text:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales is expected to be told Friday he faces 17 counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder, along with other charges, in connection with a shooting rampage in two southern Afghanistan villages that shocked Americans back home and further roiled U.S.-Afghan relations.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales is expected to be told Friday he faces 17 counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder, along with other charges, in connection with a shooting rampage in two southern Afghanistan villages that shocked Americans back home and further roiled U.S.-Afghan relations.
The charges come almost two weeks after the massacre in which Bales allegedly left his base in the early morning hours and shot Afghans, including women and nine children, while they slept in their beds, then burned some of the bodies.
Bales will be read the charges on Friday at the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where he has been held since being flown from Afghanistan last week, a U.S. official said.
Bales' civilian attorney, John Henry Browne, said Friday without commenting on the specific charges that he believes the government will have a hard time proving its case and that at some stage in the prosecution his client's mental state will be an important issue.
In addition to murder and attempted murder, the charges will include six counts of aggravated assault as well as a number of other violations of military law, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the charges before they were announced.
The 38-year-old soldier and father of two, who lives in Lake Tapps, Wash., faces trial under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, but it could be months before any public hearing.
The attorney said Friday on CBS' "This Morning" that he spent 11 hours this week with Bales at Leavenworth and found him to be shocked by the accusations against him.
"He has some memories about what happened before the alleged events and some memories after the alleged events and some windows here and there into things, but he really doesn't have any memory," Browne said. "My meetings with him clearly indicate to me that he's got memory problems that go back long before that."
Browne said Bales had earlier suffered a "concussive injury which is serious" and that it was "not treated for a variety of reasons," which Browne did not explain.
Browne said his reaction to the government's allegations is: "Prove it." He said he believes the government will have difficulty proving its case because "there is no crime scene" and a lack of important physical evidence like fingerprints.
Military authorities had originally said Bales was suspected in the killing of 16 Afghan villagers, nine children and seven adults. They changed that Thursday to 17, raising the number of adults by one but without explaining how the change came about. It's possible some of the dead were buried before U.S. military officials arrived at the scene of the carnage. Six Afghans were wounded in the attack.
The slaughter of Afghan villagers was yet another blow to U.S-Afghan relations. It followed a series of missteps, including the mistaken burning of Qurans, which prompted violent protests and revenge killings of American troops in the war zone.
The killings also prompted renewed debate in the United States about health care for the troops, who have experienced record suicide rates and high rates of post-traumatic stress and brain injuries during repeated deployments over a decade of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Bales was on his fourth tour of duty in a war zone, having served three tours in Iraq, where he suffered a head injury and a foot injury. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, of the 2nd Infantry Division, which is based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington.
Browne has portrayed his client as a patriot, loving father and devoted husband who had been traumatized by a comrade's injury and sent into combat one too many times.
But there have been conflicting reports about what exactly Bales saw relating to the comrade's injury. A U.S. defense official said that while it is likely that a soldier from Bales' unit, based in the Panjwai district of Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan, suffered a leg wound a day or two before the March 11 shootings, there is no evidence that Bales witnessed it or the aftermath, or that it played any role in his alleged actions.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an internal review.
Afghan officials have asked the United States for some role in the criminal proceedings, perhaps as observers, and to be kept up to date on the case. The government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai has not demanded that Bales be turned over to the Afghan justice system, although some in the country's parliament did. The Afghans have also urged a fast resolution of the case.
Army officials have said Bales was cleared for return to duty after the head injury he suffered in Iraq.
Bales joined the Army in 2001 after a Florida investment business failed and after he had worked with a string of securities operations. Bales and a broker at one company were hit in 2003 with a $1.5 million arbitration ruling after an elderly couple charged that their holdings were decimated.
He also was arrested in 2002 for the drunken assault of a casino security guard and had to complete an anger management class. There also are reports of a second incident involving alcohol, although Bales was never formally charged.
A sheriff's department report released Thursday says Robert Bales was accused in 2008 in Washington state of shaking hands with a woman, pulling her hand into his crotch and then punching and kicking her boyfriend. It described Bales as "extremely intoxicated."
Associated Press writers Robert Burns in Washington and Mike Baker and Manuel Valdes in Olympia, Wash., contributed to this report.


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Goatboy wrote:@Euforia33: I'll try your challenge later. I was much more interested in seeing if I could force a .PNG file footer in your sig by editing the hex of my user-agent. Alas I was unsuccessful. You'll see a few messages from me in your logs though, lol.
Sorry for the late reply, I anticipated some of you guys might try to mess with my sig so I tried to take precautions I did not see any messages in my logs though so I may have overlooked them.
aeroxtk wrote:
Well, I did ask you both on the board and @HTS but you haven't responded. And yes I'm not asking for any hints or anything; just to verify whether I'm in the right direction since I've reached to a certain part.
Responded already mate, you are on the right path!
It has been one year to the day that this challenge has been open for testing by the good people of HTS, though neither version has yet been solved. I think it's time for some more hints to help you guys out:
1, The image is made up of two colours, or is it...
2, The timed version has a 30 second time limit, when testing methods for solving this version of the challenge I made sure to also test more primitive means. In this 30 seconds, I completed one part using python, another part using a smartphone and then sending the data via email (better ways I know but I like a challenge lol) back to my python prog which then takes care of the rest.
3, Once you reach a certain stage, don't think about a key. The 30 second timer is to try to force you into solving it in a more specific way. Does it look like a single word to you? No? So what can you do with something like a paragraph, that you could not do with a single word?
Good luck!


text:
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text: Welcome to the Deadspin Polygraph Test, where I choose a random person in the sports world and subject them to a series of embarrassing and deeply personal questions, almost all of which involve sex or poop. They can only answer yes or no. Now, I don't posses an actual polygraph machine here. So I'm going to rely on the best bullshit detector of them all: our commenters. They answer, and you judge. Today, our subject is Will Leitch. Our Q&A is after the jump.DREW: Have you ever masturbated in a public place? LEITCH: No. DREW: Have you ever had sexual thoughts about a man, unwanted in your head or not? LEITCH: No. DREW: Have you ever imagined yourself as Rick Ankiel during intercourse? LEITCH: No. DREW: Have you ever passed up intercourse in order to blog? LEITCH: Yes. DREW: Do you surf hardcore porn sites every day? LEITCH: No. DREW: Have you ever had sex while at work? LEITCH: Yes. DREW: Have you ever urinated, and then zipped up, only to realize there's still a little bit trickling out and it makes really big stain in your pants? LEITCH: Yes. DREW: Do you read your own published articles more than five times each? LEITCH: Yes. DREW: Have you ever hooked up with a Deadspin reader? LEITCH: Yes. DREW: Have you and Daulerio ever "shared" a woman? LEITCH: I need the definition of "quotes" there. If you're asking if there are women that both Daulerio and I have had flings with, the answer is "yes." If you're asking if we've ever done the same woman at the same time, the answer is "no." Not for lack of trying.


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About Gemalto
Gemalto (Euronext NL 0000400653 GTO) is the leader in digital security with pro forma 2006 annual revenues of €1.7 billion, more than 85 offices in 40 countries and about 10,000 employees including 1,300 R&D engineers. In a world where the digital revolution is increasingly transforming our lives, Gemalto's solutions are designed to make personal digital interactions more convenient, secure and enjoyable.Gemalto provides end-to-end digital security solutions, from the development of software applications through design and production of secure personal devices such as smart cards, SIMs, e-passports, and tokens to the deployment of managed services for its customers.More than a billion people worldwide use the company's products and services for telecommunications, financial services, e-government, identity management, multimedia content, digital rights management, IT security, mass transit and many other applications.
As the use of Gemalto's software and secure devices increases with the number of people interacting in the digital and wireless world, the company is poised to thrive over the coming years.Gemalto was formed in June 2006 by the combination of Axalto and Gemplus. For more information please visit www.gemalto.com.
Find Gemalto's Media Contacts in your region.


text: Learn Italian is an easy to use mobile Italian phrasebook that will give visitors to Italy and those who are interested in learning Italian a good start in the language. Learn Italian is recorded using a native speaker and we have tried our best to be authentic in the pronunciation whilst ensuring it is easy to understand. Recommended app for tourists and business people visiting Italy. FEATURES • Universal app works on iPhone, iPod Touch, & iPad • Carefully translated list of essential phrases by professional translators • High quality audio pronunciation by native speaker • 2000+ phrases in total, 300+ phrases included for free • Upgrade and unlock all 800 phrases in 18 categories • Optional upgrade via in-app to unlock all • Option to playback audio at slower speed • No internet connection required • Includes essential tips for travellers • Store frequently used phrases in favourites • Play all phrases in a category or in Favourites • Ability to reorder Favourites phrases • Search for words within the app • No adverts or annoying popups CATEGORIES FREE Categories: * Greetings * General conversation * Numbers * Time and date * Directions and places * Transportation * Emergency PRO Categories: * Accommodation * Eating out * Shopping * Colours * Towns and provinces * Countries * Tourist attractions * Family * Dating * Feeling sick * Tongue twisters • HOW TO RESTORE PURCHASES? Purchases are one-time and carry over between devices. To restore your purchases on a new device, tap on PRO badge on one of the locked categories, tap on the Restore Purchase button. Even if you forget to do this step and try to buy the app again, it will be restored for free. • WE READ EVERY E-MAIL. We're a small company, but we reply to every support request. Let us try to help at firstname.lastname@example.com and we will do our best to help in any way! THANKS FOR ALL THE SUPPORT IF YOU LIKE THE APP PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW :-)


text:
Comcast customers who use a lot of bandwidth will need to start keeping an eye on their data usage.
Starting November 1, Comcast is rolling out a one terabyte data cap in 18 new markets, including Washington. This applies to all home customers, regardless of the speed of your plan.
Customers who go over the data limit will be charged $10 per 50 gigabyte data block (up to $200). Comcast is also offering an unlimited data plan for an additional $50 per month.
Comcast says it will offer "two courtesy months, so customers will not be charged the first two times they exceed one terabyte while they are getting comfortable with the new plan."
You will be able to track data usage online and sign up for notifications.
Comcast claims 99-percent of customers use less than 1 TB per month, but it could be an issue for fans of online gaming or 4K streaming.
The data cap is already active in parts of 16 states. On November 1, Comcast will add 18 new markets including Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, California, Minnesota, Texas (Houston), parts of Florida, southeastern Georgia, parts of Michigan and Western Ohio. You can find a full list of markets here.
Here's what Comcast says you could do with a terabyte of data in a month:
- Stream between 600 and 700 hours of HD video
- Play online games for more than 12,000 hours
- Stream more than 15,000 hours of music
- Upload or download more than 60,000 hi-res photos
You can learn more about the Comcast changes on its FAQ page.


