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- Wladimir Klitschko v Mariusz Wach, heavyweight
Dominant Klitschko mauls brave Wach
Wladimir Klitschko produced a supreme tribute to his former trainer Emanuel Steward to beat Mariusz Wach on points and defend his WBA, IBF, WBO & Ring Magazine titles.
Klitschko entered the ring for the first time since the death of legendary trainer Steward and he secured the 59th win of his career on points, but there was a brief threat of a shock as he was rocked by a big punch by Wach in the fifth.
But either side of those brief seconds in the fifth, Klitschko was his dominant best, breaking Wach down with his jab and slipping his opponent with his expert footwork - attributes drilled into him by Steward. Wach was simply broken down by a superior fighter and it was only his heart that got him through to the final bell.
For the first time in his career, Klitschko stepped into the ring to face a rival taller than him. It mattered little as his superb footwork and powerful right hand proved too classy for Wach.
There was razzmatazz and a Hollywood feel in Hamburg, as Sylvester Stallone gave a speech in the ring prior to the action getting underway.
When the action did start, it was Klitschko who got through with a snapping right inside 30 seconds and it handed him the confidence to walk forward against his bigger opponent. On at least four occasions in the first round Klitschko caught the challenger with crisp rights - which saw Wach's nose redden.
Wach made a play at the start of the second, as the pair exchanged shots and Klitschko was briefly off balance. But he quickly regained his composure to take the second round.
Klitschko, who came in with 58 wins from his 61 fights, last tasted defeat to Lamont Brewster in 2004. Steward transformed Klitschko from an ungainly brawler to a slick operator and those skills were all on show as he gradually broke down his opponent.
Klitschko and his brother Vitali are huge stars in Germany and he was roared on by a capacity crowd in Hamburg.
Despite having a height, weight and reach advantage, Wach seemed reluctant to come forward and engage with Klitschko. But towards the end of the fifth the Pole got through the Klitschko defences.
A big right hand rocked the champion, sending him back onto the ropes and forcing him to hold on for the final few seconds.
Wach did not attempt to follow up in the sixth and Klitschko regained control, unleashing a string of punishing jabs to tire his opponent. Wach proved his durability by taking some serious shots, but Klitschko stepped it up in the seventh and he caught his opponent - threatening a stoppage only for the bell to intervene with his opponent backed up on the ropes.
Wach was a spent force in the eighth round, but to his credit he kept coming. He was proving nothing more than target practice and some serious shots were landed, but the referee allowed the contest to continue.
Klitschko took the foot off the pedal in ninth and 10th but it proved only brief respite for Wach as the punishment started again in the 11th. Wach had nothing left as an attacking force, but he kept Klitschko at bay to take the fight to the judges.
The totting up of the scores was a mere formality, but for the record the judges went in Klitschko's favour 120-107, 120-107, 119-109.


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Halloween is coming, so here are a few of my favourite horror movies from the past dozen years that don't have sexual violence in them.
Edit: I removed Let the Right One In from the list, and replaced it with The Others.
(G) - Gore.
(FS) - Foreign language/Subtitled.
(SA) - Stupid but awesome anyway.
(?) A caution.
1. The Others
It is perfect in almost every way, and builds atmosphere and tension as much through character as through setting and circumstance. It is creepy as fuck, and has a twist at the end that not only makes perfect sense, but which only makes the movie more interesting and satisfying to watch. I watch this movie at least once a year. It is a haunted house movie that understands why haunted house movies are scary. And it understands that sadness can be so much more chilling than gore.
2. The Ring
I love The Ring. I like it better than the original Japanese version, Ringu. Don't get me wrong - Ringu is an amazing movie, and it is not often that I like a remake better than the original film, but The Ring is so much fun. It keeps the creepy elements of the original while abandoning that film's slow tension in favor of a more streamlined thriller. It then wraps this all up in a nice mix of rural America and modern day city life, gives us characters we grow to like, and balances the jump scares with some really unnervingly strange images. This movie led to a whole slew of terrible immitators and other less competent attempts to bring J-Horror to American audiences, but don't hold that against it.
This movie is MESSED UP and horrifying. Two women are locked together in a house. The first is a pregnant woman who survived a recent car crash, and the second woman is trying to take the first's unborn baby from her with a pair of scissors. If you want an insane French bloodfest, look no further.
4. Pontypool
This is a zombie movie where most of the violence and action takes place in the viewer's imagination. It is shot almost entirely in a radio station, where the people trapped inside are trying to make sense of the reports they're getting from the outside world. Zombies do show up, and they're pretty gross, but they don't pass the virus on by biting people. This is a zombie virus passed on mimetically through language! This movie is a lot of fun, as long as you can look past the strange b-movie final scenes.
The best of the "found footage" horror movies. [REC] follows a news reporter and her cameraman on a job-shadowing assignment with some firemen. Before long they are all quarantined in an apartment complex with a quickly dwindling group of tennants. Some GREAT scares in this one. If you don't enjoy subtitles, you should check out QUARANTINE, the American remake. It is a very faithful remake, and just as good as the original I think. [REC] 2 is also well worth your time.
6. Wake Wood
This is almost more of a drama than a horror, though it is a very creepy and supernatural drama. It surprised me, because I thought I knew what kind of movie it was going to be from the synopsis. But, while it is a movie about how far two parents are willing to go to be reunited with their dead daughter, it is a much subtler take on it than Pet Semetary's theme of "Sometimes, dead is better."
7. Altered (G)
A straight-to-DVD horror movie that deserved a theatrical release, I think. It's about a group of men who were abducted when they were younger, and who have now captured one of the aliens and are trying to figure out what to do with it. It's funny and often charming and it has some good tense scenes where they struggle with their need for revenge and the knowledge of what that revenge will cost them.
8. Shaun of the Dead (G)
Good natured horror comedy about a well-meaning but selfish jerk trying to save his loved ones from an unexpected zombie apocalypse. Super fun, and often very gross. Lots of clever references both to other movies, and to other scenes within the movie itself. Fun forshadowing and visual echoing.
9. Splinter (G)
Another straight-to-DVD horror movie. Splinter takes place entirely in a gas station convenience store, where the characters find themselves trapped by some pretty insane looking monsters. The practical special effects in this movie are awesome, and it is plenty gross. I really enjoyed it.
10. Ruins (G) (SA)
Ruins was much more interesting and intelligent and CREEPY than I expected. And even when it starts getting stupider in the final 3rd of the movie, it's still a heck of a ride!
11. Thir13en Ghosts (G) (SA) (?)
Thirteen Ghosts is a movie in the true spirit of the William Castle original. It's totally more of a ride than a story. The big crazy mechanical house is a mechanism for moving the characters from one encounter to the next, and it moves us along with it. The alive people on screen are almost exclusively boring and obnoxious (with the exception of Matthew Lillard who is perfectly in his element here as a scenery chewing depraved psychic ghost hunting pillhead), but the ghosts are wonderful. The filmmakers put every bit of their love and care into the set design and the monster design, and as a showcase for those the movie is perfect. It's like a really interesting silent movie with the music replaced by idiotic dialogue. (?) The nude female ghost is implied to have killed herself, and cutting is almost implied - but in the most ridiculous cartoony way imaginable.
12. Amityville Horror (remake) (SA)
I should say first that I found the original Amityville Horror kind of stupid and boring. I really enjoyed this remake, even though it isn't really anything to write home about. It was well made, and Ryan Reynolds is charming and unexpectedly effective when he turns that charm off. There are also some great popcorn-horror weird scary scenes.
13. Behind the Mask: the rise of Leslie Vernon (G)
This was a fun faux-documentary style movie that turns into a more genuine horror movie at the end (which is the weakest part, I think.) The idea of ambitious journalists who are unsure how far to go in search of their story about a real life slasher is an interesting one. The killer himself is charming and candid in the behind the scenes parts, complaining about how much cardio he has to do and things. It's fun.

subset: commoncrawl


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From a quiet neighboorhood off N.C. 18 North in Shelby, Fred Wright produces roses that are shipped all over the country.
From a quiet neighboorhood off N.C. 18 North in Shelby, Fred Wright produces roses that are shipped all over the country.
The delicate blooms on the 200-plus bushes are pink, yellow, deep red or a blend of colors.
His roses are ranked among the top 10 or 12 in the nation, said Jan Dumas of Shelby, a consulting rosarian and member of the Cleveland-Lincoln Rose Society.
Wright has won 13 national awards for his show roses and was awarded the Queen of Hybrid Teas at a national show in Atlanta. The Queen award is the highest award an exhibitor can receive, Dumas said.
The public will have an opportunity to see Wright�s roses along with others from local gardeners or exhibitors from four or five states at the 40th annual Cleveland-Lincoln Rose Society show from 1 to 4 p.m. Sept. 28 at Cleveland Mall in Shelby.
Wright has been growing roses for 25 years or more and started hybridizing four years ago. Hybridizing is a tedious process that involves cross pollination and creating a seed pod from a rose bloom.
�I try to think of something I haven�t used before,� Wright said. �Every one you create will be different. It�s about like Christmas every day when they start blooming, because it�s something you�ve never seen before. I cross-pollinated a pink blend with a yellow and got a red bloom. I named it after my grandson, �Mr. Caleb.� It�s fun to name them after your family and friends.�
His first hybrid tea was named after his first wife, �Marlon�s Day.� The pink blend rose is ranked among the top roses by the American Rose Society. Since then, Wright has registered more than 30 roses with the national society. When he creates a new rose, he ships the cuttings to K&M Roses in Mississippi. They graft them on root stock and sell them to people all over the United States.
He grows Miniatures, Minifloras and Hybrid Teas by starting with only the best roses and root stock. He looks for flowers with good form as defined by the American Rose Society. To determine a rose�s form look straight down into a bloom. The petals of a rose with exhibition form spread out in a perfect spiral from a point in the center.
Roses with good form stay pretty longer, Wright said.
Showing roses and winning takes a lot of work, but growing roses is an enjoyable hobby, he said. Bushes are pruned in March and bloom from May to Thanksgiving. Wright and other members of the Cleveland-Lincoln Rose Society will help beginners and encourage novices to enter the rose show.
�Anybody can bring a rose to the show and enter the novice class, and we will help them with the classification,� Wright said.
Want to go?
The Cleveland-Lincoln County Rose Society�s 40th Annual Rose Show is Sept. 28 at Cleveland Mall in Shelby.
Rose entries are accepted from 7 to 10 a.m. A class for novices is offered. Judging will be from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The show opens to the public from 1 to 4 p.m. Flower arrangements will be sold during the show, and all show table roses will be sold at 4 p.m.


