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Syrian refugee family: "We all want to be free"
Last month, World Vision U.S. President Rich Stearns and a writer/photographer team visited Syrian refugees in Jordan.
Today, World Vision writer Sevil Omer captures their experience speaking with families living in the Za'atari Refugee Camp.
* * *
Just a year ago, Mohammed Mansor was living a middle-class dream: He had a great job, a beautiful home, and more than enough money to pay the bills and take vacations.
"We had everything," Mohammed said.
Mohammed's wife, Hanah, stayed in their two-story home in Syria and took care of the kids – four daughters and three sons. "Helping my children with homework was the most difficult part of my day," Hanah said with a gentle laugh. "I would try and help them as much as I could, but they knew more."
Mohammed and Hanah spoke to World Vision U.S. President Rich Stearns at their home in the Za'atari Refugee Camp, a collection of tents and trailers, called caravans, that has become the second largest camp in the world and the fourth-largest population center in Jordan.
"We don't want to be here."
They say they never imagined their lives would be shattered so quickly in the summer of 2012, fearing for their lives as they fled the besieged nation, running away with only the clothes on their backs as they headed to the Jordanian border.
Their eldest daughter, 11-year-old Rama, described how she and her siblings stumbled in the dark, "hiking up and down mountains," as they made their way on foot to Za'atari, a journey so harrowing Rama described herself being "so scared I didn't talk."
Mohammed shared with Rich: "I will forget everything if I could just go back to my house with my family."
More than 2 million Syrians, half of them children, have poured into neighboring countries as refugees, creating what the United Nations called "a disgraceful humanitarian calamity."
Syria's nearly three-year civil war has claimed at least 100,000 lives, including 7,000 children, according to the United Nations. Five million people have been displaced within Syria, and thousands more are leaving Syria every day and heading to Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, and Jordan.
Like Mohammed's family, middle-class families from Syria have fled to Jordan with little or no savings. Thousands more are stuck in makeshift camps along the border.
Resources are scarce and water is even scarcer. Business owners and refugees alike are plummeting into debt. An increasing number of children are turning to the camp streets to find work, whatever it takes to help feed their families.
The Jordanian government is coping with the crisis as best as it can. Everyone and everything caught up in the Syrian refugee crisis is stretched thin – there is never enough.
Za'atari refugee camp is divided into 12 districts, each managed by an appointed community leader or "mukhtar." Mohammed's family was among the first to settle in Za'atari. They live in District One in an aluminum shed away from the busiest part of the camp, its marketplace.
There are grocery stores, shoe shops, hair salons, and even a wedding dress vendor. Restaurants, candy parlors, and a pool hall are full of refugees. Mohammed started his own business here, too. He and a friend pooled together their last dinar and bought a TV. They sold it and, with the profit, bought another, then another.
Last month, Mohammed invited Rich into his home. In the refugee world at Za'atari, Mohammed's home is among the "haves" in this "have-not" existence. The family's two mobile units resemble storage units.
For Mohammed's family, it is where they eat, pray, and sleep. It is meticulous and lined with cots distributed to each refugee family. It is a place where Hanah, who used to have appliances like a washing machine, now scrubs tarps and their few items of clothing with cups of water. There is electricity, and primarily they use it to watch TV, a lifeline to events back home.
It's also where the children are safe and can study.
"I'm afraid for my children," Mohammed told Rich. He created an itinerary for the children with their expected times of departure and arrival from school. "I will make and keep a schedule, to track them coming and going to school. It is a dangerous place. You never know."
The maze of tents and caravans covers an enormous expanse of sand and rock. Dust devils swirl in the distance. Chain-link fence topped with razor wire protects the mobile units belonging to international aid agencies and distribution sites.
But refugees can come and go.
Rama said there are too many children scrambling up and down the dirty and dusty alleys of Za'atari.
"They should be in school," Rama told Rich. "I want to ask the parents and the children why they are not in school. School is for their future."
Rama hopes to become a doctor one day, "because I want to help the children who are hurting and in pain."
Before Rich's departure from Za'atari, the fathers exchanged words of hope and trepidation of Mohammed's return to his country and the future of his homeland.
Mohammed told Rich: "I lived with all faiths — Christians, Muslims, and Jews. My neighbors are Christians. We cared for each other. They are caring for my house and business while I am here. I would do the same for them, because we all want to be free."
* * *
World Vision is increasing its presence in Za'atari, where Mohammed's children have benefited from a recent diaper distribution led by the organization. World Vision was able to distribute diapers to at least 17,000 babies in Za'atari, where most mothers have no income.
World Vision has secured $1 million in funding to rehabilitate the older, unpaved parts of the camp, including digging drainage to improve sanitation in case of heavy rainfall. "Standing water, especially when it mixes with drainage and sewage water, leaves people at risk of waterborne diseases," said Sabrina Pourman, programs director at World Vision. The organization hopes to begin the work in the next few weeks.
Arabic-English translation and additional reporting by World Vision Jordan's Mohammad Bataineh.
Make a one-time donation to help World Vision provide emergency assistance for Syrian refugees. Your donation will help us provide basic hygiene kits and food vouchers for refugee families, as well as established Child-Friendly Spaces to provide affected children with a safe place to play, learn, and interact with their peers.


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In just one generation, the number of obese children in this country has tripled.* Today one out of every five kids is obese*, millions more are overweight and the numbers continue to rise. Most doctors agree that sugary drinks are at least partly to blame.
To help curb that problem, Nationwide Children's Hospital is part of a new movement to put a lid on sugary drinks. Starting January 3, 2011, Nationwide Children's will join just a handful of other healthcare institutions in eliminating all sugar-sweetened drinks from its campus. This new policy applies to the hospital's cafeterias, gift shops, vending machines, patient room service and on-site catering service.
While the idea may be hard for some to swallow, it's gaining momentum across the country.
Kelly Kelleher, MD, MPH, is leading the charge. Dr. Kelleher, who serves as director of the Center for Innovation in Pediatric Practice and vice president of Health Services Research at the Research Institute at Nationwide Children's says studies show kids get more empty calories each day from sugary drinks than from any other source. By drinking these sugar-filled beverages on the campuses of children's hospitals, these institutions are unfortunately contributing to that shocking statistic.**
"Based on Nationwide Children's regular soda sales alone, patients, staff and visitors were consuming nearly 43,000 pounds of excess sugar in these drinks each year – that's equivalent to the weight of 21 Volkswagen Beetles," Dr. Kelleher says. "That's unacceptable and we had to make some changes."
By making sugary beverages less available in public places like hospitals, doctors like Dr. Kelleher hope patients like 16-year-old Eden Pettis, of Columbus, Ohio will think about their impact more, and eventually consume them less.
When Eden began showing the early signs of diabetes, she knew she had to make some changes. She began exercising and switched to healthier snacks like celery. But the first step she and her mother took had more to do with what she drank than what she ate.
"We immediately cut out soda and juice with sugar, any kind of sugared drinks," says Eden's mom Laverne.
That one move likely saved Eden nearly 800 calories a day. By cutting just one 12-ounce soda a day for a year, Eden will cut 35 pounds of sugar from her diet.
"Multiplied by two or three cans of soda a day, all of those calories can add up to 10 or 15 pounds of weight, if children and teens don't increase their exercise proportionately," says Dr. Kelleher.
Besides putting on extra weight, sugary drinks can also affect your teeth. Nationwide Children's Hospital also has one of the largest dental programs for children in the country and they're treating more kids for more cavities related to sugary drinks.
Their advice is to stick to water or low fat milk - and if you do buy soda, buy diet drinks in smaller cans. Buying 2 liter bottles only encourages kids to drink more.

subset: commoncrawl


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A new look for a New Year
We're proud to announce that work begun to better flysaa.com has come to fruition!
You can now enjoy an insightful and intuitive blend of features, all designed with you in mind.
Below is a list of what you can look forward to during your visit.
Designed with you in mind, our brand new recently launched website is so easy and fun to use, it's like a walk on the beach:
Newly built-in geo-tagging capability means we can match your information needs to the country you are in, in your prefered language.
Find the lowest flight fares based on your departure airport and desired destination.
View fares over a seven-day period, and select the most affordable flight.
Easily purchase accommodation, car rental and travel insurance online.
Manage your trip before and after you fly with online check-in, seat selection, flight amendment, payment and baggage tracing function.
And this is is only the beginning. We have many more planned updates on the way.
So visit www.flysaa.com today and see how SAA can make this summer your best one yet!
South African Airways and our special holiday fares is the only way to reach your holiday destination in January.
Enjoy the comfort and hospitality of our in-flight experience and fly your family to any of our domestic holiday destinations.
* Above fares are on a one way basis, inclusive of all taxes and are subject to change due to currency fluctuations. Terms and conditions apply.
ICC Cricket World Cup 2011
The 10th ICC Cricket World Cup happening this year will, for the first time in the sport's history, be hosted by three South Asian Test cricket playing countries: India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Current cup holders Australia will be hoping to extend their record of consecutive wins to 4, having last beaten Sri Lanka in the 2007 final.
The Proteas on the other hand will be hoping to advance to the finals, having made the semis on 3 separate occasions: 1992, 1999 and 2007.
We'll get you to the games in time to cheer for the Proteas!
Venue: India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh
Date: 19 February – 2 April 2011
Website: icc-cricket.yahoo.net
Rio Carnival
The Rio Carnival is the mother of all parades, an extravaganza that dates back to 1723.
It promises to live up to its legacy in 2011, when the streets of Rio will come alive in a blaze of colour, song and dance.
The Sambadrome, where the display will be, will host all kinds of floats and festivities as rival schools show-off their outfits & bands before awed onlookers.
SAA promises to fly you to Rio porta-bandeira style, and ensure that you don't miss the two major days that define this occasion: namely Carnival Sunday and the Champions Parade.
Venue: Rio de Jeneiro, Sambadrome
Date: 5 - 8 March 2011
Website: www.rio-carnival.net
Cape Argus
2011 marks the 34th anniversary for the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour, an event which attracts over 35000 cyclists from around the globe.
With Lance Armstrong's participation earlier on in 2010, the anticipation is even more intense.
Bookings for the tour can be made with SAA online for you and your bicycle.
We will help you take your bicycle down to the Cape. Find out how!
Venue: Cape Town
Date: 13 March 2011
Website: www.cycletour.co.za
Serving you the World
If you haven't updated your details for the Serving you the World competition, you can do it now at www.flysaa.com.
Doing so could reward you with a holiday package for two at one of nine destinations; six international and three local.
To top that, when you rent a car with AVIS through the aforementioned site, you stand to win a new VW Polo Vivo!
Baggage allowance increase
Fly SAA and take more with you! The baggage allowance in South African Airways economy class has been increased from 20kg to 23kg.
This does, however, not apply to connecting flights or other airlines.
Check your flight status via your mobile phone!
Have you ever rushed to the airport, just to find out your flight is delayed? Wanted to find out when a friend or loved one is landing only to be put on hold? At SAA, your complete travel experience is our priority.
That's why we've made this important feature available to you via your mobile phone.
Simply visit m.flysaa.com and click on the 'Flight Departure and Arrival' link under the During your trip heading. Then enter the flight number and voila, turn your mobile phone into your own personal terminal arrivals and departure billboard.
Heathrow Express
Heathrow Express is the fastest way to travel between Heathrow Airport and central London; departing from London's Paddington station every 15 minutes. Book now, using our special discounted rates.


