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Politics & Government
Women's issues: Candidates' positions reflect their politics
WASHINGTON — Female voters in 2008 are looking harder at what traditionally have been considered women's issues — abortion, pay equity, health care — and where John McCain and Barack Obama stand on those issues, not surprisingly, reflects their political philosophies.
McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, are running as anti-abortion, pro-family, anti-tax conservatives who oppose same-sex marriage.
Obama and his running mate, Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, vow to preserve abortion rights, end pay discrimination and improve women's access to health insurance and health care.
McCain opposed an expansion of the family and medical leave law to include small businesses, while Obama supported it.
He also opposed the so-called Lily Ledbetter bill, although he didn't vote on it because he was campaigning, and Obama supported it. The bill, named for an Alabama woman, would expand the ability to sue for pay discrimination. Ledbetter sued when she found out about the pay disparities with her male co-workers, but the Supreme Court ruled that she should've sued within the six months of receiving her first discriminatory paycheck.
Campaigning in July, Obama said that McCain "thinks the Supreme Court got it right last year when they handed down the Ledbetter decision that makes it more difficult for women to challenge pay discrimination at work," Obama said. "He opposed legislation that I co-sponsored to reverse that decision. He suggested that the reason women don't have equal pay isn't discrimination on the job — it's because they need more education and training."
Asked what policies he'd pursue to eliminate income inequality, McCain responded:
"I don't have a specific policy at the moment, except to — again, I think my support of small business and the fact that I will not raise people's taxes. One of the greatest areas of participation of women in America is small business. And they are larger and larger numbers who are small business owners. I will focus my attention on doing everything I can to see that they succeed."
On abortion, both candidates have clear, long-held positions. Obama has a 100 percent pro-abortion rights voting record with the National Abortion Rights Action League, while McCain's record is nearly zero.
"I have consistently advocated for reproductive choice and will make preserving women's rights under Roe v. Wade a priority as president," Obama said early in the campaign.
McCain has criticized Obama for insisting that measures to restrict late-term abortions include exceptions for women's health. Obama has opposed such measures because they lacked the health provision.
McCain said in August, "I have a 25-year pro-life record in the Congress, in the Senate. And as president of the United States, I will be a pro-life president, and this presidency will have pro-life policies. That's my commitment, that's my commitment to you."
Health-care policy also divides the two candidates, with Obama relying on government for his plan and the Republican relying on taxes and the free market.
Obama's plan is based on "managed competition," which, he said, "would create a national health insurance exchange, much like a stock exchange, that would serve as a clearinghouse providing information to employers and individuals to evaluate different available plans for the insured."
As he did in his infomercial Wednesday night, Obama often speaks of the personal toll that the health-care system took in his life. "My mother died of ovarian cancer at the age of 53, and I'll never forget how she spent the final months of her life lying in a hospital bed, fighting with her insurance company because they claimed that her cancer was a pre-existing condition and didn't want to pay for treatment," he said.
Obama advocates ending discrimination for pre-existing conditions in his plan.
Obama's plan also would mandate coverage for children, in what Republicans have decried as the heavy hand of government intervention.
McCain would give every family a $5,000 tax credit to buy its own health insurance or keep its current plan. "And we will open up the national health care market to expand choices and improve quality," he said in a recent radio address. McCain would give individuals a $2,500 tax credit.
"Senator Obama wants to set up health-care bureaucracies, take over the health care of America — as he said, his objective is a single-payer system," McCain said of Obama's plan during the Oct. 15 debate. "You'll have to pay a fine if you don't provide health insurance that Sen. Obama mandates, not the kind that you think is best for your family, your children, your employees, but the kind that he mandates for you. That's big government at its best."
Obama denied that there'd be such a fine.
McCain's plan relies on taxes, with a credit that would go to insurers. Obama criticized McCain for the proposed new taxation of the value of employer-provided health insurance.
On children's education, Obama proposes a new program of early learning challenge grants, which would provide states with funding to support child care, early education, and other services for pregnant women and children from birth through age five.
McCain proposes increasing the child exemption on personal income tax to give families more income to pay for early education programs.
Economists' Policy Group on Women's Issues
McCain, Obama duck controversial union issue
Bailout funds being spent in ways Congress never foresaw
Attorney general's private trips have cost taxpayers
Another success? Iraqi mayor Bush once hailed flees to U.S.
McClatchy's presidential election issues coverage


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My basement windows are roughly 2'x3' (h x w) and the exterior sill is 6 inches above grade, and 5 feet above the basement floor. I am not particularly concerned with security beyond frustrating the casual housebreaker.
The three styles of windows that look good in a horizontal alignment are: Awning, Single Tilt Slider and Double tilt slider. Does any one have any particular advantages in the above circumstances? Or do I just let my wife pick the pretty ones?

subset: commoncrawl


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Gunblood 2 flash game is an exciting new western gun game. This is a flash game but it is very simple and yet it is very addictive once you play it. This is one of those games where you could end up playing it for an hour or two. The 2 dimensional shooter western style design shows where the blood is spilled by the use of your gun. Can you defeat your opponent in time? Play this addictive shooter game here. You have the option of playing it on full screen mode by clicking here gun blood 2.
You can't to win in this game? Do you need the gun blood cheat codes? Yes gun blood cheats codes are also available! These codes are available but it is up to you to win! When you use the gun blood cheats the game becomes a whole lot easier. You have cheat codes for ammunition, for extended life, for better accuracy and for how quick your draw is. Get the cheat codes for the game by clicking here! This is an exciting western style game that is fun to play. Just hold your nerves when you shoot. Remember by using the cheats for the game it will probably get a little dull for you. So give it a try without the cheat codes and enjoy playing GunBlood and the many other games on this site.Can't get enough of these games try these relate games. The shooting games below are fun and entertaining. If you are bored and wish to pass some time playing online games try these!


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The Largest Room presents CHAMPAGNE, SEX AND PSYCHOLOGY by Arthur Schnitzler and directed by Hilary Wood, starring Damian Lynch and Clara Perez.
The Largest Room presents three one act plays by acclaimed playwright Arthur Schnitzler (La Ronde). CHAMPAGNE, SEX AND PSYCHOLOGY will play for a four week run from April 3rd – 21st.
A frivolous and cynical evening presenting the virtually unknown one act plays of Arthur Schnitzler, infamous for writing La Ronde, the first play ever written purely about sex.
Damian Lynch trained at Webber Douglas Academy. Theatre credits include Origins (Pentabus Theatre Company) Zero (Warwick Arts Centre), A Brief Summary (Paines Plough/Shakespeare's Globe) 200 Years (Watford Palace Theatre), 23 Greatest Moments of Dave (Arcola Theatre), Carthage Must Be Destroyed (Traverse, Edinburgh) and School for Scandal (Salisbury Playhouse). Television and Film credits include GSG9 for Typhoon AG Germany, Eastenders, The Bill, Little Britain, Waking the Dead, Judge John Deed and Munich.
Clara Perez trained at Webber Douglas Academy and Cambridge University. Theatre includes The Postman Always Rings Twice (West Yorkshire Playhouse), The Alchemist (Sheffield Lyceum and Tour), The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (Southwark Playhouse), Wittgenstein, The Crooked Roads (Riverside Studios), Women of Manhattan (Old Red Lion), Cigarettes and Chocolate, Bittergirl (Kings Head), Othello (Northampton Royal - Greenwich), The Ugly One (Drayton Theatre), A Provincial Affair (Drayton Theatre). Television and film credits include Running Scared (New Line), The Bill (ITV), Sea of Souls (BBC), Heroes & Villains (One Vision) and the soon to be released 2 Graves.


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In NYC mayoral race, crafting a position to the moment
The taunt sounds gutsy and candid -- until you examine its context.
On Monday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg dismissed the value of a United Federation of Teachers mayoral endorsement, which is expected to go to Bill Thompson Wednesday. "Almost a kiss of death," he called it.
"I don't know what goes through voters' minds, but maybe they understand if the UFT wants it, it ain't good and you don't want that person," he said.
For Bloomberg -- as with most politicians -- such statements are crafted to the moment. And in a different moment, in 2004, he was calling then UFT president Randi Weingarten "a friend of mine since I entered public service" while they negotiated contracts that substantially raised teacher pay.
Back then, with re-elections and contract talks still in its future, Team Bloomberg seemed to view the union quite differently. In fact, a member of the mayor's 2005 re-election crew recalled Tuesday: "We were just happy that the UFT just sat out the election" -- rather than endorse Democratic challenger Fernando Ferrer.
When it posed a political risk, Bloomberg refrained from anti-UFT battle cries.
But over the long term, blessings and curses are difficult to predict.
These days, Council Speaker Christine Quinn's rivals treat her alliances with Bloomberg over eight years as the real kiss of death or at least a liability worth exploiting.
Quinn (D-Manhattan) has fought recently to draw distinctions between her governing record and Bloomberg's as the Democratic primary heated up. Amid complaints about police stop-and-frisk tactics, she backed legislation that would impose an inspector general on the NYPD. Bloomberg said: "This is a dangerous piece of legislation and anyone who supports it is courting disaster."
Are the current mayor and speaker now politically alienated? A City Hall source said rather flexibly: "You can't characterize one thing as a dealmaker or a deal breaker. The mayor will look at the totality of people's records [in the current race] and then make a decision."
Endorsements vary in impact. Post-9/11 commercials featuring then Mayor Rudy Giuliani undoubtedly helped Bloomberg 12 years ago. It remains to be seen if Giuliani's backing after all this time can help propel his former deputy mayor Republican Joseph Lhota into the job.
A Thompson backer in Staten Island, meanwhile, said in anticipation of Wednesday's UFT vote: "Parents generally like their kids' teachers, whatever they think of the union as an institution."
Labor unions that pick a loser in this six-way Democratic primary get to choose again for the runoff -- and perhaps again in the general election. Sometimes unions back a winning candidate only to go to war later. Sometimes they get along fine with an incumbent they'd opposed.
Much is crafted to the moment.
We're revamping our Comments section. Learn more and share your input.


