase awareness and add to the number of fungal species evaluated and submitted for inclusion in the IUCN Global Red List of Threatened Species.
Fungi are not plants, they live everywhere and are heterotrophs (feed by absorption). Some may look unappealing to the human eye but all are extremely crucial components of nature through their role as nutrient recyclers, decomposers, symbionts and many others. Besides this, fungi are an important part of our lives - found in the food we eat and essential for the production of everyday products such as penicillin, beer and soy sauce.
"The aim is to show to the world that fungi are in need of conservation and they need to be part of the broader conservation agenda," says Gregory Mueller, Vice President of Science and Academic Programmes at Chicago Botanic Garden.
The 2012 IUCN World Conservation Congress is special to the Global Fungal Red List Initiative and to all fungi lovers because for the first time in IUCN's history, there will be a motion explicitly and exclusively devoted to fungi.
In spite of their critical importance, so far less than 10% of the world's estimated species of fungi have been scientifically described. Only one mushroom and two lichenized fungi are included among the 19,817 animal, plant and fungal species listed in the 2012 update of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.TM
According to Mueller, little has been done to assess the status of fungi because they have usually been considered difficult to study and there is limited awareness generally.
"One of our big challenges is to figure out how to bring information on fungi to countries because they are important ecologically and as an important food source," adds Mueller. "This new initiative marks a begining for the mycological community and IUCN to build on results and move fungal conservation forward".
The Global Fungal Red List Initiative is a joint venture of all five IUCN Species Survival Commission fungal specialist groups (Chytrid, Zygomycete, Downy Mildew and Slime Moulds, Cup-fungus, Truffle and Allies, Lichen, Mushroom, Bracket and Puffball and Rust and Smuts) and is supported by the IUCN Species Programme.


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He would help old ladies cross the streets of South Boston and give turkey dinners to his working-class neighbors at Thanksgiving. But authorities say James "Whitey" Bulger also would put a bullet in the brain of anyone who double-crossed him and that his mood would brighten after spilling someone else's blood.
He would help old ladies cross the streets of South Boston and give turkey dinners to his working-class neighbors at Thanksgiving. But authorities say he also would put a bullet in the brain of anyone who double-crossed him and that his mood would brighten after spilling someone else's blood.
For years, James "Whitey" Bulger was viewed as a Robin Hood-like figure on the streets of South Boston, valued by his neighbors who saw him as a tough guy who kept drug dealers out of their neighborhood.
That image was shattered when authorities began digging up bodies.
Bulger was charged in 19 murders but fled in 1995 after a former FBI agent tipped him that he was about to be indicted. The public would only later learn that Bulger had been an FBI informant for years, all while allegedly committing a long list of crimes.
Bulger, now 81, was finally captured Wednesday in California, 16 years after he disappeared from Massachusetts, embarrassing the FBI and triggering an international manhunt.
"You could go back in the annals of criminal history and you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone as diabolical as Bulger," said Tom Duffy, a retired state police major who was one of the lead investigators in the criminal case against Bulger.
"Killing people was his first option. They don't get any colder than him," said Duffy.
Bulger, nicknamed "Whitey" for his bright platinum hair, grew up in a gritty South Boston housing project. He became one of the most notorious criminals in Boston while his younger brother, William Bulger, became one of the most powerful politicians in Massachusetts, leading the state Senate for 17 years.
Along with Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi, Bulger led the violent Winter Hill Gang, a largely Irish mob that ran gambling, loan-sharking and drug rackets in the Boston area.
He became an FBI informant in the 1970s, providing information on his gang's main rival, the New England mob. At the time, bringing down the Mafia was one of the FBI's top priorities.
In the working-class neighborhood of Southie, Bulger's neighbors knew he had been in and out of prison for various crimes, but he used a mix of charm and intimidation to create an image of a tough but generally harmless gangster.
"If there was an elderly woman carrying a bag of groceries across the street, he would take the groceries and carry them for her," said Duffy. "People liked that about him. It gave them the psychological feeling that their neighborhood was being protected when he was around."
Paul Sassone, 44, said Bulger once gave him money to replace his muddy sneakers.
"At first, I didn't know who he was," Sassone said. "Then he started naming people that I knew and stuck out $60 and said, 'Get you some new shoes.' I swear to God, that's what he said."
To law enforcement, Bulger was one of the most ruthless killers they had ever known.
"I think he enjoyed killing," said Massachusetts State Police Detective Lt. Stephen Johnson. "We know from people who were there that post-murders, he would act super-relaxed. His associates said he would be in a good mood for a long time after he killed someone."
