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Top 14 Verdict - Part 2
Charge to Le Bouclier de Brennus
Martin Gillingham
May 23, 2012
Will Thierry Dusautoir be lifting Le Bouclier de Brennus again this season? © Getty Images
The play-offs kick off on Friday night with Castres taking on Montpellier at Toulouse's Stade Ernest Wallon. On Saturday, Jonny Wilkinson's Toulon are at home to Racing Metro in the second Match de Barrage. So what have I made of the top six's seasons so far? And what are their prospects of going all the way to Paris and the final on June 9..?
6th, Racing-Metro 64 points
What a tumultuous few months it has been for last year's beaten semi-finalists. The most vocal coach in Europe (Simon Mannix) was sacked; so too the continent's highest paid player (Sebastien Chabal); and then the billionaire owner had to step in and save the head coach Pierre Berbizier from the baying mob of players who had demanded his removal. In between times, Racing have been reckless on the pitch. Somehow, though, they have sneaked into the play-offs and must now travel to Toulon. Twelve months ago they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in the Marseille semi-final with the tournament apparently at their mercy. This time around their cause looks helpless. So in keeping with Racing's reputation for unpredictability, I'm reluctant to write them off. Frankly, anything from implosion to glorious victory is possible at the Stade Mayol on Saturday night.
5th, Montpellier 67
The importance of rugby has been given perspective at Montpellier this season by the health battles of head coach Fabien Galthie's No.2 Eric Bechu. The entire squad wore t-shirts carrying his name during their warm-up for the round 26 match when they came close to an upset win at the same venue (Stadium de Toulouse) - and against the same opposition (Toulouse) - as they hope to be involved in a semi-final on June 2. Inspired by Galthie, as well as last year's near miss when they came within 10 minutes of claiming the title, they should not be discounted. They'll travel to Toulouse for the barrage tie "away" to Castres on Friday (May 25) knowing that their hosts have lost twice at the same ground already this season and haven't won there for 34 years. Montpellier will also be lifted by the presence of their giant Georgian enforcer Mamuka Gorgodze who was sent off against Toulouse but whose punishment with a 10-day suspension amounts to exoneration.
4th, Castres 69
Despite having given up "home" advantage for Friday's barrage tie against Montpellier - Stade Ernest Wallon holds 17,000 to Pierre Antoine's 10,000 - Castres shall start as favourites. Remarkably, it's the same match-up as last year when, at Castres' traditional home, Martin Bustos Moyano kicked all the visitors' points to secure an 18-17 victory and inflict Castres' only home league defeat of the season. This time around Castres have been more vulnerable at the Pierre Antoine yet, unlike last year, appear to be timing their season with greater maturity. The two Laurents (coaches Labit and Travers) are masters of their craft and shall be bidding farewell to two crowd favourites this season - Chris Masoe who is off to Toulon and Racing-bound Luc Ducalcon. Their departure and the menacing presence of Castres legend Gerard Cholley looking on from the public enclosure should amply compensate for the advantage lost in having switched the game to the big city.
3rd, Toulon 73
Head coach Bernard Laporte needs to be both shrewd and lucky if he's to get to Paris for the final and, in all honesty, the odds must be against him. Last weekend's Amlin final at the Twickenham Stoop was the first of what will be four straight weekends of knockout rugby if Toulon are to lift the Bouclier de Brennus for the first time in 20 years. That they lost against Biarritz in London on Friday can only have upped the ante. Toulon have more incentive than most to become champions. Last year they missed out on the play-offs altogether and in 2010 they were denied in the semi-final by referee Jerome Garces whose decision to award Davit Zirakashvili's try without having consulted the television match official was exposed as a gaffe by replays which showed the Clermont prop had dropped the ball over the line. The tie went to extra-time and Clermont won it 35-29 on their way to their first ever title. Just Racing Metro now stand between Toulon's madcap millionaire owner Mourad Boudjellal and another semi-final tilt at Clermont. The Stade Mayol faithful, worked into a frenzy by the Pilou Pilou, will have Jonny and co. puffing out their chests at kick off. Racing had better be prepared for the onslaught to follow.
2nd, Clermont Auvergne 87
A second title would be a just reward for one of Europe's most attractive teams. For starters, they would surely be celebrating a first Heineken Cup triumph this week had Wesley Fofana not fluffed the touchdown in the dying moments of the semi-final against Leinster last month. And that can only increase the pressure felt by this Clermont squad which is the most gifted and expensively assembled in the club's 100-year history. The up side of the Bordeaux botch up is that head coach Vern Cotter has been able to rest up those scarred physically and mentally by that experience. Loose-head prop Thomas Domingo's return after a dreadful year blighted by knee injuries is also timely. Aurelien Rougerie and his team will be primed to deliver when either Toulon or Racing rock up for the Toulouse semi on June 3.
1st, Toulouse 87
They finished top by virtue of having won more league points in the two matches against Clermont (5-4) which is remarkable when you consider Toulouse won the home leg 22-9 but lost 35-5 at the Stade Marcel Michelin. It is a set of statistics which rather sums up the champions who waited until the last 10 minutes of last year's Paris final before edging past Montpellier. Indeed, when judged by the lofty standards set by Guy Noves, Toulouse have been similarly underwhelming this season. Just once, in their Yuletide 45-25 gallop over Montpellier in round 13, have they been jaw-droppingly good. With Lionel Beauxis at 10; Yann David wearing 12, and Maxime Medard sidelined until the autumn, their mark for artistic impression is a long way shy of Torvill and Dean's. Just the speedster Timoci Matanavou from broken play or chasing the floated cross-kick is a consistent threat. How far they've regressed was exposed particularly by Edinburgh in the Heineken Cup quarter-final. Even so, with a "home" semi booked against either Castres or Montpellier they are probable finalists where I reckon they'll face Clermont.
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
This article first appeared in The Independent on May 15, visit http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/
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Ovid, Latin in full Publius Ovidius Naso, (born March 20, 43 bce, Sulmo, Roman Empire [now Sulmona, Italy]—died 17 ce, Tomis, Moesia [now Constanṭa, Romania]), Roman poet noted especially for his Ars amatoria and Metamorphoses. His verse had immense influence both by its imaginative interpretations of classical myth and as an example of supreme technical accomplishment.
Publius Ovidius Naso was, like most Roman men of letters, a provincial. He was born at Sulmo, a small town about 90 miles (140 km) east of Rome. The main events of his life are described in an autobiographical poem in the Tristia (Sorrows). His family was old and respectable, and sufficiently well-to-do for his father to be able to send him and his elder brother to Rome to be educated. At Rome he embarked, under the best teachers of the day, on the study of rhetoric. Ovid was thought to have the makings of a good orator, but in spite of his father's admonitions he neglected his studies for the verse writing that came so naturally to him.
As a member of the Roman knightly class (whose rank lay between the commons and the Senate), Ovid was marked by his position, and intended by his father, for an official career. First, however, he spent some time at Athens (then a favourite finishing school for young men of the upper classes) and traveled in Asia Minor and Sicily. Afterward he dutifully held some minor judicial posts, the first steps on the official ladder, but he soon decided that public life did not suit him. From then on he abandoned his official career to cultivate poetry and the society of poets.
Ovid's first work, the Amores (The Loves), had an immediate success and was followed, in rapid succession, by the Epistolae Heroidum, or Heroides (Epistles of the Heroines), the Medicamina faciei ("Cosmetics"; Eng. trans. The Art of Beauty), the Ars amatoria (The Art of Love), and the Remedia amoris (Remedies for Love), all reflecting the brilliant, sophisticated, pleasure-seeking society in which he moved. The common theme of those early poems is love and amorous intrigue, but it is unlikely that they mirror Ovid's own life very closely. Of his three marriages the first two were short-lived, but his third wife, of whom he speaks with respect and affection, remained constant to him until his death. At Rome Ovid enjoyed the friendship and encouragement of Marcus Valerius Messalla, the patron of a circle that included the poet Albius Tibullus, whom Ovid knew only for a short time before his untimely death. Ovid's other friends included the poets Horace and Sextus Propertius and the grammarian Hyginus.
Having won an assured position among the poets of the day, Ovid turned to more-ambitious projects, the Metamorphoses and the Fasti ("Calendar"; Eng. trans. Ovid's Fasti). The former was nearly complete, the latter half finished, when his life was shattered by a sudden and crushing blow. In 8 ce the emperor Augustus banished him to Tomis (or Tomi; near modern Constanṭa, Romania) on the Black Sea. The reasons for Ovid's exile will never be fully known. Ovid specifies two, his Ars amatoria and an offense which he does not describe beyond insisting that it was an indiscretion (error), not a crime (scelus). Of the many explanations that have been offered of that mysterious indiscretion, the most probable is that he had become an involuntary accomplice in the adultery of Augustus's granddaughter, the younger Julia, who also was banished at the same time. In 2 bce her mother, the elder Julia, had similarly been banished for immorality, and the Ars amatoria had appeared while that scandal was still fresh in the public mind. Those coincidences, together with the tone of Ovid's reference to his offense, suggest that he behaved in some way that was damaging both to Augustus's program of moral reform and to the honour of the imperial family. Since his punishment, which was the milder form of banishment called relegation, did not entail confiscation of property or loss of citizenship, his wife, who was well-connected, remained in Rome to protect his interests and to intercede for him.
Exile at Tomis, a port originally settled by Greeks on the extreme confines of the Roman Empire, was a cruel punishment for a man of Ovid's temperament and habits. He never ceased to hope, if not for pardon, at least for mitigation of sentence, keeping up in the Tristia and the Epistulae ex Ponto ("Letters from the Black Sea") a ceaseless stream of pathetic pleas, chiefly through his wife and friends, to the emperor. But neither Augustus nor his successor Tiberius relented, and there are hints in the later poems that Ovid was even becoming reconciled to his fate when death released him.
Ovid's extant poems are all written in elegiac couplets except for the Metamorphoses. His first poems, the Amores (The Loves), were published at intervals, beginning about 20 bce, in five books. They form a series of short poems depicting the various phases of a love affair with a woman called Corinna. Their keynote is not passion but the witty and rhetorical exploitation of erotic commonplace; they chronicle not a real relationship between Ovid and Corinna (who is a literary construct rather than a real woman) but all the vicissitudes of a typical affair with a woman of the demimonde.