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Total Eye Care necesitaba un nuevo diseño de banner publicitario y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 75 diseños de 14 diseñadores freelance.
Total Eye Care
We have two offices one located in Colleyville, TX and the other in Keller, TX. Our decor has been described as an upscale cowboy ranch house. Our offices are very hi tech utilizing the latest technologies. Offering our patients excellent service is extremely important to us.
The tent cards are intended to be used in our office for display on counters and desks notifying our patients of our special offer. We would like to peak our patient's interest in our promotion, making them more likely to be aware of this special offer, without relying on our staff to notify every patient.
A tent card will be self supporting and stand up on a counter on its own. However, as designers if you have a presentation format you feel would display better please feel free to submit it and I'll be happy to check if it will dovetail with our intended use.
For more information please check out our website at http://www.TotalEyeCare.com
Our offices are mid to up scale. The demographics in our area consist primarily of families with children, though we do have patients of all ages. Our goal with this promotion is to encourage patients to purchase a second pair of glasses during their initial visit. The second pair may be sunglasses, computer glasses, reading glasses or merely another pair for a different look.
No cartoons
must include eye catching text with the offer "50% off of your second pair". At the bottom we need to specify, in smaller print, "Not to be used with insurance or other discounts. Discount is taken off of the least expensive pair. Both pairs must be complete pairs of prescription eyewear and purchased at the same time." The quotes are NOT necessary.
8.5 x 11 die cut to 8.5 H x 5.5 V. Each side of the tent card, when folded, should be different.
Please use attached template
All file formats must have a minimum of 350 dpi (dot per inch) resolution.
Printing will be full color 1 side, on the outside only (front and Back).
All color artwork and/or images must be provided in CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) color mode.
Please build your press-ready digital files by adding 0.125" dimension for
Layered PSD, TIF and JPG


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Join us at the Handcraft Studio School for this two hour beginners workshop. You'll learn about the art of natural perfumes while creating a formula with oils from around the world.
Beginner Natural Perfume Workshop Includes:
Sample 15 natural essential oils and absolutes
Your formula blended into a .25 oz spray-bottle
Mini bag for your perfume
Lively and educational discussion about botanical essences, distillation, and history
A mixing session guided by a trained natural perfumer
Your formula saved for future refills
A take-home guide of the process


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Welcome Guest ( Log In | Register )
You must already have registered for an account before you can log in.If you do not have an account, you may register by clicking the 'register' link near the top of the screen
I've forgotten my password! Click here!
GTA 5 | GTA San Andreas | Red Dead Redemption | GTA 4


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Free shipping continues above € 99
Free shipping continues above € 99
Designed in 1928 by Marianne Brandt, the only woman to have worked in the Bauhaus Metallwerkstatt, this is a wonderful example of an archetype in the search for simplicity in the industrial process of spinning and pressing metals.
German (1893-1983). She studied painting and sculpture in Weimar and was the only woman who took part in the Metallwerkstatt of the Bauhaus. Her objects are a splendid example of her research to simplify the industrial processes of spinning and printing.


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DALLAS, April 13 (UPI) -- O.J. Mayo put Dallas in front midway through the overtime period Friday and the Mavericks fought off Denver 108-105.
Corey Brewer forced overtime for the Nuggets by hitting a layup with 3 seconds left in the fourth period, but Denver eventually fell to a team playing only for pride.
Dallas had its playoff chances wiped out earlier in the week and faced a club battling for a high playoff seeding. The loss dropped the Nuggets into a tie with Memphis for the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. Either Denver or Memphis will miss out on home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 22 points and Mayo had 20. It was Mayo's 3-pointer with 2:40 left in the extra period that gave the Mavericks the lead for good.
Andre Iguodala and Wilson Chandler both had 18 points for the Nuggets, but Iguodala missed a 3-point attempt at the overtime buzzer.


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I'm going through my relatively small nail polish collection and photographing my favourite shades.
This week is Glitters!
Oh how the child in me loves glittery nails. I think they look better when they start to chip too – cos you can't tell as much!
This polish I have had for-ever. One thing about Shu Uemura Nail Polishes – they seem to separate quite quickly after purchase but after a shake, they live on and on and ariston….
This one is fab as a top coat and on its own. There's a pinky tone to the polish – very faint, and large and small chunks of holographic glitter. Me likes.
What do you think?


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Step 1. Dial *284# and press 'Send' or 'Call'.
Step 2. Select 'My Digi Rewards & Offers'.
Step 3. Select the plan that is best suited for you.
Step 4. Once you have selected a plan, you will receive a prompt to confirm the purchase of that plan.
Step 5. Once you have confirmed the plan activation, you will receive a pop up message advising you the activation is underway.
Step 6. A text message will confirm that the Plan is active.


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Seminole Indians
Seminole, Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Muskogean branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). They separated (their name means
) from the Creek in the early 18th cent. and settled in the former territory of the Apalachee in Florida. They gradually grew in strength, absorbing many runaway black slaves and some members of the Apalachee tribe. While still under Spanish rule, the Seminole became involved in several major confrontations with the United States, particularly in the War of 1812 and again in 1817–18. In the retaliatory expedition of 1817–18, Gen. Andrew Jackson invaded Florida with more than 3,000 men to punish the Seminole. By the Treaty of Paynes Landing (1832), the Seminole were bound to move W of the Mississippi River within three years. Most Seminole, led by Osceola, refused to go and prepared themselves for resistance.
In 1835 began the Seminole War, which proved to be the most costly of the Indian wars in which the United States engaged. Lasting for nearly eight years, it cost the lives of thousands of Seminole and 1,500 U.S. soldiers, as well as at least $30 million. Finally defeated in 1842, the Seminole consented to move to Oklahoma, where they became one of the Five Civilized Tribes. A few Seminole remained isolated in the Everglades. In 1990 there were about 15,500 Seminole in the United States, mostly in Florida and Oklahoma.
See J. K. Mahon, History of the Second Seminole War (1967); J. H. Howard, Oklahoma Seminoles (1984); M. S. Garbarino, The Seminole (1988).


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MOSCOW – Russia's Supreme Court on Thursday quashed the acquittals of four men accused of being accomplices in the 2006 murder of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, and ordered a full retrial in what has become the country's most notorious criminal case.
But friends and colleagues of the slain journalist say they are not heartened by the court's decision, which cited major irregularities in the February jury verdict that set the suspects free . Some Russians say it's just the latest evidence of the official ineptness – some say malfeasance – that may have doomed the case to remain unsolved from the very beginning.
"The Supreme Court has made a political decision, possibly on orders from higher structures," says Nadezhda Prusenkova, press spokesperson for Novaya Gazeta, the crusading opposition weekly the Ms. Politkovskaya wrote for. "The whole process was politicized, and we continue to believe that the people who should have found themselves accused are of a higher rank (than the four suspects who were eventually brought to trial, then acquitted)," she adds.
Two Chechen brothers, Ibragim and Dzhabrail Makhmudov, and a former police officer, Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, were tried on murder charges – although none was accused of being the actual trigger man. A fourth suspect, former officer of the FSB security service Pavel Ryaguzov, was alleged to have "abused his position" by providing the killers with Politkovskaya's address and other information used to locate and target her.
Who's the mastermind?
Novaya Gazeta, which conducted its own parallel investigation into the killing, concluded that the four were probably involved, but they were acting together with a wider group that has evaded arrest and were acting on orders from a "mastermind" who has never been identified.
Some in Russia's increasingly beleaguered journalistic community argue that the Supreme Court-mandated retrial is just part of an official effort to drag the Politkovskaya case out without conclusion, until the world wearies of it.
"This decision sounds OK, as though the 'good' Supreme Court has corrected problems and justice has triumphed," says Yulia Latynina, an investigative journalist who hosts a political commentary show on the independent Ekho Moskvi radio station.
"But the accused have already gone free, and they've run away. In Russia, everything is rigged: the police, prosecution, and courts. This is just a PR action, to create the impression that there's a legal process going on."
Murders of American journalists unsolved
Many killings and beatings of Russian journalists are left unsolved, or never investigated at all. But the murder of Politkovskaya, who held US citizenship (she was born in New York, to a Soviet diplomatic family), and the 2004 slaying of another American journalist, Paul Klebnikov, have sputtered though a seemingly endless series of well-publicized but utterly inconclusive legal procedings.
"We have two examples of Americans being killed, yet the murderer is not found," says Yevgeny Ikhlov, head of information at For Human Rights, a grassroots Moscow-based coalition. "This isn't good for relations with the US, so maybe that's why we have this Supreme Court decision that looks like it's correcting the mistakes of the previous court."
A case of political football
The Politkovskaya case has been a political football within Russia as well. After her 2006 murder, then-President Vladimir Putin vowed to find the killers, but angered many Russians by adding that her influence as a journalist inside Russia had been "extremely insignificant."
His successor, Dmitri Medvedev – seeking to project a more liberal image – granted an unprecedented interview to Novaya Gazeta in March. He explained to the editors that one of his reasons for doing so was his feelings of respect for Politkovskaya and three other journalists for the paper who've died suspiciously in recent years.
The editors of Novaya Gazeta say they still believe justice can prevail.
"We still hope this process won't end with a fresh episode of window-dressing, but that it will seriously seek answers to the as-yet unanswered questions," says Ms. Prusenkova.
"We (at Novaya Gazeta) have never stopped our own investigation, and we know quite a lot about this case by now. We are ready to help, and we do hope that there will be no more obstacles to solving this crime."