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TORONTO (AP) — Melky Cabrera spent his winter working out with teammate Jose Bautista. Finally, pain-free after a difficult debut season in Toronto, Cabrera is starting to slug like Bautista, too.
Cabrera homered for the fourth straight game, Bautista also went deep and the Toronto Blue Jays beat Houston 5-2 on Tuesday night, handing the Astros their fifth loss in six games.
Cabrera hit a two-run shot off reliever Kevin Chapman in the seventh, connecting on an 0-2 pitch. He has hit more home runs in eight games this season than he did in 88 last season, when he missed time with leg injuries before having a benign tumor removed from his spine on Aug. 30.
"I feel 100 percent now and I'm ready to go," Cabrera said through a translator. "It's good. I don't have any pain now."
Cabrera's home run streak began Friday night, when he welcomed Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka to the big leagues with a leadoff blast. Cabrera hit a solo shot in the eighth inning Saturday, then added another leadoff drive Sunday.
"We're in a good park to hit home runs, that's for sure," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "I thought when we signed him last year he had a chance to hit some home runs here."
Toronto left-hander Mark Buehrle said the change in Cabrera's game is pronounced.
"Even playing the outfield it seems like he's a little quicker," Buehrle said. "Last year he didn't seem like the same guy that I've seen playing against him for all those years."
Buehrle (2-0) allowed one run and eight hits in 5 1-3 innings, walked one and struck out three.
"I'm fortunate to get away with giving up one run," Buehrle said. "That could have been a game where I give up eight to 10 runs."
Sergio Santos struck out the side in the ninth for his third save in three chances.
Brett Oberholtzer (0-2) gave up three runs and three hits in 5 1-3 innings for Houston. He walked three and struck out three.
Bautista opened the scoring Tuesday with a two-out solo homer in the first, his fourth of the season and just his sixth hit overall.
Houston tied it in the second on Matt Dominguez's sacrifice fly.
Toronto reclaimed the lead in the fourth thanks to a miscue by Astros left fielder Robbie Grossman. Edwin Encarnacion drew a one-out walk and came all the way around when Dioner Navarro's double took a high hop off the artificial turf and bounced over Grossman's outstretched glove.
Astros manager Bo Porter said he reminded his players before the game to be wary of big bounces, but Grossman still got burned.
"He kind of got caught in between," Porter said.
The Blue Jays chased Oberholtzer and scored one more in the sixth. Oberholtzer left after walking Bautista and Encarnacion, but Josh Zeid came on and picked Bautista off second. Navarro followed with an RBI double.
Houston cut the deficit to one without a hit in the seventh. Reliever Aaron Loup walked ninth hitter Jonathan Villar and leadoff man Grossman and a double steal advanced the runners before Villar scored on Jose Altuve's grounder.
NOTES: Houston OF Dexter Fowler made his first appearance since a stomach virus put him in hospital last Friday night. He had missed the past four games. ... Houston placed RH Matt Albers on the paternity list and recalled Zeid from Triple-A Oklahoma City. Albers is expected to rejoin the Astros Friday when they begin a three-game series at Texas. ... Blue Jays SS Jose Reyes tested his sore left hamstring by running on a treadmill before the game. ... Toronto RH Casey Janssen (back) will throw a second bullpen session Wednesday. Janssen said he will "probably not" be ready to return when eligible April 13, and expects to make one or two minor league rehab appearances. ... The Blue Jays are moving RHP R.A. Dickey's next start up one day, meaning he will face the Astros in Thursday's series finale. RH Dustin McGowan is being bumped back a day and will start Friday at Baltimore. ... Houston RH Lucas Harrell (0-1) faces Toronto RH Brandon Morrow (0-1) on Wednesday.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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It's harvest season for tomatoes and you can find a huge variety of shapes and sizes in your local grocery store and farmers market. Tomatoes are incredibly versatile because they can be prepared in so many ways. Here are two of my favorite recipes. The first makes a great appetizer and the second can be served as a first course, main dish or a side.
Deconstructed Guacamole
makes 30 cherry tomato appetizers
30 Cherry Tomatoes
1 Avocado
Juice of 1/2 of a Lime
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp Chili Powder
2 tbl Finely Minced Shallots
1 sm Jalapeño, seeded and finely minced
2 tbl chopped Cilantro
With each tomato, slice off the top. Then, slice a very tiny portion off the bottom so that it won't roll around on a platter. Be careful not to cut into the center of the tomato. Using a sharp knife slice into the membrane along the inner wall of the tomato to release the insides. Be careful not to cut through the wall of the tomato. Using a small spoon (I actually use a 1/4 teaspoon measuring spoon), scoop out meat of the tomato. Turn it upside down on a paper towel to drain. Repeat with remaining tomatoes.
Seed and peel the avocado. Smash the avocado with the salt and cumin and mix with a fork until smooth. Transfer ingredients to a disposable bag and cut a small portion out of one corner.
Arrange tomatoes on a serving platter. Place about 1/4 teaspoon of shallots in the bottom of each tomato. Squeeze avocado into each tomato filling it up and above the top. Sprinkle chili powder on top, followed by jalapeño and cilantro. Serve at room temperature.
Heirloom Tomato Tart
makes 6-8 servings
1 1/4 cu All Purpose Flour
6 tbl Cold Butter, diced
3 oz Cream Cheese, cut or torn into small pieces
2 lb Heirloom Tomatoes
2 oz Spreadable (whipped) Cream Cheese
1/2 tsp Fresh Rosemary, finely minced
3/4 cu Shredded Mozzarella
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Fresh Oregano, finely minced
1 tbl Fresh Basil, chiffonade
2 tbl Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 lg Egg, whisked in a small bowl
Prepare Crust: Place flour, butter and cream cheese in a food pressor and blend until mixture comes together. Remove dough and any small pieces combine into a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for about an hour.
Meanwhile, cut tomatoes into thing slices and place on paper towels to remove excess moisture. Add a layer of paper towel on top.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Once dough has chilled, place it on a lightly floured board. Roll it out to about a 13" circle. Transfer dough to a floured piece of parchment or wax paper. Spread cream cheese to form a 8" circle in the center of the dough. Top with rosemary and half of the mozzarella cheese. Arrange half of the tomatoes on top of the cheese, overlapping slices and mixing colors. Add a pinch of salt (about 1/8 teaspoon), half of the basil, all of the oregano and the remaining mozzarella cheese. Arrange the remaining tomatoes on top and add another pinch of salt. Cover tomatoes with remaining basil and the parmesan cheese.
Gently bring up the excess dough to contain the filling, overlapping it onto itself to create the complete tart. Slide the parchment onto a baking sheet (lined with a baking pad or silpat if you have it). Use a pasty brush to bush the egg mixture on all exposed dough surfaces.
Bake tart for 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Remove from oven and let tart rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
If you have any comments or questions, please send me an email at firstname.lastname@example.com or follow me on Facebook or Twitter.


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Free shipping over € 149
Free shipping over € 149
The name of this trivet for the table designed by Lluís Clotet is the title of one of Foix's first books, published in 1927. Clotet provided us with this semiologic explanation: "It is an object that has neither a front nor a back. It satisfies a requirement but at the same time asks us to use our imagination to attribute it other unknown needs. It doesn't overtly suggest its function and for this reason it doesn't need to claim a specific use to acquire a sense. As such it is never incomplete."
Born in Barcelona in 1941. He receives the architecture degree in the "Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura" of Barcelona in 1965. In that school, he was a drawing teacher from 1977 to 1984. During the 95/96 and 96/97 courses he was a visiting professor in the P.F.C classroom and Projects I and II teacher in the 97/98, 98/99 and 99/00 courses. In 1964 he founds Studio Per in cooperation with the architects Pep Bonet, Cristian Cirici and Oscar Tusquets. With the latter, he collaborates in multiple projects until 1983. In 1984, he joins in partnership with Ignacio Paricio for the architectonic production until the year 2008. He is also a founding partner of the firm "B.D Ediciones de Diseño" There are collections of his work in the Modern Art Museum of New York (USA), in the Industrial Design Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (France), in the Architecture Museum in Frankfurt (Germany), in the Bonnafort Gallery in San Francisco (USA), in the New York World Gallery (USA), and in the Columbia University (USA).


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Liberty News
Liberty's CFO honored at awards banquet
|Don Moon, left, with Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. at the annual Chief Financial Officer awards ceremony in Richmond June 23.
Don Moon, Liberty University's Chief Financial Officer, was recognized Thursday night as one of the top financial officers for large non-profit organizations in Virginia.
Moon, 58, was one of three finalists in the category for the 2011 Virginia Chief Financial Officer Award sponsored by Virginia Business Magazine.
Moon, Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. and Falwell's wife, Becki, represented Liberty at the awards banquet held at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond.
Moon, who was named CFO by Liberty's founder, Dr. Jerry Falwell, in 2006, has worked at Liberty for 32 years. He also serves on the Pittsylvania County School Board, where he has been elected for three consecutive four-year terms.
"It has been a humbling experience to work in this position for the last five years," Moon said. "The tremendous growth Liberty University has experienced during this time is unreal. We know the Lord is blessing us every day."
Falwell Jr. recently announced plans to push Liberty's on-campus enrollment from around 12,000 students to 20,000 students in the next several years. Liberty University Online enrollment recently topped the 60,000-student mark.
"Don was one of my father's most trusted staff members," Falwell Jr. said. "Throughout the financial struggles that the university faced in the 1980s and early 1990s, Don worked with my father and me on a daily basis to help manage the crises that we faced."
During Moon's tenure as CFO, Liberty's net revenues have grown from $4.8 million to a projected $200 million at the end of this fiscal year. Gross annual revenues have grown from nearly $147 million to a projected half-billion dollars.
"As CFO since 2006, Don has presided over growth that is almost unprecedented among American universities," Falwell Jr. said. "Since 2006, Liberty's revenues have more than tripled, the university received a credit rating of AA from Standard & Poor's in late 2010, and financial audits have been completed in a timely manner and have given Liberty a clean bill of health. Don's loyalty, conservative financial practices and attention to detail have played a key role in helping Liberty attain financial prosperity."
Moon was nominated for the award by the firm Dixon Hughes Goodman, which serves as Liberty's auditor.
"Very few CFOs are ever nominated for such an award," said Steven Farrar, a partner with Dixon Hughes Goodman. "From LU's successful $120 million bond issue last fall to a total enrollment of over 70,000 students, LU could not be where it is without an exceptional CFO like Don."
Moon was one of 41 CFOs nominated for the award, which was separated into five major categories.