John McIntyre, a 32-year-old fisherman from Quincy, was allegedly killed by Bulger in 1984.
Investigators say former Boston FBI agent John Connolly Jr. tipped Bulger that McIntyre had talked to U.S. Customs agents in an investigation of Bulger's involvement in a failed plan to send guns to the Irish Republican Army aboard a Gloucester fishing boat.
Flemmi testified during a civil lawsuit filed by McIntyre's family that Bulger lured McIntyre to a party, chained him to a chair, interrogated him at gunpoint for five hours, then tried to strangle him with a rope. When that didn't kill him, Bulger asked, "Do you want one in the head?"
"Yes, please," McIntyre responded.
The first bullet failed to kill him, so Bulger shot him a few more times, according to Flemmi.
Bulger is also accused of strangling Flemmi's girlfriend, Debra Davis, carrying the 26-year-old down the stairs as he choked her. Flemmi testified that Bulger said she had to die because Flemmi had told her that he and Bulger were FBI informants.
Bulger associate Kevin Weeks testified that Bulger also strangled 26-year-old Deborah Hussey, the daughter of Flemmi's common-law wife, because she had a drug problem and used their names whenever she got in trouble.
In both cases, Bulger insisted on pulling out the women's teeth so they would be difficult to identify, Flemmi said.
"The scope of his criminal activity was like a tornado. It cut a wide swath and it damaged and destroyed people's lives," said William Christie, an attorney who represents the McIntyre family.
Authorities said Bulger went on the run after being warned by Connolly, who was convicted in 2002 for protecting Bulger and Flemmi.
"He had a menacing voice, and everybody knew he knew how to pull a trigger without remorse," Johnson said.


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Will China's Panda Market be a Bear or a Bull for International Carbon Linking?
By Jasmine Hyman and Jonathan Smith
The Ring of Fire is ablaze with the new carbon trading schemes sweeping around the Pacific Rim. New Zealand is home to the first mandatory trading scheme outside of the EU, and the governments of both California and Australia have recently approved trading programs that will become operational in the coming years. Japan, which is pulling out of the Kyoto agreements in 2012, has been proposing the widespread adoption of bilateral carbon offset mechanisms for countries no longer part of those agreements, and at the municipal level, both Tokyo and Saitama are experimenting with urban carbon markets. Meanwhile, China and South Korea have plans to scale out national emissions trading schemes by 2015 as well.
Investors worldwide are taking note of these developments in Asia. At a recent China-sponsored side event at the climate negotiations in Durban, Henry Derwent, CEO of the carbon market's International Emissions Trading Association, praised Asia as being the epicenter of the fastest growth in the carbon market, and noted that surveys indicate that of all the new trading programs developing around the world, participants in trading schemes have the most confidence in those that are being created in Asia.
China in particular has been the focus of attention ever since the controversial launch in 2009 of its "Panda Standard" with BlueNext, one of the leading environmental exchanges originating from the EU. This past year, the Chinese government announced that as part of the carbon intensity and energy intensity targets of its 12th Five Year Plan (2011-2015), seven pilot carbon trading schemes will be launched in provinces and cities: Beijing, Chongqing, Guangdong, Hunan, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Tianjin. Officials hope that these market-based programs will assist China in meeting its pledge to reduce nationwide carbon intensity (emissions per unit GDP) 40-45 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.
China's domestic carbon trading scheme elicits equal parts confusion and optimism. The exact structure of the pilot carbon markets has yet to be worked out, as Tsinghua University's Teng Fei noted in a Durban side event earlier in the week. One major point to work out is whether these pilot programs will cap emissions on an absolute basis, or per-unit of GDP basis. China is also looking at the Tokyo program, which bills itself as the "World's First Urban Cap-and-Trade," to see whether it should copy Tokyo's end-user cap on building and facility owners, or follow the more traditional, EU-style cap on producers such as factories and power plants. And it is still unclear whether the pilot programs will be uniform in structure, or tailored to the specific circumstances of each province and city.
While Mr. Derwent maintains that it is "far too early to think of Chinese markets demanding international credits," Li Junfeng of the Energy Research Institute of China's National Development and Reform Commission did indeed indicate that the ultimate trajectory of China's carbon markets are to eventually join a global market.
