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After leading the field of 33 divers in the preliminary round with a score of 423.15, McCrory totaled 397.65 points in the event final to finish the afternoon with a combined score of 820.80 and wrap up one of five qualifying spots for the Men's NCAA Championships. His highest-scoring dive of the day came in the fourth round of the final, when he earned a score of 81.00 from the judges on a back 2 ½ somersault in the tuck position.
Senior Jordan Long turned in a ninth-place finish in the men's 1-meter final for his highest career finish at the Zone Championships meet. Long totaled 610.35 points over two rounds of diving, scoring 314.1 points in the event final. He concluded the afternoon with an inward 2 ½ somersault in the tuck position which received a score of 65.10.
Also advancing to the men's 1-meter final were freshman Deon Reid and sophomore Clay Pinckney, who came in 11th and 17th, respectively. Reid registered a personal-best score of 309.15 in the event finals to finish the afternoon with a total score of 604.00, while Pinckney garnered 277.30 points in the preliminaries and a score of 266.8 in the final to total 544.10 points.
In the preliminaries of the women's 3-meter springboard competition, freshman Kendall McClenney posted a season-best mark of 270.05 to finish 20th and classmate Jaimee Gundry totaled 227.00 points to come in 33rd.
The NCAA Zone B Diving Championships continue Tuesday with the preliminaries and finals of the women's 1-meter and men's 3-meter events, beginning at 11 a.m. Live results and live video will be available throughout the day.


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text:
Today's Blind Items - Stage Mom From Hell
The mom of this almost A list mostly movie actress who is one good role from being A+ has taken the mantle away from Katherine Heigl's mom as the most difficult mom in Hollywood. If you want her daughter to look at a product or pose with a product the mom will want at least $10,000 before she will even look at a product. Many times the mom has said she kind of likes something but needs even more money. One company said they paid the mom $100K and the daughter never even knew the mom tried out the product. Apparently the mom has a bit of a drug and gambling addiction and she is making almost $1M a year just by promising access to her daughter which she never delivers.
The mom asks for nicer hotel rooms than the studios give her daughter. She has forced her daughter into tiny rooms while she takes suites for herself. Room service bills are never less than $1000 per night and if there is a spa often exceed $2500 a night which she bills either to the company paying for the rooms or to her daughter. She never lets her daughter travel alone or even go to parties alone for fear that she will find someone else and mom will be kicked to the curb and forced to actually work for a living.


text:
Customer nex+Gen Academy High School
The students at nex+Gen Academy High School can be sure they're not getting
the same education their parents—or even their older siblings—got. This
magnet high school, part of the Albuquerque public school system, is
committed to offering the next generation in learning. Students have access
all through the day to laptop computers and the very latest in technology,
and learning is organized around projects taken on by a small group of
Location Albuquerque, New Mexico
Number of people served 400 students
izzy+ Sales Rep Jeff Riley, Source Four, Denver, CO
Dealer/designer Jennifer Jones, Contract Associates of New Mexico
If you hear "public high school" and are picturing a typical school
setting, it's time for a paradigm shift.
"This is a completely different way to go about creating a learning
environment," said Jennifer Jones, an interior designer with izzy+ dealer
Contract Associates. "The client went to see other schools around the
country that are set up like this, but this is the first school of its kind
that was built from the ground up, so it's really special."
The clients' objectives, Jones said, were centered around a unique group
learning model—large, open classrooms (what they call "Learning Studios)
with two teachers and 60 students working together on project-based topics
in groups of four or six.
"They needed the classrooms to be very versatile, flexible and mobile,
because there's lots of moving students and furniture around during the
day," Jones said.
Jeff Riley, the region's izzy+ representative, said schools everywhere are
trying to move in a similar direction, even if they can't start from
scratch with a new building.
"The message we hear everywhere we go is that schools are broken and need
to be fixed—they need to change how they're doing things," said Riley. "The
furniture is a part of that shift."
The entire installation was built around the functionality of Jack tables
by izzy, Jones said. Because they're on casters, Jack tables can easily be
pushed together for larger groups or rolled to the side, providing the
level of versatility the school needed. The Jack tabletops also flip, a
feature that is typically chosen for its space-saving storage capacity, but
at nex+ Generation serve double duty as project boards. Students sit around
them and brainstorm with Post-it notes, sharing and organizing their ideas.
For seating, Jones specified Hannah chairs, also on casters. Dewey
Bookcases hold in-class libraries for the students, who aren't issued their
own textbooks but instead use laptops and classroom books. The project was
rounded out with Dewey Lecterns, Audrey storage, and custom Dewey pentagon
table shapes that are super-mobile and flexible, thanks to casters and flip-
top mechanisms.
"The custom table shape just gave us a really nice, different look, and
allows them to bring two tables together into one big hexagon shape if they
want, for larger groups," said Jones.
The commons areas, equipped with Clara diamond tables and orange Hannah
chairs, inspire students to relax, study and talk, as do the abundance of
Dewey benches in the hallways and other open spaces. In the science lab,
Jones specified epoxy-topped tables surrounded by Hannah stools on a five-
star base, for a look she calls "sleek and science-y." For the teachers'
lounge, Jones created a space that is both comfortable and
functional—Audrey Storage with Two-Sided Collaboration tops and HAG Wing
stools allow teachers to organize, work and meet.
"We just wanted a very clean look to go with the building design," Jones
said. "Everything is gray, black and white, with touches of orange—the
finishes we chose could be used in a seamless way on every piece, no matter
what izzy+ brand it was. In general, this whole design is a pretty big
departure from most high schools around here, which have smaller classrooms
filled with desks with attached chairs."
"This install is a good example of not having to break the budget in order
to do something creative and really functional," added Riley. "It looks
great and does what the client needed it to do. When a school has an
opportunity to move away from a cookie cutter approach and do something
really different, like nex+Gen did, the outcome is impressive."


text: Dead Rising 2 is out. Who's playing it and on what platform? PC players: how are you finding the port? How about that Borderlands DLC with the funny talkin' robot and his revolution? Impressions? Gaming News o'the Day GOG adds Planescape Torment. Child of Eden hands-on preview. Eight PS3 games get cheaper. Zombies all but confirmed for Call of Duty: Black Ops. Links from Morning Discussion Photoshop threads are becoming more common on The Shack. I like it. People are making computers in Minecraft now..


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Hi Debi. Welcome! I'm a moderator here at Work it, Mom! Just stopped by to say we're glad you're here. :) Hope you enjoy the site. Have a great day!
PS - don't forget to check out our thought-provoking (and often funny) blogs.
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Sunday, July 20, 2008
Delays At Gateway Make It A Long Night For Punch
ESPN closed the Infield Pit Center for the weekend and sent Allen Bestwick and Brad Daugherty off on vacation. All Jerry Punch and the ESPN crew at Gateway would have to do is host one little Nationwide Series race without them. What a task that turned-out to be.
It was Dave Burns expanding his pit reporter duties and stepping-in as the semi-host of the pre-race show. Burns has come a long way in his TV career and has recently started doing feature reports for ESPN2's NASCAR Now. This was another new assignment that he handled quite well. Burns directed traffic early-on before handing-off to Punch in the broadcast booth.
The "big boys" were on hand for the network as both Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree were well-rested and ready to make the long run to the end of the season in November. Petree comes alive when he is with Jarrett and the duo was informative and confident in their comments and analysis throughout the race.
Jerry Punch is working hard to figure-out how to add excitement to a telecast that sometimes may not be exciting. Punch is very loud on the ESPN network promos and he enjoys introducing pre-recorded features. Going to commercial break is apparently very exciting and his volume rises quickly.
What really has not changed is his confusion when something happens on the racetrack. Several big accidents, including one that caused an extended red flag elicited nothing more than partial phrases and terms like "oh" and "ah" to sum-up the action. Jarrett and Petree are quick to jump-in and help, but the damage is done.
When Punch gets nervous or put on-the-spot, catch phrases like "young man" and "sails it into the corner" come out over-and-over again. Carl Edwards once again became a "young man" as he crossed the finish line to win at Gateway. Punch was like a starting pitcher in the ninth inning, out of gas and in need of some relief.
Standing in front of Punch are seventeen of the highest-profile Sprint Cup races of the season. That load is going to be heaped upon his existing Nationwide Series commitment for the rest of the year. ESPN is also adding practice and qualifying sessions for both series, as well as making Punch appear on the weekend editions of NASCAR Now. Talk about needing a relief pitcher.
ESPN was admittedly short-staffed at Gateway. Jamie Little and Tim Brewer were also on vacation. Little was missed as the three pit reporters scurried about to fill time during the extended red flag. Brewer's fill-in DJ Copp did a good job, but was not used as much as he could have been in the red flag and caution periods.
There is no doubt that the ESPN crew is going to walk away from Gateway needing a hot shower and a good night's sleep. They only have a couple of days to relax before coverage from The Brickyard begins next Friday. After that day, there will be little rest until Homestead in November. Seventeen straight weeks on the road will put anyone to the test.
The Daly Planet welcomes comments from readers. Simply click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the easy instructions. The rules for posting are located on the right side of the main page. Thanks again for taking the time to stop by.
35 comments:
- SallyB said...
They weren't the only ones that ran out of steam. I nodded off before then end of the race. Starting a race at 9:30 EDT makes it very difficult to survive to the checkered flag is you're not on the west coast. Yes, AB would be a better choice for the booth, but I have so much respect for Dr. Punch that I guess I can live with his stumbles. DJ and Andy Petree are great. Overall, I prefer the 'low key' approach that TNT and ESPN use, rather than the overly excited (usually over nothing) hard sell tactics of Fox.
- July 20, 2008 at 6:45 AM
- Vicky D said...
Well last year during the dual broadcasts JP sounded really tired I'm sure it'll be the same this year. Can't ESPN & Nascar have Nationwide Series only tv crews? It would help with the identity of this series, I think.
- July 20, 2008 at 8:47 AM
- Anonymous said...