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Brick Cove Was Originally A Brickyard Built In ...
1760 Sage Blvd, Southold
- 4 Beds
- 2 Baths
- 11.83 Acres
- 1,500 sqft
School District: Greenport
Brick Cove Was Originally A Brickyard Built In 1887. Today, It Is Home To A Thriving Marina With 138 Slips And A Single-family Residence. Other Buildings On The Property Include Workshops, A Steel Barn, An Office/marina Store, Pool House And Sheds. Guests C...


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Experience the Wonder
Visit an aquarium, planetarium, rainforest, and natural history museum—all under one living roof.
Jump to main content
This exhibit is no longer on view at the Academy. Explore hundreds of skulls in incredible detail on our Sketchfab channel.
Before your eyes, thousands of tiny, flesh-eating beetle larvae strip a skull clean. Just steps away, an ancient skull allows you to gaze 3.3 million years into humankind's past. Behind you, two deer skulls are locked together, their entwined antlers attesting to one final, deadly battle. Before you—on a wall stretching 90 feet wide—video projections of swimming sea lions add life to more than 400 skulls.
Four hundred California sea lion skulls gaze down from a 90-foot-wide wall, representing just one-sixth of the Academy's scientific collection of this species. But be on the lookout for imposters!
Peer into one of several windows to watch our dermestid beetle colony munch the dried flesh off animal bones, diligently and delicately transforming skulls into specimens.
Skulls is a highly interactive experience, inviting you to touch, draw, and even reimagine your eyesight through various skulls. Experience vision as both predator and prey, try your hand at sketching skulls, and examine dozens of high-res, 3D skull images.
Three sets of skulls tell the story of our species, from the chimpanzee (our closest living relative) to Australopithecus afarensis—our distant, upright-walking ancestor. Compare and contrast these specimens to find clues about our evolutionary history.
Visit an aquarium, planetarium, rainforest, and natural history museum—all under one living roof.
Academy scientists partnered with Google to image specimens from our research collections using an advanced, automated 3D technique. The results? Jaw-dropping.
For more than 60 years, Academy field associate Raymond Bandar has been collecting thousands of skulls. In a ten-case display curated by "Bones" Bandar himself, visitors to the Naturalist Center can explore a variety of skulls featuring curious traits and abnormalities.
Stay curious—every Thursday at NightLife. Sign up for event updates and exciting announcements.
Sign up for the Academy's monthly newsletter and get a promo code for 10% off at our online retail store.


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IRONMAN Lake Tahoe
IRONMAN Lake Tahoe has been discontinued.
IRONMAN Lake Tahoe has been discontinued.
IRONMAN Lake Tahoe has been discontinued.
Tips for making this high Sierra race your best ever.
Relays aren't just for PE class. Put together a dream team for one of the below races, and finish stronger together.
Call it the little race that could — Lake Tahoe still has so much to offer the triathlon community.
On the fence about signing up for IRONMAN Lake Tahoe? Four months is plenty of time to get ready.
Tahoe's Squaw Valley offers more than just a place to rip down snow-covered hills. It's becoming a triathlon playground.
Celebrate the end your 2015 race season with a strong finish in Tennessee or Lake Tahoe.
Due to unsafe air quality conditions in the Lake Tahoe basin, IRONMAN Lake Tahoe and IRONMAN 70.3 Lake Tahoe will not take place today, Sunday,...
Five IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 races are up this weekend, Jimmy Riccitello gets roasted, and more.


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PITTSBURGH, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists Saturday and the Pittsburgh Penguins beating New Jersey 5-1 for their first home win of the season.
Crosby scored in the third period and got an assist in the first after initially being credited with a goal. A review determined Brandon Sutter had actually knocked it into the net for his first score as a Penguin.
Chris Kunitz had a goal and two assists, and Kris Letang and Robert Bortuzzo each scored a goal for Pittsburgh, who improved to 1-2-0 on their home ice.
Marc-Andre Fleury earned the win with 15 saves.
Martin Brodeur was shelled for five goals on 30 shots as the Devils dropped their fourth straight.
Andy Greene scored New Jersey's only goal.


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If you are a university student, you have a student account. A student account is much like a bank statement, but it is solely used for financial transactions at the university such as tuition payments, fees, on-campus housing and other campus charges.
You can use your student account to keep track of all your college spending. Each time you register, cancel or add a course, or incur an ancillary fee, a charge is posted to your student account. The Office of Student Accounts assists students who have inquiries about the charges on their student accounts. The office is also responsible for billing, issuing refunds and administering the tuition payment plan.
The Cashier's Office, on the other hand, is responsible for posting payments, making departmental deposits and issuing parking decals.


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Finally, someone had the guts to stand up to the county board's ridiculous vote.
Christmas display outside the courthouse in Leesburg, VA featuring Santa Claus crucified on a cross was torn down by an angry resident in spite of arguments by elected leaders that the display was Constitutionally-protected free speech.
"I am shocked that the county would allow such a thing as a crucified Santa on the courthouse lawn," Elizabeth McGuirk, a mother of three told Leesburg Today. She it would "seriously disturb my children."
"Disgusting, outrageous and absurd," Supervisor-elect Ken Reid told MyFoxDC.com. "This fellow crossed the line. I'm worried about kids seeing this at the parade Saturday.
The display was erected by Jeff Heflin, whose application was submitted and approved by the Loudon County Board of Supervisors.
"The county would not dismantle it, the county gave it permission for it to be there," Supervisor Steven Miller told the local newspaper. "We had the same thing happen a year ago when Ed Myers put up some vulgar parody lyrics of the "Twelve Days of Christmas." Well those came down within an hour and that's vigilantes."
The Loudon Times reported that Heflin described his display as "art work of Santa on a cross to depict society's materialistic obsessions and addictions and how it is killing the peace, love, joy and kindness that is supposed to be prevalent during the holiday season."
"It was meant to show the over-commercialization of Christmas," said Jonathan Weintraub, of the NOVA Atheists. "I agree. It is over commercialized. People should keep their hands off the display, all the displays."
The display was torn down by an unidentified local resident, according to the Loudon County Sheriff's Dept. So far, no one has been arrested.
Gisela Bresler wrote a letter to the county leaders condemning the exhibit, calling it a mockery that dishonors the Christian religion.
"As I was coming to the Courthouse this morning, I was confronted by one of the most repulsive and disgusting displays of the misuse or our free speech that I have ever had the misfortune to witness," Bresler wrote in a letter published in the Loudon Times. "In front of the Old Courthouse building there is a display of a cross with a Santa suit draped over it and the Santa has a skull for a face."
"Perhaps the person or organization that displayed this monstrosity wants to make a point that Christmas is dead, or that Christ is dead," the letter continued. "The point is that free speech is a two-way street. It is fine for whoever decided to display this obnoxious thing to have it displayed, but it is also correct for those who are insulted by it to speak against it. I am, therefore condemning this and I am repulsed by the fact of it."


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Coredination API - Sample Source Code
Coredination is a mobile workforce management service that offers job dispatch, work reports and location sharing in order to reduce paperwork and improve the flow of mobile business. Coredination is a one-stop solution for constant access to realtime information about coworkers, jobs, and work. Coredination offers a RESTfull API for the integration of Coredination services with third party applications. API resources include jobs and their workflow states, user accounts, work reports and invoicing, and customers and projects. An API key is required.


