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Koran burnt in Florida church
GAINESVILLE, Florida (AFP), Mon Mar 21, 12:59 am ET – A controversial US evangelical preacher oversaw the burning of a copy of the Koran in a small Florida church after finding the Muslim holy book "guilty" of crimes.
The burning was carried out by pastor Wayne Sapp under the supervision of Terry Jones, who last September drew sweeping condemnation over his plan to ignite a pile of Korans on the anniversary of September 11, 2001 attacks.
Sunday's event was presented as a trial of the book in which the Koran was found "guilty" and "executed."
The jury deliberated for about eight minutes. The book, which had been soaking for an hour in kerosene, was put in a metal tray in the center of the church, and Sapp started the fire with a barbecue lighter.
The book burned for around 10 minutes while some onlookers posed for photos.
Jones had drawn trenchant condemnation from many people, including US President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, over his plan to burn the Muslim holy book in September.
He did not carry out his plan then and vowed he never would, saying he had made his point.
But this time, he said he had been "trying to give the Muslim world an opportunity to defend their book," but did not receive any answer.
He said he felt that he couldn't have a real trial without a real punishment.
The event was open to the public, but fewer than 30 people attended.
Life in the normally quiet city of Gainesville is centered around the University of Florida. And while there were public protests against Jones' 9/11 activities, this event was largely ignored.
Jadwiga Schatz, who came to show support for Jones, expressed concern that Islam was growing in Europe.
"These people, for me, are like monsters," she said. "I hate these people."
Jones said he considered this event a success.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience," he said. (etYahooNews)
JuD announces Rs 10 crore for killing US pastor over Quran burning
ISLAMABAD |PTI| Mar 22, 2011, 08.38pm IST: The Jamaat-ud-Dawah today announced a reward of Rs 10 crore for anyone who kills American pastor Terry Jones, one of the two preachers who oversaw the burning of the Quran in the US on Sunday.
The reward was announced by senior JuD leader Amir Hamza, a close aide of the group's chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, while chairing a meeting of the Tehrik Hurmat-e-Rasool.
Leaders of dozens of religious groups attended the meeting held in Lahore.
The meeting also decided to organise a protest against the desecration of the Quran on Friday.
Rallies will be held in cities and towns across Pakistan, said a statement issued the religious groups.
A demonstration will also be held in Lahore on Wednesday.
The religious groups asked traders, lawyers, students, members of civil society organisations and farmers to join the protests.
The meeting claimed "Crusaders and Zionists" were openly committing blasphemous acts under the supervision of the US administration and the Pope following "their defeat in Afghanistan and Iraq".
The silence of Muslim rulers is unfortunate and Muslims "must adopt the way of jihad against blasphemous acts by Zionists", the statement said.
The US administration and army and the Pope are patronising those who published blasphemous cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, the statement said.
They are "destroying world peace" and these acts are the hurting the sentiments of Muslims, it said.
Islamic countries should quit the UN if it fails to stop such acts and Muslims should give a befitting reply to people like Terry Jones so that they do not commit such acts in future, the statement said.
The religious groups also decided to convene meeting of the heads of political and religious parties to frame a "policy to be presented to the world leaders".
The Pakistan government strongly condemned the desecration of the Quran by two American pastors, describing it as a "despicable act" aimed at provoking "dissent and discord among communities and people across the world".
The American pastors burnt the Quran on Sunday after the holy book was found "guilty" during a "trial" at a church in Florida. (et TimesofIndia)
Related reading : $2.2 million fatwa on Terry Jones after Quran burning
Repercussion of Quran Burning in Pakistan : Two Christians gunned down by armed Muslims outside Church in Pakistan


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from the yeah,-we-already-kinda-figured deptOkay, it's official. I no longer believe that our Department of Homeland Security is an actual government agency with important work to do. No, I now believe that it is a series of highly subtle performance art pieces designed to make us laugh at the sheer audacity of dumb government. We already know about the agency's boss, who is in charge of cybersecurity, not bothering to use the internet. And then there is the DHS's highly touted fusion centers being both a waste of money and a detriment to the very freedoms they're supposedly protecting.
But Tim K writes in about a rather stunning admission by DHS officials of a bogus DHS report on a water pumping facility. It essentially amounts to: "sure the report is a complete lie, but it was a successful lie." Don't believe me?
Officials behind the false claims told Senate investigators that such reports weren't meant to be "finished intelligence" and that despite their report's inaccuracies and sloppy wording they considered it to be a "success."Now, let's do some quick background on this report, less because it informs you and more because it's hysterical. About a year ago, a water pump failed in an Illinois water facility. In response, almost immediately, an Illinois fusion center (part DHS, part Illinois State Police) circulated a report blaming a hacking attack from Russia. Not soon after that report was circulated, the greater DHS office rebuffed the fusion center's hacking allegation as absolute nonsense. It pointed out, as does the linked article, that the allegation was pure conjecture based on the fusion center's inability to do even the most basic investigation.
"[It did] exactly what it's supposed to do – generate interest," DHS officials told Senate investigators.
Someone did access the water district's SCADA system from Russia, but it was a water district contractor who was asked to access the system by water district employees, as Wired first reported. They had called him to seek his opinion on something while he was on vacation in Russia, and he had logged into the system remotely to check on some data for them.It's worth noting that the water pump busted 5 months after this Russian IP logged in. In other words, none of this makes a lick of sense, except if it's the case of someone looking for a convenient scapegoat. "Hackers! Russians!" is apparently what these people went with, for reasons unknown to this author.
When the pump broke five months later and someone examined the network logs to determine the cause, they found an IP address from Russia listed in the logs next to the username and password of the contractor. No one ever bothered to call the contractor to see if he had logged in from Russia; they just assumed someone in Russia had stolen his credentials.
But the DHS report circulated to Congress, which DHS says is a success even though it's bullshit, was written up after they called out their own fusion center for making stuff up. I think most reasonable people would suspect that such successful excriment is part of the fear mongering around so-called cyberwars and the trumped up need for Congress to pass some kind of cybersecurity bill. But even the least cynical person would at least expect the DHS to correct their report and alert Congress to the pure made-up-iness of it. DHS has thus far declined to do so, because, paraphrasing DHS itself, the lie is more effective than the truth. Yay, government!
Filed Under: congress, cybersecurity, dhs, fear mongering, fud, homeland security

subset: commoncrawl


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Offerings range across anthropology, art history, history, literature, political science, sociology, theater, etc. These disciplines underscore the uniqueness of the department. Read More
Our Academic edge
Africana Studies at Binghamton University is a challenging and demanding academic program focusing on African peoples and cultures and their descendants in the New World. Read More
A Rigorous program
We offer an honors program, a cross-disciplinary major (BA program), a minor, and a concentration in Africana Studies.
Contact Us
Inquiries about undergraduate studies, or the department in general, click here.
Africana Studies
At Binghamton University
Established in 1969, we are one of the oldest Black Studies departments in the United States and have offered courses that affirm the intellectual importance of research and scholarship, and their contributions to the world culture of peoples of African descent the world over since 1970.
As important, while other, similar academic programs began only as programs, Binghamton University demonstrated its commitment to curricular diversity by establishing a full-fledged department from the outset. Initially known as the Department of Afro-American Studies and later as the Department of Afro-American and African Studies, we became the Department of Africana Studies in 1994.
Committed to academic excellence and rigor
We mentor and challenge our students, providing them with the necessary tools to understand, analyze and evaluate events and phenomena that structure the experiences and possibilities of people of African descent.


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Baked penne is an easy classic to make, and just one of the many Italian dishes that I make on a regular basis. We eat a lot of Italian in my house, much to my daughter's annoyance. But, really, who can pass up pasta, tomato sauce, and melted cheese? If you can, you are way stronger than I am. Of course, I did not use a recipe for the Baked Penne, but I do have a few little quirks that make my dish my own.
I used the Barilla Piccolini Mini Penne, I like the smaller pasta sizes, so I buy the mini versions whenever I can. I used three different meats in the dish, ground beef, ground turkey, and ground sausage. Throw in an 8 oz. bag of shredded cheese, either mozzarella, pizza blend, or a combination. Toss in a jar of spaghetti sauce, and my secret ingredient, a little bit of zesty Italian dressing (a trick I learned from Kraft Foods). Mix in all in a baking dish, bake covered at 350˚ for about 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 10 minutes.
The Verdict
Baked penne is main stay in my house because it is a hit with everyone in the family. This is one of those dishes where the leftovers are just as good, if not better than the first time around.