Punch is clearly not the right man for the job, but ESPN doesn't seem to understand this.
The problem with relying on people's "respect" for Punch is that, if he keeps performing like this, eventually, the audience will lose that respect.
- July 20, 2008 at 8:49 AM
- Anonymous said...
- This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
- July 20, 2008 at 12:00 PM
- Lisa Hogan said...
Well said, JD.
I think that the majority of fans like Jerry Punch. It has been said since day one that he is just in the wrong job.
Put Bestwick in the play-by-play position and put Punch in the infield studio.
The situation now is just painful for this viewer. It is only going to get worse. Leaving Punch in that position is no longer a case of the people in charge being unaware, it has become cruel.
- July 20, 2008 at 12:22 PM
- Anonymous said...
Diane said....
Bring back TNT! Yikes! It is so painful listening to Dr. P. Was it Jason Leffler or Mike Bliss in the 11 car. Oh..that's right it was Jason Keller! My husband and had running joke about it every time we saw the 11.
As much as I love DJ...he needs to slow down a bit. But rather too fast than too slow. Like Andy P. I think DJ & AP struggle a bit propping up Dr. P. DJC has a future in TV when he stops crewing. I love everything he does.
I am hopin ESPN does what it did last year and sends out survey after the last race about the different announcers. Wish it was sooner.
- July 20, 2008 at 1:13 PM
- Anonymous said...
Hey JD - just curious....since you had such a love affair with TNT and blew the trumpet of how they were setting NASCAR Broadcasting on its ear with the greatest things since slice bread.....
.....and since your continued dislike for anything FOX......
.....explain to the 15 readers how come Chicago was the lowest rated NASCAR broadcast of the year. For that matter.....other then one spike....on one race....TNT's rating really sucked..
FOX ratings were up....which I know just had to kill you.....
So how do you explain the TNT Titanic?
Again, just curious....
- July 20, 2008 at 3:21 PM
- Anonymous said...
It's pretty simple Anon at 3:21pm...TNT put on a much higher quality broadcast in its' 6-week stint than Fox did or ESPN will probably do. They had much better camera work/direction, tried one race without commercials, had high quality analysis between Dallenbach/Petty, and provided an online resource that allowed us to see the entire race from a variety of angles that we could not see unless we were actually at the race.
They were not perfect, and there were things that we could be critical about (Larry Mac's magic trick, little post race coverage, overpromotion of "Coke Zero" to name a few), but the good definitely outweighed the bad.
Fox gave us Digger and his cam, refused to show the cars cross the finish line and had DW going on-and-on about Kyle Busch. ESPN, though they deserve a fair chance, has yet to show that they can get away from last year's debacle...and it hasn't had a good lead-in with Jerry Punch struggling in an all-important role as play-by-play announcer.
- July 20, 2008 at 3:42 PM
- Daly Planet Editor said...
Yea, what he/she said!
- July 20, 2008 at 3:46 PM
- Anonymous said...
Anon 3:31 is right: It is true that TNT's ratings for the Chicagoland race were downright awful. A 23 percent drop from the same race last year and those ratings were a big decrease from previous years!
I don't care if it was Saturday night vs. Sunday afternoon, the ratings shouldn't have decreased that much. The Daytona night race did just fine (even with last year's ratings). Maybe Larry's magic trick had more effect than we thought in viewers turning off their sets - for good.
I think we're going to see what we saw last year: FOX races have OK ratings (they had a slight increase this year), then the TNT and ESPN portions of the Cup schedule decline in ratings or remain flat. IMO there is no reason the Brickyard should be on ESPN next Sunday - it should be on ABC.
For whatever reason - maybe because it's a channel that's easy to get to or remember - more people prefer to watch races on FOX than TNT or ESPN.
- July 20, 2008 at 4:08 PM
- Badboy said...
Sorry, but for my money, the Fox coverage is the BEST, hands down - the combination of entertainment and information is absolutely the best among all the networks, it's just plain fun.....
- July 20, 2008 at 4:22 PM
- Newracefan said...
I just watched the NW race today and it wasn't too bad but then I was DVRing thru commercials and already knew the outcome. DJ and AP are what kept the race together for me, I didn't see JP as a pit reporter but I respect what others say about his abilities in that role and saw some of the rain delay coverage a few weeks back so I know he can do some things well. PBP is not one of them. I do not think ESPN will switch AB and JP no matter how much we complain, at least not this year. I may continue to watch the races this way for NW. Won't work for Cup because I NEED to listen to my drivers scanner so I watch it live. To the poster who said Fox is better than TNT, I agree about Mike Joy and Larry Mac in the booth, I like DW too but sometimes he does go over the top but what makes TNT better is their camera work (and by this I mean the director). Wider angles and we see the racing and the finish. Rating were definately related to Sat night in the summer VS Sun. I only saw half the race myself and I would have been able to watch all if it was Sun.
- July 20, 2008 at 5:23 PM
- Anonymous said...
I have to agree that DW on FOX goes over the top with Kyle Busch, but when you are winning the races on almost a weekly basis between the top 3 series in the sport - that is the driver they are going to talk about. You have earned the right to be talked about when you are winning as much as he is (and that is coming from a Harvick fan that isn't much of a Busch fan period). That is just the way it is. I agree that TNT has a little bit better camera work than FOX does, but FOX still gives us the best coverage in my opinion. When it comes to JP and his tired attitude, I had to give up by lap 21 last night ... it was making me more tired to listen to him since he was so tired.
- July 20, 2008 at 5:41 PM
- Deven said...
I personally really like Mart Reid, from the IRL. Every time he does a Nationwide race, I really enjoy it. He is one of the best lead commentators that many have never heard. I also enjoyed the Weber and Dallenbach duo for the Le Mans race on NBC today. I thought they continued the excellent relationship they have in the Sprint Cup booth.
- July 20, 2008 at 5:54 PM
- Diane Mc said...
I absolutely agree with anon 3:42. You got it exactly right. TNT gives us the best race coverage by a mile. When Fox is doing the coverage, I can only listen to the clowns for about an hour. Then I have to turn on the radio to hear the rest of the race. And ESPN with JP isn't much better. Wish they would let Jerry do the NNS races and put Bestwick in the booth for Cup. Allen, Wally & Kyle would be a joy to listen to.
- July 20, 2008 at 6:11 PM
- Adam T. Martin said...
Dr. Punch must be trying his heart out with this announcing but he is simply in the wrong position.
Put Allen Bestwick or Bob Jenkins as play by play and put the good Dr. Punch in the pits.
- July 20, 2008 at 6:28 PM
- Delenn said...
JD, have you specifically asked those in charge of ESPN about switching JP and AB? I would love to know what reason they give for not doing so.
- July 20, 2008 at 6:58 PM
- Daly Planet Editor said...
The topic is not on the agenda for ESPN. The way they have approached problems on-the-air in the past is by not admitting anything is wrong during the season and then changing exactly what was pointed-out during the off-season.
Jerry is going to get his second season of Sprint Cup races, but if he gets lost at Indy like he did last year it is going to be a long seventeen races for ESPN.
No other network puts one play-by-play announcer on the practices, qualifying and races of both the Nationwide and Cup Series.
We saw Steve Byrnes trade-off with Mike Joy and Bill Weber during the first part of the season on Fox and TNT.
ESPN is a closed society and will not share announcers with others. Marty Reid is the only sub as Allen Bestwick is fulltime in the Infield for both the NNS and Cup.
As you may know, Reid is the IRL announcer and the NHRA guys are still sore he left them and they got Paul Page.
Lurking in the shadows is Bob Jenkins, who currently voices the IRL support series for ESPN2 and has been doing a great job.
I hope Jerry does well and it works out, but this is going to be his last shot at it IMHO.
- July 20, 2008 at 7:07 PM
- alex said...
Is it possible that JP has a clause in his contract that says he will be PBP announcer and cannot be removed from that position?
I can't imagine that ESPN is blind to these obvious issues.
- July 20, 2008 at 8:06 PM
- Daly Planet Editor said...
Its a lot different at the top level. You just do not switch someone in the middle of the season. There are tons of marketing materials, promotional items and other things from pictures to Internet pages that have already been designed for this team.
The schedules were set before the season and everyone knows what they are supposed to do. It will be the Punch, Jarrett and Petree team this season riding-out the season.
- July 20, 2008 at 8:13 PM
- bevo said...
Bob Jenkins is also doing IRL races on radio.
- July 20, 2008 at 8:16 PM
- Anonymous said...
When someone mentioned ratings getting worse later in the season, maybe we should also take a look at the quality of product that Nascar is putting out as opposed to laying the blame on any TV station. In all honesty, I hate admitting that I spend 4 hours devoted to a race only to find that I could have skipped the first 3.5 hours and came back to see the green/white checker every time, or to see a car get out front and pull away within seconds because of "clear air" and the problem with restarts and lapped cars getting in the way of cars 2,3,4 and so on.
I also wondered...when are the ratings compiled for a race; at the beginning of a race at 6pm, during the race at 8pm, or at the end of the race at 10pm?
Also, does the fact that FOX is antenna channel (CBS, NBC, ABC, WGN, FOX, etc.) have an effect on ratings as opposed to cable channels like TNT and ESPN?
- July 20, 2008 at 9:20 PM
- Daly Planet Editor said...
Ratings are supposedly taken as the program is in-progress and show either up or down totals as the event goes on.
I have my own opinion about the validity of TV ratings in a multi-tasking environment where PIP and computer activity is never even taken into account.
Ratings are different for broadcast and cable networks because of the size of the universe they serve (another touchy issue) and the way they distribute programming by time.
- July 20, 2008 at 10:03 PM
- Anonymous said...
- This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
- July 20, 2008 at 10:10 PM
- Richard in N.C. said...
I believe deservedly that Weber and declining ratings (viewership) are synonomous. I sure do wish there was a TV place for Eli Gold.
- July 21, 2008 at 12:02 AM
- Anonymous said...