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"His singing is timeless. He possessed a glorious voice, a high baritone with a golden, tenor-like color. His singing seems effortlesssimple, direct, gorgeous in sound and phrasing
. Some of the songs are classics, others much less so, but he turns them all to gold. Among the highlights are 'Lucky to Be Me' (Bernstein), 'Evelina' (Arlen) and a heavenly 'All the Things You Are' (Kern). Raitt probably lost count of the number of times he sang Billy's great 'Soliloquy.'
He still sets the standard for this near-operatic scene, here capped by a ringing high B-flat!"Opera News


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Blue Jays ready to turn offseason hype into results
Seven new faces hoping to propel Toronto into American League East elite
By Gregor Chisholm / MLB.com
TORONTO -- The most eventful offseason in franchise history is a thing of the past, and now the Blue Jays will attempt to prove they can live up to the hype.
General manager Alex Anthopoulos went all in this winter with a flurry of well-documented moves. A pair of blockbuster trades, coupled with some key free-agent signings, have injected new life into not only the organization but the overall fan base as well.
The improvements on paper won't mean anything unless they can be translated into wins on the field, but with Spring Training set to open on Wednesday in Florida, the first test is about to begin.
"I'm a big believer in humility," Anthopoulos said. "It should happen from the front office, it should happen from the players. We've certainly added a lot of talent, we've spent a lot of money, but we have to show respect to the other teams, the other organizations.
"We haven't done anything yet. We like our chances, we like the talent, but there is still a lot of work to do."
The strength of this year's squad can be found on the mound, where R.A. Dickey, Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle represent a massive upgrade in the starting rotation. In a matter of weeks, Brandon Morrow and Ricky Romero went from the team's most proven hurlers to complementary pieces.
The offence also received a boost with the acquisitions of Jose Reyes, Melky Cabrera, Maicer Izturis and Emilio Bonifacio. Any potential success will still depend on Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, but this lineup has more balance and depth than any other in recent memory.
This year's Spring Training should be rather uneventful because of the lack of jobs up for grabs. The Blue Jays have almost their entire 25-man roster locked in already, and there are only a few interesting competitions to monitor. But with plenty of new players in camp, and aspirations for the postseason, there won't be a shortage of storylines.
Here's a guide to the new faces, and a summary of the departures, while also taking an in depth look at what to expect this spring and beyond.
Pitchers and catchers report
Feb. 12
Full squad reports
Feb. 16
First Spring Training game
Away vs. Tigers, Feb. 23 at 1:05 p.m. ET
Opening Day
Home vs. Indians, April 2 at 7:07 p.m. ET
Triple play: Three questions that need answers
1. Will Bautista be able to recover from a left wrist injury that prematurely ended his 2012 season?
Bautista's rehab reportedly went well, and he is expected to take part in Spring Training without any restrictions. The Dominican native resumed hitting in December, and barring any setbacks, his Spring Training should be just like any other.
Despite the optimism, the Blue Jays have opted to take a cautious approach with their All-Star right fielder. Toronto decided to not make Bautista available for the upcoming World Baseball Classic, and the coaches and trainers will monitor him throughout the spring.
Even though Bautista feels great, it remains to be seen whether he can regain his previous form. Wrist and hand injuries are notoriously tough for power hitters to overcome, but Bautista has been quick to dismiss any skeptics and he fully expects to have a productive season.
2. Which version of Cabrera will the Blue Jays get? The All-Star from 2012 or the struggling left fielder he was prior to 2011?
Cabrera's signing went somewhat under the radar this offseason because of the blockbuster trades with the Mets and Marlins. That will soon change, as Cabrera is set to arrive at camp shortly after a report surfaced in the Miami area that linked the 28-year-old to a supplier of performance-enhancing drugs.
Cabrera was suspended 50 games last year for testing positive for a banned substance. Sources indicate Cabrera is not expected to receive any further sanctions from the league because he's already been punished. Now the focus will be attempting to start with a clean slate.
Even if Cabrera is unable to regain his 2012 form, the Blue Jays would be more than happy if the 2011 version showed up. That year, the Dominican native hit .305 with an .809 OPS in 155 games with the Royals.
3. Will Romero be able to bounce back from a disappointing 2012 campaign?
Romero arguably can be considered the biggest wild card of the Blue Jays' starting rotation. He entered last year as the club's ace, but the recent acquisitions of Dickey, Johnson and Buehrle likely will allow him to slide all the way down to the No. 5 spot.
That should take a lot of pressure off Romero and allow him to escape the leadership role that was forced upon him too early in his career. In many ways, 2012 was a mystifying season, one in which Romero maintained his velocity but battled control problems.
Romero might never return to his 2011 form, when he went 15-11 with a 2.92 ERA during an All-Star campaign. But the Blue Jays don't need him to. They would be more than content with his 2010 season that culminated with a 3.73 ERA in 210 innings of work.
2012 record
73-89, fourth in the American League East
Projected batting order
1. SS Jose Reyes:
.287 BA, .347 OBP, .433 SLG, 11 HR, 57 RBIs with the Marlins in 2012
2. LF Melky Cabrera:
.346 BA, .390 OBP, .516 SLG, 11 HR, 60 RBIs with the Giants in 2012
3. RF Jose Bautista:
.241 BA, .358 OBP, .527 SLG, 27 HR, 65 RBIs in 2012
4. 1B Edwin Encarnacion:
.280 BA, .384 OBP, .557 SLG, 42 HR, 110 RBIs in 2012
5. DH Adam Lind:
.255 BA, .314 OBP, .414 SLG, 11 HR, 45 RBIs in 2012
6. 3B Brett Lawrie:
.273 BA, .324 OBP, .405 SLG, 11 HR, 48 RBIs in 2012
7. CF Colby Rasmus:
.223 BA, .289 OBP, .400 SLG, 23 HR, 75 RBIs in 2012
8. C J.P. Arencibia:
.233 BA, .275 OBP, .435 SLG, 18 HR, 56 RBIs in 2012
9. 2B Maicer Izturis:
.256 BA, .320 OBP, .315 SLG, 2 HR, 20 RBIs with the Angels in 2012
Projected rotation
1. RHP R.A. Dickey, 20-6, 2.73 ERA with the Mets in 2012
2. RHP Brandon Morrow, 10-7, 2.96 ERA in 2012
3. LHP Mark Buehrle, 13-13, 3.74 ERA with the Marlins in 2012
4. RHP Josh Johnson, 8-14, 3.81 ERA with the Marlins in 2012
5. LHP Ricky Romero, 9-14, 5.27 ERA in 2012
Projected bullpen
Closer: Casey Janssen, 22/25 saves, 2.54 ERA in 2012
RH setup man: Sergio Santos, 9.00 ERA in 2012
LH setup man: Darren Oliver, 2.06 ERA in 2012
The new guys
SS Reyes: The 29-year-old represents the first bona fide leadoff hitter the Blue Jays have had since Shannon Stewart. His ability to get on base and use his speed should go a long way in helping set the table for the likes of Bautista and Encarnacion in the heart of the batting order. Reyes is a dynamic player who should quickly become a fan favorite, but he'll also need to prove he can stay healthy for the duration of the season.
IF/OF Bonifacio: The 27-year-old was the overlooked component of the blockbuster trade with Miami. Anthopoulos insisted Bonifacio be included, and the GM believes he will play a pivotal role this season. Bonifacio could compete with Izturis for the starting job at second base, but failing that, he should receive plenty of opportunities as a super utility man considering his ability to play multiple positions.
IF Izturis: The Venezuela native was signed to a three-year contract this offseason to become the club's starting second baseman. It remains to be seen whether he can hang onto that role, but he should provide above-average defense while being relatively productive with the bat. Izturis is coming off a somewhat disappointing 2012 season but is a career .273 hitter with a .337 on-base percentage that should fit nicely at the bottom of the order.
LF Cabrera: His 2012 season was cut short following a 50-game suspension because of a positive test for a banned substance. Last year's All-Star Game MVP will be looking to prove that the controversial year is now a thing of the past and that he can be just as productive in the future. If Cabrera is able to regain his previous form, he'll be a perfect fit between Reyes and Bautista in the lineup.
RHP Dickey: Last year's NL Cy Young Award winner became the final piece of Toronto's offseason puzzle when Anthopoulos pulled the trigger on yet another blockbuster trade in December. Dickey will take the ball Opening Day and will look to build upon a 20-win season with the Mets in 2012.
RHP Johnson: The big righty was the main target in November's multiplayer trade with Miami. He is coming off an inconsistent 2012 season that saw a dip in his overall velocity. But that was to be expected after suffering an injury the previous season. If Johnson regains some of the lost speed, he will become a stabilizing force for the rotation. And even if he can't, his improved curveball should keep hitters off-balance.
LHP Buehrle: The veteran southpaw has become one of the game's most consistent and reliable pitchers over the last 13 seasons. He's pitched at least 200 innings every year since 2001, and that should be reassuring to an organization that had all five of its starters succumb to injury in 2012.
Prospects to watch
CF Anthony Gose: The young speedster got his first taste of the big leagues in 2012 thanks to the season-ending injury to Bautista. He'll be the first line of defense if any of Toronto's starting outfielders get hurt, but an additional year with Triple-A Buffalo should prove beneficial. The 22-year-old still needs to improve his plate discipline while also cutting down on strikeouts.
LHP Sean Nolin: The 23-year-old is the pitcher most frequently mentioned by Anthopoulos when asked who could become the next starter to make an impact at the big league level. Nolin likely won't be ready for until at least the All-Star break, and should spend the entire season in the Minors. But if he begins the year strong, it does give the organization more depth at the high levels.
RHP Marcus Stroman: He will begin the year on the suspended list after testing positive for a banned substance last offseason. When he returns in May, it might not be long before he forces his way into Majors. Stroman was taken in the first round of last year's Draft, and was considered by many experts to be ready for the next level almost immediately. The only thing that could delay his arrival is that the Blue Jays are expected to stretch him out into a starting role to see if he can handle the extra workload.
RHP Drew Hutchison: The 22-year-old was considered a major component of the Blue Jays' future until he was forced to undergo Tommy John surgery in early July. He won't be ready until at least the All-Star break but could become a factor late in the year if need arises. Hutchison won't overpower anybody, but he has very reliable command and has the potential to become a middle-of-the-rotation starter.
On the rebound
1B Adam Lind: He has found his name on this list the past three years. This season will likely represent his final shot at establishing his spot in the Blue Jays' lineup, but a strong season could change the overall outlook. Lind was expected to begin the year in a platoon, but manager John Gibbons seems to have changed his line of thinking on that issue, and the veteran could still find himself in the lineup versus lefties.
RHP Sergio Santos: The 29-year-old has been throwing without any complications since November. That's an encouraging sign following a year in which he appeared in only six games because of a right shoulder injury. Santos will be given every opportunity to secure a role at the back end of the Blue Jays' rotation, and he's eager to put a frustrating first year in Toronto behind him.
Classic departures
RHP Dickey: The veteran knuckleballer is the ace of a Team USA staff that will be looking to avenge a disappointing finish from the last time the World Baseball Classic was played in 2009. He'll be joined by the likes of Derek Holland and Ryan Vogelsong, and should play a pivotal role in the club's chances of capturing the championship.
C J.P. Arencibia: The young catcher's departure from camp to play in the Classic will be a tough pill for the Blue Jays to swallow, but the pain is eased by the fact he will be working with Dickey. Arencibia has never caught a knuckleballer, and the extra reps should go a long way in providing a true test to see whether he can handle those duties during the regular season.
1B Encarnacion: The veteran slugger should find a spot in the heart of the Dominican Republic's batting order. He was one of the game's most prolific hitters in 2012, and the only reason he is not teaming up with Bautista in the Classic is because Bautista is being held out of the tournament.
SS Reyes: The speedy shortstop is expected to be the leadoff hitter for a powerful Dominican lineup. He will be tasked with setting the table for the likes of Adrian Beltre, Robinson Cano, Hanley Ramirez and Encarnacion. It should provide an excellent warm-up for the All-Star shortstop, who is set to begin his first season in Toronto.
3B Brett Lawrie: His popularity in Canada should grow even more when he takes on a starring role for the Canadian team. He actually was a part of the last World Baseball Classic but found himself buried on the bench as a 19-year-old prospect. That won't be the case this time around, as he'll start at third base and will be key to any success the country is able to have.
Long gone
SS Yunel Escobar: The Blue Jays officially parted ways with Escobar when the Cuban native was traded to Miami in a multiplayer deal this offseason. Escobar eventually ended up in Tampa Bay, where he'll be looking for a fresh start after a tumultuous year in Toronto. The 30-year-old enjoyed varying degrees of success in Toronto but he'll ultimately be remembered for writing a homophobic slur on his eye black that resulted in a suspension last season.
2B Kelly Johnson: The veteran infielder entered 2012 with lofty expectations, but after a strong start to the year he struggled to find consistency. Johnson struck out an astounding 159 times in 507 at-bats, and showed only brief flashes of the power he had during the earlier stages of his career. He will once again team up with Escobar after signing a free-agent contract with the Rays.
RHP Henderson Alvarez: He was one of the Blue Jays' top prospects a couple of years ago but failed to impress in 2012. Alvarez has an overpowering arm, but the lack of a consistent breaking ball led to plenty of doubts over whether he can be a reliable starter or will instead be forced to the bullpen. He was sent packing to Miami in order to provide an upgrade to the club's starting rotation.
RHP Jason Frasor: The veteran reliever became expendable following last year's midseason acquisitions of Steve Delabar and Brad Lincoln. His spot on the depth chart was further hampered by the offseason trades for Esmil Rogers and Jeremy Jeffress, which ultimately led to a lack of interest from Toronto and a new contract with the Rangers.
Gregor Chisholm is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, North of the Border, and follow him on Twitter @gregorMLB. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