text:
Boston, Mass.—Researchers at Boston Children's Hospital have found a combination of biomarkers related to blood vessel and tissue injury that, when measured together, could signal when a transplanted heart is becoming damaged to the point of failure, a process that is often undetected. The markers would give doctors an opportunity to intervene and save a recipient's heart, and also provide a starting point for identifying long-term rejection biomarkers for several kinds of organ transplants.
The research team—led by Kevin P. Daly, MD, and David M. Briscoe, MD, of the Transplant Research Program (TRP) at Boston Children's Hospital, and S. Ananth Karumanchi, MD, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center—published their findings online Dec. 26 in the Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation.
The study reflects a shift in the field of organ transplantation from short- to long-term rejection concerns, and from invasive to noninvasive methods for detecting chronic rejection early. In the 45 years since the first successful human heart transplant, concerns about short-term or acute organ rejection have largely been addressed by drugs like cyclosporine. However, long-term or chronic rejection—characterized by the loss of function in a transplanted organ over time—is becoming a larger issue, especially since transplant recipients are living longer now than ever before.
"All transplant patients eventually progress to chronic rejection," according to Briscoe, director of the TRP and a nephrologist with a long-standing interest in molecular monitoring for transplant rejection. "It's a slow process that evolves over years."
Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) is one of the main forms of chronic rejection in heart transplant patients. CAV results from continual injury to the transplanted organ's blood vessels by the recipient's immune system over time.
While both adult and pediatric heart transplant patients are monitored for signs of long-term rejection, the current test for CAV—annual screening via coronary angiography—is both invasive and risky. And by the time arterial damage is apparent on an angiograph, a patient may already be experiencing heart attacks without knowing it.
"Silent heart attacks are a major concern in long-term heart transplant recipients," Daly, a cardiologist in Boston Children's Heart Center and a TRP member, noted. "The transplanted heart doesn't develop new nerve connections, so the pain that would normally accompany a heart attack is absent in these patients. We want to be able to screen more frequently and intervene earlier, but to do that we need a less invasive test."
Briscoe and his colleagues took a translational approach to identifying biomarkers associated with CAV, building on work by Karumanchi to profile the molecular ways in which blood vessels respond to injury.
"As the damage to the transplant's blood vessels increases, the endothelial cells lining those vessels release factors associated with vascular injury and repair," Briscoe explained. "We thought that trends in the levels of those factors could serve as a way of detecting graft injury at the earliest possible stage in disease initiation."
To find out, the team measured the levels of 55 angiogenic proteins—factors that promote the growth and repair of blood vessels—in 33 adult heart transplant recipients, 17 with documented CAV and 16 without. All the patients were, on average, 12 years out from their transplant.
Of the 55 proteins, three stood out as good candidate biomarkers for CAV: two forms of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which directly signal for blood vessel growth; and platelet factor 4 (PL4), which promotes clotting and is associated with wound repair.
When measured together, levels of these three proteins were 98 percent accurate at differentiating patients with CAV from those without. For patients with mild CAV, only the two VEFG forms were required for accurate detection.
The discovery, if validated in a larger population of patients, could be a boon for transplant recipients by allowing their care team to address rejection-related problems before the risk of graft loss becomes too high. "There are a number of medications available and in the pipeline to treat CAV and other forms of chronic rejection," said Briscoe. "The problem has been detecting disease early, when these drugs would be most effective."
The team also hopes to expand the findings beyond adult populations and heart transplant recipients. "We would like to see whether these markers or other markers could be useful in detecting chronic rejection in children, or in patients who have received other kinds of organs," Briscoe commented.
"At this time children who have had heart transplants are screened for rejection via biopsy," Daly added. "We need better, less invasive ways to monitor ongoing injury in transplanted children, and this is where studies like this could have the greatest benefit."
The study was supported by Harvard Catalyst | The Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center (NIH grant UL1RR025758), the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (grants 5U01AI063623, 5U01AI063594 and 3R01AI046756-10S1), the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (grant T32HL07572), the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Development (grant K12HD052896-06), the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (T32DK007726), the Boston Children's Hospital Cardiac Transplant and Education Fund and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Keri Stedman
[email protected]
Boston Children's Hospital is home to the world's largest research enterprise based at a pediatric medical center, where its discoveries have benefited both children and adults since 1869. More than 1,100 scientists, including nine members of the National Academy of Sciences, 11 members of the Institute of Medicine and nine members of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute comprise Boston Children's research community. Founded as a 20-bed hospital for children, Boston Children's today is a 395-bed comprehensive center for pediatric and adolescent health care grounded in the values of excellence in patient care and sensitivity to the complex needs and diversity of children and families. Boston Children's also is a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. For more information about research and clinical innovation at Boston Children's, visit: http://vectorblog.org/.