It's too bad this blog wasn't around during the last tv contract when Benny was in the booth with AB & Wally vs Weber & Wally ... As great as Benny was when the races were on ESPN / CBS in the old days, he wasn't the same when they went to TNT & NBC ... Not much different than how people talk about Dr Punch ... I'm not talking ill of the dead, I'm just saying the chemistry was different when he was with AB vs Weber ... And now Weber is much different with Kyle Petty & Wally ...
During the last tv contract, the best broadcasts that NBC/TNT had were the standalone Busch races with Wally in the booth either with AB or Ralph Shaheen ...
I like Dr Punch and I think he's doing a good job ... Why can't the alleged problem be the director / producer & what they're feeding into the ears of the people in the booth & on pit road ?? They can't be completely blameless for any problems ...
JD - Has anyone tried going to the top cop at Disney ... Robert Iger ... to get him to straighten things out with the ABC /ESPN coverage??? Ultimately, it's his job to answer to any & all problems that surround the company that he's the CEO of ...
I've basically given up complaining about the coverage on the tv ... I'm remembering the olden days when we didn't have tv coverage of ALL of the races / practices / qualifying sessions ... and we had to be happy with what Jim McKay would bring us on the "Wide World of Sports" ...
Just out of curiosity ... Were people complaining because Fox decided to air the German Grand Prix yesterday on a tape delay??
- July 21, 2008 at 9:04 AM
- Daly Planet Editor said...
Anon 9:04AM,
I could not disagree with you more about BP. Dallenbach has zero credibility in the NASCAR garage and this season even less. While he is a pleasant and fun on-air commentator, it was only Kyle that saved that crew from disaster.
The PXP guy does not get info fed to him during the race, he calls the action on the track. What he gets is info on where the TV coverage is going to go.
For example, to a replay, to commercial, to the infield, to a pit reporter. It is up to the PXP announcer to think of the words to describe the event to millions of fans, that is why the position is so tough.
Mr. Iger has nothing to do with this coverage. Rich Feinberg has been working hard as the VP of Motorsports to straighten things out, and this has been a very good year for ESPN on many fronts.
Fox delayed the German Grand Prix because broadcast television is limited to the dayparts where they can show live sporting events and expect station clearance.
If you would like to voice your displeasure, go to SPEEDtv.com and click on the "boards" button at the top.
- July 21, 2008 at 9:43 AM
- chase said...
Hi John! Dr. Punch has got to go - it's high time. Andy and DJ are stellar and all they need would be AB to stick it to the other networks -- maybe the idea posted above about getting Robert Iger to look at this seriously might be just what 'the doctor ordered'. Jerry P. was great but his 'tiredness' comes through each of his broadcasts and frankly, I don't know how he's going to make it til the end of this season. ESPN has got to make a change and now before it all goes to pieces -- thankfully, Andy and DJ will save it for ESPN but a big change has got to be made. DJ Copp was great but as you said, his on-air time should have been greater. He's interesting, his content was very interesting and his excitement and dedication palpable. Thanks John! Let's hope something happens and soon!
- July 21, 2008 at 10:05 AM
- Brian said...
I have nothing wrong with Dr. Punch, and I hope he stays with this stuff, but the PBP position definitely isn't the place to be for him... much like you all have said.
I know I couldn't stand watching races this year if they left things the same with Punch and Rusty in the booth. Now that we have Andy and DJ in the booth, they have clicked very well this whole year, and no doubt are the ones that save the broadcasts all the time... similar to how Kyle Petty has saved TNT many times.
Other than Punch in the wrong spot, ESPN does have a lot of positive things going for them. Their production team has been commendable all year, and I'm sure they'll continue to be.
We've been saying it for two years already, swap AB and JP. So far we haven't seen much to make that a reality.
AB has been long deserving to get back in that role, man... listening to AB with Andy and DJ would be something really neat to listen to. If only it could happen.
Also... with Marty Reid, I really enjoy listening to him. He does an excellent job every race he's done with the Nationwide stuff, and he's excellent with the Indycar Series. He just has a way of going about things, and he does an incredible job. If we had "two" broadcast teams, obviously AB for the PBP position in Cup would be awesome, then Marty the PBP position for Nationwide.
Sadly, none of these things will probably happen. I don't think AB will get the chance because he seems to get screwed over all the time. Marty Reid, because he has other commitments on ESPN, but he is definitely a commendable person.
- July 21, 2008 at 12:39 PM
- Lou, from NY said...
Sometimes I think this will be an ongoing story each and every week. I agree that there may not be any changes til next season.
- July 21, 2008 at 3:24 PM
- Anonymous said...
Boo hiss to ESPN for not using DJ Copp more during the broadcast!
Dr. Punch seems like a nice guy, but puts me to sleep. I had to watch the last hour of the race the following day.
- July 21, 2008 at 4:26 PM
- Anonymous said...
For example, to a replay, to commercial, to the infield, to a pit reporter. It is up to the PXP announcer to think of the words to describe the event to millions of fans, that is why the position is so tough.
Agreed...which is why I love Allen and Mike :). They could be describing watching paint dry and make it fun and interesting with their "radio" touch :).
- July 21, 2008 at 7:42 PM
- Ken-Michigan said...
As much as I'd like to give compliments on the recent ESPN telecasts of NASCAR, I find it hard to do...so I wont gripe, just to gripe. I've given my comments on the the current ESPN play by play guy in the past.
People want to compare some of the TV play by play people, and I have come up with a rather easy explanation.
Mike Joy = Play by Play
Allen Bestwick = Play by Play
Paul Page = Play by Play
Jerry Punch = Emergency Room Doctor
Someone please send a nurse to Bristol, CT.
- July 21, 2008 at 9:12 PM
- Anonymous said...
ESPN has one of the best .... Allen Bestwick ....
They need to put him back in the booth where he belongs.
- July 22, 2008 at 12:58 PM
- Anonymous said...
Please, someone remember Ricky Craven. He can explain and talk intelligently with out jumping up and down.
- July 22, 2008 at 1:49 PM


text:
An unfortunate new anti-privacy trend has emerged where some employers – including government agencies, colleges and K-12 schools – have begun to ask applicants and students to provide their Facebook login information.
While the interest by schools, government agencies and employers is understandable, it is unacceptable. It is a gross infringement on your or your child's privacy. It is certainly against the terms of use of Facebook. And it may be illegal.
Facebook's terms of use require that "You will not solicit login information or access an account belonging to someone else." Presumably this means that anyone who asks an applicant or student for login information should be reported and kicked off the service.
More severe, however, is the invasion of privacy resulting in deliberate and very specific trampling of your civil liberties.
It was through hard-fought battles in the 20th century that we gained a number of civil rights designed to protect every citizen from discrimination based on gender, religion, race, color, national origin, age, marital or family status, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, political affiliation, financial status and more. These prejudices have not vanished.
When organizations, companies, government agencies, colleges and K-12 schools request access to Facebook accounts to look for reasons not to hire or accept an applicant, it is easy to discover information that is illegal to inquire about. Similarly, when schools want to identify which students were involved in an incident, demanding their Facebook passwords is akin to trampling their right to be protected from self-incrimination.
The answer, of course, depends on the information you have online. However, to give some insight into the way recruiters think about content they find online, look at the data uncovered by Microsoft through research on the expanding role of online reputation in January 2010. One aspect of the research looked specifically at how recruiters and HR professionals use online information in their candidate screening process. Fully 70% of recruiters in the United States said they had rejected candidates based on data they found online – and that was before they had full access to private Facebook accounts.
Being asked by a would-be employer for your Facebook account information presents a very difficult dilemma. Saying no to a would-be employer may cost you the job, yet saying yes to the would-be employer may also cost you the job.
This leaves you with a few options:


text:
The "rest of the story" no ones reporting.
The "rest of the story" no ones reporting.
"When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty." Thomas Jefferson
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what they don't tell is that Switzerland has possibly the craziest and most strict gun laws, despite huge gun ownership. gun ownership is by permit. conceal and carry is done on a specific needs basis (ie, you must pose evidence of a specific threat to justify it.) ammunition must be kept track of and counted by authorities to insure it was not illegally fired. ammunition is extremely hard and expensive to acquire, and as i said, must be kept track of down to the single bullet.
you should read up on it, contrary to the wet dream of the 2nd amendment fundamentalist, Switzerland is a perfect example of good gun control.
"because every vengeful cop with a lesbian daughter, is having a bad day, and looking for someone to blame"
Yea, I feel like banging my head against the desk every time I hear the switzerland arguement.
I almost feel as if they ban open carry in every state and just allow concealed cary with a permit we'd be better off. Open carry just seems to cause issues between civillans and cops 90% of the time, if someone walks around with a gun strapped to their back it's only a matter of time before the cops are called. I'm 100% for having guns, I have 6 or 7 myself, just think open carry causes more problems than it fixes......and the "because I can" is getting old.
Also, you can't just look at Switzerland's gun control laws and do a "cut and paste" job and expect it to work for the U.S. Take one look at the difference in location, land mass and total population and you'll realize that there would be no feasible way our government would be able to actually enforce the same kind of gun control laws here. And without total enforcement, it doesn't work.
The Swiss model is what mankind might be able to achieve in limited instances of controlled population, with a greatly reduced poverty rate.
Don't give me an apple and then tell me to peel it with my fingers like an orange.
but that is NOT what the "info" graphic implies. it implies merely that Switzerland has low gun violence because it has high ownership, and that is most definitely not the case.
the truth, as always, is much more subtle and nuanced.
I have an great uncle that is Swiss. Just about every male Swiss citizen does military service, and is required, by law, to keep his weapon at home until a certain age, and has to stay proficient with it and be tested every year. The ammunition is kept in containers with anti tamper lids, so every time they go in for their test and target practice, its checked.
This being said, my uncle did in fact work in an office where a guy went nuts and murdered a dozen people or so, and was in the building at the time. He retired after it, and the perp turned out to be schizophrenic. Again, unchecked mental illness the cause of the massacre, not the existence of firearms.