text: I think this whole idea of the Raptors being moved if not for Carter is based on no real facts or evidence. Basketball in Toronto had a strong following prior to Carter and it showed steady growth. Toronto has a larger population than Vancouver and the team had/has better ownership. The team has stunk to high heaven since he left and they're still here? Why? Because Toronto is a good basketball market. Toronto posts respectable gate numbers in the worst of years. When people are purchasing those tickets to go witness a stinker they're not doing it with visions of Vince Carter dunks in the back of his mind. What Carter brought was American perceived credibility to the team and it is my belief people are mixing this up with actual club health. What some ignorant ass who couldn't pick Toronto out on a map thinks of the Raptors means nothing to the team's long term health. If it did they'd be long gone.


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First off, I see Jose being the starter for another 3-4 years (brought back on a cheaper deal). Moving on ...
From the draft: Tomas Satoransky could be a strong talent to groom in a backup role. Yes another Euro, but he is big, athletic, great court vision, and would have another young Euro in Jonas to help get him acclimated to the NBA game. Not to mention Jose, a star euro to show him the ropes. He could be had with a late first round pick or even early 2nd - allowing us to use our higher pick on another area (SF, SG, trade).
Also from the draft, I really like the potential of Kabongo. Selfless, lightening quick, great vision - just needs to slow it down sometimes.
Free agency only shows an unattainable star (Deron), aging PGs (Nash, Kidd) who aren't in the long term plans, and mediocre talent that won't be in our long term plans for a starting PG.
The trade market could be very interesting if we move our 2nd rounder, Amir, or Bayless (pre-deadline). Players like Bledsoe, Dragic, and Flynn maybe ... low risk.
Sessions would be a great backup, but not a starter for the future.
Stuckey has some potential as well.
I was really high on Avery Bradley the year we went with Ed. He was injured in his rookie year, and has yet to get major minutes. If Rondo is staying in Boston, there isn't much future for another young PG to ever get an expanded role.


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is one of the largest aircraft firms in the world and one of its most
important recent projects for commercial aviation is the new 787
Dreamliner passenger jet. The 787 has had a rough time in testing and
has seen significant delays due to advanced materials being used in
the aircraft's construction and problems with suppliers.The Seattle
Times reports
that yesterday one of the Boeing 787 test aircraft experienced a
serious issue while flying. The aircraft reportedly had 30 to 40
people on board, who were apparently part of the flight test crew
monitoring the aircraft's performance. The electrical
fire in the aircraft resulted in the loss of primary flight
displays and the aircraft's auto-throttle controls according to a
source familiar with the incident that spoke to the Seattle
say that smoke was noted in the back of the cabin on the 787, which
is Dreamliner number 2. The smoke was detected by a team of
technicians that work at computer stations monitoring flight data
while the aircraft was on approach to land in Laredo, Texas.787
number 2 had been aloft for six hours and was on a mission to test
the nitrogen-generation system of the aircraft that is designed to
reduce the flammability of the fuel in the wings of the aircraft. The
test flight was seeking hot weather to test the system, had taken off
from Yuma, Arizona early Tuesday morning, and was originally headed
to Harlingen, Texas. The pilots of the aircraft had
decided to land in Laredo, Texas after weather conditions favorable
to their tests were noted. According to reports, the backup electric
power generating system called the Ram Air Turbine or RAT had
deployed automatically. The RAT is designed to provide enough power
in case of an electrical system failure allowing the flight controls
to operate.In addition to the flight controls and the flight
displays, virtual all major systems of the 787 are electrically
controlled including the hydraulic pumps that manipulate the
flight-control surfaces, the brakes, cabin pressurization,
engine-starting system and wing ice-protection system. The
pilots of the 787 were already on approach to land when they were
forced to declare an emergency. Once the aircraft landed, the
emergency slides were deployed and the aircraft was evacuated on the
runway.An FAA spokesperson said, "The aircraft landed at
Laredo at about 2:54 Central Time. The aircraft was evacuated on the
runway. They pulled the slides." A person familiar with the
incident said, "If this had happened at 25,000 feet, we might be
talking about something much more serious."Whether or
not this will delay the flight testing of the 787 depends on the
cause of the incident. If it requires a redesign, delays are
expected. If a faulty part caused the issue that can be replaced,
testing should resume shortly. Boeing and the FAA are investigating
the accident now.
the long running delays, the Boeing still has 847 firm orders for the
787 (that number takes into account some of the units that were
cancelled after the significant delays the program has faced). One of
the key improvements that Boeing has worked into the 787 is that most
of the systems of the aircraft are electrically controlled rather
than using pneumatic systems. The move to electrical
control from the pneumatic system was made by Boeing to reduce the
complexity of the aircraft.
The first
test flight for the 787 was in December 2009 and the fifth
prototype 787 took its maiden flight in July 2010.


text:
At the beginning of the season there was a general consensus on this board, on other blogs and even in the main stream media that the Raptors were getting a raw deal from the referees. Much of that talk disappeared shortly after the Charlotte debacle.
Even as the Raps were stinking it up on their disastrous western road trip there wasn't much discussion about poor officiating around this team.
So what happened? Did we get used to be f$#ked over? Did the refs start respecting us? Was it just a coincidence?
I am curious what you all think.


