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VANCOUVER, BC – On a sunny night at UBC's Thunderbird Stadium, Vancouver Whitecaps FC U-23 (1W-0L-0D) came back to defeat Kitsap Pumas (0W-2L-0D) 2-1 to open their 2013 United Soccer Leagues (USL) Premier Development League (PDL) season.
The 'Caps lineup featured two loanees from the MLS roster in goalkeeper Simon Thomas and defender Adam Clement.
Just six minutes into the match, Pumas striker Sebastiaan Jansen took a chance against Thomas. Although his original header was stopped short of the line, he quickly followed his own rebound to head in the first goal of the match to give the visitors an early 1-0 advantage.
On 14 minutes, Niall Cousens had a chance to equalize for the 'Caps as he sped in on goal and gently guided a shot passed Pumas goalkeeper Dustyn Brim, but it was cleared off the line into safety.
In the 39th minute, Cam Hundal played a nice ball to Bobby Jhutty who hit a shot on target that looked to be a sure goal, but Brim was there to make the last ditch save.
In the dying minutes of the first half, on 45 minutes, Pumas midfielder Shane Malcome was in alone on Thomas and nearly increased the away side's lead, but his shot sailed well over the crossbar.
Going into the second half, the 'Caps looked to regain momentum and equalize against the Washington State side.
On 50 minutes, the 'Caps had their first opportunity of the second half when Sasa Plavsic tried an audacious chance with a bicycle kick, but his shot narrowly missed the net.
In the 60th minute, Hellah Didibe had a chance to increase the Pumas' lead with a nice strike from just inside the 18-yard box, but his shot was stopped by a diving Thomas.
Hundal finally equalized for the home side in the 69th minute, as he picked up the ball just inside the 18-yard box and fired it passed Brim and into the top corner of the net to make it 1-1.
Just a minutes later, on 70 minutes, the 'Caps took the lead when Plavsic passed the ball to Spencer DeBoice, who rifled it passed Brim to make the score 2-1 in favour of the home side.
Despite some back and forth play to end the match, the Blue and White walked away with a 2-1 victory in their first match of the 2013 PDL season.
Head of high performance Stuart Neely was pleased by the result despite some nervousness.
"I think in the end, we deserved the three points," commented Neely. "It was a little nervy at times, but there's alot riding on the line for these boys. We got away from our game plan a bit tonight, but I think that was the nervousness of playing the first game at home. At the end of the day, results are important and if we didn't get a result, I think the boys would have been upset. We got three points, but also have some things to work on."
Next up, Whitecaps FC U-23 will host British Columbia rivals Victoria Highlanders FC next Friday, May 17 at UBC's Thunderbird Stadium.