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For some one out side of US I must confess I find your gun laws and the shear obsession with the guns them selves bit bonkers.
The Swiss are a bad for most comparisons. They make a practice of doing their own thing, like international hipsters.
Page 32. This is just one instance that I have heard of where the US helped supply weapons to other nations. This was part of civilians who aided England. In all I have heard the number of firearms that CIVILIANS gave and sold came to 120,000.
Then look at all the weapons and other equipment loaned and given by the governemnt:
According to this article we supplied around 30 countries including RUSSIA:
Last edited by wetwrks; 12-17-2013 at 07:24 PM.
Prior to the Lend-Lease program (and during its early days) there were "gun drives" across the United States held by the NRA and several other organizations where firearms and ammunition could be donated by private citizens to be given to citizens of the UK, where gun ownership was at a low and many "found weapons" such as farm implements like shovels and pitchforks, as well as spears made from umbrellas, broomsticks, kitchen knives, etc were being kept by private citizens for defense. The programs came to be after requests by Winston Churchill himself (he asked for donations in speeches, letters, news publications, etc) and over 50,000 weapons were sent in 1940 alone. Granted the UK could have done a better job of distributing the weapons; often guns were passed out with very little ammunition, or the wrong caliber all together. These weapons were given to people along with the story that they were "donated by cowboys" or "seized by the government from mobsters", and there is documentation to show that this was done both to play on common British stereotypes of the US found in popular culture, as well as to disguise the fact that gun ownership was much more common in the US from embittered citizens who felt unable to protect themselves as a result of government policies on private gun ownership. These were intended just as much for defense purposes as psychological ones; it was believed that people would feel more safe with a firearm in their home. Following the war, most of these weapons were rounded up and destroyed, and very few made it back to the US as promised.
The of course there was the very controversial "Lend-Lease" program itself, which in '41, after months of debate finally resulted in billions of dollars of supplies and equipment being sent to Allied countries in Europe and Asia, much in the form of firearms and ammunition. Russia and the UK armed citizens unable to serve in the military as militias (my god, really?) and volunteer police forces, and the latter even issued weapons to individuals for home defense. Obviously the Lend-Lease program encompassed a lot more than just guns (warplanes and food were the real focus overall) but there can be no question that weapons for non-soldiers or conscripted soldiers were something sorely lacked until donations and later, loans, came in. There are documented instances from early in the war of Russian conscripts fighting with spears and swords as their primary weapons for lack of firearms, and of Polish soldiers firing single rifles in two- and three-man teams to make use of a high ratio of men to weapons. Civilian anti-invasion preparations in the UK which resulted from the program ended up not being needed (beyond their benefits in post-war reconstruction, aid to the wounded, etc) but were of incredible psychological value to a people living in constant (and legitimate) fear.
Lastly there's the famous FP-45 "Liberator", a small stamped metal single-shot pistol designed to be airdropped with a small amount of ammunition over occupied territories for use by guerrillas and resistance fighters. Of the million or so made, only 30,000 or so were ever distributed by the US (mostly over occupied France, Greece and Monaco, where private gun ownership was also very low), but that's quite a large number weapons all things considered. Another half million were lent to the UK to do with as they saw fit. The logic behind these weapons was that they would be a "gun to get a gun", that is to say that it could be used to kill an enemy soldier and take possession of his superior equipment, then given to another fighter to do the same. There was, much like the donation program, a psychological angle as well - it was thought that occupying forces would be frightened by the sheer number of weapons dropped and the prospect that any person might very well be carrying a small, concealable weapon at any time. They were sneered at by US soldiers and US military leaders alike, and as such their effectiveness is often downplayed by US historians, but their are records of heavy and effective use throughout southern Europe.
It should come as no surprise that in Nazi-occupied territories, gun ownership was verboten (pun absolutely intended) and one of the first actions upon seizing a town or city was to use official records (such as firearm registrations and firearm ownership permits) to round up weapons owned by locals. This was done both to disarm potential resistance fighters and to arm conscripted soldiers. I'll leave aside the firearm laws enacted in Germany between 1920 and 1938; both the political right and political left in the US love to bring these up, and neither seems to ever get it right - in truth they have no bearing on what was done in occupied territory during the war. Could higher rates of private gun ownership have destroyed German forces entirely? Probably not. Could they have halted the Nazi advance? Maybe not, but who's to say; it certainly is safe to assume that it would have slowed them down.
As usual, Cockerpunk, you think you know it all, but in this instance (and in most instances in which history is discussed, it seems) you wouldn't know the facts if they bit you on the ass.
I'd ask what history books you're reading, but you tend to make it seem that you haven't any at all.
By the by, private gun ownership DID stop Hitler - he shot himself to death with his own privately owned pistol.
Adimiral Yamamoto himself stated he would not invade the U.S. mainland as there would be a gun behind every blade of grass.
private gun ownership helped kick out the British in The revolutionary war and again in 1812. they were also used by the Rough Riders in the Spanish American war and (God forbid) they will be used again if the politicians every forget the other 14 amendments to the Constitution.
The overall basic point the website is making is factually correct.
Responsibly armed citizens = less crime, less victims of crime.
And as long as law enforcement is aware of the potentially large number of responsibly armed citizens carrying concealed weapons it helps deter them (LEO) from going Nazi too, which I might add is what the second amendment was created for.
Not for hunting but for the people to band together in militias to protect themselves against a potentially totalitarian government like what we are looking at today in this country.
I hope all you bleeding hearts whining about the website dont own any guns so you are good and defenseless.
Good statement Going Home.
Only thing I want to add is how about we enforce laws on the books. And maybe make tougher punishments for some crimes before we worry about adding more laws. How many laws are already broke when a "gun" crime is committed? How many "gun" crimes are committed in areas that are not gun free zones. If a criminal doesn't know who may be packing. He is less likely to cause a major crime.
I recall a recent Media Scandal™ centered around a 2nd Amendment Right advocacy billboard in Colorado featuring a photograph of armed members of the Sioux nation in ceremonial dress, taken at the turn of the 19th century, with a caption that stated "Turn In Your Arms - The Government Will Take Care Of You" - similar to the phrasing of government postings during the Indian Wars. It was criticized by the mainstream media, and writers and reporters rushed out to find members of various nations who would state for the record that they found it offensive, while ignoring those who offered support or were merely unconcerned (except evil Fox news of course, who interviewed a dozen people local members of the Sioux nation who each had different beliefs and opinions).
I have difficulty understanding why the invoking of the Wounded Knee Massacre (or even just the push for Native American Disarmament) by certain groups is termed "offensive" or "exploitative" when it is a very pointed and poignant example of forced disarmament and the ensuing slaughter of unarmed civilians at the hands of a government sanctioned military group gone wild, yet members of other groups can bring up the Holocaust, Vietnam, genocide in Darfur, Armenia, the Balkans, or or even THE SAME DAMN EVENT in reference to a presidential candidate, a hiring policy at a company, an entirely dissimilar war, or something equally unrelated, and get away with it almost completely unscathed.
At that war, statistically, each Finnish soldier was equal to about 10 Russian soldiers.
Btw. As in Switzerland we also have mandatory arms service for every male.
Laku, my Finnish family still has rifles used during the Winter War, they're on the wall at our cottage way up north. Its where they hid all the women and children evacuated from the cities being bombed by the Russians. They are pieces of history, and a reminder of the sacrifices it took for freedom.
My great grandfather, and one of his nephew died on the rooftops of Helsinki manning anti aircraft guns. With your (our?) Independence day only a couple weeks ago, I'd say its a good time to reflect on what guns are, or could be: an equalizer.
Not sure what all of my Uncles did during their service. One of my mom's brothers was an officer, perhaps in the infantry. The other I'm not sure about. My aunt's husband worked with aircraft maintenance and developed gun camera footage. My grandfather's Officer's Cross is one of my most prized family heirlooms.
I have a question.
of all the violent crimes in the USA that are commited with a firearm, how many are properly registered?


text:
News..Exclusives..Relationships..Everything You Need To Know & YES The Word of God
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Bye Bye Lagos! Shan George Relocates to Calabar
61 comments:
Go and never return!!!ReplyDeleteReplies
- Anonymous14 January, 2013 18:11
Lmao!!! Market don finish#gbam#Delete
- Anonymous13 January, 2013 23:34
Lagos men are no longer interested in all the nudity she's displaying. I agree that she should try her luck with her home boys.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous13 January, 2013 23:37
Good for her....ReplyDelete
Lagos don tire madam, she don go back to where she can be the reigning queen/ big fish in a small pond. Ok byeReplyDelete
- me,masef n eyez!13 January, 2013 23:42
Omo this woman don old finish Oº°˚˚°ºReplyDelete
Na true you talk ma sista... Igbo ppl are busy opening markets evrywhr & anywhr, yoruba ppl are busy populating it with amala children and hausa ppl are bringing in more beggers on a daily.ReplyDeleteReplies
- Anonymous14 January, 2013 09:16
You are a nuisance for that statement. Just look at lagos, how peaceful it has been since ur people left. Its ur people that cannot stay in one place that is over populating everywhere. Tell them to go home! Am sure u stay in lagos or u have family in lagos, na molue go kill them! Oloshi! Na only market una no, school una no go. Wiv ur ill gotten wealth. Nothing like honest living in ur dictionary! Oloriburuku! Na sango go kill u! Ladun post my commentDelete
- Anonymous14 January, 2013 10:27
Kill, kill.. That's not cool 4 a lady... Ogaa oh!!!Delete
- Anonymous14 January, 2013 11:30
Hey! Take it easy!! Dont you honestly think these curses are over the top? Some comments are not meant to be replied with such heavy words. Try reading and pass such things. You just played right into the commentator's hands. Easy mehn!! Na wa!Delete
And Ladun, its high tme you improved on this your blog. Its not all comments that are meant to be viewed by all. Such heavy laden comments are not good enough. Your blog is fast turning into a curse zone. Snide remarks, insults yeah, but curses not gud.
