text:
Rotations provide a critical opportunity for students to learn directly about genetic conditions, their impact on individuals and their families, and the role of the professional genetic counselor. Clinical rotations begin in the second quarter of the program and are required throughout, including summers. Because training for a career in genetic counseling requires meaningful interaction with clients in a variety of settings, students in the program have access to more than twenty-five adult, pediatric, prenatal and specialty genetic clinical training sites in the Baltimore-Washington area (See: Washington DC/Baltimore Area Clinical Rotation Sites).
In addition, most students complete rotations at the NIH Clinical Research Center. These experiences are linked to investigations into the cause and clinical history of genetic conditions and behavioral issues surrounding the use of genetic testing. Students are exposed to cutting-edge molecular genetics research at NHGRI, providing them a rich training experience.
The Baltimore-Washington area provides diverse opportunities for students to learn more about the role of a genetic counselor in non-clinical positions (See: Non-Clinical Genetics Training Opportunities). These opportunities include commercial and academic laboratories and education- and advocacy-focused organizations. Because of its proximity to the U.S. capital, the program is able to provide rare opportunities for students to be involved in policy analysis and development (See: Genetics Policy Opportunities).
Preceptors evaluate each student's performance and students are asked to complete a self-evaluation of their progress. Additionally, students are asked to provide feedback to the clinical supervisor(s).
Most of the preceptors for clinical rotations are board-certified genetic counselors. Those who are not (e.g., medical social workers, nurse practitioners, physicians, etc.) enhance the students' clinical training by exposing them to a variety of disciplines. The American Board of Genetic Counseling endorses this type of broad experience.
Students may elect to complete their summer rotations in the Baltimore-Washington area or elsewhere. Many students choose to do a summer rotation outside of the United States (See: International Training Sites). An international summer rotation is an opportunity to see how genetics is practiced in another country and expand the profile of genetic counseling. For some, the summer is an opportunity to rotate at a genetics clinic near their home.
Last Updated: February 17, 2017


text:
- Product Code: Extra Small Mens Or Small Ladies
- Reward Points: 0
- Availability: 1
If you haven't heard of Itz™ where have you been ? They are the hottest must have item of 2011.
The Itz™ Arm Wallet is taking the world by storm. No matter what activity your doing you can keep all your vaulables safe with this multi functional yet fun fashion accessory, designed to be worn on the forearm, freeing up your hands while you walk, run, gym, cycle, dance, shop, ski, skate,or travel you name it there is an Itz™ Wallet to suit your needs.
Use it to store your cards, change, cell phone , MP3 player, passport or camera, the Itz™ arm wallet is available in a variety of innovative designs and colours and can even be branded with your own companies logo making it a perfect corporate gift or product launch.
Made of the highest quality neoprene and is lined with a perspiration absorbent fabric thus allowing for breathability.
The Itz™ Arm Wallet is perfect for running, cycling,skating,sports,hiking,outdoor activities,festivals you name it there is a wallet for every occasion.
This wallet size is for EXTRA SMALL MENS or SMALL LADIES

subset: commoncrawl


text:
A judge last week issued a preliminary injunction to prohibit firing of contract workers at a warehouse operation in Southern California, according to court documents. Workers were informed their jobs would end Feb. 24.
A judge ruled the workers, who are suing the warehouse and staffing provider, would likely be able to prove the firing was retaliatory.
Workers had filed a lawsuit against the warehouse operator, Schneider Logistics Inc., Premier Warehousing Ventures LLC — the company that staffed the operation — and others on Oct. 17, 2011. The suit alleged improper recordkeeping, inadequate payment for hours worked and failure to provide meal and rest breaks. The suit came after an inspection by the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement found recordkeeping violations and issued administrative citations, according to court documents.
Premier Warehousing held a meeting with workers on Nov. 18, 2011, and gave them a termination letter saying their jobs would end Feb. 24, according to court documents. The company also said it would not rehire any of the workers. Premier also sent a letter to Schneider stating it was unable to sustain work under the present contract terms, but that it would be glad to discuss new arrangements, according to court documents.
In its decision, the court said it is likely plaintiffs (the workers) will prevail on their claim for retaliatory termination in violation of federal and state law and that plaintiffs would suffer irreparable harm among other findings. In addition, the court rejected Schneider's argument that it wasn't a joint employer.
"In order to establish that Schneider is a joint employer with Premier, plaintiffs must demonstrate that Schneider 'directly or indirectly, or through an agent or any other person, employs or exercises control' over plaintiffs' wages, hours or working conditions," according to court documents.
"Plaintiffs have offered substantial evidence that Schneider both indirectly and directly controls their working conditions," the court wrote. "This evidence includes: (1) declarations from workers that supervisors from both Schneider and Premier disciplined them, terminated them, and directed them how to do their work; and (2) the 2011–13 labor services contract between Schneider and Premier, which the court has already found gives Schneider contractual authority to control almost every material term and condition of the workers' employment."
The court also noted there is evidence that what employees are now doing will still need to be done even after the proposed firings by Premier, and that Schneider already negotiated a deal with a new company, RoadLink Workforce Solutions LLC, to take over from Premier.
"The court finds particularly significant that Schneider never offered Premier the higher contract rates it eventually agreed to with RoadLink, despite Premier's offer to 'discuss other arrangements,'" according to the court filing.
The warehouse operation serves Wal-Mart Stores Inc., according to court filings.
The Riverside, California, Press-Enterprise newspaper reported that 100 workers had faced firing.
Filed by Staffing Industry Analysts, a sister company of Workforce Management. To comment, email firstname.lastname@example.com.
Stay informed and connected. Get human resources news and HR features via Workforce Management's Twitter feed or RSS feeds for mobile devices and news readers.


text:
Description: • Give the gift of super-smooth, frizz-free, shiny gorgeous hair. Moroccanoil™, the signature product in the line, is a new type of weightless finishing, styling and shine product in one. Its patented formula absorbs into the hair instantly, leaving a natural, silky finish and brilliant shine. It softens thick unmanageable hair, restoring shine and softness to dull lifeless locks and helping brittle hair to become more supple. It also nourishes the hair and scalp, promoting healing and repair and relieving dry, itchy conditions. Finally, it protects against UV damage and other environmental hazards. Applied to damp hair, it reduces drying time and speeds up styling time. Finally, it leaves no build up. Prior to styling, apply a small amount into your palms and work through clean, damp hair from roots to ends. Apply again to dry hair for extra conditioning and shine, as desired. In salon, you can even massage a small amount throughout the hair before a color service to enhance the hair's ability to absorb color. It comes in a beautiful amber glass bottle to protect the oil from UV rays, which can cause oxidation.
Price: $39.00


text:
©PMC-Center® - Specially designed for collectors and female fans, a new line of vinyl figures, which are directed both at the toy collector's market and at the toy play of the girl, this detailed 1984 Barbie Gym in Rock Candy Style.
The approx. 13 cm high copy of 1984 Barbie Gym consists of plastic comes in a beautiful gift box with viewing window. To the collection Rock Candy Style we also find other figures like as Wonder Woman, Tomb Raider, Frankie, Draculaura, Clawdeen, Spider-Gwen, She-Hulk, Lady Thor, Captain Marvel, Eowyn, Arwen, Ron Weasley, Luna Lovegood, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, Bellatrix Lestrange, Moana, Batgirl, Harley Quinn, Mad Moxxi, Ellen Ripley, Mantis, Gamora, Supergirl, Poison Ivy, Bumble Bee, Barbie und vieles mehr.
1984 Barbie Gym Rock Candy Funko Figure is an original licensed product that is not only excellent in its quality, but also worth collecting, because it is with great attention to detail in elaborate production processes.
The officially licensed 1984 Barbie Gym Rock Candy Funko Figure, with the great gift wrapping, with viewing window, can be used as a decoration, as well as it is yours, whether on the desk or on the shelf Perfect gift for any occasion! - ©PMC-Center®
|Product Type:
|Gift items Action Figures Action Figure Viniyl
|Rock Candy Barbie
|Comics Movies
|about 12 - 15 cm
|Shipping weight:
|0,50 Kg
|Attention! Not suitable for children under 36 months! Choking hazard due to small parts.
Collector's item, only for adult collectors. The recommended age is 14 years.
|Preorder can be ordered like any other available product via the shopping cart.
The displayed Date is a manufacturer information, which may possibly be different from the date of publication.