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Power cords are holding back electric vehicles, according to a New York City-based startup.
Progress in the electric vehicle market is slower than many anticipated, but there is progress. Tesla Motors continues to impress critics with the all-around quality and style of its fully electric vehicles, and Chinese electric vehicle automakers are now considering getting into the global market. One of the biggest impediments to widespread market adoption, according to a New York-based startup, is the power cord, a problem they've solved by creating wireless power stations for electric vehicle fleets.
The company, called HEVO Power, has entered into a contract with the Department of Public Safety at New York University (NYU) to build two charging stations for their security team's electric vehicles. The project, funded by a grant from the NYU Office of Sustainability, is the company's first contract, although according to the company, many other government and commercial organizations have also expressed interest. HEVO received $55,000 seed funding in June 2013, a "green grant" from NYU in August, according to Clean Tech IQ, and another $30,000 seed funding in September.
The NYU pilot will roll out by the end of the first quarter of 2014, said CEO Jeremy McCool, and they see this project as the beginning of an acceleration in the market toward increased electric vehicle adoption. "Most of the cities we talk to are hesitant to allow a broadened public infrastructure for charging and they really like the focus of wireless charging because it eliminates the hazards of cords, tripping hazards, hazards like the kiosk being damaged," he said.
HEVO Power's wireless charging stations resemble manhole covers and start charging when a vehicle equipped with a receiving unit stops above them. The simplicity of their product lends itself well to vehicle fleets for government, commercial, and military applications where reduced vehicle lifetime cost is a high priority, McCool said.
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"The Department of Defense (DoD) is going to have the single largest electric vehicle fleet in the world by the next couple years and they're growing exponentially in that field because the lifetime cost matters," he said. The company has met with the DoD about using their technology to wirelessly charge buses used for troop transport around large installations, instead of the diesel buses they now use.
If there's a problem with a charging station, the back-end system alerts engineers immediately and the station shuts off to avoid any possible hazards. Field tests have proven that the monitoring system is effective, McCool said. "In fact, it worked so well that the vehicle manufacturer we worked with," he said, "jumped on board and said they wanted to commercialize that technology with us and offer it as an option to their customers already even while we're still in pilot phase."
The biggest thing their company has learned in the pilot phase, McCool said, is that people are ready for wireless electric vehicle charging. The company has commitments from Frito-Lay and New York City-based City Harvest, as well as several other organizations they're not ready to announce. The company has also spoken with city officials in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Austin, Miami, and Minneapolis – and all have expressed interest in the technology. McCool added that the company is also developing partnerships in Europe and Asia.
Taking a longer-term view, HEVO Power is also working on technologies they expect might gain prominence in the future, like those that could enable wireless charging on freeways and long-distance electric vehicle travel.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Tara Reid Biography
Tara Reid was born on November 8, 1975, in Wyckoff, New Jersey. The daughter of Tom and Donna, teachers who run a pair of day care centers, Tara was immersed into acting early on. Of Irish, Italian, French, Hungarian, and English descent, Tara may have an All-American look, but her look has always been unique enough to get her acting roles, even as a child.
She made her debut in a children's television game show, Child's Play, in 1982, and then appeared in commercials for products like Crayola, Jell-O and McDonald's. Joining a class consisting of fellow child actors such as Macaulay Culkin, Jerry O'Connell, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Holly Marie Combs, Tara attended the Professional Children's School in New York, New York.
tara reid is no urban legend
Tara Reid's earlier work includes a bit part in Saved by the Bell: The New Class in 1994 and a guest spot on California Dreams in 1996.
But in 1998 she scored her first high-profile role as Bunny Lebowski, the much younger wife of The Big Lebowski, in the movie of the same name. That same year, she appeared in I Woke Up Early the Day I Died, and had a larger role as a college campus DJ in the teen thriller Urban Legend, sharing the screen with Alicia Witt and Rebecca Gayheart.
1999 was Tara's breakthrough year. She appeared in the made-for-TV movie What We Did That Night and had a small role in Cruel Intentions, a teen-oriented version of Dangerous Liaisons.
tara reid in american pie
After Around the Fire, Tara starred as Vicki in the surprise gross-out hit of the year, American Pie, along with sexy Shannon Elizabeth and Mena Suvari.
Now more of a recognizable star, Tara was seen in Body Shots (1999) and in the star-studded flop, Dr. T & the Women (2000); not even Helen Hunt or Kate Hudson could save that disaster.
But while 2000 was a quieter year career-wise, it was nowhere near boring for Tara, as she met former MTV VJ (and now NBC Last Call host) Carson Daly during Spring Break in March and he proposed that October. Tara and Carson called it quits in 2001, and the breakup allegedly led to Tara's brief bout with anorexia. By late 2001, she was healthy again.
tara reid parties in van wilder
2001 was a big movie year for Tara, with roles in Just Visiting and Josie and the Pussycats, co-starring Rachael Leigh Cook and Rosario Dawson.
She also reprised her role in American Pie 2, and took on another "college girl" gig as a high school paper reporter in the comedy National Lampoon's Van Wilder.
In 2003, Tara starred in Devil's Pond and played Ashton Kutcher's love interest in My Boss's Daughter.
In 2005, Reid can add Alone in the Dark (a thriller based on the video game), Wicked Prayer and Land of Canaan to her resume.tara reid in the news
Although Tara has not been in a memorable film since Van Wilder, she continues to make headlines. Known for her heavy drinking and party-girl lifestyle, Tara counts fellow partier Paris Hilton among her circle of close friends. One person she is not good friends with is Internet babe Cindy Margolis, whom she physically fought with. Margolis is married to Reid's ex-boyfriend, restaurateur Guy Starkman.
In addition to Carson Daly and Guy Starkman, Tara has been romantically linked to New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, Baltimore Ravens starting quarterback Kyle Boller and financial analyst Jason Ader.
While the paparazzi always seem to get shots of Tara Reid stumbling out of bars drunk, the most famous image of her is another "Nipplegate," which shows her left breast popping out of her dress as she arrived at hip-hop artist P. Diddy's birthday party in New York.
When she's not partying it up or acting, she also serves as a fashion consultant for her brother Patrick's clothing store, called Patrick Reid.
bollyhollyactress: Tara Reid
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Cleveland Kidnapping Horrors Focus Attention on Laws Protecting Unborn Children
Alleged kidnapper Ariel Castro could face the death penalty for inducing miscarriages in one of the women he victimized.
CLEVELAND — The horrific case of Ariel Castro, the Cleveland man accused of kidnapping three women and keeping them hostage in his basement for more than a decade, is inadvertently casting a new spotlight on federal and state laws that extend legal protections to unborn children.
Prosecutors said Castro, 52, may face the death penalty, in part because he allegedly induced miscarriages in one of the women he allegedly raped. Prosecutors say Castro impregnated one victim, Michelle Knight, five times and ended her pregnancies by starving her and punching her repeatedly in the stomach.
Ohio state law recognizes forced miscarriage as a punishable crime. The state's aggravated murder statute applies to people who cause the "unlawful termination of another's pregnancy."
There are anti-feticide laws in at least 38 other states, with several of those laws making it a separate offense to kill a fetus when a pregnant woman is murdered or assaulted, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Many of those laws have been passed in the last decade, several of them during the administration of Republican President George W. Bush. Since 2003, Colorado, Texas, Mississippi, Kentucky, Alabama, Alaska, South Carolina and West Virginia have all passed laws that make it a separate offense to kill or harm an unborn child — at any stage of development — when the mother is murdered or assaulted.
In 2004, Congress also passed, and President Bush signed, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which recognizes a child in utero as a legal victim if he is killed or injured during the commission of 60 violent crimes listed by the federal government. Those crimes include kidnapping, interstate stalking, bombings and offenses related to drug trafficking, among others.
The federal law defines "child in utero" — in any stage of development in the womb — as a member of the homo sapiens species. The act is also known as Laci & Conner's Law, named for Laci Peterson, who was murdered in 2002 while she was eight months pregnant with her son in California. Scott Peterson was convicted of murdering his wife and unborn son and is on death row. He is appealing the conviction.
The various state and federal laws are a "positive development" in protecting the unborn and their families, said Deirdre McQuade, assistant director for policy and communications for the Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
"While laws protecting the unborn from violent aggressors are written with exemptions for abortion, each time such a law is drafted and debated it questions the arbitrary logic of Roe v. Wade," McQuade told the Register.
Though the laws grant legal protections to the unborn, they only do so when a pregnant woman is assaulted and suffers the loss of her child. The laws do not invalidate Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion.
Several states, such as Idaho and Indiana, specifically say in their statutes that criminal penalties do not apply in the cases of women who willingly undergo abortions.
'Split Personality'
Pro-life activists say the current jurisprudence around abortion and the unborn shows the "schizophrenic" nature of the legal system's approach to the issue and to the legal personhood of children in the womb.
"Legal abortion is the unjustified exemption in the law that treats the unborn as if they have no rights," McQuade said.
"America has a split personality: We have laws that rightly classify killing a pregnant woman as a despicable double murder. And then, down the street, an abortionist can legally pierce the head of a baby and kill it as the mother's right," said Paul Rondeau, executive director of the American Life League, the nation's largest Catholic pro-life grassroots network.
Rondeau told the Register that laws do not protect anyone when they are not enforced due to political correctness.
State Laws
Of the states that have anti-feticide laws, 28 of those states' laws apply to the earliest stages of pregnancy by specifically mentioning "any state of gestation," "conception," "fertilization" or "post-fertilization" in their statutes.
California defines the killing of the unborn child immediately after the embryonic stage. Four states — Washington, Nevada, Florida and Rhode Island — define the killing of the unborn child after the discernible movement within the womb.
Meanwhile, 21 states define non-fatal assaults on the unborn as criminal offenses, according to Americans United for Life's report "Defending Life 2013."
On the civil docket, 27 states and the District of Columbia permit wrongful-death suits if an unborn child was viable at the time of his or her death. Thirteen states allow lawsuits for a pre-viable unborn child.
State laws also grant the unborn several legal rights, in that they can: inherit property, be represented by a guardian, sue for wrongful death if their father is killed, and qualify as recipients of state-funded health insurance. The unborn are also considered human subjects protected from harmful medical and scientific research.
In some states, recent legislation has increased the criminal penalties for crimes involving pregnant women. Thirteen states have "one victim" laws that define those types of assaults as enhanced offenses for sentencing purposes, according to Americans United for Life.
An overview of these criminal penalties shows a wide range of potential fines and prison sentences for defendants convicted of killing the unborn in the womb.
For example, in Arizona, where the law treats an unborn baby like a minor under 12 for the sake of punishment, a defendant will spend at least 35 years in state prison.
In Indiana, prosecutors may move for the death penalty or seek a life sentence without parole for someone convicted of killing a pregnant woman and her unborn child.
In Minnesota, where the murder statutes apply to the unborn, a person can also be convicted of motor-vehicle homicide for causing the unborn child to die in a car accident and be sentenced to serve up to 10 years in state prison and be fined up to $20,000.
In Massachusetts, where the unborn's legal protections developed through case law rather than legislation, a defendant can be convicted of involuntary manslaughter for causing the death of a 27-week-old fetus, with that conviction carrying a prison sentence between 3 1/2 to 10 years, depending on the defendant's prior criminal record.
Massachusetts and Maryland are the only two states with fetal-protection laws that only apply to babies considered viable outside the womb.
Opposed by Abortion Activists
Abortion-rights activists say the anti-feticide laws present a slippery slope that jeopardizes legal abortion and creates an adversarial relationship between the mother and her unborn child by recognizing them as two distinct persons under the law. They also argue the laws unjustly criminalize a mother's behavior during pregnancy to include smoking, drinking and using drugs.
For example, on Jan. 11, the Alabama Supreme Court affirmed a lower court's ruling that two pregnant women violated a state "chemical endangerment" law by consuming cocaine and methamphetamine while pregnant. One woman's baby tested positive for cocaine when born, while the other baby was born prematurely and died 19 minutes later due to "acute methamphetamine intoxication," according to published reports.
A January article in the Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law — written by Lynn Paltrow, founder and executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women, and Jeanne Flavin, a sociology professor at Fordham University — wrote that the anti-feticide laws are increasingly used to unjustly incarcerate and coerce pregnant women, many of whom are minorities and on lower levels of the socioeconomic ladder.
Paltrow and Flavin raised several examples, including that of Regina McKnight, a 21-year-old South Carolina woman who was convicted of homicide in 2001 for causing the death of her unborn child by using cocaine. The South Carolina Supreme Court subsequently reversed the conviction after finding that McKnight had received ineffective counsel and that the state relied on outdated research that did not take into account recent studies that cast doubt on whether cocaine use is more harmful than poor nutrition, nicotine use or other conditions associated with the urban poor.
Paltrow and Flavin argued that "all pregnant women, not just those who try to end a pregnancy, will face the possibility of arrest, detention and forced intervention." Americans United for Life's report indicates that 17 states define substance abuse during pregnancy to be child abuse. Fourteen states require health-care professionals to report suspected prenatal drug use, and two states — Kentucky and North Dakota — require newborns to be tested when there is suspicion of drug use.
'Smoke Screen'
The Americans United for Life report says the vast majority of state laws dealing with prenatal substance abuse are not criminal in nature and do not permit incarceration of pregnant women. These laws, AUL said, are intended to give pregnant women access to the tools they need to have healthy pregnancies.
McQuade told the Register that the "pro-choice" arguments are a "smoke screen."
"It looks at the issue inside out," McQuade said. "No well-crafted law criminalizes women seeking abortions, either by a doctor or self-inflicted, or those participating in other harmful practices during pregnancy."
McQuade added that pregnant women are especially at risk for domestic violence precisely because they are pregnant.
"Measures to protect the unborn child are simultaneous measures to protect [the mothers]," McQuade said.
Responding to the criticisms, Rondeau told the Register to consider the source.
"When so-called 'pro-choice' critics say those laws criminalize pregnant women, you have to remember who is saying it: people who believe in the killing of the most innocent human beings for convenience or profit," Rondeau said. "Those same people fight parental-consent, informed-consent laws, inspections, and, time and time again, they even fail to report underage rape, leaving young girls at risk for further sexual abuse."
Register correspondent Brian Fraga writes from Fall River, Massachusetts.


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Does Big Fish count for 2003?
Oh, I would also like to take this moment to remind everyone about the stellar dvd releases in January, not the least of which is Band Of Outsiders. Transfer and extras are primo -- I would keep that in mind when picking my 5 dvd noms...
Is this extension possible or do you just want what I have now?
Can we vote for 400 Blows as a dvd, seeing as how it was remastered and has more extras than the original Criterion oop disc?
I wonder if PDL will win "Best DVD"
How about a little senseless campaigning?