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England 12-19 France, Rugby World Cup, October 8
Second rate England get what they deserve
Graham Jenkins at Eden Park
October 8, 2011
England captain Lewis Moody reflects on his side's Rugby World Cup exit © Getty Images
Delon Armitage Chris Ashton Mark Cueto Imanol Harinordoquy Dylan Hartley Marc Lievremont Nicolas Mas Morgan Parra Mike Tindall Dimitri Yachvili
England's disappointing Rugby World Cup campaign came to an abrupt end against France at Eden Park on Saturday night and they can have no complaints.
An error-laden and slipshod performance got what it deserved - nothing. Lacking cohesion, precision and heart, England were sent packing by a side that just last week were given a lesson by that well-known rugby powerhouse - Tonga.
France embarrassed them with a hunger fitting of the occasion and they delighted in bullying a rival that was clearly not up to the task and that has gone backwards since lifting the Six Nations title earlier this year. Under intense pressure from a French side clearly determined to write a few wrongs, what little form England had conjured in four flattering pool stage victories evaporated shortly after anthems had died down and did not return until it was too late.
England were trumped at every turn in the opening stanza during which they showed a complete inability to deliver in the heat of battle. A pack that was supposed to be a formidable force was out-muscled, a set-piece considered a major strength crumbled and a limited attacking mindset struggled to live up to that modest billing.
Indiscipline cost England dear once again and that failure to be able to handle the pressure and go toe-to-toe with an opponent who they know better than most was compounded by endless handling errors and in many cases just bad decisions and plain awful execution in defence and attack. Quite simply, England gift-wrapped this game for France and all that was missing was a pink bow decorating Eden Park.
If you see any televisions flying out of Auckland hotel windows in the next few hours you can probably bet that it is England manager Martin Johnson airing his frustration at the ease at which France were able to build a match-winning lead. No side with serious intentions of lifting the Webb Ellis Cup should be conceding soft scores and while England's defensive record in the pool stages hinted that there was a solid foundation for a run at the title a French side posing infinitely more attacking options than any of their previous opponents exploded that myth.
You simply cannot afford to gift any side a significant advantage in a game such as this and expect to still be in the contest come the final whistle. Especially when that side is in dire need of any encouragement with which to fan their feint flame of hope. England's latest slow start poured petrol on it and allowed France to claim a vital foothold in the game and married with their impressive endeavour fired the unlikeliest of French revolutions.
The Jonny Wilkinson-Toby Flood experiment that Johnson insisted was not a gamble had limited success such was France's suffocating dominance at the all important gain line. So many chances that were created were butchered in sight of the line and that was always likely to prove costly. Only when France began to tire as a result of their epic efforts and with Flood switched to the fly-half did England spark back into life. Why England have to wait to the point where they are chasing a game before throwing off the shackles and playing with breath-taking adventure is a mystery to rival the Bermuda Triangle.
The only other player to emerge with any credit from this game is centre Manu Tuilagi. The 20-year-old was England's only attacking threat and repeatedly hammered the French defence but sadly lacked any real support. His star continues to rise but you have to question England's long term planning if such a pivotal role is filled by a young man with just six Test caps to his name and who is only his first season of senior rugby.
This game will haunt England and certain individuals for some time to come. You wonder whether many of them appreciate the stage they are playing on? Maybe they assume success is a given and that there will be other World Cups so if this one slips out of our grasp so be it. If so, maybe this defeat will serve as a wake-up call - albeit too late for this campaign and too late for a raft of senior players who have closed out their international careers on this low note.
In contrast, France suddenly appear alive and kicking once again having looked ready to implode earlier this week. No side has won a World Cup after losing one game - let alone two - but no side will be taking them easily from this point on.
France stole the initiative with an energetic and forthright opening that belied their recent woes on and off the field and they bravely held onto it to claim a famous win. At the heart of that performance was a superb back-row trio of captain Thierry Dusautoir, Julien Bonnaire and Imanol Harinordoquy who patrolled the pitch like a pack of wolves. And their game-defining contribution allowed scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili to torment England yet again with boot and ball while centre Aurelien Rougerie rivalled his industry. Big games call for big performances and in this case France's reputation - not just their World Cup - was on the line so we should not be surprised that they fronted up so impressively.
The two coaches cut contrasting figures in the wake of the game. France coach Marc Lievremont was understandably beaming ear to ear just a few days after appearing to admit he had 'lost' the squad. Destined to part company with the team at the conclusion of the World Cup, win or lose, his future now looks a little brighter at least. The same cannot be said for Johnson whose failure to inspire anything remotely resembling a world-beating side over the last four years could prove costly when his position is reviewed in the comings days and weeks.
Given the best part of four years and blessed with the Rugby Football Union's unrivalled resources he has failed quite spectacularly to fashion a side capable of beating the rest of the world. That brutal fact may lead to Johnson taking the decision out of the hands of his employer but he may be encouraged to stay with RFU opting for stability rather than more upheaval before the world comes to play in England in 2015.
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Graham Jenkins is the Senior Editor of ESPNscrum and you can also follow him on Twitter.
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text: Bow's Armor Piercing Arrows – Arrows that can penetrate armor. Bow's Blast Arrows – Arrows that explode upon impact. Bow's Boomerang Arrow – An arrow that acts like a boomerang. Bow's Diamond Arrows – Can be capable of wedging itself into anything. Bow's Fire Arrows – A flaming arrow that burn anything upon impact. Bow's Flash Arrows – Causes a blinding flash upon impact. Bow's Glue Arrows – Emits glue upon impact, causing enemies to become stuck.Bow's Grappling Hook Arrows – XXX.Bow's Hook & Rope Arrows – XXX.Bow's Ice Arrows – Can freeze anything upon impact. Bow's Oil-Slick Arrows – Emits oil upon impact, causing the ground to become slippery. Bow's Regular Arrows – Normal silver-tip arrows.Bow's Smoke Arrows – Causes a smoke screen upon impact.Bow's Umbrella Arrow – Can be used as a shield to deflects attacks.


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To find a comic shop near you, call 1-888-comicbook
Marvel Comics is a division of Marvel Enterprises, Inc., a leading global character-based entertainment company that has developed and owns a library of more than 5,000 characters, which have entertained generations around the world for over 60 years. Marvel's operations are focused in entertainment and consumer product licensing and comic book publishing. Marvel Studios supports the development of feature films, DVD/video products and TV series. Marvel's creative team also supports the development of video games and toy lines based on its characters as well as for a broad and growing range of consumer products and services including apparel, collectibles, foods and promotions. Marvel's comic book division is a leading publisher in the global marketplace while also serving as an invaluable source of intellectual property. Marvel's Toy Biz division is a recognized creative force and leader in toy design, sales and marketing, developing and overseeing both licensee and in-house toy lines. For additional information visit http://www.marvel.com.


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Renewable Energy: An Inventory of Fiscal Year 2010 Federal Initiatives (GAO-12-259SP, February 2012), an E-supplement to GAO-12-260
Read the Full Report: Renewable Energy: Federal Agencies Implement Hundreds of Initiatives (GAO-12-260).
This e-supplement provides a detailed inventory of federal renewable energy initiatives implemented by 23 departments and independent agencies in fiscal year 2010, which we refer to collectively as 'agencies.' For each initiative, this inventory includes the following data that were reported to us by the agencies: (1) the implementing agency, subagency, and office; (2) a description of the initiative, including its purpose, how it works, and how it relates to renewable energy; (3) the renewable energy sources it supports, regulates, or otherwise relates to; and (4) a description of the direct recipients it supports. In addition, this e-supplement provides our analysis of the federal role and the types of direct recipients each initiative supports based on information collected from the agencies. This inventory is the basis for information presented in the full report, Renewable Energy: Federal Agencies Implement Hundreds of Initiatives, GAO-12-260 (Washington, D.C.: Feb. 2012).
The inventory of initiatives can be accessed from the Table of Contents link below. It is available in its entirety for download as a comma-separated values (.csv) file.
To identify federal agencies' renewable energy-related initiatives, we collected information on initiatives that were funded, planned, implemented, or authorized in fiscal year 2010 by reviewing agencies' budget documents and other key information sources, such as strategic plans and websites. From this effort, we developed data on agencies' initiatives that were related to renewable energy through a specific emphasis or focus, even if renewable energy was part of a broader effort. We defined an initiative as a program or group of activities serving a similar purpose or function. In some instances, this corresponded to distinct agency programs or initiatives. In other cases, we identified and grouped similar activities into initiatives based on our own judgment when there did not already appear to be a formal name for the initiative, or disaggregated higher-level activities that included multiple initiatives. Where we identified individual renewable energy-related projects, such as a specific facility energy effort or grant award, we did not consider the projects to be initiatives themselves; rather we identified the broader program or area of effort to which they belonged as an initiative. Therefore, the data that we developed do not necessarily represent initiatives that are of similar size in terms of agency financial commitments, number of projects involved, or other quantitative measures. Also, our data do not always match agencies' reported information on these activities, such as information contained in agency budget or strategic planning documents. In addition, our inventory includes both spending programs and tax expenditures, which are revenue losses attributable to a provision of the federal tax laws that (1) allows a special exclusion, exemption, or deduction from gross income or (2) provides a special credit, preferential tax rate, or deferral of tax liability. Rather than transferring funds from the government to the private sector, the U.S. government forgoes some of the tax revenues that it would have collected and the taxpayers that take advantage of the provisions of the tax code pay lower taxes than they would otherwise have had to pay.
We focused on agencies subject to the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 (CFO Act) with renewable energy-related activities that went beyond standard governmentwide efforts to incorporate renewable energy into their vehicle fleets and facilities in response to requirements and direction established by federal laws and executive orders. These agencies were: the departments of Agriculture (USDA), Commerce, Defense (DOD), Energy (DOE), Homeland Security (DHS), Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Interior, Justice, Labor, State, Transportation (DOT), and the Treasury; as well as the following independent agencies: the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), General Services Administration (GSA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Science Foundation (NSF), Small Business Administration (SBA), and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Of these 18 CFO Act agencies, we collected data on DOD activities separately for the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and other DOD components that report to the Office of the Secretary of Defense. In addition, we collected data for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) separately from DOE, although it is listed under DOE in the federal budget. As a result, we provide data on 23 agencies rather than 18. We submitted a structured data request to agencies to provide information on each of their renewable energy initiatives, and conducted interviews with agency officials responsible for providing the data to collect additional information and assess the accuracy, reliability, and completeness of the data provided. We determined the data to be sufficiently reliable for the purposes of this e-supplement.
The number of initiatives agencies implement and related descriptive information are important to understanding renewable energy efforts governmentwide; however, we recognize that other measures of agencies' activities are important as well. For example, data on the level of financial support agencies provide, coordination of efforts, and other information are also indicators of agencies' renewable energy efforts. During this review, we did not evaluate agencies' renewable energy-related initiatives on the basis of these other indicators. In particular, we did not collect information on the level of financial support agencies provide for their renewable energy efforts because, for example, officials stated during follow-up discussions that financial support for renewable energy is often not tracked separately from other activities. Therefore, we could not collect reliable renewable energy-specific funding or revenue loss estimates across the full inventory of initiatives we identified. We recognize that initiatives may vary greatly in the scale of their funding or the number of entities expected to benefit, among other things; however, in this inventory, we do not present information on these measures. For a more detailed discussion of our methodology, see appendix I of GAO-12-260.
We conducted this performance audit in Washington, D.C., from April 2010 through February 2012 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives.
Frank Rusco, (202) 512-3841 or email@example.com
This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States. The published product may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety without further permission from GAO. However, because this work may contain copyrighted images or other material, permission from the copyright holder may be necessary if you wish to reproduce this material separately.