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kidzsearch.com > wiki Explore:images videos games
Islamic Republic of Pakistan
اسلامی جمہوریۂ پاکستان
Islāmī Jumhūrī-ye Pākistān
Area controlled by Pakistan in dark red; claimed and disputed but uncontrolled territory marked in light red
|Official languages
Urdu (National)
|Federal Parliamentary republic
|Mamnoon Hussain (PML N)
|Mian Muhammad Nuwaz Sharif (PML N)
|Nasir ul Mulk
|Farooq Naek (PPP)
|Ayaz Sadiq (PML-N)
|National Assembly
|28 January 1933
|23 March 1940
|from the United Kingdom
• Declared
|14 August 1947
|23 March 1956
• Total
|796,095 km2 (307,374 sq mi) (36th)
• Water (%)
• September 2011 estimate
|177,163,231[1] (6th)
• 1998 census
• Density
|214.3/km2 (555.0/sq mi) (55th)
Pakistan is a country in southern Asia. It is next to the India, Iran, Afghanistan, and China. It is officially called the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It has a long coastline along the Arabian Sea in the south. Pakistan has the sixth largest population in the world. Pakistan has a total land area of 880,940 km2 (340,130 sq mi) (including the Pakistani-administered territories of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan). This makes Pakistan the 34th largest country in the world. Pakistan has the seventh largest army in the world.
The name Pākistān means Land of the Pure in Persian and Urdu.
The name Pakistan (English pronunciation: i/ˈpækɨstæn/ or i/pɑːkiˈstɑːn/; Urdu: پاکستان [paːkɪˈst̪aːn]) means Land of (the) Pure in Urdu and Persian. It was coined in 1933 as Pakstan by Choudhary Rahmat Ali, a Pakistan movement activist, who published it in his paper Now or Never.[7] The name is an acronym that stands for the "thirty million Muslim brethren who live in PAKSTAN—by which we mean the five Northern units of India viz: Punjab, (Afghan Province), Kashmir, Sind, and Baluchistan".[8] The letter 'i' was later added to ease pronunciation.
Government and politics
Pakistan has a federal parliamentary system.[9] The head of state is an indirectly-elected President. The president is also the Commander in Chief of the Joint Armed Forces. The head of government is the Prime Minister, who is also indirectly elected.
The President's appointment and term are constitutionally independent of the Prime Minister's term. The Electoral college of the country, (composed of the Senate, the National Assembly, and the four Provincial Assemblies) chooses a leadership reprsenting the President of Pakistan for a five-year term. The Prime Minister is usually the leader of the largest party in the National Assembly and is assisted by a cabinet of ministers drawn from both chambers of the federal legislature. The current Prime Minister is Yousaf Raza Gillani of the Pakistan Peoples Party, who took office on March 25, 2008.
Pakistan is officially a federal republic, but during a long period in its history it changed to a democratic state and a military dictatorship. Military dictators include Ayub Khan in the 1960s, General Zia-ul-Haq in the 1980s.
Pakistan's two largest political parties are the Pakistan Peoples Party and the government party Muslim League (Pakistan)(Q) (which have military support). The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has also gained prominence in the past years.
On the 27th December 2007 the leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated. The reasoning is yet to be determined.
Administrative divisions
Pakistan is made up of four provinces, two territories and two special areas. Both special areas are in Kashmir. The provinces and territories were divided into 26 divisions with now 147 districts directly divided from the provinces. Each district is divided into several tehsils and each tehsil is divided into several union councils. There are around 596 tehsils and over 6,000 union councils of Pakistan.
- Balochistan
- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly NWFP)
- Punjab[10]
- Sindh
Among the four provinces, Punjab has the most people but Balochistan is the largest province by area. (Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also have Provincially Administered Tribal Areas[11] (PATA) which are going to be regular districts.)
Administrative Areas (Pakistan-administered Kashmir)
India, Pakistan and China separately control parts of the Kashmir region. India and Pakistan's parts are divided by a Line of Control. The Pakistan–China border is internationally known. Trade is common between the 2 countries.[12]
National symbols
Pakistan has a semi-industrialized economy.[13][14] The growth poles of the Pakistani economy are situated along the Indus River.[14][15] Diversified economies of Karachi and Punjab's urban centres, coexist with lesser developed areas in other parts of the country.[14] Despite being a very poor country in 1947, Pakistan's economic growth rate has been better than the global average during the subsequent four decades, but imprudent policies led to a slowdown in the late 1990s.[16]
Recently, wide-ranging economic reforms have resulted in a stronger economic outlook and accelerated growth especially in the manufacturing and financial services sectors.[16] Since the 1990s, there has been great improvement in the foreign exchange market position and rapid growth in hard currency reserves.[16]
The 2005 estimate of foreign debt was close to US$40 billion. However, this has decreased in recent years with assistance from the International Monetary Fund and significant debt-relief from the United States. Pakistan's gross domestic product, as measured by purchasing power parity, is estimated to be $475.4 billion[17] while its per capita income stands at $2,942.[17] The poverty rate in Pakistan is estimated to be between 23%[18] and 28%.[19]
Pakistan became independent in 1947 from the Indian empire of British Raj. The first people in ancient Pakistan lived 9000 years ago. These people were the ones who made up the Indus Valley Civilization,[20] which is one of the oldest civilizations on Earth. After that, the Vedic period came. This also included parts of north-western India. Until 1971, Pakistan also included an area in the North-east India region. This is now called Bangladesh. It lost that area after a war with Indian Army and the joint militant group of Indo-Bangladeshi alliance of Mitro Bahini of West Bengal. During recent times Pakistan has been in the centre of world politics. This is firstly because of its support to guerillas in Afghanistan, following Soviet invasion 1979, and later during the 1990s because of its cooperation with and support for the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. However, since 2000 Pakistan has basically supported the West in their war against fundamentalist terrorism, including the removal of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
Pakistan is a member of the Commonwealth. However, after the war in East Pakistan the country was excluded (between 1972-1989). It was also a member between 1999 and 2004. However, it is currently excluded from the Commonwealth (since November 2007).
Geography and climate
There are many earthquakes in the area. The earthquake in 2005 with its earthquake center in Kashmir is the strongest so far. Over 100,000 people were killed or wounded on October 8, 2005.
Pakistan covers 880,940 km2 (340,130 sq mi),[21] approximately equalling the combined land areas of France and the United Kingdom. Its eastern regions are located on the Indian plate and the western and northern regions on the Iranian plateau and Eurasian landplate. Apart from the 1,046 km (650 mi) Arabian Sea coastline, Pakistan's land borders total 6,774 km (4,209 mi) — 2,430 km (1,510 mi) with Afghanistan to the northwest, 523 km (325 mi) with China to the northeast, 2,912 km (1,809 mi) with India to the south and east, and 909 km (565 mi) with Iran to the southwest.[22]
The northern and western highlands of Pakistan contain the towering Karakoram and Pamir mountain ranges, which incorporate some of the world's highest peaks, including K2 8,611 m (28,251 ft) and Nanga Parbat 8,126 m (26,660 ft). The Balochistan Plateau lies to the west, and the Thar Desert and an expanse of alluvial plains, the Punjab and Sindh, lie to the east. The 1,609 km (1,000 mi) Indus River and its tributaries flow through the country from the disputed territory of Occupied Kashmir to the Arabian Sea.[23]
Pakistan has four seasons: a cool, dry winter from December through February; a hot, dry spring from March through May; the summer rainy season, or southwest monsoon period, from June through September; and the retreating monsoon period of October and November. The onset and duration of these seasons vary somewhat according to location.[24] Rainfall can vary radically from year to year, and successive patterns of flooding and drought are also not uncommon.[25]
Urdu is the national language of the country. English is widely understood. Many people also speak Saraiki, Punjabi, Hindko, Pushto, Sindhi and Balochi.
|Religion in Pakistan
Most (97%) of the people are Muslim. Most of the Muslims in Pakistan are Sunni Muslims (>75%) and Shia Muslims (20%). However a few minority groups exist. Pakistan also has some Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Zoroastrians and animist minority groups in the northern parts of the country.
After the separation from British India, Hinduism had much less importance in the newly created state of Pakistan, but has played an important role in its culture and politics as well as the history of its regions. In fact, Pakistan has the 5th largest population of Hindus, after Sri Lanka.
The word Hindu comes from the Sindhu (Indus River) of Pakistan. The Sindhu is one of the holy rivers of Hinduism. Thus, in many ways, the land which is today's heavily Muslim Pakistan has played an important part in the origin of Hinduism. There are about 3 million Hindus living in Pakistan.
Poverty in Pakistan is a growing concern. Although the middle-class has grown in Pakistan, nearly one-quarter of the population is classified poor as of October 2006.
The national sport of Pakistan is field hockey, although cricket is the most popular game across the country.[26] The national cricket team has won the Cricket World Cup once (in 1992), were runners-up once (in 1999), and co-hosted the games twice (in 1987 and 1996). Pakistan were runners-up in the inaugural 2007 ICC World Twenty20 held in South Africa and were the champions at the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 held in England. Lately however, Pakistani cricket has suffered heavily due to teams refusing to tour Pakistan because of terrorism fears. No teams have toured Pakistan since March 2009, when militants attacked the touring Sri Lankan cricket players.[27]
In addition to sports like field hockey, cricket, squash rackets, soccer and others, Pakistanis are also very keen on equestrianism of various types,and equestrian sports such as Polo and the traditional Tent pegging are played by many. Other traditional rural sports include two types of Wrestling, Kabbadi and a martial art called Gatka.
Related pages
- ↑ "Official Pakistani Population clock". Population Census Office. Archived from the original on 2012-04-25. http://www.census.gov.pk/. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
- ↑ "Area, Population, Density and Urban/Rural Proportion by Administrative Units". Population Census Organization, Government of Pakistan. http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/area_pop/area_pop.html. Retrieved 13 February 2008.
- ↑ "Population by Mother Tongue". Population Census Organization of Pakistan. http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/other_tables/pop_by_mother_tongue.pdf. Retrieved 22 September 2010.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Pakistan". International Monetary Fund. http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2011/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2008&ey=2011&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=564&s=NGDPD%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPPC%2CLP&grp=0&a=&pr.x=52&pr.y=8. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
- ↑ "Human Development Report 2011. Human development index trends: Table 1" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2011_EN_Complete.pdf. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
- ↑ Loureiro, Miguel (28 July 2005). "Driving—the good, the bad and the ugly". Daily Times (Pakistan). http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_28-7-2005_pg3_5. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
- ↑ Choudhary Rahmat Ali (28 January 1933). "Now or never: Are we to live or perish for ever?". Columbia University. http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00islamlinks/txt_rahmatali_1933.html. Retrieved 4 December 2007.
- ↑ Ali, Rahmat. "Rahmat Ali ::Now or Never". The Pakistan National Movement. pp. [Unknown]. http://www.chaudhryrahmatali.com/now%20or%20never/index.htm. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
- ↑ "About Government". Government of Pakistan. http://18.104.22.168/wps/portal/!ut/p/c1/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os_hQN68AZ3dnIwN3C3MDAyOPYDNvXwMjQwNnI6B8pFm8n79RqJuJp6GhhZmroYGRmYeJk0-Yp4G7izEB3eEg-_DrB8kb4ACOBvp-Hvm5qfoFuREGWSaOigDeD0uL/dl2/d1/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS9ZQnB3LzZfVUZKUENHQzIwT0gwODAySFMyNzZWMzEwMDE!/. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
- ↑ Not to be confused with the Indian state of Punjab. Both together make up the Punjab region.
- ↑ "The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan: Part XII". National Reconstruction Bureau, Government of Pakistan. http://www.nrb.gov.pk/constitutional_and_legal/constitution/part12.ch3.html. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
- ↑ Ministry Of Commerce
- ↑ "Agricultural Economics : An analysis of industrial–agricultural interactions: a case study in Pakistan". ScienceDirect. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T3V-3Y21V48-F&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=2d4b7d3ce3b0b4005140c271bb7312a7. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 "World Bank Document" (PDF). http://siteresources.worldbank.org/PAKISTANEXTN/Resources/293051-1241610364594/6097548-1257441952102/balochistaneconomicreportvol2.pdf. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
- ↑ "Pakistan". Gecon.yale.edu. http://gecon.yale.edu/Pakistan.htm. Retrieved 2 January 2010.[dead link]
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 "Economy". Pakistan Trade Development Authority. http://www.epb.gov.pk/v1/travelguide/. Retrieved 8 March 2009.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects (PPP)". International Monetary Fund. http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2007/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2007&ey=2007&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=564&s=PPPGDP%2CPPPPC&grp=0&a=&pr.x=59&pr.y=1. Retrieved 8 October 2007.
- ↑ "WB, UNDP question poverty estimates". Dawn. Pakistan Group of Newspapers. 20 June 2006. http://www.dawn.com/2006/06/20/top1.htm. Retrieved 12 February 2008.
- ↑ "Pakistan: People". The World Factbook. CIA. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pk.html#People. Retrieved 12 February 2008.
- ↑ "Introduction to the Ancient Indus Valley". Harappa. 1996. Archived from the original on 2011-12-31. http://www.harappa.com/indus/indus1.html. Retrieved 2007-06-18.
- ↑ World Factbook. Retrieved 03 November 2006. Archived 9 January 2008 at WebCite
- ↑ "Pakistan". World Factbook. CIA. Archived from the original on 2008-01-09. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pk.html. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
- ↑ InfoPlease. "Pakistan". http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107861.html. Retrieved 2009-03-16.
- ↑ U.S. Library of Congress. "Climate". http://countrystudies.us/pakistan/25.htm. Retrieved 2009-03-16.
- ↑ "Pakistna Climate". Encyclopedia of the Nations. 2008-03-28. http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Asia-and-Oceania/Pakistan-CLIMATE.html. Retrieved 2009-03-16.
- ↑ Khan, Saad (15 March 2010). "The Death of Sports in Pakistan". The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/saad-khan/the-death-of-sports-in-pa_b_498758.html. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
- ↑ Pakistan cricket future in doubt – BBC, 13:00 GMT, Wednesday, 4 March 2009
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text:
I recently read an article discussing the change in bread in Australia. For years we have enjoyed the luxury of fresh daily bread. Yes. Fresh. Daily. Supermarkets stocked their shelves with fresh bread every day and we made fresh sandwiches everyday and the next day it was toast then breadcrumbs. Left over bread from the shelves was then sold to pig farmers for pig food.
As an Aussie living in the US, I have always told fellow Americans how damn good the bread was back home and how much I missed it and now it seems we have lost that tradition and luxury. The bread manufacturers are going to change the bread 'recipe' so that the bread can last up to 14 days. I have always been amazed and a little dubious that my loaf of bread here can last that long. What is in it to make it last this long? But I always had the comfort of knowing that when I go home, I get my dose of fresh bread. Now, no more.
I go back to the days of having fresh milk delivered to my doorstep. Popping the top of that glass bottle, practically knocking the cream of the top with a knife and pouring that fresh milky liquid all over my cereal seemed so natural then, but a hard to find luxury now. All the basics have been messed with in order to make life easier for us all. Who wants to buy fresh bread every day when you can buy it every other day?. Well I do.
I have my organic garden in place as I am tired of eating fake vegetables from the supermarket. I have worm bins in order to make fresh, natural compost for my gardens. And now it seems I have to start baking my own bread. I may have to give up work in order to eat natural foods as the time I have to spend just to keep myself healthy has taken over my life.
Yes, I know that I can go to a co-op or farmers market to purchase organic vegetables but really, what guarantee is there that these vegetables are 100% organic and they are not necessarily cheap and I do enjoy gardening, however I DO NOT enjoy baking bread but I do not wish to pollute my body with this unnatural crap.
I am quite afraid of our future, we are filling our bodies with so many preservatives and fats and god knows what else, I cannot help to wonder what our next evolutionary process will be. Perhaps stupidity, ignorance and illnesses and surviving off prescription medications will be the norm.
Stop the world, I really do want to get off.
Views: 311
Last week I found a package of sandwich buns that I bought this summer and stashed in a cabinet. The were a new type of flat, less soft bun. They looked unchanged - not even mold. I threw them out.
Most of the bread in the supermarket is the prepackaged kind, but there are usually bakeries in the store that sell bread, and then discount day-old bread or give it to food pantries I thought.
It isn't just in food that beautiful things are being discarded for easier, streamlined, and soulless things.
I know what you mean, especially those funny looking milk bottles with an hour glass figure from which I could scoop out the cream, and the breads coming out of the wood burning oven, chickens in the back yard who ate all the vegetable peelings and provided the day's supply of eggs, and sitting in the cool morning garden mixing cake batter, and laundry hanging on clothes lines. Sweet memories; not possible in the days women work outside homes to provide money for a cash economy.
Being retired, I can grow my own vegetables and make whipped cream, bake breads, have a one-a-day-egg chicken, and hang out laundry, and make cookies, and sit at the table with the grand-kids and great-grand-kids home from school eating slices of fresh fruits and vegetables just picked from the garden or enjoy fruits and vegetables from the freezer during winter months.
Of all women, I am most blessed. I don't have a TV any more and my computer brings me all kinds of documentaries and science programs that can fill any idle time. I don't have to watch soap operas or commercial news and can "delete" the fools who show up on the screen from time to time.
Each morning the sun rises, time flies, a day will come when I will no longer be able to do these things and I want to stay around just for the pure joy of living.
Oh! by the way! Two dear came by my window Thanksgiving night. Peace.
oops ... that should have been deer.
some people thing that deer are dear.
Some of those things are still around in other countries, anyway. My mother-in-law in India has chickens and pigs in the backyard, which both seem pretty cheap to raise because they can be fed scraps.
And hanging laundry outside is something I am passionate about! I can't believe that people object to it! There are some things about humans that I just don't understand, like why they have such a problem with useful, practical things.
Prog Rock Girl, do you live in the city or country? Do you have a preference where you would like to live? I like visiting relatives who have chicken and pigs out back and enjoy taking the slop bucket out to the pens. Fresh eggs I like, slaughtering is not so good.
Do you think people object to hanging laundry outside? My impression is that women family and friends work outside the home now and don't have time to take laundry out to a clothes line. Generally, and I may be wrong, most of the women I know like the fresh air of dried clothes outside. I do remember that my grandmother had to be the first to have her laundry hanging out to dry and they had to be hung just so ... all the shirts together, all the pants, then the underwear and sox. Women's underwear was hung between hanging sheets. And the whites had to be absolutely spotless. Dish towel all had embroidery on them, usually "Monday," "Tuesday," etc. Pillow cases had fancy lace they made themselves. It was called tatting.
I've always wanted to learn tatting and knitting. I only know how to sew and crochet, though... I guess I need to watch more youtube!
Women in my grandmother's quilting group tatted and it is mesmerizing to watch. There is a sound, too, that gets almost hypnotic. They turned out lovely things, pillow cases, hankies, fancy guest towels. They even iron their sheets. Oh dear, I haven't had my iron out for several years.
I live in Melbourne - and I get farm fresh raw organic jersey milk with lots of cream - almost half is cream!
it's become the rage in Melbourne coffee shops and people pay more to have coffee made with this milk...
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text:
Martyrs Christopher, Theonas, and Anthony, at Rome
The Holy Martyrs Christopher, Theonas, and Anthony were officers in the army of the emperor Diocletian (284-305). They were present at the sufferings of the Holy Great Martyr George (April 23), they saw the miracles accomplished by the power of God, and they witnessed Saint George's faith and unshakable courage.
The soldiers came to believe in the Savior, threw down their golden military belts, and declared themselves Christians in front of the emperor. They were immediately thrown into prison. The next day the emperor urged the former soldiers to renounce Christ, but they firmly confessed their faith and glorified the Savior as the true God.
The emperor ordered that the martyrs be beaten with iron rods, and their bodies to be raked with hooks. The holy martyrs endured all the torments and remained unyielding. Then Diocletian gave orders to burn them. The martyric death of Saints Christopher, Theonas, and Anthony occurred in the year 303.