In the Heroides (Heroines) Ovid developed an idea already used by Sextus Propertius into something like a new literary genre. The first 15 of those letters are purportedly from legendary ladies such as Penelope, Dido, and Ariadne to absent husbands or lovers. The letters are really dramatic monologues, in which the lessons of Ovid's rhetorical education, particularly the exercises called ethopoiea ("character drawing"), are brilliantly exploited. The inherent monotony of subject and treatment, which all Ovid's skill could not completely disguise, is adroitly transcended in the six later epistles of the Heroides. Those form three pairs, the lover addressing and being answered by each woman. In them, Ovid's treatment of his literary sources is particularly ingenious; the correspondence of Paris and Helen is one of antiquity's minor masterpieces.
Turning next to didactic poetry, Ovid composed the Medicamina faciei, a witty exercise of which only 100 lines survive. That frivolous but harmless poem was followed in 1 bce by the notorious Ars amatoria, a manual of seduction and intrigue for the man about town. The lover's quarry, in that work, is ostensibly to be sought in the demimonde (i.e., among women on the fringes of respectable society who are supported by wealthy lovers), and Ovid explicitly disclaims the intention of teaching adultery; but all of his teaching could in fact be applied to the seduction of married women. Such a work constituted a challenge, no less effective for being flippant, to Augustus's cherished moral reforms, and it included a number of references, in that context tactless if not indeed provocative, to symbols of the emperor's personal prestige. The first two books, addressed to men, were the original extent of the work; a third, in response to popular demand, was added for women. For many modern readers the Ars amatoria is Ovid's masterpiece, a brilliant medley of social and personal satire, vignettes of Roman life and manners, and charming mythological digressions. It was followed by a mock recantation, the Remedia amoris, also a burlesque of an established genre, which can have done little to make amends for the Ars. The possibilities for exploiting love-elegy were now effectively exhausted, and Ovid turned to new types of poetry in which he could use his supreme narrative and descriptive gifts.
Ovid's Fasti is an account of the Roman year and its religious festivals, consisting of 12 books, one to each month, of which the first six survive. The various festivals are described as they occur and are traced to their legendary origins. The Fasti was a national poem, intended to take its place in the Augustan literary program and perhaps designed to rehabilitate its author in the eyes of the ruling dynasty. It contains a good deal of flattery of the imperial family and much patriotism, for which the undoubted brilliance of the narrative passages does not altogether atone.
Ovid's next work, the Metamorphoses, must also be interpreted against its contemporary literary background, particularly in regard to Virgil's Aeneid. The unique character of Virgil's poem, which had been canonized as the national epic, posed a problem for his successors, since after the Aeneid a straightforward historical or mythological epic would represent an anticlimax. Ovid was warned against that pitfall alike by his instincts and his intelligence; he chose, as Virgil had done, to write an epic on a new plan, unique and individual to himself.
The Metamorphoses is a long poem in 15 books written in hexameter verse and totaling nearly 12,000 lines. It is a collection of mythological and legendary stories in which metamorphosis (transformation) plays some part, however minor. The stories are told in chronological order from the creation of the universe (the first metamorphosis, of chaos into order) to the death and deification of Julius Caesar (the culminating metamorphosis, again of chaos—that is, the Civil War—into order—that is, the Augustan Peace). In many of the stories, mythical characters are used to illustrate examples of obedience or disobedience toward the gods, and for their actions are either rewarded or punished by a final transformation into some animal, vegetable, or astronomical form. The importance of metamorphosis is more apparent than real, however; the essential theme of the poem is passion (pathos), and that gives it more unity than all the ingenious linking and framing devices the poet uses. The erotic emphasis that had dominated Ovid's earlier poetry is broadened and deepened into an exploration of nearly every variety of human emotion—for his gods are nothing if not human. That undertaking brought out, as his earlier work had not, Ovid's full powers: his wit and rhetorical brilliance, his mythological learning, and the peculiar qualities of his fertile imagination. The vast quantities of verse in both Greek and Latin that Ovid had read and assimilated are transformed, through a process of creative adaptation, into original and unforeseen guises. By his genius for narrative and vivid description, Ovid gave to scores of Greek legends, some of them little known before, their definitive form for subsequent generations. No single work of literature has done more to transmit the riches of the Greek imagination to posterity. By 8 ce the Metamorphoses was complete, if not yet formally published; and it was at that moment, when Ovid seemed securely placed on a pinnacle of successful achievement, that he was banished to Tomis by the emperor.
Ovid arrived at his place of exile in the spring of 9 ce. Tomis was a semi-Hellenized port exposed to periodic attacks by surrounding peoples. Books and high society were lacking; little Latin was spoken; and the climate was severe. In his solitude and depression, Ovid turned again to poetry, now of a more personal and introspective sort. The Tristia and Epistulae ex Ponto were written and sent to Rome at the rate of about a book a year from 9 ce on. They consist of letters to the emperor and to Ovid's wife and friends describing his miseries and appealing for clemency. For all his depression and self-pity, Ovid never retreats from the one position with which his self-respect was identified—his status as a poet. That is particularly evident in his ironical defense of the Ars in Book ii of the Tristia.
That Ovid's poetical powers were not as yet seriously impaired is shown by his poem Ibis. That, written not long after his arrival at Tomis, is a long and elaborate curse directed at an anonymous enemy. It is a tour de force of abstruse mythological learning, composed largely without the aid of books. But in the absence of any sign of encouragement from home, Ovid lacked the heart to continue to write the sort of poetry that had made him famous, and the later Epistulae ex Ponto make melancholy reading.
The loss of Ovid's tragedy Medea, which he wrote while still in Rome, is particularly to be deplored; it was praised by the critic Quintilian and the historian Tacitus and can hardly have failed to influence Seneca's play on the same theme.
In classical antiquity, Ovid's influence on later Latin poetry was primarily technical. He succeeded in the difficult task of adapting the intractable Latin language to dactylic Greek metres, and thereby perfected both the elegiac couplet and the hexameter as all-purpose metres and as instruments of fluent communication. Ovid's verse is remarkable for its smoothness, fluency, and balance. The elegance of his verse masks its extreme artificiality, and the casual reader may overlook the quiet ruthlessness of Ovid's linguistic innovations, particularly in vocabulary. Ovid's hexameters in the Metamorphoses are a superb vehicle for rapid narrative and description.
To that technical facility Ovid added an unrivaled power of invention that enabled him to exploit ideas and situations to the utmost, chiefly through the use of vivid and telling details. His undoubted rhetorical gifts have caused him to be dubbed insincere and even heartless, and he seems indeed to have lacked the capacity for strong emotion or religious feeling. Judged, however, by his gift for fantasy, Ovid is one of the great poets of all time. In the Metamorphoses he created a caricature of the actual world, the setting for a cosmic comedy of manners in which the endless flux and reflux of the universe itself is reflected in the often paradoxical and always arbitrary fate of the characters, human and divine. Pathos, humour, beauty, and cruelty are mingled in a unique individual vision. Ovid's talent is not of that highest order which can pierce the outward semblance of people and things and receive intimations of a deeper reality; but what he could do, few if any poets have ever done better.
Ovid's immense popularity during his lifetime continued after his death and was little affected by the action of Augustus, who banned his works from the public libraries. From about 1100 onward Ovid's fame, which during late antiquity and the early Middle Ages had been to some extent eclipsed, began to rival and even at times to surpass Virgil's. The 12th and 13th centuries have with some justice been called "the age of Ovid." Indeed, he was esteemed in that period not only as entertaining but also as instructive, and his works were read in schools. His poetry is full of epigrammatic maxims and sententious utterances which, lifted from their contexts, made a respectable appearance in the excerpts in which medieval readers often studied their classics. Ovid's popularity was part, however, of a general secularization and awakening to the beauties of profane literature; he was the poet of the wandering scholars as well as of the vernacular poets, the troubadours and minnesingers; and when the concept of romantic love, in its new chivalrous or "courtly" guise, was developed in France, it was Ovid's influence that dominated the book in which its philosophy was expounded, the Roman de la rose.
Ovid's popularity grew during the Renaissance, particularly among humanists who were striving to re-create ancient modes of thought and feeling, and printed editions of his works followed each other in an unending stream from 1471. A knowledge of his verse came to be taken for granted in an educated man, and in the 15th–17th centuries it would be difficult to name a poet or painter of note who was not in some degree indebted to him. The Metamorphoses, in particular, offered one of the most-accessible and most-attractive avenues to the riches of Greek mythology. But Ovid's chief appeal stems from the humanity of his writing: its gaiety, its sympathy, its exuberance, its pictorial and sensuous quality. It is those things that have recommended him, down the ages, to the troubadours and the poets of courtly love, to Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and Ezra Pound.Edward John Kenney The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Learn More in these related Britannica articles:
ancient Rome: Augustan art and literature…and produced the frivolities of Ovid and the pedestrian later books of Livy.…
French literature: The romance…shorter contes were derived from Ovid. Other romances, such as
Floire et Blancheflor(adapted in Middle English as Flores and Blancheflur), exploited Greco-Byzantine sources; but by about 1150 the Celtic legends of Britain were capturing the public's imagination.…
William Shakespeare: The poems…owe a good deal to Ovid, the Classical poet whose writings Shakespeare encountered repeatedly in school. These two poems are the only works for which he wrote dedicatory prefaces. Both are to Henry Wriothesley, earl of Southampton. This young man, a favourite at court, seems to have encouraged Shakespeare and…
humanism: Chapman, Jonson, and Shakespeare…produced strikingly effective imitations of Ovid and Plautus—
Venus and Adonis(composed 1592–93) and The Comedy of Errors( c.1589–94), respectively—and drew on Ovid and Livy for his poem The Rape of Lucrece(1594). In Julius Caesar(1599–1600), Antony and…
Ars amatoria
Ars amatoria, (Latin: "Art of Love") poem by Ovid, published about 1 bce. Ars amatoriacomprises three books of mock-didactic elegiacs on the art of seduction and intrigue. One of the author's best-known works, it contributed to his downfall in 8 ceon allegations of immorality. The work, which presents…
More About Ovid20 references found in Britannica articles
Assorted References
- "Ars amatoria"
- In Ars amatoria
- assessment of percussion instruments
- exile to Constantiana
- In Constanƫa
- history of Roman Empire
- "Metamorphoses"
- transmission of Greek mythology
development of
- courtly love concept
- In courtly love
- epistle
- In epistle

