text:
Leyland shoulders responsibility for Ortiz slam
By Jason Beck, T.R. Sullivan, Alden Gonzalez and Bobby Nightengale / MLB.com
DETROIT -- Manager Jim Leyland admitted that he made a "mistake" on Sunday night after he brought in closer Joaquin Benoit to face Red Sox slugger David Ortiz in the eighth inning of Game 2 of the American League Championship Series at Fenway Park.
Benoit, trying to protect a four-run lead, entered the game with two outs and the bases loaded. Leyland said that he should have specifically reminded Benoit that it would have been "OK" to walk Ortiz, even if it meant forcing in a run.
"Last night I made a mistake that I take full responsibility for," Leyland said on Monday before the Tigers worked out at Comerica Park in advance of Tuesday's Game 3, at 4 p.m. ET on FOX. "I should have just reminded him that we didn't want Ortiz to really beat us. He tried to make a great pitch. He tried to get it low and away out of the strike zone, but he didn't get it there. We were going to try to get him to swing at a ball if we could. And I should have reminded him about that, and I did not."
Benoit threw a changeup that he wanted low and away, but the pitch got too much of the plate, and Ortiz hit a grand slam to tie the score before the Red Sox walked off with a 6-5 win in the ninth.
"We talked before the series about that. David is one of those guys [who was] born for those magic moments, we know that," Leyland said. "We were trying to avoid that, and Benny tried to make the pitch, he just didn't get it there. He just didn't execute the pitch.
"He attacks the hitters. He tried to attack him with a ball that was going to be out of the strike zone. and it was one of those changeups that didn't go down and away, it just stayed there."
Benoit said that he won't have any problem putting the blown save behind him.
"Do you remember what happened last night?" Benoit said. "I don't know. It's a part of baseball. You win and you lose. Tough times come and go. It's not my first rodeo.
"Last night I tried to throw a pitch to make him chase. I'm not perfect. I tried to make him swing and miss. I threw it down the middle, he swung, and he hit it good."
This is Benoit's first season as a closer, and Sunday's blown save was only his third. He was 24-for-26 in save opportunities during the regular season and is now 3-for-4 in the playoffs.
Leyland is not concerned about Benoit bouncing back from this one.
"No, not at all," Leyland said. "No, I think that, first of all, it was a tough save. In reality, I've been asking a lot out of him, probably a little too much in a couple of situations. He's doing fine. It's just not that easy. … That's why these teams are in the postseason, it gets a little bit tougher."
Sore Torii says he's good to go
DETROIT -- Outfielder Torii Hunter was sore all over on Monday, one day after taking a frightful tumble into the Boston bullpen trying to make a leaping catch of David Ortiz's grand slam in the eighth inning of the Tigers' 6-5 loss in Game 2.
But Hunter will be ready to go on Tuesday for Game 3 at Comerica Park on FOX at 4 p.m. ET, manning right field and batting second against Red Sox starter John Lackey.
"I'm a little stiff," Hunter said after reporting for Monday's optional workout. "I feel like I played in a football game. I woke up a little sore and felt like Fred Sanford, but I'm all right."
Hunter just missed catching Ortiz's drive as he leaped against and over the wall, and bloodied the back of his head after landing on it.
"It looked pretty nasty," he said. "I was trying to do whatever it takes to keep the ball from going out of the ballpark. I lost my breath. They told me I landed on my head and I was a little groggy, but I really didn't feel it until today."
Monday's off-day gave Hunter some extra time to recover. Asked if he would have been able to play on Monday had there been a game, he replied with the age-old rhetorical question about what a bear does in the woods.
"Well, maybe not a polar bear," he said.
Dirks to return to lineup for Game 3
DETROIT -- Manager Jim Leyland is turning to Andy Dirks to provide an impact at the bottom of the lineup. Although Dirks has been slumping, he will start in left field for Game 3 of the American League Championship Series on Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET on FOX.
Dirks ended the regular season on a 2-for-18 skid and went 0-for-3 in his lone postseason start, in Game 1 of the AL Division Series, against Oakland. He entered Game 4 of the ALDS as a pinch-runner and scored twice, drawing a walk in his only plate appearance.
"I think I am going to play Dirks tomorrow night," Leyland said on Monday. "He's been away from it a little bit and maybe relaxed a little bit, and I'll probably play him in left field. But I won't hit him at the top of the order, probably down."
Dirks is 2-for-5 with a triple and a walk in his career against Boston's Game 3 starter, John Lackey. Dirks' return to the lineup will likely push out Don Kelly, who went 0-for-3 with a walk in Game 2 of the ALCS and is 2-for-6 lifetime against Lackey.
Meanwhile, Jhonny Peralta will get his second consecutive start at shortstop in Game 3. It will be his second start at the position with Justin Verlander on the mound after playing there in Game 5 of the ALDS.
In order to keep Peralta's bat in the lineup -- he is batting 9-for-20 with four extra-base hits and six RBIs this postseason -- the Tigers have been placing him in the infield behind their top fly-ball pitchers, Verlander and Max Scherzer. Only two ground balls and a pop fly went his way during Verlander's last start.
Coke looking to have an impact on Tigers
DETROIT -- Phil Coke wondered if he was done, he now admits. He wasn't worried just about the postseason but next season as well, since the irritation in his elbow wouldn't go away.
"I was pretty freaked out," Coke said on Monday afternoon, "because I didn't know what was going on. I've had issues here and there within my body where I know what's manageable and what's not manageable. It was such an unknown. I really had no idea what I had done to my arm, to have the reactions I was getting out of it."
Instead he's back in time to potentially have an impact on another postseason series for the Tigers. He did not enter Game 2 on Sunday night at Fenway Park aside from warming up in the bullpen as David Ortiz belted a grand slam off closer Joaquin Benoit.
Ortiz is 2-for-18 with four strikeouts against Coke, though Ortiz got him for a go-ahead single on June 20 at Comerica Park and sent a fly ball to deep right field against him at Fenway on Sept. 3.
Because of the amount of time Coke has missed, manager Jim Leyland opted to go with Benoit. Coke doesn't take issue with it, and won't suggest that he expected the chance.