Anonymous 09:16.... Back to sender. You just caused your family and you made it obvious how you wanted them dead pretty soon.Delete
By the way who made you the voltron of ur sick yoruba tribe, as myopic as you are you tot I was Igbo even when I dissed igbo ppl... Well, am not Igbo, yoruba or hausa! Roger who I am, Fucktard!
- Anonymous14 January, 2013 01:25
Congrats! I pray S̶̲̥̅̊ђε̲̣̣̣̥ finds her a hubby dere. Btw, calabar Ȋ̊§ really peaceful. I love Ȋ̝̊†̥ there too!ReplyDelete
- Anonymous14 January, 2013 01:33
Don't u dare go near my LIYEL I'm warning u madam shan shan anyway na meetin we go jam to discuss dis mata later toniteReplyDelete
- Anonymous14 January, 2013 06:09
Please dont change the atmosphere when u get to Calabar. MOTHERS PLEASE LET YOUR SONS BE WARNEDReplyDelete
- Anonymous14 January, 2013 06:15
And we r supsd 2 give a fuck bcos??ReplyDelete
Billie jean
- Anonymous14 January, 2013 06:16
yeaaaaaaa, we all know Calabar is more peaceful,have fun and enjoy your stay there,GoodluckReplyDelete
- dr van bay14 January, 2013 06:31
Ladun u fall my blokos! So this one follow for news? For your mind now u dey supply us with latest gist! Abi? Abeg make I go continue my ward round!ReplyDeleteReplies
- Anonymous14 January, 2013 13:12
u are crass.....kaiDelete
- DR VAN BAY14 January, 2013 16:12
ANON 13:12 U are crass too! whatever that means! please what does is mean biko?Delete
- Anonymous14 January, 2013 17:09
Dr van bay, not only are you crass but an ode as well. Chai! A whole doctor does not know what crass means and is proud to declare it. Na wa oDelete
- dr van bay14 January, 2013 21:22
My dear anon am a doctor not an english professor! Now I have googled the meaning, you and ur entire kindred are crass! Shombo olori nla!Delete
- Anonymous15 January, 2013 14:25
SMHWP for two of u.gosh two grown adults behaving like kids,and 1 is supposed to b a doctor.patheticDelete
- Anonymous14 January, 2013 06:45
The next thing that will be on the nnews now is that she is now the commissioner of touristReplyDeleteReplies
- Anonymous14 January, 2013 21:07
Commissioner of tourist? #faints#Delete
- Anonymous14 January, 2013 06:46
- Anonymous14 January, 2013 06:55
I AM ALSO RELOCATINGReplyDelete
- Anonymous14 January, 2013 06:58
Not a fanReplyDelete
- Anonymous14 January, 2013 06:59
She use to be a very good actress way back,i still wonder why she left the industry,not that she did anything spectacular after thenReplyDeleteReplies
- Anonymous14 January, 2013 09:20
She didn't leave the industry, he industry left her!Delete
Good actress? You must be confusing her with someone else.
Hehehehe LL's I've missed y'all. BwahahahaDelete
- Anonymous14 January, 2013 07:02
bye-bye to yamayamaReplyDelete
- Anonymous14 January, 2013 07:03
JUST passing by............ReplyDelete
- Anonymous14 January, 2013 07:05
Beautiful former actress is what u should start with next time,happy relocatingReplyDelete
- Anonymous14 January, 2013 07:08
- Anonymous14 January, 2013 07:36
Hmmmmm, I wish you a peaceful stay and more blessings.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous14 January, 2013 08:17
She has made her money in Lagos na, she wnts to go home and spend it...ReplyDelete
- Anonymous14 January, 2013 09:33
Nawaoooooooo notin on earth to pls human being, leave d easy-going lady alone. Baby its well go and enjoy urself, ok.lolReplyDeleteReplies
- Anonymous14 January, 2013 11:13
Its either u dnt knw d meaning of easy going or u're yet 2get ur facts right. She's nowhere near "easy-going". She's a big trouble maker, proud Ãήϑ very insultive.Delete
Awww...I'll miss U..NOT!!ReplyDelete
Still dunno y ds news was considered 'Blogworthy'
DON'T BLAME HER...LASGIDI WAHALA...ReplyDelete
- Anonymous14 January, 2013 10:40
Fuck off then ...ReplyDelete
Me,hav told my hubby dat we shuld relocate 2 D east too.onisha precisely.jus 15mins 2 my huby's vila.ReplyDeleteReplies
we don hear nah,why you dey repeat like 10 times your hubby dey this blogDelete
Me,hav told my hubby dat we shuld relocate 2 D east too.onisha precisely.jus 15mins 2 my huby's vila.ReplyDelete
Me,hav told my hubby dat we shuld relocate 2 D east too.onisha precisely.jus 15mins 2 my huby's vila.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous14 January, 2013 17:10
Me,hav told my hubby dat we shuld relocate 2 D east too.onisha precisely.jus 15mins 2 my huby's vila.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous14 January, 2013 17:10
Me,hav told my hubby dat we shuld relocate 2 D east too.onisha precisely.jus 15mins 2 my huby's vila.ReplyDelete
I'm happy for her,but i will really believe this if she still continues living there after the present govt leavesReplyDeleteReplies
- Laduns biggest fan14 January, 2013 19:41
Government or Governor? The Governor is on leave due to ill health. If that's her target, she's out of luck.Delete
lol govt…trust me you just watch and wait…its a favourite past time of all the older nollywood actresses who can't compete with the prettier,more desperate colleagues they use star power to penetrate home state..just wait for some charity she will be headlining soon or supporting the first lady's own after that you will stop hearing anything about her it ll seem as if she has gone to ground then BOOM! like piers morgan lolDelete
- Anonymous14 January, 2013 17:28
She needs new customersReplyDelete
- happy yoruba bunny14 January, 2013 18:47
yinka florensReplyDelete
na nokia 2210 u dey use?
- Anonymous14 January, 2013 22:33
Have you checked on God today? Visit www.thebanquethall.blogspot.com Bringing the Word of God to the web.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous15 January, 2013 07:30
Na una sabi o o o!!anyone 3310 or2210,all join!ReplyDelete
- Anonymous15 January, 2013 07:31
Na una sabi o o o!!anyone 3310 or2210,all join!ReplyDelete
- Anonymous15 January, 2013 20:37
Luca and ladun's biggest fan are a tag team on this blog, one commments the other replies. Lol!ReplyDelete
- Anonymous18 October, 2017 06:06
Do you know that you can make real money from your dead,condemned or scrap inverter batteries?if you have any pls call(08141395113)ReplyDelete
You have seen and conquered Lagos and is time to go home. After all it's often said that as man is getting old he no longer farm at a distant but near home. Is time for you to be active in village politics. Congrats mama !!!ReplyDelete


text:
Millions of Americans have seen the fictional world of meth use and production in AMC's Breaking Bad, but journalist Jonah Engle has spent a lot of time in the real world of meth.
In a recent piece in Mother Jones, Engle looks at the explosion in the number of meth addicts who cook their own drugs with ingredients available in drug stores and supermarkets. Meth production is dangerous for the cookers and corrosive to their communities. Engle says law enforcement's efforts to curb the problem by limiting access to a key ingredient — the decongestant pseudoephedrine — have been opposed and largely thwarted by big pharmaceutical companies.
Engle is based in Montreal and has written about drug policy for a number of publications. He now covers the issue for the online news site Beacon. His piece in Mother Jones, called "Merchants of Meth: How Big Pharma Keeps the Cooks in Business," was supported by the Investigative Fund at the Nation Institute. Engle tells Fresh Air's Dave Davies about how the "shake and bake" method of cooking has changed meth production, and the discovery that pharmaceutical companies were lobbying against state restrictions on the sale of pseudoephedrine.
Interview Highlights
On the "shake and bake" method of cooking meth
It's remarkably easy to make meth this way. ... The one thing you have to have is pseudoephedrine, which is the decongestant that is easily obtained in cold and allergy medicines. You crush it up and add a handful of other chemicals, you shake it together, and in a separate bottle, using other over-the-counter products, you create a gas and basically that crystallizes the solution you've made. ... It has really put meth production in the hands of meth addicts. So while I said it's easy, it doesn't mean it's without its tremendous risks.
On the hazards of cooking meth
If all goes well — and that is to say, if there's no fire or explosion, because we're talking about highly volatile chemical reactions contained in nothing but a pop bottle. If that doesn't blow up or catch fire, it still produces toxic gases and byproduct, which goes into the carpet, goes into the paint.
People find meth labs in hotel rooms; they found one in a Wal-Mart bathroom, in cars. So wherever these meth labs are found, you have these bad gases and byproduct. So in a house where there are young kids, they crawl around on the carpet, they are breathing this stuff in. From that stem a whole bunch of problems for law enforcement, for foster care services, for the whole community, in effect.
On the fallout of addicts being able to cook their own meth
It's a highly risky process, and often you have meth cooks who haven't slept in days, so they shouldn't be operating a vehicle, let alone engaging in volatile chemical experiments.
And we're seeing it play out in Kentucky. I went to one of two [hospital] burn units in the state, and burn victims from meth accidents have tripled in the past few years. Their injuries are usually much worse than the average burn victim: They've got both chemical and thermal burns; they're often abusing prescription painkillers, which makes their pain management much more complicated. None of them are insured.
On the geography of "shake and bake" meth use
"Shake and bake" is concentrated in some of the poorest counties in the U.S. So you have counties with relatively few resources, and they're just completely overwhelmed with having to clean up meth lab after meth lab. ...
The highest numbers of meth labs for the past five, six years are clustered in the Midwest and also the Southeast of the U.S. So consistently Missouri, Indiana, Tennessee and Kentucky are in the top four.