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Center for Engaged Religious Pluralism
Welcome to the Center
The Center for Engaged Religious Pluralism addresses issues in many publics by engaging religiously diverse perspectives to contribute to a more inclusive political culture, solutions to public policy issues, and the development of interfaith leaders among students and in various professions.
For decades, U.S. popular political debate has been framed as an argument between religious right and secular left. That frame is becoming outmoded as an interfaith movement has begun to take hold in the U.S. and around the world, fostering greater understanding and cooperation among people of many faiths.
Since 2008, the Center has contributed to that trend by advocating a way to frame the popular political discourse through a different lens -- "America's Sacred Ground" -- providing opportunities for many religious viewpoints to be heard in a wide spectrum of settings. This work offers insights for creative, spiritually inspired approaches to religious diversity and policy in government institutions and cultivates interfaith leadership and multifaith engagement in many sectors to further the value of pluralism.
"Conversations in the public square about religion too often are limited to a divide between the religious right and secular liberals. The Center strives to broaden the dialogue to include perspectives from all of the world's religions." -- Dr. Barbara A. McGraw, Director
Our Mission:
The Center for Engaged Religious Pluralism engages religiously diverse and non-faith perspectives to foster interreligious understanding and leadership, promoting practices and policies that address religious diversity in many publics. Through this work and the cultivation of "interfaith leaders," CERP contributes to more respectful, inclusive communities.
Our Vision:
The Center aims to be, and to be known in academic, government, business, professional and non-profit forums and in the Saint Mary's College community as, an influential and effective champion of the value of pluralism through its mission-driven, engaged religious pluralism events, programs, and scholarship.
"Interfaith Leader" ~ An interfaith leader is a person with the knowledge, capacity for self-reflection and empathy, values and skills to lead inclusively and effectively in any religiously and spiritually diverse environment to further pluralism in service of social justice.
"Pluralism" ~ Pluralism can be understood in this context as the value, mindset, and achievement of cooperation across boundaries of religious, spiritual, and secular difference to work toward and achieve common goals in equal dignity, respect and mutual loyalty.
Contact Us
Barbara A. McGraw
Office: Arcade #3 (located just to the left of Oliver Hall)
Phone: 925-631-8278
Email (best way): firstname.lastname@example.com
©2008-2017 Barbara A. McGraw All rights on the Center for Engaged Religious Pluralism site reserved.


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Maybe it is not possible, but i'm just wonderring, if it's possible and if there is an easy to do this : i have a button with icon, and my icon is in circle shape, but button is quadratic, so i would like to leave visible only icon, and make clickable only the icon, not the whole hidden button. Is it possible ? And if it is, maybe there is another easy way to do this ?
I.e., i have a button http://s23.postimg.org/bf7n6j397/aaa.png , red is my icon, and blue is the rest of the button, and want to make a blue area unclickable, only red would act as a button. The point is that i want a circle button.
My code is something like that :
import javax.swing.JButton; import javax.swing.ImageIcon; import java.awt.Insets; class ImageButton extends JButton { public ImageButton(String img) { this(new ImageIcon(img)); } public ImageButton(ImageIcon icon) { setIcon(icon); setMargin(new Insets(0, 0, 0, 0)); setIconTextGap(0); setBorderPainted(false); setOpaque(false); setBorder(null); setText(null); setSize(icon.getImage().getWidth(null), icon.getImage().getHeight(null)); } } final ImageButton button = new ImageButton("http://www.javaprogrammingforums.com/images/Default.png");


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FOOD- THE DISH- Fabulous Fabio's: The 'thunder' on High Street
"This is the 42nd pizza shop I've worked in or owned," says Fabio Esposito, who, with his wife, Elena, keeps the counter at Fabio's on High Street.
If you haven't yet discovered Fabio's on High Street, just before you get to Free Bridge, we apologize. The pizzeria opened a year ago, and we're not quite sure how this gem slipped under our radar. Sure, we have Christian's, Doctor Ho's Humble Pie, Sylvia's and an assortment of other pizza houses, but it's hard to imagine any of their owners having a résumé like Fabio Esposito's.
For years, the Italian-born Esposit0 (he grew up in a small town outside Naples) ran Fabio's in Gordonsville (although he sold it three years ago, it's still there); but it all started 25 years ago, when Esposito was just 13, learning to cook pizza in a wood-burning oven in his native Italy.
"This is the 42nd pizza shop I've worked in or owned," he says.
And the first one he owned was in New Jersey, when he was just 19, after he emigrated to America to join his three brothers. Esposito's wife, Elena, whom he's known since they were children, eventually joined him.
"I don't believe in machines, in frozen dough," he says. "I still do all the sauces and dough myself."
In fact, he says people call him "the thunder" because of how mad he can get when people mess with the things he likes to handle himself.
"I've been making pizza all my life," he says. "That's all I know."
Fardowners over yonder
In December, Crozet welcomed a new restaurant, Fardowners, in the former Ombra's spot. The name refers to the name of the Irish immigrants who built Claudius Crozet's four tunnels through the Blue Ridge Mountains in the decade before the Civil War, an engineering feat whose centerpiece, the Blue Ridge Tunnel through Afton, still gets accolades.
According to Fardowners' owner, Charlottesville native W.C. Winkler, the name is derived from "far down south in Ireland," though some think it's derived from "far down under the mountain." Either way, it makes for a nifty name! And that's just what Winkler had in mind.
"We want to be known as a local restaurant, and the name relates to the history of Crozet," he says. "We're also promoting local beers from Starr Hill and Blue Mountain Brewery, and local wines, too."
Winkler has also enlisted the help of chef Mark Cosgrove, formerly of Starr Hill Brewery, the Blue Ridge Café, the Milmont Grill, and the Greenleaf in Williamsburg, where he was executive chef. Andy Kielar, the former bar manger at Rapture, has also tied his wagon to Fardowners.
Winkler describes the menu as "food that people know what it is when they look at– but with a twist."
For example, he describes a typical meat-loaf dish, but then it's grilled and covered with a wild mushroom demi-glaze. There's also a duck breast creation from Cosgrove that's become very popular. Winkler says they make three kinds of their own mustard, served with bread sticks when you sit down, which people have already suggested they bottle.
"So far, the reception has been wonderful," says Winkler. "And we haven't even been advertising."
Scottsville notes
Our man in Scottsville, "Deep Palate," reports that the Dew Drop Inn's history as a restaurant is officially over. A local fixture for more than 60 years, and a regular mention on the 1970's television show The Waltons (Jason had his first job playing piano there), the Dew Drop went through a series of owners in the last five years, all of whom tried to continue the tradition. Deep Palate says the new owner of the building plans to turn it into office and retail space.
On a brighter note, Minor's Diner is now serving Scottsville's first full breakfast buffet!