text:
MLB Notebook: Lester, Papi a dynamic duo
By the time the book closed on Early Wynn's day in Game 1 of the 1959 World Series, the White Sox right-hander was in line for a relatively easy victory. Having thrown seven shutout innings and been supported by a two-homer, five-RBI effort from his cleanup hitter Ted Kluszewski, Wynn -- after some first-inning drama -- sailed through much of the remainder of the game and Chicago breezed to an 11-0 win over the Dodgers.
View Full Game Coverage
By the time the book closed on Early Wynn's day in Game 1 of the 1959 World Series, the White Sox right-hander was in line for a relatively easy victory. Having thrown seven shutout innings and been supported by a two-homer, five-RBI effort from his cleanup hitter Ted Kluszewski, Wynn -- after some first-inning drama -- sailed through much of the remainder of the game and Chicago breezed to an 11-0 win over the Dodgers.
View Full Game Coverage
Thirty-one years later, the Reds -- in Game 1 of the 1990 World Series -- enjoyed similar results from their starting pitcher (Jose Rijo, with seven scoreless innings) and cleanup hitter (Eric Davis, with a home run and three RBIs) and cruised to a 7-0 win over the A's.
It's not a bad combination to help elevate a team's chances to capture a World Series contest. Just ask Boston's tandem of Jon Lester and David Ortiz.
Lester locks down Redbirds
The Red Sox tallied five runs through the first two innings, the Cardinals finished with more errors than runs, and Boston defeated St. Louis, 8-1. Lester picked up the win, allowing five hits and a walk and notching eight strikeouts in 7 2/3 scoreless innings.
Lester was the seventh Red Sox starter to win a World Series opener, and he was the fourth of the seven to do it while not allowing any runs. In 1918, Babe Ruth threw a six-hit shutout and beat the Cubs, 1-0; in 1975, Luis Tiant threw a five-hit shutout and beat the Reds, 6-0; and in 1986, Bruce Hurst threw eight scoreless and beat the Mets, 1-0.
Lester was the 17th pitcher in World Series history -- and first since Rijo in 1990 -- to have a Game 1 start that ended with at least seven innings and no runs allowed. Lester is one of five southpaws on the list, joining the Red Sox's Ruth ('18), the Yankees' Whitey Ford ('61), the Brewers' Mike Caldwell ('82) and Boston's Hurst ('86).
Among the 17 pitchers to finish a Game 1 start with at least seven scoreless innings, Lester's eight strikeouts tied him with Hurst (1986) for third. Cardinals right-hander Bob Gibson fanned 17 in a five-hit shutout in '68, and the Yankees' Allie Reynolds threw a two-hit shutout and struck out nine Dodgers in '49.
Lester's line produced a Game Score (an equation used to measure a pitcher's dominance) of 76, making him the 35th starter to produce a score that high in a Game 1. The highest Game Score for the opener of a Fall Classic was Gibson's 93 in 1968, while the highest for the Red Sox was a 78, shared by Ruth ('18), Tiant ('75) and Hurst ('86).
Lester, who picked up the win in Game 4 of the 2007 World Series with 5 2/3 innings of scoreless ball, has now opened his World Series career with 13 1/3 innings without allowing a run.
Papi's postseason legend grows
Batting cleanup, David Ortiz went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, a single, a two-run home run, a sac fly and three RBIs.
Ortiz climbed up a number of career postseason leaderboards, moving into:
• Sole possession of 10th place in runs scored, with 46
• Eighth place in total bases, with 149
• A tie with Carlos Beltran for eighth in home runs, with 16
• A tie with Albert Pujols for fourth in extra-base hits, with 37. Ortiz also has 57 RBIs, leaving him four behind Derek Jeter for the fourth most.
Cleaning up in Game 1
|Home Run Baker
|Al Simmons
|Riggs Stephenson
|Mel Ott
|Ted Kluszewski
|White Sox
|Bake McBride
|Willie Aikens
|Eric Davis
|David Ortiz
|Red Sox
|David Ortiz
|Red Sox
There have been 39 three-RBI games by a player in a World Series Game 1. Ortiz - who also drove in four runs in Game 1 in 2004 against the Cardinals -- is the first player in World Series history to have multiple World Series openers with at least three RBIs.
Among the 39 times a player had a three-RBI Game 1, Ortiz's performance Wednesday was one of 10 to come from the cleanup spot in the lineup. Those 10 are the most for any position in the batting order, with the seventh slot producing six such games and the sixth slot contributing five such performances.
With first baseman Mike Napoli (batting fifth) also driving in three runs, Wednesday night marked the fourth Game 1 in which a team had multiple three-RBI players. The others: The Braves' Andruw Jones had five RBIs and Chipper Jones drove in three in 1996; the Yankees' Tino Martinez drove in four and Chuck Knoblauch had three RBIs in the '98 World Series opener; and the Giants' Freddy Sanchez and Juan Uribe each had three RBIs in 2010.
Eight is usually enough
The 2013 Red Sox are one of 23 teams to have scored at least eight runs in a World Series Game 1. The first 17 occurred between 1908-2001. In the past 10 years, there have six teams to do it: both the Red Sox and Cardinals in an 11-9 Boston win in 2004, the Red Sox in '07, the Giants in '10 and '12 and Boston on Wednesday.
Of the first 22 teams to have at least eight runs in a Game 1, 15 have gone on to claim the title, while seven have come up short:
• World Series winners: 1908 Cubs, '19 Reds, '32 Yankees, '34 Cardinals, '37 Yankees, '53 Yankees, '64 Cardinals, '87 Twins, '93 Blue Jays, '98 Yankees, 2001 D-backs, '04 Red Sox, '07 Red Sox, '10 Giants and '12 Giants.
• World Series losers: 1945 Cubs, '59 White Sox, '65 Twins, '78 Dodgers, '82 Brewers, '96 Braves, and 2004 Cardinals.
Here and there
• At 21 years and 22 days old, Boston third baseman Xander Bogaerts became the 11th-youngest player to start a World Series Game 1, and the youngest since Miguel Cabrera started in left field for the Marlins in 2003 at age 20 and 183 days. Giants third baseman Freddie Lindstrom, at 18 years and 318 days for Game 1 of the 1924 World Series, was the youngest.
• Dating back to their Game 1 win in 2004, the Red Sox have won nine straight World Series contests. The winning streak ties them for the fourth longest behind 14 straight by the Yankees from 1996-2000, 12 in a row by the Yankees from 1927-32 and 10 in a row by the Bronx Bombers from '37-41. The Reds also won nine straight Fall Classic games between '75-90.
• Boston improved to 9-3 in the first game of a World Series, and it has won each of its past five openers (1975, '86, 2004, '07, '13). St. Louis fell to 7-12 in World Series Games 1's.
Roger Schlueter is senior researcher for MLB Productions.


text:
(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
Contact us for information about using this image.
A riotous drunkenness typically marked Independence Day celebrations in the first decades following the founding of the United States. Among the customs of such events was a series of toasts to entities of American democracy. Revelers toasted the day itself, the current president, and legislative bodies, and hopes for a better future. The toasts, which could include as many twenty, always included one to George Washington. The early years of the American Republic were also marked by intense and an openly hostile political climate pitting federalists against republicans. Federalists, whose strong-hold encompassed New England, pushed for a powerful central government. The republicans, largely supported in the South and western frontier areas, advocated for states rights and a weaker central government. This series of toasts reveals that the men in this party were of Federalist persuasion. The toasts strongly supported the Constitution and hoped the next president would unite "All Hearts", hinting at the great discord prevalent during Thomas Jefferson's republican administration. The final toast is a hope for the end to President Jefferson's embargo. Political opponents of the day spelled embargo backwards to read: o-grab-me. The final toast clearly refers to this jibe, in saying "When he, no more, shall grab us!"
top of page
Send an e-Postcard of this object
See Also...
"HYMN - For Fourth July--1826"
"Washington Ball"
Wine Glasses
Home | Online Collection | Things
To Do | Turns
Exhibit | Classroom | Chronologies | My
About This Site | Site Index | Site Search | Feedback


text:
Technical Support
Here are some helpful guides to keep your Canyon in top shape! Just pick the relevant category to find the solution to your issue.
Change chain with chain joint
The chain is a wear and tear part that is exposed to water and dirt. The service life of the chain depends on the intensity of use. A worn chain often results in imprecise shifting and extremely worn chains can jump over sprockets and even snap. A worn chain can also cause damage to the sprockets and chainrings. Then the chain must be replaced.
TIP: In order to measure the amount of chain wear there are special tools available. This tool is simply placed inside one of the chain links. If the thorn on the other side of the tool drops fully into the link, then the chain has stretched and must be replaced. On the upper image you can see a tool in a worn and fully functional chain. Picture 1
1. In order to change the chain you must first remove the old one. Position the chain rivet tool onto one of the links and press out the rivet. You can also open the chain via the chain lock or power link as it is often called. Squeeze the link together (it will often make a click sound) then push the two links either side of the link together until it comes apart.
2. In order to feed in the new chain, you shift the derailleur onto the position of the smallest sprocket on the cassette. Then when you fit the new chain, it is immediately under tension. Ensure when feeding the chain through the rear derailleur cage that the chain enters above the little nipple on the outside of the derailleur cage.
3. Some road bike chains have a pre-set direction of travel. Ensure that you fit these chains the correct way round. The side with the marked chain links must be on the outside (derailleur side), otherwise this will result in difficulties when shifting.
4. Now shorten the chain by removing links with the chain rivet tool to the previously determined length. After you have shortened the chain you should have narrow chain links on both sides.
5. Then connect the chain lock/power link and pull the chain apart to lock (chain should make a clicking noise).
6. Now check the link for smooth function. If the link is stiff, then you can free it by bending it to and fro. Now the rear wheel can be re-fitted.
Attention: Use only approved power links:
• Sram Power Link Silver für PC 68, PC 58, PC 48
• Sram Power Link Gold for PC 99, PC 89R, PC 69, PC 59, Hollow Pin chains should only be used with Power Link Gold
• Missing Link CL566R for KMC X9 chains


text:
According to the age test I just took on Facebook, I am 38! That's the good news. The bad news is that I'm too young to be writing the Senior Moments column.
Husband George, who, if this test was true, is now old enough to be my father, likes to remind me that we are both young at heart when it comes to our oldies music. My musical tastes have stayed remarkably consistent since junior high. Nowhere does this play out more than when I am a quarter's throw away from a jukebox. On a recent day trip to Ventura, George found a wonderful old '50s diner and waited to see how long I would last before asking him for some quarters.
Not long.
"Me first," he announced, flipping carefully through the selections on the wallbox at our booth.
"See if you can guess," he grinned boyishly as we sipped our chocolate malts.
George played "Don't Be Cruel" for his Elvis-loving wife who joined in with "… to a heart that's true." And because two bits buys two selections, soon I was hearing "You Ain't Nothin' but a Hound Dog."
But George had put in another coin.
"Bye Bye Love," the Everly Brothers sang.
"Wait, are you sending me a message?" I asked worriedly.
"Sure am. Listen up," George smiled as Roy Orbison crooned "Oh, Pretty Woman."
"Here's my song for you," I said, popping in my coin and pushing the buttons for Bobby Darin's "Dream Lover."
We were having so much fun that time got away from us and we suddenly realized we needed to put money in the parking meter. George made a hasty exit to the Drifters' "This Magic Moment."
While he was gone, I noticed the "No Dancing on the Table" sign hanging on the wall. I saw it just in time.
"Well love, love me darlin' come and go with me …" a returning George sang with the doo-wop Del Vikings.
"Please don't send me way beyond the sea," I sang back, rocking my way over to the door.
Facebook was wrong about my age. I'm as old as my favorite songs.
Readers may contact Patricia at email@example.com