There's a great book called Methland by Nick Reding which looks at the impact of meth in Iowa. And he talks about how meth has followed the hollowing out of rural America, so places where people are used to working hard for a living, where a lot of union jobs have left, where people have to work really hard to get by. What's really interesting is speaking to meth addicts in Kentucky: They talked about how in the early days of their use it actually made them superhuman; it made them better employees, if you will. ... You find it in places where people rely on their physical labor.
On fighting meth use by making pseudoephedrine a prescription drug
In 2006, Oregon successfully made pseudoephedrine a prescription drug, and the number of meth labs in the state has fallen over 90 percent, so folks all over the country looked up and took notice. And so they said, "Look, if it can work in Oregon, why can't it work here? We clearly can't arrest our way out of the problem." And that's what happened in Kentucky back in 2009.
On pharmaceutical companies' efforts to keep states' pseudoephedrine prescription bills from passing
Over at the [Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission], which tracks lobbying spending, a secretary looks at the filings for the month, and this number jumps out at her, and she sees that over $300,000 has been spent by an organization called Consumer Healthcare Products Association. She's never heard of this group before, and in the span of three weeks they've set a new lobbying spending record. She looks into it, it turns out [CHPA] is the trade association for makers of over-the-counter medicines and dietary supplements representing companies like Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and so on.
So what it turns out has happened is that they have not only hired one of the state's top lobbyists, but the bulk of that money has been spent on producing robocalls. So these recorded messages that go out to thousands of homes in Kentucky with the pharmaceutical industry's slant on the issue saying, "The government wants to take your cold and allergy medicine away. Press 9 and we'll put you through to your legislator." ...
It has happened all over the country. Since 2009, 24 states have tried to follow Oregon's lead, and 23 have failed. And this is the playbook of CHPA. They blanket the state with these robocalls, they hire the top PR and lobbying firms, and they have a remarkable track record. It's important to say that the degree to which they deploy these resources depends on the state. In my reporting, the most aggressive and highest-spending campaigns have been states with the highest number of meth labs, where presumably their chances of losing would be higher, therefore requiring a greater effort.
This is FRESH AIR. I'm Dave Davies, in for Terry Gross, who's away today. Millions of Americans have been introduced to the fictional world of methamphetamine use and production through the AMC series "Breaking Bad." Our guest, journalist Jonah Engle, has spent a lot of time in the world of real-life meth users and makers.
His article in the August issue of Mother Jones magazine focuses on the explosion in the number of meth addicts who cook their own drugs with ingredients available over the counter in drugstores and supermarkets. It's a process that's dangerous to cooks and corrosive to their communities. Many states have tried to pass legislation making it more difficult to buy cold and allergy medicines that contain a key ingredient in making meth, the decongestant pseudoephedrine.
But only Oregon and Mississippi have passed laws that make pseudoephedrine a prescription drug. Engle tracks the highly funded efforts of lobbyists for the manufacturers of cold medicines that have opposed and largely thwarted the passage of these laws in other states.
Jonah Engle is based in Montreal and has written about drug policy for a number of publications. He now covers the issue for the online news site Beacon. His piece in Mother Jones, supported by the Investigative Fund at the Nation Institute, is called "Merchants of Meth: How Big Pharma Keeps the Cooks in Business."
Well Jonah Engle, welcome to FRESH AIR. You write about a 15-year-old girl in Kentucky named Amanda(ph) whose parents got into this home-cooked meth. Tell us just a little bit about what she noticed about her mom and dad and what happened.
JONAH ENGLE: The first thing Amanda describes is coming home one day to find her mother passed out on the kitchen floor, completely unresponsive. She shook her, she called out her name, and her mother wouldn't wake up to the point where Amanda actually thought her mother was dead.
What had in fact happened was that her mother had crashed after being high on meth, and in my reporting, recovering meth addicts tell me that they would sometimes stay up for days, if not weeks, at a time, and when they crashed, they crashed really hard, and almost nothing can wake them up.
And what was remarkable about Amanda's story was how fast it all happened. She described her family as a loving one, as close-knit, but in the winter of 2004, 2005, her parents, although she didn't know it at the time, started using methamphetamine. And within four or five months, their lives had fallen apart.
Her father lost his job, he had sores break out over his face. Her once, you know, overweight mother became gaunt, and it devastated the family.
DAVIES: And what did she do?
ENGLE: Well, she actually - her grandparents live next door. So she spent most of her time with her grandparents. But she knew something was up. Her mother insisted nothing was wrong and just, she found - increasingly the trailer in which her parents and younger sister lived became increasingly chaotic. There was a really nasty smell, and at a certain point she just wasn't buying it.
So she started sort of looking around online, and she started putting things together. She noticed empty canisters of Coleman fuel, battery packs, and she put those into Google, and she discovered that these are the ingredients for making meth. So not only were her parents using meth, they were cooking it, and she described it as feeling like a plane was barreling down towards her house.
And she told her grandparents, and one day while coming home from school she got off the bus to see police cars filling up the driveway. They kicked in the door, took her dad away. She didn't see him for two and a half years. He was incarcerated in the federal penitentiary, and her mother was also incarcerated. So it had a terrible impact on the family.
I'm happy to say that they've been reunited, and she says they're closer than ever, and I was able to witness that myself. So it has a happy ending. But this was 2005, and it's really when this new method of making meth starts hitting the scene, known as Shake and Bake.
DAVIES: To the extent you could do so responsibly, tell us how you cook meth, you know, in your home.
ENGLE: Well, it's remarkably easy to make meth this way. All that you need, and the one thing that you have to have, is pseudoephedrine, which is a decongestant that's easily obtained in cold and allergy medicines. You crush it up, and then you just add a handful of other chemicals. You shake it together, and then in a separate bottle you, using some other over-the-counter products, you create a gas, and basically that crystallizes the solution you've made.
So I mentioned things like Drano, lithium strips from batteries, Coleman fuel, and it's really put meth production in the hands of meth addicts. So while I said it's easy, it doesn't mean it's not without its tremendous risks.
DAVIES: And talk about some of those risks.
ENGLE: Well, if all goes well, that is to say if there's no fire or explosion because we're talking about highly volatile chemical reactions contained in nothing but a pop bottle, if that doesn't blow up or catch fire, it still produces toxic gases and byproduct, which goes into the carpet, goes into the paint. People find meth labs in hotel rooms. They found one in a Wal-Mart bathroom, in cars.
So wherever these meth labs are found, you have these bad gases and byproduct. And so in a house, you know, where there are young kids, they crawl around on the carpet, and they're breathing this stuff in. And so from that stem a whole bunch of problems for law enforcement, for foster care services, for the whole community, in effect.
DAVIES: And to give us some context, I mean, this is a relatively recent phenomenon. How was meth made and distributed before this Shake and Bake method?
ENGLE: So meth, until the mid-2000s, was primarily a West Coast drug. You had Mexican drug trafficking organizations working with biker gangs on the West Coast. The main method was something called P2P, which uses a different precursor called phenyl-2-propanone. So that was the main way. But the thing about P2P is that not anyone can do it. It requires some serious knowledge of chemistry.
And it doesn't produce meth that's as potent as Shake and Bake. Shake and bake is the most potent meth available in the world.
DAVIES: Wow. So I guess what's interesting about this is, I mean, there are a lot of drugs and a lot of drugs that are sold and used, but it's - most of them aren't made by the addicts themselves. What are the consequences of addicts being able to cook up their own drugs?
ENGLE: Well, as I mentioned, it's a highly risky process, and often you have meth cooks who are - who haven't slept in days. So they're - you know, they shouldn't be operating a vehicle, let alone, you know, engaging in volatile chemical experiments. But it's also a tremendous risk for the families, for the children in these homes.
And we're seeing it play out. In Kentucky I went to one of two burn units in the state, and burn victims from meth accidents have tripled in the past few years. Their injuries are usually much worse than the average burn victim. They've got both chemical and thermal burns. They're often abusing prescription painkillers, which makes their pain management much more complicated. None of them are insured.
The other thing to add is that Shake and Bake is concentrated in some of the poorest counties in the United States. So you have counties with relatively few resources, and they're just completely overwhelmed with having to clean up meth lab after meth lab. I spoke to a narcotics detective in southeast Kentucky who said, you know, he wants to be going after drug trafficking organizations, but he's been reduced to a glorified garbage man.
I went with him as he went on a meth lab cleanup, and you have to be certified for this. It's quite, quite involved. You know, you put on a gas mask, you put on gloves, you have special chemicals, you've got to quarantine the pop bottles, and that took up basically a day and a half for him going to this one site with meth lab. So it's just overwhelming the system, essentially.
DAVIES: And that's sometimes in cases where there's not even an active investigation. You're just - you're looking at an abandoned meth cooking site, and it still takes enormous amount of time and resources just to clean it up.
ENGLE: Overwhelmingly so, absolutely.
DAVIES: Now what parts of the country did this new method of cooking take root in? What's its appeal?
ENGLE: The highest numbers of meth labs for the past I would say five, six years are clustered in the Midwest and also the Southeast of the United States, so consistently Missouri, Indiana, Tennessee and Kentucky are in the top four. There's a great book called "Methland" by Nick Reding, which looks at the impact of meth in Iowa, and he talks about how meth has sort of followed the hollowing-out of rural America.
So places where people are used to working hard for a living, where a lot of union jobs have left, where there's a lot of - people have to work really hard to get by, and what's really interesting is that in speaking to meth addicts in Kentucky, they talked about how in the early days, in the early days of their use, it actually made them super-human.
It made them better employees, if you will. One meth cook I interviewed in the county jail talked about how he could go to work, you know, work hard in construction, come home, play with the kids, mow the lawn and have energy to burn. So you find it in places that - where there's, you know, people reliant on their physical labor and where they're having to work harder and harder because of the economy.
DAVIES: But when an addict gets deeply into meth use, I mean, they aren't productive. They're not going to work and getting a lot done. What are the effects of extended use, when addicts get very deeply into this, the physical effects on the addict?