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The term "spitballing," in its Hollywood usage, connotes a form of free-associative brainstorming. Creative types sit in a room and, through some fizzy, conversational alchemy, produce ideas that the individual participants might never come up with on their own. When it works, it's an argument against telecommuting. But because improvisation is encouraged, a spitballing session can often sound ridiculous, and the process has been parodied, endlessly, in the movies. My favorite sendup is from "Thank You For Smoking," when a super-agent (Rob Lowe) proposes to a tobacco lobbyist (Aaron Eckhart) that they work out a product-placement deal for a science-fiction movie.
Eckhart: Cigarettes in space… But wouldn't they blow up in an all-oxygen environment?
Lowe: Probably. But it's an easy fix. One line of dialogue: "Thank god we invented the, you know, whatever… device."
But while this kind of satire is a mainstay of movies about the movies, we seldom get to witness the actual creative sessions that go into producing films. So I was gobsmacked to discover, recently, that over several days in 1978, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and the screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan worked through an idea Lucas had for a film called "Raiders of the Lost Ark," and they recorded the sessions. And there's a transcript. And it's online.
After "Star Wars" opened, in 1977, Lucas had sought refuge in Hawaii, and it was on the beach there that he first pitched Spielberg the idea for a film that would recapture the rollicking adventures and Orientalist locales of the matinee serials of Lucas's youth. Spielberg, who had already enjoyed huge success with "Jaws," was interested. Having enlisted Kasdan to write the script, they assembled in a little house in Sherman Oaks that belonged to Lucas's assistant, and, over several days, concocted the film.
Lucas walked into the meeting with an outline of the story, but he wanted to flesh it out with his writer and director. In the transcript, he begins by articulating a recipe for the contemporary blockbuster: the picture will consist of one big set piece after another.
"And each cliffhanger is better than the one before," Spielberg adds, warming to the idea. "What we're doing here, really, is designing a ride at Disneyland."
The hero, Lucas explains, is a globe-trotting archaeologist, "a bounty hunter of antiquities." He's a professor, a Ph.D.—"People call him doctor." But he's a little "rough and tumble." As the men hash out the Jones iconography, they refer, incessantly, to other films, invoking Eastwood, Bond, and Mifune. He will dress like Bogart in "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre," Lucas says: "the khaki pants…the leather jacket. That sort of felt hat." Oh, and also? "A bullwhip." He'll carry it "rolled up," Lucas continues. "Like a snake that's coiled up behind him."
"I like that," Spielberg says. "The doctor with the bullwhip."
After establishing his hero, Lucas proceeds to walk through the film's plot, beat by beat. There's the opening sequence in South America, which Lucas describes as "misty and primeval, 'King Kong'-ish." (If you want a further sense of what a clever pastiche of earlier films "Raiders" ended up becoming, and haven't seen this astounding supercut, it is well worth watching.)
Lucas captures the second act of the film pretty aptly:
In the essence it's just bullshit stuff where he wanders around Cairo trying to uncover the mystery of his puzzle. At the same time, you meet all these interesting characters and every once in a while somebody throws a knife at him, or he beats somebody up, or somebody beats him up. Typical Middle Eastern stuff.
But most importantly, the film had to hurtle at a furious clip. Lucas envisioned the whole story as one elaborate chase: the hero chases Nazis, Nazis chase the hero, and everyone races to find the Ark of the Covenant. They needed a love interest, of course. "She's sort of a Marlene Dietrich tavern-singer spy," Lucas suggests, of the character who would become Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen). She works in a bar, he continues. It's like Rick's Place, in "Casablanca."
Kasdan: This is in Cairo?
Lucas: No. This is in Nepal. She's stuck there.
Kasdan: Who are her customers at this Rick's Place in Nepal?
The filmmakers want Marion to have a romantic history with the hero. They also want to cast a young actress in her twenties, however. This raises logistical questions. But it's an easy fix:
Lucas: He could have known this little girl when she was just a kid. Had an affair with her when she was eleven.
Kasdan: And he was forty-two.
Lucas: He hasn't seen her in twelve years. Now she's twenty-two. It's a real strange relationship.
Spielberg: She had better be older.
Over the intervening decades of enormous wealth and success, both Lucas and Spielberg have carefully tended their public images, so there is a voyeuristic thrill to seeing them converse in so unguarded a manner. As the screenwriters Craig Mazin and John August pointed out recently on the Scriptnotes podcast, one delight of reading the transcript is watching Spielberg throw out bad ideas, and then noting how Lucas gently shuts him down. Spielberg, who had sought to direct a Bond movie—and, astonishingly, been rejected—thought that their hero should be an avid gambler. Lucas replied that perhaps they shouldn't overload him with attributes. (Lucas himself had briefly entertained, then mercifully set aside, the notion that his archaeologist might also be a practitioner of kung fu.) There's a good reason we seldom get to spy on these conversations: really good spitballing, like improv comedy, requires a high degree of social disinhibition. So the writers' room, like a therapist's office, must remain inviolable.
Spielberg fires off ideas with an adolescent's stamina—and not all of them are bad, either. In fact, among his spontaneous interjections are some of the most iconic episodes in the film. "I have a great idea!" he exclaims. "There is a sixty-five-foot boulder, that's form-fitted to only roll down the corridor, coming right at him. And it's a race. He gets to outrun the boulder!"
Lucas eggs him on during these riffs, pushing him to wring the full potential from each sequence. Spielberg conjures a scene in which the hero falls asleep on an airplane, only to wake up and discover that the other passengers have parachuted off, and the plane is in free fall. "He's trapped in this airplane and it's going down."
"Then what happens?" Lucas says. "One sentence further and it's a great idea."
Like a number of ideas from the meeting, the flight-from-hell sequence proved too much for "Raiders," and was incorporated, instead, into "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom." But what is extraordinary, reading the transcript (which runs to nearly a hundred and fifty pages), is how many inspired elements from the film were originally cooked up in these conversations. There is the nefarious monkey in Cairo. (Spielberg: "The monkey should be dressed up as a little Arab." Lucas: "I like the idea of not only having a turban but also a little backpack.") There is the clever plot device through which the Gestapo agent Toht burns his hand by grabbing the headpiece of the Staff of Ra, and the scar gives the Nazis a clue to the location of the ark. (Kasdan suggests that a fire might add intensity to the fight in Ravenwood's bar; the flames heat the medallion—et voilà.) Even the final shot of the film, in which the Ark is filed away in a government warehouse, is settled upon in the meeting. The big winner at the end, Lucas concludes, is "the bureaucracy."
At one point, hours into the conversation, Kasdan asks, "Do you have a name for this person?"
Lucas: I do.
Spielberg: I hate this, but go ahead.
Lucas: Indiana Smith.
The transcript does not note the sound of crickets, but nor is there any burst of enthusiasm.
Lucas: It has to be unique. It's a character. Very Americana. Square. He was born in Indiana.
Kasdan: What does she call him, Indy?
Lucas: That's what I was thinking. Or Jones.