"I expect to get the ball when it's given to me. No other time," he said. "I haven't thought of it any other way."
That said, he's hoping for an opportunity this postseason.
"Everybody knows that I want to be in the game, and I want to do everything I can to get the job done," he said. "I didn't really have a phenomenal season this year, and that's all the more reason for me to want to get in these games and show that I'm not just a one-hit wonder. I really know what I'm doing. I have something to prove."
Coke wants to prove that he can command his pitches again and retire left-handed hitters, at least improve on the .293 average he allowed from that side in the regular season. With his elbow no longer an issue, he can better finish his pitches and have a better ability to spot them.
"My arm felt really good the whole time [I was in rehab]," he said. "The rest that I received between [the series in] Minnesota and here, before leaving for [Florida during] the ALDS, was key."
Asked what has worked for him, Coke shrugged.
"Close your eyes and let it go, and pray," he said. "I don't know why I've been as successful against Ortiz as I have, but I take it very seriously, and I enjoy myself when I'm working."
Trio of 1984 stars to make first pitches
DETROIT -- Tigers catching great Lance Parrish will step out from behind the plate and take the mound on Tuesday to throw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to Game 3 of the American League Championship Series, at 4 p.m. ET on FOX. He'll be the first member of a trio of 1984 World Series champions to try to bring them luck.
Lou Whitaker, the second baseman of that championship team and one of the best all-around second basemen of his time, is slated to throw out the first pitch prior to Game 4 on Wednesday night. Jack Morris, a three-time World Series winner and the ace of that 1984 staff, is expected to make the first pitch prior to Game 5, on Thursday.
For Parrish it'll be a return to the ballpark he called his office for three years as a coach on manager Alan Trammell's staff from 2003 to 2005. He returned for the 25th-anniversary celebration of the '84 team four years ago, but hasn't been seen often since.
The national anthem performances will feature some familiar faces, with the Four Tops, Motown legends and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees.
Verlander says Victorino sometimes looking to get hit
DETROIT -- Justin Verlander was asked how you keep from plunking Shane Victorino, and he couldn't help but laugh.
"I've seen some pitches that he got hit on that were strikes," Verlander said during Monday's optional workout at Comerica Park, one day before taking the ball for Game 3 of an American League Championship Series that's tied at 1.
"I don't think you can worry about that. I think just whoever is the home-plate umpire needs to be aware that he's up there. Anything on the inner half, occasionally he's looking to get hit. He's up there, he's right on top of the plate. And his arms are over the batter's box and over part of the plate. If he doesn't get out of the way, there could be an occasion that it could be a strike and it actually hits him."
A big reason the Red Sox were able to get past the Rays in the AL Division Series was because Jacoby Ellsbury and Victorino were consistently getting on base at the top of the order. In seven playoff games, the No. 2-hitting Victorino has seven hits in 21 at-bats and has a .462 on-base percentage thanks in large part to a Major League-record five hit-by-pitches in these playoffs.
Victorino, a switch-hitter, recently started batting right-handed against right-handed pitchers. He crowds the plate, and he's usually willing to absorb a pitch to his left arm -- like Max Scherzer's fastball in Sunday's first inning.
"Do I love getting hit? Heck, no," Victorino said. "It starts to hurt. But I understand situations. These guys are just trying to make their pitches. They're trying to pitch in. And sometimes I get hit. I don't look at it any differently. But, you know, the little things like that, on-base percentage, a guy like me, that's what I get paid to do. That's what I'm supposed to do, is be on base."
Jason Beck, T.R. Sullivan and Alden Gonzalez are reporters for MLB.com. Bobby Nightengale is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


text: A100 What is America? (3 cr. hrs.) A&H Students explore ideas about citizenship, national identity, and the social contract in the broader Americas. What makes us "Americans"? How de we define "America"? How does national identity compete with and relate to other forms of identity, such as social status or class, religious association, gender and sexuality, and racial or ethnic description?

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Free Chair Massage
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
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5–8 p.m.
Location: Student Recreation Center SRC South - 2nd floor
Parking Information
Category: Recreation
Description: Available to UC Riverside students and SRC Members! Take advantage of our free chair massage this Winter Quarter!
Relax your muscles. Soother your stress. Treat yourself to a massage and be less stressed.
Additional Information: More Info
Open to: Must be an SRC Member
Admission: Free
Sponsor: Student Recreation Center
Contact Information:
SRC Staff
(951) 827-5731


text:
Richard Marx, Great Singer and a Lover of Baseball
As most people have ventured since the first time I wrote on this blog, I have a few well defined "loves" that I hold near and dear to my heart. Most of you already know my number one love with a bullet is my love for the game of baseball, and my dedication to my hometown Tampa Bay Rays.
And my secondary love interest that seems to flow endlessly among the notes and drumbeats that fill our ears might have became more apparent with the multiple blog postings of the Rays own acts that have graced the stage during their Hess Express/Rays Saturday Concert Series photo and commentary blogs over the last several years.
But there is another hidden part of my life that only a small community of people who have known me since my first days of High School have seen up close and personal. They are my longtime friends who have known my deep rooted passion to music and that singing is one of those hidden talents that only that select lounge full of people have ever experienced firsthand.
And maybe my everlasting love of the crescendo of the musical notes and thunderous drum beats have been made more than obvious by my photo blogs and commentary after every Rays Concert series act over the last few years.
Well, that is unless you live in St. Petersburg, Florida and go to some of the places I frequent after Rays games, then you would know I love to get up there and belt out a song or two before finally retiring to the house to rest up for the next day's game. But one of my early musical influences is coming to Clearwater tonight for his first ever acoustic music set in the beautiful Capitol Theatre.
But I am sorry Southside of Chicago fans, this singer of classic soft rock music classics like "Hold Onto The Nights", "Hazard" , "Right Here Waiting" and "Now and Forever" that still today make all of us remember lost romance and new found love is a huge Chicago Cubs fan deep in his heart.
And he made that love more than apparent in the video for "Take This Heart" where Marx is brought up as a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs of the Game 7 of a World Series against Baseball Hall of Fame member Dennis Eckersley.