subset: commoncrawl


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Justin Bieber, Cher Lloyd + Psy Perform at 2012 Philly Jingle Ball
Justin Bieber, Cher Lloyd and Psy all performed at the Philadelphia edition of the Jingle Ball last night (Dec. 5.)
The Biebs continues to show his swag, swag, swag and his adoration of Michael Jackson, dressed in all black and a shirt with one leather sleeve on the carpet. He also channeled Mr. T will his layers of gold chains. Maybe Selena Gomez digs all that bling. If The Biebs can't win Grammy gold, well, he'll wear (2)chainz on his neck. He peformed hits like 'Die In Your Arms' and 'Boyfriend,' in a red workout-looking outfit. It looks like Juicy Couture for men, only constructed of parachute pants material.
Cher Lloyd, who was all over the place when her album 'Sticks + Stones' came out before going back to her native U.K. for a hot minute, was back, looking sweet in a butter yellow outfit. She mixed a furry vest with an embroidered mini. It was, in one word, adorbs. She paired it with kicks, adding that typical Cher Lloyd urban, street flair.
Psy looked like his typical sharp-dressed self in both the press room and on stage. Love –and we do mean -- love those wing tips. That's Gangnam style, son!


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Happy St. Nicholas Day!
The holiday season has many different holidays that are celebrated, whether it be Christmas on Dec. 25, Chanukah starting on Dec. 8, Kwanzaa starting on Dec. 26 or a few others that are celebrated around the world. However, one that I celebrated when I was living in Germany is celebrated today (Dec. 6). It is St. Nicholas Day. This is not the day he was born as you may think, but is the day he died in AD 343, and thus is called the St. Nicholas Feast Day.
For those that are unaware of this holiday, it the day that is celebrated to honor St. Nicholas, who was a Saint in the 4thCentury that was known for secret gift-giving and his compassion towards other in lending a hand when needed. The story goes that St. Nicholas would travel around and give small gifts for those who left their shoes outside their door.
The tradition of leaving shoes out is still popular today in Europe and has been popular in a few other locations in the United States. Some say it could be used a judging point in whether Santa Claus will visit you on Christmas Day. When you leave your shoes out, you may find that you have coins, candy or small trinkets. If you found any of those items, it is said that you are good, but if you found coal or switches, then you have been bad and need to make amends for whatever you have done.
Overall, it is a day to also share stories about giving and how St. Nicholas did it secretly.
I hope this maybe rekindles your spirit of the holidays. If you want to read more about St. Nicholas and how you can start this tradition, I highly recommend the St. Nicholas Center website.
Happy St. Nicholas Day!


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CATIA Systems Engineering integrates complex product behaviour into the product definition, enabling a lifelike experience which predicts real world performance.
With CATIA Systems Engineering , system architects, product engineers, designers and technical experts define both technical and business aspects. The RFLP approach (Requirements, Functional, Logical and Physical Design) upholds a full traceability during product development and product introduction. This helps shortening the gap between requirements analysis and the choice of the right solution.
CATIA Systems DBM Export for HILS
The HILS interface allows systems engineers to export models developed in CATIA DBM in order to use them to perform 'Hardware in the Loop' (HIL) simulations
Today's complex electro-mechanical products have their behavior largely driven by embedded controllers. The 'whole system' behavior of these products, including both the controlled parts and the controllers themselves, can be modeled in CATIA Systems Dynamic Behavior Modeling (DBM). The Systems DBM export for HILS product can then be used to export the controlled model (i.e. the plant model) for use in a validation environment. In this context, the plant model is used as an input/output simulator used for simulating and tuning the actual physical controller under real-time conditions.
Optimized real-time computers benefit from both speed and size features allowing them to be located and loaded near to the controller. These real-time computers can then be used to validate the controller design in realistic conditions, avoiding costs and risks associated with simulations that would use the real physical plant. Using this export option, the C code generated from the systems plant model can be processed for use in HIL simulations on platforms such as dSPACE and xPC targets.
- Shorten the development time for complex systems by virtually running plant models to validate new Electronic Control Units (ECU's)
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Generation of C code supporting real time capabilitiesAn embedded fixed step integrator ensures that the generated C code can run on DSpace and xPC targets, thanks to The MathWorks Real Time Workshop (RTW) code generator.
Take advantage of special techniques for HIL simulationsuch as inline integration.
Latest xPC and dSPACE target environments supportedo Systems DBM export for HILS ensures a Real-time simulation on xPC Target version 3.0 (or later) and/or dSPACE Release 5.0 (or later).


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President Donald Trump's effort to slash U.S. tax funding for the United Nations by at least half does not go nearly far enough, according to a former UN staffer who saw the horror show that is the UN, up close and personal. Instead, the ex-UN official argued, the United States must withdraw completely from the dangerous, scandal-plagued global body that threatens human rights, human life, and even "the well-being of the world." Anything less will leave Americans as accomplices to the atrocities.
The reason for the harsh words is simple: The UN is filled with corrupt, racist, and criminal staff who engage in monstrous crimes and abuses, including the rape of children, all with impunity, said former UN staffer Pallavi Kakoti-McHugh.
A global effort dubbed "Covenant of Democratic Nations" is working to abolish the United Nations, widely ridiculed as the "dictators club," and replace it with an international forum open exclusively to free and democratic nations. Basically, it is a "repeal and replace" campaign to protect the world from the UN and its increasingly vicious attacks on freedom and self-government. A number of lawmakers around the world have expressed interest in the campaign as the movement travels from city to city hosting events to expose the UN and promote an alternative.
Leftist Mexican politician Andrés Manuel López Obrador has called for his government to sue the Trump administration at the UN because of the planned border wall.
Establishment globalists were right to be concerned about the fate of their schemes. After a fast-paced first week of putting "America First" by targeting pseudo-"free trade" regimes and rogue regulatory agencies, President Donald Trump is reportedly preparing to take on the United Nations. Its swarms of agencies, programs, bureaucracies, conventions, and associated schemes are also in the crosshairs. According to a January 25 report in the anti-Trump New York Times, which claimed to have seen a set of draft orders being prepared by the administration, Trump plans to drastically reduce the U.S. government's role at the UN and other international organizations. He is also planning a review of sovereignty-stealing UN treaties, with a view toward restoring self-government in various policy areas and saving U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars. Globalists everywhere are in a panic.
Amid escalating outrage surrounding the scandal-plagued United Nations, globalists seem to be in a panic about the fate of their beloved international organization under the incoming administration. Indeed, a high-ranking globalist with the global-government-promoting Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), a chief promoter of the UN "dictators club" for generations, whined last week that the widely ridiculed global body was going to be "hammered" by President-elect Donald Trump and the GOP-controlled Congress.
The United Nations, its leaders, and more than a few UN agencies such as UNESCO and the UN "Human Rights Council" have been showering praise on one of the world's most brutal mass murderers in recent weeks. The late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro and his Stalinist regime murdered tens of thousands of innocent people and imprisoned hundreds of thousands as it enslaved and destroyed what was once among the most prosperous nations in the world. At the dictator-dominated UN, though, even weeks after his death, Castro is still being glorified as some sort of hero, illustrating perfectly why the United States and other civilized nations must withdraw from the totalitarian-minded global outfit as soon as possible. Following several earlier UN "tributes" to "honor" the mass murderer, yet another UN "tribute" was held on December 20 at the General Assembly Hall.
With the death of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, many held out hope that freedom would get a boost in the island nation under the heel of communism. But sadly, the new boss may be just like the old boss.
Fidel Castro is dead, but the Communist tyranny he imposed on the Cuban people lives on. Unfortunately, much of the American media are trying to bury the truth about his murderous regime — and those in America who helped Castro come to power — with him.
The provisions of NAFTA may very well allow President Trump to act on his own to change tariff rates, force negotiations to modify the pact, or even withdraw the United States from it.