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Bottom-Injection Systems chill proteins from bottom of mixers.
Press Release Summary:
Suited for ground meat, poultry, or seafood, ACCU-CHILL® Bottom-Injection Chilling Systems chill proteins from bottom of mixers/blenders with cryogenic efficiency. Temperature can be controlled within ±1.0°F, helping to ensure consistent product quality and repeatable mixing and forming operations. Using either liquid carbon dioxide or liquid nitrogen, ACCU-CHILL systems are inherently more efficient than top-injected systems that typically use CO2 snow or sometimes nitrogen.
Original Press Release:
Linde Advanced ACCU-CHILL® Bottom-Injection Systems Chill Ground Protein with Cryogenic Efficiency
Murray Hill & New Providence, N.J., U.S., – Ideal for ground meat, poultry or seafood, the patented ACCU-CHILL® Bottom-Injection Chilling System from Linde LLC chills proteins from the bottom of mixers/blenders with cryogenic efficiency – and precision. Temperature can be controlled within ±1.0º F, helping to ensure consistent product quality and repeatable mixing and forming operations.
Linde is featuring the patented technology at the International Production and Process Exposition (IPPE), January 28-30, 2014 in Atlanta, Ga., booth #5845.
Advanced ACCU-CHILL bottom-injection (BI) chilling systems, which can use either liquid carbon dioxide (CO2) or now liquid nitrogen (LIN), are inherently more efficient than top-injected systems that typically use CO2 snow or sometimes nitrogen. In fact, top-chilling may require three times more processing time and 20-25% more cryogen to achieve the same desired temperature.
With a top-chilled mixer, CO2 snow or LIN loses refrigeration as it travels through the air from the top of the mixer, and more BTUs are lost to the mixer exhaust before the CO2 snow or liquid nitrogen is blended into the meat.
In contrast, injecting CO2 or nitrogen from the bottom of the mixer/blender as a liquid utilizes most of the refrigeration available so it is immediately available to the chilling process. The Linde food team can retrofit the ACCU-CHILL BI system to existing mixers, or design and install a customized chilling system when upgrading to new mixing or grinding equipment.
Linde is the first to configure bottom-injection chilling systems for the U.S. meat industry using liquid nitrogen (LIN), in addition to CO2. The 2014 IPPE Show in Atlanta marks the formal introduction of the re-designed Advanced ACCU-CHILL systems to the U.S. market. Advanced ACCU-CHILL systems utilizes the refrigeration more efficiently and rapidly than conventional systems.
The Linde food team assists in the selection of the cryogen which will depend on several factors, and optimizes the BI system for the plant and process to help maximize ROI.
"Even chilling systems installed just a few years ago can potentially benefit from our new technology. Engineering is that important -- and our optimized BI systems can save meat processors on the order of $300,000 or more a year," says Mark DiMaggio, head of Food & Beverage for Linde North America.
The bottom line is that the Advanced ACCU-CHILL BI system can reach protein equilibration temperatures faster and with shorter cycle times than conventional systems. Less mixing also translates into increased production and enhanced product quality. In addition, it means less emulsified fat so case-ready packages look better, and burgers and patties are ejected from forming equipment cleanly and "smear free."
Interstate Meat Distributors worked with Linde first to beta test the Advanced ACCU-CHILL BI system on a 2,000 lb./batch blender, and then to add the system to 3,000 and 5,000 lb. mixers as well. Interstate Meat Distributors Inc. (Clackamas, OR) processes more than 60 million pounds of ground beef and sausage a year, packaged in case-ready trays, overwrap, fresh patties, IQF patties and chubs for distribution throughout the western U.S.
Linde application engineers documented existing chilling process parameters, and designed a new proprietary hygienic nozzle injection system for multiple ports on the blending vessel, and a new exhaust system for the lid to make it a complete, matched system. (The new injection nozzles and venting system can run either CO2 or LIN.)
Easy installation, operation and hygienic design contribute to the effectiveness and efficiency of the Advanced ACCU-CHILL BI system. Besides accuracy, repeatability and high-quality results, higher efficiency can help processors achieve higher production capacities, or achieve the same capacity with reduced labor.
The Linde Food Team performs in-plant assessments and works with food processors to develop optimal solutions. For more information, visit Linde (www.lindefood.com) at IPPE Booth #5845, or call: 800-755-9277.
About Linde in North America
Linde North America is a member of The Linde Group, a world-leading gases and engineering company with approximately 63,000 employees in more than 100 countries. In the 2012 financial year, Linde generated revenue of EUR 15.280 bn (USD 19.9 bn). The strategy of The Group is focused on long-term profitable growth and the expansion of its international business with forward-looking products and services. Linde acts responsibly towards its shareholders, business partners, employees, society and the environment – in every one of its business areas, regions and locations across the globe. The Linde Group is committed to technologies and products that unite the goals of customer value and sustainable development.
For more information, see The Linde Group online at www.linde.com
Linde Contact:
Amy Ficon
Corporate Communications
908-771-1491, Fax 908-771-1460
Vinita Abraham
Corporate Communications
908-771-1366, Fax 908-771-1460


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The idea of a giant lobster should send a shiver down your spine. It should have you sharpening your pitchfork and lighting a torch to get this monster as far away from the countryside, where its reign of terror knows no bounds, as possible.
But that's not how they do things in Canada. When they have a monster lobster problem, they do the nice thing, the polite thing, the Canadian thing: They set it free.
King Louie, the giant 23-pound, 100-year-old lobster, was just lucky enough to be caught in Nova Scotia, and because of his local celebrity, he was purchase and freed yesterday. Never to be glazed in butter nor kill innocent victims with his hefty pinchers, King Louie returned to the deep to stalk.
Costing roughly $230, King Louie was purchased by a compassionate woman who wanted to see this lobster go free. It was polite, yes, but also dangerous. For somewhere, out in the deep, this ancient beast waits for his next victim.


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The Little SAS® Enterprise Guide® Book helps turn 'I think I can' into 'I knew I could'
Completely rewritten edition of the how-to book helps users navigate the point-and-click environment of SAS Enterprise Guide, including its newest features
Nearly 90 years after its publication, the moral of The Little Engine That Could remains universal: With a bit of bravery and self-belief, you can conquer whatever mountains you face. To conquer towering mountains of business data, SAS® Enterprise Guide® users need only The Little SAS Enterprise Guide Book and some hands-on practice to turn what they think they can do into what they've already done.
Award-winning authors Susan J. Slaughter and Lora D. Delwiche, both expert SAS programmers, first teamed up in 1992 to write The Little SAS Book: A Primer, one of the all-time best-selling books on SAS programming. The duo went on to write several other SAS publications, including the first edition of The Little SAS Enterprise Guide Book in 2005.
Slaughter and Delwiche completely rewrote and updated this latest edition of their how-to guide to include features from SAS Enterprise Guide 7.13, the most recent release of the popular analytic software. The book's first section walks readers through a series of self-contained, illustrated tutorials. After mastering the point-and-click basics of SAS Enterprise Guide, users will learn step-by-step how to create reports, work with data in the query builder and join data files.
The handy reference information in section two is neatly organized into eight chapters exploring 67 different topics – from just-getting-started tasks like maximizing and splitting the workspace to more advanced skills like producing complex reports and working with data filters. Each topic is explained in two facing pages, succinctly adding depth to the tutorials and specific functionality. A new chapter focuses on features to help both new and experienced SAS programmers such as integrated syntax help, automatic formatting, and creating a process flow from a SAS program.
SAS Enterprise Guide is a menu- and wizard-driven tool that gives non-programmers and programmers alike easy access to much of the functionality of SAS Analytics. The Windows-based software enables users to write code, analyze data and publish results via a user-friendly, visual and customizable interface.
The Little SAS Enterprise Guide Book is available at the SAS Publishing bookstore.
About SAS
SAS is the leader in analytics. Through innovative software and services, SAS empowers and inspires customers around the world to transform data into intelligence. SAS gives you THE POWER TO KNOW®.


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U.S. Evacuates Embassy in Libya Amid Clashes
State Department Describes Embassy Closure as Temporary
WASHINGTON—The Obama administration said on Saturday it has evacuated its personnel from Tripoli as fighting between warring militias in Libya reached the capital.
Officials said the evacuation was conducted over land, with the State Department driving personnel from the American embassy in Tripoli to Tunisia. U.S. military units provided security, flying fighter jets, surveillance planes and positioning response forces in V-22 tilt rotor aircraft in the area to respond to potential threats, officials said. The evacuation...