The video was filmed in Oakland's own home stadium in 1992 and features baseball players Greg Maddux, Dan Howitt, Eckersley, Jose Canseco, fellow Hall of Fame member Rickey Henderson, and an old Tampa Bay friend of mine A's catcher Scott Hemond.
Got to say I love the way the video drew out the game storyline throughout the song with Marx falling behind Eck with an 0-2 count before connecting on a well hit hitting a long fly ball that sneaking past Howitt's outstretched glove into the left-centerfield stands for a Home Run.
But in a nice touch, Marx is immediately woken up by one of his fellow band mates and it is all a dream. But as you see Marx looking into the camera you hear Brewer's announcing legend Bob Uecker barreling out the line "The Cubs have won the World Series". It is one of my favorite baseball videos more for the moment we all dream about as kid's to one day be in that same position and to come through with a blast to win the World Series.
And in 1992, I did get out to Oakland, but it was right after Marx and his band were finished with their video takes, and retakes for that "Take This Heart" video.So I am looking forward to shaking his hand and getting his autograph like I wanted to do way back in 1992. For those who have heard me sing know I have an affluence for ballads, and Marx produced some of the best in the 1990's and beyond.
But here is a side note most people do not know about this great artist. He was actually heard on a demo cassette tape by Lionel Richie and brought the then 18-year old Marx out to Los Angeles to record back-up singing tracks on a few of Richie's earliest albums.
Marx then was referred to Kenny Rogers as an great back-up addition and one day Marx overheard the recording techs discussing with Rogers that they were one cut short of finishing the album. That night Marx went home and produced a song and played it for Rogers the next day. The song was "Crazy" and it ended up being a Country number one song. Not bad for your first entry into the songwriting business to be a Gram Slam.
Marx never did another Baseball-themed video, but then once you do one where you bat in the bottom of the 9th inning against a closer legend and get a pinch-hit Home Run to win the Cubs the World Series……There is no place to go but down after such a dream sequence, and I do not see Marx heading that route anytime soon.
10 Comments
Amazing how most of the good ones got into the business in an unorthodox manner, chance and right time place, not a pick me competition…. Marx is one of my wife's favorites….
Outside the Phillies Looking In
You and I both have the secret music bug…check out my facebook page and see what I got for my birthday :O)
I have known Scott since I covered an old Dunedin HS football game for the "Evening Independent" when Scott, his brother and Crawford Ker were stilling playing for the Falcons.
Then kept tabs on him when he played at USF for a few years before finally going into the A's system and playing there and also with the White Sox and St. Louis Cardinals.
Great local talent.
Rays Renegade
Funny you should say it like that.
Richard Marx is one of those songwriters/singer in the music industry who feel American Idol is weakening the talent flow with popularity artists instead of true musical artists.
And I have to half agree with him on that point. Glad to see Chris Daughtry and David Cook get their breaks, but people like Taylor Hicks and Katherine McPhee…not so much!
Rays Renegade
I guess I will have to journey on over to see what you got for your recent birthday.
You turned 21 right?
Hope it was a month of concert tickets, or a lifetime subscription to Sirrus Radio…..both would be great.
Can't wait to check it out.
Rays Renegade
Roberto Alomar kinda lived that dream in 1992, hitting a 9th-inning, 2-run-homerun of Eckersly in game 4 of the ALCS. It tied a game that Jays later won in extra-innings. Many Jays fans consider it even a bigger homerun than Joe Carter's in 1993.
Although, Marx hitting one in Game 7 of the World Series as a pinch-hitter, is pretty hard to top. ha ha. I gotta download that.
I remember the Joe Carter shot, and also remember he was one of the first MLB players to use a maple bat.
But I suspect they had a little more durability back then….compared to today's models.
Best thing I ever did was score a touchdown with 56 seconds left on the clock that was the winning score, but that was High School, and it feels like we wore leather helmets compared to the teams today.
BTW, the concert was amazing, and I got a great photo with him and I both doing batting stance poses.
Rays Renegade
Wow. Richard Marx. When I first saw the title to this post I thought it was 1992 again. I was a bit scared, but your explanation helps :-)
1992…..Seems like only yesterday I was eating sand in my food and drinking mostly water while sitting guarding a border of a country that did not want us there……Ahh Kuwait…beauty if San Padres Island, Texas, but the personality of Death Valley, California.
The concert was actually quite excellent. Why is it most songs sound better in a acoustic setting, or one where the artists gets to pop in nots he wants than in the over complicated studio versions….hmmmm.
Rays Renegade


text:
KEXP Reviews
|Browse by one of the following:
- (Manifesto)
After the break-up of his relationship with long-time girlfriend and Cinerama cohort Sally Murrell, David Gedge has revived his old band the Wedding Present, following up the recently released "Interstate 5" single with the first Wedding Present album in over eight years. Gedge himself sounds revived here: While his work with Cinerama was usually top-notch, the sound here is generally darker and laced with the Wedding Present's buzzing guitars, making an excellent fit for the album's heart-rending songs detailing the dissolution of a relationship. Written and mostly recorded while Gedge was living in Seattle (and peppered with references to the city), Take Fountain is one of the finest albums of Gedge's illustrious career. 1/31/2005 - Don Yates
Other Wedding Present album reviews:
Singles 1995-97 - 10/15/1999


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hey does any1 know how to send like Ctrl+X to a window with SendMessage? I dont want to use accelarators for this matter. I can use WM_KEYDOWN and WM_CHAR but how do i send multiple keys?
hey does any1 know how to send like Ctrl+X to a window with SendMessage? I dont want to use accelarators for this matter. I can use WM_KEYDOWN and WM_CHAR but how do i send multiple keys?
To send multiple keys you just send a series of WM_CHAR messages. One message per character to send.
WM_CHAR is your best bet for sending them, I think that is the most commonly processed keyboard message.
Incidently if you are trying to get text in a text box or similar child window you can use teh WM_SETTEXT message to send an entire string.
Originally Posted by Exile
Well its not working i dont think WM_CHAR detects Control Key but i tried WM_KEYDOWN maybe you can tell me why it aint wrking, it should do a command once i send Ctrl+Y in it.
heres the code that aint workig right..
i have this inside WM_COMMAND, execute whenever this button is pressed, but aint sending correctly..