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LL Wine & Dine
I never would have imagined myself to be dining at a place where it used to be an illegal gambling den and adult bookshop...but hey things happen! I was recently invited to try out LL Wine & Dine at Potts Points, a super eclectic and funky Modern Asian eatery near where I work, up the lane way of Llankelly Place. A close walk from King's Cross Station, LL Wine & Dine is perfect for fun casual dinners that involves killer cocktails and delicious Asian food with a twist.
The bold black and red interiors make LL Wine & Dine hard to miss.
The restaurant space is larger than it seems, especially after given a tour of the back area.
The Modern Asian menu has been designed by Head Chef Jin Kung and all the dishes are designed to be shared. There's even a Yum Cha menu! How cool is that?
In the 1960s, the venue operated as an illegal casino and also served as an adult bookshop. See the walls to your left? They're plastered with the vintage porn that was found stocked in the secret room upstairs.
Towards the back there's even a function area separated into two sections - this used to be a stronghold steel room amongst other interesting things...the history is amazing!
LL Wine & Dine offers a great cocktail menu that will cater to all, designed to compliment the dishes on the menu. As M was driving that night, the staff kindly took out the vodka from the
CHEE CHEE Mule ($16)
which turned out to be equally delicious without the alcohol. Built with
lychees, limes and a dash of cinnamon (normally shaken with vodka) and dumped and topped with ginger bee,
this was one delicious mocktail, perfect for warm summer evenings.
Limoncello Saketini ($18)
had a nice
balance of sweet, sour and bitter with Yuzu sake, vodka & Campari shaken with fresh lemon and a burnt orange twist.
It was a bit too strong for me but definitely very refreshing also.
We had an exciting start with some scrumptious san choy baus. The
LL Chicken San Choy Bau ($11 for 2)
was topped with a
spicy lime dressing
in addition to
pine nuts and special croutons
. It had strong Thai flavours and was well seasoned with an added crunch from the pine nuts.
My favourite was definitely the
Roasted Duck San Choy Bau ($11 for 2)
which came with
cucumber, plum and orange sauce, shallot and sesame
. There was a generous serving of duck and it was so tender and juicy, the flavours were bursting everywhere. Yes it does get messy, but for all the right reasons :)
Next up was M's favourite of the night! The
Calamari ($15)
tossed with
LL chilli salt and served with a preserved lemon & gherkin dipping sauce
was quite possibly one of the best ones we've ever had. Smooth and tender on the inside with just the right amount of crunch on the outside, the calamari's were super flavoursome with a hint of chilli. Dip into the sauce for extra flavour but honestly they were fantastic by itself.
Pork Belly Bun ($6.50 Each)
was cooked in
traditional Hakka Granny's way served with crushed peanuts, coriander and chilli sauce
. The hero was definitely the chilli sauce (the same type used in Yum Cha) as it really brought out the flavours from the succulent pork belly. The bun was a tad thick but it was ultra soft and gooey, allowing each bite to gloriously dissolve within the mouth in deliciousness. So good!
By this stage we were quite full already but we couldn't resist the mains - no we really couldn't. The
Massaman Beef Curry ($26)
potato, carrot and broccoli, finished with crushed peanuts and fresh herbs
is a signature dish at LL and we can see why. The curry was very tasty and the beef pieces were like brisket, cooked perfectly to produce a nice tender bite. The fried rice also deserves a special mention - tossed with eggs, shallots and pork cha siew, it was absolutely delicious.
Overall both M and I really enjoyed LL Wine & Dine - the ambience is nice and eclectic and we love the rich albeit, slightly colourful history it has. It's turning 4 this year!
The food was really interesting and you can tell that it has been influenced by the distinctive flavours of South East Asia - with a modern twist of course. It's a great place to chill with friends for a quick cocktail and some delicious food (the calamari is a must-have!). Staff were also very friendly and the service is great!
LL Wine & Dine
42 Llankelly Place
Potts Point NSW 2011
02 9356 8393


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- Commentary
By Cody Willard
Here are some of the questions to this week's Live Q&A chat from TradingWithCody.com along with a few emailed questions from Marketwatch The Cody Word readers. Join me next Wednesday at 2pm EST at TradingWithCody.com/chat or send me an email with your question at email@example.com.
If you're searching for a unique stocking stuffer, be sure to check out my new book, "Everything You Need to Know About Investing" the #1 best-selling Investment Education book at Amazon. Or give the gift of a subscription to TradingWithCody.com at 40% off the regular price until the end of the year.
As you read this week's transcript, please notice how many of the questions this week are all about politics and how politics have been driving trader's emotions and moves. I certainly had some questions about Apple, Facebook, etc, but the vast majority of my Cody Word and TradingWithCody readers were all about the fiscal-cliff and other politically-minded concerns. This isn't your grandfather's stock market, is it?
Q. Your article on the fiscal-cliff seems spot on. But does that mean the GOP/DEM regime has taken us too far down a road from which we can't recover? Are they really going to kill the golden goose?
A. I don't think the U.S. is necessarily doomed, per se, but I do think if people continue to elect these Republican/Democrat Regime politicians we will end up doomed and probably sooner than I'd like to admit. That is, if we don't start electing some people who have some ideas about enforcing the laws on the books and stopping the looting of our economy and future generations which the R/D Regime always claim are done in the name of "economic growth", we're doomed within the next decade. Repeating from my article to which you refer:
Finally, to really drive this point home — do you know how much the loopholes, subsidies, and targeted tax tricks for the 5,000 largest businesses in this country costs us in the deficit each year? More than $1.5 trilion. Cutting that and an end to lending money to banks at 0% and borrowing it from them at 2% along with a simple scaling tax rate on all income and/or purchases and/or assets in this country would instantly eliminate the entire deficit, would enable an immediate surplus and paying back of the existing debt, and full funding of a non-insurance-based universal health-care system.
Q. If we do go over the fiscal cliff will this hurt the economy? Surely when the average tax payer pays $2,200 more in taxes it will hurt right? Less iPhones being bought etc.
A. The Republican/Democrat Regime will simply find other ways to "stimulate" the economy by borrowing trillions more and hoping it will "trickle down." I don't think there's nearly as much implication from what will turn out to be a few minor decimal points on the average income and purchasing power in even the so-called worst-case fiscal cliff dive scenario.
Q. Cody, in your opinion do you think the whole fiscal cliff thing is already priced into the market?
A. Feet to fire, yes, it's already priced in. But that doesn't mean it can't get panicky anyway at some point in the next week or two. Such a panicky sell-off would probably make me an aggressive long again, by the way.
Q. Do you feel the market is toppy around S&P 1,440 where we have had resistance a few times? Going into the new year this fiscal cliff Christmas deadline could keep the market upside capped? What do you think?
A. I think the market is wound tight and ready to either break out or break down. The fiscal cliff paranoia will destroy ya, but it very well might drive a 5% panicky decline at some point before year end. Feet to fire, I think the path of least resistance is higher, but I'm not liking those odds enough to get wildly aggressive on the long side or anything like that.
Q. Now that Obama has been re-elected, are there any healthcare companies that you have looked at, that you think will supremely be able to take advantage of the situation over the next couple of years? Or do you really only focus on tech?
A. I do trade/invest in healthcare sometimes. Here's how I'd do it though — I typically like to short giant taxpayer-dependent business models like health insurance is, but it's all about timing. I rarely want to try to catch the ride up on these welfare companies like just about every healthcare company is in 21st century America. Romney-care on a national basis, which is what Obamacare is, is just another Republican/Democrat scheme cooked up and fully written by their biggest lobbyists and benefactors and is, like all Republican and Democrat policies have been for my whole lifetime, wholly set up to benefit big business. Did you see the headline that there's going to be a bonus fee collected by the legally anti-trust-exempt healthcare insurance companies as part of the implementation of Robomneycare? That is, in addition to these health insurance companies legally rolling up their competitors, in clear violation of establish U.S. law but legislated by the Republican/Democrat Regime not too long ago, they are profiteering on taxpayer largesse which now wholly funds their business models, and here while they are and will be reporting record profits for the foreseeable future, they also get a $25 billion nest egg to share with their R/D crony representatives. I just have a hard enough time investing in great companies like Apple and Google which already do everything they can to avoid paying the same tax rates that you and I do, that I don't want to go overboard and chase extractive business models with my investment capital. I'd love to get short these companies in 2015 or 2016 or 2020 or whenever their taxpayer-funded gravy trains collapse upon themselves as all socialist systems do over time.
Here's an article on the healthcare insurance taxpayer-funded trust fund. From Reuters:
"Most of the money will go into a fund administered by the Health and Human Services Department. It will be used to cushion health insurance companies from the initial hard-to-predict costs of covering uninsured people with medical problems. Under the law, insurers will be forbidden from turning away the sick as of Jan. 1, 2014."
Q. Hi Cody, I am wondering if you will recommend any oil stock at this moment. Is NOV a good buy now with recent pullback?
A. Oil and the whole energy complex is a sector that's another subsidy/welfare driven industry. That said, we are working on a book called "100 Clean Tech Revolution Stocks" and there will be some stocks I like in there, so stay tuned. Still working on the whole sector right now so give me some time.
Q. Cody, any thoughts on shorting the TLT (or buying the TBT) which is showing a double top? Thanks.
A. The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond Fund /quotes/zigman/1480195 /quotes/nls/tlt TLT and all bonds/treasury vehicles are headed lower over the next decade or two. No idea if it starts today though. I've shorted the TLT a few times (and a few years ago when I was running my hedge fund, I bought TLT calls a few times) and made some money over the years. But I think it remains a crowded trade for now and the Fed/Repub/Democ Regime seems hell bent on keeping rates as low as possible until we truly blow up, as noted above.
And in the meantime, don't forget — my new book makes a great stocking stuffer for any level of trader or investor, "Everything You Need to Know About Investing". Or give the gift of a subscription to TradingWithCody.com at 40% off the regular price until the end of the year.
Cody Willard writes Revolution Investing for MarketWatch and posts the trades from his personal account at TradingWithCody.com, which is not affiliated with MarketWatch. At time of publication, Cody was net long Apple and Google. Follow Cody on Twitter at twitter.com/codywillard.