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This is a blog post that's been stewing for awhile. It's been hard to get out of my brain for a couple of reasons. First, because the thoughts are all jumbled in there and I've needed to sort then out. Second, it's a post which required some confession and I've needed to work up the courage. But after a discussion on Twitter yesterday about the lack of cycling clothes for women inspired Sarah (@_pigeons_) to finally write her own body image post, I've decided to screw up my courage to write the post, because the more women who come out of the clothes closet and confess their body issues, the more women will not feel alone!
I'm a plus sized girl. Always have been, always will be. That's just the way I am. I wear a US size 18 (UK 20/Euro 48). I have big thighs (made bigger by cycling!), big hips, a big waist (with a large tummy), big boobs. And I would say that generally I'm able to convince myself that I don't really care about my size. Except when I have to buy clothes. That's when I feel fat. That's when I start wondering how people see me, if they judge me because of my body, if people are disgusted by me. And I shouldn't give a fuck! I'm a feminist, goddamn it. I know it's society that makes me feel ashamed! But I can't help it. When I think about clothes, and how I look in them, I always wonder how well I've hidden my belly and if guys who do see it are turned off by it.I know clothes that fit well and are flattering make a huge difference in how I look and my confidence. But damn, it is hard to find well fitted clothes when you're a size 18 and have a large chest. When I know I need to shop for specific clothes (jeans, a dress, cycling shorts), I start getting anxious because I know it won't be easy. I'll admit- I've been brainwashed by society.
Today, as we were talking about cycling clothes for women on Twitter, I could feel myself starting to get emotional and stressed out. Buying regular clothes isn't a picnic, but at least I know there are a couple of places I can rely on to have my size. When it comes to cycling clothes, forget it. I've never been in a cycling shop that has women's sizes that will fit me. XL? Don't make me laugh! I'm lucky if I can get my arms inside an XL, let alone zip it up. The male cut might be roomier in the chest, but there is no way it's going to fit over my hips (trust me, I've tried). I don't even bother looking at cycling clothes in the store, because I know they won't fit.
This means I have to look online for my cycling clothes. And even online there are precious few options when it comes to extended sizes in cycling clothes. I hate buying clothes online- even everyday clothes. Even when they have good measurements, I still can't tell how the fabric lays and stretches or if the cut will be flattering to my belly and chest. Plus, if it doesn't fit, I have to go to the trouble of sending it back. Buying cycling clothing online is even worse, because the sizing is awful. A nightmare. I spend days combing through sites, comparing sizing charts. I've even made a freaking spreadsheet. I need at least a 46 inch chest. Louis Garneau goes up to 3X. Sounds promising, right? Except their 3X is only 42 inches. Castelli? Their XXL is only 45. And let's not ever talk about the high end brands. Rapha? 40 inch chest max. Even discounting the fact that there is zero standardization in sizing, how is sizing like that going to encourage more women to feel good about themselves on the bike?
I know I'm never going to look skinny on the bike, but is it too much to ask to have flattering cuts, non-elasticized hems, and jerseys that don't ride up? And this is just the technical gear. What about all the new 'stylish' every day biking gear? Rapha doesn't even have a women's casual line. And besides Vulpine (which doesn't have extended sizes), I'm hard pressed to even name another company that does casual riding clothes for women. And honestly, even if there were companies that did casual biking clothes for women, I wouldn't even bother to look to see if they had something to fit me, because I know they won't and it will just make me feel fat and ashamed when I see the sizing.
There are two issues at play here: body confidence and lack of options when it comes to cycling clothes. And I think the latter is affecting the former. When, time after time, I'm confronted with sizes that don't even come close to my measurements, the message seems to be "We don't want you size here. Your size isn't normal and we can't accommodate for it." How is one supposed to remain body confident in the face of that?? Whether it's technical or casual riding gear, time and again, I'm reading the message that my size isn't "normal." Even if I didn't think of myself as fat, it would be hard to keep convincing myself of that when the only size that MIGHT fit me is an XXL, if I'm lucky. And even though I know they're just arbitrary letters and numbers that don't really mean anything, I can't quite stop myself from feeling ashamed of my size.
Could I be thinner? Yes. I could do things to help me lose weight. I eat like shit and I don't work out enough. If I improved my diet and rode my bike more often, I could lose a size or two. But I am always going to be plus sized. I'm always going to have big thighs, big boobs, a tummy, a large waist. When is the cycling industry giong to start recognizing that most women who ride bikes aren't built like guys- they have curves, they have pooches, they have roundness. Women want flattering cuts to maybe help disguise some of the bits they don't like. Or at least a cut that acknowledges they have HIPS and a WAIST. I've worn enough plus-sized, box shaped shirts to recognize the importance of defining a waist. I know I need to keep working on accepting myself, but it is hard to accept myself when it seems no one in the fashion industry or at the cycling clothing companies does.
But in an ironic twist, I don't really care when what I look like when I'm on the bike. There is no where to hide when you're wearing technical gear. All of the lumpy bits are out there. But for some reason, I don't care. Even if shopping for cycling gear stresses me out to the max, once I've got it on and I'm on the bike, I feel comfortable. I feel strong. And I think, in the end, that's what makes it all okay. I know many women aren't like me, so I'm grateful I stop caring about how I look once I'm on the bike. And as long as I feel strong on the bike, I guess that is what is most important.
So much thanks to Sarah (@_pigeons), for being brave enough to write her post. Also thanks to both Sarah and Jen (@_gavia_) for the great conversations which inspired these posts! Give them both a follow!
Update: Sarah has curated two posts on cycling clothing for larger women- Part 1 for plus sizes, Part 2 for XL and XXL sizing. AND Tina over at Wheel Women did exactly what I hoped this post would inspire- she wrote a blog post about her body image issues on the bike as well! Check it out here.


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Wipeout HD Expansion 'Fury' Priced, Dated
Wipeout HD Fury is set to include "three new race types--Eliminator, Zone Battle and Detonator--12 new tracks, 13 new ships, 6 new music tracks, a redesigned menu system, a new campaign to complete as well a host of new trophies to win." "Eliminator mode was relatively easy to get in since it was taken from WipEout Pulse but we wanted to make it even better," said Sony producer Daimion Pinnock. "Someone came up with the idea of having the 180 degree flip, which allows you to flip your ship, fly backwards down the track and fire your weapons at on coming opponents, like the Quake, which I know some people missed being able to do like they could in Pulse."
Zone Battle is essentially an eight-player version of Zone mode, in which "every time you use your zone bar to boost you leave a zone barrier on the track to try and slow down your opponents."


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Apple opened on Aug. 29, 2009 their 2nd retail store in Germany. The new store is in the Alstertal Einkaufs-Zentrum in Hamburg Poppenbüttel.
Not the whole crowd is here visible, 70% were waiting and queuing around the corner.
Hamburg: Second largest city of Germany, situated in the north at the river Elbe, because of the seaport well known as a city of merchants. Because of the nearby sea, you will always have some fresh breeze while you are walking through the streets with nice private town-houses or while you are floating along aboard an "Alsterdampfer" on the river Alster.