ENGLE: Right, well, they typically lose a lot of weight because it's an appetite suppressant. They - you may have seen the disturbing pictures of people whose teeth rot because it affects the - they don't eat. They drink pop, and they grind their teeth, which ruins the enamel. So their teeth, kind of, turn black.
It's been found to have negative impacts on the heart, on the lungs. Also it's a toxic brew. I mean, you're smoking, you know, a mixture of Drano and lithium and Coleman fuel and ammonium nitrate. So it has a number of effects. And I think also what happens is you just burn out, you know, because you don't sleep, and you don't eat.
DAVIES: You have a link to some photos with the story online of mug shots of meth addicts from one arrest to a subsequent arrest months or years later, and it is shocking to see the physical deterioration of these folks.
ENGLE: It's hard to look at, it really is.
DAVIES: We're speaking with Jonah Engle. He is a reporter based in Montreal covering the drug war and drug policy. His new piece in Mother Jones is called "Merchants of Meth." We'll talk some more after a short break. This is FRESH AIR.
DAVIES: This is FRESH AIR, and our guest is Jonah Engle. He is a reporter based in Montreal who has covered the drug war and drug policy. His piece in Mother Jones about new home cooking methods of methamphetamine is called "Merchants of Meth."
You write about how communities in which this kind of home-cooking method of preparing methamphetamine has created - just overwhelmed law enforcement and ravaged families. And as a result, there have been efforts to regulate the materials that are - that it's made of, particularly pseudoephedrine. Explain what they wanted, what law enforcement wanted to do in these cases.
ENGLE: They wanted to make pseudoephedrine a prescription drug, which was the status it had nationally until 1976. Some 24 states - actually, in all, 25 states have attempted to do this, and really the model for this approach is Oregon, which back in 2006 at the end of a five-year struggle between a particularly persistent prosecutor named Rob Bovett(ph), who faced off against the combined might of the pharmaceutical industry, was able to pass that bill.
And basically what happened was in 2006 Oregon successfully made pseudoephedrine a prescription drug, and the number of meth labs in the state has fallen over 90 percent. And so, you know, folks all over the country sort of looked up and took notice. They said look, if it can work in Oregon, why can't it work here. We clearly can't arrest our way out of the problem.
And that's what happened in Kentucky back in 2009. At that time the state was on track to set a new record for meth labs. They had pulled hundreds of kids out of meth homes. And a lot of what I described as far as the cost to law enforcement was really becoming a burden. And it was also, meth labs were spreading east across the state, from the farmland of western Kentucky to the rolling hills of Appalachia.
So they - it was a question of both the extent geographically and the sheer number of meth labs, and they saw what happened in Oregon, and they said why don't we try it.
DAVIES: You write about a legislator in Kentucky, Linda Belcher(ph), former schoolteacher, right, who became convinced that it was important in order to stem the tide of home-cooked meth to make pseudoephedrine harder to get. She introduces legislation, and what happens?
ENGLE: So Linda Belcher starts getting these very concerned calls from citizens saying, you know, don't take my cold and allergy medicine away. The chair of the Health and Welfare Committee and the rest of the committee members are getting tons and tons of calls from constituents saying vote no on this.
And what's odd is that there's been relatively little coverage of the bill in the press. Meanwhile over at the State Legislative Ethics Committee, which tracks lobbying spending, secretary looks at the filings for the month, and the number jumps out at her, and she sees that over $300,000 has been spent by an organization called the Consumer Health Care Products Association.
And she's sort of never heard of this group before, and in the span of three weeks they've set a new lobbying spending record. So she looks into it, and it turns out the Consumer Health Care Products Association, also known as CHPA, is the trade association for makers of over-the-counter medicines and dietary supplements, representing companies like Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and so on.
So what it turns out has happened is that they've not only hired one of the state's top lobbyists, but the bulk of that money has been spent on producing robocalls, so these recorded messages, that go out to thousands of homes in Kentucky with the industry's, the pharmaceutical industry's slant on the issue, saying, you know, the government wants to take your cold and allergy medicine away, press nine and we'll put you through to your legislator.
And so that sort of explains where all these calls came from.
DAVIES: So instantly generated public response, outrage.
ENGLE: Absolutely. The chair of the Health and Welfare Committee, who'd been in office for well over 30 years, said he's hardly ever seen anything like it.
DAVIES: And what was the impact of that effort?
ENGLE: It killed the bill. It didn't get out of committee. I spoke to the chair of the committee, and he said his mind was made up, and this had no impact on him, although he did say that, you know, this kind of tactic can affect some legislators. Be that as it may, it didn't go anywhere. And meanwhile the number of meth labs in Kentucky that year went on to set a new record.
DAVIES: Has this happened around the country?
ENGLE: Well, that's what I discovered. It's happened all over the country. Since 2009, 24 states have tried to follow Oregon's lead, and 23 have failed, and this is the playbook of CHPA, the pharmaceutical industry association. They blanket the state with these robocalls, they hire the top PR and lobbying firms, and they have a remarkable track record.
Now it's important to say that sort of the degree to which they deploy these resources depends on the state. In my reporting, sort of the most aggressive and highest spending campaigns have been in the states with the highest number of meth labs, where presumably their chances of losing would be higher, so therefore requiring greater effort.
DAVIES: Explain what pseudoephedrine is, I mean, what its beneficial properties and why it's used in meth, if you can.
ENGLE: So my understanding is that it's a vasoconstrictor, so that it shrinks the diameter of your blood vessels, thereby relieving congestion in your sinuses. Now it turns out that it doesn't take much to change its molecular structure and turn it into methamphetamine, but that's about as much as I know.
Now I will say that pseudoephedrine is obviously safe and effective as a decongestant, but there are all kinds of warnings on the box that say, you know, if you have any heart trouble, if you're under 12, if you use it for, you know, a consistent number of days, if you're pregnant, you should see a doctor.
And the other thing that's important to add is that there are well over 100 alternative brands of cold and allergy medicine that contain other decongestants, which can't be used to make meth. So it doesn't mean that there's nothing else to be done, either.
DAVIES: And part of the industry's argument is that if folks who have legitimate need for pseudoephedrine for decongesting purposes or whatever, if you require a prescription, it's going to be harder on them. Does it cost more?
ENGLE: The Pharmacy Board of Oregon looked at the effect of its law, of its prescription law on prices, compared to prices in California, and found that there was no increase in the price of the drug. Of course there are additional costs related to time spent having to get a prescription. So clearly there's an added inconvenience.
DAVIES: And at least once you've got to go visit your doctor to get the prescription, presumably.
ENGLE: Right, right. I will add one thing, and this gets to how the pharmaceutical industry has really kind of shaped the message. I spoke to the committee chair of the Justice Committee in Kentucky, the House Justice Committee, that had taken up the bill, and he got more calls because of these robocalls from constituents on this issue than any other before, and he, although he didn't say whether he was for or against the law to me, told me that from his conversations with these constituents, he really didn't - he got a sense that a lot of them were misinformed.
And in face if you listen to the ad that CHPA broadcast at the Pharmaceutical Association broadcast in 2012, there was no mention of a key exemption in the law, which would have exempted pseudoephedrine in gel caps. So you could still get pseudoephedrine over the counter in Kentucky in gel cap form, but that wasn't in the pharmaceutical industry campaign's message.
DAVIES: And why is gel caps exempt from the requirement?
ENGLE: It's considerably harder to transform. You can't turn it into meth as easily.
DAVIES: Jonah Engle writes about drug policy. His piece on home meth makers and efforts to limit their access to a key ingredient appears in Mother Jones. He'll be back in the second half of the show. I'm Dave Davies, and this is FRESH AIR.
DAVIES: This is FRESH AIR. I'm Dave Davies in for Terry Gross who is away today. We're speaking with journalist Jonah Engle about the explosion in the growth of home-cooked methamphetamine, made with ingredients addicts can get over the counter in drugstores and supermarkets.
In a piece in Mother Jones magazine, Engle writes that lobbyists for manufacturers of cold and allergy medicines have largely thwarted the efforts of state lawmakers to limit access to a key ingredient of home-cooked meth, the decongestant pseudoephedrine.
Now I have to believe that state legislators don't like drug dealers, don't want to see their communities ravaged by meth use. And that, you know, the people who run big companies don't want to help drug dealers and don't want people addicted to meth. What's the industry's case here? What's their argument?
ENGLE: The argument is that this - that prescription legislation is not only ineffective, but it unfairly punishes law-abiding consumers for the actions of the few, of the few who divert this into methamphetamine. And this has been their argument, you know, going back to the '80s, that every time there has been a new attempt to prevent the diversion of pseudoephedrine - or ephedrine, back in the day - they say it's what they say is the refrain: it won't work and it'll hurt law-abiding consumers.
DAVIES: Now are there other restrictions that states can adopt? Like even if you don't require a prescription, place it behind a counter or prevent sales in convenience stores or grocery stores. And do they...
ENGLE: That's all been done. That's all been done. And so basically, the regime that we have now has been in place since 2005. And basically, what happened was going back about 10 years ago, there was a lot of meth labs, a lot of meth use and states where grappling with what to do, the federal laws in place were not effective. And in Oklahoma, a state trooper came across a meth lab in the back of a car and a fight ensued between him and the meth cook. The meth cook grabbed his gun and shot and killed the state trooper, which was all recorded on the dash cam. And that was enough for Oklahoma to put pseudoephedrine behind the counter, something that the industry had fought very hard against. They said it wouldn't work. The number of labs immediately plummeted. Oregon followed suit. And then because meth was such a problem, it was enough to get this federal law passed. But shake-and-bake and smurfing basically by two years after the federal laws passed make it ineffective, and since then meth labs have increased 63 percent.
So, you know, we've taken it out of convenience stores. We've taken it, we've put it behind the counter and still meth labs are increasing. Which basically gets us to this point, where some states, where, in fact, 25 states have said let's try to make this prescription only because that is one thing that meth cooks have not figured out how to get around.