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Echoes wrote:I've recently seen Comancheria/Hell or High Water!
I don't know if it's been discussed here yet. In my opinion up there among the best films of the 21st century. Easily. Not the best but among the best. Great to see that there are still great films at Holywood at the moment.
Presented as a contemporary western film, it's rather a detective but in wide open space of Southern Texas. My world! Also the great thing about it is that it's not manicheist at all. All characters have their flaws but some would get our sympathies, despite those flaws, others not.
Exposes the logic of interest loans which destroys the lives of so many cowboys, these days.
There are several scenes I like. At the petrol station, you see the Howard cowboy brothers in their car and then some show-offs, Sagan-type coming in their sports car, noisy tasteless rap/hiphop music very high, threatening Tanner Howard (Ben Foster) with a gun and then got smashed by Toby Howard (Chris Pine). I know whose side I'd be on.
Then you have Marcus Hamilton (Jeff Bridges) and Alberto Parker (Gil Birmingham) in a motel room. First Marcus trashes the televangelist while still claiming to be Christian and then he cracked jokes on soccer/football wondering who invented that sport, perhaps the Azteque kick on some skulls. It's just a sport that even 5 year-old kids can do, he says.
And also Toby offering his son a beer. Then talking about the bad things he's done and asking him not to be like him. Finally he asks whether he drinks his beer and the kid replies: "You ask me not to be like you and then you offer me a beer".
It's weird for me to see Jeff Bridges as an old rangers. Oh well I had already seen Crazy Heart before, so I guess I knew that he had aged quite a lot but I'll always see him as the kid Lightfoot in Cimino's Thunderbolt and Lightfoot with Eastwood starring as Thunderbolt. Never seen Big Lebovski, perhaps I need to someday. Jeff really has the face of a cowboy but he's very hard to understand for non English native like me !!!
Crazy Heart was quite disappointing to me. I had to watch it because I'm a country music fan and the music was amazingly great. Even a reference to Waylon Jennings, as "Are you sure Hank done it this way" was on the soundtrack.
Also a Waylon song was on the Hell or High Water soundtrack: You Ask Me To. Made me rediscover it. The song I'm most often listening to at the moment. Tremendous Waylon song. It was just before the petrol station scene. Fits very well in the film.
Bridges is in his sixties so the older roles suit him now. I had some trouble understanding some of his lines in True Grit, I don't know whether it's the sound, him or me. Some actors just have weird voices or mumble a lot. If Bridges had a Scottish accent it would be impossible !


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By Trevor Ruth.
Chris Morris' colourful career as a young writer, broadcaster, internet entrepreneur, political consultant, gay activist, and hypnotherapist spans over a decade. Not to be confused with the Channel Four broadcaster of the same name, Chris is better known for his criticism of the Gay Mafia old-boys club and more recently as a high-profile practitioner of neuro-linguistic programming.
First recruited into the establishment by former Chief Executive of Stonewall when he was just sixteen years old, Chris was asked to front the gay and lesbian lobby group's attempt to take the British government to the European Court of Human Rights over the unequal age of consent for gay men. Like the majority of those who've sought refugee from the glare of the public eye, Chris appears to now live a private but comfortable existence.
It didn't take young Mr Morris long to figure out who the genuine people were.
The Rise and Fall of YouthSpeak
Those close to him at the time felt Chris was beginning to be exploited by the alpha-gay charities such as Stonewall and their political allies. Chris was uncomfortable being a voiceless show-piece, carted around from function to function. He claimed that his involvement with Stonewall had "really messed with his head" and had become nothing but "Angela Mason's Poster-Boy". As he began distancing himself from Stonewall, in 1998 Chris Morris and other younger activists set-up a new (yet short-lived) gay rights group named "YouthSpeak".
The group was accused of being "a front" for Stonewall to lobby behind to dismiss assumptions from homophobic opponents (notably Baroness Janet Young). The main accusation was that older gay lobbyists were wishing to change the age of consent laws purely so they could legally engage in sexual intercourse with younger-men.
More radical activists accused YouthSpeak was grooming talented alpha-gay types, many of it's former members certainly went on to great things. Chris was the face of YouthSpeak but he wasn't the only person who began their adventures with them.
Colm Howard-Lloyd is now an associate director of Pride London, Marketing Director of the European Pride Organizers Association and Manager of Research and Consultations at the Greater London Development Agency.
The group's original aim focussed on that one goal of equalising the age of consent for gay men. Sir Ian Mckellen's (Gay Mafia head-boy) financial support came with strings attached, meaning those who wished to expand YouthSpeak's objectives were blocked by influential figures. Others felt the group had achieved it's main objective and were in favour of disbanding. It wasn't long before internal disputes and money-problems contributed to the the group's demise.
Stonewall's main focus at the time was the campaign to repeal Section 28. They appealed to YouthSpeak to consider abandoning it's independence and rejoining with their increasingly powerful mother-ship. But as it's Chair and leading light Chris Morris was still feeling bruised from his experiences with them. Most of it's members still advocating the continuation of YouthSpeak and proceeded to leave and explore alternatives as it became clear there was no future in it for them.
With nobody left to carry the torch or to continue the fight against Section 28 in schools, the final blow came as McKellen pulled the plug on the group's funding. No-doubt a result of Chris Morris so publicly falling out of favour with McKellen's beloved Stonewall Lobby Group.
Half-way through YouthSpeak's short existence in 1999 Chris was invited to contribute to the New Statesman. Morris chose to use the opportunity to exposing "The Real Gay Mafia" that had treated him so badly. He wasn't the first person to do this, but the specific details he published in the national magazine of just how, and precisely who was responsible for the corruption and hypocrisy within the country's Gay Mafia elite rattled a great many cages.
Coincidently it was one of the last radical queer articles ever published by Chris Morris in the mainstream, leading him to set up his own radical, and undoubtedly controversial queer magazine "OutCast".
The Rise and Fall of OutCast Magazine
The Gay Mafia never forgave Chris for demonising their precious Pink Pound empires. The launch of OutCast worried the publishers of existing rival gay magazines. Although OutCast was significantly different and posed no real commercial threat to the profit margins of Gay Times, The Pink Paper, Boyz, Attitude etc. After speaking out against their owners exploitative tactics and then switching allegiance from the liberalism of Angela Mason's Stonewall (which continues to rely on financially backing from Gay Mafia types) to the edgy radicalism of Peter Tatchell's OutRage! turned Morris into public enemy number one.
Like most young men of his age Chris had other priorities in his life which full-time gay activism caused him to neglect. Having moved from rural Norfolk to Central London he had bills to pay. Selflessly campaigning for civil rights doesn't pay – a penny. Fellow activists accused Chris of abandoning critical campaigns at a critical time to focus on his own "Empire Building" by capitalising on his high-profile to fuel his own private business affairs. In reality all he really can be accused of is moving on and turning his back on the often divided world of grass-roots gay activism.
It was the Gay Mafia who eventually brought OutCast down, and subsequently his online venture 4D Media which hosted the magazine's website.
The Rise and Fall of 4D Media
Alongside OutCast (which was a non-profit project which lost far more money than it ever made) was another entrepreneurial set-up , 4D Media which described itself as a "web development company". 4D presented a lucrative business model at a time when it wasn't easy for anyone to just set up a website. When you're an individual with a phonebook packed with rich and powerful contacts all wanting a slice of the internet gold-rush then success was a certainty.
At it's prime 4D had over 300 commercial clients consisting of a number of multinational corporations such as Virgin, BT, Honda and Umbro to name but a few, as well as a number of senior public figures including Peter Mandleson (another Gay Mafia head-boy). The company also ran a small number of adult porn sites which Chris never denied being connected to nor expressed the need to feel ashamed of what he called having a few fingers in "naughty pies". But the company also provided free websites to a whole range of non-profit groups such as the Equality Alliance, and for a short time became a major player in offering web hosting services to the full diversity of the gay community.
You'd have thought 4D Media was a Gay Mafia-type empire in itself, boasting a plush Mayfair address on New Bond Street. In reality was a virtual office and a relatively small, but successful operation. One day for now apparent reason it simply disappeared. Clients tried to contact the company via phone and email but heard nothing.
From Activism to Hypnotism
Successful long-term activism requires a talent for entrepreneurship, something Chris Morris has in abundance. But to be successful in business many activists have to make a choice between their ethical ideals and the very capitalist methodology they often oppose.
Those who have succeeded in bringing about significant social-change often go on to channelling their knowledge, passion and initiative into projects that put bread on their tables. If your passion stems from the desire to improve the lives of others – and you do something about it, no matter what it takes – you are activist.
You can of course make a career out of activism, but it is hard to make the leap. De-radicalising is often crucial to engaging with the establishment. Liberalism is tolerated but radicalism is viewed as destructive and eccentric. There are exceptions, but in general most former activists choose to "tone it down" as much as they can.
There is some merit to the saying "if you're always shouting eventually people will stop listening". Morris never stopped speaking out, he simply reinvented his way of getting his message across, and he's achieved that by putting the days of being used as a human billboard for the gay rights movement far behind him.
Shortly after announcing his activist retirement, Chris' personal homepage displayed the message "Chris Morris is no longer involved in gay activism", a statement that carried no further explanation. The message stayed up for a number of years, until he eventually re-launched a new blog at the same domain in June 2009.
Who brainwashed Chris Morris?
There is a peculiar belief out there that Chris' sudden departure from anything politically gay could have been the result of a well-planned and successful attempt to silence him or buy him off.
Is it merely a coincidence one of Britain's most high-profile queer campaigners suddenly vanished from the gay rights scene just as he was beginning to uncover it's dirty secrets? His disappearance occurred at a time when it was clear he certainly knew far too much, and wasn't afraid to say so.
His later involvement with a controversial form of hypnotherapy (N.L.P) popular with senior politicians (many of whom Chris had initially met through his campaigns) raised yet more eyebrows. Some friends even claimed Chris had somehow been "re-programmed" by powerful members of the New Labour establishment.
Although it is far more likely he simply gave up campaigning – from the heart. He was after all dragged into gay rights by Angela Mason because he'd put his name down on Stonewall mailing list. It was she who had approached him. In retrospect today Chris will tell you he was "never really ready for it" and even expresses a degree of regret and bitter resentment for naively taking up the offers of free trips to London in exchange for the charm of his youth.
What Chris Morris did next…
Questions have been raised as to why Chris no longer discusses the LGBT issues or the status of Gay Mafia in public. Although a lot of what he's said on the subject in the past remains true today. Behind closed doors he's spent the last decade either distancing himself or in a few cases befriending many of his former adversaries.
During the days when Chris was shadowing government ministers and celebrities at champagne receptions Chris was befriended by television hypnotist Paul McKenna who introduced him to the mysterious world of Neuro Linguistic Programming (N.L.P), a controversial form of psychotherapy.
Chris Morris had obvserved N.L.P techniques being deployed by politicians and other high profile activists, it instantly stirred his curiousity and openined up a whole world of new opportunities to further his independent entrepreneurship. Since then he's become a respected player within the UK's N.L.P community.
Today Chris Morris is the CEO of a company named NLP Connections.
There is signficant controversy surrounding the practice of N.L.P as a form of therapy, but there's no evidence that N.L.P Connections run by Chris Morris is deserving of the critism levelled at other N.L.P related enterprises that have tainted N.L.P's overall reputation within the scientific community. The very nature of N.L.P itself, being relativley new, predmoninatly unregulated and ideologicaly fragmented does leave it somewhat open to abuse from unscrupilous and greedy individuals. In relation to Chris Morris – his track record doesn't indicate he's one of those people.
His talent for spotting the fakers and exploiters never left him. Since joining the N.L.P movement Chris has encountered some very creepy people indeed, .It isn't like him to keep this kind of information underwraps, and now nearly a decade after his departure from gay rights, he's speaking out again.
Doing so has recently caused problems for Chris personally. He and his family have been targetted by some very disturbed sections of the N.L.P community including a few worrying influencial as well as wreckless figures.
Chris' achievements have made him the target for bitter rivals in the past. Some have become so obsessed with destroying his efforts over the past few years that a smear campaign appears to be running against him.
Smear Campaign
Gay Mafia Watch has been investigating an internet-based smear campaign against Chris Morris. He claims the leading individual responsible is a former N.L.P colleague named Nick Kemp. Chris has written about the saga in his blog:
Defamatory comments smearing Chris Morris also appeared on Gay Mafia Watch last month when we announced we'd be writing about N.L.P. Clearly someone out there is Googling the web for any mention of Chris Morris looking for an opportunity to blacken his name. The majority of these comments (which are present all over the internet) appear to be to be malicious posts under different names but with identical I.P addresses, mostly posting defamatory and unsubstantiated statements about Mr Morris.
Whether you choose to believe the various conspiracies theories he had unknowingly been brainwashed into his silence, or you favour the possibility he came to the decision entirely by himself, there's no denying the LGBT community has a great deal to be thankful for Chris Morris' remarkable achievements, wherever he may be now.
- Gay Mafia Watch will be going into more detail about how Social Control, Crowd Conditioning and Neuro-Linguistic-Programming is used on a regular basis to control our community in forthcoming articles.


