text:
Della almost blew the seeds off of a talking dandelion.
The flower said, "Don't" and Della managed to keep most of the breath in, but a puff escaped her lips. Several of the dandelion's parachute seeds swayed.
"I said don't. Back off, meat-weed."
She stood up and stumbled back. She kept her wide eyes on the little flower until she felt she was close enough to the back door of her house. Della turned around and ran inside.
She slammed the door and stamped into the living room, where her mother sat on the couch.
"Are you alright, honey?" her mother asked, looking up from a magazine about gardening.
Della looked at her mother with eyes as big as nickels. Two streams of tears sprinkled down her cheeks. Her mother got up and grabbed her, lifting her high, until their faces met.
"Baby. What's the matter?"
Della tried to speak but her throat was tight.
"Did you get hurt?" Her mother held her out a few inches and looked her body up and down. Della shook her head, no.
"Did something scare you outside?"
She squeezed her eyes and nodded and sniffed.
"What was it, baby?"
Della's throat released a stuttered word.
More tears came. Her mother squeezed her tighter and nuzzled her nose against her red face.
"A flower scared you?"
Della felt her mother's cheek flex against hers. Della pulled her head away and saw her mother trying to hide a smile. She drove her earthy brows together and looked her mother right in the eyes. Her mind tried to navigate the twists and dead ends of confusion.
I don't know, mommy!
Della wept.
"Okay, Delly. I think it's time for a nap."
That set her off and she wailed and kicked but was soon struggled into bed and blanketed. After much screaming and protesting, she slept. Her mother woke her when her father came home from work. She squealed when she saw him. He picked her up and kissed her. She rubbed her cheek on his scratchy chin. In her nap fit, and now her father's presence, she had somehow forgotten about that talking dandelion.
The next day rained. With her forehead pressed against the cold glass, she watched the downpour flood her family's patchy, overgrown, toy-strewn backyard. Among the crabgrass, a slender green stem, now bent in a curly-q, caught her attention. At the end of the stem was a battered fuzzball, the dandelion's head, drooping and hanging on. Della stared at it until she remembered. That thing is alive. It could talk. She saw other stems in the yard too, also curled in the smacking rain.
She went and found her mother.
"Mommy, can I go outside?"
"No, baby. It's raining today."
"I know it's raining, mom. I just really want to go outside." Della was almost whining. "I can put on my rain boots."
"Sweetie, no."
Della forced out a lungful of breath. "You never let me go outside."
"Never, right," her mother mumbled.
Della cheered up later when a sun ray beamed through a window leaving a bright hot rectangle on the living room carpet. Feathery dust could been seen then lazing around in the orange haze. Della's mother got out the rags and cleaner and started wiping every surface in the house. Della began spinning and dancing in the living room. She climbed up on the couch and started jumping.
"Stop. You're spreading more dust. Can you see it, in the light?"
"Uh, huh. Can I go outside then?"
"Sure. Let's put a sweater on you though."
Della, wearing sweater, socks, boots, and tights tromped out into the mud and the thigh high blades. She avoided the grassy spots and went straight for the dirt patches, hopping like a frog and splattering mud on her tights as she moved toward the back of the yard which bordered a forest. Covering the back edge was a patch of big beautiful dandelions, ripe for blowing. Della stopped her hopping, tilted back and peered down her nose at the white maned flowers. The one that had spoken to her was there, now dry except for the dewy stem. It didn't look so curved and sleepy anymore.
Della knew she would feel funny starting a conversation with a flower, so she waited and listened. Nothing happened for a while. All she heard were drips and chirps and road sounds, made far from their country house, being carried to her ears by the wind which kissed her hands and face.
"If she's here to make honey out of us I think I'll poison her."
Della's jaw dropped.
"She's not a bumble bee, Dot. She's a little human. Didn't you hear the footsteps? Speaking of which, you were the one who called attention to yourself yesterday, by talking to her," another, sweeter, voice said.
"Whatever will be, will be. She was about to rip me out and blow my precious babes away. I had to speak up! What would you have done, really?"
"I would have done the same thing. I'm just saying, you can not blame the poor child."
Della just stood there staring.
"Is she still there? I think I can hear her horrifying breath", asked the mean one. Its leaves curled at the ends and it shivered.
"Hello, dear. What is your name?" asked the sweet one.
"Della… hello," she said and gulped.
A volley of squeaky hellos sprinkled from the dandelion patch. Della started moving backward, as she had done before.
"You're afraid, aren't you? Aw… there's nothing to worry about. My name is Clar, and Dot, the one whom you met yesterday, is all talk."
"How… how can you talk?" Della asked.
The flowers made some beeping noise, Della thought it might be laughter.
"We have a lot of explaining to do, don't we? How to say it? Hmm. You see, we don't normally talk to humans. Most of them can not hear us, our voices are in a frequency range higher than your adults can hear and–" Clar talked so fast. Della had a hard time following her.
"Free Quincy range?"
"Yes, frequency range. Our voices are too high pitched for big people to hear. You can hear us because you're a small, young, human, your ears haven't lost their youthful abilities. Wonderful isn't it? Anyway, back to what I was saying. We know who you are but you don't know who we are. At least, we're not who you think we are, we're not from here either, not natural anyway. Somethings are natur– well, hah, of course we're natural. We aren't artificial, you know? That is true, but we're not…" the flower paused.
The pause lingered.
"You're not just flowers, right? You're some sort of, people?" Della's face scrunched.
"Ah, yes?" Clar sounded unsure.
"What Clar is failing to explain to you," said the one called Dot, "is that we're not originally from Earth, but we're not aliens. We have just as much of a right to be here as you do."
Its voice started rising.
"We've lived here for over four thousand years and you people, just because you can't hear us talk, you always slaughter us! Poison us, pick us, mow us, blow off our babies before they're ready! We are not weeds! You are the w–"
One of the dandelions near Dot thrust out a long spiked leaf and was twisting it around Dot's stem. It tightened until there was a snap. When the spiked leaf let go, Dot's stem was crushed in and bruised and she leaned over.
"Whoa, Ren! What do you think you are doing?" asked Clar.
Della imagined she could hear Dot wheezing although the flower made no sound.
"She'll be fine," Ren said in a huskier, yet still feminine voice.
"She'll have a scar!"
"For the rest of her short miserable life. Who cares? The babies are fine." said Ren, waving two of her leaves.
Then Ren, who was larger and less squeaky than the others, muttered the word "unfortunately".
"We just… shouldn't display such violence to a little girl," said Clar.
"Clar, please. She's a human."
"I understand that, but please, just stop wringing the necks of your kin."
"Now that I don't have to listen to Dot anymore, I can." Ren said in a lighter tone.
Dot raised a short leaf and shook some gesture at Ren, Della suspected that it wasn't a nice gesture, kind of like the one her daddy sometimes made while he was driving.
"I am so sorry you had to see all that, Della. We're really not bad people and Dot really will be fine. You see, we don't feel pain because we don't need it. We don't live for very long and we have so many babies. It's not hard for our species to survive. Every year, our babies, our seeds, blow away and we die, but our children carry a piece of us with of them. They take on our names. Is any of this making sense to you, sweetie?"
Della was still a bit nervous. None of it really made any sense to her, of course. She had picked lots of dandelions and they had never shown that they could talk or think or move until now.
"You're giving her too much information at once. We all know that you're the best talker, but do it slowly, Clar," said Ren.
"Why haven't I ever heard you talk before?" said Della.
Clar waited this time, before she spoke, but when she did she drew most words out longer than necessary.
"It may be obvious, but we are not ordinary flowers. You don't have to be alarmed, you probably haven't killed any of us before," said Clar with that beeping noise which Della now, just barely, recognized as laughter. The other flowers seemed to think it was funny too.
"S-So, you just sit there until you have your babies?"
"Basically. That's why some of us use a lot of strong words. Talking, it's all we do."
They all laughed. Della felt kinda bad for Dot, the others acted like they hated her.
Clar continued. "We migrate. That means we, uh… travel all the time. Your yard seems like a nice place for us to stay for now, though."
Della looked around at the mud and towering weeds and spotty clumps of grass. The yard didn't look nice for anything but a pig.
"But our yard is so messy. I don't like it. It's not pretty at all."
"Pretty is… pretty, but we need safety. We need to know that your father isn't going to mow us or poison us, like your neighbors did to our ancestors."
Della noticed Dot tugging on Ren with her short leaves.
"Yeah, good point," Ren said. "Dot doesn't want you to tell your mom and dad about us. She's right about that. Please don't."
Della had no intention of ever telling her parents about any of this, considering her mother's reaction the previous day. It wouldn't mean much if she told them anyway. For one thing, they wouldn't believe her. Also, her daddy never did any yard work. He wouldn't find out on his own.
Della heard the hum of rain on the wind and the dirt around her changed color from bright brown to grey as clouds hid the sun. The rain returned and Della heard her mother call her from inside the house.
Clar told her to come back and visit any time. Della ran to the house, splashing more mud onto her tights. The dirty tights kept her mother mad enough so that she didn't ask what Della had been doing out there and Della was glad for that.
As the week continued, Della came to love her secret friends. She even loved keeping the secret. If her mother ever found out, which she wouldn't, Della could just say that she had lied to protect the flowers. She didn't like lying, but a good reason makes a lie permissible, she thought. "Permissible" was one of the big words Clar used. Della somehow managed to get Clar to explain what it meant.
By the first day of the next week, each dandelion in the patch had a mane the size of a tennis ball. Their parachute seeds were almost an inch long and their stems were thicker than Della's pinkie finger. She was amazed on the morning she found them that way, it had happened almost overnight.
"You said you weren't like normal dandelions and I knew you weren't because you talked, but now I can see that you're not like normal dandelions. It's amazing, you're so beautiful."
Della would have meant it as a compliment if she had said "I want to pick a bunch of you and bring them to my mother" but she thought twice about saying that.
"You're not your old mopey self today." Dot let out a wretched whisper.
"She's happy and not bored for once and all you do is tell her she's a mope?" said the biggest one, Ren.
"You've been a decent girl this week haven't you Della? You didn't tell your mother about us did you? I know it's true, you like having a secret, right?" asked Clar.
Della was nodding. "I haven't told, but you're getting so big. They might see you soon."
"And if they do notice us, we were just discussing this, we don't care. They haven't done a single thing about the rest of this wonderfully hospitable, overgrown mess of a yard."
"I guess so."
Della sat down then, cross legged and listened to the flowers, as she did every day, talk about the history and biology of their ancestors. The one percent of it that she could comprehend reeled her, the flowers knew tons about their own past and tons about their own bodies. Sitting and listening to Clar fast-talk and Ren translate was the best part of Della's days that week.
One night, Della was taking a bath and heard her mother and father talking.
"I read all about them on the internet. If we don't do anything about them we'll just get more of them next year," said her mother.
"Did you find out how big they get?"
"It said they're supposed to be about a foot tall, and the flower part maybe an inch wide."
"But ours are like as big as your hand. Maybe we just have some mutant ones. I should enter them in a competition at the fair. I'd probably win, too."
They laughed. Then her father continued.
"Okay, I'll see if I can do something about them tomorrow. I'll go to Ace and ask what kind of poison I should use."
Della started. Her bath water splashed.
"I'm gonna go check on her," said her mother. Della didn't have time to compose a single word of her speech in defense of the dandelions before her mother rounded the corner and entered the bathroom.
"Hi honey, are you ready to get out yet?"
Della hoped her silence read as a 'no' or at least indecision enough to give her a moment. Finally, she decided to say the simplest thing she could think of.
"Mommy please don't let daddy poison the white flowers."
"Yeah? You like them, huh?"
Della nodded.
"But they're weeds, baby. We can't just let them grow. They'll be covering our whole yard after the summer."
"But the yard is already taken over by weeds!"
Della knew she had a good point, she saw it in the reaction on her mother's face.
"They are… worse weeds. They blow their seeds everywhere."
"But mommy, they're so pretty."
"They kind of are now but in a little while they'll just be yucky stems and there will be white seeds all over the yard. Also, their leaves definitely aren't pretty. They're pointy and yucky like little saws."
Della didn't think much of her mother's down-talking. She looked up at the ceiling and her mother left the bathroom. Then she heard her mother tell her father that she had rolled her eyes.
"How does she know how to do all this stuff? Rolling eyes, talking back, she's 4," her father wondered aloud.
"TV, I guess," said her mother.
Tomorrow, Della thought, I have to tell them tomorrow, before daddy gets home from work.
Della forgot that the next day was Saturday.
She woke halfway and lay in her bed watching the strips of sunlight that cast through her blinds caravan across her wall diagonally. They had moved from the center of the wall, on her Precious Moments calendar, down to the floor next to her bookcase, as they had done every cloudless morning that she could remember, when the faint rumble of the garage door snapped her fully awake. Daddy is home?
Della jumped out of her bed and ran down the hall in her pajamas. It was true. She looked through a window in the door from the kitchen to the garage. Her father was removing a big jug of poison from the trunk of the car. The big picture on the front of the jug was of a fully bloomed dandelion.
Della pulled with all her tiny might on the sliding door to the backyard and hurt her elbow before she noticed that it was locked. She unlocked it and opened it and jogged into the backyard rubbing her arm.
The flower patch looked very different than it had a week ago. The ground could not be seen through the dandelions' two foot long leaves. That night they had grown even more and some of their "heads" were almost as wide as Della's.
As usual, the flowers heard her coming and spoke first.
"You sound exasperated, dear. What's the matter?" Clar said.
"My daddy is going to cut you down and poison you!"
"I knew it! We should have followed an east wind!" said Dot, whose voice was sounding better. "My ancestor surely wanted us to go east. I'm sure, Clar, that it was your mother who insisted that we blow this way."
Clar ignored her.
"Della, if what you say is true, there is something that we need to ask you. It's a thing that we don't ask often. As you know, we rarely speak to humans, and of those humans, we almost never ask to be curated. Della, what I mean is this, this thing that we have already discussed and deemed you suitable for, is that we would like you to interfere in our life cycle. We would like you to," she paused, "we would like you to pick us."
The words pushed Della back.
"But, you'll die."
"Yes Della, we will die, but we need you to move our babies to a safe place. Do you know of one?"
Della knew that if you kept walking out of her backyard, into the forest, kept walking, left the trees, you'd be in a big abandoned wheat field that always had weeds which nobody ever mowed. The sun and rain touched it, the dirt was soft and the wind blew easily through it. She could take the flowers there.
"I know a very safe place."
"That's it then. You have been, and will be, a good friend to us and our children. You are a good girl."
"But, no. I don't want to do that to you, Clar, Ren, Dot, all the rest of you. I'll just tell my daddy that you're like people and he'll stop."
"Della, it's okay," Clar said. "I am pleading. Do you remember what I told you the first day we met? We don't feel pain. We want you to do a strange thing, I know. A hard thing, but for us it's a normal thing. Della, please pick us if you want us to live."
Della turned around, steadied her gaze at the back door and began walking. Behind her, all the dirty bruised flowers with the claw leaves shrieked at her like tiny gargoyles.
Della walked into the house, out of the flower's sounds of desperation, intending to ignore their screaming and to forget the thorniness she was beginning to feel in her conscience. She walked through the hallway, glanced into her parents' bedroom and looked at her sleeping mother's face. She lifted her gaze to a set of photos above the bed. Della, her mother and her father, blessed, smiling, were embracing in the pictures. Something held her eyes there. Held them to stare at the loving family which she could call her own.
Then she turned back and ran again for the back door. She stopped in the garage first to hoist up a big plastic bucket which she could have knelt in and been nearly hidden.
Outside she just ran for the flowers. Most of them stopped their crying, a kind of tinkling noise.
"Della?" It was Clar who whispered.
"It's me, yeah."
"Are you going to take us, or not?" said a frantic one.
"Yes, I will. What do you need me to do?"
Clar told her.
"Grab as many of us as you can, not by our tips but by a low place on our stems, pull us out and take us to the safe place."
"And then just blow the seeds around?"
"Yes. We're trusting you to do that. When our babies grow, introduce yourself. Ask them which ones are Clardens, my daughters, tell them about me. Sweet girl, don't be afraid. They only require a little sun, soil and water, or course wind to travel on," said Clar.
Crying, the thing that caused misunderstandings and required naps to get over, was something Della hated, but it was what she did then. Love too, she thought, they need love.
Della brought the bucket closer.
"Are you ready?" she said.
"No, no. We have things to pack, friends to call, hotel arrangements to make — of course we're ready!" said Dot.
"Yes, keep making fun of her Dot, maybe she'll leave you behind," said Ren. "Please Del, will you consider leaving Dot behind?"
Della couldn't hold her smile in, so she laughed out loud and a few salty happy tears fell into her mouth. She knelt down by Dot first.
"Okay Dot, you're first then."
Della wrapped her fingers around and pulled hard on the bottom of Dot's stem. It snapped and she placed it in the bottom of the bucket and Dot never made another sound. Other flowers now, were making their crying noise. Clar kept saying Thank you. Thank you. Della kept pulling her friends from the ground like a mother taming her baby's delicate hair, with caresses and cooing when she bucketed them. The confusion and strangeness of the situation still hung with her as her hands kept moving.
Then she came to Clar last.
"Goodbye, Clar."
"Goodbye, Della."
Then she pulled and set down and stood and carried the bucket and disappeared into the forest. Her father came along and found the stumps. He wondered if Della was responsible and sprayed the severed weeds with his poison.
In the new home, the field past the forest, Della held each flower's white mane up in front of her lips and blew.