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The 10 Best Places to be an IRONMAN
Job hunting? Looking for a change? If you're a triathlon devotee, we've got your short list.
by Jennifer Ward Barber
Music lovers flock to Nashville, tech-heads to San Francisco, and hipsters to Austin. Our country is a diverse place, with everything from Tahoe-
We know where young people want to live, and what towns attract healthy outdoorsy types. But where are the best places to be an IRONMAN? What cities offer the perfect blend of training partners and racing opportunities?
To answer this question, we looked at the top U.S. 10 cities where the cream of the crop—the newly-announced All World Athletes—reside. The cities that follow are home to the top IRONMAN athletes in the U.S. Read on to find out why.
1. Boulder, Colo.
At the foot of the Rocky Mountains, Boulder, Colo. benefits from altitude and beautiful scenery. Many professional triathletes call
"Living and training in Boulder is a triathlete's dream," says Pam
- Train: "Since it's so dry, it doesn't feel so cold and can be hovering around 32 degrees and it is still pleasant to go out for a run, especially if it's sunny. We actually have a lot of sunshine here year round," says
- Race: There are lots of events to compete in locally, from low-key local duathlons,
triathlonsand aquathons, to famous events like Bolder Boulder and Boulder Peak Triathlon and Boulder 70.3. And of course Boulder is proud to host the inaugural IRONMAN Boulder in 2014.
- Live: Gain an advantage through proximity to world-class coaches and other
resurcessuch as physical therapists, massage therapists and nutritionists who specialize in athletes. Rub shoulders with the pros and providehome-stays for a professional triathlete. ( Shuckleshas hosted Australia's Tim Reed, German Faris Al Sultan, and American Jenna Shoemaker.
2. Carlsbad, Calif.
Carlsbad is one of the more densely populated cities in what's called North County San Diego. It serves as a bridge between the flat, coastal cycling routes and East County's less populated, and more challenging terrain. When triathletes talk about the good old days in San Diego—some of the legends who've lived here and the ones who still do—Carlsbad is what comes to mind.
- Train: Carlsbad enjoys the best of Southern California's year-round training weather. You can swim in the ocean most months, and run without sleeves in December. Home to many of Triathlon Club of San Diego members, you'll never be without training partners.
- Race: The classic season opener IRONMAN 70.3 California, is right on Carlsbad's border in Oceanside. IRONMAN 70.3 Vineman is a day's drive, as is IRONMAN 70.3 St. George. There are numerous local races to partake of as well.
- Live: Fuel up after an ocean swim with fish tacos, one of the area's fine local beers, or an acai bowl at a beachside joint. Carlsbad is a convenient home base for beach lovers, beer snobs, and triathletes alike.
3. Madison, Wis.
A gem of the Midwest, Madison is home to numerous bike routes featuring challenging routes with wide shoulders and unparalleled road conditions. "We are truly bike friendly," says Kyle Larson, owner of Endurance House Madison East.
- Train: "Madison is surrounded by lakes and on any given day you will find triathletes out for a workout with several friends and training partners. The views of the city and capital are amazing while running or cycling," Larson says.
- Race: IRONMAN Wisconsin, IRONMAN 70.3 Racine.
- Live: This funky college town has plenty to offer triathletes, whether they're the family type or the kind who like to kick back at the local pub and watch a football game. Or both. "There are outstanding restaurants at nearly every turn," says Larson. "A favorite hangout is Memorial Union on Lake Mendota that features live music, great
foodand great beers."
4. Miami, Fla.
Miami is one of the few places in the country where non-wetsuit open water swimming is possible all year round. In the winter, temperatures rarely dip below 55 degrees Fahrenheit at night. In the summer it's hot and humid, which, according to Team Hammerheads triathlon club president Tim Reimink, is a good thing: "I can train to run eight minute miles here, then go race in the "north" (Augusta, Ga.) and run sevens at the same heart rate while everyone else is dying in the 'heat,'" he jokes.
- Train: "Open water
swimin Key Biscayne and South Beach. Hundreds if not thousands of cyclists ride on the Key every morning. Longer rides down south to Homestead, Key Largo and beyond feature little to no traffic. Clermont is three and a half hours away, with awesome hills and the National Training Center. "I've been there twice in the last month! Can't get enough," Reimink says.
- Race: IRONMAN 70.3 Miami, St. Anthony's Triathlon, IRONMAN Florida.
- Live: "I thought there were a lot of triathletes in NYC until I came to Miami. One of the largest triathlon clubs (South Florida Triathletes) is based down here, along with dozens of smaller clubs as well as USAT coaches
5. Salt Lake City, Utah
Rory Duckworth, president of the Salt Lake City Triathlon Club, had no trouble with the elevation at IRONMAN Lake Tahoe last year. "We don't just live in a Texas where everything's flat," he says. Duckworth loves Salt Lake City not only for its diverse training options, but for its culture as well. "We aren't known for our
- Train: Duckworth says Salt Lake City offers all kinds of terrain for training, and enjoys support from the community in terms of embracing cycling culture.
- Race: "St. George (which hosts the popular IRONMAN 70.3 St. George in May) is our go-to place when we want to get out of the snow. It's three and a half hours away, but it's a straight freeway drive. We've also got many local shorter races run by local owners," says Duckworth.
- Live: "There's a real atmosphere here of staying healthy and being active with your family. Almost every single one of my family members, including my mom and dad who are 60 plus years old, do triathlon. We have the hustle and bustle of a city, but you're only ever five to 10 minutes from a mountain, canyon, or country road you can enjoy without traffic," Duckworth says.
6. Scottsdale, Ariz.
"I can't remember the last time I couldn't train outdoors," says Preston Miller of TriScottsdale triathlon club when asked why he loves living there. "We have about 360 good outdoor training days a year," he adds.
- Train: "We have abundant pools with Masters programs, classic rides like Mt. Lemmon, Bartlett Lake/Seven Springs, and Rio Verde/9 Mill Hill which draw cyclists from all over the world. You can train at sea level, 7,000' or 10,000' all in the same day, and are close to hundreds of miles of trails in preserved areas for running, hiking, or mountain biking.
- Race: "We have several direct flights to Kona every day," Miller jokes. IRONMAN Arizona is Scottsdale's home race.
- Live: The tri club scene here is highly competitive, making Scottsdale a great place to take your racing and social life to the next level.
7. Naperville, Ill.
Naperville is a suburban city of Chicago, located in DuPage and Will counties in the State of Illinois. Daniel Dziubski is with EndureIt!, a multisport store and training center with its own triathlon club, and he says IRONMAN is catching on there "like crazy."
- Train: Naperville enjoys close proximity to roads well suited to training. "I can be in urban downtown Naperville (a town of over 140,000) getting a coffee and then hop on my bike and be riding on virtually empty country roads in 10 minutes," Dziubski says.
- Race: Dziubski says Naperville is within driving distance to "hundreds of triathlon events throughout the year." IRONMAN 70.3 Racine, for example, is an hour and half away, and IRONMAN Wisconsin is not far either.
- Live: Top off a day of great training with amazing healthy restaurants and grocery stores.
8. Atlanta, Ga.
Bethany Rutledge of the Atlanta Tri Club acknowledges that Atlanta isn't blessed with the perfect weather that some other cities might be, but she believes the local triathlon culture there more than makes up for it. "No matter your location or schedule there are literally hundreds of group runs, rides, and lots of swim opportunities," she says. She says that on rainy weekends many athletes ride indoors at Energy Lab, an indoor cycling studio made for athletes. "For entertainment we have most IRONMAN Hawaii videos from 1985 that we show on a projector screens," she adds.
- Train: To get in weekend miles, most athletes head outside the perimeter, as urban riding is heavy on traffic. Open roads are never more than 30 minutes away, however.
- Race: "A busy schedule of organized centuries starting in March means you always have training partners ready to go the distance," Rutledge says. Atlanta is a mere 1.5 hour drive from the new IRONMAN Chattanooga, and a few hours drive to IRONMAN Augusta 70.3.
- Live: Atlanta is a bustling metropolis with plenty of dining and entertainment options that some of the smaller locales lack. Sporting events, museums, and a rich multicultural make up mean that there's never a dull moment living here
9. Round Rock, Texas
A northern suburb of Austin, Round Rock triathletes enjoy access to numerous training venues including multiple pools and open-water swim locations, miles of open highways for cycling, and plenty of crushed granite trails for running that's easy on the knees. A popular place for pros to congregate as well, the area has no shortage of quality coaching and well-organized running clubs.
- Train: "Almost all triathletes and cyclists I know leave directly from their front door and can easily cover anywhere from five to 200-plus miles," says Troy Clifton of C4 Endurance. He says the vendors and multisport community support they get in Round Rock is top notch, with at least two triathlon shops, one full service swim shop, and specialty running shops.
- Race: IRONMAN 70.3 Austin, IRONMAN 70.3 Galveston, IRONMAN Texas, and even IRONMAN 70.3 Monterrey in Mexico are within driving distance.
- Live: "The close proximity to Austin make it a cheaper and just as triathlete friendly place to live," says Clifton. Not to mention the food trucks and hipster-tech scene Austin is so celebrated for.
10. Seattle, Wash.
Mark Webb, head coach at TN Multisports in Seattle, can't imagine training anywhere else. "Much like golf, if you can train here you can race anywhere," he says. "Most athletes are stuck on the trainer from October to April making early season races challenging, but we embrace it as we have the finest summers on the planet."
- Train: Webb says there are amazing lakes to swim in, challenging trail runs and gorgeous bike rides around Mount Rainier. Some of his favorites include Waterfront runs and backcountry bike rides.
- Race: IRONMAN 70.3 Lake Stevens. Also a short flight or day trip to IRONMAN Coeur d'Alene or IRONMAN Canada.
- Live: Seattle boasts a young, lively population, and thriving food, art, and music scenes for triathletes who like distractions from training.
*The United States led the AWA country standings with 5,758 athletes, followed by Australia (1,818), Canada (902), Germany (783) and the United Kingdom (592). The 28 overall AWA Champions represented nine different countries with 14 hailing from the United States (eight female, six male). Australia carried the second-most champions with five (four female, one


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Welcome to Plaza Dental Group, LLC
Plaza Dental Group is a locally owned and managed, general and multi-specialty dental group practice. Our doctors consist of general dentists as well as pediatric, orthodontic, dental sleep, and oral surgery specialists, supported by an amazing and caring staff. We have the best patients in the world, and we love to get to know each and every one of them while providing compassionate care. We use leading-edge technology and equipment to diagnose and treat oral health conditions.
Some of the advanced services we offer at Plaza Dental Group include:
- Comprehensive and emergency dental examinations
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We are also a preferred provider for all major insurance companies, and offer a dedicated insurance department to advocate for our patients.
Our doctors and team are experienced, empathetic individuals, all with one focus in mind: to help each patient attain excellent oral health and a beautiful smile, by delivering exceptional care based on an individual's unique needs and goals.
For more information about the comprehensive dental care available at our practice, and to schedule a complimentary consultation at our Columbia, MO office, please call. We welcome patients from throughout Central Missouri, including Jefferson City, Moberly, Fulton, and Booneville. We can't wait to meet you and start you on the path to great oral health and an amazing smile!
At Plaza Dental Group, we offer "Specialized Care Beyond Compare." Contact us, today.