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If you're still drying your eyes after last week's emotional goodbye between Kristina (Monica Potter) and Alex (Michael B. Jordan) on Parenthood, you're not alone. Just don't even think about putting the tissues away yet.
"I had no idea that this scene would move people. Michael and I just did it and it was like, 'OK, that was good.' But I came in last week and our crew members were talking about that scene," Potter tells TVGuide.com. "I thought, 'Wow that's pretty incredible that people are having this strong of a reaction. Which is great — it was very moving and touching to me.'" However, just as Kristina and the Bravermans say goodbye to one (almost) member of the family, they will welcome a new arrival with the birth of their baby in Tuesday's episode, titled "Nora," airing at 10/9c on NBC. Potter talked with TVGuide.com about Kristina's surprising delivery room partner, the art of pretending to give birth (hint: it involves grape jelly and cream cheese!) and the high emotions ahead for Kristina that come with this new bundle of joy.
Fall Preview: Get scoop on your favorite returning shows
This is a big week for your character with the baby coming. Having a baby on TV is never easy, so what happens when Kristina goes into labor?
Monica Potter: Kristina and Crosby get into a big argument and her water breaks, and she has no one to take her to the hospital except Crosby in his little convertible. It was absolutely hysterical because it was just this big pregnant lady and this tiny little clown car. To me, this episode meant so much because I was able to work with Dax [Shepard] who I love and adore, and I feel he's like my brother. So it was a really nice episode. It is weird trying to pretend like you're giving birth. It's weird because I felt like I was going through it again.
Having had three kids, what was it like for you to shoot these scenes? It must help that you've been through it before?
Potter: Every one and every single time is different, and I didn't have C-sections, which I don't know if that's lucky or unlucky, but I was able to feel every contraction. You forget what it feels like. God's got a great way of making women forget what it's like because we would never go through it again. ... When they brought the real babies in, they had twin boys, Liam and Quinn, and my son's name is Liam so of course I took an instant liking to them. They covered little Liam with grape jelly and cream cheese to make it look like he was just born. There was a fake umbilical cord on him and it was just wild, really wild and then Liam peed all over me. We're eternally bonded now (laughs).
NBC picks up two more episodes of Parenthood
Will Crosby's presence during the delivery help ease the tension he has with Kristina?
Potter: I think it's one of those things where, deep down they really love each other and have respect for each other, but at the same time, there will always be that little kind of saltiness between them. I like that. But I think that, for now, she looks at Crosby in a different light, and loves and respects him, and is so grateful to him because she's seen a side to him in the delivery room that she's never seen before, which is extremely cool and very touching. There's definitely less [saltiness] than there used to be, but it's still there. It's like Tom and Jerry.
This new side of Crosby comes out just as he and Adam (Peter Krause) are starting their business together. Once the baby comes, will Kristina begin to get more worried about this venture or will she stay calm?
Potter: A lot of the women that I know wouldn't be as supportive as Kristina. But she's the type of woman that, at all costs, will support her husband to a certain extent. She's no pushover, but she wants what's best for him and that's how much she loves him. So I think that while she is supportive, in the next few episodes you're going to see a little bit of a shift. She's eager to get back to work and find herself again. She's been really quite emotional, understandably so, in the episodes that we've seen so far. [Episode 8] is when you start to see her get sea legs back.
Parenthood's Erika Christensen on Julia's quest to adopt: "She'll put up a really good fight"
Kristina was working before her pregnancy, so will she return to the working world once the baby comes?
Potter: Based on the circumstances of what happens in the episodes that we're shooting right now, she is, I think, probably going to head back to work. It's mentioned, but I also think with what's going on, that she probably will. ... I'm glad it is happening. As long as the kids aren't put on the back burner.
Another important question is how will Haddie (Sarah Ramos) and Max (Max Burkholder) handle the arrival of the new baby when they're both dealing with some heavy personal issues?
Potter: You'll see how we're dealing with it. I think Kristina really wants her family to connect in a way that can't be broken. It's hard when you have three kids at three different ages and it's like that for a lot of us who have kids. But she's very, very adamant about keeping her family intact and sharing as much of herself with each kid on a one-to-one level, but also all three of them combined. ... She wants the best for her kids at any cost, even if that means sacrificing part of herself.
How else will the new baby affect Kristina?
Potter: Kristina is extremely fragile these few episodes and I asked [executive producer] Jason [Katims] about the whole postpartum thing and I really wanted to put that in there because your emotions are always high and low and your hormones are all over the place. I didn't want to bring it up and say Kristina's having a breakdown, but I did want to show how emotional it can be after having a child and also dealing with what she's dealing with Max and with Haddie. She's already missing Haddie even though Haddie hasn't yet gone off to college, and then dealing with Max and the new baby. You see a little bit of a crack in her armor. Actually, a big crack, so I'm glad that they let me do that.


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Start Slideshow
- Velopresso Pedal-Powered Coffee Cart BikeThe Velopresso is every coffee-lover's dream on wheels. Designed by two Royal College of Art graduates, Amos Field Reid and Lasse Oiva, the pedal-powered mobile coffee cart serves java on the go while maintaining a silent, motor-less, and low energy business with an ultra-tiny carbon footprint (or should we say pedal print?) From delicious lattes to high-quality shots of espresso, this hybrid cafe serves the community and the environment one cup at a time!1
- Velopresso Pedal-Powered Coffee Cart BikeThe bike-powered Velopresso coffee shop is custom constructed from an old tricycle frame.2
- Velopresso Pedal-Powered Coffee Cart BikeIts gears (which are no longer needed for uphill terrain) have been rewired to either push the cart forward or power the coffee grinder.3
- Velopresso Pedal-Powered Coffee Cart BikeWater is heated with a portable boiler powered by a tiny gas canister.4
- Velopresso Pedal-Powered Coffee Cart BikeThe duo is even exploring the possibility of recycling old coffee grinds into ethanol to create an eco-friendly cycle.5
- Velopresso Pedal-Powered Coffee Cart BikeRight now you can find the team working on their mobile coffee shop in London.6
- Velopresso Pedal-Powered Coffee Cart BikeOnce the prototype is more refined, they hope to produce more sustainable bike businesses across the globe.7


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New England Patriots bring smiles to hundreds of youngsters in Newtown
NEWTOWN -- It was a chance for the kids of Newtown to be kids again.
A chance to run around with their friends on beautiful spring day and play football or practice a cheer routine without a care in the world. A chance to come face-to-face with their larger-than-life, pro football heroes. And, most importantly, a chance to smile.
Because there is no more beautiful or wonderful sight than to see a child smile, especially in a town where only six months ago, 20 angelic first-graders and six of their brave educators were brutally and senselessly murdered.
In the wake of the Dec. 14 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, prayers and support have poured into this small town from all over the world, with people willing to do anything and everything to help the community -- its kids in particular -- heal and move forward.
On Saturday at Newtown High School's Blue and Gold Stadium, the New England Patriots football team put smiles on the faces of hundreds and hundreds of kids at its Football For You football and cheerleading clinic.
About 30 current and former Patriots players, coaches and cheerleaders participated in the event, which included football and cheerleading clinics for kids aged 6 to 14, as well as other games and activities.
"As a part of the New England community, I think all of us were devastated when we saw what happened here," said Patriots owner Robert Kraft, "and if it can happen in the town of Newtown, it could happen in any city or town in America."
Just moments earlier, Kraft had participated in one of the football drills, playing defensive back and covering one of the youngsters as tight end Rob Gronkowski threw him a pass. The kid tripped over Kraft's feet, prompting the group of onlookers -- and Gronkowski -- to playfully call for a pass interference penalty.
Kraft has close ties to Newtown, as his family purchased Rand-Whitney corrugated container company -- which has a facility on Edmond Road in Newtown -- in 1999.
"We've been down here, we've learned what the people here are like and we have a great affection and affinity for this town," Kraft said. "Unfortunately, when this bad event happened, our parking lot was sort of the meeting grounds for everything going on."
More than 500 youngsters had pre-registered for Saturday's event, and even more registered Saturday at the event. As a result, the field at Blue and Gold Stadium, from end zone to end zone and sideline to sideline, was filled with kids being kids and having fun.
"I hope they leave here with a good experience," Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo said. "They've been through a lot these last couple months. It's the rebuilding process. They'll never be forgotten, but at the same time, these kids are very strong, their families are very strong, the parents out here in the stands are very strong. And hopefully we can come out here and provide a little temporary relief and some smiles."
With two kids of his own, a tragedy like this certainly hit close to home with Mayo.
"You have to just go home and hug you kids," he said. "You never know what's going to happen in this crazy world. At the same time, you have to enjoy each and every moment and take it in stride."
The Sandy Hook tragedy shook the entire world to its core, and the players reacted with the same horror and anguish as everyone else did upon learning of the events that unfolded that day.
"I was obviously very saddened by the news," Mayo added. "My heart went out to the families and the community in general. This is a small town and everyone knows everyone. It's a strong town as well, and they've banded together nicely."
"Out of bad things, good things can happen, and the good here is to see the resilience and the mental toughness and support this community gave to one another," said Kraft.
"We saw it in Boston right after the horrible events on Patriots' Day, the same way the community came together."
At the conclusion of the clinic, Kraft presented Newtown Youth Football and Cheerleading president Sean Dunn -- a New York Jets fan -- with a No. 1 Patriots jersey with the word Newtown embroidered across the back.
Kraft then invited Dunn to one of the two games this upcoming season between the Jets and Patriots -- on the condition that he wear the jersey to the game. Newtown football coach Steve George then presented Kraft with a Nighthawks football jersey.
"This is beyond anything I could've imagined," said Dunn. "What the Patriots have done is just fantastic."
So, could there have possibly been some future Patriots among the hundreds of young players on the field Saturday?
"We think so," Kraft said with a grin. "We had our scouts checking it out."


text: The major passages and structures of the upper respiratory tract include the nose or nostrils, nasal cavity, mouth, throat (pharynx), and voice box (larynx). The respiratory system is lined with a mucous membrane that secretes mucus. The mucus traps smaller particles like pollen or smoke. Hairlike structures called cilia line the mucous membrane and move the particles trapped in the mucus out of the nose. Inhaled air is moistened, warmed, and cleansed by the tissue that lines the nasal cavity.