text:
LAS VEGAS – Since scoring the Floyd Mayweather-Canelo Alvarez super welterweight title fight a 114-114 draw, judge Cynthia J. "CJ" Ross has taken harsh criticism from all corners of the boxing world. But the head of the Nevada State Athletic Commission doesn't have an issue with the controversial scorecard.
Members of the news media, fighters, ex-fighters, celebrities, promoters and many on social media have called for Ross' head, saying the 64-year-old veteran boxing judge should never work another big fight.
Keith Kizer, the NSAC executive director, told USA TODAY Sports on Sunday he did not think Ross' scoring was an egregious error, or even an error at all.
"Just because a judge's scorecard ends up even, doesn't mean the judge necessarily thought the fight as a whole was even," Kizer said. "It could be that a judge has six rounds for each fighter, but the six rounds she gave fighter A, she gave them to him easily and the six rounds she gave fighter B, they were really close rounds. That's pretty much how it was last night."
THE ONE: Mayweather stays perfect
Right after the fight, Mayweather called Ross' scoring "a joke." But he's not used to having judges score against him – ever. This was the only fight of his 45-0 career, besides his split decision victory against Oscar De La Hoya in 2007, that a judge has not scored in favor of Mayweather. In 2007, Tom Kaczmarek scored that fight 115-113 for De La Hoya.
At the post-fight news conference early Sunday morning, Mayweather toned down his criticism, saying that the NSAC is the best in the world, and "if they think she should be out there judging fights, then so be it."
Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe wanted to put the controversy behind.
"I thought the scoring was a little off, but it just makes you that much more motivated. It's like, wow, these guys just can't get it right sometimes," he said. "The commission is the best in the business, but sometimes people have off-nights, just like everybody else. But they did a wonderful job of appointing officials and we don't have nothing to say. We have the victory and we move on."
WATCH: Mayweather's priceless reaction to puzzling score
Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, whose company promotes Alvarez, wasn't ready to forget it. "The whole world was watching," he said. "That scorecard was a disgrace."
Ross was doubly criticized because she was one of the judges who gave Timothy Bradley a decision against Manny Pacquiao last year in one of the most controversial calls in boxing history. The Nevada attorney general was called in to investigate.
"How that judge could be appointed after the decision of Bradley and Pacquiao is not a question I can answer," Schaefer said. "How can that happen? Is it going to happen again?"
Kizer said when he told Ross she had scored it a draw, she was surprised. "Good judges, they don't keep track of their scores," he said. "It's a round-by-round scoring system. All three judges thought Mayweather was the better fighter, that he won that fight as a whole. Because one judge had it even on the scorecard doesn't mean that judge thought both fighters did equally well."
Kizer said Ross was in the majority among the judges in 10 of the 12 rounds Saturday, and the exceptions were the first, which is usually a feeling out process and could have gone either way, and the eighth round. He also said she was in the majority in all 12 rounds of Pacquiao-Bradley.
"Let's say you don't agree with her on the eighth round," Kizer said. "One round out of 24 you disagree with her and you think she should never judge again? "How is that nothing more than mob mentality?
"I understand why there's criticism, because people think of the entire fight and think Mayweather was certainly the better fighter, so how can you have a draw?" he added. "The answer is the scoring system."
ROUND-BY-ROUND: Breaking down Mayweather's win
Kizer said he evaluates judges annually, and on a fight-by-fight basis. Ross, he said, is one of the NSAC's top judges, and he's not considering disciplinary action. "Discipline does not make sense here," he said. "It's a review process. What I plan to do is look at that eighth round.
"If I review a round and don't understand why the judge went that way, I'll (talk) with the judge. If I understand why the judge went that way, it would be unfair to criticize."
Ross, Dave Moretti (116-112) and Craig Metcalfe (117-111) each earned $8,000 for the fight, based on the total purses, as much as a Nevada judge has made since Holyfield-Tyson II, which had more than $50 million in purses, Kizer said. The average for a headliner fight in Nevada is about $2,500.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
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[3] Is netscape license open source
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text:
News Release
FINRA Rule Change to Limit Self-Trading Approved
WASHINGTON — The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is pleased to announce the SEC's recent approval of a FINRA rule change to limit self-trading. This change to FINRA Rule 5210 requires firms to have policies and procedures in place that are reasonably designed to review their trading activity for, and prevent, a pattern or practice of self-trades resulting from orders originating from a single algorithm or trading desk, or related algorithms or trading desks.
Self-trades are "[t]ransactions in a security resulting from the unintentional interaction of orders originating from the same firm that involve no change in the beneficial ownership of the security." Self-trades by single or related algorithms or trading desks raise heightened concerns because this type of trading may not reflect genuine trading interest, particularly if there is a pattern or practice of such trades.
"FINRA's cross-market surveillance program canvasses 90 percent of the listed equities market, and this important new rule change will significantly increase FINRA's ability to deter self-trading that, while not involving fraudulent or manipulative intent, is disruptive to the marketplace," said Thomas Gira, FINRA Executive Vice President, Market Regulation.
FINRA will announce an effective date for this change to FINRA Rule 5210 in a Regulatory Notice to be published in the near future.
FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, is the largest independent regulator for all securities firms doing business in the United States. FINRA is dedicated to investor protection and market integrity through effective and efficient regulation and complementary compliance and technology-based services. FINRA touches virtually every aspect of the securities business – from registering and educating all industry participants to examining securities firms, writing rules, enforcing those rules and the federal securities laws, informing and educating the investing public, providing trade reporting and other industry utilities, and administering the largest dispute resolution forum for investors and firms. For more information, please visit www.finra.org.