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Life in Christian County, Kentucky...
I posted a photo of a Mennonite buggy a couple of days ago and Erik asked in a comment, "Any idea how large the Mennonite community is around you? Any Amish as well?"
I sat down and tried to answer that question accurately, and I wrote so much that I decided it should probably be a separate post. And then I wrote some more. It turned out that I had quite a bit to say.
Mennonite and Amish influx to Christian and Todd Counties
Christian County and Todd County (KY) have seen a lot of Mennonite and Amish immigration over the last few decades. I think it really began during the late 1970's which was a rough time for U.S. farmers. Interest rates were unbelievably high and many areas suffered severe drought. Farm bankruptcies rose across the nation and continued throughout the 1980's.
As nice farms in Christian and Todd Counties came on the market, Mennonite and Amish families (especially from Pennsylvania) began moving into the area. They were able to sell their farmland back east at a good price for development and industry, and they got a lot more land for their money when they reinvested it here.
When we first moved here almost 16 years ago, some local residents seemed to be very hostile about the influx of Mennonite and Amish families. There was a lot of resentment about local farmers going broke and losing their land, only to see it sold to Mennonites and Amish. The Kentucky New Era, our local newspaper, wrote several articles about vandalism and hate pamphlets.
I believe that the Mennonites and Amish are better accepted now that people have grown accustomed to them and perhaps have even become acquainted with some of them. After all, they are just people, much like you and me in many ways. Where there is ill will now, it is most often about the damage done to highways by the steel shoes on horses and the steel wheels on buggies and equipment.
Mennonite farms in our immediate neighborhood
It is hard for me to estimate the size of the Mennonite community in this part of Christian County, except to say that we have a large and ever-growing population. I tried to count the number of families within a 2-1/2 mile radius, and I came up with at least 11 Mennonite households, two of which are childless, but most of the families have at least four children and some have seven or eight children. Within a five mile radius of our house, there are two Mennonite churches and four schools.
Mennonite and Amish families are good at making a living on a small acreage -- that's why we have so many families in such a small area. The Fairview Produce Market (just five miles from us) has been a big help for produce growers.
Many of the families have dairies or big chicken houses and it's very common for them to have some kind of a repair shop or small store that they operate on their property. Within the 2-1/2 mile radius that I mentioned above, our Mennonite neighbors operate a greenhouse, a harness repair shop, a small-engine repair shop, a tractor repair shop, several chicken houses and three dairies -- in addition to doing regular farming of various sorts.
The church that our neighbors attend allows its members to have telephones and electricity, but does not permit automobile ownership or voting. All motorized implements must have steel wheels (to prevent them from becoming road vehicles.) I am not sure what designation this church applies to itself, but it is not Old Order.
We do have a large family of Old Order Mennonites nearby. (I think there are 16 brothers and sisters in the family but I don't know if they all live around here or not.) They use horses or mules in the fields and do not have electricity or telephones in their homes. They do not hire vehicles to go to town. If they must go to town, they drive their buggies or ride bicycles. Their school is included in my count above (within a five-mile radius). I am not sure if they meet at the school for Sunday worship or in homes.
Our Mennonite neighbor Clarence told us that the sons in this Old Order family have been marrying into another group that he called Canadian Mennonites. He says these Canadian Mennonites are even more conservative than the Old Order Mennonites are.
Amish settlements in Christian and Todd Counties
We don't have any Amish families living near us, but there are areas of Christian and Todd Counties that do have settlements of Old Order Amish and New Order Amish. In Christian County, the New Order Amish seem to have settled mostly around Crofton (northern Christian County), and the Old Order Amish have settled in southern Christian County.
The Old Order Amish whom I have observed don't use electricity or tractors. They travel by horse and buggy or hire a driver if they're going far. Their clothing is usually dark in color. The ladies wear dark bonnets that come down onto their shoulders. I notice that the ladies use straight pins for their garment closures.
The New Order Amish dress more brightly. They drive to town in tractors pulling converted pickup-box trailers. The men drive and the women, children, and cargo are stowed in the trailers. Besides the settlements of New Order Amish around Crofton, KY, there are communities around Elkton, KY, and in southern Todd County.
Other Mennonites in the area
There are also people whom I see that do not seem to fit into the four main categories I have described above, but their style of dress makes it evident that they are from other Mennonite or Amish groups. Some of them may be Brethren which is another Anabaptist group.
For example, a fellow whom our Mennonite neighbors call a "Russian Mennonite" built a kitchen cabinet for us. This cabinet maker drives a pickup truck and has electricity and a telephone. His family's style of dress makes it very evident that they are Mennonite. They do not attend a local church, but travel to southern Missouri once a month to worship with a church that shares their particular beliefs.
Today, another Mennonite man who is not a member of any local church is helping my husband with some plumbing. He drives a van. He and his wife have a Christian bookstore in their home that caters particularly to local Mennonites. They also publish a catalog and do a mail-order book business.
Another large Mennonite family nearby (13 children, all grown now) attends church here but they do not take communion here. For communion, they go to Ohio. They are more liberal than the local Mennonite church. They drive a horse and buggy, but they don't obey the rule about having only steel wheels on their tractors. (They don't have to obey the local Mennonite rules since they aren't "in communion" with the local church anyway.) Their children attended public school through 5th grade with our kids. Some of their children have married into Mennonite communities elsewhere that drive automobiles. Two of their children (that I know of) have married members of our local Mennonite church and have complied with its stricter lifestyle.
Importance of the church and community
I have read quite a bit about the Mennonite and Amish faiths and talked with our neighbors as well, and as I understand it, the particular practices of any community are determined entirely by a set of standards that the local church agrees on. The church may decide to allow gasoline motors on stationary farm equipment, for example, or to allow telephones but only in the barn.
A very important value that all these different Mennonite and Amish groups hold is community. This is the underlying reason for avoiding motor vehicles, for example. First of all, motor vehicles take people places where they are exposed to outside influences, and secondly, they reduce the interdependence and cooperation of the community's members.
Even the telephone can be seen as dangerous because you may seek help and input from an outsider instead of going to speak face-to-face with your neighbor who is a friend and fellow church-member.
We have seen a few Mennonite familes sell out and move away from this area because they could not agree with the standards of the local Mennonite church. They wanted to live differently -- more conservatively or more liberally or whatever -- so they moved to another community that is more compatible with their beliefs.
Erik didn't ask to know all this about the Mennonites and Amish here, but I seemed to think this lengthy explanation was necessary in order to accurately describe our neighborhood and community.
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Oman Air, the national airline of the Sultanate of Oman, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bank Muscat, the leading Omani financial services provider.
Under the terms of the MoU, Oman Air SAOC and Bank Muscat will work across a range of activities to promote each other's products and services to their employees and customers.
Abdulrazaq Al-Raisi, Oman Air's General Manager Worldwide Sales, welcomed the Memorandum of Understanding, saying: "We are delighted that Oman Air and Bank Muscat will be working together to offer customers the very best in both air travel and financial products and services. Both Oman Air and Bank Muscat are committed to providing the very highest quality to all our customers and this Memorandum of Understanding will ensure that even more people will benefit.
"Bank Muscat is an ideal strategic partner for Oman Air and, together, we look forward to creating new opportunities, accessing new markets and delivering even greater value."
The MoU is wide-ranging and paves the way for a broad range of initiatives, including a co-branded credit card, the extension of Oman Air's Sindbad loyalty programme to holders of the new credit card, the sitting of Oman Air self-service kiosks in Bank Muscat branches, the promotion of Bank Muscat's products to Sindbad members and a series of joint marketing ventures.
The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with Bank Muscat continues Oman Air's development of partnerships and deals with some of the world's most respected businesses, each bringing additional services and benefits to the carrier's customers.
With assets worth over USD 15 billion, Bank Muscat (SAOG) has a strong presence in corporate, retail, private and investment banking, treasury and asset management. The bank has the largest network of branches in Oman, with 125 branches and 362 ATMs, 112 CDMs and 4,200 PoS terminals. It also has a branch in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and a representative office in Dubai (UAE). In addition, Bank Muscat currently owns 49% of BMI Bank BSC, an independent bank in the Kingdom of Bahrain, has a 43% stake in the Mangal Keshav Group, one of the oldest and most respected securities houses in the fast-growing Indian equities market, and has a stake in Silk bank Ltd in Pakistan.


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The right to publicly protest or demonstrate is one of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. It must be balanced with the right of the institution to conduct normal business, and with the rights of those persons not participating in the protest or demonstration. Demonstrations may be peaceful and lawful or they may be disruptive and unlawful. In either case:
- Call Public Safety immediately at x3177.
- Note the location of the protest/demonstration, the approximate number of protestors and the direction of travel if the group is mobile.
- Note the purpose or theme of the protest if possible.
- Do not confront or become argumentative with the protesters.
- If the group appears to be violent or destructive, lock exterior building doors and interior doors to rooms where persons or information sought by the protesters may be located.


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Shocking: Kimbo Slice Loses For The First Ever In 15 Seconds!
Kimbo did not get to fight Shamrock. Due to the fact Ken got disqualified for an eye injury he had. Kimbo made a bad decision by fighting this guy named Seth Petruzelli.
Please click the "Report" button below if the video on this page is not working properly.
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Mercedes Cup
The Mercedes Cup is up among the world's most important sand court tennis tournaments and is considered to be a classic ATP event. It has been held every year since 1979 in July in the TC Weissenhof tennis grounds. A generous cash prize and a car for the champion, valuable world ranking points and the unique atmosphere of the Weissenhof grounds ensure that the tournament is attended by top names every year.
Dates in 2019: 8 to 16 june
- Foto: Veranstalter
More information


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Ok, well, I did get your attention, right?
It's not quite on fire.... yet. But wait.
Hong Kong protesters hold pro-democracy rally
Tens of thousands of protesters have marched in Hong Kong through typhoon rains in support of universal suffrage. The march marks the 16th anniversary of the citys return to mainland China's rule.
Drenched by rains from Tropical Storm Rumbia, protesters marched in Hong Kong Monday to demand that China live up to its promise to allow fully democratic elections in the semi-autonomous territory by 2017.
There has been mounting discontent directed at China's communist government amid concerns that Beijing may somehow try to rig the poll to screen out opposition candidates.
Protesters marched and chanted carrying British colonial Hong Kong flags and pro-democracy banners. The procession, which is organized annually by the Civil Human Rights Front, has come on the heels of a survey published by Hong Kong University, which found that only 33 percent of Hong Kong residents took pride in being a Chinese national - the lowest level since 1998.
The former British colony returned to Chinese rule on July 1, 1997, and promised universal suffrage as an "ultimate aim." If the election goes through, Hong Kong will be the first place on Chinese soil to have fully democratic elections.
Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying, who was appointed last July, has also come under harsh criticism as many say he is guilty of kowtowing to Beijing. He is charged with overseeing the transition to universal suffrage, however many say little or no progress has been made.
"The main goal of the rally is to push through for genuine democracy and to ask for Leung Chun-ying to step down," Jackie Hung of the Civil Human Rights Front told the AFP news agency.
However, Beijing has countered that the ability of Hong Kong residents to protest proves that the freedoms guaranteed under the handover agreement were being honored.
"This year, with so many people going on the streets to protest, shows that under the 'one country two systems', Hong Kong has a lot of freedom and rights," the head of Beijing's Liaison Office in Hong Kong, Zhang Xiaoming, told reporters.


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It has been quite a while since I ate the pancakes at Paddington House of Pancake. Everytime when I visit the place, I would love to try something new. The menu, filled with so many scrumptious pancakes is just so appealing. This time around, I ordered the Classic pancake which costs RM 15.50. Although the price is slightly on the higher side, the taste is absolutely marvelous. Paddington prides itself to only serving the best pancakes around town.
The Classic pancake consists of slices of green apples covering the pancake crumbs underneath.
The ice-cream at the middle with strawberry syrup made it oh so delicious!
Here is a look at what is hidden underneath. The pancake had a fluffy texture and very easy to bite. In fact, it was even softer when soaked with the melted ice-cream.
There were also dark raisins…
Simply irresistible…
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then these pictures are more than enough to describe the wonderful pancake at Paddington. Highly recommended if you are a fan of pancakes!
Paddington House of Pancakes
Lot G363, Ground Floor Rainforest
1 Utama Shopping Center
Website: http://www.paddingtonpancakes.com/
Location Map


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Crunch Time—Challenges and Solutions for Families
An RWJF-supported poll, "Children and Weight: Crunch Time During the American Work and School Week—3 p.m. to Bed," reveals that many parents face a variety of barriers to helping their children lead healthy lives, especially during the "crunch time" from 3 p.m. to bed. But what's behind these trends? Our work reveals why it can be difficult for families across America to make healthy choices. But it also highlights pockets of progress—changes that are helping parents and kids eat healthier and be active.