text:
President Obama's legendary intellectual dishonesty was on full display once again in his "The Future of our Fight Against Terrorism" address. In essence, the speech called for a pullback, if not an end to, the "war" on terrorism. He prefaced this call with a quote from James Madison: "No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare." And he pushed it home by emphasizing the duration of the "war" and the resulting national weariness.
Yet until yesterday, Obama didn't especially like to speak about our confrontation with terrorism as a "war." Indeed, even the title of yesterday's speech refers to it as a "fight." But in the body of the speech, it was a war.
Why the pivot? Because "war" is an easy target. For one thing, it lends itself to quotations such as the one above from James Madison that have no applicability to our struggle against terrorism. Or does Obama believe, as the Code Pink lady who interrupted him does, that we are losing our freedom as a result of the war on terrorism as he has carried it out?
More importantly, Obama knows the nation is "war weary." By pivoting to the war metaphor, Obama hopes to parlay that weariness into the termination of policies that make him, but not most Americans, weary.
It's vintage Obama: identify a linguistic commonality between left-wing dogma and mainstream thinking — here "war weariness" — and through shameless punning — here of the word "war" — try to make left-wing dogma seem mainstream. You could argue that Obama's political success is based, more than anything else, on this form of dishonesty.
Yes, Americans are weary of shooting wars like the one we fought in Iraq and the one we are winding down in Afghanistan. But they are not weary of holding hard-core terrorists at Gitmo. And they are not weary of killing terrorists at no cost in American lives through drone strikes. Nor is there any evidence that they are weary of deploying forces at bases near potential trouble spots so that our forces can respond to attacks against U.S. interests more effectively than the Obama administration did in Benghazi.
In short, war weariness can justify ending the two shooting wars we've fought since 9/11 (which is a done deal) and not participating in new wars in places like Syria. But it cannot justify the scale-back in the fight against terrorism that Obama now has in mind.
It is only Obama and the hard-left that is weary of detaining terrorists indefinitely. It is only Obama and the hard-core left that is weary of drone strikes.
Nor can rhetoric about preserving our freedom justify a scale-back in the struggle against terrorism. Our freedom is threatened by IRS abuses and pretextual harassment of journalists — not by detaining foreign terrorists or using drones against them.
Obama didn't become president so he could protect America against terrorists — that mission is too pedestrian and perhaps too parochial. He doesn't enjoy being a war president, even in the limited sense that he still is one. And, to his credit, Obama doesn't relish signing off on targeted killings. Thus, now that he doesn't have to worry about another election, he wants to back off.
But being president isn't just about doing what one wants. If Obama lacks the stomach to continue his popular and often successful first term efforts against terrorism, he should either have told Americans so during the election campaign or bowed out of office.
But how can we expect honesty from a man who has built a hugely successful career on dishonesty?


text:
0 items
Snorkeling is an amazing underwater activity that brings you closer to the wonder of sea life! At ToySplash, we want you to enjoy every moment of your snorkeling experience so we are happy to offer a quality selection of snorkels and snorkel sets designed to maximize your next underwater adventure! Our snorkel sets come complete with a snorkel, dive mask and flippers so you are ready to jump in and explore. Be prepared for your next undersea exploration with snorkel gear from ToySplash!


text:
Treasury Secretary Lew Meets With Boehner, Pelosi
WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is meeting on Capitol Hill Friday with House Speaker John Boehner and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
The Treasury Department says Lew is updating the House leaders separately on the state of the economy, both in the U.S. and abroad.
Lew returned recently from trips to Europe and China. While in Europe, he encouraged officials to promote more growth-friendly measures to counter the European debt crisis and to ease their austerity policies.
The meetings come one day after Lew told House and Senate committees the Obama administration is optimistic about a budget deal. He urged lawmakers to consider concessions that President Barack Obama made in the $3.8 trillion budget plan he unveiled Wednesday.


text:
DJ Divine 1 needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 94 designs submitted by 32 freelance designers.
I am DJ Divine 1. I'm a hip hop DJ currently in Japan looking to expand in new markets overseas. I have a fan base but no logo to associate with my name. I'm not only a hip hop DJ I do country, rock, jazz, house and top 40. I need a logo that reflects my diversity and my roots in hip hop. I also promote parties and clubs, put together marketing schemes for new artist and their musical projects.
My target audience is club promoters, club owners, club goers, record labels, and everyone in between. For all fields of music and music production.
Originality is a must be as creative as possible. My name DJ Divine 1 must be in the logo also something in the logo emitting light so it stands out. Things I would like to see in the design are turntables, vinyl records, microphone, speakers, a globe (I want it to be universal), bars from a sound meter, a boom box, the phrase "the one and only" all of these things do not have to be in the logo just suggestions of what I would like to see. I want the logo to be about music not about a specific genre of music and can be crossed over as a T-shirt design or for any media purposes. The design should play off the meaning of divine. I want to receive the design in Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator format.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


text:
Cindy11 necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 87 diseños de 18 diseñadores freelance.
Elise York
We are two designers. Sharon is an animator and architect. Cindy is a Psychologist.
We create designs, made out of laser cut metals. We color and paint them (each one by hand) with colorful and bright colors.
We love to laugh, we love color, we love fun, we love style, we want to bring lite art to everyone.
Our art work is super special, super fun and expensive (each piece is one of a kind). A good combination of colorfulness and expensiveness.
High end costumers in the USA.
People who like to shop at nortstrom, bloomingdales, visit the MOMA.
They should be young and cool at heart (and rich).
Some of our art is targeted to the christian audience with a touch of humor.
Some of our art pieces make fun and beautiful holiday gifts for different holidays, such as Christmas, Valentine, Easter.
Other art pieces are great for the home, to show love to the ones you love, again, with humor, fun yet they look very fine.
The logo has to represents finesse yet colorfulness and fun.
It has to look expensive and prestige, yet young, fresh, edgy and fun.
We would love for the logo to be colorful (not many colors), but a few colors, bright and happy, yet very classy.
It has to represent fun, prettiness, and expensiveness.
(We love the design at the home page of the bird on the colorful tree).
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


text:
The question was raised last night that whether Oliver Perez's diminished velocity has helped in becoming a pitcher rather than a thrower. While last night's 6 1/3 innings was a start, it's too small a sampling to make a definitive conclusion. However, it was a very good sign and something that bears watching.
Perez didn't blow away any hitters, but was effective in spotting the ball on the corners and getting ahead in the count. Perez pitched last night; he didn't overpower. And, if last night is a sign of things to come, then maybe ….
But, I regress. I vowed not to get on the Ollie Bandwagon until there's some consistency. String together four, five games like this and I'll jump. Until then, I'll view with cautious optimism.
That being said, did Jerry Manuel do the Mets a disservice when he pulled Perez when he did? You'd have to say yes based on what the bullpen did, but I got the feeling Perez was spent so I can't blame this on Manuel. Afterall, the bullpen, for the most part has been stellar.
Jason Bay is having a rough time, but his track record said he'll hit eventually. Even so, with Jeff Francoeur on a tear, maybe Manuel ought to consider moving him to the clean-up slot and dropping Bay. Try to take advantage of Francoeur while he's hot. The flip side, and the gamble, of course, is moving him up might change his approach.
One thing I don't agree with, it slotting Mike Jacobs between Bay and Francoeur. The idea is to split up the right handers late in the game. But, what about the previous two or three at-bats? Seems counter productive to adopt a strategy for the late innings and discount two-thirds of the game. I could see it if Jacobs was hitting, but he's not. It's time to drop him in the order.
Speaking of dropping hitters in the order, Manuel might have had a change of heart when it comes to moving Jose Reyes into the three hole. He says now he doesn't want to interfere with his recovery from a thyroid disorder.
Here's this afternoon's line-up:
Jose Reyes SS
Luis Castillo, 2B
David Wright, 3B
Jason Bay, LF
Jeff Fancoeur, RF
Fernando Tatis, 1B
Rod Barajas, C
Angel Pagan,CF
Johan Santana, LP


text:
Nate Wolters Watch: November 15th at Orlando
Former South Dakota State guard Nate Wolters made the sixth start of his eight-game NBA career Friday night in Indianapolis, as the Milwaukee Bucks (2-6) lost to the Indiana Pacers 104-77.
Wolters finished with 8 points on 4-of-11 shooting in 33 minutes. He had 5 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 blocked shots, and 2 steals.
For the season, Wolters is averaging 8.8 points, 5.3 assists, and 3.3 rebounds a game. He's hitting 38.2% from the floor.
The Bucks host Oklahoma City Saturday night.


text:
Liberty News
After weekend wins, basketball teams headed to championships
Liberty University's men's and women's basketball teams earned big wins at home on Saturday, setting themselves up for the Big South Conference Championships.
The Lady Flames cruised to a 76-44 victory against Gardner-Webb in the matinee game, clinching the Big South Conference regular-season title and the No. 1 seed for the Big South Women's Basketball Championship. Liberty will return to action Monday at 7 p.m., when the Lady Flames welcome UNC Asheville to the Vines Center. Liberty will try to complete a regular-season sweep of the Bulldogs, after notching a 78-56 victory at Kimmel Arena on Jan. 28.
Saturday was Senior Day for the team, as they honored the duo of Danika Dale and Avery Warley prior to tipoff. Both players fared well on Saturday. Warley led all players in both points (18) and rebounds (15), while Dale chipped in seven points and nine boards.
On Saturday night, the men's basketball team beat Campbell 49-41, earning the No. 5 seed in the 2012 Advance Auto Parts Big South Men's Basketball Championship.
Saturday was also Senior Night for the men's team. Fans honored John Brown, Tanner Hoyt, David Minaya and Jesse Sanders before sending them out for one last victory at home.
The Flames will meet No. 4 Charleston Southern on Wednesday at 8 p.m. inside UNC Asheville's Kimmel Arena in Asheville, N.C. The quarterfinals contest will air live on the Liberty Channel and will be streamed on the Big South Network.
- Read full game coverage and follow the teams' progress in the championships at www.libertyflames.com