SendDlgItemMessage( hwnd,e_mdichild, WM_KEYDOWN, VK_CONTROL, 0 );
SendDlgItemMessage( hwnd,e_mdichild, WM_KEYDOWN, 89, 0 );
89 = Letter 'Y'
Unlike the WM_LBUTTONDOWN messages the WM_CHAR and WM_KEYDOWN events do not send any modifier key status. So you can't send the control key press in the message. So you'll have to do some other stuff to get that key press.
I don't know of any way to send the modifier keys to the program. You may be able to try something like:
Just to make sure all the appropriate key events are sent.Code:SendDlgItemMessage( hwnd,e_mdichild, WM_KEYDOWN, VK_CONTROL, 0 ); SendDlgItemMessage( hwnd,e_mdichild, WM_KEYDOWN, 89, 0 ); SendDlgItemMessage( hwnd,e_mdichild, WM_CHAR, 89, 0 ); SendDlgItemMessage( hwnd,e_mdichild, WM_KEYUP, 89, 0 ); SendDlgItemMessage( hwnd,e_mdichild, WM_KEYUP, VK_CONTROL, 0 );
Since you are dealing with a child window (based on teh function calls used) is you can use SetKeyboardState() to mark the control key as pressed, then send the WM_CHAR for key 89. This way whatever method the window uses to detemine that the control key is/isn't down should say that its down. SetKeyboardState() will only effect the thread that calls is, so if your child window was created by a different thread than the one that calls SetKeyboardState() the child window won't see the results. It would look something like this:
I've never used taht before, so I'm not 100% sure thats how it will work.Code:BYTE KeyState[256]; GetKeyState(&KeyState); //Have the key down high order byte needs to be 1 //how to do that eludes me right now, so I'm just blanketly setting it to 1 //the correct way might be (still not positive on it): //KeyState[VK_LCONTROL] = 0x00010000; KeyState[VK_LCONTROL] = 0xFFFFFFFF; if (SetKeyStates(&KeyState) == FALSE) { MessageBox(NULL, "Failed to set key state!", "Error!", MB_OK); } SendDlgItemMessage( hwnd,e_mdichild, WM_KEYDOWN, 89, 0 );
Beyond those two suggestions I'm not sure what to say, what you are looking for isn't something the Windows API really covers, simulating mouse cliks is easy, keyboard events can be done but not to any real detail. You might be stuck there, since there just isn't any good way to send a modified key press event.
Originally Posted by Exile
Thnks for these suggestions ill try them when i wake up later, its already morning here, been awake all day. ill just post here if they work thnks
Are you just trying to cut the text from a window? If so, there are better ways than sending ctrl-x. I've tried sending ctrl + another key to a window in another process before, and the only way I was able to get it to work was the following:
Code:SetForegroundWindow(hwnd); keybd_event(VK_CONTROL, 0x1D, 0, 0); keybd_event(0x58, 0x47, 0, 0); keybd_event(0x58, 0x47, KEYEVENTF_KEYUP, 0); keybd_event(VK_CONTROL, 0x1D, KEYEVENTF_KEYUP, 0);
Originally Posted by bithub
The other one didnt work, but yours worked perfectly thnks to both


text:
The recent suggestion regarding a characterisation category in the QSQs has got me thinking about the QSQs in general and whether the current range of categories we have is the best it could be. So I would like general suggestions from you as to what you think of the current categories and whether you believe there are any that should be added, removed or perhaps merged.
In the 2009 awards there were eighteen categories (which I have listed below for easy reference). Personally, I am wary of adding too many more to the list because there already seems to be rather a lot, particularly when you consider that in some categories there is a distinction made between chaptered and one-shots and both winners and runner-ups are announced, and I worry about the possibility of devaluing the awards, were we to give out too many. There is also the worry that more categories require more judges and could lengthen the process. However, it is possible I am alone in this opinion.
Please note, this thread is for discussing category changes only - it is not the place to discuss multiple wins, previous winners being eligible again, or the benefits/flaws of the judging process.
Also, please avoid turning this thread into a lengthy debate. You may post you own personal suggestions in here, but don't take the opportunity to knock other people's suggestions, and similarly do not make a new post simply to say you 'agree' if you have nothing new to say. Suggestions are considered on their merit, not the number of people who post to say they agree/disagree with them, so agreeing/disagreeing posts will simply clutter up the thread.
Finally, we may not be able to implement every suggestion in this thread for a variety of reasons but we do value your feedback and will consider them in planning for 2010
Current Category List
Best General Story
Best Dark/Angsty Story
Best Humor Story
Best Romance - Canon Story
Best Romance - Non-canon Story
Best Romance - Other Character Story
Best Alternate Universe Story
Best Poetry
Best Marauders' Era Story
Best Post-Hogwarts Story
Best Same-Sex Pairing Story
Best History/Mystery Story
Best Beta Reader
Best Artist
Best Male Other Character
Best Female Other Character
Best Reviewer
Best Bannermaker


text:
Q. Hi
Was Shiver the first song ever performed at Glastonbury 2000? I'm looking for a setlist from that concert.
No. Spies was the first song performed that day.
The setlist was:
Spies, Don't Panic, High Speed, Shiver, Trouble, Yellow, Everything's Not Lost and You Only Live Twice (with a Goldfinger outro finish).


text:
I had been working on the below post for almost six months, until finally publishing it mainly because I had nothing else more 'relevant' to put out... then, the very next day, or the same day, these sad, twisted photos come out of our dear Lindsay. Of course, it's coincidence... or is it? Just look up into her false-colored eyes above; if anyone in the media would join a suicide club like in THE DEER HUNTER or TROUBLE FOR TWO, it's Lindsay.