text:
Last week Google Earth, which has recently turned its mapping efforts to imaging the ocean floor, created quite a stir, when someone noticed an unusual image on the ocean floor off the coast of Africa. The blurry image shows a rectangle the size of a small state made up of seemingly perfect straight lines. More lines crisscross the inside of the rectangle like streets.
The site, located in the Madeira Abyssal Plane, is being hailed by some as being possibly the fabled city of Atlantis. It was first discovered by a British aeronautical engineer Bernie Bamford. He states, "It looks like an aerial map of Milton Keynes. It must be man-made."
Google states that the lines are sonar lines based on its imaging techniques, though it could not explain why they stopped or started or featured gaps. Stated a spokesperson, "Bathymetric (or sea floor terrain) data is often collected from boats using sonar to take measurements of the sea floor. The lines reflect the path of the boat as it gathers the data. The fact that there are blank spots between each of these lines is a sign of how little we really know about the world's oceans."
Based on Google's explanation, a possible alternative is that there are deep trenches in the area, which prevented the sonar from escaping.
However, some oceanographers, geophysicists, and other researchers aren't accepting Google's explanation and insist the image might be the long lost city of Atlantis, a staple of Greek mythology. They point out that the location in Google Earth closely echoes where Greek philosopher Plato claimed Atlantis to be located. Plato had said that Atlantis was 620 miles of Africa's coast, past the Canary Islands. He wrote that the land was home to advanced civilization before earthquake and floods sunk it into the sea around 9,700BC — nearly 12,000 years ago.
Dr Charles Orser, curator of historical archaeology at New York State University says that the discovery is "fascinating". He states, "The site is one of the most prominent places for the proposed location of Atlantis, as described by Plato. Even if it turns out to be geographical, this definitely deserves a closer look."
Given the enthusiasm it seems likely that some will investigate the site further. However, for now the so-called discovery still seems a questionable one at best. It does, however, provide Google's ocean mapping efforts with some nice publicity.


text:
When it comes to high-speed Internet, most people take for
granted that their flat monthly fee will provide all the bandwidth needed
for endless downloading.
Time Warner Cable (TWC), on the other hand, doesn't quite
see things that way. Just as Best Buy labeled its bargain-minded customers as
"Devil Customers," TWC has its own subset of customers that take the
"all you can eat" approach to Internet access.
In order to discourage bandwidth gorging, TWC
will trial a new billing system patterned after regular household utilities
that we all have become familiar with. Like gas, water and electric bills, TWC
will charge customers based on their usage instead of a flat fee.
The move should help TWC weed out the five percent of its
customers which it says horde over fifty percent of total network bandwidth.
TWC warns that the network congestions problems will only
get worse as more media content is made available online. People today are
taking advantage of their high-speed Internet connections to download movies
and television shows -- and we can't forget users who often frequent P2P and
torrent sites to share/download content.
"Largely, people won't notice the difference,"
said a spokesman for TWC. "We don't want customers to feel they're getting
less for more."
TWC will first roll out a trial of the new billing system in
Beaumont, Texas later this year. If the tests are successful, TWC may apply the
new billing scheme to all of its 7.4 million residential subscribers around the
Time Warner Cable isn't the first company that has attempted
to curtail a small minority of its customers from hogging network bandwidth
using P2P services like BitTorrent. Comcast chose the unsavory route of throttling
bandwidth for greedy customers using P2P software. Unfortunately, Comcast's
actions also hampered legitimate users of software like Lotus Notes.
Comcast's actions resulted in class-action
lawsuit from customers and an official
investigation by the FCC.


text:
P. Diddy Fails to Stand by His Brand
Apparently, super-mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs is so rich at this point that $100 million ain't nothing but a number.
Diddy done signed a $100-million deal with Ciroc vodka recently to act as the liquor's "brand builder" (which is a fancy way of saying "shill"). But according to a source who spoke to TMZ.com, Combs' loyalties run about as thick as water—or at least thinner than tequila.
The source says that Ciroc's parent company, Diageo, is livid over the fact that Diddy has been seen quaffing down 1800 Tequila in various nightclubs, even after the Ciroc deal was agreed upon.
A rep for Diageo hasn't commented on the matter, nor has anyone from Diddy's camp. But it's worth wondering whether the rapper's stubborn allegiance to the worm will end up queering the deal.
100 million versus 1800…that's some pretty easy math, Diddy. Unless you've been knocking 'em back a little too zealously.


text:
Ask an aid worker about the Horn of Africa
Want to know more about managing household finance? Talk to Suze Ormann. Health advice? Watch Dr. Oz. General wisdom? Google, of course.
But what about those disasters all over the news? It looks like a lot is going on.... or not? Who should you ask to find out about the issues in a big disaster response, like the current drought and famine in the Horn of Africa?
You ask an aid worker. Why? Because they're out in the disaster zone talking to survivors and assessing needs, determining the scale and involvement of response, identifying funding sources for assistance plans, writing proposals communicating with donors about needs and planned projects, and getting the projects started.
In an effort for all of us to better understand the humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa, we're gleaning from the inspiration of Rachel Held Evans interview series, "Ask a ____" and starting our own "ask" series. In this post, I'd like to introduce you to Betsy Baldwin -- disaster response expert.
Betsy is a program officer for World Vision Humanitarian and Emergency Affairs, currently focusing on relief efforts in the Horn of Africa -- where 12.4 million people are affected by drought and famine. She has degrees in Civil Engineering from Iowa State University and Virginia Tech, and has worked in relief development in Darfur, Sudan, Northern Afghanistan, Haiti (following the January 2010 earthquake), conflict regions of the Congo, and South Sudan.
She recently returned from the Horn of Africa, assessing needs in Somalia. (Read her blog post about her visit and "Being a humanitarian -- from the desk or the field".)
When I first met Betsy, she was introduced to me as a (and I quote) "total aid worker expert." When I asked her why she thinks the public needs to better understand humanitarian aid work, this is what she said:
"We are seeing an increase in disasters for several reasons -- some related to climate change and others related to higher demand for resources (oil, raw materials for electronics, etc.) from under developed nations. Providing assistance means saving lives now but also preventing lives from being lost in future disasters."
If you have questions for Betsy, here's your chance -- leave them in the comment section. Remember that the point is to ask the sort of questions that will help us better understand humanitarian aid work and the crisis in the Horn of Africa. Wednesday, we'll pick the top six or seven questions and give them to Betsy to answer first-hand. (And if you like someone else's question, leave a reply saying so. That way we can get a sense of what questions are of most interest to you.) Look for her answers and responses this Thursday.
Read Betsy's follow-up post: An aid worker's answers about the Horn of Africa


text:
Weems is a SG and blew his opportunity.
Wright is a great worker, hustler, and seems like a good guy, I wish him all the best. But he is third string SF at best. 4 years of opportunities shows that.
DeRozan is a SG.
Johnson has had little chance in Chicago. He is a 6'9", 245lb SF. He has shown ability to rebound and defend based on his stats in college and limited action in the NBA. He puts up very similar to stats to Wright in nearly half the playing time. He has a contract of $1.8M next year and possibly $2.8M the year after. Very small risk financially, appears to be better than other SF options here, fills an immediate need with future upside possible.
I concede I wish the 1st round pick was not used but there are a lot of upside being neglected.


text:
Blur effect is an object that can apply the blur effect to HTML page elements. It takes the identifier of a given page element and starts an animation effect that progressively alters CSS properties of that element that make it appear blurred. Different CSS properties may be altered depending on the capabilities of the current browser. The object can also execute an animation that reverts the blur effect of the element. There are versions of the object either based or not in the jQuery library.
DatePNG is a PHP class can be used to generate a PNG image with a given time. It opens a template image in PNG format and renders text with a time in one or more formats. The font, size, position, angle, and color of the text are configurable parameters. The resulting image is generated in the PNG format as the current script output.
Decoration is an image decorator. It applies effects to your photoset. It has an extensive set of effects (more than 100) including color border, gradient border, round corners, drop shadow, mirror, blur, reduce noise, tint, mosaic, superpose text, rotate, zoom, crop, button, brightness, contrast, gamma, glow, bend, sharpen, change transparency, kaleidoscope, oil, emboss, bump, and edge. You can also use it to generate buttons. Images can be located on your hard disk, on a Web site, or in the clipboard, or your can create an empty one. Examples are included in the software.
FF Multi Converter is a simple graphical application that converts audio, video, image, and document files between all popular formats, using and combining other programs. It uses ffmpeg for audio/video files, unoconv for document files, and the ImageMagick library for image file conversions.