text:
Now Viewing:
The NH-4500-ENT 64-Channel 6-Bay 4U Hybrid NVR from NUUO features 2TB of storage space and can be used to record footage from analog as well as IP cameras. This recorder supports HD/D1/CIF resolutions, H.264/MPEG4 compression formats, and frame rates up to 30 fps per camera. By adding IP licenses, the system can easily be expanded up to 64 channels. It also supports cameras with panomorph PTZ (360°) lenses, transcoding for remote view under bandwidth limitations, and NUUO Central Management System, which makes the hybrid appliance suitable for different kinds of project environments.
This hybrid recorder features intelligent video analytics that supports 6 types of video analytics, including general motion, missing object, camera occlusion, foreign object, lose focus, and signal lost. It features an Intuitive GUI recording schedule featuring continuous, motion, and the 6 unique event recording modes, which allows the user to define the recording schedule for each camera. The recorder features an E-Map that allows users to import custom image files and place the cameras and I/O on the map to indicate where events are getting triggered with a convenient video preview window. Thanks to automatic recycle capabilities, the recorder can overwrite up to 1 day's worth of recording files when storage is full.
The Hybrid Appliance can duplicate the same live view video onto multiple channels and digitally zoom in to see the details of different spots on cloned channels without losing the original live view video. It also allows users to attach a joystick controller (not included) to control connected PTZ cameras and software-enabled digital PTZ functions. This recorder allows you to view up to 16 channels of live video stream or 16 channels of playback in Internet Explorer. Plus, it also supports iPhone, iPad, and Android application client for viewing live images and PTZ control.
|Intel Haswell i7-4770S, 3.1 GHz
|64 supported (IP + analog)
|PCIe Slots
|4 x slots for NUUO DVR card
|Operating System
64-Bit Windows 7 Professional
Can be upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate and Windows Server 2012
|System Drive
|HDD Bay
|6 bays, each bay supports up to 4 TB
Internal (Included): 2 TB, 2 x 1 TB
External: DAS, iSCSI
|H.264, MPEG-4, MJPEG, MxPEG (depends on IP camera)
|Monitor Resolution
|Supports 1024 x 768, 1200 x 900, 1280 x 1024, 1366 x 768, 1440 x 900, 1600 x 1200, 1680 x 1050, 1920 x 1080, 1920 x 1200 screen resolutions
|Remote Viewing Options
|Remote live viewer (software), remote live viewer (web), iViewer (Mobile App)
|Remote Client OS
|Windows Server 2008, XP (32-bit), Vista (32-bit), 7 (32/64-bit), 8 (64-bit), and 8.1 (64-bit)
|Mobile Client OS Platform
|iPhone, iPad, and Android
|Ethernet Port
|2x Gigabit ports, RJ45
|Video Output
|Dual Monitor: 1x VGA, 1x DVI-D, and 1x HDMI
|External Ports
|2 x USB 3.0, 4 x USB 2.0
|2-way support
|Intel HD Graphics 4600
|80 Mb/s with 1 HDD, 130 Mb/s with 2 HDDs, 180 Mb/s with 3 HDDs, and 230 Mb/s with 4 HDDs
|DVD Drive
|8x Dual Layer DVD+/-RW
|Supports NUUO I/O card (sold separately)
|Inputs/Outputs: 4 with NUUO I/O card (sold separately)
Camera Events
General Motion, Missing Object, Foreign Object, Focus Lost, Camera Occlusion, Signal Lost, Signal Digital Input Event
System Event
System alarm on disk space exhaustion, system alarm on system health unusual (CPU temperature), system alarm on resource depleted (CPU loading), system alarm on network congestion, instant alarm notification to automatically respond to any smart detection event
10 automatic instant alarm responses: play sound, send email, phone call, PTZ preset Go, signal digital output, send an SMS message, send to central server, send snapshot to FTP, popup E-Map on event
|Keyboard and mouse support via USB
|100 to 240 VAC
|Power Consumption
|Operating Temperature
|32 to 104°F (0 to 40°C)
|5 to 95%
|Supported Languages
|Bulgarian, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Czech, Danish, English, Farsi, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, and Turkish
|7 x 19 x 19.8" (17.7 x 48.2 x 50.2 cm)
|38.8 lb (17.6 kg)


text:
Born in 1969, Suji Kwock Kim was educated at Yale College; the Iowa Writers' Workshop; Seoul National University, where she was a Fulbright Scholar; and Stanford University, where she was a Stegner Fellow. Her first book of poems, Notes from the Divided Country (Louisiana State University Press, 2003) was chosen by Yusef Komunyakaa for the 2002 Walt Whitman Award.
Kim's work has appeared or is forthcoming in Poetry, Paris Review, The Nation, The New Republic, DoubleTake, Yale Review, Salmagundi, Threepenny Review, Ploughshares, New England Review, Southwest Review, Harvard Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, Asian-American Poetry: The Next Generation, and other journals and anthologies.
She is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, as well as The Nation/ "Discovery" Award and grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts, California Arts Council, Washington State Artist Trust, Korea Foundation and Blakemore Foundation for Asian Studies. Private Property, a multimedia play she co-wrote, was produced at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and was featured on BBC-TV. She divides her time between San Francisco and New York.


text:
Mate I'm so sorry you're feeling so blue
I completely empathise with you and would feel exactly the same,.... I don't think you would be human if you didn't. The thing is, you WILL have the family you crave so deeply my friend, but with the RIGHT person. It's easy to make assumptions that everything is delightfully happy with the ex and her new beau, however, just because she is pregnant, doesn't mean it's all roses with them. I know you're hurting due to the struggle you both had to start a family, but you know what? Everything happens for a reason, and the time just wasn't right for you at that point in your life. If you and her would have started a family, would it have prevented you from breaking up? Possibly, but for the wrong reasons. If you broke up, it could have caused lots of further issues due to access rights etc. Whatever happened, happened because someone bigger than all of us can see the bigger picture in all this. Sadly we don't see that, we just see the pain we face.
I know it's not easy mate, but your time WILL come, and when you do start a family, you'll have the stable, loving and harmonious relationship with the most perfect woman for you,... and that woman is not her. Try to stay positive, and maybe try to look at it differently. You're probably best out of all of that mess. You say she was desperate for a child for 5 years,... well, I'm sure that isn't a valid reason for her to be with someone!
Chin up my friend, you're a much stronger person that you believe.


text:
Other Affiliations
SPSP also recommends the SPN (Social Psychology Network) Mentorship Program. In this program, students from underrepresented groups can email a faculty mentor of their choice with career-related questions or requests for assistance. More than 450 volunteer mentors are available through a mentor database searchable by keyword, research interests, school, or geographic region.
The Society is also affiliated with the GLBT Alliance in Social and Personality Psychology (GASP). GASP provides social support and professional information to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students and faculty and their supportive heterosexual colleagues. Membership in GASP is open to all, regardless of research interests or sexual orientation.
For further information on diversity within psychology, see:


text:
vacay in WA
After a successful day or so at Collision in New Orleans, we moseyed on up to Seattle for some R&R. Stayed first night next to the Safeco field, turns out the Mariners were playing that night. Enjoyed a meal in a raucous restaurant attached the SilverCloud, set out next morning for Pike place and provisions. The markets offered up a pleasant sensory overload. We picked up smoked salmon, hand made cheese, fresh donuts among many other items. Made the obligatory stop at the original Starbucks, ate at a Bavarian place that did a very decent breakfast.
On the way out of town, stopped by Mischief distillery in Fremont, for likely the best tour and tasting we've ever had. Our gracious host regaled us with the recent history, the sourcing of the (sustainable) rye exclusively from WA and area farmers. One of our favorite whiskeys was aged aboard a boat featured on deadliest catch.
From Fremont we drove out to snoqualmie in order to nerd out over the twin peaks revival, shot out that way. Stayed in the great northern hotel aka salish lodge, walking as much as possible over to the falls to take it all in. Supped on the salmon and other vittles from Pike place, washed down with Rye. Locals were accommodating and warm, especially in the town cafe(s) near the train museum and when making the obligatory stop by the double R diner in north bend aka twede's cafe. Also managed to seek out the sawmill and a couple of other iconic locations.
Saturday we bid a fond farewell to twin peaks and drove on down to St Helens and the Cascades. Day was a little overcast (surprise!), the highest roads through the park still closed, but the cascades remarkable nonetheless. Shot over to yakima in the afternoon, took in the delights of N Front street including hop nation brewery, antolin cellars and 5 north for dinner. Our host Rob at the cellars was good enough to send us to the other destinations, including carousel for brunch the next morning, for quite literally the best pancakes we've ever had. Again the locals were extremely kind and forthcoming, especially over at hop nation.
Sunday before jetting back to Houston we took in Fremont and it's market one last time, with final stop at our namesake, Brouwer's cafe for the stout fest and the world's best (lamb) shepherd's pie. I did my best to put a dent in their extravagant and delicious list. Bliss 🙂 Thanks WA, you're every bit as cool if not more so than CA.