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IRONMAN's Most Prolific Racer: John Wragg
Number 169 is the charm for All World Athlete John Wragg, the sport's true iron man.
by Kevin Mackinnon
For most athletes, competing at the IRONMAN World Championship is more than enough to cap off an amazing year of racing. Not for John Wragg. Kona was his 163rd full-distance race. By the time he got to IRONMAN Cozumel he was up to 166—in between there was Florida and Arizona.
Check out a video of John Wragg and partner Elizabeth Model
Those were just four of the 16 IRONMAN events Wragg competed in last year, by far the most of any All World Athlete (AWA) in 2013. He earned Bronze AWA status in the men's 60-64 age group and was 96th overall and eighth in Canada. He's on track to lead the way again in 2014, with a pile of IRONMAN events on his schedule, along with a jaunt down to Antarctic to run a marathon alongside his wife and Kona Legacy athlete, Elizabeth Model.
By the time Wragg had completed IRONMAN Cozumel last November, he had covered 23,339.6 miles (37,530 km) during his incredible IRONMAN career. That's just the racing.
Wragg discovered triathlon in 1986 when he joined a Toronto-based training group. He did his first IRONMAN in Auckland, New Zealand in 1988. That summer, he made a bet with a training buddy that he'd do all five IRONMAN races offered in the world that year: New Zealand, Penticton, Hawaii, Germany and Japan. By the time he reached Hawaii for the IRONMAN World Championship, he was completely "blown out. In horrible shape," he remembers. "I have a lot of personal worsts … and that first trip to Hawaii in '88 is definitely one of them."
Wragg struggled so much that day he couldn't even bend down towards the end of the marathon to pick up a pair of sunglasses he saw lying on the road. A few years later, in Germany, he would enjoy his fastest day ever, when he broke 10 hours.
The all-time highlight, though, came in Hawaii last October. Determined to race alongside his wife, Elizabeth Model, Wragg bid on a spot for Kona through the charitable eBay auction after she got a Kona slot through the Legacy lottery. He and Model crossed the finish line together. It was her 50th IRONMAN finish.
What makes all these IRONMAN finishes even more amazing is the fact that Wragg has to walk the marathon at every race he does. In June, 2008 he was hit by a car while out training on his bike. While the doctors felt he would be sidelined for a year, a few months later he was on the course at IRONMAN Canada, racking up another finish. A year later he had to have the hip replaced, so these days he power walks more than he runs the marathon.
Which doesn't seem to be slowing Wragg down too much, though. Now that he's done Busselton the schedule only gets busier with IRONMAN races planned in Florianopolis (Brazil), Austria, Frankfurt, Lake Placid, Boulder, Kalmar (Sweden), Denmark, Wales, Chattanooga, Fortaleza (Brazil), Florida and Cozumel.
One would think he's got a lock on is another AWA award.


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Max has not received any gifts yet
The northwestern courts look pretty good. let's aim for 12pm, hopefully there's no rain or wet courts from prior rain. 415-622-8127, let's confirm the rain situation around 11am before we head out.
sounds good. shoot for noonish? sometime between 11-2 when it's warmest?
Tuesday isn't looking good, long night at work ahead of me. Thursday or the weekend?
I can't do tonight. Tuesday or Friday work?
I work in Lincolnshire so I pass through northbrook on the way home to Evanston. Are there any lit courts in the area? I can only play in the evenings (get off roughly 5-5:30pm) on weekdays, but am more flexible on the weekends. Would thursday @ 6 work?
Hi Max, just moved to Rogers Park/Evanston and looking to hit/play before it starts snowing. I'm about 3-3.5 and can hit evenings on weekdays and anytime weekends. Let me know if you want to give it a go.
Hi Max,
sounds good. I am in the Chicago north shore (Deerfield) every other two weeks, and will be there next week and the following. If the weather is still good, it would be great to hit some day. I am available week days after 6.30 pm. My rating probably is 2.5-3. You can also email me at email@example.com.
Hi, I'm Mark, the founder of Tennisopolis, the world's largest and most active tennis network. Please share Tennisopolis with your friends by supporting our Facebook page. Click here for a Guide to Meet Tennis Partners.
Have a look at our introduction page which will help you navigate the massive network which now has over 40,000 members and 600 local tennis groups.
Also, I recommend that you upload a profile pic; it can be of anything, but people with pics meet more players.
Friend me,
Mark, The Mayor of Tennisopolis
© 2019 Created by Mark / The Mayor. Powered by


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Aquamarine and blue sapphire embedded in brass.
Length 5/8 in
Width 5/8 in
*This piece is final sale
This piece is handmade-to-order, please allow 1 - 2 weeks to ship unless this piece is in stock. Each piece will vary slightly due to the uniqueness of the stones. All metal is nickel free.
Add this to a wish list


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I know it is possible to assign multiple IP addresses to the same NIC as long as they are on the same sub-net (e.g. server A can be assigned both 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.1.2).
However, is it possible to assign multiple IP addresses that are a different sub-net to the same NIC? The server will be connected to a switch with multiple VLANs configured on it, e.g. 192.168.1.1/24 and 10.0.0.0/24. I want the server to be both 192.168.1.1 and 10.0.0.1.
The reason I want to do this is that we currently have an internal network on 192.168.1.0/24 and we want to add additional private network for management needs: e.g. putting Dell DRAC devices on this network. I want to know if it is possible to do this without adding more cables and more switch ports.


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Transcontinental record holder Alex Roy once told me that driving a supercar is like driving around with two chandeliers sticking out of your hood — everyone is watching, and they are ready to shame you for even the smallest screw up.
Even the smallest douche moves from supercar drivers seem like colossal outrages when there's a Ferrari or Lamborghini badge up front.
Take, for instance, this video of the recently-wrecked NYC Ferrari F50 weaving through Manhattan traffic. If the shirtless driver was behind the wheel of a Honda Civic, nobody would really care. Since the guy is in a $528,000 V12 supercar, though, the guy becomes a raging asshat.
With that in mind, what's the greatest instance of supercar asshattery that you've ever seen?
(QOTD is your chance to answer the day's most pressing automotive questions and experience the opinions of the insightful insiders, practicing pundits and gleeful gearheads that make up the Jalopnik commentariat. If you've got a suggestion for a good "Question Of the Day" send an email to tips at jalopnik dot com.)


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Mass Balance Model
- This activity has been selected for inclusion in the CLEAN collection.
This activity has been extensively reviewed for inclusion in the Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network's collection of educational resources. For information the process and the collection, see http://cleanet.org/clean/about/selected_by_CLEAN.
This resource received an Accept or Accept with minor revisions rating from a Panel Peer Review process
These materials were reviewed using face-to-face NSF-style review panel of geoscience and geoscience education experts to review groups of resources addressing a single theme. Panelists wrote reviews that addressed the criteria:
- scientific accuracy and currency
- usability and
- pedagogical effectiveness
- Accept
- Accept with minor revisions
- Accept with major revisions, or
- Reject.
Following the panel meetings, the conveners wrote summaries of the panel discussion for each resource; these were transmitted to the creator, along with anonymous versions of the reviews. Relatively few resources were accepted as is. In most cases, the majority of the resources were either designated as 1) Reject or 2) Accept with major revisions. Resources were most often rejected for their lack of completeness to be used in a classroom or they contained scientific inaccuracies.
This activity was selected for the On the Cutting Edge Reviewed Teaching Collection
This activity has received positive reviews in a peer review process involving five review categories. The five categories included in the process are
- Scientific Accuracy
- Alignment of Learning Goals, Activities, and Assessments
- Pedagogic Effectiveness
- Robustness (usability and dependability of all components)
- Completeness of the ActivitySheet web page
For more information about the peer review process itself, please see http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/review.html.
This page first made public: Jul 19, 2005
This material was originally created for Starting Point:Introductory Geology
and is replicated here as part of the SERC Pedagogic Service.
Learning Goals
- Learn the basics of mass balance;
- Apply this knowledge to two examples with similar structure:
- Temperature and heat loss;
- Bank Balances.
- Learn that at equilibrium the flow rate equals the outflow rate;
- Learn how to calculate equilibrium levels given inflow rate and residence time;
- Make simple graphs;
- Read information from graphs;
- Use a model to help develop basic equations.
Context for Use
Description and Teaching Materials
The complete activity with assignment in PDF format and online model is available at Model Activity page
Mass Balance Activity (Acrobat (PDF) 289kB Jun7 11) is the activity available for students online at Model Activity page
Mass Balance Activity (Microsoft Word 89kB Jun7 11) is an MS Word document that can be modified by you.
Teaching Notes and Tips
This activity takes about 2-hours to complete.
This activity works best with a PC, but with proper configuration also works on MAC OS X.
Little mathematical background is required to complete this activity.
Students typically have little trouble answering the first 17 questions in this activity. Students usually have to think more carefully when using the online model for the two structurally similar examples at the end of the activity (home heating and bank loan balance). Encourage them to keep units clear in their mind. For the water bucket, level is expressed in gallons and time in min; for the home heating, level is in degrees Celsius and time in hours; and for the bank loan, level is in US$ and time is in months.
I often use a 2-liter pop bottle, with flow from a hose into the top and a hole in the bottom, as a physical model during an in class discussion of mass balance and the water bucket model. The lifetime (residence time) for this water bucket model is then related to the hole size in the bottle and viscosity of the water.
Mass Balance Activity Answers (Acrobat (PDF) 292kB Aug18 04) in PDF format for easy grading.
Grading the completed activity sheet provided can be used as an assessment of student understanding. Follow-up discussions in class, essay questions on exams, and the future success of students on other related activities are also useful measures of student understanding.
References and Resources
The water bucket mass balance model described here is the first of four activities that I use in my courses when discussing Earth's Climate and Stratospheric Ozone.
The next activity in the sequence, Trace Gases , is designed to extend these fundamental ideas and the terminology of mass balance into an atmospheric science context. If you are short on time you can highlight key aspects of this activity in a lecture and then assign one or both of the related activities below.
These last two related activities can be done in any order.
- Using a mass balance model to understand carbon dioxide and its connection to global warming. This activity has been student tested, reworked, and updated over the past 12 years.
- Using Mass Balance to Understand Atmospheric Levels of CFCs. This activity has also been student tested, reworked, and updated over the past 12 years.


text: Steam Locomotive Information The Steam Locomotive Information Site OSE( STh) No. 41 Volos, Greece Photo Copyright © Dale W Fickés Click to Enlarge Wheels: 2-6-2T Builder: Arnold Jung Build Date: 1951 Construction No.: 11452 Empty Weight: Unknown Weight on Drivers: Unknown Driver Diameter: Unknown Tractive Effort: Unknown Boiler Pressure: Unknown Cylinders: Unknown Fuel: Unknown Gauge: 1000mm Location: Station Yard Status: Display Views: 815 Record Created: Before June 10, 2017 Record Updated: Sep 23, 2019 Action: Location Changed This site and its content Copyright © 2019, by Douglas C. BaileyImages and Video Clips © by the photographer/videographer indicated. Used by permission.