text:
Several dog owners prefer to call themselves as the parents of their adopted pet rather then the owners. The love that a dog can give its masters / owners / parents is selfless and unconditional which leads to a lot of health benefits. But in at least one case, it has led to a lot of economic benefits as well.
Tibetan Mastiffs are well known for being the most expensive dogs in the world. Pups of this breed often sell for ridiculous sums with a million pound price tag not unheard of. So when this proud owner declared that her Tibetan Mastiff bitch (Black Pearl) had given birth to a litter of 22 healthy puppies, we did the math. At $200,000 a pup and 22 pups in a litter ; the owner is looking at about $35.2 million dollars. While our estimate may be on the higher side, the owner (Quingcai Guo) is definitely looking at making several million dollars.
Black Pearl has also broken the record for the largest litter for a Tibetan Mastiff. It is also one of the largest ever recorded (though that record stands at an astounding 24 pups). The usual for a Tibetan Mastiff is four or five puppies. The fact that the owner runs a pet shop does make us a bit suspicious as to whether Black Pearl is being used to breed puppies. Guo though claims to have treated the dog as his own child giving her nothing but the best ever since a friend gave him Black Pearl. The proud human parents are now helping the new mom with her puppies with bottles of milk all around the clock.


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SAMJ: South African Medical Journal
versión On-line ISSN 2078-5135
versión impresa ISSN 0256-9574
SAMJ, S. Afr. med. j. vol.100 no.10 Cape Town oct. 2010
Suffer little children
'Suffer [let] little children, to come unto me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven' are lyrics of a Stephen Foster song, and of much older song versions that echo the text in the Bible.1
Pope Benedict XVI expressed that he was deeply disturbed and distressed over the tales of abuse of children in Ireland. The Murphy Report, an Independent Commission of Investigation, examined more than 300 abuse claims in the Archdiocese of Dublin between 1975 and 2004. It reported that instead of being concerned for the victims of the abuse, the Church was more concerned about 'the maintenance of secrecy, the avoidance of scandal, the protection of the reputation of the church and the preservation of its assets'.2
Reports on the health of South African children, who are our future, reflect health care systems in dire need of urgent remedial attention. An equal concern is that the current discussion around the freedom of the media to report and attempts by the state to determine what may be reported is akin to the Catholic Church's attempts to stem bad news by suppressing it. However, good practice requires the truth to make an adequate diagnosis and to formulate appropriate treatment of the condition. Good management does not fear the truth, but is rather determined to find and acknowledge the facts in order to plan how best to manage the situation. Truth that is hidden or denied is likely to be discovered and undermine trust, that important human value without which no society can function optimally.
The status of the health of South African children was starkly highlighted at the recent launch of this year's South African Child Gauge.3 Extracts of figures from the report follow.
Children are paying the price for South Africa's failure to progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. South Africa is one of only 12 countries that have failed to reduce child mortality since 1990. According to modelled estimates, the under-5 mortality rate has risen from 66 per 1 000 live births in 1990 to 73 in 2006.
Leading causes of under-5 mortality are HIV/AIDS, neonatal causes and childhood infections (including diarrhoea and lower respiratory tract infections). Of children who died in hospital in 2005 - 2007, 60% were underweight. Malnutrition is a key contributing factor. Stunting, the strongest predictor of childhood mortality in under-5s, affected 18% of 1 - 9-year-old children in 2005. Only 26% of infants (0 - 6 months) were exclusively breastfed in 2008 - one of the lowest rates of breastfeeding in the world. In 2005, 9% of children 1 -9 years old in South Africa were underweight. Children need sufficient nutritious food to grow and develop their full potential, and caregivers' ability to provide adequate nutrition is affected by their socio-economic status.
Poverty results in poor living conditions. Lack of access to safe water and sanitation leads to the spread of diseases. Over 7 million children rely on inadequate sanitation (unventilated pit latrines, buckets or open veld); more than a third of children did not have access to piped drinking water on site; 30% of children live in overcrowded conditions.
HIV/AIDS is the leading driver of under-5 mortality. If prevention of mother-to-child transmission services reached all eligible women, paediatric HIV could be nearly eliminated. Of women who were tested in 2008, 29% were HIV positive.
Public health services are free for children under 6, pregnant women, people with disabilities and social grant beneficiaries. Primary health care is free for all. However, transport costs are high and compromise access to these services by the poor. Health care staff shortages compromise the quality of health services: 36% of health professional posts in the public sector were vacant in 2008. The coverage of essential preventive services is low: 60% for contraception, 27% for early antenatal care, 29% for vitamin A supplementation, and 26% for exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months.
The recent public service strikes have further jeopardised the health of our children and their schooling, and further challenge our global competitiveness. Of 139 countries, the World Economic Forum ranked South Africa 129 for health care and primary education, and 132 for co-operation in labour-employee relations.4
To improve the lot of our children (indeed of all our society), Professor Haroon Saloojee, at the presentation of the Child Gauge report, recommended adoption of the approaches that made the recent 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa such a resounding success. Political will to succeed and bold leadership are the first requirements. Secondly, there must be clear delivery targets with appropriate funding. Capacity to organise and deliver appropriate standards of delivery must be developed. Accountability, as was demanded by FIFA, is essential. Citizens too have an important role as consumers and activists for appropriate health care services in their regions.
The Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, provides encouraging leadership in his contribution in the Child Gauge 'vision for child health in South Africa'. 3 However, this is a massive task that requires all South Africans to pull together to ensure healthy and well-educated children. This will be an important contribution to a robust future economy that is able to sustain all our citizens and play a meaningful role in the world
J P de V van Niekerk
Managing Editor
1. The Bible. Matthew 19:14. [ Links ]
2. http://www.counterpunch.org/brauchli12172009.html (accessed 15 September 2010). [ Links ]
3. South African Child Gauge 2009/2010. Cape Town: University of Cape Town Children's Institute. www.ci.org.za (accessed 16 September 2010). [ Links ]
4. http://www.moneyweb.co.za/mw/view/mw/en/page292676?oid=506247&sn=2009+Detail&pid=287226 (accessed 16 September 2010). [ Links ]