But stitching together the current patchwork of trading schemes will be challenging. On the international level, linking China's trading schemes to its neighbors will be difficult, if not impossible, especially if the Chinese programs quantify emissions reductions in terms of GHG intensity, rather than the international norm of issuing carbon credits for reductions in absolute GHG emissions. Linking to the Australian scheme, which will likely be one of the largest sources of credit demand in the region, will also be complicated by the Australian system's use of a floor price. It remains to be seen how carbon credits from other schemes will meet the floor price in order to circulate within the Australian market — will there be a top-up fee to the trader? A subsidy from the Aussies? Or no linking at all?
Leon Wang Liangling, Regional Manager for China and East Asia at The Gold Standard Foundation, a certification scheme for voluntary and CDM offsets, also points to internal tensions in bringing a market mechanism for pollution control to China. "Building a working, effective and efficient domestic scheme is highly challenging given the massive scale and high complexity of China's economy. The truth is that those challenges that confront the trading scheme didn't pop up only when the international climate talk heated up — they have been among the difficulties that China has to deal with in its market reform in recent decades."
Worldwide interest in linking up the many regional carbon trading programs remains high. EU climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard confirmed plans to link the EU system with the what will soon be the second biggest emission trading scheme in the world: California's. The EU has informed California that they hope to collaborate to ensure that their two programs are linkable. "It doesn't have to be identical, just compatible," Hedegaard notes.
With the potential of China's scheme to be the largest in the world, pressure to make the Chinese system compatible will likely be high as well. It is up to China whether its carbon market will be a conservative bear that protects national interests, or an energetic bull pushing for global carbon market linkages.


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netstat -tap | grep LISTENThat will show you the active servers on your system and what port they listen to . . . . but this needs far more information . . . . let us say that in general only the services you allowed running above should be seen in there . . . Example:
tcp 0 0 *:ipp *:* LISTEN 1758/cupsd( This one is okay, the cups printer deamon, and needs to be running ! )Another command is:
nmap -sS 127.0.0.1It shows you the same servers, but now with the port numbers they listen to.So, like I said, the cupsserver is okay, but if any of the following servers are active and in LISTEN mode, it would be safer to shut them down: fingerftpd kdesshlockd mountd named or BINDnfsdrpcrloginrsh sendmail ( Only needed if you run a mailserver )snmpsslsshstatd rusertelnetd X ( the part that listens to tcp )And, if you're not running a web server, you should also shut down any running httpd process.You can shut down the processes for the current session with "kill PID" ( where PID is the number you see just before the name of the service . . in our example it would be: 1662 )To prevent those services from starting up at boot permanently ( and they are not in the MCC "services" tool ) you will have to edit the /etc/inetd.conf file.A radical way to do this is back up the old /etc/inetd.conf file:
# mv /etc/inetd.conf /etc/inetd.conf.OLDand replace it by an empty file:
# touch /etc/inetd.conf. . This will eliminate most of the ones listed above that can not be found in the MCC. Then to stop X from listening to a certain port:In Mandrake and PCLos: add the bold part to the last line in the "/etc/X11/xdm/Xservers" file:
# mv /etc/rc.d/rc.sshd /etc/rc.d/rc.sshd.OLDBruno


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What is North Carolina's most widely available summer pleasure that we often pass by without partaking?
It is the bounty of delicious fresh foods that are available throughout the state all summer long.
I have been spoiled by the year-round availability and wide selection of fruits and vegetables at our grocery stores. So I sometimes forget how much better foods are when they are fresh from the field, tree or vine.
Then somebody shares a fresh-picked ripe strawberry, peach or tomato.
And I remember joyously the pleasures of in-season eating.
This year I have help. It comes from four new books from food experts who celebrate the value of farm-fresh eating. Each author takes a little bit different approach to getting the food from farm to table.
Award winning chef Andrea Reusing organizes her recipes and advice by seasons of the year. Sara Foster catalogues her fa-vorite recipes and stories by types of dishes, from hors d'oeuvres to sweets. Watauga County native Sheri Castle puts her collec-tion of recipes in separate chapters for about 40 vegetables and fruits. They are in A to Z order from apples to zucchini. Finally, travel writer Diane Daniel organizes by geographical location the farms, markets, restaurants and other places where we can find and buy in-season fresh vegetables and fruit.
We will take up the Reusing's and Foster's books in this column and follow up next week with a discussion of those by Castle and Daniel.
Andrea Reusing owns the acclaimed Chapel Hill restaurant Lantern, one of the former Gourmet Magazine's Top Fifty restaurants. Her Cooking In The Moment: A Year of Seasonal Recipes takes its readers through every season, showing how to shop for and prepare the variety of local foods that are avail-able in North Carolina during different times of the year. Reusing's restaurant is known for its complex Asian-inspired flavors. There is some of that influence in the recipes in her book.