text:
Click here to view an animated version of this procedure.
Cholecystectomy is the surgical removal of the gallbladder. This procedure is most often done laparoscopically. This is done through several small incisions in the abdomen. In some cases, the doctor may switch to open surgery. This involves a larger incision in the abdomen.
Reasons for Procedure
This surgery is used to remove a diseased or damaged gallbladder. The damage is typically caused by infection or inflammation. This is often due to gallstones, which are crystals of bile that can form in the gallbladder. Sometimes, these get stuck in the ducts that bile normally flows through. This blockage in the ducts can damage the gallbladder and the liver.
Possible Complications
Problems from the procedure are rare, but all procedures have some risk. Your doctor will review potential problems, like:
- Gallstones that have accidentally entered the abdominal cavity
- Bleeding
- Infection
- Injury to other nearby structures or organs
- Reactions to general anesthesia
- Blood clots
Before your procedure, talk to your doctor about ways to manage factors that may increase your risk of complications, such as:
What to Expect
Prior to Procedure
Your doctor will probably do some or all of the following:
- Blood tests to evaluate liver function
- Abdominal ultrasound
- Hepatobiliary iminodiacetic acid (HIDA) scan—an x-ray test that uses contrast material to highlight the liver, gallbladder, ducts, and small intestines and make them easier to see
- Electrocardiogram (EKG) and chest x-ray—to make sure that the heart and lungs are healthy enough for surgery
- MRI or CT scan to better view the gallbladder
Leading up to your procedure:
- Talk to your doctor about your medications. You may be asked to stop taking some medications up to one week before the procedure.
- Arrange for a ride to and from the procedure. Also, have someone help you at home.
- The night before, eat a light meal. Do not eat or drink anything after midnight.
- You may be given laxatives and/or an enema to clean out your intestines.
- If instructed, shower before the procedure. You may be given special soap to use.
General anesthesia will be used. You will be asleep for the procedure.
Description of Procedure
Four small openings will be made in your abdomen. Carbon dioxide will be pumped into the abdomen to provide a better view.
The laparoscope will be inserted through one of the openings. It will provide images of the gallbladder and surrounding area. Instruments will be inserted through the other openings. They will be used to grasp the gallbladder and clip off the main artery and duct. The gallbladder will be removed through one of the openings. Contrast material may be injected into the duct to look for stones, which may be removed if found. The entire abdomen will be carefully examined. The incisions will be closed with sutures or staples. They will be covered with bandages.
A tiny, flexible tube may be placed into the area. This tube will exit from your abdomen into a little bulb. This is to drain fluid. The tube is usually removed within one week.
Immediately After Procedure
You will be taken to a recovery room.
How Long Will It Take?
About 30-60 minutes
How Much Will It Hurt?
Anesthesia will prevent pain during surgery. Pain and discomfort after the procedure can be managed with medications.
Average Hospital Stay
If you do not have any problems, you may be able to go home the same day as the surgery or the next day.
Post-procedure Care
After the procedure, the hospital staff will:
- Monitor you for any problems
- Give you medications for pain and nausea
- Provide you with nutrition through an IV if you have a tube in your stomach to drain fluid
- Help you to slowly progress from a liquid diet to soft foods
Your bowels will work more slowly than usual. Chewing gum may help speed the process of your bowel function returning to normal.
During your stay, the hospital staff will take steps to reduce your chance of infection, such as:
- Washing their hands
- Wearing gloves or masks
- Keeping your incisions covered
There are also steps you can take to reduce your chance of infection, such as:
- Washing your hands often and reminding your healthcare providers to do the same
- Reminding your healthcare providers to wear gloves or masks
- Not allowing others to touch your incision
Recovery takes about 3 weeks. You will have a special diet and physical activity plan to help with your recovery. Follow instructions on wound care to prevent infection. Your doctor may advise pain medications for discomfort. Your liver will take over the functions of the gallbladder. Some people notice that they have a little more trouble digesting fatty foods, particularly for the first month after surgery.
Call Your Doctor
Contact your doctor if your recovery is not progressing as expected or you develop complications, such as:
- Signs of infection, including fever and chills
- Redness, swelling, increasing pain, excessive bleeding, or discharge at the incision site
- Cough, shortness of breath, chest pain
- Increased abdominal pain
- Pain that you cannot control with the medications you have been given
- Blood in the stool
- Persistent nausea and/or vomiting
- Bloating and gas that persist for more than a month
- Pain and/or swelling in your feet, calves, or legs
- Dark urine, light stools, or yellowing of the skin or eyes
If you think you have an emergency, call for medical help right away.
Revision Information
- Reviewer: EBSCO Medical Review Board Donald Buck, MD
- Review Date: 03/2017 -
- Update Date: 03/23/2015 -


text:
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text:
You are logged in as:
Your tax invoice can be downloaded on flysaa.com under Manage & Fly 72 hours after the e-ticket has been issued.
If a Tax Invoice has been successfully generated from the South African Airways Tax Invoice System, the onus rests on the recipient to ensure that his/her mailbox has enough space to receive an e-mail - with a PDF attachment; and that his//her service provider or exchange server allows for delivery of such e-mails. South African Airways, can not take responsibility for undelivered e-mails due to any other reasons beyond our control including the above.
Prescribed details required from the South African Revenue Service on a tax invoices
Tax invoices must ordinarily reflect the following details as prescribed by the South African Revenue Service Act, 1997 (Act No. 34 of 1997):
JOHANNESBURG, 28 August 2013. South African Airways Technical (SAAT), the maintenance subsidiary of the national carrier, South African Airways (SAA), has concluded a wage deal with the Aviation Union of Southern Africa (AUSA), which represents a large portion of engineers and technical staff at SAAT. The deal, which was signed earlier today (Wednesday, 28 August 2013) means that SAAT and the airline will be able to continue with operations with minimal, if any disruptions.
The wage agreement is for a period of one year. The settlement entails 6,5% on total cost to company; 0,5% once-off payment and a further 1% increase for technicians flowing from the previous year's wage agreement.
This afternoon the company met with the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) with the hope of reaching an agreement that would lead to their 752 members returning to their posts. The two parties will meet again tomorrow afternoon to continue with negotiations. The company reiterates its desire to have all employees back at their posts as soon as possible. Returning to work is also in the interest of the striking employees as the no-work no-pay principle applies. A strike for up to seven (7) days could take employees years to recoup their lost remuneration and may never do so, depending on the settlement increase.
Only two flights affected by the strike
SAA confirms that out of the 47 departures out of OR Tambo International Airport (i.e. between 06:00AM and 16:00PM) only two flights were delayed as a direct result of the strike. The two flights were SA064 (Johannesburg to Lusaka) and SA559 (Johannesburg to Durban). The delays were for seven (7) minutes and 14 (fourteen) respectively.
The airline also confirms that it has applied for an interdict which is meant to address unruly, intimidating and unlawful behavior by SATAWU members during picketing contrary to the picketing rules agreed to and the applicable laws. Contrary to assertions by SATAWU, the interdict is not intended to stop the strike as this is a protected strike.
About SAA
South African Airways (SAA) is the leading carrier in Africa, serving 26 destinations across the continent, as well as major destinations within South Africa and internationally from its Johannesburg hub. It is a member of the largest international airline network, Star Alliance. SAA's core business is the provision of passenger airline and cargo transport services together with related services, which are provided through SAA and its four wholly owned subsidiaries: SAA Technical; Mango its low cost carrier; Air Chefs, the catering entity of SAA and South African Travel Centre (SATC). SAA is the winner of the 'Best Airline in Africa' Award in the regional category for eleven consecutive years. Mango and SAA hold the number one and number two successive spots as South Africa's most on-time airlines.
For more information contact:
SAA Group Corporate Affairs
Tlali Tlali
Executive: Group Corporate Affairs
Tel: +27 11 978 3819
Mobile: +27 82 333 3880
Email: email@example.com
Kabelo Ledwaba
Communication Manager(External)
Tel: +27 11 978 2760
Mobile: +27 83 414 4720
Website: www.flysaa.com
Twitter: @flysaa
Facebook: www.facebook.com/flysaa


text: People here massively over value picks. Deng may not be a top 5 small forward but he is a good fit for this team and he comes from a team that is among the best in the league so he may bring that winning mentality. He has ridiculous size and length, plays great D, and actually shoots pretty well from 3. People here seem to like Gay but he is a pretty awful distance shooter, which is one of the things Casey said we need. Igi is better but he doesn't have much size and a line up of him an Derozen may have some trouble dealing with the big 3's around the league. I think Deng is the perfect fit here and I really like the deal, assuming we can find a good replacement for Calderon. I do think it's tipped a little bit in the Bulls favor (Calderon is pretty good) but if they threw in a protected future first I'd probably do the deal.


text:
As Ohio's Governor Bob Taft (R) prepares to leave office, he is planning to appoint four new members to the state board of education.
When Sally Cauble and Jana Shaver take their seats on the Kansas state board of education in January 2007, the balance of power on the board will shift to favor the supporters of the integrity of science education. But the return to a set of state science standards in which evolution is properly treated is not likely to be immediate.
The threat of creationism in public education continues to occupy the headlines in the United Kingdom, prompted in part by a propaganda blitz on the part of a newly formed creationist organization styling itself Truth in Science. In September 2006, Truth in Science sent packets of creationist teaching material, including two "intelligent design" DVDs, to the science heads of every secondary school (of which there are about 5700) in the United Kingdom.
Adding to the creationism sightings around the world, Reuters (November 22, 2006) ran a story on Islamic creationism in Turkey, where "[s]cientists say pious Muslims in the government, which has its roots in political Islam, are trying to push Turkish education away from its traditionally secular approach." The main source of antievolution propaganda in Turkey is Harun Yahya -- a pseudonym probably for a pool of writers, headed by Adnan Oktar -- which, as Taner Edis told Reuters, "has managed to create a media-based and
National Center for Science Education, Inc.
1904 Franklin Street, Suite 600
Oakland, CA 94612
fax: 510-788-7971
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text:
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text:
Aunt Sophie Keeps Motorcycle, Georgia Member Wins $10,000
One lucky member of Georgia United Credit Union had the chance to win $10,000 or Aunt Sophie's motorcycle.
The $940 million credit union in Duluth, Ga., recently held its "Win Aunt Sophie's Motorcycle promotion for members who applied for a loan between July 16 and Nov. 1. No purchase was necessary and all members who applied during that period were automatically entered.
Georgia United said it had some fun with the promotion with its spokesperson, Aunt Sophie.
"Aunt Sophie represents financially savvy relatives everywhere. And, she dispenses financial predictions and advice like, 'High loan rates are about to be road kill,'" the credit union said.
The motorcycle drawing took place from among all entries received by Nov. 1 and the winner was chosen Nov. 9.
Valorie Hammock from Grayson, Ga., who came to the credit union for her auto loan, was the winner. She chose the $10,000 prize rather than the motorcycle.
Hammock is an aesthetic technician with Gwinnett Dermatology, one of the local select employee groups served by Georgia United, the credit union said.
Georgia United said it had a record year in consumer and mortgage loans during 2012 and was able to offer rates as low as 1.99% APR for new and used car loans.


text:
This is not a 'trade Jose' or 'keep Jose' thread - remember that.
The fact is Bryan Colangelo has said on numerous occasions this year that a focus of his is, one way or another, acquiring a point guard of the future.
Like it or not, that would strongly imply the point guard of the future is NOT Jose Calderon considering he is already under contract.
So if Jose is not the point guard of the future, who would you REALISTICALLY like to see?
Some ideas to get you thinking:
Trade? Jennings? Bledsoe?
Free agency? Augustin? Felton?
Draft? Lillard? Marshall? Kabongo? Teague?
Other thoughts?