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Meth lab found at family�s residence
TRENTON� While serving a warrant on unrelated charges, Jones County Sheriff�s Office investigators cracked a months-long meth case Thursday.
�The narcotics unit had been investigating the location for two and a half to three months prior to this,� JCSO Capt. Justin Eimer said. �When they went to the location, the suspect was not on scene. We got consent from the owner of the property to search the property, in what�s commonly referred to as a �knock and talk.� �
While looking around the property on the 500 block of Richlands Road, detectives found what they believed to be a meth lab.
�We backed out, contacted the SBI, and went and obtained a search warrant and a destruction order and had them signed by a Superior Court judge,� Eimer said. �They executed the search warrant and confirmed their suspicions. The meth lab was cleaned up and the suspect has been charged in the case, as well.�
Jeffery Scott Wiggins, 27, was arrested and charged with possession with intent to manufacture, sell and deliver meth, possession of a Schedule II controlled substance, manufacturing meth, possession/distribution of meth, maintaining a dwelling for controlled substance and possession with intent to manufacture, sell and deliver marijuana � all felonies. He�s also charged with misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.
Authorities believed the other family members at the residence were unaware of the meth operation.
In addition to that case, Wiggins was due in Jones County District Court on charges of misdemeanor worthless check, felony obtaining property by false pretense and felony conversion of a property to his own name.
He�s also due in court for three counts of misdemeanor assault on a female on Sept. 20.
Wiggins has outstanding charges of misdemeanor possession of a Schedule II controlled substance, misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia, driving while license revoked and failure to wear a seatbelt in Onslow County, as well.
Wiggins was placed in the Jones County Detention Center under a $300,000 bond.
Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 and email@example.com. Follow him on Twitter @WolfeReports.


text:
Oral History Interview with Cleatus A. LeBow, May 2, 2006
Description: Interview with Cleatus A. LeBow, a serviceman in the U. S. Navy during World War II. LeBow joined the navy in 1943 and went from Lubbock, Texas to San Diego for recruit training. He shipped out to Pearl Harbor aboard an LST from San Francisco. At Pearl Harbor, he was assigned to a work detail aboard the USS Oklahoma, which had just been righted. Shortly thereafter, he boarded the USS Indianapolis to serve as a range finder operator on one of the gun turrets. Upon leaving Hawaii, the Indianapolis went to Tarawa and then the Marshall Islands. LeBow witnessed Japanese civilian suicides on Saipan. He also witnessed the flag-raising on Iwo Jima from his range finder position aboard the ship. LeBow describes being hit by a kamikaze off Okinawa. He also discusses delivering atomic bomb components to Tinian and being torpedoed on the way to the Philippines. He describes abandoning the ship and spending five days in the water, including his faith in God, hallucinations, rescue, and his recovery.
Date: May 2, 2006
Creator: Misenhimer, Richard & Lebow, Cleatus A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Sound
Partner: National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation


text:
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Scooping the New York Times
Who knew it took ten years to train a doctor? Who knew becoming a doctor was a daunting, expensive, and often thankless task? Who knew EMTALA and Obamacare would wreck our system? Hint!!! Not the New York Times.
And Paul Krugman is still a pantywaist shill.
24 comments:
Current Medal CountReplyDelete
US of effin A, Hell Yeah! 11
Her Royal Majesty's United
Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland............ 2
behind even Borat's country...
Hey Frank,ReplyDelete
In answer to your earlier challenge, how about Lindsays Lohan and Wagner?
Ummm maybe in some alternative Universe where the 2 weren't 50 years apart in age...ReplyDelete
its like this...
Brittany Murphy/Spears!
and even though one's dead, and the other misspelled, it works...
and speaking of Britain, current medal count
USA "Kicking British Butt since 1776" 17
Britannica 3 (way to pull out that totally Hetero Male Team Gymnastics!)
- Anonymous7:08 PM, July 31, 2012
Men's gymnastics (OMG man-up) I actually watched you guys. PMO, and gave me a headache.ReplyDelete
Romney: Always knew you were a DLRF (you know that I know that you know that I know). But I actually thought you might be able to game-up if you needed to. Apparently, not even that. You are officially on my "really don't want you to get the job" list.
DLRF? Explain please.
- Anonymous7:41 PM, July 31, 2012
Dumb Little Rich Fuck.ReplyDelete
That's fucking ignorant.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous8:26 PM, July 31, 2012
I have spoken!!!ReplyDelete
Now, let it be written.
See above.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous9:01 PM, July 31, 2012
Sigh. I, once again must sit back and wait for everyone to catch up.ReplyDelete
zzz zzz zzz
Then dial down the obtuse-o-meter for us slow folks.ReplyDelete
I'm with SCRN on this one...ReplyDelete
I can see it now, last debate, EICOTUS(Evolver-ic-Chief-of-the-US)pulls out his Birth Certificate, challenges Romney to provide same, or Government Issued Photo ID..
Turns out Romney hasn't had a Driver's License EVER(have you ever seen him drive a car, and bein a Mormon, never has to show it for a 6-pack of Pabst at 2am)
and howcome for mere pennies I can speed down the HOT lanes of I-85, in my ZO6, playing "Little Red Corvette" by Prince(Who would have kicked Michael Jackson's Ass), giving the finger to the cheapscates in the free-lanes, but to get MY license renewed I gotta wait in line behind the entire population of Juarez, Mey-he-co???
Oh yeah, Current Medal Count
OK, I just made that up, but I bet it's close...
US 24ReplyDelete
after the first quarter,
UK missed the extra point
US 30ReplyDelete
at the half...
US 37ReplyDelete
damn it, can't anyone play defense???
allright I'm tired of playing with myself..ReplyDelete
Leryn Franco, Women's Javelin
already got the DVR set for next Tuesday...
Hot Chicks handling long poles, what more could you ask for?
How about long poles handling hot chicks? That would be the Polish Basketball team when they get home from the Games.ReplyDelete
(ba-room chick)
Don't think we'll be hearing from Grumpy for awhile...ReplyDelete
UK loses to the Good Koreans in OT!...
I know, Penalty Kicks doesn't play to England's stengths, i.e. beating up opposing fans...
- Anonymous11:34 AM, August 05, 2012
Lollapalooza, day three!!ReplyDelete
Ahhh, that day I wait for every 4 years, Americas future, Hope, Change, I get so excited I don't even jerk off for a few days...ReplyDelete
No, not the Stupid Election,
the Olympic Womens High Jumping Finals!
Blank Vlassic's out with a Hammy, but its still a deep field, Anna Chicherova, Tia Hellebaut, and my favorite, with legs as long as a Horse, and the face to match,
and if NBC/MSNBC/CNBC/NBC SPORTS/BBC/Deutsche Welle don't show more than 5 minutes before breaking back to that nailbiting Ping Pong game between 2 identical Chinese dudes, I'm gonna go all Luke 5:36....
No mass murder, Garment, I'm gonna rend my Garment...
How come a Jew knows the Bible better than most of you Christ-ians??
Oh yeah, we invented it,
the Old part anyway,
- Anonymous10:20 AM, August 12, 2012
OK. Riding your Huffy bike around and around a little track with a few man-made bumps put into it - is not IMHO worthy of being an Olympic sport. Neither is pingpong or handball or volleyball or waterpolo or syncswimming or kayaking... sure you get tired and winded and may fall in any of these, but doesn't mean you should call your fun an Olympic sport.ReplyDelete
Final Medal Count...ReplyDelete
In YO' FACE Grumpy!!!
a 4th place finish for a 4th Place Nation...
But if it wasn't for Merry old Eng-a-land, we wouldn't have the Worlds Greatest Rock & Roll Band....
the band I'm not ashamed to say I still own the Super VHS of their breakthrough Movie*,
Not those decrepit Rolling stones, not those "Who" Homos, or the Sex Pistols, not the Kinks, Fleetwood Mac, Deep Purple,
The group responsible for more than a few callouses, that Quixotic Quintet of Scary, Sporty, Ginger, Baby, and My fave, the chick Beckham Bends over his knee and drills like a bad tooth,
POSH Spice...
I wanna really really really wanna zig-a-zig-ah....
*"Spice World" 1997. Hey, it made $75,000,000 I wasnt the only one who saw it...
Frank sorry to be late to this, I didn't realise we were playing.ReplyDelete
Population of USA = 314,201,000
Population of UK = 62,262,000
Medals USA = 104
Medals UK = 65
USA = 1 medal per 3,021,163 persons.
UK = 1 medal per 957,876 persons.
So with roughly 5 times the population of the UK you only manage to gain 1.6 times more medals than UK.
SCRN, got to agree with you. Next it will be Olympic skateboarding or hopscotch.
- Anonymous11:07 AM, September 18, 2012
Everybody should be caught up to me today. There will be a pop quiz.ReplyDelete