text:
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
I Will Drawing That For You! Day 1
29 comments:
- Nathan said...
12:15 and no takers? I'll kick this off myself then. Here's my idea: "The Three Amigos as mutant monsters."
Beat that.
- April 5, 2011 at 12:18 AM
- Debbie Barr said...
Just kidding! My first idea was terrible.
How about Yellowbelly and Plum ninja-fighting their way through a sea of pirate turtles! (?)
Okay, bad idea coming up with ideas at 1:00 AM
- April 5, 2011 at 12:53 AM
- Q said...
My best ideas always come at two in the morning, but I'm getting nothing. Um, how about... Monstrously large (but lovely) butterflies drinking V8 while nectar and ambrosia cake bakes in the oven.
Yeah. That's right.
- April 5, 2011 at 1:00 AM
- Camille Aurelia. said...
King Zora and Tingle in an epic battle of light and awesomeness flying above everything! Definitely. I'm a huge Zelda fan.
- April 5, 2011 at 1:28 AM
- Chris said...
A LEGOS factory (in all senses: made of, making, etc.)
If trademarks are a problem, you may use generic brick toys.
And I love the banjo pig!
- April 5, 2011 at 4:56 AM
- Katya said...
A giant lobster attacking a coastal Maine town à la Godzilla.
- April 5, 2011 at 6:14 AM
- Alysa Stewart said...
I think you should draw Piccolo (your blog header bird) eating his favorite food(s)!
- April 5, 2011 at 6:54 AM
- Clint C. said...
Jack: A rat walking down the road.
Talmage: The Titans are the bad guys and they are fighting against the Olympians. On the Olympians side are demigods, minotaur and draconae.
Cole: Yellow Belly makes burger bug wars.
Sarah: I'm still thinking.
- April 5, 2011 at 8:03 AM
- Mickey said...
You as a Lego mini fig...with your land of doom headband...with a lightsaber.
- April 5, 2011 at 8:17 AM
- edith said...
Man, that pig's got backstory! (I hope you know what I mean by that.)
I'm taking my inspiration from the wv--Suphylas. I'm seeing a salamander from the regions of fire visiting the "outer space" of the upper mantle--where the cold is so intense he may not make it.
- April 5, 2011 at 8:40 AM
- buttercup said...
Tessa: A monkey playing a flute
Kielle: A snowboarding Yeti named Harold
Ryan: Minions doing the Conga
Ada: Stuffed animals playing hopscotch
Robyn: delivering newspapers in a snowstorm riding on a yak while wearing shorts.
- April 5, 2011 at 8:42 AM
- storyqueen said...
First off, I am now obsessed with Banjo Pigs. It is maybe the coolest thing on the internet.
Second, I want to see a dragon babysitter.
- April 5, 2011 at 8:50 AM
- John Ferguson said...
I've always enjoyed astronomy. I also like modern takes on old things...and there's very few things older than astronomy. For example, our constellations have been around for many hundreds of years.
I'd like to see you draw a night sky or a sky map with your own made-up constellations.
- April 5, 2011 at 8:52 AM
Jack and Punzie's wedding.
- April 5, 2011 at 9:13 AM
Will you draw me a young woman riding an elephant? She should be happy and safe. The elephant should be purple!
- April 5, 2011 at 9:55 AM
A dinosaur secret agent and his arch-nemesis ninja bunny rabbit
- April 5, 2011 at 11:03 AM
Link from the Legend of Zelda wearing glasses and reading the newspaper at a little cafe.
- April 5, 2011 at 12:38 PM
- Lady Fresa said...
A pink, blue, green, and orange poodle playing tennis on a sunny day in the park--with ninjas attacking from the background.
- April 5, 2011 at 2:51 PM
- Lindsay said...
all this banjo talk got me thinkin about "Froggy Jamboree" maybe your interpretation of that would be a fun one....
- April 5, 2011 at 2:54 PM
Draw a duck eating a cupcake! Hehe
- April 5, 2011 at 3:31 PM
Hmmm. I seem to have Tron on the brain and Zelda is pretty awesome, so... Link and Ganon face off on the Grid?
Or something with dinosaurs. Tron dinosaurs!
- April 5, 2011 at 5:11 PM
- Megwrites said...
Two words: steampunk octopus.
- April 5, 2011 at 5:41 PM
- Juliana said...
I love the Banjo Pig blog! Just discovered it last week.
So I'm just finishing up the end of my middle grade novel, and I think you need to do a picture for my son to go with it!
Ready? Intergalactic racecars riding the rings of Saturn.
- April 5, 2011 at 7:38 PM
- Juliana said...
Oh yeah, and I wish this was Facebook where I could click "like" on other people's ideas!
- April 5, 2011 at 7:39 PM
Oooh ooh! Draw a little girl blowing bubbles! Each bubble would have a different picture inside! She would be at the bottom, and blowing the bubbles up. They would get bigger and bigger! Yay! Do it! please! please!
- April 5, 2011 at 8:42 PM
Um. A really, really greasy marshmallow.
This is my first day. Go easy on me.
- April 5, 2011 at 8:44 PM
- shannon hale said...
Steven Kellogg drew a picture for me of a villain whose head and bum changed places. He was a character from the Exquisite Corpse Adventure. Steven Kellogg. No lie.
- April 5, 2011 at 9:07 PM
- ueberhund said...
I would like to see Yellowbelly and Plum crossing Abbey Road--with two other characters of your choice.
- April 5, 2011 at 9:35 PM
- Jed Henry said...
I want to see a world built by parakeets.
- April 6, 2011 at 12:05 AM