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While largely ignoring the trial of former U.S. Senator John Edwards, The Sun apparently found more breaking, vital news in Jenna Bush Hager and Henry Hager getting a less than $300 tax break on their second home/rental property while they live in permanent "digs in Manhattan" ("Bush kin gone but get homestead tax credit," May 1).
In addition, there were lengthy details about their exact Baltimore property assessment and rental fees. Now that's breaking news. Are you kidding me?
What a ridiculous choice for Maryland news.
Jennifer Tarr


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Blixa Bargeld, former guitarist with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, leads an innovative industrial Goth-rock band called Einsturzende Neubauten, based in Berlin. Band members work with whatever readymade scrapheap objects they can find to act as musical instruments, hence the label industrial rock. Blixa's wife, Erin Zhu, an American originally from China, has extensive experience working in Internet start-ups. Soon after their marriage, Erin was able to help the band develop an elaborate Web-based fan subscription experiment that bypasses the traditional music business, allowing them to release the album Alles Wieder Offen in 2007. They have continued to develop this model because without the sponsorship of a record company they rely on fans to donate subscriptions for exclusive editions of the CDs and DVDs plus privileged access to the musicians and the entire creative process.
Blixa Bargeld has been leading an innovative industrial rock band based in Berlin for decades and has accumulated a loyal and enthusiastic community of fans. Working in the traditional relationship to music publishers, he was never able to do more than cover the costs of production and even that level of support was steadily eroding. In the next interview, with Blixa and his wife, Erin Zhu, we learn how a band like his can bypass the traditional music business, developing a self-supporting economic model based on subscriptions from fans, enabled by the Internet. - http://www.designing-media.com/interviews/BlixaBargeldErinZhu#sthash.0CEfbG1t.dpuf


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Free shipping over Nkr 1184
Free shipping over Nkr 1184
Pito is a stainless steel kettle designed by Frank Gehry. The melodic top and the handle in mahogany have the stylized shape of two darting fishes. The melody produced by the whistle is likewise peculiar, it sounds like a whale's song. Gehry turned a kitchen utensil into a fascinating poetic object.
The pride of Alessi, PITO kettle is the only object that Frank Gehry designed in his long career. An architect known for his outstanding buildings with a highly innovative formal language, Gehry created a sculptural and extraordinary object that is PITO. The kettle's body is made of stainless steel 18/10 and it has a cylindrical shape, similar to that of a wave; the handle and the melodic top are made of mahogany and look like two fishes darting out of water. PITO is an expression of the fascination that Gehry has had for fishes since childhood, a fascination which has characterised part of the work that he has developed both as an architect and as a sculptor.
Born in 1930, he studied architecture at the University of Southern California and studied City Planning at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard. He developed projects of private and public city planning in America, Japan. In Europe, he has recently been awarded the Pritsker Architecture Prize in 1989 and the Wolf Prize in Art in 1992. His projects have been published all over the world. The most important retrospective, "The Architecture of Frank O. Gehry" has been organized by the Walker Art Center in 1986 and has travelled the major American museums.


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A new Code article covering lighting systems operating at 30V or less will modify some and help standardize other low-voltage lighting designs. Additional requirements, however, apply if wet contact is a factor.
Low-voltage lighting has been in use for about 30 years, with widely differing acceptance by local inspection authorities due to its ambiguous coverage in the NEC. Now it has its own article, the new Art. 411. Underwriters Laboratories (UL) is now writing a new standard (UL 2108) to cover these systems. When the standard is complete, probably within the year, we will see products listed accordingly.
There are, however, products available now that are listed and happen to comply with the new article, although not expressly listed to those terms. At present, they are being listed to the general incandescent lamp standard (UL 1571), although when the new standard is finalized, these listings will change over to the new standard. These products are being listed under Art. 725 of the NEC by incorporating power supplies that work under either Class 2 power limitations [by using a listed Class 2 power supply per Sec. 725-41(a)] or power-limited Class 1 circuits meeting the 1000VA, 30V limitations in Sec. 725-21 (a). The requirements in the new article are summarized in Fig. 1.
The new requirements
The most important thing to remember about these systems is that they are exactly that, systems. Although these may be assembled (and disassembled) in the field, each of the components will be listed as part of an overall system. Be careful of Sec. 411-6, which imposes a 20A branch-circuit restriction. The restriction applies to what the systems as a whole are connected to, and not to the ratings within a given lighting system.
These systems use an isolating power supply that must not exceed 30V (42.4Vpk) under any load condition, even while open circuited. The secondary circuits must have some form of current limitation such that the current cannot exceed 25A. Note that this creates an effective power limitation of 750VA (30V x 25A). This is less than the power4imited Class 1 threshold of 1000VA. The restriction is based on practical concerns involved with the desired physical flexibility for these systems; if the current went up above 25A, the wire size would increase to No. 10. Many manufacturers didn't think that was practical. For this reason, the 25A limitation applies even at lower voltages where the resulting VA is lower; at 12V for example, the VA limitation would be (12Vx25A) = 300VA.
Nevertheless, some manufacturers have been producing listed systems in the range between 750VA and the 1000VA maximum in Sec. 725-21(a), particularly for 24V indoor applications. They have been willing to pay the price in cumbersome conductors for being able to get longer runs, particularly for aisle pathway systems in large movie theaters, for example. Note that at 24V, the VA differential is even greater; 24V x 25A = 600VA.
It now appears that after the new UL 2108 standard takes effect, these listings will no longer be able to continue. This may have a significant impact on lighting layouts that extend long distances in only one direction. In some cases, it may be possible to center-feed these layouts with multiple circuits originating at a common power supply. Sec. 411-2 clearly allows for this, recognizing one or more circuits originating at the isolating power supply.
These systems, per Sec. 411-3, must be listed. The listing process will include additional restrictions. For example, if these systems are used outdoors or where wet contact could occur, the voltage limitation becomes 15V maximum, with most systems using 12V as a result. This restriction has been in Art. 725 for Class 2 systems for many years, and now is in the notes for Chapter 9, Table 11. For other applications, the 30V limitation is adequate to assure that there won't be a shock hazard. The other provisions of Art. 411 are primarily designed to prevent fires.
These systems must not be extended through a wall, unless using conventional wiring as covered in Chapter 3 of the Code. Presumably, this requirement Sec. 411-4(1) is also supposed to apply to a floor penetration, but the only term used is "building wall." This limits the possibility of heat being retained around the conductors. In general, these systems didn't need Chapter 3 wiring methods, having been covered under Art. 725 which, as part of Chapter 7, can supplement or modify the requirements in Chapter 3. Now that the rules are in Art. 411, correlating language probably needs to be included in Sec. 300-1(a).
The other restriction addresses the possibilities of sparks from short circuits. Although Sec. 411-5(c) allows the use of bare conductors, they must be high enough (7 ft) so that inadvertent bridging between the wires with conductive objects is very unlikely. If they are lower than 7 ft, then they must be specifically listed for this use. There are sophisticated power supplies that shut themselves off if the power demand varies from very close tolerances, and testing laboratories have evaluated them in conjunction with these applications. Otherwise, the conductors for these circuits will be insulated.
In addition, if these systems are used in hazardous (classified) locations, then they must comply with the usual rules for those locations. Just because these circuits have some degree of power limitation doesn't mean they are inherently safe for these locations. An energy release of just 0.25 mW-sec will ignite a suitable methane-air mixture; this is obviously far below the capability of one of these lighting systems.
System restrictions
The circuits supplied by these systems, in addition to having current and voltage limitations, also have important system grounding and insulation limitations to reduce the possibility of fire. The secondary must be fed from an isolating transformer. These transformers have been recognized in Sec. 680-5(a) for many years for use with underwater lighting fixtures in swimming pools, and in Sec. 680-51(a) Ex. for use with fountains. They have a grounded metal barrier between the primary and secondary windings.
Although there is a grounded barrier, that does not mean that the secondary circuit is grounded, and Sec. 411-5(a) prohibits grounding this circuit. This is a system grounding restriction; that is, you cannot intentionally connect one of the conductors "to earth or to some conducting body that serves in place of the earth," as defined in Art. 100.
There are important ramifications to this limitation that aren't obvious from reading the new article. Sec. 250-5(a)(1) requires system grounding if the supply transformer of a 50V or lower system is itself supplied from a source exceeding 150V to ground. Therefore, you cannot connect one of these new systems directly to a 277V branch circuit. You would need to first step the 277V circuit down to a 120V grounded system [and it would need grounding, per Sec. 250-5(b)(1)] and then supply the new Art. 411 lighting system.
The system grounding limitations also affect equipment grounding. Since these systems must fall within the parameters of Class 2 or Class 1 power-limited circuits, for the purposes of the Code, they would fall within the equipment grounding rules in Sec. 250-43(i). That section requires equipment grounding for limited-energy systems if system grounding is required in Part B of Art. 250. As we have seen, these systems cannot be grounded. Therefore, these lighting systems don't require any provisions for equipment grounding.
Swimming pool lighting
Sec. 411-4(2) defers to Art. 680 on the use of this lighting within 10 ft of a pool, spa, or fountain. This turns out to be quite complicated. Sec. 680-6(b)(1) generally allows fixtures to be as near as 5 ft to a pool (but no closer unless at least 12 ft above the water level). However, there are additional requirements that apply to fixtures closer than 10 ft. Both Sec. 680-6(b)(2) for lighting in the 5-10 ft zone, and the two exceptions to Sec. 680-6(b)(1) that allow closer distances for existing lighting and for indoor pools 7 1/2 ft or more above the water level require GFCI protection for such fixtures.
As noted in Fig. 2, GFCI devices as presently listed won't operate on a circuit with two ungrounded conductors. Therefore, these lighting systems are excluded between the 5-ft to the 10-ft radius around a pool unless the fixtures are rigidly attached to a structure at a point at least 5 ft above the maximum water level. They cannot be run at all, even on an existing structure, closer than 5 ft from the pool.
Nevertheless, we do see these lights used closer to swimming pools. These lights aren't installed under the provisions of Art. 411. This type of lighting operates on Class 2 power-limited circuits evaluated for wet-contact applications. Therefore, you install this type of lighting using listed Class 2 power supplies that typically don't exceed 75VA.
Landscape lighting
Another application of limited-energy lighting is in the path and accent lighting commonly used outdoors, as well as indoors in shopping malls, hotel atriums, and similar locations. These systems are listed to another standard entirely (UL 1838, Low Voltage Landscape Lighting Systems), and there are no plans to convert these systems over to the new UL 2108 standard. Because wet contact could be involved, these systems are limited to 15V, and UL already imposes the same 25A limitation as in the new Sec. 411-2. The output of one of these power supplies must never be connected in series or in parallel, and the maximum number and ratings of lighting units must never exceed the quantity specified in the listing and in the accompanying product directions.
The other issue with these systems is the location of the power supply. Installers need to be aware of the restrictions that come with various markings on these power supplies. For example, the "Outdoor Use Only" power unit cannot be used indoors. Although this seems obvious, we are used to assuming that if something can be used outdoors, it surely must be usable indoors. In this product category, only a power unit marked "Indoor Use Only" or "Indoor/Outdoor Use" (the other two possibilities) can be used indoors.
The power supplies will be arranged for a Chapter 3 wiring method connection, except outdoor units may be arranged for a cord- and plug-connection. In this case, the receptacle must be arranged to be weatherproof with the cord and plug connected, in accordance with Sec. 410-57(b).
These landscape lighting systems may also be used to supply submersible fixtures in fountains. In these cases, the transformer will have an isolated secondary to comply with Sec. 680-5(a), as required in Sec. 680-51(a) Ex. of the NEC. The lighting system will be marked "For Use With Submersible Fixtures Or Submersible Pumps." Be careful here! This product category is only for decorative fountains not intended for swimming or wading.
Note that underwater lighting fixtures intended for use in swimming pools are listed in a different category entirely. These fixtures, even if below 15V, must meet additional requirements. As in the case of Art. 411 systems, this wiring will originate at an isolating transformer. The secondary conductors from this transformer must never enter raceways or other enclosures with other conductors, however, in accordance with Sec. 680-5(c). GFCI protection is not required for these systems.
In general, however, these systems will be wired in the same way and using the same wiring methods as 120V lighting in the same environment. About the only other difference is that a potted, flush deck box can be used [Sec. 680-21(a)(4) Ex.], instead of the elevated swimming pool junction box required at line voltage. In any case, you must use a fixture listed as one of the forms of "Underwater Lighting Fixture For Swimming Pool." UL reserves the term "submersible" for underwater use in fountains, etc, not swimming pools and spas.