text:
So what is Count Me In Too?
Count Me In Too is an award-winning research project where lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people shared their views and experiences, and worked with service providers and others to gather and present evidence that would promote positive changes for LGBT people.
The Count Me In Too research project built on learning from the Count Me In research project in 2000 and other local research into the experiences of local LGBT people. Data was gathered from LGBT people who live, work and socialise in Brighton & Hove. In 2006, 819 people completed questionnaires and 69 people discussed issues in focus groups. These included LGBT people with shared identities, such as older people, young people, Black & Minority Ethnic people, parents, hate crime survivors and Deaf people. The data was initially analysed by an Action Group composed of local LGBT people, and initial findings were published in June 2007 in an academic report with a parallel community report.
Since then the project has produced 10 detailed reports with LGBT people and local service providers on a range of themes. Click here to see the project's publications.
Introduction to Process
Five phases can be identified in the processes of creating Count Me In Too:
Research Design (Oct 2005-April 2006): During this phase the final say regarding decisions was given to the LGBT steering group. This group consisted of people who identified as multiply marginalised. Because of their positionality, they were able to guide the research regarding including those who are often omitted from large-scale questionnaire studies of LGBT populations. This group designed the questions for the focus groups, decided who to target these groups at and then aided in recruitment for the research. For the questionnaire a call was put out to all stakeholders to submit questions that would produce data that they could use to progress social change for LGBT people. Over 500 questions were received. Kath Browne worked with the steering group to ensure the validity and rigour of the questionnaire, with the steering group deciding on priority areas to be included. A stakeholder meeting was held to manage expectations, as well as encouraging people to submit questions and find out more about the project.
Data collection (Jan 2006-Oct 2006): Focus groups began with a pilot focus group in Jan 2006, this group (consisting of those from the steering group) then worked to refine the questions. From this point snowball sampling, purposeful sampling and wide ranging advertising (including through email, website and in newspapers/magazines) was used to recruit participants to the focus groups. The questionnaire [[Link to Questionnaire PDF please]] was launched in May 2006 online, after a pilot version was sent to all who had submitted questions, and in paper version in July. Both versions were advertised throughout local and national LGBT and mainstream media. Over 840 people completed the questionnaire with 819 valid responses.
Initial analysis (Nov 2006-Jun 07): An action group of LGBT people with the capacity to participate in extended data analysis meetings undertook the initial analyses with guidance from Kath Browne. This followed a stakeholder event, which invited participation and updated on the progress of the research. The action group identified the key findings for the initial report and wrote the community summary of the longer more detailed findings. The analysis group was a closed group and no one partner had privileged access to the findings. The initial findings event in June 2007 reported the initial findings of the research to all who attended.
Further In-depth Analyses (Jul 07- Jul 09): From July 2009 a series of analyses groups addressed a range of issues. These analyses groups were often sub groups of larger working groups (link here) and worked with the researcher to identify key data that would inform the provision of services and other policy implications of the findings. The analyses groups wrote the recommendations for each findings report, tying them into local and national policies, initiatives and services. Analyses groups consisted of key stakeholders included all relevant stakeholders, with work being done to ensure the 'right' people were sitting around the table. All of those involved were equal partners, with no preference given to funders, the findings were confidential until released at findings events. Findings events were held for each analysis with a panel of speakers invited to discu ss ways forward and take further points from the floor. The panel included LGBT people and/or representatives from groups and services; key councillors; heads of service, strategic and policy development managers.
Community Dissemination (March 09-ongoing): The in-depth finding reports, whilst seen as necessary, were also seen as inaccessible to most. Consequently in March 2009 the research team wrote community summaries for all the reports released to date. In addition a consultation was held in 2009 that helped shape the direction of the project. This consisted of an exhibition of findings and opportunities to feedback to the project. By the end of this event it became clear that there was a desire for the research to be seen outside of the spaces that to date have been associated with Count Me In Too. Consequently, a series of exhibitions have been held, including at Pride in Brighton & Hove 2009, in both the summer festival week and in the main park event, and at the British Museum (as part of a planning event for LGBT history month in 2010). It was also recognised that the data is itself a resource and the project has sought to enable people to have access to it through the development of a LGBT research Information Desk
Read more about the history of engagement that created this project


text:
ANNAPOLIS, MD -- Once ownership of the Brigade Sports Complex, Annapolis, MD, is transferred to the Naval Academy on March 31, civilian community members who paid dues at the complex will likely lose access to its fitness center and indoor tennis courts. Some civilian members who paid for lifetime memberships to the tennis facility also are left wondering whether all their money will be returned.
When they joined three years ago, members who purchased lifetime memberships for the tennis program were allegedly not told the complex would become government property, The Baltmore Sun reported.
The $18.5 million, 150,000-square foot facility opened in 2007 and was built with private funding. At the end of March, the Naval Academy Athletic Association plans to transfer ownership of the complex to the Naval Academy. Approximately 650 members will be affected by the ownership change.
The complex has always been "intended for the eventual transfer to the Department of the Navy and the benefit of the Brigade of Midshipmen," Deborah Goode, Academy spokeswoman, told the newspaper. She added that the military generally prohibits the sale of private memberships at its facilities.
The civilian tennis players say they paid $150 each for what they thought were lifetime memberships. In addition, they have paid annual dues and court time fees.
Members facing cancellation are expected to get prorated refunds, according to a letter sent by Naval Academy Business Director Syd Rodenbarger last week to affected members. However, tennis players said they've been told that refunds are unlikely to include the $150 lifetime membership fee.
The Navy will look into whether memberships were initially billed as lifetime ones, and whether they were sold by officials who knew that the memberships would expire in a few years, Goode said.


text:
Dainese D-Air Race Suit Announced for Production
Euro-only this year, but U.S. and street versions to follow
After 10 years of research and development, and as announced early this month at the EICMA show in Milan, Dainese's D-Air race airbag suit system is being released for sale to track day riders and racers in Europe.
U.S. consumers should see it for sale stateside by 2012.
While those following D-Air's development have speculated Dainese might pin an astronomical price to the fruit of its multi-million dollar project, the company says it will charge 2700 euros, which works out to around $3,700.
Although this is still about three times more than many off-the-rack suits, D-Air suits will be custom-tailored to buyers' measurements and include data-acquisition capabilities, such as lap times, speeds and mapping capabilities. It will therefore offer the same degree of fit, safety and technology that Valentino Rossi and other top racers get.
Dainese normally charges 40% extra for custom tailoring, and the price compares to some primo off-the-rack and custom suits which do not offer the same level of protection.
The D-Air system adds just 650g (1.43 lbs) to a standard suit, and the high-pressure, five-liter bladder reportedly reduces impact forces by a rather astonishing 90% compared to a traditional suit. Specifically, a 23-24 kN force would be reduced to just 1-2 kN, says Dainese.
The D-Air suit is a completely armored suit in addition to the underlying airbag, so that if the "cold gas generator" failed to inflate it, the rest of the armor would still be in place.
The airbag is said to be able to trigger in 15 milliseconds, deploy in 30 milliseconds and designed to prevent injuries most common in race track crashes. It compresses and guards some upper internal organs, the shoulder blades, collarbone, upper spine, and prevents the helmeted head from hyperextension, hyperflexion, and resultant neck injury.
As we previously reported, the D-Air system utilizes three gyroscopes, three accelerometers, a GPS, is completely wireless and encased in an impact-resistant Nidaplast-protected speed hump. The thought to use a cable tethered to the bike to actuate the system like some less expensive air vests and jackets do was never considered, as that was deemed inconvenient and encumbering.
Dainese is calling D-Air an "intelligent" technology because it assesses the violence of a potential fall and uses complex algorithms to determine when to deploy, and when not to.
The company says it's certain the race technology is ready after logging a few years' race R&D time totaling over 5,000 hours thus far, and having recruited help from some of the brightest transportation safety engineers in Europe to make the suit possible.
An earlier prototype (with the airbag on the outside of the suit) was first seen successfully deploying in a 2007 crash by a 250cc GP racer at Valencia. Final testing in its present form (with airbag inside the suit) was done by elite "beta" testers in the 2009 and 2010 seasons.
The European gear maker says it has 13 patents applied for, is presently undergoing TÜV SÜD certification, in addition to meeting CE and several other certification standards.
The internally located airbag appears to be an elegant solution in that it is self-contained in a flexible abrasion-resistant material that will recompress the airbag after it blows. Another well-publicized incident of its use was documented at Valencia in Nov. 2009 in which Jorge Lorenzo began a highside but amazingly recovered. The suit inflated, but cost to his lap time was just 0.2 second. Another time after a crash at Brno, Lorenzo's suit did not deflate, but he said he was still happy he had the suit on, and expressed trust for the technology. Other racers, including Rossi have gone on record praising D-Air after testing it firsthand, including its successful deployment for a crash at Mugello.
The suit is further distinguished by its German-developed 2D telemetry data-acquisition technology, as used by MotoGP and F1 auto race teams. This system utilizes the suit's GPS and 2-gigabyte memory powered by a lithium-ion battery to provide data which can be downloaded to a computer.
This technology will be compatible with Google Earth, able to provide lap times, acceleration data, other speed data, assessment of braking and lines through corners, ability to plot lines on a map, and more.
The suit comes with an LED interface, and data acquisition options will include additional colors to evaluate variables (speed, acceleration, etc.), and ability to produce two-dimensional graphs of two parameters in relation to time. It will also have ability to create lateral and longitudinal acceleration diagrams to assess motorcycle traction, riding style, and more.
Dainese says this is just the beginning. Plans are to also introduce a D-Air street line, and ultimately make the technology available worldwide.
Street models will have more frontal protection based on the assumption that riders may slam into something like one of our nation's untold millions of irresponsible distracted drivers who may be focusing on things other than the road in front of them.
Yes, that was a quasi-editorial comment, and, yes, it is based on fact and reflective of today's reality.
In September this year, the U.S. Department of Transportation held its second annual "Distracted Driving Summit," in which Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said "distracted driving remains an epidemic in America." In 2009 the USDOT estimated 5,474 deaths and 448,000 traffic injuries resulted from distracted drivers. And these numbers are "just the tip of the iceberg," said LaHood.
In a world where it's not even very safe for the auto and truck drivers, we think anything that contributes to unobtrusive, defensive motorcycle safety can't be a bad idea.
While Dainese might have charged far more money, it would also appear it intends to recoup its R&D expenses long term from this complex technology not just from racers but also street riders purchasing jackets and vests. Undoubtedly also, Dainese has at least one eye on Alpinestars which is developing a similar technology seen in this article.
Alpinestars' outside communications rep, Tim Collins, says A-Stars' version will be made available worldwide in June, 2011. It will sell for about $5,000, be off-the-rack, but with potentially limited supply in the States.
As we reported earlier this year, it would appear an airbag suit technological race is indeed on, with both Italian companies working hard to bring these new paradigm products to market after a decade of proving them.
Get the Flash Player to see this player.
At this juncture, with custom fit and telemetry data included for 25% less, it would certainly appear that Dainese is offering more for less, albeit to a European audience only for the moment.
Dainese did not offer any estimated production date for the street versions, but says they are being developed and tested now, and will be brought to market as soon as possible.
Related Reading
2010 Dainese Lineup Unveiled
2010 Alpinestars Electronic Airbag Technology
Dainese D-Air launching at EICMA