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kbarton needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 55 designs submitted by 31 freelance designers.
we are looking to revise our logo - we need it to flow with our website that is being revised - see http://claroscommunications.com.pre…l_Package/
CLAROS Communications, Inc.
The Company: Claros Communications, Inc. is a service and application provider offering proprietary Contact Center solutions, employing advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) architecture on advanced, secure, platforms and networks. The CLAROS facilities, platforms and tools are exclusive cutting edge technologies engineered to integrate seamlessly into existing platforms and networks. The CLAROS AI/NLP engine is built on best practices, proven technologies not previously commercialized. CLAROS is an acronym for Computational Linguistics Analysis & Response Operating Systems.
simple - flow with the website - high tech flavor
not too many colors - not too busy
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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Gold traders expect prices to rebound from the longest weekly losing streak in eight years as mounting concern that U.S. lawmakers are doing too little to control the budget deficit spurs demand for a protection of wealth.
Twenty analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expect prices to rise next week, five were bearish and a further two were neutral. While hedge funds cut bullish bets to a four-month low last week as prices slid for a fifth week, investors are holding a near- record amount in gold-backed exchange-traded products that are now valued at $138.9 billion, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Bullion is in its longest run of annual gains in at least nine decades as U.S. lawmakers this week passed legislation that prevented tax increases for most workers and delayed spending cuts by two months. The International Monetary Fund says the country's debt ceiling ought to be raised "expeditiously." While Credit Suisse Group AG yesterday said gold will average the most ever this year, it joined Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in predicting the 12-year bull market will probably peak in 2013.
"Euphoria over the fiscal-cliff avoidance could be short lived as all problems are not solved yet," said Frederique Dubrion, the Geneva-based president and chief investment officer of Blue Star Advisors SA, which manages metals and energy assets. "There's still a huge amount of debt. Gold is nobody's liability, it's the ultimate alternative currency."
Gold Price
The metal fell 0.9 percent to $1,648.71 an ounce today after U.S. Federal Reserve policy makers said they'll probably end their $85 billion of monthly bond purchases this year, according to the record of the Federal Open Market Committee's Dec. 11-12 gathering released yesterday.
While gold rose 7.1 percent last year, it's set for a sixth weekly loss, the worst run since May 2004. The Standard & Poor's GSCI gauge of 24 commodities added 0.3 percent in 2012, the MSCI All-Country World Index (MXWD) of equities climbed 13 percent. Treasuries returned 2.2 percent, a Bank of America Corp. index shows.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation on Jan. 1, breaking an impasse over how to prevent more than $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts from coming into force. The so-called fiscal cliff had threatened to push the world's largest economy into a recession. The budget package passed by Congress won't reduce deficits enough to avoid a sovereign-rating downgrade, Moody's Investors Service said.
Fed Minutes
Gold will reach $2,000 this year, according to a Bloomberg survey of 49 traders and analysts last month, as investors hedge against inflation and weaker currencies. The Fed said Dec. 12 it would buy $45 billion of Treasury securities a month from January. The yen fell to the lowest since 2010 against the dollar today after the Fed's minutes and amid speculation the Bank of Japan (8301) will heed government calls to boost money printing.
Investors bought 60 percent more through gold ETPs last year compared with 2011 and now hold 11.7 metric tons below the record 2,632.5 tons set Dec. 20. The holdings are equal to almost a year of mine production, data compiled by Bloomberg and Barclays Plc show. Nations from Brazil to Iraq to Russia are also buying metal to add to official reserves, according to data compiled by the IMF.
While Credit Suisse forecasts a 2013 average of $1,740, it expects improved economic growth later this year to curb gold's appeal and sees prices averaging $1,720 in 2014. Goldman's analysts said Dec. 5 that prices will peak this year because of improving U.S. growth, even as the Fed expands stimulus.
Most Accurate
The metal will average $1,600 this year, according to Rene Hochreiter, a director of Johannesburg-based Allan Hochreiter (Pty) Ltd. and the most accurate forecaster in the London Bullion Market Association's 2012 gold survey. That would be 4.1 percent below last year's all-time high average.
The futures may slump to $1,600 by March, according to technical analysis by Paul Kavanaugh at FuturePath Trading LLC. The 50-day moving average crossed below the 100-day average, indicating prices will slide 4.5 percent from yesterday's settlement of $1,674.60 on the Comex in New York, Kavanaugh, the Chicago-based director of business development, said in a telephone interview.
Speculators cut their bullish bets by 49 percent since October and held a net-long position of 101,922 futures and options in the week to Dec. 24, the least since Aug. 14, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. U.S. Mint sales of American Eagle gold coins fell 44 percent to 76,000 ounces in December and full-year sales were 25 percent lower than in 2011, data on its website show.
India's Imports
Physical demand may slow elsewhere. India's Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said Jan. 2 that 2011's biggest buying nation may raise taxes on gold imports to reduce the current-account deficit. India bought 24 percent less in the first nine months of last year as gold priced in rupees reached a record, according to the London-based World Gold Council.
Gold priced in the Indian currency rallied 10 percent last year, beating dollar-denominated bullion's smallest annual increase in four years. The metal surged 21 percent in yen in 2012 and reached a 32-year high this week, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
In other commodities, nine of 12 traders and analysts surveyed expect copper to fall next week, two were bullish and one was neutral. The metal for delivery in three months, the London Metal Exchange's benchmark contract, climbed 4.4 percent last year and was at $8,078 a ton today.
Sugar Outlook
Six of 11 people surveyed expect raw sugar to gain next week and four predict a drop. The commodity traded at 19.05 cents a pound on ICE Futures U.S. yesterday after dropping 16 percent last year, its second consecutive annual decline.
Twelve of 24 people surveyed anticipate a gain in corn prices next week and 10 said the grain will drop, while 15 of 25 said soybeans will slide and seven expect rising prices. Twelve of 23 traders predicted cheaper wheat and nine were bullish. Corn rose 8 percent last year and was at $6.9125 a bushel in Chicago as soybeans traded at $13.95 a bushel after rallying 17 percent in 2012. Wheat gained 19 percent in the period and was last at $7.5675 a bushel.
The S&P GSCI gauge of commodities posted its worst annual performance since 2008 even as Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi pledged bond purchases. The IMF expects 3.6 percent global economic growth this year, up from 3.3 percent in 2012, with China's expansion accelerating to 8.2 percent. The country is the biggest user of everything from copper to soybeans.
"The fiscal cliff hasn't come out as well as everyone had hoped, but the key factor about the U.S. is that Bernanke still has the ability to continue to expand stimulus measures," said Jeremy Baker, who manages about $830 million of assets at the Vontobel Belvista Commodity Fund in Zurich. "China is going to be supportive for industrial bulk-type commodities, and even for agricultural commodities."
Gold survey results: Bullish: 20 Bearish: 5 Hold: 2 Copper survey results: Bullish: 2 Bearish: 9 Hold: 1 Corn survey results: Bullish: 12 Bearish: 10 Hold: 2 Soybean survey results: Bullish: 7 Bearish: 15 Hold: 3 Wheat survey results: Bullish: 9 Bearish: 12 Hold: 2 Raw sugar survey results: Bullish: 6 Bearish: 4 Hold: 1 White sugar survey results: Bullish: 6 Bearish: 4 Hold: 1 White sugar premium results: Widen: 2 Narrow: 3 Neutral: 6