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For the majority of employers, the question of whether to move employees to the Obamacare exchanges is similar to so many business decisions they make throughout the year.
"It really is all about the bottom line and the results of cost-benefit analyses," said Iris Tilley, an employee benefits attorney in Portland, Ore. "That's what I'm hearing mostly from clients, and when they seek our advice about health care, we are encouraging them to undergo the means test and figure out what makes the most sense for their business."
In general, Tilley said those employers who are contemplating migration most seriously include companies with fewer than 50 full-time employees, those with high health insurance premiums or those who employ high-wage workers.
She said for them, an exchange migration might pencil out because they won't face pay-or-play penalties, or if they do, the penalties for some of those organizations likely will be less expensive than the cost of providing health care coverage.
Examples in that latter instance would include employers with a generally younger workforce, or employers with easy-to-replace employees.
See also: Summer reading: Exchange Games
One of the biggest advantages to moving to a public exchange may be the handing over of the financial and administrative burdens in running a company's health benefits.
That could sway some employers, but not all.
Take Harold Wood, for example. He employs seven people in an auto-body shop in Salem, Ore. Wood told the Statesman Journal last week that he stopped offering health insurance about a decade ago because it was too expensive. He intends to explore the Oregon state exchange, but at this point, he said he remains fairly pessimistic about health care costs.
"That's a wait and see, but again it better be good," he said. "I frankly don't think it's going to be in the affordable range for most business people."
But sometimes the bottom line is affected by the quality of the workforce, and not just the amount of cash coming in and going out.
Jeffrey Lewis, an employment law attorney in San Francisco, said employers who generally hire workers with unique and highly specialized skills might be more cautious when it comes to foregoing health care coverage and directing employees to an exchange.
"Then, yes, in an extremely competitive marketplace, it could become an issue, if you terminate coverage yet rival organizations continue to offer it (health care) as a way to attract and retain the best, brightest and most sought after employees with key skills to their companies," Lewis said.
On the other hand, he said, "it could not be an issue at all if your highly specialized workforce is younger and possibly more online savvy and completely comfortable shopping for insurance online, via the exchanges."
A recent report by Accenture estimated that roughly one out of five people will purchase their health benefits from an exchange in the next three years.
It'll be a slow-go at first.
"The issue right now is a lack of consumer readiness for exchanges, in general, but in particular for private exchanges," said Rich Birhanzel, managing director of Accenture Health Administration Services. "While private exchange providers have been largely focused on educating employers on the benefits they offer, almost no education has been provided to employees who are considering enrolling in these health plans."
Indeed, on Oct. 1, millions of U.S. consumers will begin to enroll in public exchanges under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, while many private exchanges also are planned to launch this year.
While Accenture estimated that only 1 million individuals are expected to enroll in private exchanges by the end of 2013, that number is expected to reach 40 million individuals by 2018, surpassing the 31 million individuals likely to enroll in state-funded public exchanges.
One reason employers might be more inclined to push employees to private exchanges rather than public ones is less of a pocketbook issue and more about political leanings, Tilley said.
"Health care reform is very politicized," she noted. "And some employers and employees may object to using the exchanges because they don't want to 'help' health care reform succeed."
Politics aside, private exchange might be preferred by some employers because using them means employees get an allowance from the employer that can be used to buy insurance.
The private exchanges are being developed by consulting firms such as Aon Hewitt, Mercer and Towers Watson, as well as retailers, such Walgreens, and even insurance brokers.
Private exchanges will allow employers to retain "key employer relationships while transitioning those employers to defined contribution," Birhanzel said. There are also increased opportunities to offer members a broader array of customized products such as dental, life, and disability coverage.
The success of the private exchanges will be measured largely by their ability to reduce healthcare costs for employers and the ability to provide consumer choice that leads to more efficient use of benefits by employees.
See also:


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Latin soups: 3 hot picks on Long Island
Latin American soups have a way of bringing light into even the darkest winter day. It could be the hit of chili peppers. Or the wake-up flavor of fresh chopped cilantro.
Each of these three Long Island Latin spots has the power of soup on the menu.
POLLOS EL PAISA, Westbury
It comes as no surprise that a Colombian restaurant whose specialty is chicken would make a first-rate chicken soup. This one is loaded with poultry -- giblets included -- and vegetables, showered with fresh cilantro.
EL RANCHITO MEXICAN GRILL, East Northport
This Mexican restaurant may be small in size, but its spicy chicken soup is big on flavor, thanks to hot red chilies and fresh cilantro.
SABOR A COLOMBIA, Levittown
At this colorful Colombian, you'll want to brighten your day with the consommé grande, chicken soup with giblets, vegetables and chopped fresh cilantro.


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January Health Insurance Sign-ups Meet Goal
WASHINGTON (AP) — January marked the first time since new health insurance markets opened last fall that a national monthly enrollment target was met, even though states are having varying success getting people to sign up.
The administration said Wednesday about 1 million people signed up for private insurance under President Barack Obama's health care law in January, extending a turnaround from when a dysfunctional website frustrated consumers.
An Associated Press analysis found that most states are still lagging when it comes to sign-ups under the health care law, and their success in getting those sign-ups could help determine if the White House reaches its unofficial goal of having 7 million signed up by the end of March.
Nearly 3.3 million people signed up from Oct. 1 through Feb. 1.


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All About Phishing
At first glance, it may not be obvious to the recipients that what is in their inbox is not a legitimate e-mail from a company with whom they do business.
It is becoming increasingly common to tune in to the news or load your favorite news website or Facebook and learn about another Internet email scam.
What Are Email Scams?
An email scam is a fraudulent email that appears to be from a legitimate Internet address with a justifiable request — usually to verify your personal information or account details. One example would be if you received an email that appears to be from your bank requesting you click a hyperlink in the e-mail and verify your online banking information. Usually there will be a repercussion stated in the e-mail for not following the link, such as "your account will be closed or suspended". The goal of the sender is for you to disclose personal and (or) account related information.
This type of email scam is also called phishing.
Phishing Defined
(fish´ing) (n.) The act of sending an e-mail to a user falsely claiming to be an established legitimate enterprise in an attempt to scam the user into surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft. The e-mail directs the user to visit a Web site where they are asked to update personal information, such as passwords and credit card, social security, and bank account numbers, that the legitimate organization already has. The Web site, however, is bogus and set up only to steal the user's information.
How to Spot A Phishing Scam
At first glance, it may not be obvious to the recipients that what is in their inbox is not a legitimate e-mail from a company with whom they do business. The "From" field of the e-mail may have the .com address of the company mentioned in the e-mail, and the clickable link may also appear to be taking you to the company's Web site, but will in fact take you to a spoof Web site. Looks can be deceiving, but with phishing scams the e-mail is never from who is appears to be.
Common Elements of a Phishing Email
Phishing e-mails will contain some of these common elements:
- The "From Field" appears to be from the legitimate company mentioned in the e-mail. It is important to note, however, that it is very simple to change the "from" information in any e-mail client. While we're not going to tell you how, rest assured it can be done in a matter of seconds!
- The e-mail will usually contain logos or images that have been taken from the Web site of the company mentioned in the scam e-mail.
- The e-mail will contain a clickable link with text suggesting you use the inserted link to validate your information. In the image you will see that once the hyperlink is highlighted, the bottom left of the screen shows the real Web site address to which you will go. Note that the hyperlink does NOT point to the legitimate Citibank Web site URL.
In this instance, the text you click is "here", However, this may also state something like "Log-in to Citibank" or "www.citibank.com/secure" to be even more misleading. This clickable area is only text and can be changed to anything the sender wants it to read.
Additionally, you may spot some of these elements that did not appear in this particular scam:
Logos that are not an exact match to the company's logo, spelling errors, percentage signs followed by numbers or @ signs within the hyperlink, random names or e-mail addresses in the body of the text, or even e-mail headers which have nothing to do with the company mentioned in the e-mail.
Who Is Behind the Phishes & Why
The people behind phishing e-mails are scam artists. They literally send out millions of these scam e-mails in the hopes that even a few recipients will act on them and provide their personal and financial information. Anyone with an e-mail address is at risk of being phished. Any e-mail address that has been made public on the Internet (posting in forums, newsgroups or on a Web site) is more susceptible to phishing as the e-mail address can be saved by spiders that search the Internet and grab as many e-mail addresses as they can. This is why phishing is profitable for scammers; they can cheaply and easily access millions of valid e-mail addresses to send these scams to.
Common (Phish) Sense
After reading this far, we hope that you will be able to spot a phishing e-mail without too much difficulty. The e-mail represented above is just a sample; phishing e-mails can appear to be from any bank, PayPal, eBay, credit card companies, an online retail store — basically from anywhere a person may have registered for an account, and usually would have supplied financial information when registering.
Follow The Golden Rule
The golden rule to avoid being phished is to never ever click the links within the text of the e-mail. Always delete the e-mail immediately. Once you have deleted the e-mail then empty the trash box in your e-mail client as well. This will prevent "accidental" clicks from happening as well. If, for some really odd reason you have this nagging feeling that this could just possibly be a legitimate e-mail and nothing can convince you otherwise, you still need to adhere to the golden rule and not click the link in the message. For those truly worried that an account may be in jeopardy if you do not verify your information, you need to open your Web browser program of choice and type the URL to the Web site in the address field of your browser and log on to the Web site as you normally would (without going through the e-mail link as a quick route). This will provide you with accurate information about your account and allow you to completely avoid the possibility of landing on a spoof Web site and giving your information to someone you shouldn't.
What You Should Do with a Phish
Now that you know how to avoid being phished, there is still the question of what to do about phishing e-mails should you be a recipient of them. First of all, you can visit the Web site of the company from whom the e-mail appears to be from and take the time to notify them of the suspicious e-mail. Many companies do want to know if their company name is being used to try and scam people, and you'll find scam and spoof reporting links within some of these Web sites. Additionally, you can report phishing to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and depending on where you live, some local authorities may also accept Internet phishing scam reports. Lastly, you can also send details of a phishing scam to to the Anti-Phishing Working Group who is building a repository/database of common scams to help inform people of the risks.
The New Phish - Spear Phishing
As with all malicious code, once a small percentage of the population starts to catch on, the perpetrators find ways to make the attack a little different, and this case, make the phish harder to net. The newest type of phishing scam is one that focuses on a single user or a department within an organization. The Phish appears to be legitimately addressed from someone within that company, in a position of trust, and request information such as login IDs and passwords. Spear phishing scams will often appear to be from a company's own human resources or technical support divisions and may ask employees to update their username and passwords. Once hackers get this data they can gain entry into secured networks. Another type of spear phishing attack will ask users to click on a link, which deploys spyware that can steal data.
Did You Know...
The word phishing comes from the analogy that Internet scammers are using e-mail lures to fish for passwords and financial data from the sea of Internet users. The term was coined in 1996 by hackers who were stealing AOL Internet accounts by scamming passwords from unsuspecting AOL users. Since hackers have a tendency to replacing "f" with "ph" the term phishing was derived.
Based in Nova Scotia, Canada, Vangie Beal is a freelance writer, covering business and Internet technology for more than a decade. She is also managing editor of Webopedia.com.
This article was last updated on November 11, 2015
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CAIRO - Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil said on Sunday he expected a resumption of talks in January with the International Monetary Fund on a $4.8 billion loan.
He was speaking during a news conference to announce a "national economic initiative" which he said aimed to build consensus around the government's economic program.
"We hope that there will not be any fundamental changes in our plan with the IMF because we will summon them in January so we resume discussions to go forward in the matter of the loan," Kandil said.