text:
With the 43rd overall pick in the 2009 draft, the Cincinnati Reds selected University of Southern California pitcher Brad Boxberger.
Boxberger was a draft eligible junior who is listed at 6-2 and 200 lbs, but likely stands closer to 6-0. He both bats right and throws right. He joins Mike Leake to give the Reds a one-two punch of polished college pitching prospects in their first two picks.
Boxberger certainly has the bloodlines for success, as his father Rod went 12-1 with a 2.00 ERA and earned College World Series MVP award for the 1978 national championship USC team. Brad was drafted out of high school by the Royals in the 20th round of the 2006 draft, but he chose instead to follow in his father's footsteps by attending USC.
Boxberger jumped right into the starting rotation as a freshman and quickly proved that he belonged. He started 14 games and worked in 90.0 innings posting a 3.20 ERA with a 72/34 K/BB ratio in a tough Pac-10 conference. His performance was so strong that he took over the Friday night starter duties for the Trojans.
His sophomore season didn't go quite as well, as he split time between the rotation and the bullpen. Over 18 total games and 9 starts, Boxberger posted a 6.12 ERA in 50.0 innings with a 52/26 K/BB ratio. He missed roughly 3 weeks due to elbow soreness and ultimately ended the season as the team's closer.
During his junior season, Boxberger showed no lingering effects of his elbow injury. He went back to starting fulltime, making 14 starts and tossing 94.0 innings. He posted a 3.16 ERA with a 99/50 K/BB ratio. His performance was strong enough to earn him All-Pac-10 honors and reestablish his MLB prospect status.
Boxberger works with three solid pitches that have plus potential. He throws a 91-93 mph fastball with good movement that touches 94 on occasion, a 78-80 mph curveball, and a circle changeup that has good late sink to it. He needs to demonstrate more consistency with his pitches, especially his offspeed offerings. His overall command also needs improvement, as it tends to come and go. But, he has a good feel for pitching, which should help his development.
On the mound, Boxberger uses fairly conventional mechanics. To start his delivery, he moves his left foot forward and rotates his right foot on the rubber. He then brings his left leg up into his leg kick, which includes significant hip rotation. In fact, his leg kick includes so much hip rotation that he almost points his knee at the second base and shows his back to the hitters. It's not quite that extreme, but it's certainly heading in that direction.
Here's a look at him in action:
He keeps his hands up near his chin until after his leg kick and he breaks his hands. He has a good arm swing and keeps his elbow in good relation to his shoulder. His lower body drive off the mound isn't strong and his stride is rather short, which leaves him with a very upright delivery and follow through. Ultimately, his lack of a strong push off the mound prevents him from utilizing his body as effectively as he could, which is somewhat surprising because of the significant hip rotation that he uses.
Boxberger isn't very tall, so he doesn't have the advantage of pitching on a downward plane. In addition, he doesn't come completely over the top, but rather utilizes a high three-quarter arm slot with a free-and-easy arm action. In fact, his arm action is so loose that at times it looks like he slings the ball to the plate, which could help explain his inconsistency.
Overall, his pitching mechanics are fairly clean and there aren't any significant red flags, but he could do a better job of throwing with his body to minimize stress on the arm. The fact that he suffered from an elbow injury in college isn't a great sign, but it wasn't serious and he doesn't seem to be suffering from any lingering effects.
Boxberger is an intriguing prospect, but I'm not entirely sure what we have yet. Prior to his strong junior season, many scouts projected him as more of a reliever, but his performance last year changed some minds. Part of me looks at Boxberger and sees a new version of Sam LeCure. A good, polished college pitcher whose game ultimately didn't translate very well to the professional ranks. However, Boxberger undeniably has better stuff and if things break right in his development he has the chance for two or three plus pitches. At the very least, he has a couple ticks in velocity on LeCure, which can only help his chances.
It'll be interesting to see how Boxberger's game translates to the professional ranks, but he certainly adds another interesting arm to a Reds farm system in need of them. Boxberger and Mike Leake should add quality and depth to the list of pitching prospects in the system.
A running discussion on the Cincinnati Reds and everything else in the baseball universe.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
2009 Draft: Brad Boxberger, rhp
Labels: 2009, B.Boxberger, Baseball, Draft, Reds
3 comments:
- smittyJuly 22, 2009 at 4:16 PM
hey lark,ReplyDelete
hopefully you decided to do a mid season top 25! that would be awesome. again if there is anything you need help with or need ill be glad to help
Hey Smitty,ReplyDelete
Yeah, I think I will do one. It'll be more of a list with some comments on their respective 2009 performances, rather than the longer full blown scouting report style write up that I do over the offseason. But, it's a good idea.
When I get it posted, I'll be curious to see your list. We can compare and contrast.
Thanks for the idea!
sounds good to me manReplyDelete
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
I'm not sure if the original executable uses all of them though.
Code: Select all
// "so, can't handle it huh,\ngo ahead then punk!",
// "give me those weapons back, you big weenie!",
// "ok, so you're not as tough as you claim to be",
// "get out of here, you're no match for me!",
// "i've seen your type before\nyou come, then you leave!!",
// "you're a big nothing\nwith people like you\nthis is easy",
// "come on, just a little while longer!",
// "i'll get you next time!!",
// "get out of here!!",
// "you think you're tough, don't you!",
// "i hear your mommy calling you!\ngo on home, you little girlie boy!",
// "i'm going to bust your butt, if you come back!",
// "you know what?\ni can see you sitting there!!",
// "if you press y,\ni'll slap you silly!!",
// "ha ha ha, see, you aren't good enough!",
// "you'll be back,\nthis is too much fun for you to resist!!!",
I've slightly updated the DOS executable to replace the cheat codes (MBF-specific codes were removed). Also some default settings have been changed (e.g. the translucency effect is now off by default).
The download links in the post above were updated accordingly.
BTW, I've also noticed another thing. The backpack message replacement goes as follows in v1.0/1.1:
However, in v1.2 it was changed to:
Code: Select all
Grab a Valise stuffed with goods!
While "Grab" has been consistently changed to "Grabbed" in v1.2, I'm not sure if there's a need to shorten "with" to just "w/"? The full string, "Grabbed a Valise stuffed with goods!", should fit on the screen even in 320x200 resolution mode.
Code: Select all
Grabbed a Valise stuffed w/goods!


text:
This is something you might expect in the Chicago political establishment. Mayor Gregor Robertson is accused of giving a payoff to Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu, while Chu was continuing to evade a request for a criminal investigation into evidence of criminal activity on the part of Robertson. At the very least, Robertson 'rewarded' Chu with a five year contract extension worth over one and a half million dollars for a job well done during the period in which he was stalling on investigating Robertson.
In May 2010 a request was made to VPD Chief Chu to arrange for an external police force to investigate evidence that Robertson, City manager Penny Ballem, and two security guards at Carnegie Centre were involved in the manufacture of a fraudulent security report and a pre-meditated plan to bar a Carnegie member under fraudulent pretenses, a barring which involved assault and extensive public humiliation. One of the guards involved, who the victim had never seen before but who had clearly been incited to target her, implicated Robertson and Ballem in comments he made at the time.
For some time, evidence has been reported on this blog of efforts by City staff to "bar" people from Carnegie who have complained of abuse, particularly those who have made their experiences public by talking to bloggers. We have reported that these barrings often involve public humiliation as well. When we reported this targeting of individuals who take their stories to the media, we could not have anticipated that evidence would eventually surface that Vision Vancouver has a "media hit list" along with a plan to ridicule people creating negative impressions of Vision in the media. Former 24 Hours columnist Alex Tsakumis broke the story. Mike Magee in the Mayor's office has denied the existence of any such hit list.
Despite the request being made in May that Chu arrange for an external police force to investigate Robertson -- Chu can't investigate because of conflict of interest due to Robertson's role as Chair of the Police Board -- Ballem, and two Carnegie security guards, the investigation has not yet been carried out. There is no doubt that Robertson knew that the investigation had been requested. Immediately after the request was made in May, Robertson reportedly held a secret meeting at Carnegie with witnesses and offenders. He interfered in a pending police investigation into himself.
By September, Chief Chu was continuing to stall in arranging for an investigation into his boss, Robertson. It was in the midst of this stalling that Robertson gave Chu a five year extension to his contract, at over $300,000. Now, seven months later, the case against Robertson and Ballem has still not been investigated. Are you surprised?
It is easy for Chu to treat Downtown Eastside women as though violence against them doesn't matter, because he knows they can't afford lawyers. Now a lawyer has offered to meet pro bono with the victim in this case to discuss how to proceed. He will review the evidence in the case, including a photo of the bruise the victim received. But that won't occur until the beginning of July when the lawyer returns to Vancouver from China.
Watching Chief Chu "on the take", benefiting from monetary and other rewards from a man into whom he is supposed to be arranging a criminal investigation, has led to distrust on the part of the victim. Even if Chief Chu was to suddenly meet his professional obligation to arrange for the investigation, she will be having no further contact with the VPD about this case without a lawyer present. Since not much happens over the summer, estimates are that there will be no progress on this case until September or October. A press conference will be held by the lawyer to update the public when a decision is made about how to proceed. (No further information will be released until that time.)
This case highlights the hypocrisy of Robertson and Chu on the issue of violence against Downtown Eastside women. Chu held a public meeting earlier this year at Carnegie to talk -- in front of media cameras of course -- about how committed he is to ensuring that violence against Downtown Eastside women is seriously investigated. To get into that meeting in the Carnegie theater, Chu had to walk by security guards at Carnegie that he was supposed to be investigating.
Chu would no doubt say he didn't take a pay off from Robertson, that he was due for a contract extension. But Robertson had an obligation to at least recuse himself from the decision. And Chu should have at least asked him to. An extension requires a performance review. How did Robertson manage to conclude that the Chief is doing a fine job when he knows the Chief is sitting on evidence of criminal activity against him.
Also at fault here are Police Board members. Why did Glenn Wong tell the media that he agreed with Robertson and other Police Board members that Chu was doing a fine job and deserved an extension of his contract. Did it ever occur to Wong, who told the media that Chu often calls him at home to talk, to ask Chu to avoid taking any form of reward from a government official he was supposed to be investigating. If Wong claims he didn't know about the investigation requested into Robertson, then he didn't do due diligence before approving Chu's contract extension, as the requested criminal investigation was a matter of public record.
Allan Garr, a columnist with the Courier newspaper, said in a column earlier this year that the Vancouver Police Board tends not to provide effective oversight of Chief Chu and his officers. Garr said the Police Board are more "lapdogs" than watchdogs.