Let me tell you, to be FORCED to stop drinking and doing drugs when you don't really want to, either by court order or just your almost dying too many times from your escalating addiction (for me, well, alcohol withdrawal will kill you, unmedicated DTs are dangerous; opiate withdrawal just causes you pain but isn't fatal), and to have your every vulnerable misstep chronicled by hyena pack press photographers, well, I can truly understand the pain in her eyes... and I've seen it before, in the pictures of Kurt Cobain, who would be my age were he alive today. It's like your last escape from the insanity of your mind / life / reality / is locked and your stuck in Hell with only one way out.
All I can say is, just hang on, LL --keep your powder dry and your pecker hard... and the Earth will turn.(that's from PLATOON)
Over the years I've seen Michael Cimino's tale of small PA town Russian Orthodox churchgoing / hard drinking steelworkers going to 'Nam, THE DEER HUNTER (1978), in a lot of different situations, but the weirdest was via Betamax in high school Social Science class, where it was supposed educate us on the Vietnam war (and allow the hung-over teacher--and some students--a nice nap in the dark). I can still remember the collective sigh of relief at the sight of some AV geek dragging in the big old TV stand, killing the lights and drawing the blinds against the 11 AM sunshine, knowing this meant there would be no test or class discussion, just VC goons and Pittsburgh drunks. Each class period was only 45 minutes, so we saw HUNTER in daily installments, the Social Science teacher rewinding and forwarding trying to find the right spot (since each class the teacher had was watching the same tape, but left off in different spots), so it seemed to stretch on for weeks, until it seemed half my junior year of HS was spent watching Asians slap around Bobby De Niro and Chris Walken.
Not a lot of the film made sense, especially back then (1983), a land before internet could put us wise to some things. The film's central group of buddies for example never need to sleep. They work the late shift at a steel mill, clock out at dawn, drop by the local bar on their way home to breakfast, then get dolled up for a wedding reception that afternoon into the evening. They party all through the early morning hours then drive out to their cabin in the mountains to go deer hunting, drinking all the while. Until finally -- after being awake for 24 hours at least -- they're back in the bar, playing piano and standing around. BAM! Vietnam. Well, no wonder shit was so fucked up over there!
And so it came to pass that everyone in Bridgewater-Raritan HS West thought Russian roulette was the cool game to play overseas. Russian roulette was simply what one did in Vietnam, the way bridge and shuffleboard are what one does on a cruise ship, or poker and blackjack in Vegas--to think it might be any different, to point out the odds make prolonged play of the game unlikely, required raising your hand and asking the teacher, and then he may have remembered he was supposed to give us a quiz last week, and you would have been in trouble with the class thugs, not to mention you hadn't studied either, that was why hearing those squeaky TV stand wheels coming down the hall as we waited for class to start was like hearing the empty chamber click on that roulette pistol was an exhilarating relief, knowing we were safe for one more day... Tonight, god help us, we'd get it together and do the reading.
But of course we never did. "Click." Sometimes, Mike, when I dream, I'm back in class, still unprepared, hoping against hope those AV wheels are going to come squeaking down the hallway.
|Don't try this at home
Since those HS screenings I've seen the HUNTER dozens of times, each time thinking it's both better and worse than I remembered. The ambiguity of Walken's motivations on 'the RR circuit' has over the years forced a nation of film lovers to contemplate macho self-annihilation at its most terrifyingly nihilistic. Here's what one helpful scholar notes of the film:
The roulette stands for the horror, the abjection, the repetition-compulsion, the split of subjectivity and the male body, the unwilling fratricide, the collapse of otherness and of the symbolic order. Negating the sexual gaze, the Russian roulette image transforms the Corpse into the subject of the history of defeat (Peter Lang, Defeated Masculinity: Post-Traumatic Cinema in the Aftermath of War, p. 187)
But according to the actual vets and POWs, that whole RR aspect of the story was total bullshit: there never was no such suicide circuit, either in or out of POW camps. While seeing the film in the sacred situation of high school Social Science class may have planted seeds of sexual gaze negation and defeat in our eggshell minds, it did nothing to actually tell us anything about Vietnam, which negated why it was in Social Science class to begin with.
Here's what a Vietnam war correspondent says:
I am now discovering that increasing numbers of Americans believe that the last act of the war took place in a sinister back room somewhere in Saigon, where greedy Chinese gamblers were exhorting a glazed-eyed American GI to blow his head off. Had I as a working reporter missed such a vivid human-interest story on the last day of the war, I might have opted for a similar fate.
I have found that enthusiasts are genuinely hurt when I tell them that while Vietnam had all manners of violence, including self-immolating Buddhist monks, fire-bombings, rape, deception, and massacres like My Lai in its 20 years of war, there was not a single recorded case of Russian roulette, not in the voluminous files of the Associated Press anyway, or in my experience either. The central metaphor of the movie is simply a bloody lie....
But Cimino defends his creative rights. During the filming in Thailand, he told reporters: "War is war. Vietnam is no different from the Crusades. It's a question of survival, friendship and courage, and what happens to these things in people under stress." But they didn't play Russian roulette in the Crusades either. (Peter Arnett - LA Times, via The Veteran)
Creative rights or no, it's hard to believe Nick has been playing the game nonstop through the time it takes Michael to come home from the war, hang around, move in on Nick's girl, visit folks, hunt deer, feel guilty, fly back and search for him while Saigon falls. The odds of surviving that long are probably the same as Nick winning the lottery three times in a row. Further going unmentioned for good reason is that after being released from the hospital in Saigon, Michael first spies Nick at an RR game which Michael himself is attending! Is the yen for competitive suicide so unshakable or is there just nothing else to do in Saigon? Have they tried heroin? It's soo much safer! Instead both Nick and Michael, independent of each other, find the same French promoter in a convertible parked behind the 'Mississippi' club, like he's just waiting for traumatized soldiers too zonked to care about booze, drugs and/or hookers to wander through the rear exit and get in the game, following the irregular sound of gunshots like zombies following the sound of human screams. That Frenchman must go through dozens of these shell-shocked soldiers a day, like Warren Oates with his cocks in Cockfighter.
The idea of competitive suicide is of course fascinating to the minions of places like Central Jersey, and though it wasn't 'real' in any way before The Deer Hunter, it sure is now.