text:
Engadget reported two weeks ago
that a new revision of the Xbox 360, Zephyr,
was due to be launched this year. Engadget posted a rather grainy image of an
Xbox 360 which sported an HDMI port for native 1080p support. Xbox-Scene followed up with some clearer shots of the HDMI port
along with a revised motherboard featuring the new HANA scaler chip.
Along with the new HDMI port, Engadget also reported that a new 120GB hard drive would be
included in addition to already anticipated cooler-running 65 nanometer IBM
Xenon PowerPC processor.
Not surprisingly, the inclusion of an HDMI port sparked the
most debate on the internet. Discussion boards across the web turned into flame
zones as techies argued back and forth over whether Microsoft was justified in
releasing an HDMI-equipped Xbox 360.
When Microsoft was asked directly, Microsoft's Chris Satchell confirmed
the existence of prototype Xbox 360s with an HDMI ports, but declined to
expound on the possibility of seeing it in the future. Satchell also deflected questioning
on the larger 120GB hard drive.
Dean Takahashi, always a close confidant to Microsoft
executives, had a chance to press Bill
Gates on future upgrades to the Xbox 360 including his thoughts on a larger
hard drive and IPTV.
While Satchell deflected questioning on the possibility of a
larger hard drive for IPTV, Gates simply said that it isn't needed.
"In an IPTV environment, there is no reason to put anything down on a hard
disk because you created a broadband infrastructure that has enough capacity to
stream individual video streams to everybody on the network," said Gates.
"In terms of videos and music, there is no reason to put it on the local
hard disk."
Bill Gates also made mention that content providers are
likely to be elated with the idea that no IPTV content would be stored on the
Xbox 360's hard drive. "It means you can insert ads that are up to date. You
can control how much ad skipping you allow. And you're less vulnerable to
getting at the bits. Xbox is a very protected environment. No one is going to
go and get bits on an Xbox." He went on to say "By being more secure than
anything else out there, it's pretty good. It's really just the simplicity. You
have to get permissions to do server-based DVR. You have to get the copyright
owner's permission."
Also, contrary to what Paul Thurrott said in the January 12 edition of the Windows Weekly, no
new revision of the Xbox 360 will be needed for users to take advantage of
IPTV. "No, we don't need to change it at all to do an IPTV thing."
Takahashi questioned Gates on the subject of the Xbox
360 competing head to head with Windows Media Center PCs. "Xbox has a
slightly better hardware protection model. We may have some content we don't
get for everywhere. It's very valid to point out that some of the good things
we are doing in Media Center we should share with Xbox and some of the good
things we are doing on Xbox we should share with the Media Center," Gates responded.
He added "If people are comparing Microsoft to
Microsoft, we have no concern. It's OK. Should we pick one form factor and
worry about that? Should we be concerned if someone puts their media on my Zune
or media on my Blackjack? There is enough uncertainty about who wants PC coming
down in the living room and Xbox coming up that I don't mind them meeting and
even overlapping as long as the point system, the user interface, the
development tools - as long as we get this incredible alignment."
Gates also took the time to take a few jabs at Sony's
PlayStation 3. Gates stated that Sony wouldn't have anything better-looking
than the upcoming Halo 3 for the Xbox 360. "They were going to have the
Cell be the video processor. But they didn't know what they were doing. They
said the Cell is the video processor. But they turned to Nvidia at the last
minute, but Nvidia can't do embedded DRAM. Go look at the bandwidth problems.
Go ask the guys running ... now."
Gates seems very optimistic about the future of the Xbox
360 in the interview and is looking forward to working with content providers
like AT&T for IPTV. Though Microsoft is downplaying the importance of
hard drives larger than the 20GB currently in use (actually, only about 13GB are
useable), the company is more likely than not to cave in to the demands of
gamers and the market to deliver a considerable boost in storage.


text:
Voodoo was a long time player in the boutique gaming PC industry and when it was purchased by HP many gaming enthusiasts figured that Voodoo would be gelded. However, the gaming company continued making some interesting desktop and laptop gaming machines.
The first Voodoo and HP system to come from the purchase was called the HP Blackbird 002. It was an interesting rig with a price tag that was higher than most were willing to spend. Add the cost to the fact that you could build the rig for much less than HP and Voodoo were asking for it and the machine was scorned by many gamers and computer enthusiasts.
Engadget has posted up some details on the next Voodoo DNA infused computer to come out of HP. The machine is called the HP Firebird PC 803 and looks like a much larger version of the Eee Box to my eyes. To save space most of the internal components are turned on their side, making for a chassis that is thinner on the front than typical computers.
Crammed inside the attractive case is an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.83 GHz CPU, NVIDIA nForce 760i SLI chipset, 4GB of RAM, dual NVIDIA 9800S video cards, Wi-Fi, and dual 320GB HDDs. A Blu-ray player is also integrated to make the machine a capable HTPC as well.
One interesting feature of the Firebird is that it uses an external power supply to allow for the thin form factor. That also helps reduce the heat produced inside the chassis. Perhaps the most important specification of the system is still unknown -- the price. Anything with Voodoo's name on it isn't cheap, so don't expect a bargain, but it should be considerably cheaper than the Blackbird 002.


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Doc Rivers: Donald Sterling's 'apology' is too little, too late
Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers believes Donald Sterling's televised apology came too late.
The NBA banned Sterling for life, fined him $2.5 million and is attempting to force him to sell the Clippers after he told a friend he didn't want her bringing African-Americans to games. His apology was taped by CNN 15 days after TMZ Sports first revealed the recording of his comments.
"I'm glad that he did it," Rivers said of Sterling's apology. "I don't have much more comments than that. But I think that's what you have to do, and you should do it. He probably should have done it right away.
"…I personally don't need [an apology]. But I think the right thing is always when you make a mistake, you should man up and apologize, so it's good that he did it."
New Clippers CEO Dick Parsons, who was appointed by the league last week to help run the franchise until it is sold, seconded Rivers' words.
"I would observe, as most Americans would, that he's a little late, to be sure," Parsons said of Sterling.
Sterling also told his friend V. Stiviano in the recording that she should not take pictures on Instagram or go to Clippers games with Hall of Famer Magic Johnson. Sterling told CNN that Johnson is not a "good example for the children of Los Angeles. He would go and do what he did and got AIDs."
Rivers was glad to hear Johnson attended the Clippers' 101-99 victory over the Thunder on Sunday, but he didn't think much of Sterling's latest comments about Johnson.
"I'll stand by Magic every day of the year because I've known him for a long time," Rivers said. "Having said that, I don't know what's going on out there. I tried not to get involved in that part of it right now.
"Whatever it is, that doesn't sound like much of an apology to me. I'm going to leave it alone because I don't know exactly the context. I think it's safer to do that."
Said Parsons: "Everybody loves Magic. The Magic I know is a terrific guy and a great role model."
Sterling said in the CNN interview he hoped to be forgiven, he made a mistake and he isn't a racist. Rivers planned to avoid watching Sterling's interview and everything else connected to the controversy.
"What I've decided to do is anytime anything comes on, I usually turn, not because of some protest or anything, I just don't need the clutter right now," Rivers said. "I got the basketball operations. I got the team. We're in the middle of the playoffs. So for right now what I've decided to do is just kind of tune out, if you want to say. It's just right for me right now.
"I'm sure at some point I will sit down and listen and hear. I'll hear it anyway from somebody what's been said. I'll probably react from there. I'm just too focused on what we're doing right now."
Parsons said the Clippers could become "America's team" in the aftermath of Sterling.
"America loves a story where someone gets knocked down and then gets back up into the ring. This team has talent," Parsons said.
While Rivers hopes Parsons is right, he also knows it will depend on the Clippers' success in the playoffs. The Clippers have never won an NBA title.
"I don't know if we're going to be America's team and all that stuff," Rivers said. "I've heard that a lot, and it's great. I just want to be a winning team. I think when you become a winning team, you do become America's team. We all love winners.
"For us to do anything, I think winning has to be attached to it. All else follows. But the winning part has to come."