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They're here!
The 6th Generation Pokémon have finally all been made available, albeit a year later than scheduled. In total, that's now 10 new maps and 72 new Pokemon! Here's a breakdown of the update:
Broags Garden 1 (from Broags Garden Entrance, connects to Broags Garden 2)
Bunnelby, Scatterbug, Fletchling, Litleo, Petilil, Tropius, Turtwig, Treecko, Flabebe, Furfrou
Broags Garden 2 (connects to Cherrybell Town)
Shellos (East Sea), Cottonee, Oddish, Skiddo, Budew, Flabebe, Pancham, Heracross
Cherrybell Town (connects to Gooey Swamp 2)
Burmy (Trash Cloak), Ponyta, Skiddo, Chespin, Froakie, Fennekin
Gooey Swamp 2 (connects to Gooey Swamp 1)
Poliwag, Grimer, Barboach, Swirlix, Spritzee, Mudkip, Goomy
Gooey Swamp 1 (connects to Jadestone Town
Gulpin, Yanma, Psyduck, Wooper, Phantump, Pumpkaboo, Castform (Rainy Form), Goomy
Jadestone Town (connects to Shadegreen Forest)
Shinx, Growlithe, Helioptile, Chespin, Fennekin, Froakie
Shadegreen Forest (connects to Shadegreen Coast)
Scatterbug, Tangela, Espurr, Burmy (Plant Cloak), Castform, Pinsir, Hawlucha, Dedenne
Shadegreen Coast
Wailmer, Staryu, Clauncher, Skrelp, Inkay, Binacle, Castform (Sunny Form)
Snow Flower Garden (from Route 17, connects to Jadestone Cave)
Swinub, Castform (Snowy Form), Smoochum, Cubchoo, Bergmite, Klefki, Carbink, Amaura
Jadestone Cave (connects to Jadestone Town)
Roggenrola, Burmy (Sandy Cloak), Honedge, Sableye, Gible, Noibat, Carbink, Tyrunt
Xerneas, Yveltal, Zygarde, Diancie, Hoopa and Volcanion are collectively known as the Generation 6 Legendaries, and they have all been added to the credit shop. This is the only way they could be made available without the help of a Developer.
With the exception of these 6, all of the rest of the 6th Gens can be released and found in yards!
You may have noticed not all of the new Pokemon (in bold) are 6th Gens. Yes, that's right, new alternate forms have been added too!
Castform (Sunny/Rainy/Snowy Form) - unreleasable in yards
Shellos/Gastrodon (East Sea) - releasable in yards
Burmy/Wormadam (Sandy/Trash Cloak) - unreleasable in yards
Special notes:
- Phantump, Pumpkaboo, Spritzee and Swirlix evolutions are bugged at time of writing. Please read this topic for more information.
- Although Fairy typing has been given to some Pokemon, the mechanics of the Fairy Type have not been implemented yet at time of writing.


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I DON'T WANT to keep harping about this climate change thing, but someone has to have the singular courage to stand up for the future of our globe. Someone, I mean, besides 98 percent of the world's climate scientists, the governments of every other industrialized nation, and millions of people around the world. Not counting those, I am that man.
Because I have seen the future of a warming planet, and it's not just fraught with melting glaciers and rising oceans. It's also got stink bugs.
Twice a year, Sojourners' editors and its highly esteemed art director drive to a cabin in the mountains of West Virginia to plan future issues. (I will pause briefly for Colorado readers to stop laughing convulsively at the suggestion that hilltops a few hundred feet above sea level can be called "mountains." But if I get carsick on the drive up, I'm calling it a mountain.)
After we arrived this fall—and my stomach finally calmed down—we settled into our usual method of magazine planning: a rapid-fire brainstorming of ideas both provocative and ground-breaking, but not so much that it keeps me awake. Then came the first telltale tapping sounds from the window.
A half-dozen stink bugs had gathered on the inside of the pane, with a dozen more on the outside, all of them repeatedly bumping into the window, unable to decide on one plan of action. But enough about Mitt Romney.
When next I looked at the window, it was covered with insects, blotting out most of the outside light, an apocalyptic scene that would have taken Stephen King 100 pages to develop, but which took only about 10 minutes in retreat time. (Retreat time is calculated using the following formula: Meeting agenda + coffee - dozing off = make more coffee.)
On a previous retreat, thousands of stink bugs had invaded the interior of the cabin, making it difficult to think and nap, especially when bugs were flying into our hair and pooping in our coffee cups.


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text: Bell reached his 50 with two runs off Pattinson, and he scored his milestone 6,000th test run shortly before tea [AFP]England have taken control of of the opening Ashes Test after a wicket-less evening session for Australia on the third day, reaching 326-6 for a lead of 261 runs. Ian Bell was 95 not out from 228 balls with 12 fours and his unbroken partnership of 108 with Stuart Broad has transformed the Test at Trent Bridge. Broad made a controversial 47 not out from 122 balls, which included five fours but only after he was given not out despite clearly edging Ashton Agar to Michael Clarke at slip, a decision Australia was unable to overturn having wasted its referrals. Mitchell Starc had Australia's best bowling figures with 2-66. Bell's discipline and Broad's brinkmanship turned the contest back in England's favour after Australia had been on top for the first two sessions. England began the third day on 80-2, and after two days of unrelenting drama the first hour was comparatively slow. Kevin Pietersen (64) brought up his 50 with a drive off Starc in the 50th over, and Cook whipped Agar through midwicket to bring up the century partnership in the 54th. But there were few chances until Pietersen dragged Pattinson onto his stumps on the final ball before the drinks break three overs later with 121 on the board. Run rate slowed Cook reached his 50, from 164 balls, with a single from Agar, but the19-year-old Australian removed him in the 60th with an off break that Clarke took high over his head to leave the total on 131-4. The dismissals slowed an already pedestrian run rate, best exemplified by Shane Watson bowling 34 balls before England managed a scoring shot against him. Australia used its final referral in the 69th over, claiming an lbw decision against Bairstow from a ball that was drifting considerably down leg side and this wastefulness would return to haunt them. Bell was given lbw to Watson in the 79th over but he successfully referred the decision, to raucous cheers from the crowd when a replay showed the ball was missing leg stump. By this stage, every single was being cheered, but in the next over, Agar had Bairstow caught behind. Matt Prior looked well set until he was caught by Ed Cowan trying to pull Siddle through midwicket, ending a useful stand of 44. Milestone Bell reached his 50 with two runs off Pattinson, and he scored his milestone 6,000th Test run shortly before tea. Broad rode his luck throughout the evening session. He might have been given out lbw to Agar had Australia not used up its reviews and his knock included an all-run four, but he also produced a classy cover drive off Starc to bring up the 50 partnership and a driven four from Pattinson as Australia's frustration mounted. Cowan missed a difficult chance to catch Broad, who was on 37, at short leg off Agar and in the 118th over he was caught by Clarke at slip only to be given not out by Aleem Dar, to Australia's fury. In the 129th Broad cut Watson through point to bring up the hundred partnership and take England's lead past 250. As Australian tempers boiled over Pattinson was given a verbal warning by umpire Kumar Dharmasena for an excessive appeal after Bell was correctly given not out lbw in the next over and England ends day three in a far better position than looked likely at tea. SOURCE: AP Sport Cricket Australia United Kingdom