TROUBLE FOR TWO (1936) features a kind of Russian roulette (It's based on Robert Louis Stevenson's story, "The Suicide Club"), wherein a group of people gather around a long table and the emcee deals cards instead of a gun. The one who draws the ace of spades kills the one who draws the jack of diamonds (not at the club, but later). Set in Victorian-era London, the club is more of a response to the stigma of suicide'as well as a condemnation of jaded thrill-seeking. Rich young scoundrels go because it's the only thing left that's new under the sun and they've already gambled up their inheritance and are left with nothing but shame -- a shame they've no wish to expound with suicide punishable by jail time, hanging or permanent blight on your family's honor. Old people with terminal illnesses are there too, at the table every night for the dealer to pass them a tasty card.
Robert Montgomery stars as a royal prince from the continent visiting London who stumbles on the club and goes just for thrills (as a baby he once played with a lit bomb tossed in his crib by an anarchist and has been unafraid of anything since). Rosalind Russell goes to the club also, because she's spying on him. Love ensues, but the next night she draws the ace of spades and he the jack of diamonds, so they better do some declaring fast.
Of course there turns out to be reasons for all this suicide clubbing: it seems royal persons must prove their worthiness through regular bouts of courage. Luckily a gentlemen can always call on the aid of other gentlemen when it comes to scourging anarchists. And at any rate, duels, wars, anarchists and horse-related hunting accidents were common enough at the time that a young man of honor probably had a one bullet / six chambers chance of surviving into his thirties anyway. Chances for bravery came close to home, with gentlemanly pauses while the other guy picks up his dropped rapier, and a doctor standing by instead of a lot of chain-smoking VC slapping one around.
That's why the only reason the metaphor works and the only reason it doesn't kill the overall greatness of The Deer Hunter--it's not realistic but it fits the overall mode war and courage-proving in general, i.e. if you were a B-17 bomber pilot, a submarine commander or a paratrooper you probably had a Russian roulette trigger pull chance of surviving....but that's for the entire war. But the thing is, most of those guys didn't need to hang around the backs of German and Japanese saloons after their discharge, huffing ack-ack or flame thrower exhaust from a hookah to feel alive. In this, Cimino perhaps makes the mistake of putting the masculine critique before the horse and sacrificing coherence for intensity, of trying to make it all super authentic and true by focusing on something that never actually happened. His vast crowd scenes, all brilliant and complicated, are suffused with such realism and vivid detail that we're automatically put in the position of assuming historical sweep and accuracy might be the same thing.
There's nothing wrong with adding fantasy / fictional elements into war films, ala, say INGLORIOUS BASTERDS but we know from the beginning that BASTERDS isn't about war but about war films. We presume from the beginning that THE DEER HUNTER is about war's victims, 'real people' from small American towns who play with fire and get burned, but it turns out it's not about them at all. It's about Cimino's desire to morph blue collar alcoholics into Slavic mountain gods who are then consumed and brought low by gibbering Asian devils and their own thousand yard staring contests. Suicide may be painless, but make a habit of it and you become a pain... in the ass... of valor.


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One of the most established lighting showroom companies, 88-year-old Capitol Lighting is also one of the most modern marketers around. A "bricks and clicks" business model has been a success for the family-owned firm, now in its fourth generation. More than 500,000 items are sold online, and another 3,000 are available in eight showrooms in Florida and New Jersey.
Known for having hard-to-find lighting fixtures, the showrooms feature creative displays that tell a story within each fixture family. In-store kiosks create a "virtual showroom within a showroom" experience with powerful search features including product and price comparisons.
Yet some things never change. Rather than make that one-time sale, the ultimate goal for salespeople is to form a relationship with a customer. Today, that oftentimes happens through social media, and sales staff training on that topic is now in place.
The customer is boss! That mantra, handed down from founder Arthur Director to his son David continues to contribute to the company's success.
Opened in 1972 as the area's first lighting showroom, Connecticut Lighting Centers and its partner store, Restoration Lighting Gallery, take pride in having a knowledgeable, experienced staff. The team includes veteran lighting and home décor professionals who spend a good deal of time learning more about lighting products and technologies at regular in-house training sessions and monthly vendor presentations.
Partnering with vendors has been a winning strategy for Connecticut Lighting. This year it also won the company recognition when it was named one of the first 50 Lutron Five Star Showrooms. The honor recognized a custom-made interactive in-store display of whole-home Lutron lighting controls. The company website paid tribute to Jim Meltzer, Outside Sales Manager, for leading the way: "His vision and ability in home controls and shading is outstanding. It's rare that one has both the capability of laying out these systems and has the full understanding of the installation process as well. We are extremely fortunate to have Jim leading the team and our efforts."
The slogan says it all: "You're in good hands with Design Lighting." The showroom's top priority is to help clients satisfy their specific lighting needs and enjoy the process, start to finish. In fact, the high level of customer service that begins in the showroom ends at the customer's home, with detailed paperwork and full-service delivery that includes carefully packed orders.
Design Lighting management puts a high value on customer service. Everyone on staff does his or her best to meet every customer's needs. The goal is to sell lighting that satisfies both aesthetic tastes and light level requirements.
With varied skills and a wide bank of knowledge, Design Lighting's employees share information openly as a team to ensure customers' expectations are met. Monthly sales goals are set with corresponding incentives if the goals are achieved. The staff participates in online training and product knowledge sessions with manufacturer representatives. Monthly team meetings allow for idea sharing and feedback.
The number of consumers researching or shopping online is steadily growing and will surpass 200 million by 2015, eMarketer says. Found on the company's website, Lighting Unlimited's Virtual Showroom online video tour operates as a slide show or a self-directed "walk-through." Easy to navigate, the tour provides excellent views of actual product and product displays. For the shopper who wants to research online to narrow choices before coming to the showroom to buy, the virtual tour is the ideal tool.
Contemporary lighting is a real star of the virtual tour. And there is nothing limited about Lighting Unlimited's selection; it's the area's biggest contemporary offering. More than half the showroom is dedicated to fixtures made by top European lighting companies. Grand windows all along the front and sides of the building make the most of the colorful glass fixtures that twinkle by day and mesmerize by night, even from a distance.