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MSNBC's Thomas Roberts gets the latest from the trial of James Holmes from NBC's Leanne Gregg and attorney Gary Lozow. Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Holmes.
Prosecutors said Monday that they will seek the death penalty for James Holmes, the man accused of gunning down 12 people and wounding 70 at a Batman movie last summer in Colorado.
George Brauchler, the district attorney for Arapahoe County, said he made the decision after speaking with more than 800 victims and family members.
"It's my determination and my intention that in this case, for James Eagan Holmes, justice is death," he said at a hearing.
Brauchler had already rejected an offer from the defense to let Holmes plead guilty and serve a life sentence.
Judge William Sylvester of the Colorado circuit court entered a plea of not guilty for Holmes last month after his lawyers said they were not ready to plead. The judge left the door open for lawyers to mount an insanity defense.
Sylvester on Monday set Holmes' trial for Feb. 3, 2014, and said it would last about four months. He handed the case to a new judge, Carlos Samour. The trial had originally been scheduled to begin in August.
"This is not an ordinary case. We ask the judge not to rush," one of Holmes' lawyers, Tamara Brady, said, answering prosecution claims that the defense has tried to delay the legal process. "This is the most important matter the court will ever hear."
The two sides in the case fought in public last week. After the defense made its offer, Brauchler said in a filing that Holmes' lawyers were only trying to generate sympathy for their client.
The only conclusion, the prosecutor wrote, "is that the defendant knows he is guilty, the defense attorneys know he is guilty and that both of them know that he was not criminally insane."
Brauchler wrote an Op-Ed in The Denver Post over the weekend defending the death penalty. Colorado legislators have considered banning it. He did not name Holmes but wrote of capital punishment as an important tool of justice.
"Repealing the death penalty would result in acts similar to those in Newtown, Conn., or the acts of Tim McVeigh being punished no differently than a single murder of one gang member by another," the prosecutor wrote. "Each murder after the first would be a freebie."
Injection is the method for capital punishment in Colorado. The state has executed only one inmate since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in the United States in 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. That execution was in 1997.
R.J. Sangosti / Pool
Aurora theater shooting suspect James Holmes listens at his arraignment March 12.
Holmes' lawyers have said that jailers determined he was a danger to himself and needed a mental evaluation, and that he was held for several days in a psychiatric ward, sometimes in restraints.
He surrendered to police within minutes of the July 12 shooting rampage at a midnight screening of the movie "The Dark Knight Rises" in Aurora, Colo., a suburb of Denver.
At his first court appearance, Holmes had stark, red-orange hair and wore a blank stare. He has since appeared more stable and natural-looking. He showed up in court last month with a bushy beard.
The hearing Monday was set to begin at 11 a.m. EDT. Legal observers have pointed out that the two sides could still reach a plea deal later, even as prosecutors seek to put Holmes to death.
NBC News producer John Boxley, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This story was originally published on Mon Apr 1, 2013 8:17 AM EDT


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Mass Incarceration and Bipartisan Unity: An Anarchist Perspective
From The Agency/ By
As momentum builds behind the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, I begin to wonder how much time and energy will be pulled away from the revolutionary anti-racist work of the #BlackLivesMatter movement and funnel instead into the fervent campaigning of Democratic candidates. Within the horrific, seemingly endless loss of Black lives, there has erupted a new era of racial justice work, much of it surprisingly and wonderfully radical in nature. Entire communities are calling for localized conflict resolution, the dismantling of institutional white supremacy, and even the abolition of police and prisons.
Democratic presidential nominees are very clearly aware of the power of the #BlackLivesMatter movement and are taking advantage of this momentum to build their platforms and gain votes. And as I correctly predict every election season, I dread that many people around me will fall for the illusion of a better future through the election of so-and-so only to be disappointed just months after inauguration day. In my current work as an anarchist in the small town of Champaign, Illinois, I organize with several other committed people against jail expansion – a local manifestation of institutional racism. As election season nears I am beginning to grow anxious about what direction our group will take.
Just two days after Freddie Gray's funeral, Hilary Clinton gave a speech in New York where she called for an end to mass incarceration. Clinton, a Democrat who once called for more prisons in the 1990s now joins the growing list of politicians and corporate thugs who are suddenly concerned with the U.S. prison population. Newt Gingrich, Rand Paul, Mark Holden (senior vice president and general counsel for Koch Industries), the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for American Progress, President Obama and many others are all apparently very concerned with the prison industrial complex or at least that's what they have been saying; and they're all willing to come together in unity to fix the problem. If you look more closely, however, you will find that many of these "advocates" have supported, both politically and financially, policies and people who are directly responsible for the United States achieving the highest incarceration rate in the world. (more…)


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OK, hold in your stomach muscles. Come on, hold them in! Now keep holding them in. It's hard to sit there with your muscles contracted for very long. If you were standing up on a stage where you were singing a song for a music performance or giving a speech before an audience, you probably would be able to hold in your muscles for a longer period of time. But when you step off the stage, what's the first thing you'll want to do? More than likely, your stomach muscles will immediately and gladly relax.
The person with attention deficit disorder experiences a similar situation when he or she needs to pay attention. If he really puts energy and concentration into holding his attention, he can do so for a short period of time. But the minute something presents itself as a distraction, he loses the focus he was struggling to attain. One can imagine how exhausting this process can be. Imagine a child with ADHD who is presented with so many distractions in the world. I often explain to parents that if you ask a child to take her shoes to her room, she may do so by way of New York!
One of the most consistent behavior traits that a person with ADHD has, ironically, is inconsistency! To be consistent in our behavior means to be able to reproduce a response, an activity or an achievement. This trait is critical in developing our self image. If we cannot count on how we are going to respond in a situation, it can play havoc with our feeling of confidence, certainty, safety, ability to trust, etc.
A person with ADHD finds that one day they might respond one way, but the next day he or she may have a totally new response. Once again, can you imagine how frustrating that problem could be for anyone, let alone a child who is developing all types of behavior responses?
What is your experience? Do you find that your AHDH or your child's ADHD has an impact on self image?
Important: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not Everyday Health.