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Yes, Virginia, there are actually jobs/contracts out there that pay real money for you to code declaratively. In fact, if you're in the United States or Australia, then there are "lots" of these jobs, and, if you're in Europe or Asia, there are some jobs in your country or in a country near you.
So, here you are, and you're missing the key ingredients that will secure you one of these plum assignments: professional work experience in your LoCh ("Language of Choice") 'cause your stuck writing VB scripts, not (e.g.) Haskell, and phone calls from recruiters or companies wanting (e.g.) Haskell programmers 'cause you don't have (e.g.) Haskell on your resumé (because you never, ever lie on your resumé) and 'cause no recruiter nor company will ever admit they need something other than a programmer with Java or C# experience if they are hunting.
Real life story: a recruiter solicited me with no idea that I had Prolog experience for a Prolog req. because she was so used to seeking Java programmers, and all her other contracts needed Java programmers, that the thought never occurred to her. Only my "and, yeah, I also have experience in Mercury, which is like Prolog, and Dylan, which is like Lisp" woke her up to that nagging req. that she thought she was never going fill.
So, for all of you out there thinking about looking, you probably need a couple of questions answered. Like: how do you prepare for these jobs, and then, how do you find them? Well, I'm not going to give advice here on what should work, I'm going to tell you what worked for me. But since my experience may be atypical, maybe some of the readership that do have functional or logical programming jobs can chime in with your own stories that show easier routes to success.
Here's how I didn't get my paying jobs coding in Dylan and Mercury and Prolog and Haskell (yes, my current job is accepting some code in Haskell and they are building a foreign interface to Haskell in their Prolog engine. Win!):
- I neither lied on nor fudged my resumé.
Some people think that reading a book on Hibernate allows them to enter a bullet on their resumé as on-the-job work experience. Those kind of antics may get one in the door, but the thing that keeps one on the payroll is "am I confident and competent building systems with this technology?" ("did I really do this?"), not "can I learn the technology I listed on my resume on the new job?" ("do I think I can do this?")
- I didn't get my job from any of the companies listed on haskell.org or schemers.org or <anything>.org.
Why? Because these listings are usually from somebody who got to write a code snippet or a pet project in their favorite language under the radar and are crowing about it on their-favorite-language.org website. Sure it's wonderful that XYZ corp is using Haskell, but does the HR department know about it? No. Is is in their budget to hire a Haskell programmer? No. You don't need to believe me on this one, however. You can send an email to every single one of those companies, just like I did, and get the null-responses and the "this email address does not exist" bounces, just like I did. Knock yourself out.
- I also didn't get a job or contract working for the luminous companies in the declarative world.
Don't know why here, but I can guess. It may be that Galois or Jane's Capital or Ericsson or whatever gets a few solicitations a quarter, and they are already up to their gills in talent. If they already have all the work they want in that domain, and they have already some people with some time on their hands, they aren't going to hire a new person, and give that person nothing for their job, just because that new person is so excited about the opportunity to code declaratively.
And the larger the company, the harder it is to thread one's way through the layers of bureaucracy to reach the isolated island that uses your LoCh. Sure, IBM (Tivoli) and Microsoft (Windows Registry) use Prolog, but good luck finding a person to speak about that in those empires. And since your LoCh is so niche in those empire, good luck finding an opening.
So, I guess it was pure-D-luck that I was on four contracts where I used Dylan, and one contract where I used Smalltalk, and one contract where I used Mercury, and two contracts where I used Prolog, and one contract (so far) that I'm using Haskell.
... or maybe not.
So, how did I get to use these languages that I (have) love(d) on these contracts?
- First and foremost, by being the best d*mned Java or C++ programmer their management had ever seen. In 1996, I took three Java books on my honeymoon, and read them. (Yes, Virginia, 12 years later, we are still married.) Every single night after work on my C++ contracts, I would read something from Design Patterns and Stroustrup. Work assignment scoped to two months, end-to-end, I would complete in two weeks.
What did that give me? Trust, latitude, tolerance and time. Management knew they didn't need to look over my shoulder and they would allow me to do the jobs my way. It then was a very simple step from writing each web-page as its own JSP to writing a Dylan program that generated 100s of JSPs from templates. Then I would show management the Dylan program. ("This, boss, is how I've been so efficient").
Most of the time it worked ("That's awesome, Doug." "Would you be willing to be a reference for me?" "Sure."), sometimes it didn't ("How are we going to maintain this when you're gone? Rewrite it in Java." "Yes, ma'am."). Where it worked, I added it to my resumé; where it didn't, I didn't.
- Next, I was the best salesman in the organization, better, even than the PR department. At socials with the customer, all the programmers would line up against the far wall ('cause programmers are shy, don't you know), except me. I would cross the room and walk right up to the customer with a ready handshake ("Larry, hi; I'm Doug Auclair, and I'm working on solving your problems"), this also applied to internal customers ("Paul, nice to meet you; I'm glad the VP of ITT is checking out this satellite program").
What did this get me? Call backs and word-of-mouth that allowed me to set the terms of the contract ("Hi, Doug, this is Bruce at Raytheon, we need somebody good on this new contract, so we called you." "Sure, Bruce, this is my rate." "That won't be a problem").
If you want what you want, you must be good where you are and you cannot be a wall-flower. People with the power to decide must think of you first because a) you've excelled in your current work and b) you've told them so.
- Next, I always had my eyes and ears open and, when I was good, I opened my mouth only after someone had gotten their gripe off their chest. You know what a gripe is? To me, a gripe is a contract. "!@#$%^*, we need a phoneme-based name-matcher but the programmer who built it in assembler retired years ago!" (Trans: Doug, we need you to write a fuzzy ILP system in Mercury) "I sure wish we could use the function object templates you've written about in the C++ system I'm building." (Trans: Doug, come on board to show me how Dylan will make this a whole bunch easier.) "We want your system to extract meaning from text documents, but extracting meaning from the images is too hard; don't bother with that." (Trans: Tell us about image processing and classification with Self-Organizing Maps and Pulse Coupled Neural Networks.). Each of the above gripes led to work, that is authorization and funding, for me to write in my LoCh (Mercury, Dylan, and Haskell) that was outside the, erhm, comfort-language of providing company.
How did I have the confidence to offer those suggested courses of action and then have the competence to build them to delivery? Listening is key. Nobody listens in our industry, so when somebody does listen, the griper is so relieved that somebody cared that they weigh the response with much greater significance. That I had these novel, but workable, courses of action to offer comes from what I did in the next, final, point.
- Finally, I became a teacher. Being a teacher, a real teacher, means first you are a learner and learn more than anyone you know about the topic, and second you are a doer and are better at using the technology to solve the given problems than anyone else on the team. Those two things are prerequisites to being a teacher, but they don't make you a teacher. No, to be a teacher, you must write, write, and then write some more about the topic: documentation (users manuals and programmer manuals), white papers, articles, quizzes, aphorisms. Then after the writing comes the lecturing: I spent years developing and then teaching continuing education courses at the local community college after I gave brown bag lunch lectures at my place of work. I got two of my better contracts from company owners tripping over my written materials: a Dylan project and a Prolog-based agent project.
By the way, teaching is not droning on for an hour or for four hours. Teaching is preparation, to the tune of 13 hours of prep work for each hour in front of the class (I did). Teaching is getting up on top of the desk to do flamenco (I did), teaching is jumping up and down, up and down, jackhammer-style to drill in the point (I did), teaching is having the students wonder what I was on and could they get a prescription ("Class, this is Doug without coffee!"). Teaching is inspiration; it is the flame to ignite the students' imagination.
I had something like 3,000 students under my tutelage from the brown bags and my continuing education courses (that I was paid to teach), from coders to company presidents ... do you think I have a problem with my contact network?
Oh, but that's easy for an extrovert like you, Doug! But I'm naturally shy. Dude, don't give me that line! On Myers-Briggs, I'm either INFJ or INTJ, my "I" (introversion) is so extreme that it actually blows the percentile curve. I HATE interacting with people, so much so that it takes an additional 8 hours for me to recover from a meeting or class that I run (and since I'm president of my independent consulting firm, I run all the meetings and teach all the classes), but I LOVE coding declaratively more. Once you know what you must have, you'll find a way to get it. The excuses you used to make for not getting what you must have become just that, excuses; when you have that burn, that's when you start finding ways to the desired end.
Well, unlike Java jobs or C# jobs or VB jobs, where one can scan the newspaper or go to dice.com, these magical jobs are not the ones I get when recruiters solicit me (three times a day). No, they appear between the cracks of the sky when it rends in two. All but one contract (that did come from dice.com) came from the company CEO pulling me aside or phoning me out of the blue from the materials I had published inside the company where I was employed, or from my web-sites on programming languages.
Usually and because of the exclusivity of the work it takes anywhere from at least 3 months to 2 years to secure these kinds of contracts, so the adage "Don't quit your day job" is an appropriate one here. When I do get these contracts, however, they usually last longer (3 years) than the Java/C++/XML/web-services-code-grinder ones (that usually last around 6 months), and the peer group is much more intelligent, genteel and just plain more interesting than the code-grinding crowd. Is is harder to find these magical contracts? Yes, they are rarified air. But are they worth preparing for and then finding? Definitely.
So, yes, I was lucky to work on 7 paying contracts using declarative languages, because I was the best code-grinder on my current job, I used my LoCh effectively and then wrote about the successes and taught techniques to my peers, all of which luckily attracted the notice of hungry companies needing a competitive advantage.
Luck, you see, is when preparedness meets opportunity.