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For 67 years Nelson Mandela devoted his life to the service of humanity. Yesterday we joined the rest of the UN family by heeding the call from the Nelson Mandela Foundation to devote 67 minutes of our time to helping others, as a way to mark Nelson Mandela International Day.
In November 2009, the UN General Assembly declared 18 July "Nelson Mandela International Day" in recognition of the former South African President's contribution to the culture of peace and freedom.
On Monday, which was Mr Mandela's 93rd birthday, senior officials, diplomats and staff from the UN gathered in New York's Central Park and other locations around the world to perform public services to mark Mandela Day. Here at UNRIC we chose to take part in the 67 minutes of action by going online and helping others by donating rice through the World Food Programme's Free Rice 2.0 tool (WFP).
Did you know that there are 24,470+ days in 67 years? That was the magic number we decided to target as part of our celebration of Mandela Day. Although it took well over 67 minutes to reach the 24k total, we finally reached our target after answering nearly 2500 questions.
Elsewhere, UN Staff in Central Park painted benches and an exhibition where visitors could learn more about Mr Mandela through a range of video and audio materials opened at HQ.
Peacekeepers also played their role in the celebrations by organizing a film screening in Cyprus, and, in Sudan's Darfur region the UN-African Union Peacekeeping force (UNAMID) organized a local event in a girl's school in El Fasher.
The Brussels based United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe - UNRIC provides information on UN activities to the countries of the region. It also provides liaison with institutions of the European Union in the field of information. Its outreach activities extend to all segments of society and joint campaigns, projects and events are organized with partners including the EU, governments, the media, NGOs, schools and local authorities.
United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe (UNRIC Brussels)
Residence Palace, Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 155, Block C2,7th and 8th floor, Brussels 1040, Belgium
Tel.: +32 2 788 8484 / Fax: 32 2 788 8485


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But on Monday, the day after we ran the Kalundborg Winter Marathon, I found myself unable to think straight. Patients and colleagues alike would ask me questions or give me information and I would stare at them as if they were a teacher from Charlie Brown. Normally I would attribute behaviour like this to low blood sugar or lack of sleep. But I am certain neither of these were the case. And my boss said I looked ill and that she was concened about me. Despite being a physician, I find myself unable to explain these untoward effects other than attributing it all to "exhaustion".
Here I am looking kind of dead after the race:
To determine whether or not a marathon is "healthy", one should probably consider the immediate, secondary and long-term effects it has on the body.
1. Short-term health effects:
It is hard to find many short-term health benefits. There is of course that rush of adrenaline and another benefit for most people is burning calories. Negative effects on health include muskuloskeletal injuries, hyponatremia (from drinking too much water), heat stroke, kidney failure (seen rarely in ultras) and the extremely rare but feared sudden cardiac death. In looking at studies of people who die from heart problems in a marathon, these are exclusively people with underlying heart conditions, whether they know it or not. There is also damage and death of cardiac muscle cells during a marathon, shown in multiple studies by a rise in troponin in the blood after a marathon, as one sees with a heart attack. I'll get back to the meaning of that long-term in a bit.
A great study in the British Medical Journal (BMJ. 2007 Dec 22;335(7633):1275-7.) looked at large marathons in cities all around the world and found that one is more likely to die of an accident in the city outside of the race than to die during the race. I think that helps put the issue of marathon safety in perspective. And one of the best things about marathons may be that they result in so many road closures, that numerous traffic-related deaths are prevented.
I have also never come across serious problems pregnant women have had while running marathons. But you can bet your life savings that when the first pregnant woman does make the news for a marathon-related health problem, pregnant women all over the world will decide not to run at all when pregnant.
2. Secondary effects:
Not only does one feel tired, but there is quite a bit of evidence that one's immunesystem functions abnormally for up to 72 hours after a race.
2. Long-term health effects of a marathon:
First of all, it is extremely hard to do good research on the long-term health effects of a marathon, when marathon runners tend to be healthier people in the first place.
But, I did come across one interesting study in a literature search:
It appears that prevalence of hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes decreases with the frequency of marathon participation independent of annual running distance (Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009 Mar;41(3):523-9).
As far the long-term effects on the heart, no concensus has been reached. All studies are small and they have found conflicting results (read this article in the New York Times for more info http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/phys-ed-how-do-marathons-affect-your-heart/).
Anyone else have thoughts on the subject?
Here are so more pictures from Kalundborg Winter Marathon and a video clip of the marathon from Danish tv:
First the link to the video:
And some pics from Tor Rønnow (minus the naked ladies, thanks, Tor!):
Running Song of the Day: All through the night by Cindi Lauper


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Hopes for a prompt settlement in the 110-day old N.H.L. lockout were scuttled Thursday when players began voting to reauthorize Donald Fehr, the union's executive director, to disclaim interest in representing the union.
If Fehr disclaims, it would effectively dissolve the union and open the way for players to file antitrust lawsuits against the league. The result of the vote is expected to be announced Saturday.
"The players retain all the legal options they have always had," said Fehr, who did not meet with Commissioner Gary Bettman at Thursday's sessions.
The threat of a disclaimer loomed over five hours of negotiations Wednesday, until a midnight deadline passed, a signal that talks would continue.
The union filed a motion Thursday in United States District Court in New York, seeking dismissal of an N.H.L. filing on Dec. 14 that said any union disclaimer of interest would be unlawful.
"The N.H.L. is using this suit in an attempt to force the players to remain in a union," the memorandum said. "Not only is it virtually unheard of for an employer to insist on the unionization of its employees, it is also directly contradicted by the rights guaranteed to employees under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act."
Judge Paul A. Engelmayer scheduled a hearing for Monday.
"The Court is mindful of the broader context in which this lawsuit has been filed: ongoing negotiations between the National Hockey League and its players which, if not resolved in short order, may imperil the remainder of the N.H.L. season," Engelmayer wrote.
The two sides brought in a federal mediator, Scot L. Beckenbaugh, this week, raising hopes that a settlement was possible by Jan. 11, which would allow a 48-game schedule to start by Jan. 19.
The two sides were expected to reconvene Friday. "The mediation process continues," said Gary Meagher, an N.H.L. spokesman.


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Everybody knows if you want decent bass in your car, you need a big enclosure and a ton of power, right? Well, the people at JL Audio may disagree. You see, they have decades of experience in putting high performance woofer systems in all kinds of cars and trucks, including those with really tight spaces. To that end, they have developed a series of products called "Ported PowerWedges." This series of products combine specifically designed vented enclosures with the most appropriate woofer, and produce higher than average performance from very small spaces. These systems are much more than just a small box with a woofer screwed into it. The system we're looking into this time around is the JL Audio CP108LG-W3v3 which uses a single 8W3v3 woofer, and retail price around $240 (USD).
The JL Audio CP108LG-W3v3 subwoofer system is very compact, measuring only 18-5/8 inches wide, 11-3/16 inches high and 5-1/8 inches deep. Some amplifiers are bigger! In that tiny package however, is a clever design packed with quality workmanship. Every PowerWedge enclosure is finished and inspected by hand at JL Audio's Florida-based facility, so you can be sure things are right when it gets put in the carton.
The exterior of the enclosure is covered very nicely in black automotive carpet, and thoughtful touches like heavy duty terminals with 5 way binding posts add to the sense of quality. The woofer is securely mounted on the front panel with 8 screws, and comes complete with a removable steel mesh grille. The slot-vent for the system is on the upper edge of the end panel of the enclosure and features a flared end at the output to reduce air turbulence and port noise.
By using the high performance JL Audio W3v3 woofer, the system's power handling is rated at 250 watts. Of course, I had to remove the woofer from the enclosure and check out the construction, and was impressed with what I found. To minimize the mounting depth, the enclosure is constructed of 3/8-inch MDF, but lest you think that's not thick enough for a good enclosure, I should explain that great care was taken to design and build the enclosure with special internal braces that stiffen and add tremendous strength to the design (see photos). The interior of the enclosure is also lined with polyfill to improve performance and "trick" the woofer into thinking it's in a larger air volume than it actually is. Polyfill stuffing also helps to reduce sonic colorations and can in some cases improve overall efficiency slightly.
The 8W3v3-4 subwoofer utilizes a special mineral-filled polypropylene cone and comes complete with a distinctive JL Audio medallion. A patented design improves the surround to basket junction, and reduces the stress loading of the rubber surround during cone movement, for increased reliability and more consistent output. The 8W3v3-4 woofer also uses JL Audio's exclusive voice coil cooling feature, which dissipates heat away from the sub's internal motor structure, thereby improving long term durability.
Read on for Results


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A truly historical venue with an intriguing background. But you will have to visit to hear the whole story.
Who's roaming around Kyteler's Inn? Irish Spirit Makes an AppearanceKytelers Music & Entertainment »
Kyteler's provides entertainment every night of the week. View our current weekly entertainment guide.
Who or what is that black shadow heading up the stairs? Is it Kyteler's resident ghost?
Music is a huge part of Ireland's history and Traditional Irish music has a home right here in Kyteler's Inn.
National Winner Tourist Bar - 2013 & 2014.
Fun Trad session with the talented duo, every Monday to Thursday evening in the Main bar.
View the 360° Virtual Tour of Kytelers Inn, Kilkenny, Ireland. Visit the Main Bar, Tavern Bar, Top Bar and Beer Garden. Find Dame Alice Kyteler... Browse our photo gallery while there.
Visitors from all over the world join a local clientele for Bacon and Cabbage, Irish Stew, prime Steaks and our famous 'Vol au Vents' washed down with local Kilkenny and Smithwicks beers, Harp lager and Guinness.
Dame Alice was the earliest person accused and condemned for witchcraft in Ireland. Was Alice de Kyteler a witch, a poisoner or just a woman who became wealthy by marrying and burying four husbands? We may never know...
Dame Alice is back at Kyteler's. Next time you are passing why not drop in and meet the life size bronze statue of our famed witch.
Kytelers Inn has catered for many tour groups over the years and we would be very happy to look after your clients in this great medieval building.
Kytelers Inn, Kilkenny offers the perfect surroundings for special occasions, communions, birthdays, christmas parties, office parties & private parties. We can cater for large amounts of people or small intimate gatherings.