But, for the most part, the foods and the directions are simple and designed to take advantage of what is fresh and available. I loved her great advice about my favorite food, the tomato: "The secret to eating great tomatoes all summer long lies not in which variety — but in watching them — making space for them to lie flat someplace cool near the kitchen, checking them daily, eating the ones that need eating and continuously making plans for the ones that are getting there. Even tomatoes that are picked ripe need a little time out at room temperature to reach their peak flavor. It is shocking how long it can take even a just slightly firm tomato to get there … and how fast a perfect one rots."
Many folks in the Research Triangle area know Sara Foster for the wonderful food and fellowship at Foster's Market in Durham and Chapel Hill. Fans throughout the country admire her as a communicator about southern foods, wonderful teacher, and author of lovely and understandable cooking books.
She grew up in Tennessee in the country surrounded by family and other rural and small-town characters and family. Her recipes reflect southern-cooking traditions familiar to North Carolinians.
Foster also worked for and with Martha Stewart. The elegant photography to illustrate the recipes, the photos and stories about old-time, home-cooking restaurants throughout the South, and the overall presentation of the book show that Foster knows how to produce a product Martha Stewart-style. As a result, when you have finished look-ing through her book, you will want to stand up and give an ovation for the production.


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BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, May 2 (UPI) -- The United States has "a clear path" to a postwar Afghanistan "while delivering justice to al-Qaida," President Barack Obama said in Afghanistan Wednesday.
"The goal that I set -- to defeat al-Qaida and deny it a chance to rebuild -- is now within our reach," Obama said in a live televised address delivered from a military base near Kabul.
But even as the United States carries out a troop withdrawal, U.S. forces will continue to help the Afghans, "and fight alongside them when needed," he said in remarks from Bagram Air Base that began at 4:01 a.m. local time Wednesday (7:31 p.m. EDT Tuesday).
Obama's address, in front of two camouflage military vehicles, came a few hours after he arrived in Afghanistan in secret under cover of darkness and signed a pre-dawn "Enduring Strategic Partnership Agreement" with Afghan President Hamid Karzai meant to address the U.S. role even after the U.S.-led NATO alliance ends its combat mission in 2014.
"This time of war began in Afghanistan, and this is where it will end," Obama said.
"With faith in each other and our eyes fixed on the future, let us finish the work at hand and forge a just and lasting peace," he said on the first anniversary of the death of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, shot and killed inside a private residential compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, by U.S. Navy SEALs and CIA operatives in a covert operation Obama ordered.
The jihadist organization is responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets around the world.
Obama's speech did not lay out a new timetable for what he said was the goal for Afghanistan -- "a future in which war ends and a new chapter begins."
"Our troops will be coming home," Obama said. "Last year, we removed 10,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan. Another 23,000 will leave by the end of the summer. After that, reductions will continue at a steady pace, with more and more of our troops coming home. And as our coalition agreed, by the end of 2014 the Afghans will be fully responsible for the security of their country."
He told Afghans, "As you stand up, you will not stand alone," saying the new agreement "establishes the basis for our cooperation over the next decade, including shared commitments to combat terrorism and strengthen democratic institutions."
"It supports Afghan efforts to advance development and dignity for their people. And it includes Afghan commitments to transparency and accountability, and to protect the human rights of all Afghans -- men and women, boys and girls," he said.
A senior administration official briefing reporters two hours before Obama's speech said "the strategic partnership itself does not commit the United States to any specific troop level or levels of funding in the future, as those are decisions that will be made in consultation with the U.S. Congress."
The pact calls for the administration to request money from Congress annually to pay for training of Afghan troops and other programs, including social and economic development assistance, the official said.
Obama also visited U.S. troops at Bagram, telling them the U.S. withdrawal would be an honorable one.
"We're not going to do it overnight. We're not going to do it irresponsibly," he said. "We're going to make sure that the gains, the hard-fought gains that have been made, are preserved.
"But the reason we're able to do that is because of you," Obama said. "The reason that the Afghans have an opportunity for a new tomorrow is because of you. And the reason America is safe is because of you."
Obama's Afghanistan visit -- the third of his presidency -- came as presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and GOP lawmakers have accused Obama of politicizing bin Laden's death.