text:
A color scheme of orange, lime, navy, turquoise and brown, with burlap details. Very woodsy, yet perfect for a third birthday.
We wanted to create a campsite, complete with tee pee's, blankets and pillows for some late night movie watching, and this is what I came up with.
The dessert table area is my absolute favorite part. From the pine trees, green floor treatment, the mock-up tent in the backdrop to the cute woodland animal friends and the custom made campfire. The cake was provided by my friend Mary from The Cake Factory, desserts by Sugar Bliss and the fantastic cookies by Cookies by Suehery.
For favors each kid received a bandanna on a stick full of fun camping gear such as magnifying glass, binoculars and flashlights.
Party styling, design, paper details: Partylicious
Cake: The Cake Factory
Desserts: Sugar Bliss
Cookies: Cookies by Suehery


text:
This restaurant Profile Page is brought to you courtesy of the DiningGuide.com service. McDonald's is located in Mason.
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ST. LOUIS (AP) Rookie Greg Zuerlein kicked a 54-yard field goal with 26 seconds left in overtime after booting a 53-yarder as time expired in regulation as the St. Louis Rams beat the San Francisco 49ers 16-13 on Sunday, avoiding a second tie in three weeks against the NFC West leaders.
The Rams (5-6-1) scored twice in the final 3:04 of regulation, getting their lone touchdown when rookie Janoris Jenkins returned an errant pitchout by Colin Kaepernick 2 yards for a score. They've won two straight after an 0-4-1 skid.
The 49ers (8-3-1) failed to take advantage of a 14-yard punt by rookie punter Johnny Hekker to midfield when David Akers was barely wide right on a 51-yard attempt with 4:11 to go in overtime. Akers is just 7 for 15 from 40 yards and beyond.
Zuerlein is 7 for 11 from the 50 and beyond and had plenty of distance on the kick on fourth-and-inches. Before the 53-yarder at the end of regulation, he had missed four of his previous seven attempts.
Online:http://pro32.ap.org/poll andhttp://twitter.com/AP-NFL


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Springfield Ward 9 Ald. STEVE DOVE, a member of the city council since 2007, is not seeking a third term.
�It�s always good to have new perspectives on things,� he said of the council. He�s not yet backing a successor.
Dove, 45, took a break from his aldermanic duties in the aftermath of Mayor TIM DAVLIN�S suicide death in late 2010. He became executive assistant to then-Mayor FRANK EDWARDS. After the April 2011 election, Edwards returned to his role as Ward 1 alderman, and Dove returned to his Ward 9 post.
Dove saw his father, Dr. JAMES DOVE, founder of Prairie Cardiovascular Consultants, honored as the 2010 State Journal-Register First Citizen. His father�s death less than a month later following a battle with cancer helped crystallize for Dove that he liked the hospital setting. He left real estate and is now a licensed practical nurse at Koke Mill Medical Center. He said he could be interested in becoming a registered nurse or going into health management.
Dove also took a shot at higher office, running for a time for the Republican nomination for a state Senate seat.
Dove tried a couple of times to get the council to go along with an anti-nepotism ordinance � which would have made applicants disclose if close relatives work for the city � without success, which he considers a disappointment.
On the positive side, he said, some new businesses and infrastructure improvements including sidewalk construction have come to Ward 9.
Dove also said it was interesting to work inside the mayor�s office, allowing him to see how much information is available there.
�At least we know what we�ve been missing� at the council level, he said.
Among people thinking about running in Ward 9 are TONY SMARJESSE, JIM DONELAN and BILL STOKES.
Smarjesse, 51, who is on the board overseeing the Prairie Capital Convention Center, temporarily replaced Dove on the city council when Dove was in the mayor�s office.
�I�m definitely seriously considering it,� Smarjesse said of a 2015 aldermanic run.
He�s an information systems analyst with the state�s Central Management Services department and is a Republican precinct committeeman.
Donelan, 42, votes in Democratic primaries. He was executive assistant to Davlin and is associate director of Township Officials of Illinois Risk Management Association. An aldermanic run is �something that I would consider,� he said.
Stokes, 61, has businesses involved in office equipment, magazine publishing and training programs for runners. He was race director of the first Springfield Marathon last fall.
He said he�s considering an aldermanic run, but is a Republican and wouldn�t seek the officially nonpartisan office without party backing.
Well-told stories
�Mom did me a terrific favor,� wrote the author of a new book I breezed through in less than a week. �She named me TAYLOR PENSONEAU, which turned out to be a memorable name for a byline at the head of a newspaper article.�
Pensoneau has had an interesting and diverse career, with much of it based in digging up facts and telling stories in a compelling way.
�Reporting on Life � and People Along the Way,� published by New Berlin resident Pensoneau�s own Downstate Publications, allows readers, through more than 300 pages, to share his journey and experiences.
The book is chock-full of names people in Illinois journalism and political worlds will know.
Pensoneau recalls how his high school journalism teacher, LILIAN JOSSEM, chose him to get a summer job at his hometown Belleville News-Democrat, and how that helped him ascend to a job at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which brought him to the Statehouse pressroom.
He described the �chaotic excitement without parallel� when it was discovered, following the death of Secretary of State PAUL POWELL in 1970, that the Vienna Democrat had squirreled away $800,000 in cash � some in one or more shoeboxes and valises at Springfield�s St. Nicholas Hotel, which is now an apartment building.
And while nobody ever found the source of all that money, Pensoneau relates how after Powell�s death, someone who worked for him led Pensoneau to a story about a fraudulent fundraising scheme that had benefited the campaign of Gov. RICHARD OGILVIE. Powell had hidden the scheme, and Ogilvie said he never knew of it.
�A good guess was that Democrat Powell believed the documents gave him ammunition to politically blackmail Republican Ogilvie in order to obtain a favor or concession,� Pensoneau wrote.
Pensoneau went from reporting to the Illinois Coal Association, and he discusses lobbying and supporting candidates, including a meeting in a Springfield motel room with then-U.S. Rep. ROD BLAGOJEVICH, who was running his successful first campaign for governor. The now-jailed Blagojevich talked about subjects including ELVIS PRESLEY, and directed Pensoneau to give the $10,000 in checks from the coal industry to sidekick CHRISTOPHER KELLY, who Blagojevich called �the person closest to me.� Kelly later got entangled in controversy and took his own life.
Such donations to a candidate for a major office were not unusual, Pensoneau said.
It was in 1991 when Pensoneau was on a trip to California that a friend asked him to write a guest column for local papers about former Illinois Gov. DAN WALKER, who was living in San Diego. Pensoneau tells of his bad decision to partake in a sailboat excursion that ended up making him initially miss his meeting with Walker, whom he had reported on in Illinois.
But the later meeting turned into an hours-long conversation. And that relationship led Walker to ask Pensoneau to help write a biography of the former governor.
Pensoneau�s co-authorship of a book on Walker led to biographies of others including Ogilvie and W. RUSSELL ARRINGTON, a Republican Senate majority leader. Pensoneau found a popular following writing �Brothers Notorius: The Sheltons,� about the family members he called �the kingpins of illegal activities in downstate Illinois from the Roaring Twenties through the late 1940s.� A novel and more nonfiction followed.
Pensoneau also uses the new book to relate details about the life and work of some people he knows and admires. They include MIKE LAWRENCE, who was a reporter working alongside Pensoneau in the Statehouse who later was press secretary to Gov. JIM EDGAR and director for a time of the PAUL SIMON Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University. Another is ED POUND, who brought great investigative reporting skills from Illinois to Washington, D.C. Still another is JOE WILKINS, an Air Force special operations veteran of the Vietnam war.
Most touching in the book is Pensoneau�s recollections of his brother TERRY, who was a Marine killed in Vietnam in 1968.
�It�s not everyday that somebody idolizes a younger sibling, but I did,� Pensoneau wrote.
There is some antiquated language in the book by the youthful 73-year-old Pensoneau � you don�t hear �gumshoe� or �shamus� very often these days. And I will warn that I am briefly mentioned, as when he discusses my review of the Walker book.
Base price of the new book is $18.95 plus tax, and a book signing will be from 1-4 p.m. today, Sunday, at Capone�s Hideout, 201 W. Illinois St., New Berlin. Information is also at www.downstatepublications.com.
Contact political columnist Bernard Schoenburg: 788-1540, firstname.lastname@example.com, twitter.com/bschoenburg.