The inner areas of the store are devoted to outdoor and landscape lighting, portables, track lighting, ceiling fans and a variety of ceiling and wall fixtures. A rear conference room is painted deep red, a stark but pleasant contrast to the naturally illuminated brightness up front. Lighting Unlimited continually works to improve store merchandising. "There have been great strides in enhancing already beautiful merchandising and product selections to simplify what is usually an overwhelming experience for the consumer," the entry explained.
The Lumens Light + Living showroom produces far less revenue than the company's website, yet its owners believe it is vital to their business. "We got into this business because we love good design. We have the showroom because we want to stay connected to customers," says Ken Plumee, co-founder.
While the website has grown continually since its launch in 2005, Lumens is destined to be a single-store operation. Yet the experiences in the showroom, and the ability to interact with real customers buying real lighting for real homes has helped www.lumens.com become one of the five largest online contemporary lighting retailers.
At press time, Lumens was about to launch the latest version of its website. With so many lighting designs on today's market, the company invested in better shopping tools to make it faster and easier than ever to find the right product. For the trade, there are new project management tools that allow architects, builders and designers to more easily collaborate with their own clients.
Meletio Lighting & Electrical Supply has been around for 90 years, and today its superior customer service is fueling growth, even in a tough economy. According to company estimates, 70 percent of sales are repeat business, and 25 percent come from referrals.
Programs such as "Meletio At Your Service" have taken the 12,000-square-foot showroom to new heights. Customers can request a factory-trained, certified technician come to their home to change light bulbs, clean and balance ceiling fans, or change smoke-detector batteries. All salespeople are trained American Lighting Assn. (ALA) Lighting Specialists. Five have been with the company more than 30 years.
A broad selection is another draw. In addition to fixtures, Meletio carries lamps, ballasts, lighting controls, recessed fixtures, track and landscape lighting, plus electrical supplies. The stocking dealer has a 22,000-square-foot warehouse, which enables next-day delivery in the Dallas Metroplex.
Merchandise displays are carefully planned to maximize sales per square foot. Furniture and accessories are "layered in" to help customers visualize the fixtures in a home-like setting. Full-blown vignettes get the job done.
Still a quintessential family-owned retail business, Metro Lighting has grown from a small "pipe and wire" electrical contractor shop opened in 1967 to eight fully merchandised lighting and home accents showrooms, and nine electrical counters.
The largest lighting retailer in the state, the company dominates the St. Louis/Cape Girardeau market. Large, thoughtfully merchandised showrooms are a mix of beautiful lighting, home fashions and displays showcasing the latest home lighting and control technologies.
Nick Frisella, grandson of one of the company's founders, oversees efforts to keep Metro at the forefront of energy-efficient lighting. A 2010 recipient of Energy Star®'s Excellence in Retailing for Lighting Award, the company offers customers free energy audits and consultations. It has taken the lead on educating consumers about recycling, light bulb legislation and lighting alternatives. A large custom grid display shows examples of different LED illumination cast on two dozen identical small red vases.
The way Norburn Lighting sees it, quality service comes from quality employees. Known for their technical knowledge, listening and communication skills, and ability to solve problems, Norburn's employees are customer service experts who are capable of working with electricians, architects, specifiers, designers, property managers and retail clients. Each staff member is a certified ALA Lighting Specialist.
In the past year, the company provided time and funding to allow staff members to complete a university-level marketing program. A new staff member is Lighting Certified, a credential issued by the National Council of Qualifications for the Lighting Professional (NCQLP).
The focus at Norburn Lighting is to provide clients with sound lighting solutions. "Our staff works with the client to ensure what is sold will address primary requirements before any of the style requirements are considered," according to the company's entry statement.
With showrooms across Western Canada, The Robinson Group is a fourth-generation, family-owned company that began 75 years ago with one outlet. The 10,000-square-foot Robinson Lighting Winnipeg showroom is unique, a blend of a warm, family atmosphere and the buying power of a big chain store operation.
Expert advice from a team of sales professionals, each of whom has ALA Lighting Specialist or Certified Lighting Consultant (CLC®) accreditation, is backed by years of experience in the lighting field. Many employees have been with the company more than 20 years. From start to finish, the intent is to ensure each customer has a positive experience doing business with Robinson Lighting. Regularly scheduled training sessions and company events keep morale high. "The staff knows we support them, and they support us," the company's entry statement explained.
A large product selection is one of Robinson Lighting's strengths. The store is full and neatly arranged. Across the entire showroom, small coordinated vignettes defined by square, overhead fixture displays help customers by making it easy to shop. Employee desks are located throughout the showroom for greater customer convenience.
Canada's biggest lighting showroom grew by another 7,000 square feet since the company received its Showroom of the Year Award last year in the $5 Million+ category. The expansion includes an improved customer service area, an enhanced merchandise pick-up area and additional showroom display space.
Now well over 100,000 square feet, the showroom issues maps to help customers find what they are looking for. Merchandise is grouped by style category, another way Union Lighting makes it easy to navigate its mammoth showroom. Exclusive galleries feature top name Canadian designers and a selection of products from around the world. A new 10,000-square-foot bath and vanity section features more than 300 vanity lights. Two complete house facades and a deck with a pergola are new additions in the outdoor lighting area. Genuine stone and brick walls and 12-foot-tall trees add a dash of retail theatrics.
In 2011, the Union Lighting website underwent a major transformation to make it more consumer-friendly. The new design is clean and fashion-forward to support the brand. A Solutions Center puts the answers to common questions at one's fingertips. New sections and features were added. Now it is possible to search by style category and product category.


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Godsoe added a third-place finish in the 100 back (an event in which he won his NCAA title in 2010) on Sunday to his weekend at the Arena Grand Prix at Santa Clara, a meet that featured most of the top American swimmers. He was fourth in the 100-meter fly on Saturday at the George F. Haines International Swim Center.
"My whole career has been a series of ups and downs," Godsoe said. "I've grown to use that as motivation. I had a bad freshman year at Stanford but that became the avenue toward the NCAA title as a senior."
He swam 54.69 in Sunday's championship race, just behind the shared winning time of 54.47 produced by American Olympian Matt Grevers and Russian Olympian Arkady Vyatchanin.