The senior administration official briefing reporters denied the Afghanistan visit was timed to benefit Obama politically, noting Afghan and U.S. officials negotiated the settlement for nearly 20 months.
Karzai and Obama had both set a goal of having a deal in place before a NATO summit in Chicago May 20-21, the official said.
"And we had a goal of signing this agreement on Afghan soil to demonstrate our commitment to Afghan sovereignty and this new chapter in our relationship," the official said.
Romney said late Tuesday he was "pleased" Obama returned to Afghanistan.
"Our troops and the American people deserve to hear from our president about what is at stake in this war," he said.
Obama was to fly back to Washington within hours, and was scheduled to arrive at the White House at 1:40 p.m. EDT Wednesday, the White House said.


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For almost 40 years, Stan's Corner Doughnut Shop of Westwood, California, has baked the world's most gourmet donuts. Every customer finds something to satisfy their donut desires--from a Cinnamon Chocolate Cheese Danish, to an Apple Fritter, to a Reese's Peanut Butter Pocket with fresh banana. Stan's offers donuts you will find nowhere else in the world. You can take a look at our 75+ varieties on this site, and learn more about how Stan's has grown from a small shop frequented by locals, to a nationally-acclaimed donut heaven recognized for creating the world's finest donuts.
We'd love to hear your comments! Please send us


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Comic books browse by: Shop category:
Artist Henk KuijpersAvailable series in store category "Comic books"
Henk Kuijpers in the COMICLOPEDIA
" Henk Kuijpers was born in Haarlem and raised in Santpoort-Noord. After finishing his studies in sociology, Henk Kuijpers published his first short stories in the magazine Pep and the sole issue of Baberiba. Pep then published his longer story 'Het Misdaadmuseum' in..." [ Read more ]


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Regular Services are held at the Cathedral on most Sundays and on selected days during the week. Whether you are a regular or occasional attendee; a visitor to the area; or just exploring your options for faith you will be will be warmly welcome.
Welcome to the parish website of the Killaloe Union of parishes. The parish comprises the five churches of St Flannan's Cathedral, Killaloe; St Caimin's Church, Mountshannon; St Cronan's, Tuamgraney; All Saints'. Stradbally; and St Senan's, Clonlara...read more


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9/11 judge has handled tough cases before
When President George W. Bush proposed razing Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison in 2004, this American Army judge declared it a crime scene and forbade its demolition. When five years later President Barack Obama asked the Guantánamo war court to freeze all proceedings, the same judge refused the brand-new commander-in-chief's request.
He's Col. James L. Pohl, who has appointed himself to preside at the war crimes trial of the five men accused of orchestrating the Sept. 11 attacks.
It's not that Pohl is unaware of rank after three decades in the Army. It's simply not relevant in this colonel's court.
Here's how he scolded a prosecutor when the prison commander, an admiral, was late for court to testify after lunch recess in January: "Witnesses should be waiting either in the trailer at the back or outside," the judge bristled, "and I really don't care what their rank is."
A soldier since the '80s and a judge since 2000, Pohl has had judicial oversight of some of the most notorious Army cases of the post-Sept. 11 era.
• He presided at the trials of nine soldiers found guilty of abusing detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
• He decided that U.S. Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hassan should get a death-penalty trial for the 2009 shooting spree that killed 13 soldiers and wounded dozens more at Fort Hood, Texas.
• In September, however, he found the opposite at a show-cause hearing for Army Sgt. John Russell. Unlike Hassan, Pohl ruled, Russell had "an undisputed mental disease or defect" that made it "inappropriate" to pursue a capital case for allegedly killing five troops at the combat stress center at Iraq's Camp Liberty in May 2009.
• Pohl also presided at the so-called "mercy killing" trial of an Army captain, a tank commander, who killed a critically wounded insurgent in May 2004, and was captured on an aerial drone's videocam doing it.
Now, at a moment when most 60-year-old colonels are retiring from service, Pohl is chief military commissions judge, and has chosen to take on two of the most high-profile trials of his career: the 9/11 trial, and the trial of a man who allegedly engineered al Qaida's 2000 USS Cole bombing.
Each case seeks the death penalty. Each is to be heard by a military commission, the tribunals that Bush had created after Sept. 11 and Obama ordered reformed upon taking office.
Saturday, Pohl will face off for the first time with Khalid Sheik Mohammed, who bragged that he masterminded 9/11 for al Qaida — wading into the case that's been a lightning rod for criticism that the court was created to cover up torture.
Serious about the law, but not himself
"All judges should be like him," says Indiana Supreme Court Justice Steve David, a retired Army colonel.