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The morning the first cruise missiles hit Baghdad, on March 20th, I was in a suite at the Al Rashid hotel, in a room facing south, which provided good reception for satellite phones and a panoramic view of some primary targets: the telecommunications tower; several grand domed palaces; and the headquarters of the Mukhabarat, the secret police. I was awake around five-thirty and heard a big, muted whoomping noise. Then my bed moved, as if there had been an earthquake rather far away. I thought I heard a high-flying jet go past, followed by anti-aircraft fire and air-raid sirens. There was more firing and, as a light-blue dawn broke, silence, except for the sound of a rooster crowing, birds singing, and a muezzin calling out "allahu akbar" over and over. Not long afterward, Paul McGeough, the correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald, who was staying in the next room, received a phone message from his office saying that we had to move out of the Al Rashid because it was "a high-value target."
There had been rumors all week that the Al Rashid would be hit, perhaps because, it was said, there was a secret Presidential bunker under it, or because a tunnel linked it to Saddam Hussein's main palace complex across the street, or simply because it was in the way of missiles headed for the palaces or key office buildings nearby. Journalists had been hedging their bets about where to stay once the bombing started, booking rooms in several hotels and moving back and forth. The night before the missile attack, McGeough and I shared a dirty little room with two single beds in the Palestine Hotel, a run-down place that was built in the nineteen-eighties, during the Iran-Iraq war, on the other side of the Tigris River. The Palestine was popular because it overlooks the palace complex but isn't uncomfortably close to it. We were able to get a room when a Canadian news organization ordered its reporter to get out of the country and he gave us his keys, but we were so miserable there that we moved back to the Al Rashid, where the gardeners were still watering the lawn and clipping the shrubs, and where enough of our colleagues were staying that we felt the safety of good company, if not numbers.
I had hoped to stay in my favorite hotel in Baghdad, the Al Safeer, a small, family-run place on Abu Nawas street, on the same side of the river as the Palestine. I stashed food and water and other emergency supplies—candles, matches, batteries—there and visited several times in the days leading up to the war. The Al Safeer is near some open-air fish restaurants, which, in normal times, are brightly lit and jovial, with Middle Eastern music blaring from speakers on the walls. Many of the houses in the neighborhood are dilapidated mansions, with wrought-iron balconies and arched windows and doors. Farther down Abu Nawas from the Al Safeer there are several art galleries, a theatre, and a café where men sit outside and play dominoes. Narrow lanes run from Abu Nawas to Sadoun Street, a boulevard lined with watch shops and kebab restaurants and movie houses. The week before President Bush announced that President Hussein had forty-eight hours to get out of town, the movies running on Sadoun Street included "American Pie," a teen-sex film, and "Inner Sanctum," a thriller that, judging from the garish illustrations on the billboard advertising it, must be pretty gruesome.
My driver, Sabah, would often take me for a haircut and a shave on one of the back streets near the Al Safeer, at a small barbershop owned by a man named Karim, who has been cutting Sabah's hair for thirty years. Karim served us sweet black tea, in little glass cups and saucers, from the chaikhana, the teahouse, just across the street. Sometimes, late in the evening, we would smoke apple-flavored tobacco in a nargileh—a water pipe—at another teahouse nearby, which is owned by an Egyptian who came to Iraq years ago, when it was a wealthy country and immigrant workers flooded in from all over the Middle East. Many immigrants from those days, including quite a few Sudanese, still live in the neighborhood. The streets are dirty now, with uncollected garbage and rubble lying about, but it is my favorite part of Baghdad.
The Al Fanar, another small hotel on Abu Nawas Street, right next to the Palestine and a half mile or so from the Al Safeer, was filled by a cosmopolitan group of people who had come to Baghdad to show their solidarity with the Iraqis and to protest the war. One of them, an Irish-American in his early fifties named Patrick Dillon, insisted that I accept his copy of Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" as a gift. Dillon is a distinctive figure. He is very pale and he always wears black clothing. His head is shaved, and there is a tattoo of the crosshairs of a rifle on the back of his skull. He told me that he came to Baghdad to make a movie inspired by "Le Petit Soldat," Jean Luc Godard's second film, which was made in 1960, during the last years of the Algerian war for independence from France. The narrator of Godard's film is a deserter from the French army who works for a right-wing terrorist organization (more or less the O.A.S.), and who has come to Geneva to assassinate an important commentator for the Arab side of things. The movie is full of moral and narrative ambiguities, and has some nasty scenes of torture. Dillon said that he had served as a soldier in Vietnam and had been obsessed with war and killing ever since. He said that he had also spent time in Northern Ireland, Somalia, and Kosovo, sometimes as a filmmaker and sometimes as a relief worker. "I love death," he said to me, enthusiastically. "I know it's wrong, but I do. Don't you? Isn't that why you're here?"
Before Dillon left me his copy of "Heart of Darkness," he read aloud the passage from which the title is derived: "The reaches opened before us and closed behind, as if the forest had stepped leisurely across the water to bar the way for our return. We penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness. It was very quiet there." His voice was reverent, and he repeated the passage, then turned to me: "Doesn't that just fucking say it all? The heart of darkness. That's where we are, right here, right now, in fucking Baghdad." Later, I found a note that he had left in the book for me. "I've been shooting my eyeballs out, the underworld of sewage streets and feral packs of night children who remind me of me," he wrote, "and always on the verge of tears because of what Curtis 'Bombs Away' LeMay invented in Japan, evolved in the valleys of N. Korea and perfected in Vietnam, the firebomb, which is about to erase whatever is left of Iraqi life as it was known and lived and celebrated for what, four or five thousand years? But what's one or two or a hundred cultures or ethnicities tossed into the dustbin of history, among friends, right? . . . I've moved my bed away from the balcony sliding doors and taped the great panes of glass in cross-shaped patterns but I'll be damned if I can find any earplugs. What kind of a dump is this, hey?" I liked Dillon, but I worried about him. I saw him quite often as I drove around the streets near the Al Fanar. He would be striding purposefully along the sidewalk, and he was always alone.
The prelude to the war in Iraq attracted many eccentrics to Baghdad, among them a Russian photojournalist who wore a green paratrooper's outfit and a tall, blond human shield named Gordon Sloan, who was famous for having participated in the Australian version of "Big Brother." He had been filmed naked in the shower, and was subsequently known as Donkey Boy. Another human shield, Godfrey Meynell, a retired British civil servant, wept often and recited Kipling and Gerard Manley Hopkins. Korean feminists and Green Party activists mingled with more well-known visitors. Ramsey Clark, Dan Rather, Yevgeny Primakov, and Alexandra Vodjanikova, the current Miss Germany, all passed through the lobby of the Al Rashid, where the famous floor mosaic of the first George Bush had been carpeted over (because, it was said, Hans Blix did not want to be photographed stepping on it). Alexandra Vodjanikova hoped to discuss peace with Saddam Hussein, and although she did not get this opportunity, she was invited to dinner by Saddam's priapic and psychotic elder son, Uday. It is not known how their evening went, because the next morning Miss Germany left the country with nary a word to the press corps.
A few days after Patrick Dillon gave me his copy of "Heart of Darkness," he said that he was rereading Orwell's "1984," another of his favorite books. He was very excited about the imminent war, he said, and had found some wonderful subjects for his film: a group of child violinists who were learning to play Sibelius, and an Iraqi man who had returned from London, where he had been living for thirty years, and taken on the Sisyphean task of restoring a boat owned by his father. The boat had sunk in the Tigris during the bombing of Baghdad by the Americans in 1991. The man had raised it from the depths and was painstakingly working on it. "The trick to the film is to come back after the bombing, and see which of them has survived," Dillon said. "That's the story. Will any of us survive? Will you survive? Have you thought about that?" He laughed.
As war approached, most Iraqis I met seemed to be oddly neutral about the prospect. They were concerned about their families, but were not visibly hostile toward the West, or toward Americans. I had the impression that there was widespread, if privately held, support for regime change. I had a number of unmonitored conversations with Baghdadis, and several spoke to me with a candor that would have been unthinkable just a few weeks earlier. One day, as I was standing near the Tigris River with an Iraqi man, he said, "If God wills, Bush will bomb Saddam into the river. But not the people. Just Saddam. And Tikrit." Tikrit is Saddam's home town, and most of his close associates are from there. "If God wills, Tikrit will be flattened," the man said. He spat, and called Tikritis "camels' offspring" and a series of other pithy epithets in Arabic.
I was invited to dinner one night at the home of a senior government official, a man I will call Firas. There were a few other guests—educated, well-to-do Iraqi men who were friends of his. I told Firas that I hoped to stay in Baghdad during the war, and he said he thought that the rumors about the Al Rashid being a target were credible. He said he assumed that his ministry would be bombed, but he didn't say that this was a terrible thing, or that the Americans were embarking on a criminal enterprise by going to war with his government.
Firas grilled Gulf shrimp on a portable charcoal grill in the kitchen, and his guests sat in the living room drinking Lebanese arrack and eating warm pistachios, cashews, and almonds. Whenever Firas joined us, he would pick up the remote control of the TV and flip channels, following the news on CNN, Iraqi state TV, and Al Jazeera. Then he got interested in "My Best Friend's Wedding," which was playing on a satellite movie channel. He laughed delightedly at the scene where Cameron Diaz sings badly in a karaoke bar. Throughout the evening, Firas was interruptedby phone calls, including one from his boss, who wanted to talk about the eleventh-hour invitation to Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei to return to Baghdad to discuss Iraq's offer of "accelerated coöperation" on the issue of disarmament. When he got off the phone, Firas turned to me and shrugged, as if to say he knew that it was already too late to stop the war, but he had his official duties to perform. "What else can we do?" he said.
As we ate the shrimp, Firas began flipping channels again, and found another movie, "Six Days, Seven Nights," starring Harrison Ford and Anne Heche as two mismatched people who crash-land on a deserted South Sea island. The movie was subtitled in Arabic, and Firas kept the sound turned down, but it was pretty easy to follow. Ford and Heche feuded and fought and then, predictably, fell in love. Firas and his Iraqi guests were transfixed. I said that it seemed a little strange to be sitting here in Baghdad watching a Hollywood film a few days before the American attack, and they nodded vigorously and laughed, then turned back to the television set.