text:
Elessar wrote:Cool Cat wrote:He spent over 100 million on players, never mind how much he got back in, 100 million to finish 8th is not good enough, one of the reasons he now doesn't have a job.
Wow - don't ever go on Dragon's Den with that understanding of economics! They'll tear you to pieces.
If you sell a player for £50million and buy a replacement for £35million, you shouldn't expect your squad to be £35million better. That's insane logic.
Expand that, and spending £100million doesn't make you £100million worth of players better, if you also sold £65million worth.
He spent over 100m, so he must have thought he was getting value for money, but now he knows he got it very wrong.


text:
Oh those clever Google Doodlers!
Go check out the Google home page today and there's a virtual zipper running from the top of the web page to the bottom. Click and drag the zipper open and you'll see a nifty tribute to Gideon Sundbäck.
The Swedish-born electrical engineer (born Otto Fredrik Gideon Sundbäck on April 24, 1880) developed a "hookless fastener" — an invention that later became known by its zippier nickname. According to Wikipedia, he also created the manufacturing machine for the zipper. He died in 1954 at age 74 in Pennsylvania.
OK, aside from the Rolling Stones' 1971 album "Sticky Fingers," can you name some iconic zippers over the years?


text:
Discover Issue 14
disAbility Cornwall & Isles of Scilly
Units 1G/H Guildford Road Industrial Estate, Guildford Road, Hayle, Cornwall TR27 4QZ
Telephone: 01736 759500 Email:
Registered Charity No. 1140925 Company Registration No. 07436153
disAbility Cornwall & Isles of Scilly is proudly funded and supported by
And honours the legacy of the Cornwall Disabled Association
Hosting by PIXELISM.CO.UK
We use Google Analytic, Twitter Button and cookies to improve our website and your experience when using it. Cookies used for the essential operation of the site have already been set. To find out more about the cookies we use and how to delete them, see our privacy policy.


text:
The Michaeljohn hair salon located in Mayfair is very posh. So posh that the reception is littered with Hermes handbags (real ones) and eccentric hairdressers that look like Mr. Miyagi in flower power shirts dance around enthusiastically around a well coiffed head.
Hence you have to understand my slight reservations as I walked into the poshness with my scraggly hair and muddied bag, a result of running through Central London for 2 days straight.
Having said that, I was booked in at Michaeljohn's for a 1 hour Pedicure – my feet were bleeding (metaphorically) by the time I got there so there was no better treatment for that moment in time.
The reception:
A young, pretty Daisy Lowe type receptionist greeted me in a beige coloured suit (this was the uniform for the reception staff, very sharp)…
I sat in the waiting area, where more well coiffed people talking about their holidays (past) and other holidays (future). What a interesting place to people watch!
The pedicure goes is supposed to go like this:
Polish removed, nails are cut and filed. Cuticle remover is applied and feet are soaked for 10 minutes. A exfoliating foot scrub is applied and a massage takes place and feet are filed. Nails are cleaned, cuticles moisturised and massaged. There is a 10 minute foot massage and polish is applied.
The Michaeljohn salon offers a lot of different treatments and the pedicure area was at the back of the salon next to what appeared to be the hair extension area.
My pedicure lady asked me to put my feet into a soak, and ahhhh what a relief that was to my feet. I had chosen a colour (a bright pink by Essie, I forget the shade name) for my toes. Most of the pedicure was as most pedicures are, pushing back the cuticles, scrubbing the feet, filing off the dead skin.
My pedicurist was very quick and efficient, she didn't hurt me when she pushed the cuticles back as some people do, and got the hard skin off without making me cringe.
On the downside she saw some of my leg and commented (you'll know this if you follow me on Twitter), "You need a leg wax…hair's so long!". Lady, I KNOW. It's like being told you could do with a trim during your cervical smear. I just smiled politely.
Overall though the whole pedicure was very swift and efficient and I could walk again! I was in so much pain before I went in and my feet felt much better afterwards. I sat there for 25 minutes afterwards, supping coffee to wait for my toes to dry.
I do wish there was more of a massage though – I had some balm rubbed into my feet but I would've a bit of rubbing (ahem).
A small picture of my finished feet, cos who needs to see close ups of other people's feet, eh:
If your looking for some pampering in a gloriously glam salon check out Michaeljohn salon. It's one of those places I can imagine someone goes to lose half a day getting their their hair, toes, nails and WAXING done!
A pedicure lasts 60 minutes and costs £50. (Refreshments are chargeable, don't go and have 10 latte's then blame me for not telling you).
25 Albemarle street, Mayfair, London, W1S 4HU
E: firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
Champions League: Manuel Pellegrini feels officials cost Man City against Barcelona
Manuel Pellegrini believes referee Jonas Eriksson 'decided the game' as Manchester City lost 2-0 to Barcelona.
Last Updated: 19/02/14 11:44am
City headed into the first leg of their last-16 encounter full of optimism, but now have a mountain to climb in Catalunya if they are to prolong their European adventure.
The Premier League title hopefuls matched Barca for long periods at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday, creating the better opportunities despite seeing the visitors dominate possession.
The tie was taken away from them, though, early in the second half as Lionel Messi sprung clear and was tripped by the backtracking Martin Demichelis.
Eriksson pointed to the spot and Messi duly converted, but Pellegrini believes Jesus Navas was felled in the build-up to the move which led to the awarding of a penalty and that Demichelis' challenge - which led to him being shown a straight red card - initially took place outside the box.
The City boss, who saw Dani Alves add a second for Barca in the closing stages, told Sky Sports: "Of course I have a complaint, not only for the penalty and the red card.
"I think in the whole match we didn't have a referee with impartiality to both teams.
"He decided the game. He decided the game because it was a foul by (Sergio) Busquets on Navas. The referee was three metres away and he didn't blow the whistle and after that the foul from Demichelis is outside the box, it's not a penalty.
"Important mistakes against a great team like Barcelona make it difficult to win."
Pellegrini says Eriksson should never have been handed the game by UEFA, with the Swedish official having history with Barcelona after turning a deaf ear to their penalty shouts during a last-16 encounter with AC Milan 12 months ago.
He added: "I think it is a mistake to nominate a referee that has had problems with Barcelona.
"Maybe he made mistakes in Milan. To have the same referee here, I repeat, is a mistake."
City will now have to net at least twice at the Nou Camp in three weeks' time, but Pellegrini is refusing to throw in the towel on the Blues' continental campaign.
He said: "We are going to try, of course we will try.
"We are going to play at Camp Nou and we did it against Bayern Munich also after losing at home (in the group stage).
"But of course the second goal came at a difficult moment because the match was ending, it was finished. We will see what we can do."


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Users / wow!!! I can't wait to have this set up« on: March 23, 2007, 01:18:38 pm »
very very Immpressive!!! I am so amazed. Developers should be very very proud of this. And thank you very much for releasing this!!!
Rule #1 - Be Patient - Rule #2 - Don't ask when, if you don't contribute - Rule #3 - You have coding skills - LinuxMCE's small brother is available: http://www.agocontrol.com
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Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Percy Harvin will not play in the NFC Championship Game.
Harvin suffered a concussion during last week's Divisional Round Weekend win over the New Orleans Saints and has not been cleared by doctors.
"It's super disappointing for Percy," coach Pete Carroll said Friday. "He wants to play. You could see it. He played his tail off when he had his chance. Just unfortunate circumstances, you know.
"... But we have functioned the way we function because we don't let things like that get to us and disturb us, and how we're thinking, and how we're preparing and all that. We would love to have him, but not this time."
Carroll said that if the Seahawks get past the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, he expects Harvin to practice next week.
The wide receiver has played a total of 40 snaps in two games for the Seahawks after they acquired him in the offseason from the Minnesota Vikings.
On the positive side, Carroll said linebacker K.J. Wright would play Sunday. Wright was playing phenomenally prior to breaking his foot in the previous meeting with the 49ers.
Carroll did not say whether or not Wright would start. Malcolm Smith started the past four games while Wright recovered.
Other notes from Championship Week's injury report:
1. New England Patriots rookie wide receivers Aaron Dobson (foot) and Kenbrell Thompkins (hip/concussion) were listed as questionable to play against the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game. Both players were limited all week, and the Pats announced Sunday that Dobson will play, while Thompkins is inactive.
2. Punter Ryan Allen (shoulder) was also listed as questionable for the Patriots. It's a positive sign that the Pats didn't sign a punter this week as a precaution; of course, kicker Stephen Gostkowski was great last week when pressed into duty. The Pats listed Allen as active Sunday, as expected.
3. Demaryius Thomas (calf) was limited for the Broncos on Friday, but the wide receiver was listed as probable. Every other player on the Broncos' injury report participated fully in practice Friday and is probable to play Sunday.
4. For the 49ers, cornerback Carlos Rogers (hamstring) and fullback Will Tukuafu (knee) both were listed as questionable. Linebacker Ahmad Brooks (illness), who was described by coach Jim Harbaugh on Thursday as having a "little bug," was probable and fully participated in practice.
We previewed Championship Sunday and sat down with Rams star Robert Quinn in the latest "Around The League Podcast."