text:
The smartphone
war continues to rage on and Google Inc.'s (GOOG) Android has stepped out
into the lead. It outsold Apple, Inc. (AAPL) smartphones over 2 to 1 globally in the last quarter.
And minority players like Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) were struggling to cling
on to insubstantial market shares.
I. Google: Market Champion or Buying Time?
Android's race to the top was fueled by its support of an open ecosystem in
which players like Motorola Solutions Inc. (MSI),
Samsung Electronics Comp., Ltd. (SEO:005930), and HTC Corp. (TPE:2498)
could all make Android devices without direct licensing fees (Google profited
off of app sales and mobile advertising).
The result was an ecosystem which frequently delivered hardware that was more
advanced than Apple, Research in Motion, Ltd. (TSE:RIM),
and Microsoft's offerings. And not only was the hardware better, the
selection was broader too.
But despite the appearance that Android won, the ecosystem is now facing the
looming potential of doom. That doom could come thanks to Apple, RIM, and
Microsoft's growing portfolio of purchased intellectual property and desire to
sue Android handset makers into submission.
Apple currently is suing HTC, Samsung, and Motorola in cases that stretch
across multiple countries and continents [1][2][3][4]. Microsoft is suing Motorola as well and
is using legal threats to try to force Samsung into a per phone licensing deal (as
much as $15 USD per Android phone sold), as it did with HTC last year. Likewise,
Oracle Corp. (ORCL) is seeking $6.1B USD in
damages, claiming that Android is infringing on the Java patents it
obtained in its acquisition of Sun Microsystems.
The combined picture is clear. Apple and Microsoft have sued or entered
into sweet licensing agreements with virtually every major Android maker (a few
like LG Electronics Inc. (SEO:066570)
have been spared, presumably on the merits of their smaller market share).
II. Android Faces Death by Multiple Means
The question becomes whether Android handset makers can remain viable in the
face of these lawsuits. While a $15 USD licensing fee to Microsoft might
not be lethal, if Samsung and HTC have to pay an additional $15 USD to Apple
and $15 USD to Oracle, the result may be the phones will become unprofitable.
On the other hand, if Google's handset partners refuse to play ball, they may
be forced to pay even worse damages by international courts.
Apple, Microsoft, and others have multiple routes to use
their intellectual property to kill Android.
III. Shadowy Alliance Beats Google for IP Treasure Chest
Those efforts have been strengthened by the purchase of Nortel Networks' portfolio of
over 6,000 patents. The telecom equipment maker put the portfolio on the
market after it was forced to declare bankruptcy in 2009.
Google hoped to win the portfolio, bidding $900M USD.
It insisted that its purposes for acquiring it would be peaceful.
In its blog its Senior Vice President and General Counsel Kent Walker explains,
"[O]ne of a company's best defenses against . . .
[patent] litigation is (ironically) to have a formidable patent portfolio, as
this helps maintain your freedom to develop new products and services."
The comment would prove fortuitous, as Google was beat by a shadowy bidder
calling itself "Rockstar Bidco". That bidder offered up $4.5B
USD, an offer that was embraced by a cash-thirsty Nortel, leave Google's
potential offer in the dust.
So who was Rockstar Bidco? Turns out it was none other than Apple,
Microsoft, RIM, and three other companies -- the same players who are working
to use their already substantial IP to try to sue or license Android handset
makers into the red.
IV. U.S. Antitrust Regulators May Step In
The plot to kill Android is so obvious that it has top antitrust experts
screaming foul. Robert Skitol, an antitrust lawyer at the Drinker Biddle
firm, opines in a Washington Post interview, "Why is the portfolio worth five
times more to this group collectively than it is to Google? Why are three
horizontal competitors being allowed to collaborate and cooperate and join
hands together in this, rather than competing against each other?"
Brian Kahin, a senior fellow at the Computer & Communications Industry
Association, adds, "The one thing that's significant here is you have
three of the four smartphone platforms ganging up on the fourth. You want
patents for an economic benefit, not as a legal instrument."
The questions Mr. Skitol and Mr. Kahin raises are reportedly being echoed among
top U.S. antitrust officials. Pressure is mounting for the U.S.
government to block or place serious restrictions on the "Rockstar
Bidco" acquisition of the Nortel IP.
The American Antitrust Institute sent a letter to the U.S. Department of
Justice, begging them to limit the purchase.
The sale is set to be made official on Nortel's antitrust proceedings today,
though regulatory approval still awaits.
Mr. Walker says the outcome of the pending sale could be a matter of life or
death for the Android ecosystem and free market. He states, "This
outcome is disappointing for anyone who believes that open innovation benefits
users and promotes creativity and competition. We will keep working to reduce
the current flood of patent litigation that hurts both innovators and
V. From Bully to Victim: Google's Unusual Situation
Google clearly won't go down without a fight, nor will its handset partners.
But if the intellectual property pressure grows too great, the Android
coalition may be rendered unable to compete.
The situation is highly unusual, due to a number of reasons. First,
Google itself is the subject of antitrust scrutiny on reports that it abused
its dominant Android position to bully service providers. Second, the
case represents a situation in which small players are able to team up and
legally damage a clear-cut market leader -- a relative rarity.
Thus Google -- which of late has become viewed as a bully of sorts -- finds the
tables turned, and finds itself a clear victim.
VI. The Big Picture
While the possibility that Android, a beloved smartphone institution, could be
sued out of existence by Apple, Microsoft, et al. is alarming to many, this
incident in many ways serves most of all to illustrate much broader problems
with the U.S. intellectual property system.
Companies in the U.S. are laying claim to increasingly generic intellectual
property and using that IP as instrument not to innovate, but to litigate.
The street runs two ways in most cases -- often times IP lawsuits are
followed by IP countersuits [1][2]. But often one player in the market is
using IP as the general bully, while the other is trying to defend itself.
Many argue the U.S. desperately needs intellectual property reform. But
the federal government under both former President George W. Bush (R) and under
President Barack Obama (D) has been slow to act.
The Nortel sale should offer a key signal to the market. If the federal
government blocks it, it may be a sign that the era of using IP as an offensive weapon is coming to an end. On the other hand, if it's approved without
restriction, it will offer a virtual blueprint of how to defeat your
competitor. If the latter scenario plays out consumers may find
themselves in an odd market where it's not the competitor with the best
products that wins, but the company with the best lawyers and patent portfolio.


text:
The European Parliament is set to begin debate on a
far-reaching proposal to reduce the carbon footprint of European
vehicles. The new plan is both large and far-reaching, but the most
shocking part is a requirement to ban within six years all vehicles with a top
speed of over 162km/h (101 mph). At a stroke, this would eliminate the
manufacture and sale of every sports car in Europe, along with larger,
more powerful sedans. The plan also includes a requirement that carmakers spend
20% of all advertising to warn consumers of the CO2 emissions of their
The plan's author is Chris Davies, a member of Parliament and spokesman
for the EC's committee on the environment and public health. Mr. Davies
official position is, "cars designed to go at stupid speeds have to be
built to withstand the effects of a crash at those speeds. They are heavier
than necessary, less fuel efficient and produce too many emissions." This of course ignores the fact that the
fastest sports cars are designed as light as possible and actually weigh
much less than the average family car.
The plan is known as the Carbon Allowance Reduction System, or CARS for
short... apparently in the hopes that a catchy, easy-to-remember name will help
sell it.
Mr. Davies is also working on a new labeling scheme for Europe, whereby all
goods and services purchased in Europe-- everything from an airline ticket to a
packet of cornflakes-- will be required to be labeled with an official
"carbon statement"-- the result of a complex and expensive accounting
of the total emissions generated during manufacture, shipping, and use. He
tosses off concerns over the cost of the project as unwarranted piffle.
Europe has long been known as home to some of the planet's fastest sports
cars-- as well as its fastest public motorways. Will one stroke of a pen
change all that? Contact your local MEP to find out.


text:
Credit unions on the cusp of 50 full-time or full-time equivalent employees wondering if they must comply with Obamacare in 2014 need to decide now if they will utilize a look-back period option, said an expert from a top industry auditor.
Whether or not a business exceeds the 50 FTE Obamacare threshold will be assessed on a monthly basis, said Anita Baker, managing partner of employee benefit plans at the Minneapolis-based firm CliftonLarsonAllen, which has 350 credit union clients.
Non-exempt employees who work varied hours could cause a nightmare for human resources departments tasked with calculating FTEs each month, she said.
To provide a safe harbor that allows companies to lock in Obamacare compliance status, Baker said the program allows employers to apply a look-back method, which involves documenting FTE counts over a period of six to 12 months during 2013.
"Employers really need to determine now if they want to use a look back for 2013," she said. "If you wait, the process will be a lot harder."
Credit unions that wish to take advantage of the look-back provision aren't required to notify the federal insurance exchange or regulators, but Baker said auditors and regulators will check to ensure employers document the methodology used to determine FTE numbers.
"It's just like any other law, you'll have to document you've used a specific measurement period and if employees took your coverage or declined. It's just like any other process," she said.
Although penalties for compliance exceptions are steep – $2,000 to $3,000 per employee depending upon the violation – Baker said they may not be as expensive as the cost to provide required insurance for employees, especially those who elect for family coverage.
"Employers are generally paying more than $3,000 per employee for health coverage, so they may want to look at if it makes more sense to pay the penalty," she said.
Not-for-profit credit unions should also consider the fact that because they don't pay federal income taxes, they won't benefit from the ability to deduct premiums from their federal taxes, Baker said.
Additionally, she said, employers should consider the impact on higher earners should they decide to drop coverage altogether, because only low-wage earners will be eligible for subsidies at the government exchange.
"If they go from an employer's plan where they only pay 20% of the premium to paying 100% of the premium, in effect that's a significant pay cut," she said.
A recent CUNA Mutual Group survey revealed that only 31% of credit unions are ready to comply with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.


text:
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text:
When it comes to American commercial airliners, the Boeing
787 Dreamliner has received the majority of the press for the past two
years. The 787 uses advanced engines and composite materials to achieve
remarkable fuel economy for an aircraft its size.
However, the older Boeing 777-300ER is making news due to the
actions of one daring pilot. Captain Ian Wilkinson decided to make the most of
the maiden voyage of the Cathay Pacific 777-300ER by showing off the capabilities of
the aircraft.
Captain Wilkinson made a 332
MPH pass of the airport control tower at a height of just 28 feet. Onboard
the aircraft were Cathay Pacific airline executives who were "stunned into
silence", while on the ground stood cheering ground crew.
"We heard afterwards he was asked to do a fly-by of the
factory and decided to give them a flight they would never forget," said
one Cathay Pacific inside. "But why he chose to do it with the chairman on
board is anyone's guess."
Passengers and the flight crew of the brand new 777-300ER toasted
Captain Wilkinson with champagne after the fly-by. That might have been the end
of the event if it weren't for the Internet -- a video of the low fly-by found
its way to YouTube and Wilkinson soon was suspended, and then later fired for
his actions.
"If no one else had found out about it, the incident
would probably have gone no further, but once it began circulating on the
internet and Hong Kong's Civil Aviation Authority got hold of it, that was the
end of him," said a senior pilot for Cathay Pacific.
Captain Wilkinson, who has lived in Hong Kong for the past
15 years, is said to be considering an appeal of his termination -- considering
that Wilkinson was pulling down nearly $500,000 USD a year as a pilot, it a
near certainty that he will go through with the appeal.
"Wilkinson was showing off, and most of the pilots
might be sympathetic, but they feel that he got what he deserved when he was
sacked," added Cathay Pacific senior pilot who wished to remain nameless.


text:
Alexandria is a GNOME application to help manage a book collection. It retrieves book information (including cover pictures) from several online libraries, allows you to search for a book (either by EAN/ISBN, title, authors, or keyword), can import and export data into ONIX, Tellico, and EAN/ISBN-list formats, generates Web pages from your libraries, allows marking your books as loaned, saves data using the YAML format, features an HIG-compliant user interface, shows books in different views that can be filtered or sorted, and handles book rating and notes.
Apache OpenMeetings is a multi-language customizable video-conferencing and collaboration system. It supports audio/video and allows you to see the desktop of any participant. It includes a whiteboard, the ability to import a variety of image formats, invitations, a moderation system, backup and language modules, private and public conference rooms, and the ability to record meetings. The project also provides integrations for Asterisk, Jira, Confluence, Moodle, Sakai, and SugarCRM, and connectors for LDAP and ADS.
Arronax is a plugin for Nautilus (the GNOME default file manager) to create and modify application starters (".desktop files"). It adds the menu item "Create starter for this file" to the context menu (the menu you get when you right-click a file in the file manager). If the file is an application starter, you get the item "Modify this starter" instead. If you have icons enabled on your desktop, Arronax adds the menu item "Create starter" to your desktop's context menu.
BleachBit deletes junk to recover disk space and maintain privacy. It rids your system of old junk including cache, Internet history, temporary files, unused locale files (better than localepurge), logs, and cookies. Designed for Linux systems, it wipes clean 50 applications including Adobe Reader, Bash, Firefox, Flash, OpenOffice.org, Opera, Real Player, Skype, and more. It shreds files so that they cannot be recovered, and it wipes free disk space to hide insecurely deleted files. It offers both a simple PyGTK GUI and a command line interface for automation.
ClassicMenu Indicator is a notification area applet (application indicator) for the top panel of Ubuntu's Unity desktop environment. It provides a simple way to get a classic GNOME-style application menu for those who prefer this over the Unity dash menu. Like the classic GNOME menu, it includes Wine games and applications if you have those installed.
Contao is a content management system (CMS) for people who want a professional Internet presence that is easy to maintain. The state-of-the-art structure of the system offers a high security standard and allows you to develop search engine friendly Websites that are also accessible for people with disabilities. Furthermore, the system can be expanded flexibly and inexpensively. It features easy management of user rights, a Live Update Service, a modern CSS framework, and many integrated modules (news, calendar, forms, etc.).
A Dart Web server.
A PHP/MySQL tile engine for Google Maps.