Pohl "takes what he does very seriously but not himself. He is fair and firm with a great sense of humor and a keen mind. If I were prosecuting or defending, he would be a great choice for judge."
He's by far the most experienced military judge currently in the Army, adds retired Marine Lt. Col. Guy Womack, a veteran military defender of Pohl courts martial from the Green Zone in Iraq, Germany and the United States, notably the Abu Ghraib case.
There, Pohl caused a mini-stir by refusing a guilty plea by Pfc. Lynndie England, the soldier photographed with a detainee on a leash. At her hearing, another soldier testified that England was ordered to pose for that picture, casting doubt on her admission of conspiracy. Pohl ordered a trial. She was found guilty.
Womack also described Pohl as one of the military's most methodical and careful crafters of judicial rulings to make sure they stand up to appellate scrutiny, a skill set he likely acquired in the early 1990s while working at the government appellate division in Falls Church, Va., defending Army convictions.
When he got the Abu Ghraib case, said Womack, Pohl kept "all of them, which is typical" — a practice Pohl has repeated at Guantánamo by handling all the trials of the former CIA captives.
Womack called Pohl's judicial style "dictatorial," and said the judge preferred to meet defense and prosecution attorneys in chambers, out of earshot of the public and off the record, before each day to map out how the session would proceed.
Of the 9/11 trial, said Womack, "Col. Pohl would be the judge of choice for this case either because he doesn't want to be reversed, or because he wants to mean well. You need a strong judge; a weak judge would never get it done."
At the same time, he has shunned the spotlight.
Pohl wouldn't be interviewed for this profile.
He travels incognito, in jeans and polo shirt, no colonel's uniform for him. And he has stood in line to check in for the war court charter flight from Andrews Air Force Base undetected by reporters, legal observers, enlisted troops, even some lawyers going to Guantánamo, too.
An ex-Army prosecutor calls him "ego-less." David calls him "humble," and, oddly for a man so private, "someone that could do those commercials for Dove soap for men. He is very comfortable in his skin!"
Omitted from Pohl's terse court biography is that he was sworn in as a judge on May 19, 2000, after completing the Army's "Military Judge Course" with perfect scores on his final exams and graded practical exercises. That makes him the longest serving judge currently in the U.S. military. His biography also does not mention that he's been retained past his retirement date, Oct. 1, 2010, and serves in a special status that requires renewal each year.
At Guantánamo, it's hard to spot him around the base, where he mostly splits his time between the court and his quarters. On a sticky evening in April, military lawyers donned crisp uniforms and civilians put on suits and ties to climb a hill to the old tribunal building and meet the judge in his chambers.
They found Pohl in jeans and loafers, no socks, and a pink sports shirt.
By gavel-down the next morning, he was in his Class Bs, the new Army uniform with a gold stripe down the trousers, topped by a black robe — commissions business attire.
Sometimes, you can see him at dinner in a corner booth at O'Kelly's pub. But, unlike the lawyers and reporters, who mingle and make small talk, he keeps the company of his staff, and he doesn't linger at the bar.
Judicial independence
Judge Pohl comes to the 9/11 case from the peculiar position of having been passed over for promotion to general and retained past retirement, meaning "he's got nobody he has to please," says retired Lt. Col. Victor M. Hansen, who spent 20 years as an Army lawyer and now teaches at New England Law School.
Hansen says Pohl has the judicial independence to throw out a case for insufficient evidence, no matter how high profile. "He would not bat an eye, and sleep like a baby that night."
Guantánamo's death penalty cases present Pohl with grave issues in a still-evolving system.
CIA torture is alleged — some of the accused were waterboarded, threatened at gunpoint, sleebp deprived, hung by their wrists, had their families threatened. A jury of U.S. military officers decides guilt or innocence, life or death. It's Pohl's job to decide what charges go to the jury and to make sure no evidence derived from abuse or worse is used at trial.
Pohl has yet to tip his hand on what he'll do if he's confronted with proof that U.S. agents tortured a captive. By international law, it's a war crime.
He has told defense lawyers it'll be their job to instruct him on how to regard the treatment, what rules apply, and it'll be his job "to follow the law and the preferences given to me by counsel and as I interpret it."
Hansen predicts that Pohl "will take the prosecution through the wringer" to make sure no "derivative evidence from coerced confessions comes in."
Earlier in their careers, Hansen was an Army prosecutor who worked opposite Pohl, who was taking a turn as defense attorney, typical of the Army legal career track. Hansen predicts the judge will be "tough on both sides" at the 9/11 trial.