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Photo courtesy Sun Hydraulics Corp.
Manifolds come in two basic types. One is a single-piece design which supports all necessary valving and contains all the passages for an entire system. The other is the modular-block design. Each modular block usually supports only one valve and contains internal passages for that valve's functions as well as flow-through provisions. It normally is connected to a series of similar modular blocks to make up a complete system.
Both types have their advantages. Which is best suited for your system will depend on a variety of actors, such as application, specific function, cost, space, and system longevity.
Some manifold manufacturers supply only manifolds; others provide manifolds that go only with their valves; still others supply manifolds and valves, but are willing to sell you their manifold and permit you to select valves of your choice. As more valves are built with standard mounting patterns, interchangeability becomes feasible for more and more systems.
Single-piece manifolds
These are available in two basic designs: laminar and drilled metal block.
Laminar design — In a laminar-type manifold, several layers of metal have appropriate passages machined or milled through them. These plates, usually steel, are stacked or sandwiched with the various fluid paths determined by the shape of the overlapping passages. Solid-metal end pieces are added, and the whole stack is brazed together.
Because the internal passages can be cut in contoured shapes and as large as necessary, nearly any flow rate can be accommodated with virtually no pressure drop.
Because the stack is brazed together, these manifolds can handle pressures to 10,000 psi, and there is no limit to the number or size of the valves which can be mounted on the manifold.
Laminar manifolds are custom- designed. Valves and other connections can be located where appropriate for a specific application. But because of the permanently shaped flow passages and brazed construction, this type of manifold cannot be modified easily if future circuit changes become necessary.
Drilled metal-block design — Drilled metal block manifolds also can be custom-designed for specific applications. Usually made from a slab of steel, aluminum, or cast iron, the blocks are drilled to provide flow passages for design requirements. This network of drilled passages also enables you to locate valves as desired, with some limitations because the drilled passages must be straight.
Other drilled-block manifolds accept cartridge valves into cavities drilled into the manifold surface. Interconnecting flow passages travel through the manifold from the valve cavities. Some cartridge valves have threaded bodies that hold them in threaded cavities; others slip into smooth cavities where they are retained by plates on the manifold surface.
Modular manifolds
Modular manifold systems allow relatively easy modification of existing manifolds. This erector-set approach to manifold construction consists of cast iron, aluminum, or steel blocks which permit you to design and build your own manifold. They also can be ordered ready-to-install. Most modular systems can be bench-assembled horizontally and stacked.
End plates usually seal the ends of the assembled manifold, but these plates also can be drilled for pump and tank connections. Inter-connecting, divider, and spacer plates are usually installed between the basic building blocks. Interconnecting plates divert flow from one passage to another between blocks, or stop flow between blocks by plugging a passage. Divider plates allow flow to continue or to be blocked by plugging. Spacer plates serve to increase dimensions between basic blocks when an outsized valve must be accommodated on the mounting surface.
The tops of the basic modular blocks are ported and drilled to accept subplate-mounted valves. Blocks with different ports usually are available for each type of valve and subplate. Each type is identified for the valve it will accept. One company has color-coded their blocks so that block function can be determined visually. Some modular systems will accept cartridge valves as well as subplatemounted valves. When specifying a manifold system, be sure to examine the interchangeability of valves, subplates, and blocks.
Manifold assembly
The methods of manifold-block connection vary. Some modular manifolds use tie rods which extend through the blocks and are secured with nuts. Some have external flanges on each block which bolt together for connection. Others have a connecting hardware system which uses socket-headed studs which are also threaded in the socket to accept the threads of the next stud.
All blocks and plates have provisions in their fluid-conducting passages for O-rings to provide a seal between sections when they are drawn together.
Some manifold systems have pump and tank connections in the bottom of the block, others locate them in the end plates. One advantage of the bottom port is that pressure fluid can be introduced in the center of the circuit, or at the division between two parallel circuits, thereby reducing the distance through which pressure fluid must flow. An advantage of the end-plate connection is that they permit base-mounting of the manifold, which is convenient on some equipment. Some manifold designs arrange to close-couple the pump to the manifold, eliminating the pressure line to the manifold.
Pneumatic manifolds often have separate exhausts at each block or work station because there is no need to return this fluid to tank. This permits exhaust metering which in turn, allows individual workstation speed control.
Flow-rates, pressures, and manifold length may be limiting factors with some modular manifold systems. One system is limited to 20 gpm at 3000 psi, and the manifold package cannot be more than 3 ft long. Another is restricted to 35 gpm and 3000 psi. A third accommodates fluids at pressures to 6000 psi and has no length limit. You can design around these restrictions, but be sure the system you specify can adequately handle your needs.
Electrical connections to manifolds may be made with wires which lead directly from the power source to the appropriate solenoid. Some manifold systems have built-in electrical troughs or channels for interior runs of electric cable. Some pneumatic systems have electrical connections at the valve subplate, which provide plug-in connections for the valve. This reduces the maze and clutter of the installation.
Advantages of manifolds
There are many advantages in using a manifold system. An example: a manifold which replaces approximately 300 lb of tubing and valve bases, occupies only about 1 ft 3 of space. Design engineers list these advantages and tips for the the use of manifolds.
- assembly and installation costs reduced 30% to 50%
- space required for installation reduced by 33%
- single-pressure-type pneumatic manifolds require only one filter-regulator-lubricator
- placement of all valves and manifolds should be considered during the design stage; manifolds should be located as close as possible to the equipment they are to control
- if four of five valves are to be operated simultaneously, connect the supply to both ends of the manifold
- when designing and specifying a manifold, the system designer should work with the manifold manufacturer. It is nearly impossible to catalog all manifold options or substitute catalog information for the detailed knowledge and experience of the manufacturer.


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People from different parts of the world are still not convinced by the story spread by and created by CIA and Bush administration.
I hope it will be soon when the truth which few people are pointing will become a majority voice.
Neils Harrit and 8 other scientists found nano-thermite in the dust from the World Trade Center. He is interviewed on danish TV2 News on the issue.
An older interview of Harrit on 9/11 issue:


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Logo handmade by Bannister
Column by Scott Green
Back in 2010, Toei showed off a pair of CG proof of concepts for remakes pf space opera Captain Harlock and mecha Gaiking. In spring 2011, we heard that Harlock was in progress, planned for 2013. Gaiking was silent, until now. Variety reports that Gale Anne Hurd's(Terminator, Aliens) Valhalla Entertainment and Toei Animation have signed on with All Nippon Entertainment Works for a feature version of Gaiking.
Hurd will be lead producer and Yoshi Ikezawa of Toei Animation and Joseph Chou (Appleseed Ex Machina, Halo Legends, live action Evangelion - seriously) will also produce.
The project is the first development deal for ANEW, which has been set up by Innovation Network Corporation of Japan to partner with Japanese rights holders to develop English language movies and TV.
A localized version of Gaiking aired regionally in the US as part of the Force Five syndication block, which also included Dangard Ace, Starvengers (Getter Robo G), Grandizer and Spaceketeers (Starzinger). Gaiking was also licensed for use in Mattel's Shogun Warriors robot toy line, which in turn was licensed for a Marvel Comics series.
The 2005 remake Gaiking: Legend of Daiku-Maryu is streaming on Crunchyroll.
The 2010 teaser from Tokyo International Anime Fair.