text:
I have to say … they could have sat in the middle of an empty room on barstools and stared at me for 50 mins and I would have been happy to see them. *grin* Okay, this is well and truly a ramble and completely unedited because I'm tired, so please forgive typos, etc.
I had some forewarning in the comments from my ramble with 5.14 that this episode, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, was switched in order with 5.14, MBV, by The Powers That Be. So, knowing that, I was prepared to not have anything close to closure or continuation from where we left them, Sam burning out the demon blood influence in the panic room, Dean hanging on by his fingernails and asking for just a little help…
It wasn't a "to be continued" event, after all. It just leveled us and left us hurting. That's all. So, perhaps it's good that we saw the boys in action and were treated to a different kind of pain in this one. It was mytharc related, though as far as continuing the storyline of the apocalypse, it was a miniscule baby step.
Essentially, we learned this: the Horsemen (at least DEATH) know that Bobby is pivotal to the boys' survival and strength and they want to take that stronghold away. And…Bobby's wearing down. Honestly? It seems that the only one who isn't soul-weary from this fight yet is Sam. I'll explain what I mean in a minute.
With THEN, we're reminded that we have WAR, FAMINE, and DEATH out amongst us. Or, rather, once amongst us. 'Cause I'm not entirely sure if WAR and FAMINE are dead or not. But all we got about DEATH was that Lucifer called him up right before Dean shot him with the Colt and Cas whisked the boys away on silent angel wings. So, while we didn't see DEATH, he was apparently running amuck in the little town of Sioux Falls, SD.
Incidentally, I spent the best day of the longest family vacation in the world in Sioux Falls. Two weeks, one pop-up camper, seven people…from the Badlands to Mount Rushmore, we did South Dakota, people. Laura Ingalls Wilder's home, movie set for Dances With Wolves, Wall Drug. We probably drove past "Singer Salvage" and I never knew it. *wink*
*ahem* Anyway. We're also reminded of DALDOM where Bobby is trapped in his nightmare with his possessed wife that he was forced to kill. *sad*
It's storming. Lightening, rain, thunder, the whole creepy bit. We're in a graveyard, zeroing in on Clay James Thompson's tombstone. Dude died in 2004, but that doesn't stop him from clawing his way out through the mud and climbing free of his grave. Next thing you know, there's a redneck in a Lay-Z-Boy watching the Discovery Channel who hears some scratching at his window that he finds weird.
Dude. It's a thunderstorm. Hello. *shakes head*
We get the usual tension-building effects of opening the door to find nothing and then closing the door to have Mr. Creepy standing right there staring the redneck down. Mr. Creepy—aka Clay Thompson—goes for the redneck's throat and as he bears him to the floor, the redneck kicking and screaming, we see a poster of a bunch of sports cars touting the phrase, "He who dies with the most toys wins."
Guess he lost.
It's daylight and the boys—dressed in suits so we know they're on Official Business—are getting out of the Impala in front of a diner. Sam's on the phone leaving what is apparently the zillionth message for Bobby.
Dean: He's still not home? How far could he get in that chair?
It's totally inappropriate, makes me grin, and completely exposes how worried Dean is about his friend and mentor. They decide to just…get it done, and sit down with their witness…guy. Dean addresses him as Mr. Wells to which the guy says they can call him Digger. *snerk* Dean wants to know who gave him that name. Well, turns out, Digger did.
Dean: You gave yourself your own nickname? You can't do that!
People, this man cracks me up. He's essentially undercover, trying to get people to believe he's an F.B.I. Agent. And he's giving them flack for nicknames. *LAUGHS* Don't ever change, Dean. I mean it. Michael-in-a-Dean-suit would never have the character you do. Okay, sorry. Moving on.
Digger tells the boys that he saw Clay Thompson climb into Ben Sutton's trailer. Clay walked out. Sutton didn't. Digger is fully aware that Clay is dead; in fact, he tells them that Sutton killed Clay five years ago in a "hunting accident." As they're talking, a female sheriff walks into the diner on her cell phone, obviously talking to a kid, Owen.
Digger: Heads up. Fargo.
The Sheriff, Jodi Mills, wants to know what's up and the boys identify themselves as Agents Dorman (Dean) and Niedermyer (Sam). Now, usually I get the in-joke with the alias', but this one stumped me. I know there's a Hockey player named Niedermyer. Played (Plays?) for Anaheim, if I remember right. But I have no idea if that's where they got that one and Dorfman? I got nothin'. So, if you're more clever than I am (which won't take much), help a gal out.
Sheriff Mills wants to talk to their supervisor, of course, so Sam confidently hands over a business card. Sheriff Mills calls and Agent Tom Willis (aka Bobby) answers. Only…um, she recognizes Bobby's voice.
Well, duh, guys. You're investigating a job in Bobby's town.
She basically calls them on their "bullcrap," says that Bobby's a menace—been arrested for drunk and disorderliness and mail fraud—and tells them to go. Which they do. Right to Bobby's. Looking incredibly indignant and not a little bit pissed, the boys confront Bobby and demand to know what he's been doing.
Bobby: Playing murderball.
Dean: What's that smell? Is that soap? Did you…clean?!
Bobby: What are you, my mother? Bite me.
Here's the weird part about this scene—I mean, weirder than Bobby acting secretive and sketchy and evasive with the boys (especially Dean)—Bobby is hat. less. I KNOW! I think we've seen him without a hat like maybe, what? Twice? And one of those times he was unconscious and dreaming! With his hair all combed and his beard trimmed and that slightly rounded face, he looked like…my dad.
Bobby says he's been working to find a way to, y'know, stop the devil and all, but has nothing to show for it. He deflects Sam's queries about omens and lightening storms by saying it's February. In South Dakota. During storm season. He says he's sorry they wasted a tank of gas, buh-bye, don't let the door hit ya in the ass on the way out. *frowns*
So, they leave…only as they drive by the graveyard, Dean stops. Sam's face is a total question mark. He's all, "Bobby already checked out the graveyard." Dean's not buying it, wants to take a peek (Bobby has been wrong before, after all) and Sam can't see a reason why not, so next thing you know, we have boys in the dark with flashlights. And, I know I'm a total geek, but it looked kinda cool. A bit like the old days of digging up graves and salt-n-burning bones.
Ah, memories.
Anyway, they find Clay Thompson's grave with what is obviously fresh-turned earth, and start digging. Or, rather, Sam starts digging while Dean helpfully holds the flashlight. *giggle* As we knew they would, they find an empty coffin. Sam's like, what. the. hell. And Dean declares that something stinks. You can say that again, boy-o.
They break into a house—and it took me until the people showed up to figure out that it was Clay's house because it wasn't a natural jump for me to go from graveyard to dead guy's house, but whatever—and cover each other in this very cool back-and-forth motion with the flashlights. I was all about the flashlight play tonight for some reason.
About five seconds after they split up, Dean is jumped by DeadClay and in a weird flurry of confused confession, we find out that yes, he is DeadClay, yes, he killed Ben Sutton (but only because Sutton killed him you see) and that he doesn't know exactly what he is… Clay's wife (very much not dead) comes around the corner and the boys cover with their FBI persona's and take Clay outside.
Dean pulls his gun and Sam stops him.
Dean: He's a monster.
Sam: He's a…soccer Dad.
I get that it's confusing, but I gotta side with Dean on this one. I mean, yeah, DeadClay didn't act like a brain-sucking monster, but still. He. Was. Dead. And walking around. And dead. With all the apocolyptic crap going on, soccer dad or no, when it comes to that kind of stuff? Unless they're angels, I think Dean's instinctual black/white approach trumps Sam's shades of gray. However, they don't get a chance to get into a debate about it because Sheriff Mills shows up and cuffs them.
Dean's all, hey, this is the dead guy you said couldn't have possible killed that guy. Sheriff Mills doesn't care who he is or what he did; Dean can't take him out and shoot him in the street (because that would be Very Wrong). Hilariously, DeadClay is indignant about how he was about to meet his 2nd demise and the boys are hauled away with understandably baffled expressions.
In the cell, they try to hash out what the hell is going on: Sheriff on the take? Zombies paying her off? Total aside: there's a profile shot of Dean through the bars of the jail cell…he's sitting, looking down, pensive expression on his face, then glances up through the bars toward the main room and…guh. Something about the lighting, his expression…it was just…very nice.
They see Bobby sitting in with Sheriff Mills and are even more confused. Bobby gets them out and says, yes, the Sheriff did hate him. Until 5 days ago. When the dead started rising all over town.
Sam: You knew about this?
Dean: I think what Sam meant was you lied to us?
That was the kicker in all of this for Dean, I think. Not what he eventually found out, but that Bobby hadn't trusted them—trusted him—with it. I think that was what gutted him the most. Bobby was his last family outside of Sam. He needs to be trusted by Bobby. He needs to know that Bobby has faith in him—in both of them. Because otherwise, they're truly alone. And I think Dean's just enough afraid of his brother not riding the hard line that he'd think of it as him being alone and not them being alone.
Bobby emphasizes that there's nothing there for them. For the guys. Dean's like, um, hello? Zombies? Bobby says there's zombies…and then there's zombies. We head back to Singer Salvage where Dean and Sam gape in shock as a pretty, dead, blonde woman greets them with food (at 4am) and offers to get more plates.
It's Karen. Bobby's dead wife.
*is gutted*
Seriously, people, how incredibly difficult must it have been for Jim Beaver to perform in this episode. It's obvious he used his personal history, and it radiated from him in emotion so raw I whimpered. But how drained must he have been? And how much had his heart ached? I hope The Powers That Be took that into consideration when they wrote this. I hope they at least…consulted him about what they were asking him to do. But maybe that's not how it works in the entertainment industry. Maybe personal heartache is tucked away for the sake of the story, coming to light only if it helps to augment your craft.
Annnd…there's pie. Which Dean totally enjoys. lsketch42 did you see? Dean. Ate. Pie.The boys sit at Bobby's table with Bobby, smiling politely at DeadKaren until Bobby asks her to give them a minute and she steps out. In unison, the guys push their plates aside, crouch low over the table, and verbally pounce on Bobby.
Dean: Are you crazy?
Sam: What the hell?
Bobby: That's my wife, so watch it.
Dean gives Bobby this look. A sickened, pained, irritated, disbelieving give me a break eyeroll that almost makes me forget that I'm not peeking through a window at the lives of three real men who are their own definition of family. I love how he's able to do that. They discuss how this is happening—Dean's like zombie? Revenant? But Bobby doesn't know because he cremated Karen. There was nothing left to crawl out of a grave. Apparently there are only 15-20 Living Dead (Bobby has a list).
Clay, Karen…and then Bobby hits me where I live. Sheriff Mills' son Owen is on the list. A kid. Not only do we have to think about that poor women losing her son, but now that son is back—and what mother wouldn't move Heaven and Earth to have their dead child returned to them—and you know it's going to get ugly.
At this point, I was reminded of that ghost story, The Monkey's Paw. Where the old couple gets a monkey's paw from some miracle merchant and they wish for their son—who was killed in a war—to return. And suddenly they hear the sickening approach…a drag, thump, drag, thump, drag, thump. Their boy had returned, but not as their boy—he'd returned as the corpse he was. Just before the wife opens the door and lets the monster in, the husband wishes him away.
I know the people of the town didn't wish this--DEATH cursed each one of them. But they welcomed it (at first). What if what you want isn't what you want? What if just one more day is one day too long?
Sam presses Bobby about omens and Bobby reluctantly confesses that there were the lightning storms. The boys throw their hands up in an exasperated Duh! That's what we said! gesture. Bobby reads from Revelation and says that he thinks this is DEATH.
Dean: Awesome. Another Horsemen. Must be Thursday.
*BWAH!!!* Okay, that? Cracked me up. I know it was meant to, but so what. It worked. LOL!
Dean gets serious, leaning toward Bobby, determination and reluctance folding together in the line between his steady eyes. He tells Bobby that he knows what they're going to have to do. Bobby, eyes wet and pleading, says that DeadKaren doesn't remember anything—being possessed, Bobby killing her, coming back, any of it.
Dean looks pained and says, "Don't, Bobby…"
Bobby looks so completely fragile in this moment—like the next breath he takes might shatter him. His speech almost did me in.
Bobby: She hums when she cooks. She always hummed when she cooked. Tone deaf as all get out. And I never thought that I would hear it again.
In his book, Jim Beaver referred to his wife as "his girl." It was that same sort of tenderness, the way Bobby spoke about this character and the way Jim referred to his wife that caught me. As if they were his reason for allowing his heart to continue beating.
The boys exchange a look and Bobby continues saying that Revelations says the dead will rise during the apocalypse—it doesn't say it's a bad thing…
Dean leans forward—and I swear 2014Dean slipped across his features as he tears out Bobby's heart with his words—and asks Bobby what would he do if he were them?
Bobby knows what he would do, and he knows what they think they gotta do.
Bobby: But I'm begging you…Please, leave her be.
What a horrible situation. Not just the choice the boys have to make, but Bobby—a life-long hunter, the sage, the one who roughed Dean up with insults just to get him back on the road to going after his brother—reduced to begging them to let his dead wife live. Or, y'know what I mean. If that's not evil at work, then I don't know what is.