The day after Bush set the deadline for Saddam to leave, I visited the home of Sameer, an Iraqi violinist. Sameer and his wife and children live in a modest but comfortable house in a residential section of Baghdad. Sameer leads a chamber-music group, but he earns his living as a violin teacher at a Baghdad music school for children. He has taught three of his four childen to play instruments, and he wanted to show me what they could do. The children were excited. They squeezed together on the couch in the sitting room, whispering and fidgeting. Large wooden bureaus had been placed in front of the windows, and the furniture was covered with drop cloths. Sameer went first. He stood in front of a music stand and played a sweet, mournful étude. Then Hamid, his ten-year-old son, played his own little violin while his father stood next to him, gently directing him with his hand. One of Sameer's daughters played a piece for flute, and his eldest child, a twelve-year-old girl, played the piano. Sameer apologized about the piano being out of tune. He said that the violin strings were not in the best shape, either. They were second-rate strings from Turkey and China. "It's impossible to get professional violin strings in Baghdad," he said sadly.
During the family concert, Sameer's wife, a pretty woman with deep-blue eyes, had stayed in the kitchen, and I went in to say hello. She was sitting at a table making small face masks with a needle and thread. She put cotton balls and charcoal inside a gauze pouch that would cover the mouth and nose, and little loops of cloth to fasten the masks around the ears. I asked her what they were for, and she smiled shyly. "They are masks, for the smoke, for the children," she said. I asked her if the children knew what was about to happen. She shook her head. "No, they don't, really. They just know there will be a lot of noise and smoke." The children had come into the room and were standing around, smiling and staring timidly at me.
Later, in the bunkerlike front room and out of earshot of the children, I asked Sameer what his plans were. He wanted to take his family out before the bombing began, to Jordan, he said. He had the right papers to leave, but he had so far been unable to get enough gas for the journey. He didn't know yet if he would manage it in time; there were huge lines at all the gas stations in town. But he was going to try. He nodded toward his children. "I don't want them to go through this," he said. I asked if he needed any help. He looked embarrassed and shook his head, thanking me for the offer. When I drove away, the whole family was standing outside, and the children were smiling and waving.
Iraqis who had homes in the countryside or relatives in villages outside of Baghdad were fleeing the city. An Iraqi friend of mine who lives in a Shia neighborhood in the western suburbs was staying, but he told me that his three closest neighbors had locked up their houses and gone to Karbala, two hours to the south. They had asked him to look after their houses while they were away. Western journalists also began evacuating, leaving in a succession of convoys of GMC Suburbans headed for the Jordanian border. The normal fare for the ten-hour journey to Amman, two hundred dollars, had leaped to five hundred by noon of the day after Bush's speech. By that afternoon, it was seven hundred. Most of the reporters had been ordered out of the country by their news organizations, following Colin Powell's warning that all Westerners in Iraq were at risk. Some people had become nervous after receiving warnings from Iraqi Information Ministry officials that they could not guarantee their safety—a possible allusion to their being taken hostage by Saddam's intelligence services.
The last diplomats and U.N. inspectors in Baghdad were expected to leave the next morning, and the atmosphere in the hotels and at the Information Ministry became increasingly tense. Journalists had to pay their bills before they left the country. Fees to the government usually amounted to two hundred dollars plus fifty thousand Iraqi dinars—equivalent to another twenty dollars—per day. One American television network left behind three huge flour sacks full of dinars at the cashier's desk at the Al Rashid, a hotel employee told me in an awed voice. Until recently, the largest Iraqi notes in circulation were two-hundred-and-fifty-dinar notes, worth about ten cents; a few weeks ago, mercifully, ten-thousand-dinar notes began appearing. Paying off the press center was an immensely frustrating process that sometimes took several hours. There was a single cashier there, who was required to note the serial number of each U.S. bill. Once that tedious procedure was over, various officials had to be found to sign off on things.
The Al Rashid began emptying out. The day before, thinking of moving myself, I had revisited the Al Safeer to see how I felt about being there, and realized that it was probably not a good option after all. There were virtually no other journalists staying there, and I could easily be isolated and cut off from information when the war began. It was a moot point anyway, I discovered, as the managers let it be known that they had been told not to rent rooms to journalists. On Tuesday morning, Paul Mcgeough and I moved to the Palestine, and back to the Rashid the next day. By then, Baghdad had become an eerie place. There were few civilians on the streets, and most of the shops were shuttered, their windows taped with large X's. The traffic on the roads had thinned out considerably, and quite a few vehicles were filled with men in uniform, going here and there in a hurry. Policemen wearing old-fashioned helmets stood at intersections with their weapons, and throughout the city knots of militiamen and soldiers had assembled on street corners. Most of the foxholes and sandbagged dugouts that had begun appearing throughout the capital in the past four or five days, and had sat empty, were now manned by men with guns.
By Wednesday afternoon, there were few foreigners remaining in Iraq. The night before, the price of a car journey to Amman had reached thirteen hundred dollars, and reports had begun to filter back about journalists—mostly Americans and British, but also some Spaniards and at least one Norwegian relief worker—who had run into problems with the authorities while trying to leave the country. Most, it seemed, had been strip-searched, and detained on previously unenforced currency violations. Either they had been brought back to Baghdad or, depending on the rumors one heard, they were being held in detention in the city of Ramadi, west of Baghdad.
The prospect of being stuck in an Iraqi jail during an American bombing campaign seemed to rule out the option of leaving, and by late afternoon on Wednesday the lobby of the Al Rashid, which had had a funereal appearance just twenty-four hours before, when all the journalists headed over to the unpleasant Palestine, was once again thrumming with activity. At around 5 p.m., the men who run the Internet Center on the ground floor informed their customers that they would be closing earlier than usual, in two hours' time. As customers finished at the computers, the men turned them off, unplugged them, and began packing them away into cardboard boxes. Out in the lobby, I noticed that all the floor-to-ceiling windows that look onto the garden had been taped, and in the outer foyer, opposite the kilim shop, the windows were not only taped but covered with beautifully woven rugs. It felt as though you were walking through a luxurious Bedouin tent.
I went for a drive at dusk, through almost empty streets. Here and there, families were loading refrigerators, butane cannisters, and other belongings onto small flatbed trucks. While we were stopped at a traffic light, a man in the car next to us, a rustic-looking character in a red-and-white checked kaffiyeh head scarf, pointed a Kalashnikov out the window and began loading the clip. I heard a metallic-sounding click, and the man put the gun away as the light changed. People were stopping their cars to buy items from men and women who stood beside stands with little mounds of stacked-up wares—kerosene lamps, cans of infant formula, instant coffee, luncheon meat, jugs of soybean oil with the logo of the World Food Programme. Two young men at one of the stands looked at me in surprise and pointed at the sky. One of them asked in broken English if I was staying in Iraq for the war. I shrugged and nodded, and he smiled and said that he hoped I didn't get killed. We shook hands. I told him that I hoped he didn't get killed, either.
After the "decapitation" strike against Saddam early on Thursday morning, Paul McGeough and I moved back to the Palestine for good. The lobby was swarming with secret police, journalists, and some pretty eccentric-looking human shields, including one with long dreadlocks and pierced ears who wore black Kurdish pantaloons with a saggy rear end. In a new traffic island behind the hotel, next to a big statue of Saddam, one of the Korean feminist groups had hung a banner protesting sexual abuse.
The second strike came on Thursday evening, and when I looked out my window I noticed that several Iraqis were sitting on lawn chairs on the sidewalk in front of the entrance to a small hotel nearby, as if nothing much were happening and they were just enjoying the fresh evening air. There were three big hits quite close to us, but across the river, and we watched the fires from our balcony. We could see a few cars driving around, even over the bridges. Dogs barked, and the river looked as calm as olive oil, with just a shimmer of motion on the surface.
The next morning, I visited the home of a highly placed Iraqi professional, a man I will call Mr. Hassan, who began reminiscing about the sixties, when many Iraqis of his generation went to England and the United States to study. He had been a student at a provincial English university. It was one of the best times of his life, he said. Something had happened then, a simple thing, that was one of his most enduring memories, and he had been thinking of it that morning. He had travelled to London one day, to the Iraqi Embassy in Queen's Gate, to get a paper signed. "There was a porter who worked there, a man who had been at the Embassy forever," Mr. Hassan said. "He was a big, tall fellow, and English, but he had lived in Iraq and had been with the Embassy so long that he seemed completely Iraqi. I told him who I wanted to see and he told me to sit down and wait. After a long time, more than an hour and a half, I asked him why it was taking so long. He said that the person I was waiting for had gone out and that I should come back the next day. This made me very angry, of course. I had waited two hours, I said. The porter looked at his watch and told me I was lying. I had waited only an hour and a half.
"There was no point in arguing with the man," Mr. Hassan said. "But I was so furious that I told him I wouldn't leave. The porter stared at me for a moment and took a painting of the then President of Iraq, Abdul Salam Arif, down from the wall and brought it over to me. The frame was very loosely attached. He shoved the painting under my nose. 'Look,' he said, and he lifted the portrait up. Underneath was the picture of the President's predecessor, Abdul Karim Qasim. And there were other layers of portraits. I think the last one he showed me was of King Faisal." Mr. Hassan is something of a philosopher. "I think the porter was trying to tell me that Iraq's leaders came and went and it didn't matter to him, because he was always there. And as for me, I was of no consequence at all." Mr. Hassan smiled and arched his eyebrows.
That night, the "shock and awe" bombardment began. The first bombs hit precisely at nine o'clock, and we had a front-row view of the conflagration. There were huge blasts, simultaneous concussions with aftershocks that knocked us back. I forgot to put my earplugs in. The Republican Palace and a huge, ugly, pyramid-shaped building some ten stories high were hit several times and burned robustly. Fireballs were followed by white flashes that lit up the sky. Debris flew through the air from a couple of the blasts as buildings took direct hits. What must have been a cruise missile smashed into the roof of the Council of Ministers, and a huge orange plume of flame rose up. A big white dog loped down the center of Abu Nawas Street, followed, some minutes later, by a man on a bicycle, pedalling along in no apparent hurry. I heard a donkey bray. The night sky, which was a deep blue, was filled with columns of black and gray smoke. The Al Rashid was still standing. ♦