text: Book Reviews Great Reads for Moms: Summer '12 Edition I hope you all are enjoying some fabulous eading this summer. I have had my nose in a book almost every day this summer and I have gotten to read some really great summer reads. I am excited to share with you a few of my favorites from the past two months. As always, if you are looking for a little inspiration this new year, be sure to check our MomAdvice fan page for a weekly check-in on what everyone is reading each week on our Facebook Fan Page. I hope you will swing by on Fridays and share about the books you are working on or request recommendations with one another. So far it is a huge success and I have gotten a few new ideas for my own stack! Just as a reminder, I read many more books than are just featured here, but try to feature the ones that are my absolute best picks of the month here. If you want to read more, please feel free to friend me on GoodReads! You can find me right here and I am always happy to connect with people there too! There is nothing more motivating than seeing what other people are raving about and my to-be-read pile continues to grow with all of my new friends on there! In fact, many of the books featured are ones that I have found through my friends on GoodReads. Arranged by Catherine McKenzie I have to say that this book is one of my favorite reads this summer, simply because it is deliciously fast-paced chick-lit at its finest. Anne Blythe seems to have everything. She has sold her first book, has a fabulous life, and fabulous friends. When it comes to being lucky in love though, she can't seem to ever find the right guy. novel. After her best friend announces her engagement and her latest relationship ends, she decides to take a risk and contact a dating service in hopes of finding the perfect match. Upon her first appointment with the dating service though, she realizes that it is not a dating service at all, but a matchmaking service for an arranged marriage. Once she starts the process, there is no turning back and Anne finds herself traveling to a Mexican resort where she will meet and marry (all in the same weekend) her "perfect," guy. This book has great twists and turns that you will really enjoy and after devouring this book in a mere day, I can't recommend it enough for a fun reading escape! MomAdvice Rating- 5 Stars out of 5 Stars Wife 22 by Melanie Gideon If you are looking for another great chick-lit escape, Wife 22 offers a fresh and modern-day perspective on finding love that I think you will really enjoy. Alice Buckle is a typical middle aged mother who has found herself in a funk in her marriage. While Googling the search term, "happy marriage," she suddenly receives an opportunity in her email to take part in a marriage survey. Since she is struggling in her marriage, she find this to be a fun and anonymous way to share about her marriage without judgement. She takes on the anonymous survey as, "Wife 22," and finds herself completely engrossed in taking the survey and writing the answers to the questions. As she engages daily in the interaction with the researcher, their playful banter starts to turn into something that Alice never expected. This modern day love story of love lost and love found again is one that you will really love. What adds to the charm of this book is the social media thread of viewing Alice's friend's Facebook status updates at the beginning of the chapters, the Facebook chats she engages in, and of course the emails back and forth between herself and the Researcher. A solid ending to this story really pulls all the layers together beautifully. As an aside, there is an Appendix at the very end of the book that provides the questions that were asked of Alice when completing the survey. I wished I would have had those to help me pull the answers together more fully. MomAdvice Rating- 5 Stars out of 5 Stars Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn I love when I read a book and feel my real life slipping away from me. Gone Girl was a book that sucked me from the very first page and offered one of those amazing journeys as a reader. Without giving the plot away the story begins with Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary. Amy has carefully wrapped gifts and is making the perfect breakfast for her husband when she suddenly disappears one seemingly ordinary morning. Nick is quickly under suspicion since he appears completely unemotional with the news of his wife's disappearance and has no real explanation for his whereabouts when Amy has disappeared. Clue after clue points to Nick and the police begin building a case against him. It leaves the entire town and those closest to Amy wondering what Nick has done to Amy. Of course, with all good stories, things aren't always as they appear and this story will take the reader on great plot twists that they will never suspect coming. Although, I found the ending of this book to be a bit flat and it didn't wrap up the way I had hoped, I still believe this is one of the best thrillers I have read this year. Editor's Note- This book contains graphic scenes, language, & violence. MomAdvice Rating- 5 Stars out of 5 Stars Heaven is Here by Stephanie Nielson Stephanie Nielson began sharing her family's story on her blog NieNie Dialogues in 2005. She quickly attracted a loyal following that was captivated by the upbeat mother happily raising her young children, madly in love with her husband, Christian (Mr. Nielson to her readers), and filled with gratitude for her blessed life. Everything changed in an instant in August of 2008 when Stephanie and Christian were involved in a horrific plane crash. Christian was burned over 40 percent of his body, and Stephanie was near death, with burns on over 80 percent of her body. She would remain in a coma for four months. Stephanie shares her journey from the very beginning of her courtship to her perfect soul mate, the beautiful life they were able to build together, her own struggles with motherhood, the accident, and then the aftermath of recovering from the accident and rebuilding her life again. Stephanie's faith and the family that she has created through her church and in her own family are what help sustain her through her recovery. Her story is heart-wrenching and inspiring. It left me feeling inspired and gave me a new appreciation for my health and my family. MomAdvice Rating- 4 Stars out of 5 Stars Not enough great reads for you? Check out our Books section of our site for monthly recommendations and ideas for making reading a priority again in your busy mom life! Books I have read in 2012 (so far): Disclosure: All of the links above are affiliate links and are provided so you can locate the books quickly and easily. Feel free to order a book, but we encourage utilizing the library system and buying me a latte instead. Then we both would be really happy and we could have our own little book club together! Wouldn't that just be so much more lovely? Happy Reading! What has been in your book stack this summer? Feel free to share your book recommendations or feedback on any of the books that have been mentioned above! I love getting new suggestions for my book pile! Pin It Published August 07, 2012 by: Amy Allen Clark is the founder of MomAdvice.com. You can read all about her here. Brown Butter Waffles With Cherries An Apron Full of Giveaways: iPhone Photography Book Giveaway Closing


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BRUSSELS – Last week, the Committee for Emission Measurements in the Automotive Sector (EMIS), founded after the infamous Volkswagen […]
European Union
Get in touch with our expert in this field
Jonas Helseth is the Director of Bellona Europa, the EU policy office of the Bellona Foundation, and leads the foundation's work on CCS. Helseth joined Bellona in 2010, coming from a position as Advisor to the Mission of Norway to the EU on energy and transport policies. He holds several leadership positions within the EU Technology Platform for CCS (Zero Emissions Platform, ZEP), chairing the Taskforces for Policy & Regulation and Bio-CCS respectively. Helseth also leads ZEP's work on CCS in Energy-Intensive Industries (steel, cement, chemicals and refineries), a topic rapidly growing in political importance in Europe and globally.


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Stan McNeal
Sporting News
When the Philadelphia Phillies signed lefthander Cole Hamels to an extension last week, they said the 2012 season was not a lost cause. Sure, Hamels was signed with a focus on the future, but the Phillies seemingly weren't ready to give up on the present.
Then they were swept by the Atlanta Braves and their plans did a 180. When they gave Hamels $144 million, they were telling their fans that they are willing to spend whatever is necessary. After one lost weekend, they appear to have buyer's remorse.
Now the Phillies appear willing to trade just about anybody on their roster not named Hamels, Roy Halladay or Carlos Ruiz. They want to get younger and they want to reduce payroll.
By today 4 p.m. ET nonwaiver trading deadline, they likely will have moved starter Joe Blanton, outfielders Shane Victorino and Juan Pierre, and utilityman Ty Wigginton. It is possible they could also trade right fielder Hunter Pence and, if things fall their way, starter Cliff Lee and shortstop Jimmy Rollins will be on different teams, too.
To change plans so dramatically and abruptly is a formula for trouble. Making one trade is complicated, as we can see from the reported Blanton-to-Baltimore Orioles deal. Making a bunch of trades in a short timeframe can make heads spin.
Imagine being general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. The Los Angeles Dodgers are calling about Victorino. The San Francisco Giants are asking about Pence. The Cincinnati Reds are inquiring about Victorino and Pierre. The Arizona Diamondbacks are putting in a feeler for Lee. The Orioles are trying to finish up the Blanton deal. The Oakland A's are wondering about Rollins. Oh yeah, when you get a second, call the New York Yankees and see if they are interested in Wigginton.
The Phillies have won five consecutive NL East titles, so they have done a lot right. But look at what they have done with Lee over the past three years, and you have to wonder. If they handle everyone like they have jerked around Lee, they are bound to run into trouble sooner or later.
Retracing the Phillies' steps with the lefthander:
Trade deadline, 2009: The Phillies acquire Lee from the Cleveland Indians in a five-player deal. Lee dominates the postseason to the tune of a 1.56 ERA and 4-0 record that includes two wins over the Yankees in the World Series. The Phillies fall short of winning the World Series but are thrilled to have Lee on their side for another year at an affordable $8 million.
December, 2009: The Phillies are even more thrilled to finally trade for Roy Halladay, so they ship Lee to Seattle Mariners to make the deal work. Amaro says he would like to keep both aces but is concerned that he won't be able to afford Lee when he reaches free agency the following year.
December, 2010: Amaro gets Lee back with a five-year, $120 million deal when the Yankees and Texas Rangers were offering more.
July 25, 2012: The Phillies extended their third and youngest ace, Cole Hamels, with a six-year, $144 million deal that gives them a trio of $20-million-a-year starters. Even though this will result in the Phillies paying seven players in excess of $125 million in 2013, Amaro says he doesn't intend to trade Lee.
The GM at least offers a hedge, telling reporters, "Plans can change."
Indeed. But rarely is there a good outcome when they change so much, so quickly.
--Story originally appeared on SportingNews.com.


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|Summary of 3 reviews :
|Room :
|Facilities :
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|Hotel room status:
|The Seasons Bangkok Huamark is only international economy hotel in the Ramkhamhaeng area: the perfect choice for corporate guests with business in the nearby area and leisure guests who wish to have a local experience but remain within easy reach of the downtown.
|Here at The seasons Bangkok Huamark, we are very proud of our rooms, calm atmosphere and welcoming service. Enjoy contemporary and comfortable rooms in modern facilities such as Wi-Fi and cable television, and of course the wonderful service which you would expect from economy hotel. Our aim is to make you feel as relaxed as possible and to make your holiday a holiday to remember.
Standard RoomBed: Queen or Twin bed | Room size: 16 sq.m. | View: City
Comfort and a relaxing atmosphere is the key to our standard rooms. They include modern amenities, air conditioning and are clean and bright, ideal rooms from which to unwind after a day in the bustle of Bangkok, and from which to plan your next adventure! No rollaway.
Superior RoomBed: Queen or Twin bed | Room size: 19 sq.m. | View: City
Comfortable and charm, our Superior Rooms at The seasons Bangkok Huamark will not disappoint. They mix modern and tasteful features with comfort to create a welcoming and exclusive room. Bright and airy and inclusive of all modern conveniences, these rooms are a pleasure to stay in.
Junior SuiteBed: Single, twin or Queen plus 1 living room | Room size: 32 sq.m. | View: City
Holiday in style with one of our Junior Suites. They are chic, spacious and the ultimate in relaxation. Large enough to allow you to completely unwind, they combine with comfort to make your stay as memorable as possible. Privacy and luxury are key, and we pride ourselves on exemplary service enjoy feeling spoiled as you experience our Junior Suites.
|I Café Restaurant
"iCafé" serves only the freshest and tastiest of ingredients, The promotions are available and invite you to experience at your convenience. More than 90 seats available from 06.30 a.m. until 10.30 a.m. on weekdays and from 06.30 a.m. until 11.00 a.m. on weekends for buffet breakfast.
Time iCafé Restaurant :
La Tour Room
Area = 5.33 x 16.40 (sqm), Height = 2.30 (m)
|Relax corner on each floor
|Internet Service
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