I can't wait until they defeat the devil. I think there will always be bad things in their world—I think there will always be ghosts to fight and creatures to kill. But this sinister, slick, under-your-skin, into-your-heart, deceptive evil is making my soul hurt. I can't wait until they end the twisted manipulation that is poisoning them and everything around them. That is eating away at bonds and strongholds like acid.
I want them to light it up, to crumble it. I want them to stand—perhaps bloody and bruise, but not beaten—and watch it disintegrate.
The boys take a break at Roy's Diner (which, as I write this, I realize that they've now gone two nights without sleep…) and Dean says he can't leave Bobby alone with DeadKaren, no matter what Bobby says. So Dean goes back to the junkyard and Sam…does some sleuthing. Dean's leaning against the Impala, watching the back of Bobby's house, looking incredible cool and toe-curlingly tough, says I, when DeadKaren appears from out of nowhere and scares the crap out of both of us.
She invites him inside. For pie.
Okay—another aside. Has anyone else besides thruterryseyes and myself seen the movie Ed and His Dead Mother? I know, it's totally a bizarre title—and an even more bizarre movie with Steve Buscemi—but if you have, then you'll know why the fact that DeadKaren baked 47 million pies and didn't sleep was high-larious to me. Terry? Back me up on this.
Dean has a heart-to-non-beating-heart with DeadKaren and she tells him she knows what he is—a hunter. Dean, ever my hero, tells her that she knows he and Sam won't let anything happen to Bobby. Karen does know this, actually, and she's glad to have someone watch out for Bobby.
Then she confesses that she does actually remember—she remembers everything. The demon inside of her, what Bobby had to do, everything. Dean's like, why don't you tell him then? Karen goes out on a limb and says that Dean's never been in love. She says Bobby's her husband. Her job is to bring him peace, not pain. *rubs heart*
Meanwhile, Sam's breaking into the house of "Ezra Jones." There's a blood trail, and open door, and a total mess inside. He sees an obviously sick and dying deadwoman lying on a bed and he hesitantly moves closer. She looks nasty – drooling, coughing, sores on her face. She beckons Sam closer and he mutters, "I'm gonna regret this."
He leans in to hear what she's trying to whisper…and just as I was bracing myself for her to do, she FREAKS OUT and launches at him, dropping him to the ground and drools this skanky white crap on his cheek. BBBLLLARRRGGHHH! It was gross, ya'll. Sam holds her off and manages to pull out a gun and shoots her through the mouth (completely disgusting and disturbing, but an impressive camera angle/shot) and she drops down next to the rotting, half-eaten corpse of a man.
Sam's completely skeeved out and disgusted expression and slightly gaggy whimper was priceless. Priceless.
But here…I gotta wonder. Did lore go right out the window? 'Cause in CSPWDT, all a headshot did to ZombieAngela was piss her off and send her chasing after Sam. They had to stake her to her coffin inside her grave. How come they were able to take these zombie's out with headshots? Was it just because DEATH raised them from his own little Pet Cemetery? And if so, how did the guys know that? I'm going with it because it made for an entertaining climax, but seriously, if they can change up lore like that, those who have poked me for doing likewise in fanfic (i.e., wendigo poisoning in Ramble On) have nothing to stand on.
Bobby tells a rather angry Dean that "old lady Jones" was the first one to rise. Which means she was the first to turn and all the Living Dead were going to go bad. Dean says with conviction that they have to stop them. At which point Bobby shocks the hell out of the boys (and me) by pulling a gun. He says it's time to go, get off his property. (Ouch.) He says that if DeadKaren turns, he'll handle it his way. Dean says that this is dangerous and Bobby cocks his gun, saying he's not going to tell them twice.
He would not have shot them. We know that. They know that. But the fact that he felt strongly enough about it to pull and cock his pistol had them leaving out of respect and protection of Bobby, not of them. This was foreign territory. Dean parks just outside of the junkyard and says basically that even though Bobby went "Full Metal Jacket" on his own family, he has to go back in there and kill DeadKaren (without being seen).
Sam: I'll just go to town and…rescue everyone. Should be easy enough.
Dean tells him he has to get the Sheriff on his side—who, Sam says, is pretty pro-Zombie right now. Well, you know what that meant. My stomach turned a bit as I saw where that was going.
I find the whole Bobby/Dean/Sam situation interesting, though. When Bobby was possessed and said those awful things to Sam, Sam was devestated. And when Bobby came back to himself—even though he was paralyzed in a hospital bed—he made sure to reassure Sam that they were good. That Sam was good.
But it's Dean that needs Bobby. Sam behaves like if Bobby wants to stay with his dead wife, let him. It's his wife. You gotta understand why he'd want to be with her. Give him this time. Mr. Tenderheart.
Dean, though, sees through the emotion to the truth of the matter: Karen. Is. Dead. This is not right, it's not real, it's not natural. This will only hurt Bobby—physically, mentally, emotionally. And his family just pulled a gun on him. Again. When all he was doing was trying to help. Good Lord. And yet what does he do? Goes back. Because he can't let anything happen to him. What did he tell Bobby in TCCODW?
I don't know if you've noticed, but me and Sam, we don't have much left. I can't do this without you. I can't.
Admittedly, at this moment, I had a knot in my chest. Dean goes back to the junkyard; Sam goes to town to find the Sheriff.
Sheriff Mills' dead son is sick and hungry. She's on the phone with the doc (and how weird would that conversation have been) and fixes the boy soup, which she asks her husband to take in. Well, you knew right then that this woman was about to have the worst day of her life. When she goes into the room and sees the copious amounts of blood, all I could think was the word UNFAIR.
To me, seeing that zombie child with blood on his face and empty eyes, his fingers clutching his father's entrails wasn't scary or creepy, it was totally unfair. Kids usually creep me out—Lilith, the ghosties in the Pilot, the changelings in The Kids Are Alright—but this was just…tragic. To have lost a son that age…and then to have him back for such a short time…only to lose him again so freaking horribly…my heart just hurts. I think I'll go cuddle with Mo Chuisle for a bit after this.
Sam saves the Sheriff and she's quite understandably shaken up. I liked, though, that they had her hold up under that insane amount of pressure. They had her suck it up and do her job and not fold in on herself and go catatonic. Sam, poor guy, has to go inside the house (which, incidentally, looks a lot like Mary Winchester's house in WIAWSNB) and…put down…DeadOwen. The only safe place that the Sheriff can think of to gather the living townspeople is the jail. Makes sense.
Meanwhile, DeadKaren isn't doing so well. She collapses and Bobby notices that she's burning up, but she says she's just hungry. Karen's…demise…is handled with much more grace and appropriate emotion than Owen's. Bobby has her lie down on his make-shift bed and she tells him she can feel herself changing. She wants him to kill her before she turns. He's holding her hand, his eyes glistening, his face lined with grief, and says he can't.
She tells him she remembers—everything. Being possessed, what he had to do. He says then she should understand why he can't do it again. Karen reveals that when she rose, she saw DEATH—a gaunt, pale, skeletal figure. He had a message for her. Before we hear that message, though, we cut to Dean who is sneaking into Bobby's house. He makes his way part-way down the back hall when he hears a shot.
He bellows Bobby's name, and comes around the corner to see Karen dead—again—Bobby holding bother her hand and the gun. The sadness etched on Dean's face in that moment—the I'm so, so sorry in his expression—was heartbreaking. In that moment you know Dean would have done anything he could to have spared Bobby this pain.
Sam is at the jail with Sheriff Mills handing out weapons and instructions. Some guy asks who he is and Sam puffs up a bit and replies the he's a friend of Bobby Singers.
Guy: The town drunk?
Sam deflates a little and points to Digger: I thought he was the town drunk.
Guy: Who told you that?
Sam quirks his lips and averts his eyes: Bobby Singer.
It's the perfect cover, though, if you think about it. If Bobby's a drunk and a menace, people leave him alone and don't wonder about the odd collection of cars or the people coming and going or the screams or the shots or… Yeah, makes me worry about Bobby's level of alcohol consumption just a smidge, but it also has me admire him for his cover story.
Back at the junkyard, Dean is gearing up, loading up the van with weapons and ammo, offering Bobby the chance to sit this one out. They hear a dog barking and a crash and Dean takes a shotgun and investigates, leaving Bobby stuck in his chair at the van. While Sam and the Sheriff are loaded for bear at the jail with nothing happening, Dean and Bobby are suddenly fight off a ton of zombies.
What happened to 15-20 on a list? Where did all of these zombies come from? And did they all rise at once? Why were they all turning so quickly? *head spinning*
Bobby calls for Dean while shooting anything that moves. Dean gets jumped by a zombie—Clay?—and finally shoots him off. Bobby gets knocked out of his chair. Dean shoots the zombie off of him, then hauls Bobby back up in his chair and wheels him back to the house…where they realize they're running low on ammo.
Bobby: Yeah, I've got some. If you go past all the zombies it's in the van where we left it.
Dean: A simple 'no' would've been fine.
All the zombies are at the junkyard—we come to find out—because they're after Bobby. There are dozens—climbing through the windows, coming at them like mindless drones. Dean wheels Bobby to a closet and hides in there with him. Bobby's concerned about the tight fit and getting caught in there.
Dean: They're idiots. They can't pick a lock.
The handle turns.
Bobby: Don't you ever get tired of being wrong?
Dean: I'm making this up as I go. Sue me.
Ah…there's my Han Solo-esque line! LOL!
The zombies get the door open and Dean starts whaling on them using his shotgun as a club. He's desperately beating them back when suddenly he hears Sam bellow, "GET DOWN!"
And it's the O.K. Corral with Sheriff Mills and Sam blasting every last head from every last zombie. Whew!
Next day, Sam's keeping watch over a mass funeral pyre when Sheriff Mills and Dean return to say they can't find any more zombies. The townspeople are traumatized and Sheriff Mills can't even answer Sam's "How you holding up" question. Can't blame her. The woman should be thrashed. I can't even think about the story they wrote for her too long without frowning. Sam says the pyre has all the zombies (and what a gross mess Bobby's place must've been) except one.
Back at Singer Salvage, Bobby's cremating his wife's body. Again. He says to the boys that he guesses he should probably apologize.
Dean says that he doesn't know much about love and all, but at least Bobby got to spend five days with her, right? Oh, that hit me in the gut. It's exactly the wrong thing to say, and yet it's the only thing you can think of. It's like when people try to comfort a woman who's had a miscarriage by saying that maybe it was for the best—the baby wasn't supposed to have been born, so this was meant to be. They mean well; they're trying to empathize and be reassuring. But what they don't get is that they just hollowed you out and minimized the crushing grief that you feel at the loss.
Bobby's reply of, "Which makes things 1,000 times worse," made me tear up. "She was the love of my life. How many times do I gotta kill her?"
Oh, Bobby. It's so much to take. Do we really ever know what we want? It's like…being granted a wish for lots of money only to be told that your grandfather just died so that you could inherit it. Dean's What's dead should stay dead is poignantly true here. There's only so many losses a soul can take. If you survive that kind of goodbye once, you shouldn't have to again.
He tells the boys that DEATH had a message: he was after Bobby. Because he has been helping the boys. Because he's their last stronghold. He wants Bobby out of the way. Dean looks staggered and angry. Like he can't breathe and wants to kill someone at the same time.
Sam just looks like a little kid. "But, you're going to be alright, right, Bobby?"
Bobby just looks at Sam and says nothing. And I have a very bad feeling about this. I ended my speculations last season with one that I didn't think Bobby would make it through this season. I thought the Big Bad would kill him off because that would be the last straw—that would make the boys give in, give up, give over.
But I think that if evil takes one more thing from these boys they're going to unleash a vengeance neither one knows they're capable of. I want that to happen anyway—without sacrificing Bobby—but I think that if they take Bobby from them (and us) they are going to reap the whirlwind.
Oh, this show. These guys. It wasn't even that pivotal of an episode, really, and I'm worn out. I'm almost feel the exhaustion, the thinning of the walls I see in Dean. He's outright said it: he's done. He's fighting this good fight because that's who he is, but when it's over, if he's got nothing left, well, so be it. I see now the same is true of Bobby.
Sam, though, he still has something to prove. He doesn't feel weary to me. He feels like he's still has some fire. Even after the demon blood and the panic room (which, since this is kinda out of order, maybe next episode I won't feel the fire from Sam anymore...). I think he needs to siphon some off and infuse his brother with it. I want Dean to light up and kick some ass. I want there to be a way for them to figure out how to get ahead of this evil, to gain an upper hand. A way that's NOT saying 'yes' to an angel.
Because I think in this case, fire would heal some of the cracks and fissures we can see in Dean's soul and Sam's heart. They just need a welder.
I missed previews—the hubs had a soccer game to watch—
but isn't next week the big 100th episode? I am, proudly, still spoiler free, but I did remember that was coming up. Just wasn't sure exactly when ETA: Nevermind. I stand corrected. Looks like they don't hit the centennial mark until April 15th. Carry on!
Thanks all—see you next week!