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The current concept of an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) seems to have arisen at a 2006 meeting of MedPac and Dr. Elliot Fischer of the Dartmouth Atlas.See here for the 400 page transcript of the meeting.
A good place to begin an inquiry into HMOS v.ACOs is this entry by Jason Shafin,Phd Economics,on his blog Health-care Economics who discusses three difference between the two.
Dr. Robert Berenson,of the Urban Institute and of the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) and now a vice chair of the soon-to-be a very important player in health care ,namely the IPAB) co authored this article which is barely luke warm in its support of the ACOs and is even skeptical. See here for more on this center for HSC.
A later article he co-authored with two colleagues from the Center For Study of Health System Change went further and issued the warning that large vertically integrated organization such as ACOs can actually drive up health costs and offered the suggestion that price caps ( aka price controls) might be necessary.ACOs are, of course,said to be a means of increasing quality and decreasing costs at the same time.
A terse characterization of ACOs was offered by Dr. John Goodman in a comment to Dr. Shafin's above mentioned blog entry - " An HMO on steroids"
Two big issues with ACOs are market power and anti-trust concerns.So Far the FTC is still mulling over the rules of the game. See here.
I suggest a major difference between HMOS and ACOs is that the legal aspects of HMOs are well defined as are the regulatory rules while the rules for ACOS are yet to be written. There is so much uncertainty around almost every aspect of ACOs I am reminded of the South Park 's Underwear gnomes whose business plan is as follows:
Step 1.collect people's underwear
Step 2.???
Step 3.Make money
with ACO's business model being
Step 1.set up ACO
Step 2.???
Step 3.save money and increase quality of care
or perhaps
this version of the business plan of ACOs from WebMd is a more accurate description:
Step One: 'Provide connectivity and a full suite of services to the healthcare industry that improve administrative efficiencies and clinical effectiveness enabling high-quality patient care.'
Step Two:
Step Three: Profit.
Yes, step two is blank.
Featured Post
Is the new professionalism and ACP's new ethics really just about following guidelines?
The Charter ( Medical Professionalism in the New Millennium.A Physician's Charter) did not deal with just the important relationship of ...
Sunday, October 17, 2010
ACO and HMO,A distinction with or with/out a difference -Are ACOs an example of Underware Gnome economics?
3 comments:
- Jennifer Dennard said...
It's always nice to read someone's thoughts on such a timely topic sprinkled with a little levity. You'll probably also enjoy this brief, extremely humorous video on how providers are learning about ACOs:
In Search of an Accountable Care Organization
- Anonymous said...
step 2...Pay the doctors as little as possible !
- james gaulte said...
Yes, step 2 will definitely include"pay the doctors as little as possible"
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On a chillyevening in late October, things got mighty steamy in the Moroccan Lounge of the Fat Black Pussycat. One of Manhattans top event producers The Set NYC worked their magic as they hosted their first Steampunk event Haunted Hautery: A Neo-Victorian Fashion Steampunk Networking Event.
The evening was transformed into the sophistication and glamour of Steampunk which takes the elaborate, crafted style of the industrial era, and re-imagines it for the modern age into a Neo-Victorian Era. An Era which is according to some, is the greatest Era that never existed. The Set NYC showcased new and imaginative Steampunk fashions by designers Kristin Costa and Brit Frady-Williams - Berit New York. The evening's festivities also bragged of the book release of 'Anatomy of Steampunk: The Fashion of Victorian Futurism' by author Katherine Gleason.
Guests came all decked out in their favorite Steampunk styles. They sipped on drinks and nibbles from the Fat Black Pussycat's menu. They networked and schmoozed with each other, while leafing through the glossy pages of Katherine Gleason's coffee table book 'Anatomy of Steampunk'. 'Anatomy of Steampunk' illustrates with color photographs dazzling creations of numerous Steampunk fashion designers, it is alsoan inspirational sourcebook. In addition to presenting the looks and stories of these creative fashion artists, the book also details Steampunk projects for the reader to try at home.
Later in the evening the MC August Wahnsinger rocked the house as he introduced the Steampunk Fashion Show which incorporated gorgeous designs from the creative talents of Berit New York (NY Times, London Fashion Week) and Kristin Costa (Victoria's Secret Fashion Show wings, Ugly Betty, Fela on Broadway and Couture Fashion Week).
Pim Shih founder of The Set NYC started his career in events by taking comedy classes. Which lead to doing him doing comedy open mike gigs and then eventually creating his own events. Pim felt it was not an easy life being an artist that it was hard to make it make a living, to make friends and to find happiness. So he decided to start The Set NYC as a solution to some of the problems he found in the entertainment business. It started as an open mike variety show, with magicians, singers, dancers; different acts that were interesting and which would create a fun show. As things progressed one of his partners was into fashion and wanted to do a fashion show. So they started doing fashion shows and then just kept on creating events and slowly his business The Set NYC was established.
The premise of The Set NYC is to try to focus on the arts and artists first. For the focus to be less on making money and more on supporting the artists in all genres of fashion, music and the arts. Allowing artists to perform, show their work, connect, network and increase their exposure. The Set NYC gives artists a stage, supports their growth, increases exposure, marketing and connections through the arts, music, fashion, and events.
Check out The Set NYC for more unique, creative and fun events.
Most Photos by: Aldo Antonio


text: "Oath" (Cher Lloyd featuring Becky G). The world's #1 dance game brand is back with Just Dance®4! The latest edition of the record-breaking franchise takes the party to a whole new level of fun with new game modes, coaches and stylish environments. Written by D. Omelio, H. Walter, A. Malik, E. Wright, R. Gomez, L. Gottwald. Published by BMG Gold Songs(ASCAP) obo itself, Robopop Music(ASCAP) / Prescription Songs, LLC, Dream Machine Corporation, Prescription Songs, LLC, Kasz Money Publishing. Administered by Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc. Courtesy of Simco Limited under exclusive license to Epic Records, a Division of Sony Music Entertainment. Becky G appears courtesy of Kemosabe Records. By arrangement with Sony Music Licensing. Music Downloads Not Rated by the ESRB


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Trailer FrenzyA special place to find the newest trailers for movies and TV shows you're craving.
Earlier today, we got a peek at the pilot script for Alfonso Cuarón's J.J. Abrams-produced show Believe. Now, NBC has released the first trailer, giving us a look at Believe's superpowered ten-year-old girl in action.
The setup of a superpowered being moving from town to town to avoid falling into the wrong hands is a classic one, and we can't wait to see what Cuarón does with it. It sounds like we'll have plenty of time to find out what the "True Believers" and other factions have in store for young Bo (Johnny Sequoyah), and why convict Tate (Jake McLaughlin) is the right person to protect her.
[via Bleeding Cool]


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Man Without a Plan 2.0
July 1, 2013 6 Comments
It feels as if we have seen this movie before.
An unconventional general manager is hired with the expectations of being inventive, imaginative and savvy. His tenure starts out all sunshine's and rainbows but eventually the creative ideas fail. In lieu of his failure, he begins to stray from his original tactics. He starts to wing it knowing that he will be axed if success doesn't come. However, he is too proud to cut ties with what he thought would be the franchise cornerstone. What follows is every free-agent signing, every trade, every face-saving comment to the media is wrong, wrong, wrong. Finally, he is mercifully axed to the delight of fans but not before he has run the team into the ground.
Former Toronto Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo was the star of that movie. Current Vancouver Canucks GM Mike Gillis is shooting the sequel as we speak.
Mike Gillis's path to becoming a GM was not typical. He did not rise through the ranks of the front office. Gillis went straight from player agent to general manager in one of the most pressured filled markets you will find in sports. Gillis wasn't like the other GM's. He was supposed to be cut from a different cloth.
Bryan Colangelo was cut from a different cloth too. He was the son of one of the most influential figures in Basketball, Jerry Colangelo. Bryan Colangelo didn't follow the blueprint of other GM's. He went to Europe to find cheap talent that could help contribute to a successful team. He selected a 7 foot Italian stallion in his very first draft who became the symbol for his shortcomings. It was the European invasion and Colangelo was spearheading the operation.
Gillis was innovative. He went all-in on Roberto Luongo and then made his goaltender the captain. No one did that (and probably won't ever again). Heck, the rulebook doesn't even allow a goalie to wear the 'C' on his chest. Gillis had stones.
As a GM coming in after the dreaded 2004-05 lockout, Gillis began designing a team that didn't need a whole lot of grit and toughness. The new rules were going to allow him to do that.
He created an environment that players wanted to play in. He worked around the cap system by convincing players to take less money because this was where a Stanley Cup would be won. Some of his notable bargains include the Sedins, Alex Burrows, Dan Hamhuis and Manny Malhotra.
Unfortunately, when things started to go wrong, Gillis was unable to stay calm under pressure. He panicked. Despite his team reaching game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals with more injuries than a Patrice Bergeron hospital report, Gillis was rattled.
As Bryan Colangelo had done, Mike Gillis started winging it. He threw his plan of a speedy, finesse and skilled team out the window. He was embarrassed to have his roster bullied the way it was by the Boston Bruins. He couldn't have that happen again even though the core of the roster he had assembled was not made for tweaking in that manner.
He shocked Vancouverites by trading Cody Hodgson for a tough, young and skilled Zack Kassian. Although the story had more to it than just trading finesse for grit, it felt as though Gillis pulled the trigger too quickly in anticipation of another potential match-up with Boston. For a franchise in win-now mode, trading a quality NHL center for a prospect who was far from ready for big-time NHL minutes wasn't sensible.
Most egregiously, like Colangelo, he refused to admit defeat on his most prized possession (see: Andrea Bargnani). Gillis did not acquire Luongo from the Florida Panthers, but he signed him to the 12 year contract when people still foolishly believed that 12 year contracts were a clever way to circumvent the cap. The Luongo situation was his fault so he insisted that he would be content with an awkward as a 3-legged giraffe goalie circus. Maybe he convinced himself he was.
Nevertheless, when he had the chance to get some value in return for Roberto Luongo, Gillis got greedy. He didn't want the Luongo debacle to be viewed by the public as a debacle. If he could trick a team into believing in Bobby-Lou, Gillis could get back into the good graces of the fans.
Alas, he was more patient than Ghandi on a hunger strike. Luongo lost every minutia of trade value that he had a year previously so Gillis had to improvise as Colangelo did far too many times. He started shopping the man he gave the keys to the crease to. In the end, he traded an elite goaltender for a draft pick that won't be ready for quite some time.
For a team in win-now mode, the Schneider trade is perplexing. He went with a short shelf-life coach in John Tortorella only to trade for the future. It has completely overshadowed what my Facebook feed says was a very good draft for the Canucks.
If it wasn't obvious enough that Gillis has scrapped his plans and tossed it in the trash, he made sure everyone knew that he has done so. In an attempt to justify his decision to trade Cory Schneider, Gillis said that "Our plan three years ago was to develop Cory and move him for a high pick, and that's what we ultimately did".
Devious, Mike.
This is almost as bad as if Toronto mayor Rob Ford had come out and said he planned to leak the crack video 3 years ago in order to gain publicity because, you know, all publicity is good publicity.
New Raptors GM Masai Ujiri did what Bryan Colangelo was never willing to do yesterday. He got some spare parts and draft picks in exchange for Andrea Bargnani, which is better than anyone ever thought he could do. What does that say about what Bryan Colangelo could have gotten in return for Bargnani last off-season?
It's a lesson for GM's. Having the ability to detach themselves from their bold choices that go south. Now, just as Bargnani symbolized the futility of Colangelo's tenure, Luongo is the official poster-boy for Gillis' failings so far.
Although the ending to the Gillis movie has yet to be determined, what we have been shown eerily mirrors that of Bryan Colangelo.
Mike Gillis is hoping that this isn't the sequel.
Agree? Disagree? Reply in the comments section below or e-mail me at email@example.com
Also, you can follow me on twitter @chrisrossPTB and I will happily return the favour.