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Do you update your Facebook relationship status every time it changes? I have to admit: One of my greatest virtual fears is having to alert the entire Facebook community that my heart has broken—literally. Remember that red, broken heart icon that used to pop up in the feeds of newly-single users? Terrifying! That's why my Facebook profile says this about my love life…
Absolutely nothing! That's right—I don't even acknowledge it, never have. Even when I was as single as the lone piece of gum found buried in the bottom of a purse, I didn't advertise this info on my Facebook page.
But, unlike me, a lot of my friends do post and update their Facebook relationship statuses all of the time. Some of my friends have gone from "single," to "in a relationship," to "engaged" and now they are "married." Their entire courtship was documented on The Book. Even royalty isn't immune to the Facebook breakup. According to this article, Chelsy Davy broadcast the news of her split with Prince Harry earlier this year on, yep, you guessed it, Facebook.
One of my buddies, let's call her G-Esquire (she's a lawyer), actually listed herself as "single" on Facebook while she was in a four-year relationship! I'd looked at her profile a gazillion times, but I never really paid much attention to that part of it until one night my roommate and I were trolling The Book, and bam! There it was. G-Esquire: Single. What?! She didn't break up with her boyfriend, she just preferred listing herself as single. We immediately told her that she had to change it, something she was adamantly against. Her defense? As far as government documentation goes, you're single until you're married. (Can you tell she's a lawyer?) Despite her savvy rebuttal, she lost this case because Facebook specifically has an option for "in a relationship," which she was. Heck, they even have an option for "it's complicated." There's really no excuse.
Here are some of my favorite buddies. G-Esquire is somewhere in the mix. Clue: She's compromisingly close to me!
Do you list your relationship status on Facebook? Have you ever been a victim of the red, broken heart icon? Do you think it's OK to say you're "single" if you're in a serious relationship? Do you think it's OK not to list a relationship status at all? How often do you update your status? And, how terrible would it be if listing yourself as "divorced" was an option on Facebook? I can only imagine the icon that would accompany that news…
Also, find out more sneaky ways Facebook, Twitter and Gchat can ruin your relationship.
P.S. Do you obsess over your Facebook photo? Is Facebook calling you fat? Plus, how Facebook can land you a job and five reasons why Facebook may be good for your health.
Looking for Joanna? She's on vacation but will be back next Monday. Jessica Strul is a freelance writer who lives in New York City. She has written for CosmoGirl (RIP!), Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Time Out New York and other publications. She's been known to eat chocolate for breakfast.


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General Reforging FaQ
Item and Ability enhancement has been around in World of Warcraft since day one and has steadily evolved into a massive core part of developing your character. Every single primary crafting profession has involved in this in some way:
- Tailors - Leg Enhancement
- Leather Workers - Leg Enhancements (and other armor kits earlier on)
- Blacksmiths - Temporary weapon modifiers, Extra gem sockets, Weapon Chains
- Alchemists - Weapon modifiers (earlier content)
- Enchanters - Largest contributor of general gear enhancement
- Jewel Crafters - Sockets and Trinkets
- Engineers - Non statistic enchants (now stacks with enchanting)
- Scribes - Redefining spell books and personal shoulder enchants
And that is just a general over view. As of Patch 4.0.1 the steaks (Mooo) were raised once more and introduced a new way of itemization enhancements, independent of skill or professions. Welcome to Reforging
- What is Reforging?
- What Stats can I change?
- What secondary stats can I reforge?
- Are there any limitations?
- Where can I Reforge?
- What's the cost?
- What can I reforge?
In a nutshell Reforging is a new game mechanic that allows you to reduce a statistic on your gear, and then gives you a choice of another statistic that you can replace it with.
Sounds simple; and I am sure the gears are turning in your head right now. However, there are a few ground rules you need to know.
You can change any secondary statistic on an item (except resilience), and replace it with a new secondary statistic that does not already exist on that item. (For example, reducing critical rating, and adding haste, when the item already has haste thus creating super lopsided itemization)
A secondary statistic is the inbuilt enchantment on that item, or in simple language, the green text:
As you can see the item I have exampled has haste on it, however you have decided you would like to have a bit more Critical rating instead. With reforging you can do exactly that.
What secondary stats can I reforge?
You can swap any of the following stats with one another, providing you stay within the boundaries listed in the previous paragraph:
Critical Strike Rating, Dodge Rating, Expertise Rating, Haste Rating, Hit Rating, Mastery Rating, Parry Rating, Spirit
That means that Agility, Intellect, Stamina, Strength, Resilience, Attack Power are immune to reforging.
The one exception to the rule is Spirit. In 4.0.1 Spirit in effect took MP5 (mana generated every 5 seconds) under it's wing. MP5 used to be a secondary stat and didn't pop its head up as a raw stat until Burning Crusade. So, Spirit adopts the right to be the only primary stat at this time that is reforgeable.
There are a few limitations you do need to be aware of when reforging your gear. The first is the weight of the reforge. You can not take that 52 haste and turn it into 52 critical, you will only be able to reforge 40% of that value. So in theory you would be able to get 21 critical, leaving 31 haste as part of the original stat.
The second limitation is you can on reforge one stat on an item at a time. Don't panic though, as you can reforge an item as many times as you like, but you have to reset it's original state before you do so.
As of 4.0.1 Arcane Reforger was the generic NPC introduced to all major cities with the exception of Shatrath City. Looking at the beta information they may individualize the mobs a little more. They can be found by the enchanting trainers.
After doing some of my famous pencil and paper scribbling I did come to the conclusion that in Cataclysm or 4.0.3 that Arcane Reforger will get a true identity. As this information becomes more set in stone I will integrate it in with this guide. For now you can read more about these mobs by following This Link
If you have a limited supply of gold, I can be forgiven for saying, it's not cheap. Though if you reforge an item just once it's ultimately free (sort of)
The current pricing model Blizzard have implemented is the default vendor sale of the item. So if you vendor the item later and you reforged it once, you are not out of pocket. Also to reset an item to default, you do not pay for the reset.
This is thought to be one of the reasons blizzard allowed the vendor sale and disenchantment of unwanted PVP gear and such items.
Blizzard went on record by saying they do not intend players to feel the need to reforge every piece of gear; that they hope reforging allows more classes to feel the need to roll on something. They also no longer want to make it so that classes stack one particular stat in excess to be powerful in their character. In theory this makes sense, however, I do not honestly believe that they are going to achieve this yet and that the majority of players will indeed be routinely reforging gear, this remains to be seen.
You can reforge any gear items (including pally books etc) with an item level of at least 200. You can reforge trinkets but the secondary stat has to be stationary and these are a little uncommon. Trinkets with variable itemization (You gain X spirit per spell cast stacking upto X times) do not provide that variable stat as a reforgeable option; this is also true of "on use" trinkets (stats that physically require you to use the trinket to activate).
Thanks for reading as always
All images used in this guide were constructed by wkjezz. Source files for the image layers were collected from www.wowhead.com
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Aaaand another one: "You can
Submitted by kayeich on Sun, 2010-10-24 01:12.
Aaaand another one:
"You can swap any of the following stats with one another, providing it doesn't double stack" <-- This one is just nitpicking and could just be my own personal opinion, but I don't think saying 'double stacking' is quite clear for a newbie.
Specifically, I'd state that:
"You can swap any of the following stats with one another, provided the stat that you wish to add through reforging does not already exist on that item."
I'd also like to add two
Submitted by kayeich on Sun, 2010-10-24 01:07.
I'd also like to add two more comments:
1) Should have a picture of the reforging menu, showing the two boxes on the reforging side.
2) Go a little over how to actually do the reforging (and would cover having a picture of the reforging menu). While I found it common sense...I actually have noticed people asking loudly near reforgers for people to explain to them how to get it to work.
They eventually get that it's just a drag and drop type deal, but just that they felt the need to ask in the first place brings me to suggesting you go over the process of it.
Your picture for
Submitted by kayeich on Sun, 2010-10-24 00:43.
Your picture for primary/secondary is incorrect. While you correctly labeled spirit as a secondary stat in the text portion, in the pic you've included it as one of the primary stats (it's the -one- stat that is still considered secondary despite showing up in the primary stat section)
*nods* Masteries would
Submitted by kayeich on Sun, 2010-10-24 02:27.
*nods* Masteries would probably be better handled by class guides.
As for Spirit being a dirty word, I personally don't think it's so dirty compared to Intellect due to a comic involving stacking +Int. =)
Yah, mastery would warrant
Submitted by Jiyambi on Sun, 2010-10-24 02:19.
Yah, mastery would warrant it's own guide, doesn't belong in this one.


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College women's soccer:
No. 1 Virginia (19-0, 13-0 ACC) completed a perfect regular season by beating No. 5 Virginia Tech 2-0 Thursday in an historic matchup before 2,252 in Charlottesville.
Amber Fry scored in the ninth minute, and Makenzy Doniak added her team-leading 14th goal with 41 seconds remaining. Annie Steinlage assisted on both goals.
Fry, one of eight U.Va. seniors starting on their Senior Night, scored her first collegiate winning goal.
U.Va. became the first ACC women's soccer team to complete an undefeated and untied regular season in a decade.
It was the first time those schools met in any sport when both were ranked in the national top five. Tech fell to 14-3-2, 9-3-1; all of the Hokies' losses have come to top-five opponents.
The ACC tournament begins Sunday, with the Cavaliers hosting No. 8 Maryland at 1 p.m. The Hokies, who are seeded fourth, will play host to fifth-seeded Notre Dame. ...
Charlotte defeated Old Dominion 3-1 in Norfolk, spoiling the Monarchs' Senior Night and season finale.
Despite a tying goal by Meghan Cozens off Jessie Klamut's assist in the ninth minute, ODU finished 1-13-3.
The Anaheim Ducks reassigned Rickard Rakell to the AHL's Norfolk Admirals before the 20-year-old Swedish center got to play in his first NHL game.
The Ducks also sent defenseman Luca Sbisa to Norfolk. Sbisa, 23, a Swiss Olympian who has played 195 NHL games and came to Anaheim in a deal that sent former standout defenseman Chris Pronger to Philadelphia, is on a long-term injury conditioning loan.
The Admirals face the Albany Devils in the New York capital at 7 p.m. Friday.