text:
Member and Patient Resources ▼
Visits from friends and relatives are an important part of recovery, and we welcome them too. However, please check with the nurse for any specific guidelines regarding visitors in intensive care, maternity, or other special units.
Cafeteria, gift shop, parking, and after-hours information
Patient confidentiality - The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) governs how we use a patient's private health information. Physicians and hospital staff are not able to discuss a patient's condition with visitors unless the patient has specifically given us permission to do so.
Smoking policy - For the health and safety of our patients, visitors, staff, physicians, and volunteers, absolutely no smoking is permitted on Health First premises. In the interest of better health for all, we support smoking cessation through our Freedom from Smoking classes.
Patient safety - Safety is our number one priority. We encourage patients to remind everyone who comes in contact with them -- including staff and visitors -- about the importance of good hand hygiene. Also, please don't be frightened if you hear alarms; check with a nurse to see if a drill is taking place.


text:
Man Falls From Ceiling and Nobody Helps [VIDEO]
wow! This is a video of a man falling through the ceiling of a golf shop and nobody, the two geezers in the shop, seem to care or bothers to help! In fact, the gezzers in the golf shop are actually very non-nonchalant about the entire incident. "Hello people, someone fell from the sky"!


text:
Hot Tip: Entertain With Style. No More Disposable Cups!
Don't use disposable cups at your next party. Use this tip instead! It's fun, and as easy as going to your local office supply store. It'll also prevent your having to wash a giant pile of glasses after your guests leave, and most importantly, it'll keep a mountain of disposable cups from going in the trash. Read more for details...
Guests can easily consume three to five drinks in the course of a party, ranging from water to alcohol. Do the math, and you'll quickly realize that the party's aftermath can turn into sea of unwanted cups. Using this tip will keep the number of cups low (one glass per guest) and your spirits high!
The How-To:
- Using simple circle labels from your office supply store, stick the stickers on your glasses before your guests arrive (Photo 3). (By the way, they come in four fun colors.)
- Be sure to stick them at the top, just under the rim, to prevent condensation from making them peel later on (Photo 2).
- Make a sign asking your guests to sign their cups and leave out a few pens to do the job (Photo 3).
- To remove, simply soak the cups in water until the paper stickers become transparent. They'll slide off in a snap!l
Related Posts:
• Four Over-the-Sink Accessories: Maximize your Space!
• How Owning 160 White Plates Has Saved Us Money
(Images: John Doe)


text:
Ian Kinsler put Texas ahead for the first time with a two-run single in the seventh and the Rangers held on for a series-clinching 4-3 victory over the AL West-leading Oakland Athletics on Thursday.
Texas pulled within a game of the Athletics by winning three times in the four-game series.
Kinsler came to the plate right after Leonys Martin's hustling infield single, getting to first base ahead of Sean Doolittle (3-2) when the pitcher was taking the toss from first baseman Brandon Moss. That loaded the bases with two outs, and Kinsler hit a full-count pitch through the middle of the infield.
The game ended when Josh Donaldson was thrown out at the plate trying to score from first on Seth Smith's single to center.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)