"He's lived as a defense counsel in the Army, when you've got the whole prosecution against you. And so he's very good on keeping the government's feet to the fire."
Lawyers who've watched Pohl for years say he sweats the details, and demands the same of those who come to his court.
Privacy, wry wit
Pohl's an intensely private man.
Friends likewise declined to answer the most innocuous human interest questions. Not even what he does when Army plays Navy, a football rivalry that's a rite.
Public records show that James Lancaster Pohl earns $10,557 a month plus a housing allowance. He turns 61 next month.
He has served a stint in Korea, at least five years in Germany and is now based at Fort Benning in Georgia, where he registered as a voter in September 2008.
He's voted once since — on Nov. 4, 2008, the historic elections that put the first African American in the White House.
He's a 1974 graduate of UCLA, where records show he got a bachelor of science degree in psychology. He went up the road to Malibu's Pepperdine University to get his law degree in 1978, and was admitted to the California Bar after Thanksgiving that year.
Several friends mentioned his hilarious sense of humor, which you only glimpse at court.
Once, a defense attorney invoked the estimate that it costs $800,000 a year per Guantánamo detainee and called it "a monument to waste."
Pohl retorted: "Let's say it is robustly resourced."
When a Saudi in his court pulled out a poster showing Obama's pledge to close Guantánamo, the judge dryly asked the man's attorney whether this should be marked as evidence.
"For as many big cases as he's had, that he's tried, the man really is ego-less," said former Army Maj. Christopher Graveline, who prosecuted the Abu Ghraib case and left the military in 2006. "It's never about him, it's about doing the process and trying to reach a fair result."
So when Pohl was holding hearings in Baghdad and President Bush remarked back home that the prison should be demolished, the judge ruled for defense attorneys that the place needed protection.
"He gave a restraining order to the president and didn't bat an eyelash," said Graveline, who called it unprecedented and seemed genuinely dumbfounded by the order even now. "It wasn't like a chest thumping thing for him. He said, 'This is a crime scene and we're going to allow them to take a look at it.' "
In the same hearing Pohl ordered numerous officers in the military chain of command, notably the Central Command's chief, Army Gen. John Abizaid, to undergo questioning by defense lawyers trying to make the case that the guards were following policy by posing detainees for humiliating photos. (They weren't and all the soldiers were convicted.)
"I was shocked," Graveline said. "I was a captain at the time. I had to go back and tell my boss!"
The judge drew the line, however, when lawyers asked to question Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Stephen Cambone, his undersecretary for intelligence.
Pohl ruled the defense had not drawn a clear enough line to the political hierarchy to merit a subpoena. But, he told them, if they could make a better case for it later, he'd reconsider the request — not unlike what he's been telling defense lawyers in the USS Cole case when their motions fail.
It was his handling of the Cole case that confounded the freshly minted Obama administration.
Just hours in office, Obama sent word to the Pentagon that he was suspending the trials at Guantánamo to review all the cases.
Obama had campaigned on a promise to close the prison in Cuba, and prosecutors filed motions to delay the arraignment of Abd al Rahim al Nashiri, who'd been waterboarded by the CIA.
Bush-era lawyers approved death-penalty charges in the dwindling days of the administration, and served Nashiri on Christmas Eve. A statutory 30-day speedy trial clock was ticking.
And Pohl ruled against the new president.
"The Commission is bound by the law as it currently exists not as it may change in the future," he wrote. A continuance, he added, would "not serve the interests of justice."
The Pentagon had an out: It could withdraw the charges, without prejudice, and preserve the option to try Nashiri later. A Defense official ultimately did that. But not before a mini-maelstrom questioned Pohl's motives.
Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, blamed Bush administration holdouts for "exploiting ambiguities in President Obama's executive order as a strategy to undercut the president's unequivocal promise to shut down Guantánamo." Former USS Cole commander Kirk S. Lippold countered that the judge had delivered "a victory for the 17 families of the sailors who lost their lives on the USS Cole over eight years ago."
An online bulletin board for the military law community posted the development with the headline, "Army Judge Pohl Sticks it to Obama Administration"
Lawyers who had worked with the judge weighed in, and disagreed.
Pohl had applied the law, as written, to the government motion and could not find a reason to grant it. "On its face, the request to delay the arraignment is not reasonable," he had ruled.
Classic Pohl, it reflects the judge's penchant for noting the political and then arguing it's irrelevant.