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Authorities have obtained an arrest warrant for the suspect of a recent shooting.
Jerry Williams, 25, was identified as a suspect after a home in the 2500 block of Euclid Avenue was shot at Saturday night. A deputy in the area heard the gunshots and reportedly saw Williams driving away from the home, according to the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.
The deputy attempted to stop Williams, who allegedly drove his vehicle into a culvert and fled on foot. Williams was not located.
Williams, who was arguing with his girlfriend, allegedly pulled out a gun, grabbed her hair and threatened to shoot her, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Witnesses said Williams fired at least one bullet inside the house before stepping outside to fire more rounds, a news release states. No one was injured.
"Williams has a violent criminal history and should be considered armed and dangerous," according to the Sheriff's Office.
Anyone with information regarding his location can call Criminal Investigations at 861-4900 or contact Crime Stoppers at 366-8477 or www.sarasotacrimestoppers.com.
Suspect sought in Sarasota County shooting
Authorities have obtained an arrest warrant for the suspect of a recent shooting.


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911's on Ice Circuit
Below Zero Ice Driving offers you the unique possibility to drive rally prepared Porsche 911's on a frozen icy lake in Sweden. For a merely £1,750 per person per day, you can request almost everything- if you want to start your day off with a high-speed passenger ride down a genuine rally stage or finish it with a snowmobile safari dropping you off at your hotel – then so be it.
Pocket Artillery
Remember that tiny cannon you could fit in your hand? Now you can own your very own, and fire tiny but destructive BBs across the room. pre-order here – link
Dare to Fight?
If you come across a ninja with a sign in front of him daring you to engage him in combat and even giving you a weapon to use, remember two things: 1. Ninjas are sneaky. 2. Bring coffee.
Branding 10 000 Lakes
An initiative by the designer Nicole Meyer based in Minneapolis, thinking the logos of over 10,000 lakes, which used to be very traditional.
Artisanal Ansatz
Artisanal Ansatz is an art collective made up of a small group of Belgian designers that cite surrealism and caricature as chief influences. The group creates tee shirts with popular cultural staples like pop star Lady Gaga, Hip-Hop God Ol' Dirty Bastard and filmaker Quentin Tarantino among others. Remarkably, all of the designs that end up on their tee shirts are done with a very unlikely and archaic instrument – the ball point pen.
Marble Manhattan
Artist Yukata Sone turned a village of Chinese artisans into urban topographers carving New York City out of marble.
Originally trained as an architect and with a natural bent toward obsessing over details, Sone started working in marble and twelve years ago discovered the traditional stone carvers in the tiny Chinese village of Chongwu. The carvers were mostly engaged in making stone dragons, lanterns, and Buddhas using age-old craft techniques. He asked a group to work with him on carving more dynamic shapes such as machinery and urban landscapes
Toyota Hilux – Tougher Than You Can Imagine
Toyota's commercial for the 2012 Hilux is a hyperbolic romp through New Zealand that will make you want to get a Hilux and/or live in New Zealand.
Toyota Hilux Australia Unbreakable
1965 Ford Mustang Wagon
A 1965 Ford Mustang Shooting Break can be bought from anAmerican showroom for nearly 50,000 euros.
Ford Mustang, one of the most famous and valued representatives of the muscle car kingdom seems to have always one surprise. In the videos below you will get acquainted with the shooting brake version of a custom-build 1965 Mustang.
Carbon Fiber Bathtub
Austrian manufacturer Corcel has designed an amazing full carbon fiber bathtub called "Corcel N°1" . The carbon fiber bathtub is extremely durable, lightweight and resistant to chemicals and harsh temperatures
TAG Heuer Mikrotimer Concept
TAG Heuer's Mikrotimer Flying 1000 concept watch is the only watch in the world that can measure time down to 1/1000th of a second, thanks to its insanely fast caliber.
Fast Garlic Peeling
Peeling garlic is a messy and tedious process. Or is it? Let the food and travel magazine Saveur and their editor Todd Coleman show you a much better and manlier way to do the job.
Daft Punk & Coca Cola
After the first set of bottles, here is the new collaboration of Coca-Cola the unique group Daft Punk. Created by dressing two bottles with precious metals, like their cap: gold and silver. All limited to 20 signed copies.
Big Daddy Nerf Gun
The Big Daddy Nerf Gun ($300) is crafted from wood planks that were part of a 75-year-old chair and hand-riveted aluminum, and sports a working scope. It holds 10 whistler Nerf darts and all the dreams of your steam-powered childhood.
Japanese Restaurant Serves World's Largest Sushi
The Umewaka Restaurant in Anjo City, Japan serves the "Generous Roll", a futomaki that weighs more than 13 lbs. and has a diameter of almost 8″. The cost? About $200.
Rubber bookshelves
Luke Hart created these rubber bookshelves for The Sculpture House. They have the delightful impracticality of all the everyday objects crafted from rubber that appear in old Warner Brothers cartoons, and the bright red coloring is an especially nice touch.
Cat Scratch
If you buy your cat just one toy this year, please let it be this one! This latest SUCK UK creation is the cat scratching DJ Box.
The design of the Cat Scratch is even true to a real-life DJ turntable. The tone arm for example and the base has been designed to replicate the real deal. To that effect, the deck completely spins as the cat attacks it with its nails. The Cat Scratch retails for £15.99
Oui Fm Campaign
Here is the new print campaign for Oui Radio , devised by the the photographer Matthew Raffard. A new baseline "Rock is here to change your life" to announce that the station now broadcasts in Province,France.
LEGO – Life-Size Pixelated Ford Explorer
Ford has created a full-size replica of the company's new Explorer crafted from Lego bricks. The sculpture was created by 22 designers over the course of 2,500 hours. All told, there are 380,000 individual bricks at work, weighing in at a hefty 2,654 pounds, and a 768-pound aluminum platform supports the creation.
Cartella for Macbook Air
Cartella for MacBook Air. It resembles the classic and always stylish Moleskin Notebook. But instead of containing a ream of paper, its frame has been machined within 1/4000 of inch to hold an 11-inch or 13-inch Macbook Air securely in place. All ports remain accessible so you won't have to remove the laptop to plug it in or use a USB device
Lycoming R680 9 Cylinder Radial Engine Table
Currently on display at Decoratum Gallery in London, the Cylinder Radial Engine Table is made from a US Army Boeing-Stearman PT-13 engine acquired from the Canadian Museum of Flight, Langley, British Columbia. Constructed between 1936 and 1938. Price: £ 19,750
Mophie Juice Pack Reserve
The Mophie Juice Pack Reserve is an emergency keychain power source for the iPhone and iPod. It has a 700mAh battery and elegantly integrated USB cable and 30-pin connector.
Kidrobot Swatch Stop Motion Video
a follow-up to their latest collaboration, Kidrobot and Swatch release a stop motion video highlighting the eight Swatch Gent timepieces and Dunny figurines that were adapted for the artist campaign. The elaborate project has done its fair share of promotion over the past few weeks, but the impressive stop motion short is likely to be one of the more notable endeavors to date. Written, directed and produced by Happycentro, the Italian creative group combined a total of 1404 frames to comprise the fluid video that lasts for just under two minutes
Formula 1 Comes To America – Red Bull Racing Takes First Lap In Texas
To celebrate the arrival of the Forumal 1 racing circuit in America, Red Bull Racing produced a really nice clip in Texas, having their F1 showcar chased by cowboys on a ranch. The F1 Circuit of the Americas takes place in Austin, Texas, on November 18th, 2011.
'On Tour' Series Furniture
It may look like a rolling amp and speaker cabinet for a rock band, but the On Tour cabinet fromAureate actually conceals shelves and drawers for storing books, games, movies, and what-not.


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usbc: armchair afar-bloggingMay 3, 2008 – 12:35 am
that's the thing about blogging — it's better if you're ignorant!
maxims for life from the u.s. barista championship, day one:
* live, streaming video of barista glitterati in action — even hiccuping video with warpy sound — is flabbergastingly more compelling than youtubed competition videos. clips: eh. everybody does it and nobody endures them all. but the stream — tha stream is happening right now. it's irresistible.
* that messy, snarky, meandering fanboy commentary that unraveled today alongside the moving pictures — it's a taste of community. an extension of the convention ruckus for snivelling homebodies like this blog. simple, haphazard — and vital!
* do not, however, make slighting remarks about competitor 27 while his father is watching the feed. don't. baaad.
* all this glorious electronic carnivality — lost in the bowels of these interwebs. why no archives? this blog looked into ustream a year ago for this very use, and happens to know that archiving the video is entirely possible. relive the ignominy! re-chew the cud! seems like competitors might want to obsess at some point over the world's reaction to their routines …
* the house blog is of interest, if a bit promotional. more narrative! more dot-connecting! or, you know, at least some humor — with writers' names connected to the blog posts. how else will we know if hoffmann is working, or merely practicing what we call in the profession "celebrity journalism." sordid. inexcusable. (UPDATE: names now attached! is it just us, or if hoffmann getting all the sweet assignments?)
* for pure words, those writerly types just can't be beat. twitchy wins this blog's eyeballs for cogent, relevant convention narrative.
* is there weed going around the competitors quarters? or does octane's ben have another explanation for this brief spate of giddiness?