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Durham police officers accused of "not properly disposing weapons"
From News and Observer
DURHAM — An undisclosed number of Durham police officers have been disciplined after an internal affairs investigation found they had "retained" parts of firearms that were supposed to have been destroyed.
City Manager Tom Bonfield said the investigation was "completed a few weeks ago" but withheld further comment until he could talk with attorneys about what state personnel privacy laws let him make public.
Police Chief Jose L. Lopez also declined to comment.
"I can't speak to that," Lopez said.
Police spokeswoman Kammie Michael provided a formal statement Wednesday afternoon: (more…)


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At the famous Deutsches Eck, or German Corner, where the Rhine and Moselle converge, lies one of Germany's oldest and most beautiful towns – Koblenz. Vineyards, forests and four mountain ranges form the backdrop to the city, whose 2,000-year history has given rise to beautiful churches and castles, palatial residences and grand town houses.
The Romans, and later the Teutonic Order, were among the first to prize the majestic scenery of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley. More recently UNESCO has recognised the area's outstanding beauty by awarding it world heritage status. Central to this heritage is the Deutsches Eck at the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle. In 1891 Kaiser Wilhelm II deemed this historic landmark, given its name by the knights of the Teutonic Order, the perfect site for a special monument. Here people could give thanks to his grandfather, Wilhelm I, the man who unified the German Empire. Alas, the statue was reduced to rubble in 1945, and in May 1953 Theodor Heuss, President of West Germany, declared the remaining plinth a poignant monument to German unity. Finally, in 1993, a replica of the statue was raised into position on the plinth, where it towers majestically over the two rivers at a height of 37 metres. Every year the impressive structure attracts more than two million visitors. Towering on the opposite side of the Rhine is Ehrenbreitstein, Europe's second-largest preserved fortress. At nearly 120 metres above the river, this is the perhaps the best place to enjoy views of Koblenz. Just beyond the fortress lies the site of the 2011 Federal Horticultural Exhibition, now a popular public park and outdoor venue. The cable car built especially for the show is still in operation, transporting visitors back to the western bank of the Rhine – the perfect place to begin a leisurely stroll through the beautiful old quarter.
French joie de vivre and German tradition have produced a truly unique cultural fusion in Koblenz, characterised by cosy wine taverns, a genuinely welcoming atmosphere and great food – from gourmet cuisine to hearty fare. People come to Koblenz from all over the world to soak up this charm amid the narrow lanes, tucked-away corners and delightful city squares. A stroll through the old quarter could begin at the four towers, as the oriels of four baroque houses are known – one on each corner of the area's main street crossing. At the Hauptwache guardhouse from 1689, guns, flags, muskets and horns serve as a reminder of the soldiers who carried out police duties here. Further along is the Schängel fountain, which stands in the courtyard of the town hall. This famous landmark harks back to the time around 1800, when Koblenz belonged to France and a conspicuously large number of boys were christened Jean – which became Schang and then Schängel in the local dialect. We can only assume that some of these boys must have been rascals, because at irregular intervals the figure in the fountain spits out a powerful stream of water onto unsuspecting passers-by! The Deutscher Kaiser is also worth a visit. This is not another monument as its name might suggest, but a Gothic tower house that now boasts a delightful restaurant on the ground floor. It's the perfect spot to enjoy a glass of fine wine before taking the ferry to Stolzenfels Castle. Your boat passes by the Electoral Palace en route to this most impressive example of early Prussian art and cultural history. The people of Koblenz appreciate contemporary art as well, as is clear from the Ludwig Museum close to the Deutsches Eck. Its collection contains mainly post-1945 art, including works by Pablo Picasso, Jean Dubuffet, Pierre Soulages and Serge Poliakoff to name but a few. It's such an exciting contrast: modern art in medieval walls, classics of the modern age in a captivating historical city. But don't take our word for it. Come and see for yourself!
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Chairman and Interim CEO, TheStreet, Inc. Member of the Board of Directors of Gannett Co, Inc. Former President and Publisher of USA Today. Member of the Board of Directors of MDC Partners. Founder and Former CEO of CBS Marketwatch.com. The first president of CBS Digital. Sits on the Boards of Harvard Business School Publishing, Syracuse University Board of Trustees. Former reporter and editor for The Washington Post and San Francisco Examiner. (click on photo for contact info)
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Look. We all want a wedding-off. A Brange vs JJ wedding-off is GREAT for Gossip. But since the story comes from the UK Sun-- that Brange applied for a marriage licence and want to marry around the same time as Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux -- there's no way we can believe it, because it's bullsh-t. Classic make-up-a-story following PEOPLE's article last week that JJ are planning their wedding in the next few weeks. But you can see how the eternal Triangle still makes headlines, no matter how unreliable the source and implausible the report.
In other Aniston wedding news, her rep has denied that there's to be a Hawaiian wedding. Hawaii? If it's a beach it would be Mexico, non?
And here's some interesting Aniston exclusive gossip I heard recently --
My sources tell me that, like Drew Barrymore, she's apparently working on her own branded makeup line, hoping to have it carried at a mass consumer outlet like Walmart or Target as opposed to upscale department stores. I heard that she was hoping to get into clothing too -- at the mall! Supposedly there was a collaboration with Express or The Limited that was in development for a button-down shirt, ¾ sleeves and it would have been called The Aniston but it never happened because she didn't have enough time to devote to the proposal. Everyone's GOOPing!


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George Li is 19 years old this year, and has already been performing publicly as a concert pianist for a decade. He has performed for Barack Obama and Martha Stewart, and appeared on a public television program devoted to young musicians and filmed at Carnegie hall called "From the Top," when he was 11.
This summer I kept getting news stories of George Li at the Tchaikovsky Competition in my Internet searches. He took 2nd prize (at least one Internet commenter thinks he was robbed ). He is also competing in the Chopin Competition later this year. He may become the youngest pianist ever to medal in two major competitions in the same year.
Li may be the closest thing to a true "natural" the world has ever seen. His repertoire is so large and his playing so mature that I was almost certain he came from a family of musicians; his parents are apparently normal people with jobs. An older sister took piano lessons, and whenever the teacher would play a snippet of music they found little George intruding on the session. He was, by all reports, so incorrigible that the family was forced to let him take lessons of his own.
Li's technique is of the very first category. There are many great, world-class pianists who did not possess Li's mechanism. In his playing there is a certain economy of movement—not just the usual precision and control—that is exceedingly rare. The best thing one can say about a young musician is that he will only be limited by how he develops as a human being.
He played three concertos at the Tchaikovsky. He breezed through Mozart Concerto No. 23 with elan and served up a brisk Tchaikovsky 1st to this Russian audience. He seems to have a little trouble with rhythmic stability in his Prok 3rd but shows off his incredible fingers.
Here is his preliminary round performance from the Chopin Competition, which will take place in October.
I don't want to dwell on his wunderkind performances too much, but this video of him doing the Saint Saens Concerto in Venezuela when he was 12 really stands out.
http://www.classical-scene.com/2015/07/ ... ky-silver/
George Li Takes Tchaikovsky Silver
by Michael Rocha
Nineteen-year-old pianist George Li, who hails from Lexington, has been awarded the silver medal in the XVth International Tchaikovsky Competition. Dmitry Masleev, 27, from Russia, took gold.
Held quadrennially in Moscow and St. Petersburg, the Tchaikovsky Competition (aka the 'musical Olympics') features four flavors of musician: pianist, violinist, cellist, and vocalist. The goal of the Competition is to discover and showcase young talent; competitors range in age from 16 to 32. It was in the inaugural Competition, debuted during the height of the Cold War back in 1958, that American pianist Van Cliburn vaulted onto the international stage by overcoming a frigid Soviet judging environment and capturing first prize. (The eight-minute ovation following his final performance no doubt didn't hurt.) No American has captured the gold since. This year's competition, commemorating the 175th anniversary of its eponymous composer's birth, attracted a total of 623 applicants from 45 countries.
Over the past three weeks, an international array of staggeringly talented pianists has been competing through a grueling gauntlet of ever more challenging rounds. For the audition phase, 55 were invited to perform a 20-minute solo recital. The jury of 12 (including five Russians) scrutinized a 40-50 minute recital from each of the 36 Round I survivors. In Round II, 12 semifinalists performed completely different 50-60 minute solo recitals, as well as a Mozart concerto. The six selected as finalists, including four Russians, a Frenchman, and an American, were then required to perform not one but two concertos, in back-to-back fashion, including, not surprisingly, one of Tchaikovsky's two completed works for the genre. Quite the musical marathon, for both musicians and jurors alike! All of this was broadcast live online via a high-quality production provided by medici.tv, featuring a variety of well-timed camera angles and surprisingly clear audio.
Li, who studies under Wha Kyung Byun and Russell Sherman in the prestigious Harvard-New England Conservatory joint degree program, has been playing the piano since the age of four and performing with orchestras since age nine. He has collaborated with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Boston Philharmonic, the Norrkoping Orchestra of Sweden, and the Simon Bolivar Youth Symphony of Venezuela, to name a few, as his nascent concert career has already taken him around the globe. He was the winner of the 2014 Concours International Grand Prix Animato in Paris, third-prize winner in the 2015 U.S. Chopin Competition, winner of the 2012 Gilmore Young Artist Award (its youngest recipient), winner of the inaugural Cooper Competition at the age of 14 (including a full four-year scholarship to Oberlin Conservatory), and first-prize winner in the Young Concert Artists International audition in 2010. He is currently a Gilmore Young Artist and is on the roster of the Young Concert Artists. In 2011, at the age of 15, George performed at the White House at a State dinner for President Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Given his impressive musical résumé, it was no surprise that George's lifelong pianistic odyssey left him more than ready for the daunting challenge that is the International Tchaikovsky Competition. This reviewer took in his Round I, semifinals, and finals performances via live stream from the ornate, composer portrait-festooned venue of Moscow State Conservatory's Great Hall. George demonstrated music-making of the highest caliber throughout the three weeks of competition. In addition to jaw-dropping virtuosity, prodigious feats of memory, and consistent performance under intense scrutiny and pressure, George's transcendent interpretations ranged from powerful to poetic, tender to volcanic. His depth of musicality was particularly apparent during his renditions of the three concerti. The intimacy of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major, K. 488 allowed his lyricism to shine through; in Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 23, his creativity, power, and artistic flair came to the fore. For the final work of the competition, George gave a boisterous, exhilarating reading of Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, Op. 26. Quiet and self-effacing in person, this is a musician who is completely in his element onstage. His dynamic, continual interactions with conductor, orchestra members, and audience give an immediacy and connectedness to his playing. His focus, reverie, and exuberance are a true joy to behold, as corroborated by the thunderous ovation that rained down upon George Li from the largely Russian audience, including that ultimate Slavic compliment: unison applause.
What's next for Li? In addition to concertizing in France over the summer, George will be preparing for the 17th International Chopin Competition, a three-tiered event held once every five years in Warsaw. After qualifying in April, George returns for the competitive rounds which begin on October 3rd and continue through the 16th. Go, George!