text:
Two excellent articles on drug use in sports were written by Bil Gilbert and published in Sports Illustrated in June 1969.
John Perricone highlighted them recently (here and here) at his blog Only Baseball Matters. Both of these articles are must-reads of the highest order -- they decimate the laughable Renaultian response of so many sportswriters to the idea of drugs only recently contaminating sports. (And like Perricone, I found it difficult to resist the temptation to quote more of these articles than I did.)
From Problems In A Turned-on World (June 23, 1969):
Among the less startling assertions one could make today would be that we live in a drug culture. The vast majority of us gobble an aspirin here, gulp an antibiotic there, whiff a decongestant now or a few milligrams of nicotine then. We take a little opiate in our cough syrup, a jab of Novocain from the dentist, caffeine to start the day, alcohol to mellow it and a sedative to blank it out at bedtime. However, after it has been admitted that most citizens dope themselves from time to time, there remain excellent grounds for claiming that in the matter of drug usage, athletes are different from the rest of us. In spite of being -- for the most part -- young, healthy and active specimens, they take an extraordinary variety and quantity of drugs (see cover). They take them for dubious purposes, they take them in a situation of debatable morality, they take them under conditions that range from dangerously experimental to hazardous to fatal. The use of drugs -- legal drugs -- by athletes is far from new, but the increase in drug usage in the last 10 years is startling. It could, indeed, menace the tradition and structure of sport itself.(In case you are wondering, "I.C. Middleman" -- though it would make a perfect pseudonym -- is the man's actual name.)
To begin, consider some examples of the role drugs have come to play in sport:
"A few pills -- I take all kinds -- and the pain's gone," says Dennis McLain of the Detroit Tigers. McLain also takes shots, or at least took a shot of cortisone and Xylocaine (anti-inflammant and painkiller) in his throwing shoulder prior to the sixth game of the 1968 World Series -- the only game he won in three tries. In the same Series, which at times seemed to be a matchup between Detroit and St. Louis druggists, Cardinal Bob Gibson was gobbling muscle-relaxing pills, trying chemically to keep his arm loose. The Tigers' Series hero, Mickey Lolich, was on antibiotics.
"We occasionally use Dexamyl and Dexedrine [amphetamines].... We also use barbiturates, Seconal, Tuinal, Nembutal.... We also use some anti-depressants, Triavil, Tofranil, Valium.... But I don't think the use of drugs is as prevalent in the Midwest as it is on the East and West coasts," said Dr. I. C. Middleman, who, until his death last September, was team surgeon for the St. Louis baseball Cardinals. ...
There are abundant rumors -- the wildest of which circulate within rather than outside the sporting world -- about strung-out quarterbacks, hopped-up pitchers, slowed-down middleweights, convulsed half-milers and doped-to-death wrestlers. Nevertheless, it is the question of motive and morality that constitutes the crux of the athletic drug problem. Even if none of the gossip could be reduced to provable fact, there remains ample evidence that drug use constitutes a significant dilemma, not so much for individual athletes as for sport in general. One reason is that the use of drugs in sport leads one directly to more serious and complicated questions. Is athletic integrity (and, conversely, corruption) a matter of public interest? Does it matter, as appreciators of sport have so long and piously claimed it does, that games be played in an atmosphere of virtue; even righteousness? If not, what is the social utility of games -- why play them at all? Drug usage, even more than speculation about bribery, college recruiting, spit-balls or TV commercials, raises such sticky questions about the fundamentals of sport that one can understand the instinctive reaction of the athletic Establishments: when it comes to drugs, they ignore, dismiss, deny. ...
Gilbert quotes Dr. H. Kay Dooley, then the director of the Wood Memorial Clinic in Pomona, California, as "well known among athletes as one of the few physicians who openly endorse use of anabolic steroids":
A lot of physicians are stuffed shirts when it comes to sports. Athletes do want to perform better, that is what it is all about. If I know of something which may improve performance, a training or rehabilitation technique, a drug that is legal and which I don't believe involves any serious health risk, I see no reason not to make it available to an athlete. I can't see any ethical difference between giving a drug to improve performance and wrapping an ankle or handing out a salt pill for the same purpose. Athletes hear about these things and they are going to get them one way or another.More SI:
It would be surprising if athletes were not influenced by the same trends and tendencies that have the rest of us so high on drugs. A Pepper Martin, if plunked in the ribs by a Schoolboy Rowe fastball in 1934, would have trotted down to first base without doing anything about his injury because 1) there was nothing he or anyone else knew to do about it, and 2) he would have thought it a little sissified to have taken medicine for a bruise. In 1969 when a hitter catches one in the side, the game is likely to be stopped while he is sprayed with ethyl chloride to freeze the area, takes an enzyme or (if his medical attendant has come by some on the black market) has some DMSO slathered on the bruise. If he is a particularly sensitive jock he might even take a sedative or a painkilling pill. All this is done, and even demanded, because such aids are available and the consensus is that it is the smart, scientific, modern thing to use them. ...The following week, SI published Something Extra On The Ball (June 30, 1969):
"I obviously don't care to be quoted," says a New York physician close to the sporting scene. "However, as a generality, team physicians tend to be men of action, not scholarly, speculative types. They are interested in immediate problems: making somebody strong, relaxed, mean or quick and in getting a player back in the game as soon as possible. If somebody tells them there is a drug that might do the trick, they are apt to try it They are not likely to wait around for a double-blind control study to find out if the drug is effective or what it will do to the liver three years later They are interested in today."
The relationship between pain and sports is ancient and close. For some, pain is the prohibitive price that makes games not worth playing; for others it is the secret but ultimate opponent. For most it is a necessary vocational byproduct. Though the image of the athlete as a virile, courageous, uncomplaining pain bearer has been assiduously promoted and popularly accepted, athletes in general fret, worry and complain more about pain than nonathletes. There are several good reasons for this. Games are physical, sometimes violent, and the chances of getting a broken bone, bruise or cut are clearly greater in sports than in less active pastimes. Also, athletes tend to be more dedicated body watchers than most. "They are not exactly hypochondriacs. They are just exceptionally cautious about their bodies," says Dr. Thomas Silva of the Boston Celtics. The normal athlete will immediately note and be concerned about small throbs, aches and twinges that a nonathlete accepts stoically as just part of being alive. Because he is concerned with physical performance, a very little pain can distract an athlete to a significant degree. An accountant with a sore toe is likely to accept the infirmity silently. The same ailment in a baseball pitcher often will be headline news. The player, in turn, will act as if he were threatened by advanced gangrene, and he can hardly be blamed, since his livelihood may be involved in his sore toe. ...As Perricone notes, all of this information -- and thousands of words more -- were published in "THE preeminent publication on sports in America" forty years ago. (Indeed, at the time of publication, man had not yet walked on the moon.) And Gilbert is writing about a trend that he saw as beginning in the late 1950s.
Steroids are a group of complex compounds naturally produced by many plants and animals. The steroids are hormones, and among these are the androgens, male hormones produced by the testes and the cortex of the adrenal glands. Anabolic steroids used by both male and female athletes are derived from male hormones. (Among the most commonly used are Dianabol, Durabolin and Deca-Durabolin, Maxibolin, Anavar, Nilevar and Winstrol.) The androgens have many effects on the body. ... A second major effect of the androgens is anabolic, i.e., body building. They improve the assimilation of protein and thus promote increased weight and muscle mass. ...
"What I wish," says [Dave] Maggard [a shotputter on the 1968 U.S. Olympic team], "is that some reputable scientific group would really study certain drugs and tell us yes or no as to whether they are effective, and yes or no as to whether they are dangerous. Then I'd like to see the NCAA, the AAU, the U.S. Olympic Committee and all the conferences go ahead and put us straight -- tell all of us to either use the drugs, or don't. I think if most drugs were banned -- things like amphetamines, barbiturates, anabolic steroids -- most athletes would stop using them. It's this halfway stuff, the rumors, the idea maybe you have to use them to be competitive that has made it such a mess." ...
"Someday," says Dr. [Allan J.] Ryan [of the University of Wisconsin], "somebody will find a drug that measurably improves performance, is expensive, and is not available to everyone or known by everyone. That is the day when we are all going to have to stand up and be counted on what is right and wrong -- we will have to decide then what sport is all about."
Unlike the conservative Dr. Ryan, a good many athletes, coaches, trainers and physicians believe that we already have found the alchemist's stone; it is anabolic steroids, amphetamines, strychnine, iboyaine, muscle relaxers, B-12, cortisone, etc., etc., etc. Whether it is true or not, the belief and the practices that follow the belief are enough to suggest, as they have to Dave Maggard, that the stand-up-and-be-counted time has already arrived for the athletic Establishment.
So, Perricone writes,
[h]ow do these [current] sportswriters expect me to believe that they haven't known what's been going on in the world of elite athletic competition over these last four decades? How can they ask me to be outraged when most of them have watched this problem develop, and waited over three decades to start sounding the alarm? ...Perricone also points out that Bud "I Don't Know Nuthin' 'Bout No Steroids" Selig has been intimately involved in baseball for every single one of those forty years. As far as his own attitude on steroids, Perricone writes:
I'm not saying it's OK, but I'm also not saying it's not. I'm saying it's none of my business. ... We all want to be better, and we all will do most anything to achieve that end. There's nothing new about that. ... We live in a culture that has embraced the pharmacological fix. That our athletes do shouldn't be thought of as wrong; it should be expected.In a comment to this post, he goes into more detail (which is quite close to my own opinions):
I'm suggesting that the very idea of "cheating" needs to be re-examined. When I consider all of the types of things a player or a team might do to win ... it occurs to me that there's no sense to the notion that using artificial means to improving your strength, stamina and conditioning is THE cheating. ...Perricone's noting the lack of outrage "over all of the records that were set in the 60's and the 70's" by drugged-up players (I don't recall former Cardinals catcher Tim McCarver ever mentioning that Bob Gibson was "gobbling" pills to help him pitch three complete games during the 1968 World Series) reminds me of a phenomenon I find both utterly annoying and fascinating: the evolving indifferent over events that took place "x" number of years ago. The Americans who shrug their shoulders and say "Well, of course, there was a conspiracy to assassinate JFK" are the very same people who vehemently deny (and ridicule those who believe in) the existence of any government conspiracies in the present day. Indeed, those same people, thirty years from now, will shrug their shoulders and nod at the mention of shady things from 1995-2004 (to pick a random decade), but will call anyone who suggests government malfeasance in 2039 a kook.
The list of things players do -– and have done -– to improve their performance borders on the absurd, and again, for whatever reasons you or anyone want to use, steroids has become THE scourge.
I'd ask you to consider why? Because they're illegal? Horseshit. Amphetamine use has been illegal for most of my adult life, and baseball teams used to keep them in jelly bean jars in the clubhouse. Why wasn't Roy Oswalt up in arms about that? Addiction to speed, which almost always includes an addiction to downers as well, ranks as one of the most debilitating and difficult to overcome. Meth is considered THE community killer, one of the worst drugs out there. Where is the outrage over all of the records that were set in the 60's and the 70's by players who would not have been able to take the field without it?
I'm asking you, asking all of my readers, to consider things differently. Instead of thinking about who was cheating, ask yourself why steroids has become THE issue? ... Curt Schilling helped the Red Sox win a championship in 2004 by using massive amounts of painkillers, almost ending his career, and he was lauded as a hero. Why is that?
Ask yourself who has decided what's OK and what's not.
Perricone also points to the sports media's staggering and willful ignorance of history (and their assumption that we, the readers and viewers, have no knowledge of that history):
I'll say it again, if the BBWAA continues to hold these players [Rose, Bonds, McGwire, Clemens, Palmeiro, et al.] hostage, if the list of players that they decide to exclude from the Hall of Fame continues to grow, then it won't be a Hall of Fame anymore. It'll be a place where baseball writers can celebrate their righteousness and hypocrisy. ...
Only when steroids became the PED of choice, and the records started to fall did the writers get themselves all up in arms. Why is that? Why did decades of uppers and downers mean nothing to the writers, but steroids and HGH meant everything? Lack of understanding, fear, and more importantly, nostalgia. ...
These writers are defending their childhood memories, and poorly at that. ... Never mind that some of their heroes were drunk on the field, or abused speed, or used cocaine during games. Never mind that many of the records they were seeing fall were destined to fall for reasons far more obvious than the simple choice of strength training enhancers.
Their youth was being debased, and for that, these "cheaters" must pay. Remember this when you read Tom Verducci, or Mike Lupica, and remember that these self-proclaimed experts have forgotten baseball history, if they ever knew it at all.


text:
Sneak peak at new #jaguars uniforms. Not much change. But at least black is back in the rotation.via.me/-i9unji— Doug Walker (@DWalker1026) March 29, 2012
Nothing much new here. Looks like the Jags are keeping the same basic design next year, with the addition of a black jersey in the same template.
There is one point of interest to us, though. Look at the left sleeve of the white jersey: is that swoosh backwards?
If this photo is genuine, that would be a significant departure for Nike.
In the past, they have always noted in their style guides that the swoosh is never to face right to left (except, of course, for every right shoe they sell). And when they outfitted the Packers (and others) before Reebok assumed the league-wide conract, the swoosh always faced the same way on each sleeve.
We'll see soon enough. The Nike unveiling is scheduled for April 3rd in New York City.