DAVIES: Now I know that you spoke to the industry representatives, you write about this in your piece. And one of the things they said was that there is an alternative method of trying to control, you know, the unrestricted sale and access of these drugs. That's something called the NPL - actually, National Precursor Log Exchange. How does that work?
ENGLE: Basically what it does is it enforces federal and state law. So the last time the federal government passed any major legislation on meth was the Combat Meth Act of 2005. What it did was limited how much people - how much pseudoephedrine people could buy a month and a year and it also put the boxes behind the counter. So what NPLEx does is basically a database. So when you go to the pharmacy to buy some Claritin-D, you have to show ID and then how much you bought, and your identity is logged in this NPLEx system, and law enforcement has access to this database.
So it does two things. So if you max out on your monthly allowed limit, it cuts you off for the month or for the year. But it also allows law enforcement to track suspicious patterns or to see, OK, this person is buying, you know, the limit every month. And so it helps, it can help them in their investigations.
DAVIES: So if I have to show an ID - this is everywhere, right, to get these products?
ENGLE: Yes. Yeah.
DAVIES: And information is taken. Why hasn't that been effective in dealing with the problem?
ENGLE: A couple of reasons. One is that in states you find fake ID, so people have multiple IDs and so they get around it that way. But the other critical part of this, you know, explosion in the number of meth labs, I mentioned shake-and-bake. The other thing is this phenomenon known as smurfing. And this is sort of a reaction - an adaptation, if you will - to the new limits on how much pseudoephedrine you can buy.
What meth cooks will do is they will recruit a bunch of people to buy the maximum amount and buy those boxes often at black market rates and it's basically turned NPLEx into Swiss cheese.
DAVIES: Now explain that to me. You say they buy it at black market rates?
ENGLE: Right. So let's say I'm a meth cook, I can only get 15 grams a month under federal law. All I need to do is, you know, get a gang of five or 10 people to buy, you know, how much they can buy and buy it off them. And typically, what I hear is that boxes of pseudoephedrine are going for about $50 a box. And so when you think about where these meth labs are concentrated, some of the poorest parts of America, you know, that's an attractive proposition.
DAVIES: So they go in and pay whatever the shelf prices for the drug and then sell it at a markup to the cooker.
ENGLE: Yeah, tenfold.
DAVIES: OK. Does that make the meth more expensive to cook at home? And does that restrict, I don't know, its use?
ENGLE: I don't know the impact on price, but certainly, I looked at every state. So now some 25 states have adopted NPLEx. And I looked, I basically called the drug enforcement agencies in every state that had NPLEx for at least a year and the overwhelming majority have seen the meth labs go up. So it's not working. One of the, the person who runs NPLEx explained to me that the increasing numbers of labs is not evidence of failure, because in his view, you know, NPLEx is allowing law enforcement to actually find more labs.
DAVIES: I see. So it appears there's more labs they're saying because, in fact, we have better ways of finding them.
ENGLE: Right.
DAVIES: OK. So NPLEx is not a system that's in effect nationwide. It requires states to adopt it.
ENGLE: Right. Yes.
DAVIES: And it's a way of requiring ID and then tracking the purchase of the stuff.
ENGLE: Yes.
DAVIES: And you also write about law enforcement arresting smurfs, these folks who go in and, you know, buy pseudoephedrine for meth cooks. Talk a little bit about how they do that.
ENGLE: Well, the narcotics officer in Laurel County basically describes it as easy as fishing in a well-stocked pond. He would just drive over to the Walgreens outside of town and just wait for the telltale signs. You know, typically, he said the smurfs would drive up in broken down cars. They would look pretty run down. They would weave all over the road. He'd pulled them over, you know, find pseudoephedrine, find a receipt. It really wasn't that hard. So the thing is that it's just so easy to do that basically you can't arrest your way out of the problem is what I kept being told time and time again.
I mean the county jail - which has about 350 inmates - 100 of the inmates were in there for meth offenses and many more for meth-related offenses. So, you know, crimes committed to support their addiction.
DAVIES: I have to ask you, a lot of what many of us know about methamphetamines - or at least are images of it - come from watching "Breaking Bad," the AMC show. Do you watch it?
ENGLE: I will embarrassingly admit to only having seen the first three episodes. You know, I've spent time in jails with meth cooks who've lost everything. I've spoken to families who saw their loved ones locked up. I've see meth labs out in the open. And it was more horrifying and depressing to watch this TV show than to actually see it in real life. So I think I definitely want to see it, but I've been kind of a little freaked out by the show.
DAVIES: And why was it more depressing to see on television than what you've seen in real life?
ENGLE: Because I think people are complicated. So, you know, I'm sitting in a cell with, you know, Laurel County's best meth cook and he is full of regret. He misses his children. He wants to get his family back together. He's full of remorse and sort of, it's just not unrelent, you know, his humanity was there to see, you know? He wasn't this ruthless guy. He was an addict who, you know, whose life fell apart. And so I think that kind of made it easier to take.
DAVIES: Well, Jonah Engle, it's been interesting. Thanks so much for spending some time with us.
ENGLE: Thank you very much.
DAVIES: Jonah Engle writes about drug policy. He now covers a subject for the online news site Beacon. His piece on home meth makers and efforts to limit their access to a key ingredient appears in Mother Jones.
Coming up, Ed Ward remembers record producer and songwriter, George "Shadow" Morton.
This is FRESH AIR. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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Updates with Develop report of Valve's director of business leaving the company.
Reports are beginning to surface that employee-friendly Valve Software is in the process of making "large decision" about the company's future, resulting in the layoff of as many as 25 employees from multiple departments.
Gamasutra has confirmed that multiple people had been let go from the hardware and Android departments. The site said that the number 25 has been bandied about, but that is unconfirmed, and that those affected had used phrase like "great cleaning" and "large decisions" related to the terminations. In addition, engineer Jeri Ellsworth tweeted yesterday that she had been "fired," and senior mechanical engineer Ed Owen's LinkedIn profile (via PC Gamer) reflected an end to his employment this month.
Develop is also reporting that Jason Holtman, Valve's director of business and a primary go-between with developers using Steam, has left the company as well.
We have reached out to Valve for a statement and will update as more information becomes available.


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NEW YORK – Columbia field hockey head coach Marybeth Freeman has announced that Leah Matthews will join the Lions this fall after spending one year at Wake Forest.
"We're happy to have Leah join our program starting in 2013," Freeman said. "Leah is eager to challenge herself academically and she's excited to be a contributing member to our squad. Her on field experiences while at Wake Forest will carry over nicely to our program and I know she is looking forward to excelling on and off the field."
Matthews saw action in 18 games last season for the Demon Deacons as a midfielder, registering four shots.
At Jamesville High School in Williamsburg, Va., Matthews earned First Team All-State, All-Region and All-District honors in her four-year varsity career. Leading the team in assists in each of her four seasons, she was named the 2011 Virginia Gazette Player of the Year and garnered First Team honors on the Daily Press All-Star team in 2010 and 2011. Matthews also participated in the USA Field Hockey National Futures Championship five times, placing second in 2007.
Academically, she was an AP Scholar and was placed on the honor roll in each of her four years in high school. Her parents are Mara and Michael Matthews.


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UVU Bigs Hurt Aggies In Loss
GREENSBORO - Utah Valley's inside combination of Nick Thompson and Ben Aird gave the North Carolina A&T men's basketball team fits in a 64-55 win at Corbett Sports Center Monday night. Thompson finished with 13 points, 14 rebounds and five assists, while Aird had an 18-point, nine-rebound night. The Wolverines outrebounded the Aggies 37-28.
"I'm disappointed they beat us the boards," said A&T coach Cy Alexander. "I thought we defended them fairly well in the first half, but we only shot 28 percent. Those were shots they rebounded that I thought we should have made. But then we turn around and let them shoot much better in the second half. That was a combination we couldn't overcome."
The Aggies trailed 30-25 at the half, but held the Wolverines to 34.6 percent shooting. The Aggies had trouble scoring all night, but they still managed to take a 36-34 lead four minutes into the second half thanks to a jumper from the deep corner by Jean Louisme. Aird tied the game seconds later as he took a pass from Thompson from the high post. Aggies point guard Jeremy Underwood turned the ball back over to the Wolverines, leading to what Alexander thought was the turning point in the game.
The Wolverines (1-1) missed two consecutive 3-pointers, but grabbed the offensive board on both. Aird eventually scored on a layup. The sequence was a part of a 9-0 Wolverines run that gave them a 43-36 lead with 12:46 to play. They never trailed again. The Wolverines shot 52 percent in the second half.
"We were fighting uphill the rest of the way because of the way they run their offense," said Alexander. "They use all of the shot clock, so now every possession we get is magnified."
Aggies guard Lamont Middleton did get the Aggies to within five, 47-42, with six minutes to play. But the Wolverines returned to their high-low offense as Thompson and Aird scored on back-to-back baskets to increase the lead to nine. R.J. Buck broke the streak with a free throw, but layups by Jason Johnson and Aird gave the Wolverines a 55-43 lead, their biggest of the game.
"It was frustrating because we didn't communicate well enough in our matchup zone," Alexander said. "We didn't communicate nor did we react quick enough. That's not settling to me. We have to react because we know it's coming. We used our matchup zone the whole game. We're going to go back and see what we didn't do, correct it and apply it to Wright State."
Middleton led the Aggies with 23 points and five rebounds. The Aggies (1-1) will now play their next five games away from Greensboro, starting on Friday when they play at Wright State at 7 p.m.
"We have to improve our rebounding," said Alexander about the Aggies road trip. "I'm disappointed that our 6-3 second guard (Middleton) led us in rebounding. Middleton showed signs of being a very good basketball player. We also need to start understanding our roles, what type of shots we need to take and when we need to take them. We took ill-advised shots. We took the type of shots you take when you're up 15, and not shots you take when it's a two-point game."


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University of Central Florida
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*Please use caution when comparing data across institutions within the State University System, because they have significantly different missions, student populations, etc. Comparisons with peer institutions are more meaningful.