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This is the third installment in a series of stories presenting the views of City Council candidates.
It's the issue that the six Watertown City Council candidates no longer want to talk about.
For weeks, a growing number of people belonging to an anti-fluoride group lobbied the council to rid the city's water supply of the of tasteless, colorless chemical.
The group recently stopped going to council meetings. As its presence waned, so has the issue.
It apparently has not riled up a major population of city water users who cannot even vote on the people who will decide the issue — the city's fluoridated water goes to 60,000 people, including residents of Fort Drum and the towns of Watertown, LeRay, Pamelia, Champion and "a little piece of Rutland," according to water superintendent Michael J. Sligar.
None of the six candidates — even a vocal fluoride opponent and a strong supporter of like-minded people who have appeared before the council — believes that eliminating fluoride from city water will come to a vote before the election.
And it's only when the candidates were pressed that they agreed to talk about fluoride.
Incumbents Jeffrey M. Smith and Teresa R. Macaluso and candidate Cody J. Horbacz all say they have not decided on how they would vote. Rodney J. LaFave said he supports it and believes most people do.
"It's on the back burner," because jobs and other issues are more pressing, said Jasmine W. Borreggine, the candidate who began the debate last November.
Fluoride seemingly is not on the minds of many voters. Few people bring up the issue while the candidates have been out campaigning, the six said.
While going from door to door, candidate Stephen A. Jennings, who supports fluoride and serves as Jefferson County public health planner and public information officer, said only one resident mentioned it to him.
Both Mrs. Borreggine and Mr. Jennings insisted they are not one-issue candidates who decided to run solely because of their stances on fluoride. They said they have been interested in city government and council issues for quite some time and have been thinking about running for a couple of years.
But make no mistake, the two definitely are on the opposing sides of the issue.
Mrs. Borreggine cited a federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study that advises against the use of mixing fluoride with baby formula.
According to the CDC, recent evidence suggests that mixing powdered or liquid infant formula concentrate with fluoridated water on a regular basis may increase the chance of a child developing faint, white markings of mild enamel fluorosis.
Dental fluorosis, the mild discolouration of teeth enamel, is caused by excessive exposure to high concentrations of fluoride during tooth development.
Mrs. Borreggine also does not like the government deciding to mass-medicate residents without their permission. The city has been putting fluoride in the water supply since 1962.
"I'm for limited government," she said. "I don't think it's for City Council to decide without my two cents."
Mr. Jennings, on the other hand, said all kinds of studies have proven fluoride is safe and helps fights tooth decay. It's is a modest investment that reaches all children, even those who don't receive dental care, he said.
Many communities across the country are going through the same debate, with the closest in Pulaski, where the village decided to end the program to save money, Mr. Jennings said.
Several weeks later, the debate began in Watertown after council members were asked to spend $73,195 for an equipment upgrade related to putting fluoride in the municipal water supply. Mrs. Borreggine heard about that and spoke at a council meeting against the program.
Within weeks, other fluoride opponents joined her. They soon organized a group and began lobbying the council to end the practice.
Some council members began to listen. At the time, Mr. Smith and Ms. Macaluso said they were leaning toward eliminating the fluoride program.
Mr. Smith continues to have questions about it, but has not made up his mind. The issue probably would come up again when council members have to approve purchasing more fluoride for the system, he said.
Ms. Macaluso said she does not expect any kind of vote for a year or two. That would give her more time to study the issue.
"I would probably vote to keep it in," she said, adding that she welcomed the discussion and letting opponents bring up their concerns.
Mrs. Borreggine said she would like to see the issue come up for a public ballot next year, so that "everyone has a say, and not just five council members."
But Mr. LaFave said he has not seen "any credible evidence" to make him believe that Watertown should not have a fluoride program. And, he said, he believes the city handles its program safely.
Mr. Horbacz said that he needs more information to make a decision and that he will continue to study the issue.
"I don't have a hard standpoint at this point, but maybe it's no longer needed," he said.
The top four vote-getters in the primary Sept. 10 will move on to the general election Nov. 5. Two will be elected to four-year terms. Elected offices in the city are nonpartisan; any registered voter may participate in the primary.


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It could be said that the waves were perfect on a recent morning at a remote location in Java, in southern Indonesia.
Perfect, except for the appalling amount of trash and other debris, which transformed the typically amazing experience of getting barreled into one that left both surfer and photographer feeling nauseated.
"It was crazy. I kept seeing noodle packets floating next to me," said Zak Noyle, the photographer. "It was very disgusting to be in there; I kept thinking I would see a dead body of some sort for sure."
As unpleasant as the experience might have been, however, Noyle's remarkable photos showing local surfer Dede Suriyana inside a garbage-strewn wave beautifully illustrate the sometimes overwhelming pollution problem in Indonesia.
"The trash had never been seen like this before in Indonesia; all of us were baffled," said Noyle, a staff photographer for Surfer magazine. "The trash in Dede's photo was the worst. No others came close to that type of disaster."
The republic is a mecca for surfers who stay on its many islands and travel via boat to remote spots that they often enjoy by themselves. The atmosphere is idyllic and some spots remain pristine but, depending on currents, some end up strewn with garbage and debris.
"The populated areas just dump their trash in the rivers or straight onto the sand to be washed away," explained Jeff Hall, Noyle's agent. "Unfortunately the tides and currents do a great job of carrying it away and depositing it on some of the most isolated (previously pristine) beaches in the world."
The location of Noyle's photo shoot with Suriyana was a small bay far from civilization, with no buildings in view. Just a beach lined with trees.
The trash was delivered by the current, and by a large swell that pushed more debris into the bay. It was a dangerous shoot because there were large objects in the water, including tree trunks.
But it was worthwhile, Noyle said, because of the response generated by the images.
"The vibe was all the same. The reactions of all the surfers were of shock and disgust at what humans could do to the beautiful ocean," Noyle explained. "No one person or country is to blame—it's all of us."
Interestingly, Hall said the Indonesian government recently conducted a study and tied some of the most visible floating debris to corporations. These companies were asked to help fund a local ocean-awareness campaign and help sponsor local surfers.
Coca-Cola was one of the companies, and it sponsored Suriyana, in return for having the company logo featured on the deck of his surfboard (it's visible in the photos, beneath the Quiksilver logo).
Said Hall: "This was one of Dede's first trips with an American photographer after affixing the Coca-Cola logo to his board, but I don't think this was exactly the image Coca-Cola was hoping for."
–All photos are protected by copyright laws. For inquiries, visit A-Frame Photo
–Find Zak Noyle on Instagram


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5 Things to Know About Soccer to Trick People Into Thinking You Know Something About Soccer
The pace of the match is too slow. A nil nil match can sometimes be considered a terrific result. Players dive better than Olympic swimmers. Bunch of pansies if you ask me.
It's the least watched major sport in the United States and sure, criticisms abound, but one thing is indisputable. Soccer is the world's game. Just ask the Brits and Germans who emerged from the trenches on Christmas Day 1914 for some footy free of bullets and bayonets, or the warring factions in the Ivory Coast, who upon the request of ex-Chelsea forward Didier Drogba following World Cup qualification, laid down their arms, ending a five-year civil war that had crippled the African nation.
Yet, explaining the nuance to the sports fan seems more important than the history itself, so without further ado, a quick guide to tricking people into thinking you know something about soccer:
Everyone hates a cherry picker, especially defenders. For this reason a referee runs up and down the sideline, parallel with the last defender. If an attacking player passes to an attacker who has any part of his body past the last defender, the attacker is offside and the referee's flag goes up, nullifying the play. This is the most criticized role in soccer. Do not ever aspire to be a line ref if you care for the well-being of your family.
The most nerve-wracking phase of any elimination match, penalties are hands down the most unfair conclusion to any soccer match. Heroes are whittled down to mere plebeians with average feet and goal keepers often look like bystanders in a flurry of goals they statistically have very little chance of stopping. A few friends of mine must cover their eyes, leave the room or change the channel from stress.
Set Piece
Also known as a deadball. A set piece is given following a foul on an attacking player or a player puts the ball out on their own goal line. With calm and poise, a deadball expert can either cross the ball into the area for a teammate, or curl it over a wall of defenders and into the net. Impossible to score from a corner kick, you say? Just ask David Beckham.
Why dive? Sure, there's nothing more putrid in sports than theatrics but put yourself in a soccer player's cleats for a second. Your referee is incompetent and defenders are hacking away at you. An NFL coach can simply challenge a call, while a soccer coach risks ejection. An official is typically within 10 yards of a player in the NFL while a soccer ref can be up to 30 yards away. Solution? Make the ref see your hacker's mistake—an extra roll here, clutching an unrelated part of your leg there can be the difference between a set piece and a squandered run at goal.
Aggregates, draws and ties
Home-field advantage is huge. So knockout rounds in all FIFA-sanctioned tournaments are settled with ties—two-match encounters played home and away with the sum of goals deciding who goes through. If the aggregate score remains tied after both fixtures, the victory goes to whoever scored more in its opponent's stadium. It's like winning a kissing contest with visible cold sores.
Not to be confused with ties, draws occur after 90 minutes of regulation time. Because soccer is just naturally so low scoring, it doesn't make sense to subject the players, who already run a 10k per game on average, to continue to battle it out. If aggregates and the away goals rule can't decide a victor, two 15-minute halves are played. If the poor lads end the 30 minutes of added time still tied, more drastic measure must be taken.


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For most of his run in Philadelphia, Andy Reid did a nice job identifying and grooming coaching talent. So perhaps we shouldn't be surprised Reid has tabbed a first-time coordinator to run his offense with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Adam Caplan of Sirius XM NFL radio reports that Doug Pederson has joined Reid's staff as offensive coordinator. Alex Marvez of FoxSports also reported the story. Pederson, best known in his playing career as Brett Favre's backup in Green Bay, was Reid's quarterbacks coach in Philadelphia. He helped develop Nick Foles in 2012. Pederson was also Reid's starter in Philadelphia in 1999.
Pederson's hire indicates the Chiefs will run the same West Coast offense that Reid used in Philadelphia. Pederson also played in the system.
We're more curious to see who Reid hires to run the Chiefs defense. His Eagles teams were all 4-3 units.
UPDATE: On Friday, the Chiefs officially named Pederson as their new offensive coordinator. Bob Sutton was also named the defensive coordinator.Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.


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Just moved to Pomona from the midwest, so haven't played during the wintertime...looking to get back into the game!
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i go to Mount Sac. and my level is 5.0 even though it has dropped to 4.0-4.5 because i don't have enough people to practice with. please email me if your interested. thank you. email@example.com
I am in San Dimas and looking to play at Marchant Park in San Dimas. My level is a solid 3.0. It would probably be higher, but my serve is inconsistent.
Hey I'm located in Pomona, i would love to get back on the courts after a long time of not playing
give me a text/call my number is 6504547054
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