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In celebration of what would have been Sergei Rachmaninoff's 141st birthday, I'm super excited to announce the release of my brand new solo album. From the heavenly heights of Bach's French Suite No. 5 to the fiery depths of hell portrayed in Rachmaninoff's Piano Sonata No. 1, the album makes for a thoroughly unearthly and transcendent journey.
Together they represent my personal journey as a pianist: I first played the French Suite as a fledgling pianist growing up in Minnesota, and the sonata I began years later as a doctoral student at Yale University. They are forever special to me; I hope that you'll similarly find meaning and beauty while exploring them.
- Learn more about the album here.
- Buy the album from CD Baby or iTunes.
- Read the program notes for Bach and for Rachmaninoff.


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- Premier League round-up
Spurs stun United, Chelsea sink Arsenal
This season ESPN Goals is completely free. It's the first place to see every goal from every Premier League game, all season long
Manchester United lost ground on Chelsea after Tottenham claimed their first victory at Old Trafford since 1989, while the Blues passed the first major test of their Premier League title aspirations as they beat Arsenal.
Manchester City and Everton remain in hot pursuit of the leaders after they both came from behind to beat Fulham and Southampton respectively, while Luis Suarez scored a hat-trick as Liverpool hammered Norwich.
Tottenham broke their Old Trafford hoodoo as they held off Manchester United for a 3-2 victory.
Jan Vertonghen gave the visitors an early lead before Gareth Bale doubled Spurs' advantage after the half-hour mark. Wayne Rooney came off the bench to set up Nani, but in a frantic second-half spell it was immediately cancelled out by Clint Dempsey, only for Shinji Kagawa to keep United's hopes alive after a third goal inside two minutes.
Rooney hit the post with a free-kick and former Arsenal striker Robin van Persie wasted a chance to equalise after firing wide. Patrice Evra then saw his header saved by Brad Friedel as Tottenham hung on for a memorable victory.
Chelsea beat Arsenal 2-1 in the lunchtime kick-off to cement their advantage at the top of the Premier League table.
Juan Mata's free-kick just eight minutes into the second half proved the difference for Roberto Di Matteo's side, as the Spaniard's flighted, inswinging delivery from 35 yards out caught out Gunners goalkeeper Vito Mannone - brushing Laurent Koscielny's outstretched leg before slipping inside the far post.
Prior to that Fernando Torres had opened the scoring for the Blues, turning in another Mata dead ball from a similar position as his marker Koscielny found himself muscled out of position, before Gervinho turned home from inside the box just before half-time to briefly restore parity.
Both sides then had numerous opportunities to score in the second half, with Santi Cazorla and substitute Olivier Giroud both guilty of wasting decent chances to gain a share of the spoils for the home side.
Edin Dzeko grabbed all three points for Manchester City as they kept pace with leaders Chelsea after his late winner sank Fulham 2-1 at Craven Cottage.
Sergio Aguero scored his first goal of the season to equalise for the champions from close range after Mladen Petric's penalty, before substitute Dzeko rescued City with his 87th-minute striker.
With former Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov unavailable for Fulham through injury, Petric proved a worthy replacement as he scored from the spot in the 10th minute after Pablo Zabaleta brought down John Arne Riise.
The Croat had the chance to double Fulham's lead after Hugo Rodallega broke down the left, but Petric scuffed his effort over the bar. Aguero was guilty of an equally poor effort after he could only find the side-netting but atoned for his miss to equalise for City shortly before the break.
City looked set to leave London with just a point, but Dzeko pounced with three minutes remaining to smash home from close range after Mario Balotelli's header was blocked.
Hat-trick hero Suarez crowned an impressive Liverpool performance as they climbed out of the bottom three after hammering Norwich 5-2 at Carrow Road.
Suarez, who also scored three at Carrow Road last season, got the visitors off to a flying start, firing a low strike past John Ruddy from the edge of the area inside two minutes. He continued to terrorise the defence, and after being denied a penalty claim and firing a shot wide, he added his second after dispossessing Michael Turner.
Nuri Sahin made it three with a neat finish right at the start of the second half before Suarez completed his hat-trick with a curling shot from the left of the area. Steven Gerrard also got on the scoresheet as Steve Morison and Grant Holt netted consolation goals for Norwich.
Nikica Jelavic scored twice as Everton's sparkling start to the season continued with a 3-1 win over Premier League newboys Southampton.
Gaston Ramirez nodded in Adam Lallana's corner to give the visitors a shock early lead, but Leon Osman smashed home the equaliser in the 25th minute. Jelavic put the home side ahead after a neat pass by Kevin Mirallas before sealing a fourth win in six league games with a header from Seamus Coleman's cross.
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew had Demba Ba to thank as the striker rescued a 2-2 draw against Pardew's former club Reading. However, it was not without controversy as the ball appeared to strike Ba's arm before sailing past Alex McCarthy.
After a goalless first half, a frantic five minutes saw Reading twice take the lead - Ba cancelling out Jimmy Kebe's opener with a sensational volley from the edge of the box before Noel Hunt nodded in Jobi McAnuff's cross shortly after the hour mark.
Peter Crouch scored both goals for Stoke as they claimed their first win in 12 Premier League matches with a 2-0 win over Swansea.
Steven Fletcher scored his fifth goal of the season as Sunderland beat ten-man Wigan 1-0 at the Stadium of Light. After Simon Mignolet had produced a string of world-class saves to keep the Black Cats in the first-half, Jordi Gomez's sending off proved pivotal.
Wigan were reduced to ten men after Gomez was shown straight red for his challenge on Danny Rose shortly after the break, and Sunderland capitalised immediately, Fletcher meeting James McClean's ball to fire home.