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The RSpec Book: Behaviour-Driven Development with RSpec, Cucumber, and Friends
by David Chelimsky, Dave Astels, Zach Dennis, Aslak Hellesoy, Bryan Helmkamp, and Dan North
Behaviour-Driven Development (BDD) gives you the best of Test Driven Development, Domain Driven Design, and Acceptance Test Driven Planning techniques, so you can create better software with self-documenting, executable tests that bring users and developers together with a common language. Whether you're developing applications, frameworks, or the libraries that power them, this book promises to help you write better code, better tests, and deliver better software.
Embedded Linux Primer: A Practical Real-World Approach, Second Edition
by Chris Hallinan
This book is a definitive guide to building efficient, high-value, embedded systems with Linux. It has now been thoroughly updated for the newest Linux kernels, capabilities, tools, and hardware support. This edition also adds entirely new chapters on UDEV, USB, and open source build systems.
Murach's PHP and MySQL
by Joel Murach and Ray Harris
Anytime you're on the web, you're going to be landing on PHP pages. By most counts, over a million web sites have been written in PHP, including some of today's largest, most recognizable sites. And those sites often use MySQL as the database. This book covers the skills you need to develop almost any type of database-driven web site with PHP and MySQL.


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copyright © 2020 Tourism Canberra. All rights reserved.


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Baltimore City schools one step closer to funding
Maryland Stadium Authority to oversee financing
Baltimore City appears to be a step closer to clearing up a backlog of building projects because of a school construction bill, which has been making its way through the General Assembly.
A deal is close to being reached.
"I think we are making very good progress," said Delegate Keith Haynes, D-Baltimore City.
The Baltimore City School Construction bill is staying alive because of compromise.
"Down here in the legislature, it's all about compromise. It's all about working together and trying to get what the main goal was and that is renovate and build new schools in the city of Baltimore," said Delegate Keiffer Mitchell, D-Baltimore.
The school system is on track to get some of what it asked for -- not the $32 million-a-year block grant, but enough money to start building more than a dozen new schools.
"There will probably be a year of planning time to gear up for it, but make no mistake, this is an aggressive plan. We want to get started immediately. We are looking at between four to five years -- six years max -- of building between 15 brand new schools and renovating approximately 45 to 50 schools," Haynes said.
The whole deal appeared to hinge on adding a third party, the Maryland Stadium Authority, which has a building track record with major projects like Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium.
"I think the legislation is going to pass. I think it's well thought out right now. I think using the Stadium Authority, which is a revenue authority in general, for the funding source and carving out the $20 million a year from the lottery as a steady stream of revenue," Speaker of the House Michael Busch said.
And that's apparently why the city school construction bill continues to pick up support.
"I think the critical issue has got to be the oversight and making sure there is accountability and I also have concerns about the concept of closing certain schools that are the hubs of community," said Delegate Jill Carter, D-Baltimore City.
Aides to Busch, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller and Gov. Martin O'Malley have been working on the plan.
Asked about the plan Tuesday, Miller said, "We've passed third base. We're heading for home."


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Controversial Russian music site AllofMP3.com has suffered more unexplained downtime.
Back in May the site all but disappeared for three days, leading to fears it had been crushed by Russian authorities stung into action by the US. A group of US senators asked George Bush to block Russian entry to the World Trade Organisation unless he took a firmer line on intellectual property.
AllofMP3 has been down for just under 11 hours today. It was down for three hours and 22 minutes yesterday. So far this month, it's been out of action for a total of one day, seven hours and 29 minutes.
Its sister site alltunes.com has suffered the same outage time.
Peter Alguacil, from monitoring company Ipwalk, said: "It's weird to have so much downtime during the day - last time it happened as they launched the new service. Maybe all the publicity has brought them a lot of visitors."
More details on the downtime are available from Ipwalk here and here.
The BPI has threatened to sue the site in the UK courts - although what impact this would have on a Russian company is unclear.
For its part, AllofMP3 insists it is entirely legal within Russian law and makes regular royalty payments. ®
Bootnote: Last time the Reg wrote a story about the site's absence from the world wide web, it reappeared within minutes...


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This ever-elusive work-life balance thing we're all so fond of talking about? Well, what if the cold, hard truth is that there's just no such thing?
I know, I know. Telling a woman who works and also has a life that there's no such thing as work/life balance is pretty much on par with telling a little kid who's foregone all manner of enjoyable mischief in the hopes of quality returns come Christmas morning that there's no such thing as Santa Claus. Yet that's just what author Fawn Germer suggests in a recent Huffington Post piece. And she might be onto something.
In "Work-Life Balance? The Mantra That Balances What Matters," she tells us of her own experience:
Years ago, when I was still married and working as a newspaper reporter, I was drowning in an investigative project that stretched for ten brutal months. It was the most challenging and important work I'd ever done, but as that series became more consuming, I kept moving the mail and my junk to the guest bedroom where it amassed itself into a giant pile of unresolved clutter. One evening, friends gathered at our home before we all went out to dinner. Imagine my horror when my then-husband opened the door to the guest bedroom and said, "Look at this!" before exposing my secret mess.
Been there? Yeah, me too. Gerner continues:
In the midst of some of my greatest accomplishments as a journalist, I was exposed for the one failing that trumped everything. I'd failed in my traditional role as wife. I don't think it was his intent to land that kind of blow on me, but I felt that, if I wasn't a good housekeeper, I was not worthy. I was humiliated and I was crushed.
That, though, that one hits pretty close to home. The guilt she alludes to, the being judged, the need for approval, but even more: that "failure" on one scale can trump all our other successes. It's a familiar feeling. And it makes me think. Is it a uniquely woman kind of a thing? How many men do you know who consider their successes at work irrelevant, or even slightly diminished, because they don't vacuum as much as they should? Why are we so hard on ourselves?
I'll get to that in a second. But first, back to Germer. She suggests that, ultimately, in our search for balance, what we find instead are choices.
Of course, if you come by my house today, you will see that my office doesn't look much better than the guest room did on that particular occasion. I've grown into my identity and balanced myself out by making decisions that let me define success and failure, rather than tradition or guilt. That is how you achieve life balance. You do it consciously and on your own terms.
Though it seems so much easier said than done, I can see what she's saying. And I think perhaps there's a gem in her logic, a gem that should, in theory, help make our decisions easier: Do what you like; skip what you don't. (For me, that means read, write, run, cook; as for making the bed and blow-drying my hair? Never, ever again.) All we need is to take an honest look at our lives, what we enjoy spending our time on and what we don't; from that, we should be able to glean a little wisdom as to what really is most important to us. And then, we can use that to help us prioritize, to make our choices a little easier.
It's a sweet idea in theory. But, it seems that, for women, often it just is not that simple. Suddenly opting to drop the balls that don't matter as much to us as the others? That's contrary to all the messaging we've heard for years: have it all, do it all. Be all things to all people. Friend, employee, wife, mother, daughter, office mom, domestic goddess, sexual superhero, kitchen queen, triathlete who can speak intelligently on any number of important subjects and tackle the Sunday NYT crossword puzzle in pen. On some level, we want to, we feel like we should be able to be superwoman, even while we call out that unholy icon as bullshit.
And so we keep those balls in the air. And we watch our sisters, with all their balls in the air, and think to ourselves: Well, if she can do it, I should be able to do it, too. What's the matter with me? Rather than: I bet she's as overwhelmed as I am. Why are we doing this to ourselves again?
(Not to mention the sad, not insignificant fact that if we were to blow off all the stuff we're not so fond of doing, there is no bed-making, laundry-folding, hair-drying fairy waiting to swoop in and pick up our slack.)
But maybe, if we could decide to throw caution to the wind and let a few of those balls drop, maybe we'd find ourselves a little happier, our sisters a little less stressed out by the juggling act they're trying to pull off, our lives perhaps a little less balanced, but tilted more in our favor?
Is such an idea way too good to be true?
I don't know. But I'm going to mull it over in a minute. Just as soon as I make the bed.