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VBOATS 53 Fish
boat without engine
Technical spec
Length, m
Max. horsepower
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Transom 520 mm (L)
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|Length, m
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|Transom height, m
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- Hull made of marine grade aluminium alloy 5083
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Rear deck
Electrical equpment
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Focus on India, please.
In the aftermath of the Lahore talks between S.M. Krishna and S.M. Qureshi, much was written in the press about the reasons why the talks failed and on Mr. Qureshi's antics during and after the press conference. The failure of the talks to yield anything substantial should have been a good opportunity for India to reevaluate what it is attempting to achieve vis-a-vis Pakistan and why, and determine whether its current strategy is working. Sadly, barring a few exceptions, such a dialog does not seem to be occurring; at least, not publicly.
My INI colleague over at Pragmatic Euphony has an excellent blogpost with recommendations on steps India needs to take going forward, laying out areas where the attention of India's political leadership should be more focused. From internal security to the delivery of social services, the blogpost argues that an internally stronger India will be able to negotiate with Pakistan on a better footing.
This argument can be further extended, particularly where internal security is concerned. That Pakistan has no intention of abjuring terrorism against India is no secret. In fact, if Mr. Qureshi's bizarre comments at the presscon, equating statements made by LeT chief Hafiz Saeed to those made by Home Secretary G.K. Pillai are anything to go by, there is no reason not to believe that Pakistan will continue to encourage rhetoric and action against India — talks or no talks. The aim of India's internal reforms, then, should be to develop capabilities to deter Pakistan's adventurism for sub-conventional warfare against India.
This requires refocusing on issues that have been highlighted previously on various platforms. It means accepting the reality that internal security can no longer be a part-time job for the Home Minister, and moving forward with establishing a Ministry of Internal Security, with adequate funding and staffing. It means significantly upgrading the capabilities of first responders to terror incidents — something that cannot be meaningfully achieved without police reforms.
It means fundamentally restructuring our intelligence agencies, their reporting structure, staffing, training, funding, information collection — at the local, national and international levels — and inter-agency coordination. It means revisiting existing anti-terror legislation, to provide law enforcement agencies legal and political backing, and tools necessary to effectively deter or respond to incidents. Finally, it also means equipping our agencies with the ability to challenge terrorism from whence it emanates.
Now, the argument can be made — and not without justification or precedent — that in a country that puts a premium on symbolism, expecting changes such as those highlighted above — which essentially call for a structural recalibration of the government — is far too radical. It can be argued that no one in New Delhi will have the stomach for projects whose benefits may only become visible at some distant point in the future. On the other hand, the exhibitionism we have come to expect from India-Pakistan "events" can be beneficial during election season, even if they did fail as spectacularly as Lahore, because India's leaders went "out of their way" and "extended a hand of friendship" which was spurned by short-sighted politicians from across the border. It is just the sort of altruistic, moral pompousness that wins elections.
But Dr. Manmohan Singh, more than anyone, can appreciate what structural reforms can do for this nation. Indeed, reforms he instituted some twenty years ago have fundamentally transformed India's economy and society. With this transformation comes the need for institutions that can effectively govern and keep pace with the India of today. This has not happened, however, and nowhere is the structural decay more telling than in institutions charged with India's security.
Structural recalibration of India's internal security is a long-term project whose benefits may only be realized in the distant future. But unless priority is given now, we will continue to flounder and stumble from one disaster to another while hoping that cosmetic fixes, finger wagging and rhetoric will conceal the structural decay of institutions charged with India's internal security. It will not help India either put an end to the insurgencies that plague it nor allow it to deal effectively with the threats that will continue to emanate from Pakistan. Dr. Singh and his government must get to work: India's internal security needs a 1991.


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Photo Credit: Charles de Gaulle's picture is courtesy of Wikipedia. Photographic illustrations of Charles de Gaulle are copyright © by their respective holders. The images are published with permission or as allowed by the copyright law's fair use or quotation provisions. If any copyright holder objects to an image being included, please notify us and it will be removed immediately.
Disclaimer: This information about Charles de Gaulle is derived from astrological interpretation of Charles de Gaulle's date, time, and place of birth.


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Kristen Bell Tackles Minimum Wage in 'Mary Poppins' Spoof [NSFW VIDEO]
Mary Poppins needs a raise! At least that's what Kristen Bell is arguing in Funny or Die's new spoof of the famed Disney movie.
The normally blonde actress dons dark hair and a red bowtie for her role as the magically inclined nanny in 'Mary Poppins Quits.' Not only does she look the part, but those who have seen 'Frozen' will know she has the vocal talent for it, too!
"Just a $3 increase can make a living wage," she sings to the tune of 'A Spoonful of Sugar.'
Kristen takes the stance that the minimum wage of $7.25 isn't enough for a person — or a penguin — to live off of without falling below the poverty line. "In every job that must be done, you must be paid in more than fun," she explains through song. "The pay's too low, I can't live on this dough."
The parody is more of a statement than it is a comedy, but Kristen's portrayal of Julie Andrews' part is perfect and totally makes the video worthwhile.
Check out 'Mary Poppins Quits' above!
Celebrities Who Look Like Disney Characters