At a hearing weeks after Obama was elected, but before he took office, Pohl announced the obvious:
"This court is aware that on Jan. 20 there will be a new commander-in-chief, which may or may not impact on these proceedings." Meantime, he advised, everyone should stay focused "unless and until a competent authority tells us not to."
Guantánamo has a court like no other. It gets turned off and on by a charter flight carrying staff, and follows its own rulebook, not the Uniform Code of Military Justice used to try American soldiers. In between court sessions, Pohl issues instructions by email. He's announced that he'll accompany Nashiri prosecutors and defense lawyers to Yemen this summer, as deposition officer overseeing sworn testimony from Yemenis who can't be subpoenaed to the war court in Cuba.
"Location does not matter to Judge Pohl," said Graveline. "I know he's gone to Afghanistan, he's gone to Iraq — in that sense, he's very Army." He's held court at a forward operating base in Baghdad's Sadr City, the mostly Shiite slum that often simmered with anti-American unrest.
Once, during an Abu Ghraib hearing, the courtroom building shook with the thud of insurgent mortars striking inside Camp Victory in Baghdad. Pohl told everyone "to stop in place" for a few moments; the attack over, he ordered court to resume.
For next week's hearing, the Pentagon is bringing up to 60 reporters.
Pohl's made clear from the bench that he's a proponent of transparency but will close the court if the rules require it.
"I don't think he worries about the media scrutiny or the military scrutiny," said Hansen. "But he doesn't want to make a bad ruling or a rash ruling."
Plus, said Hansen. "He's certainly not afraid to ruffle feathers, to call it like he sees it and not necessarily worry about the long-term consequences."
At the end of the day, those who know him say, Pohl will play the role of referee at Guantánamo through the prism of three decades of service to the Army that honors judicial independence guided by what the rules created by Congress and the White House require.
Says Graveline, the Abu Ghraib prosecutor: "Judge Pohl knows what the law is — that's military law and U.S. law — and he follows the law. There's always evolving areas of law, but we try to analogize it to bedrock principles of justice, and it always goes back to, is this a fair process?"
Defense attorney Womack, who argued opposite Graveline, says that Pohl is capable of delivering that kind of justice. "He knows the law. He has a strong personality. And you can't have referees that vacillate."


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Product Description
4-Channel Security DVR
MAX series budget minded 4-channel security DVR in a small package.
- 120 ips recording speed (real time)
- H264 compression
- Audio & sensor inputs
- Event log list support
- Low price
The PLEX4H is an economically priced 4-channel security DVR that uses H264 video compression for storing clear, sharp video surveillance files.
Multiplex OperationMultiplex operation allows you to perform more than one task at once. You can watch a recording that happened a day ago (or week, month, or more) without disturbing a scheduled recording or other operation. You can inspect the menu and alter settings without interfering with current DVR operations (unless that is your intent). Watch recordings or make backups while monitoring your property at the same time, secure in the knowledge that unwanted activity won't slip by.
Easy LAN Connection and SetupProgramming and setup is easy thanks to the on-screen display (OSD) menu. Connect to local area networks quickly using the RJ45 style connector on the back. You can expect trouble-free communication with TCP/IP, DHCP, DDNS and PPoE protocols available.
Remote OperationThis security DVR contains a built-in webserver. If it is connected to the internet you can use a PC equipped with MS Internet Explorer to review your cameras. All you need is the IP address of the DVR (which you assign during setup) and your password, which you create. Login to your DVR and review files or watch live video from any of your connected cameras. If the PC is equipped with our free management software you can access the menu and make changes just as if you were standing in front of the DVR.
Cellphone SupportThe MAX-PLEX4H supports 3G devices including Blackberry, iPhone, Android and Windows Mobile phones.
- Camera Inputs: 4 channels
- Recording speed: Real Time, 30fps (120fps total max.)
- Spot monitor, video out monitor
- Audio Inputs: 4 channels
- Audio Outputs: 1 (mono)
- Video compression: H264 (h.264)
- Menu: On-Screen Display (OSD) for easy programming
- SATA storage compatible
- Remote Operation Software: Licensed software AP, IE browser (Windows 2000, XP, Vista compatible)
- MAC or PC viewable
- Recording Modes: Manual / Timer / Motion / Sensor
- USB mouse port
- USB 2.0 port
- Infrared Remote Control included
- RJ-45 style LAN connector with activity LED
- Power: 12VDC (power adapter included)
- Manual included
- One year warranty
Click image above to view specification sheet