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Lucio Tafuri, Italian artist , December 27, 1941 in Salerno. He currently lives and works in Genoa. The vast majority of works the artist performs a traditional technique, using canvas and oil paints.
His paintings can be found in major private and public collections and museums around the world.
Lucio welcome guest at any gallery. During his artistic career, he participated in a large number of solo and group exhibitions.
Among these demonstrations in Genoa, Milan, New York, Paris, Rome, etc.


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Si no sabe mira donde a vine
No di yega donde quiere inda.
—Ternateño Chabacano Proverb—
When you say that the whole province of Cavite is purely a Tagalog-speaking region, think again.
To the northeast of the province, there's Ciudad de Cavite with its senior citizens speaking Cavitén. And at the southwesternmost tip of Cavite province lies this quaint fishing town called Ternate. But this is no ordinary town; like Ciudad de Cavite up north, this town is frequented by linguists, polyglots, and Hispanists because of the townsfolk language: Chabacano.
But the Chabacano spoken in Ternate is different from its Cavitén counterpart. According to Dr. Evangelino Nigoza, the town's historian and foremost defender of the language, Ternateños call their native tongue as "Bahra". The linguistic structure of Bahra is "another world" of its own. And in my opinion, it is rather more difficult for a Spanish-speaker to understand because Bahra is somehow influenced by the Portuguese language aside from the fact that Ternateños tend to speak it so fast.
But why Portuguese?
It is because Ternateños are actually the descendants of Malays from Ternate Island in the Moluccas archipelago. These islands were formally possessions of Portugal. The first Ternateños were brought to the Philippines by the Spaniards in 1663. These Malay recruits were called Mardicas ("men of the sea").
There were two reasons why the Mardicas chose to leave Ternate Island: the island was highly volcanic, and; to help defend Manila from Chinese pirate Koxinga. Fortunately for Governor-General Sabiniano Manrique de Lara (who ruled the Philippines during those panic-stricken times), Koxinga fell ill and died. But the Mardicas never returned to their native land due to the place's severe volcanic activity. Instead, they were given a spot in Bagumbayan (now Rizal Park) in Ermita, Manila.
It is perhaps during their brief stay in Bagumbayan that their language was further developed, for the people surrounding their little barrio, the Ermiteños, spoke Chavacano Ermiteño, Spanish, and Tagalog. However, frequent squabbles with the Ermiteños forced the Spanish authorities to move the Mardicas people to another place. Bahra de Maragondón (now Maragondón) in Cavite was chosen for them since the place was frequently attacked by Moro pirates. Anyway, it was agreed earlier that they were to help fight Koxinga in Manila. But since that never materialized, it was decided that their military services should still be used, but somewhere else.
In Bahra de Maragondón, the Mardicas settled at the mouth of the Maragondón River. But it was a swampy area filled with mangrove trees. These were cleared through the years, prompting them to till the soil. So aside from fishing, the early Mardicas were also farmers. They also intermarried with the natives of neighboring villages. They also built a watchtower which they called Mira — maybe that's how they call a watchtower because in Spanish, the word mira is the present indicative (third person) or present imperative (second person) of the verb mirar meaning "to watch".
In due time, the spot which they cleared away mangove trees became the foundation of present-day Ternate. Also, they renamed their new home: from Bahra de Maragondón to Ternate, in memory of their former home in the faraway archipelago of Moluccas.
During the Spanish times, Ternate was just a barrio (equivalent to today's barangáy) of Maragondón. But years went by, it became a separate town altogether. In 1904, however, during the American occupation, Ternate was attached to the town of Náic. It became a separate town again in 1914.
It is said that Ternate survived various turmoils in the history of Cavite: the Tagalog rebellion of the Katipuneros as well as the invasion of both Yankee and Jap. But it barely survived the American retaking of the Philippines, and that was during the closing days of World War II. Only seven homes survived. That is why when me, my wife, and our daughter Krystal visited Ternate last 21 August, we hardly saw ancestral homes. I think we saw only one. 😦
Oh, those evil US WASPs…
Below are the original seven Mardicas families who transferred from Ternate Island, Moluccas, Indonesia to the Philippines:
1.) De la Cruz
2.) De León
3.) Estéibar
4.) Nigoza
5.) Niñofranco
6.) Pereira
7.) Ramos
Their descendants still live today. And surprisingly, they all know the history of their ancestors!
Flashback: on 1 February 2008, I attended the book launching of Dr. Evangelino Nigoza's bilingual book BAHRA: Manga Historia, Alamat, Custumbre y Tradiciong Di Bahra (The History, Legends, Customs and Traditions of Ternate, Cavite) at the Instituto Cervantes de Manila. Dr. Nigoza is a member of the Cavite Historical Society and is the president of Cavite West Point College (also in Ternate).
During the program, there was a conversation in Chabacano featuring the three major variations of this Philippine Creole tongue: Dr. Nigoza represented Bahra; Dr. Enrique Escalante represented Cavitén, and; Mr. Ben Saavedra represented Chavacano Zamboangueño. The conversation was not only educational — it was also filled with humor due to some miscommunication among the three. And it was more hilarious for the Spanish-speakers who were in attendance, listening to the conversation and eager to grab a copy of Dr. Nigoza's book.
After the program, I got myself a copy of his book, and got a chance to talk to him briefly. Unfortunately, he could not sign autographs because he could no longer write — his writing hand was paralyzed by a stroke.
But I got to see him again years later. This time with Yeyette and Krystal in tow. And there at his home (very near the town church) we discussed in length his book, the state of Bahra in Cavite, as well as future plans for the conservation of this Philippine Creole Language.
Dr. Nigoza revealed to me that he is preparing a second part for his book BAHRA. That would be his second book on the subject. Also, he is working closely with the local government and schools on how to propagate Bahra. When asked about the state of Bahra in Ternate, he told me that it's in the "50/50" level. I could hardly believe it because me and my family were on the road the whole afternoon. We found so many Ternateños speaking Bahra. They were everywhere, especially in the Población and Barrio San José. We heard kids playing using Bahra. Street vendors and fishermen were talking to each other in Bahra. Compared to Ciudad de Cavite, Ternate has a higher chance of preserving its language.
But at the back of my mind, maybe I have to believe Dr. Nigoza. He's been living in Ternate all his life; I just stayed there for a couple of hours. Dr. Nigoza's efforts should be lauded, applauded, and supported. Like the late Nyora Puring Ballesteros of Cavitén, Dr. Nigoza stands as the lone Don Quijote of Ternate.
I pray that all Ternateños, especially the descendants of the seven original Mardicas families from the Moluccas, will all become Dr. Nigoza's Sancho Panza when it comes to preserving and promoting Bahra.
¡Platica na Bahra!
Click here for more of our Ternate photos (and videos)!


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Ravenswood School for Girls
Through the creation of my work I have sought to examine the isolation of the modern person as a result of a rapidly developing consumer culture. My major work was largely influenced by the artworks of Imants Tillers, in particular Paradiso, and the notion of a search for a 'promised land'. This can be likened to modern life – a quest for belongings and objects to fill the void left by a lack of human connection. Finally, I sought to challenge the authority of traditional artistic representation, asserting through a fragmented structure the piecemeal nature of existence.
Boyle's artwork examines the isolation of the modern person, revealing an experience of society and culture as consumer orientated and ultimately empty. As a large painting composed with fragments of photography, drawing and quotes, what effect does the scale and composition have on the viewer? Does it extend your understanding of the artist's statement?
Urban city environments are depicted in Views in and around Kyoto and Rosalie Gascoigne's Metropolis. Consider the approach to this subject matter in each work and compare to Phoebe Boyle's interpretation. Respond to the way each artist has depicted the nature of society in their art-making practice.


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Robert L. Mitchell, a National Correspondent for Computerworld recently compared 4 password managers pitting LastPass against RoboForm, 1Password, and Clipperz.
The article provides in-depth commentary on how the latest breed of password managers are providing users access to their data anywhere and at anytime. It highlights availability, security, and usability as being critical factors to consider when deciding on which password manager to use.
From the article:
I consider LastPass to be the overall winner. Security products should be easy to set up and use, and as unobtrusive as possible, or people just won't use them. LastPass does well on all counts while working on Windows, Mac, Linux and most smartphone platforms.
It was the only product to automatically populate and submit my credentials to a Web site as soon as I surfed to a Web site — no button-clicking required. It has a few nice features, such as an analysis of your existing passwords for weaknesses and an option to automatically delete passwords stored insecurely by your browsers. It can store a local copy of your data on all mobile and personal computing platforms, and it offers the added protection of two-factor authentication.
You can read the complete article here: 4 password managers offer security anytime, anywhere
As a follow-up to the article, Robert L. Mitchel wrote a detailed blog post recommending the use of LastPass' two-factor authentication products.
From the post:
Of the four password management programs I reviewed this week, LastPass was the only one to support two-factor authentication…
Two-factor authentication can provide an extra layer of security for laptops that travel with you on the road or if you plan to access your password database from unsecured machines, which could contain malware…
You can read the complete post here: Protect your passwords with two-factor authentication