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Country Information
To help you navigate the adoption process in a specific country, we offer Country Information. Country Information describes whether a country is party to the Hague Adoption Convention, provides name and contact information of a country's adoption authority and describes the eligibility requirements for prospective adoptive parents and for children to be adopted. In addition, the Country Information offers key contact information, information about the role of the court and adoption agencies, as well as adoption statistics.
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By Ravi Agrawal, CNN
Editor's note: Ravi Agrawal is senior producer of Fareed Zakaria GPS. The views expressed are his own. This was originally published in September 2012 and re-posted as Mexico's President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto meets with President Obama on Tuesday.
Here's some trivia. Which of these countries has the highest average income: India, China, Brazil or Mexico? If you guessed Brazil, you'd be wrong. And if you guessed India or China, you'd be way off: even if you combine the incomes of the average Indian and Chinese you wouldn't reach the $15,000 annual purchasing power of the average Mexican.
These numbers don't fit with many people's perception of America's southern neighbor. Mexico, you see, has a PR problem. A quick Google search for news from Mexico throws up a set of results that usually includes the words violence, drugs, cartels, and migrants (or the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico). But it's not just the international media that seems to have it in for Mexico's reputation. Mexicans themselves seem woebegone. A recent Pew survey found that only a third of Mexicans think they have a good national economic situation. Compare that with half of Indians, 65 percent of Brazilians, and 83 percent of Chinese. Or let's go back to average citizens: 52 percent of Mexicans think they have a good personal economic situation, but for Indians, Chinese, and Brazilians, those numbers rise to 64 percent, 69 percent, and 75 percent respectively – and that's despite the fact that in purchasing power terms, Mexicans actually earn more per capita than citizens of all three of those countries. And, unlike the others, Mexico's growth rate is actually rising.
Indeed, Mexico's economy has a number of strengths. It is the 14th largest in the world. If you take into account purchasing power, it is the 11th largest economy – larger than Canada, Turkey, and Indonesia. It is projected to grow 4 percent this year, and even faster in the coming decade, a rate that the financial services firm Nomura says will lead to Mexico overtaking Brazil as Latin America's biggest economy within 10 years, despite the fact that Brazil's economy is currently twice as large.
Still, there is a weakness in Mexico's growth, as I saw for myself when I was there last month: the money hasn't been trickling down. According to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, Mexico has the highest rate of poverty among the group's 34 member nations. If you consider inequality, the OECD ranks it the second most unequal, with only Chile more unequal.
So although the headline numbers might surprise, Mexico presents something of a mixed bag. Yet this hasn't deterred investors taking a growing interest in this Latin-but-North American country. In a special report on investing in Mexico, the Financial Times went as far as to call its macroeconomy "virtually bulletproof." Move over BRICs – Brazil, Russia, India, China – it's time for the MISTs – Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey.
Part of Mexico's appeal to investors is tied into what I think may be the country's key weakness: inequality. You see, at the lowest-end, labor remains cheap. The Economist points out that in 2003, Mexican pay was three times China's rates; now it is only 20 percent higher. So Mexican manufacturing is poised for a boom. And while in the past few years Mexico banked on its proximity to the U.S. (lower transport costs) and trade deals like NAFTA to compete with China, it will now be able to manufacture and price products at an advantage.
The big question, of course, is whether the export dollars will trickle down. But making this happen will require significant market reforms. In his recent book "Breakout Nations: In Pursuit of the Next Economic Miracles," Morgan Stanley's Ruchir Sharma points out how the top 10 Mexican families account for more than a third of the country's stock market value – an almost unheard of number. "Private cartels produce about 40 percent of the goods that Mexicans consume and charge prices that are 30 percent higher than international averages," he writes. "Phones, services, soft drinks, and many foodstuffs cost more in Mexico than in the United States."
One thing is clear – Mexico is not the war-torn wasteland it is often made out to be. Its people have a glorious history, and a hopeful future. This isn't to say that Mexico is destined to be the next investment hotspot – that's far too simplistic a way of looking at this. Instead, the numbers suggest the truth is somewhere in between. Mexico has enormous capacity to surprise on the economic stage. But to really shine, it needs to work on developing a vibrant – and bigger – middle class.
No misconceptions here. I KNOW it's a s_h_i_thole. Hahahahahahaaa
What most of the people do for a living there?
I find all of the comments about the supply and demand of drugs and Mexico being the root of US drug problems absolutely hilarious. If every drug cartel in Mexico was shut down tomorrow, I can guarantee that there would be no difference in the amount of drugs consumed in the United States. It would just change the source that some of the drugs come from. I know plenty of entreprenuers that grow their own drugs at home. I used to live in a classy neighborhood that had the honor of being called the Meth Capital of the Pacific Northwest. An old aquaintance of mine used to sell the drugs he was prescribed by his doctor at a significant mark up and another aquaintance used to use his prescription sleep aids for that lovely narcotic effect they produced when you didn't use them to aid in sleeping. The demand is here, and that's a problem we have to fix on the US side of the border.
Regarding the actual article, I had no idea that Mexico had the 14th largest economy in the world. I've heard a lot about the growth in Brazil and China, but all I ever hear about Mexico is drug cartels and violence. This article was an eye opener.
Will the last person to leave Mexico please turn off the lights?
I'm pruod to be Mexican and almost a Texan!
Good article, sadly most Americans (i'd say over 90%) are completely stupid and they think they live in a bubble and anything foreign is bad. Just by reading a couple of comments here makes me wanna slap the next American I see you think all Mexicans are dying in the country, wanting to escape to the US cause things are horrible, please! the majority of Mexicans are middle class and live much better than the middle class in the US. Just go on a tour in a middle/upper class neighborhood in the country and you will see it clearly. Mexico's curse is only being next to a country full of retards.
I totally recommend this article about Mexico http://www.thexygeneration.com/xy-lifestyle/misconceptions-about-mexico/
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A running discussion on the Cincinnati Reds and everything else in the baseball universe.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Norris Hopper shouldn't leadoff in 2008
Hopper is not a disciplined hitter, which is typically what you want to see out of your leadoff hitter. An ideal leadoff hitter should get on base at a good clip, see a lot of pitches, and grind out every at bat in an attempt to get on base any way possible.
Hopper is an aggressive hitter who consistently forces an early conclusion to an At Bat. That kind of approach really limits the number of pitches you see and walks you get. That kind of approach results in an On Base Percentage that is made up largely of Batting Average. It is difficult to be an effective leadoff hitter if that is the approach you employ. It can be done, but the best leadoff hitters reach base in other ways besides a hit.
If you compare Hopper to four of the best leadoff hitters throughout history, then you'll see a vastly different approach utilized by Hopper than the others.
IsoOBP: (OBP-BA)
#P/PA: Number of pitches seen per plate appearance
%BB: The percentage of plate appearances that results in a walk
%HBP: The percentage of plate appearances that result in a hit by pitch
1stPitch%: The percentage of times the hitter swings at the first pitch
Contact%: The percentage of times the hitter makes contact when he swings
Those four are some of the best leadoff hitters in baseball history, though they utilize different approaches. Here's a bit about the similarities and differences in style.
It's hard to argue against Rickey Henderson being the best leadoff hitter in baseball history. His walk rate is very high (16.4%), sees a ton of pitches (4.34), rarely swings at the first pitch (13%), and makes contact with great frequency (88%). Henderson is the archetypal leadoff hitter.
Tim Raines was a similar leadoff hitter to Henderson, but a bit more aggressive. Rock Raines saw fewer pitches (3.76), walked at lower clip (12.8%), swung at the first pitch with greater frequency (25%), and made contact slightly more often (89%). Still, Rock and Rickey were too patient leadoff hitters who were massively successful.
Craig Biggio was a successful leadoff hitter, though he utilized a slightly different approach. Biggio had good speed and baserunning instincts, but had much more power than the usual leadoff hitter. In addition, Biggio had a lower walk rate (9.3%) than Rickey and Rock, but he made up for some of it by using the HBP as an offensive weapon. Over his career, 2.3% of Biggio's Plate Appearances ended in a hit by pitch. That's a much higher percentage than the others listed and helped increase Biggio's OBP.
At the other end of the spectrum is Ichiro, whose approach at the plate is mirrored by Norris Hopper. Ichiro has tremendous bat control and walks very infrequently (6.4%). He relies on hits, rather than walks and hit by pitches to get on base. Ichiro's OBP is only .046 higher than his batting average over his career. That said, he needs to hit around .315 to even have an OBP above .360. You don't want your leadoff hitter to have an OBP much lower than .360.
As for Norris Hopper, the first thing that jumps out at me is the percentage of pitches at which Norris swings (41%). It is almost to the point where Hopper swings at every other first pitch that he sees. It seems difficult to fathom that when this information gets around the league that Hopper will be able to maintain his level of production. If pitchers see that you'll offer at the first pitch so often, then they will refuse to give you a 1st pitch to hit in an At Bat.
Once word gets around the league on Norris Hopper, he'll need to make serious adjustments in order to maintain his success. Similar to Ichiro, Hopper would need to hit for a very high batting average in order to have an OBP high enough to justify batting leadoff. Hopper's IsoOBP is even lower than Ichiro's at .040, so he'd have to hit .320 in order to even post a .360 OBP. As it stands now, even if Hopper hit .300, he would still fail to have an OBP high enough to be an effective leadoff hitter.
In addition, Hopper steals bases at a much lower clip than the others. Over his career, Hopper is only at a 65% success rate, which is poor for someone with his speed. In fact, from a statistical standpoint, a success rate of 65% actually does more harm than good to the offense. If you aren't any more successful than that, then you are better off not attempting to steal at all.
Personally, I don't think it is common for a hitter to adopt a substantially more disciplined approach at the plate. It happens from time to time, but that is more of the exception to the rule, then the rule itself. For the most part, a hitter is who he is at the plate.
So, it would be unwise to pencil Norris Hopper into the leadoff spot in 2008 with the expectation that he'll either hit .320 or suddenly increase his walk rate. Neither seems very likely, so the Reds would be wise to utilize Norris as a 4th outfielder.
3 comments:
The analysis here is good but I have a couple points. You mentioned an acute problem of his high 1st pitch average but then you said that he would have to make serious adjustments to maintain his success. I think changing the 1st-pitch approach is not a serious mental adjustment and that it by itself may be enough to keep him productive.ReplyDelete
He did drop some weight which may help his stolen base ratio.
He has really surpassed all expectations up to this point so perhaps he will continue to do so if given a chance. He just seems like such a competitive player that he will find a way. With the crowded outfield situation, his playing time may be severely limited so he might not have a chance to refine his game, especially at the plate.
I had a controversial idea of having him try to rebuild his plate approach from scratch in the offseason (with his average, it seems ridiculous). Watching some highlights of him, I noticed how off balance he is and that his lack of power has little to do with his physical strength. I really noticed the difference when watching Brandon Phillips, who is probably not physically stronger. I wonder for Hopper's career sake if he shouldn't try to evolve into a more powerful hitter. Probably he's too old of a dog for that but it could increase his value immensely. I was thinking that a winter league would be the place to do that.
Hey Matt,ReplyDelete
Thanks for the thoughts, you make some interesting points.
I must admit, that over the offseason Hopper has grown on me a bit. A little quiet reflection has me a bit more bullish on his leadoff skills.
As it stands, I think he's the best bet to hit leadoff and play centerfield. I still don't care for his approach at the plate, as I like late-count hitters, but I'm beginning to wonder if it is a sustainable approach. On my first pass, I didn't think it was, however I'm beginning to wonder.
As I mentioned above, Hopper is a very aggressive hitter and almost always forces an early consequence to his ABs. I think that is far from ideal for a leadoff hitter, but there are many ways to skin a cat.
There are early count hitters who make effective leadoff hitters (i.e. Ichiro), so it can be done. In addition, there are a few things that tilt in Hopper's favor.
Even though his BABIP is rather high, it might be more than just luck. Two factors may help to explain why his high BABIP may be somewhat sustainable:
1)He hits a high percentage of line drives. For his MLB career, Hopper has a Line Drive% of 19.9%. Line drives fall in for hits much more often than other types of batted balls, so the more you hit, the higher your BABIP.
2) His bunting skills. In 2007, Hopper had 18 bunt hits and was only thrown out once when he attempted to bunt for a hit. I actually haven't seen any studies on how great bunting skills impact BABIP figures, but I'd say this is a case where a hitter can exert a little control over it.
The question for me is whether the defense will adjust to Hopper's style. In addition to his 18 bunt hits, Hopper also had 16 infield hits. That's 34 hits that never left the infield, which to me is pretty much the whole ballgame with Hopper. If the defense can limit the numbers of infield hits he gets, then his production will probably fall off the table.
As for his approach, I don't really think hitters can change their approach very easily. These guys live and breath baseball their entire lives and when they hit they hit the same exact way. I just don't think it's easy to make a guy more patient, so I don't think that'll work with Hopper.
Also, I think Hopper has embraced the facets of his game that will help him succeed at the MLB level. I think he does have more power than he has shown, but to be a valuable MLB player, I think he needs to be a tablesetter.
That said, I couldn't agree with you more about Hopper and exceeding expectations. From everything I've seen and read, he's a hard nosed, do whatever it takes kind of player. And, I think you underestimate those types of players at your own peril.
So, as it stands today, I'm a bit more optimistic about Hopper's chances to be an effective leadoff hitter. However, there is a risk that the defense will significantly limit what he can do at the plate.
Anyway, thanks for the comments. Let's just hope that Dusty doesn't turn to Corey Patterson as our starting centerfielder, which would be a nightmare.
A great analysis!ReplyDelete


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Agriculture by day, photography by opportunity. Exploring photography since NOV-2008, my approach to photography began to change after attending my first Canon workshop in OCT-2015, led by Tyler Stableford. Since then, I've attended three other workshops and continue to develop my own confidence and style from each of them. For those of you on Instagram or Twitter, please follow me @valentphoto
Abstract - Swyrlies
Please let me know if you are interested in purchasing prints (paper, canvas, aluminum, etc.) -not all images are for sale.Read More
Also, you can follow me on Instagram and Twitter @valentphoto
Also, you can follow me on Instagram and Twitter @valentphoto
Fred Bucheiton September 28, 2013
Love those swyrlies. Incredibly interesting....and I like your barns also. I'm with CCAC in Lock Haven.