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| League Unleashed!
First broadcast
English themes
Japanese themes
League Unleashed! (Japanese: 開幕!シンオウリーグ・スズラン大会!! Raise the Curtain! Sinnoh League - Suzuran Tournament!!) is the 183rd episode of the Diamond & Pearl series, and the 649th episode of the Pokémon anime. It aired in Japan on July 1, 2010 and in the United States on November 27, 2010.
|Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
As Round One of the Sinnoh League gets under way, Ash learns he will be battling none other than his friend, the musician Nando. Our heroes also run into Paul, who is planning to use his trademark analytical strategy. And then Ash literally runs into a very confident and excited Barry!
Battling in a three-on-three format, Ash and Nando initially appear to be evenly matched. But as Ash's desire for a real head-to-head battle takes hold, Nando becomes fascinated with the action—and a bit distracted in the process. After a moment, he manages to clear his head and battle back using his own style. Finally, Ash claims victory, but Nando is satisfied with his own efforts and bids our heroes a fond farewell. Conway and Barry catch up with our heroes to report that they both won their first-round battles. So did Paul—and an unknown Trainer who defeated his first opponent with a Darkrai!
Far from the action in the arena, Team Rocket has managed a victory of its own, successfully selling snacks for the crowds at the Sinnoh League. The team has been impressing the head of concessions, thanks to some smart sales strategizing by none other than Meowth!
Round Two of the Sinnoh League is soon to come, and we leave our heroes looking forward to even more battle action!
After learning he would be battling Nando first, Ash exchanges wishes of good luck with him. Later, the gang is sitting together, thinking about Ash's strategy. Brock tells him that Nando often uses Bug- and Grass-type Pokémon, and so Fire-, Flying-, and Ice-type Pokémon would be effective. Dawn also reminds Ash that Nando used a Lopunny, a Normal type, in the Sinnoh Grand Festival.
Just then, Paul walks past them. Ash stops him and tells him that he's going to give it his all so that he can face Paul in the finals, but Paul says that Ash is pathetic. 'Giving it his all' wouldn't mean anything, because everyone there had already earned eight Badges.
Meanwhile, inside a room, a woman is giving a talk to the vendors. Team Rocket is also there among all the vendors. They had all drawn lots to see where they would set up shop. Jessie is angry as their booth will be lot #139, which is out in the back of the complex, away from the others, but James and Meowth tell her that with some Team Rocket ingenuity, they can make do.
Late at night, Ash ponders on what Paul said, causing him to second-guess his strategy. Frustrated, he retreats goes to the balcony and begins looking at eight shining stars in the sky. Ash remembers how he won his Badges by believing in his Pokémon and with that, he decides it is how it always has been, and always will be, and that's how he can beat Nando.
The next morning, Ash swaps out his team with Professor Oak at the Pokémon Center. Dawn asks him what Pokémon he plans to use against Nando, but Ash says that it's a secret. Just then, Barry runs by and crashes into Ash. After a brief argument, he remembers that he's late for his first battle and runs off. While Dawn wonders what kind of team Barry has put together, Conway suddenly appears behind her, reminding her that he can answer any question she has. He then slinks away, snickering.
Outside the stadium, Team Rocket are selling their merchandise in their distant stall. Not a single person is there. Jessie sends out Seviper to forcibly bring in customers, but James and Meowth discourage her. Meowth already has a great idea.
Inside the stadium, Barry had just won his first match, and will be moving on to the next battle. He passes by a man and feels a frightening chill.
Finally, Ash's battle against Nando is about to begin. The gang cheers him on. Nando sends out his Roserade as his first Pokémon and Ash sends out his Staraptor, which is a type advantage over Roserade. Nando gets the first move, and tells Roserade to use Sweet Scent, which Staraptor fails to dodge. Then, Roserade uses Magical Leaf, hitting Staraptor once again. Staraptor falls, and Nando tells Roserade to use Solar Beam. As Roserade is preparing to launch its Solar Beam, Ash begs Staraptor to stand up and dodge. Roserade launches its Solar Beam, but at the last second, Staraptor opens its eyes, and an explosion occurs. Staraptor flies out of the smoke, which astonishes both Nando and Roserade. Ash tells Staraptor to use Brave Bird, and hits Roserade, which knocks Roserade out, but Staraptor is affected by the recoil damage. Nando recalls Roserade and sends out Armaldo. Dawn checks it with her Pokédex. Ash realizes that Staraptor is worn out, so he tells it to use Close Combat, but Armaldo suddenly uses Protect, causing Staraptor to fall back. Then, Armaldo uses Rock Blast, knocking out Staraptor.
With Dawn and Brock discussing Ash's situation, Barry runs down the stairs and stands in front of Brock and Dawn, and tells them that an unknown Trainer has entered the competition with a powerful Darkrai. Dawn doesn't listen to what Barry says and continues cheering for Ash. Barry gets angry that he isn't being listened to, but then turns and sees that Ash is battling. Barry sits down to watch Ash, who sends out his Quilava and tells it to do its best. Meanwhile, outside the stadium, Team Rocket is putting their plan into action. They are now in the middle of the complex, giving merchandise away.
Back in the stadium, Quilava is shown to be knocked away, but both Armaldo and Quilava are running out of steam. Nando tells Armaldo to use X-Scissor, and Ash tells Quilava to use Aerial Ace. Both attacks collide. Armaldo is out for the count, but with the strong impact of the X-Scissor, Quilava is knocked out too. The match results in a draw.
Back in the stands, Conway appears again, scaring Dawn and Barry. Conway introduces himself to Barry, who hasn't met him yet. Nando sends out his last Pokémon, Kricketune, and Ash sends out his Heracross. Ash tells Heracross to use Megahorn, and Kricketune counters with Silver Wind, the impact sends Heracross flying. Nando tells Kricketune to use Sing, and Heracross falls asleep, falling to the ground. Then, Kricketune uses Fury Cutter, and Ash tells Heracross to use its newly learned Sleep Talk. Heracross dodges the Fury Cutter, and uses Focus Punch continuously, while awaking up, and Kricketune counters it with another Fury Cutter. The two continue to attack with Paul watching the battle on the television. A strong impact from both attacks send both Pokémon flying. Nando then tells Kricketune to use Sing but just as it is about to use the move, Ash tells Heracross to use Megahorn in the ground. The Megahorn hits the ground and it stamps its feet, using Horn Attack to send Kricketune flying. With the strong power, Kricketune is knocked out, and Ash is the winner. Heracross flies over to Ash and sucks on his head and the gang cheers him on. Conway laughs and disappears once again.
Outside the stadium, Team Rocket has lots of customers at their booth. Selma says to herself that she will have to get them a better booth. Nando thanks Ash for the great battle and then leaves. Then, Paul is shown winning his battle. Brock tells Ash about the Trainer with the Darkrai. Ash is surprised at first, but becomes excited about battling a strong foe. The episode ends with Ash and the gang, Paul, Barry, Conway and the mysterious Trainer with the Darkrai.
Major events
- Nando is revealed to have obtained an Armaldo.
- Ash's Quilava is revealed to have learned Aerial Ace.
- Ash's Heracross is revealed to have learned Sleep Talk and Focus Punch.
- Ash wins his first round battle against Nando, advancing to the second round.
- Barry, Conway, Tobias, and Paul also make it through the first round.
- Ash learns that a mysterious Trainer has entered the tournament with a Darkrai.
- For a list of all major events in the anime, please see the timeline of events.
- Tobias (shadow)
Pokémon debuts
- Ash
- Dawn
- Brock
- Jessie
- James
- Paul
- Barry
- Nando
- Conway
- Cynthia
- Tobias (shadow)
- Mr. Goodshow
- Selma
- Audience
- Referee
- Trainers
- Merchants
- Pikachu (Ash's)
- Meowth (Team Rocket)
- Piplup (Dawn's)
- Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
- Heracross (Ash's)
- Quilava (Ash's)
- Staraptor (Ash's)
- Aipom (Ash's; flashback)
- Chimchar (Ash's; flashback)
- Infernape (Ash's; flashback)
- Turtwig (Ash's; flashback)
- Buizel (Ash's; flashback)
- Gliscor (Ash's; flashback)
- Seviper (Jessie's)
- Roserade (Nando's)
- Kricketune (Nando's)
- Armaldo (Nando's)
- Lopunny (Nando's; flashback)
- Empoleon (Barry's)
- Rampardos (Roark's; flashback)
- Roserade (Gardenia's; flashback)
- Lucario (Maylene's; flashback)
- Floatzel (Crasher Wake's; flashback)
- Drifblim (Fantina's; flashback)
- Bastiodon (Byron's; flashback)
- Abomasnow (Candice's; flashback)
- Luxray (Volkner's; flashback)
- Darkrai (Tobias's; flashback)
- Azurill (Trainer's)
- Nosepass (Trainer's)
- Cherubi (kid's)
- Delcatty (boy's)
- Natu (young man's)
- Oddish (boy's)
- Skiploom (girl's)
- Whismur (girl's)
- Marill (boy's)
- Poliwag (girl's)
- Gloom (girl's)
- Starly (young man's)
- Aipom (man's)
- Machamp (Trainer's; flashback)
- The Greatest - Everyday! (BAND VERSION) replaced the original version of the song as the Japanese opening theme, without any changes in animation.
- In Your Heart, LaLaLa replaced Which One ~ Is It? as the Japanese ending theme.
- There is no Professor Oak's Big Pokémon Examination following this episode.
- This was the last episode to air before Zoroark: Master of Illusions debuted in Japanese theaters.
- This episode marks the first time that a Trainer has entered a Mythical Pokémon in a Pokémon League Conference, the Pokémon in question being Darkrai.
- From this episode onward during the remainder of the arc, Team Rocket doesn't blast off or recite the motto in any form.
- This episode marks the final appearance of Nando.
- When Jessie sends out Seviper, it is smaller than her, being the same size it was in A Tail with a Twist.
- During the flashback of Ash's Gym battles, Turtwig is shown defeating Roark's Rampardos with Magical Leaf, despite the fact that Turtwig actually defeated Rampardos with Razor Leaf and is in fact unable to learn Magical Leaf. This might just be a coloration error, however.
- When Kricketune and Heracross are clashing with Fury Cutter and Focus Punch, respectively, at the end, Kricketune is knocked back after the red flash, and Heracross is knocked back after the white flash, although it should be the other way around since Kricketune's Fury Cutter is colored red, and Heracross's Focus Punch is colored white.
- Heracross uses Focus Punch via Sleep Talk. However, Sleep Talk cannot call Focus Punch in any generation.
- In the Polish dub, when discussing Nando's team, Ash omits Swellow and mentions Cyndaquil, despite it evolving in the previous episode.
Dub edits
In other languages
|Mandarin Chinese
|De League gaat los!
|Liiga pääsee vauhtiin!
|Das Turnier ist eröffnet
|Turnamen Kota Lily! Pertarungan Liga Sinnoh Dimulai!!
|La Lega ha inizio!
|Ligaen er i gang!
|Ligowe emocje!
|Liga Descontrolada!
|Os Futuros Vencedores da Liga Sinnoh!
|Latin America
|¡La Liga Desencadenada!
|¡Liga desenfrenada!
|Ligan i full gång!
|This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime.


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