text:
This season has been disappointing when it comes to comparing the hype going in to this season and the actual results we're seeing right now. Raps will be missing playoffs when the franchise representatives were basically giving guarantees of playoffs.
The horrible start to the season has made this goal all but impossible. Since the Rudy Gay trade happened, for a little while a brief shimmer of hope created some excitement in Raptorland, as fans in the arena seemed to go nuts and the boards on the internet were flooded with optimism. But all of that died off very quickly after a couple of losses. Now the boards seem to be as empty as ever this season. It looks like many have abandoned ship and all hopes for this team, crying out all sorts of things about BC, Dwayne Casey, Rudy Gay, Kyle Lowry, DeRozan and the "stiff noodle". I'll admit I was one of them, but I took some time to think things through and saw the light. Bear with me.
Early Struggles And The End Of Bargnani
Raptors started off the season very, very bad and with a record of 4-19 all seemed completely lost and most of the fans were ready the blow this team appart. Then Bargnani, who was having his worst season yet, got injured and the Raptors started playing .500 ball. This is where it became obvious to all, that Bargnani, the "stiff noodle", isn't worth half the money he's being paid. It's a tragedy. Raptors are pretty much stuck with him. Nobody in their right mind will trade for him as long as there is more than one season left on his contract. He's only tradeable as an expiring deal, which won't happen before the 2014/2015 season. Amnesty is the other option. Maybe there is some crackpot GM that will take him in the offseason though, but good luck with that.
The Rudy Gay Trade - Hopes Found And Hopes Lost
Then happened the Rudy Gay trade. It seemed that people were devided on this. Some thought it was a great deal, others were unhappy. Some believed he was the star that we needed and others felt he's ineffecient and overpaid.
For a short while it looked to everybody like this was working out, as the Raptors started putting together some win streaks and even ESPN and fans of other teams started to talk about how Raptors just became relevant and a good team. For a short while Raptorland got even excited about the possibility of Raptors making the playoffs THIS year, as Bucks started losing lots of games, while the Raptors were surging. Me too, I had hopes. But then we started losing again and the hopes for a playoff berth died off quickly.
Fans Overreacting - There Really Are Things To Be Optimistic About
What followed was fans got frustrated very quickly. Everybody pointing out how Rudy Gay was inefficient and shooting under 40%, how DeRozan has no outside shot and can't finish at the rim, that we need a starting PF and questioning if Kyle Lowry is the answer at the point guard.
I was and I am very frustrated too, but I took some distance from discussions and opinions and had a good look at this team and the situation it is in, how it compares to similar situations of other teams in seasons past. And I saw the light.
I think this team is on the right track and all that it needs now is time and only some minor changes when it comes to the personnel. What people seemingly fail to realize is that we have had drastic development with our roster and rotations over the season. Bargs is out, Ed Davis is out, Rudy Gay is in, we have 2 rookies developing and one of them being starter. This can't bring you a record of over .500, which is what we're at basically since Bargnani went down.
I think Lowry, DeRozan, Rudy Gay, Amir Johnson, JV as starters and Ross as 6th man - this group will work out fine. Other parts I consider as inconsequential and can be moved, replaced over the offseason.
All this "core group" really needs is time. Next season with full training camp, the pre-season and the individual improvement of players during the off-season will make a huge difference. Simply trading for good players and expecting immediate results is not realistic. Good exemples are New York with Melo, the Lakers with Howard and even the Heat in their first year to some extent. It always takes time to make things work out.
On Positions And Individual Players
There are too many fans that seemingly expect all-stars at each and every position. Rudy gay is labeled inefficient, DeRozan can't shoot threes and finsih at the rim, draw fouls, Lowry is inconsistent and too small, can't pass, JV is too weak, Amir is 3rd big but not a starter and Ross is useless... those are the remarks made by frustrated fans.
I agree that all of these players need to improve, but let's be realistic at the same time. We won't be able to trade our roster for a combination of the best players from Heat, OKC and Lakers. So let's have a look at what we have and how things might work out next year.
C - Jonas Valanciunas
JV is coming along nicely in my opinion. He has improved a lot on the defensive end over the season. In his first 2-3 months he was missing out on a lot of rotations and leaving the rim unprotected. Over the last couple of months though for a rookie I have little complaints about his D. Sure he does miss out on rotations here and there, but he has improved by leaps and bounds and he just looks solid, very professional. On the offensive end he works hard setting screens and rolling to the basket, working the offensive glass, but he needs more strenght to come through on this end. He gets pushed around rather easily when he tries to post up or when he tries to make a move, but he'll get stronger in time and experince will help him a lot too. One thing that completely disappeared: talks about foul issues. No need to make changes here. JV will be very good to elite in a couple of years.
PF - Amir Johnson
He's a hard working man. Blue collar. MVP of efforts. I, like so many, was surprised by his emergence this season. Still many think he's rather a third big. I disagree. You can't have all-stars at all 5 positions. You need some hard working players in your lineup and you won't find many hard workers that are better than Amir. He's a walking double-double playing with a 110% effort every night. Sure a Pau Gasol or a Carlos Boozer could give you a couple more points on the offesnive end, but would they be better on the defensive end? Would it be worth twice the salary and the age of these players? I'm not even convinced that Millsap or a similar player would be better for us than Amir. Amir is fine at starting PF and he's likely to improve on offense over the next couple of years.
SF - Rudy Gay
Many people are disappointed with Rudy and his 39% shooting and his inability to shoot threes, his limited abilities as a play maker. But he, more than anybody else, needs time to figure out things. Keep in mind that he developed in Memphis in a very specific situation where he constantly had to play with 2 dominant bigs in the post. He has a new freedom with Raptors and gets different looks. It will take time for him to adjust and I think he will do very fine next season once he gets comfortable with it, finds his spots and gets to better know his teammates and their tendencies. I would like for him to work on his outside shot in the offseason. More mid-range than threes though.
SG - Demar DeRozan
A lot of fans say he doesn't get to the line enough. The other day during the game a stat was pulled up which showed that DeRozan is top 10 when it comes to getting to the line. Only Harden, Durant, Howard, Kobe, Westbrook, LeBron, Melo and Wade get more to the line than Demar:
Sure DeRozan needs still to improve with his shooting and dribbling, but he's still very young (23) and has improved so much over a couple of years, it's not even funny. As a rookie he basically looked like Ross, but with even worse ball handling and absolutely no shot, just an atheltic young guy. Look where he is now. I'm confident he'll improve his shooting over the summer a little bit more and if he can add a reliable three-point shot from the corner over the next couple of years, it would be great! I'm sure, with his work ethic, his mid-range game will be elite by then. I can't see a realistic way to improve this position through a trade. He's a keeper anyway.
PG - Kyle Lowry
This is probably the postion where there is most uncertainty, at least for me. Kyle is as tough as nails on D when he's in the game, but usually disappears on offense. Maybe it's him being small that hurts, but his performance at the start of the season (and some other occasions) would suggest otherwise. One thing is certain, at least for now. He's not really a pass-first point guard, but he's trying to become one. Maybe he's just trying to part ways with his old ways and learning the craft anew (advice from Billups?). Maybe it's difficult to do so with a team that suffered so many drastic changes over the season, a team that features quite a lot of developing players. Maybe when the dust settles and a new season begins he'll find his new way, maybe he won't, but the Raptors should give it a try next season.
6th man - Terrence Ross
Needs to work a lot. He's got a lot of talent. At this point nothing conclusive can really be said about him. His playing time has been inconsistent so far, so it's hard to judge a rookie on the data we have. With the season being over, I expect to see Ross playing a lot more minutes and it will help to evaluate him better. In my mind he's got a lot of potential and could be a JR Smith type of player in a couple of years - instant offense off the bench, the perfect 6th man. No need to argue about him being great or useless at the moment. We'll see in time. Time we've got with him. Trading him is not a good idea.
Everybody Else
...can be dealt for the needs that we currently have. That would be a reliable 3rd big - Zaza Pachulia of the Hawks for example is going to be a FA this summer. A reliable 3-point shooter - Kyle Korver of the Hawks is FA this summer as is Anthony Morrow of Mavs. And a reliable PG off the bench - we might want to keep both Telfair and Lucas III.
Rotation And Coaching
Next season I would expect for our rotations to "normalize" and see at least a couple of starters remaining on the court at any time, except garbage time. This season too often we see 5 bench players playing together for extended amounts of time and rotations of 12-13 guys in one single game. I fully expect a normal and stable 8-9 man rotation with occassional adjustments when match-ups require those adjustments.
I'm frustrated with coach Casey's decisions very often, but at the same time it's up to the players to produce and the production has been very inconsistent through out the board with perhaps the only exception being Amir Johnson. A change of coaching would probably hurt more than do good. Players seem to have bought into the Casey mentality, but hiring an assistant coach who is strong on offensive schemes and tactics would go a long way.
All in all, I think we have something to be optimistoc about and a new season, a stable one, will allow this group to improve. At very least we can expect a .500 record for next year. Playoffs are at least realistic, unlike this year. But I'm pretty sure they'll be better than that.