"We're a month out from the world trials and more than times I was more interested in seeing where I am," Godsoe said. "Training has been consistent and that has been paying off. I'm seeing improvement month by month."
Godsoe, who spent two years training at Swim MAC in Charlotte following graduation, has his sights on a possible berth in the World Championships. He has to finish among the top two at the U.S. National Championships, which begin June 25 in Indianapolis.
"I had a good 2012 but I knew I had more in me," Godsoe said. "Swimming was 24/7 there and now I do a lot of things that are exciting to me. Now only can I immerse myself in the sport, I can immerse myself in Silicon Valley and reunite with friends with start-up companies."
He also became part of a group of Stanford grads who formed their own post-grad swim group through Stanford swimming and Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics.
That group also includes Chad La Tourette, Bobby Bollier, BJ Johnson and Jason Dunford, all of whom competed in Santa Clara over the weekend and swam in an 'A' final.
"It's an elite group who has a strong desire to improve and get to the next level," Godsoe said.
La Tourette finished third in the 1,500 free in 15:28.22, Bollier was sixth in the 200 fly with a time of 2:00.00, just behind Stanford freshman and Sacred Heart Prep grad Tom Kremer's time of 1:59.91, and Johnson was seventh in the 100 breast in 1:02.65.
Dunford, who represented Kenya in the last Olympic Games, finished third in the 100 fly on Friday, swimming a 52.69. Godsoe was right behind in 52.85.
Johnson, whose best events are in the breaststroke, "has really developed" Godsoe said.
La Tourette, an eight-time All-American, won the 2010 NCAA title in the 1,650 free and holds the Stanford record in the event. Bollier is a 14-time All-American and finished as an NCAA runner-up in the 200 fly in 2011. He's also an assistant swim coach at Menlo-Atherton High.
Bollier and La Tourette each finished third in their respective events at last year's United States Olympic Trials, just missing a chance to swim in the Olympics.
"It's still fun to improve," Godsoe said. "It's fun to challenge myself. I'm still learning about myself and swimming."
He's committed to swimming at least through 2014, when he will re-evaluate his expectations for the future.
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text: I was thinking, to better understand what Nuggets fans want for Melo and for them to better understand us, I was thinking of going to a Nuggets forum and working out a mock Trade with the Nuggets fans. I Dont know if its ok to post a link but If you want to come with me there and work out a mock trade with Nuggets fans, PM me. I only need like one or two people on this one.


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If you've started a new business and you filed the Articles of Organization in your state to become an LLC, then here are some things you need to know about filing taxes for your new company.
First, there is no such thing as an LLC tax return. I know that sounds crazy, but it's true. Every year, thousands of people walk into their accountants' offices and say, "I want to file an LLC tax return!" This is what accountants joke about at their conventions and at the water cooler. We even post silly You Tube videos about it. This post is to help you not be the butt of some dumb accounting joke.
An LLC is a Limited Liability Company. One of the most common mistakes people make is that they think LLC means "Corporation", it doesn't. If you have an LLC, you probably are not going to file a corporation return (although you might, I'll discuss that later).
The IRS considers an LLC to be something they call a "disregarded entity." That means that it doesn't have a specific tax document that goes with it. If your LLC only has one "member" (member is LLC-speak for owner) then the default tax return for your LLC is a Schedule C which is part of your 1040 income tax return. It's due on April 15th just like any other individual tax return.
If your LLC has two or more members, then by default you are considered to be a partnership and you must file a partnership return, form 1065. Form 1065 is due on April 15th also, but it's a good idea to get it done sooner because the information on the 1065 needs to go onto your personal tax return before you file it. When your accountant prepares the 1065, she'll also prepare a K-1 form that will be used to prepare your personal income tax return.
So, if you have an LLC, the default tax return you might file would be a Schedule C as part of your individual income tax return, or a 1065 partnership return (and you'd receive a K1 form so you could put your partnership income on your personal tax return).
Instead of using the default filing options, you can choose to have your LLC treated as an S corporation or a C corporation for income tax purposes. It's very rare to choose to have your LLC treated as a C corporation. Usually, if a person wanted to pay corporation tax rates, she would file articles of incorporation to begin with. But one advantage to filing as an LLC and then electing to be taxed as a C corporation would be to avoid some of the stringent reporting and meeting requirements that C corporations have. Usually, it's not advantageous tax-wise to be treated as a C-Corporation, but there are always some exceptions. If you do go this route, you will need to file an election to be taxed as a corporation: form 8832. The tax return for a C-Corporation is called an 1120. You must file the 1120 or the extension by March 15th or you will be assessed a late filing penalty even if you owe no tax. A C-Corporation pays taxes on its income and pays wages and/or dividends to the owner.
The more common corporate tax treatment for LLCs is to be taxed as an S Corporation. A Sub-chapter S corporation passes its profits through to the owner. If you elect to be a Sub S Corporation, you must pay yourself a wage. For most businesses, the purpose behind a Sub-chapter S corporation is to avoid paying self-employment taxes. There are two things you must know:
1. A Sub S Corporation isn't always the best way to avoid paying self-employment taxes and,
2. You're not allowed to say that you're trying to avoid paying self-employment taxes, even though that's pretty much the reason anybody ever makes the Sub S election.
To make the election to be taxed as a Sub S Corporation, you will need to file form 2553. A Sub S Corporation tax return is called an 1120S form and it is due by March 15th. The S corp does not pay income tax; the income from the S corp will be reported on a K1 and will flow through to your personal tax return.
If you make an election to be taxed as a C or an S Corp, you will have to keep that designation for at least five years unless you get special permission from the IRS to change. You want to make sure you really want to make the election for corporate tax treatment before filing those forms.
Here's my really important tax advice: Assume that you're filing your LLC return either as a Schedule C (sole proprietor) if you're a solo owner, or a 1065 partnership return if you have more than one owner, at least for the first year. But then, sit down with your preparer and run the numbers all three ways, (Schedule C, S-Corp, C-Corp) to see what makes the most sense for your business. Make some projections about your future income and expenses and take into account the deductions that you may have missed last year but won't miss again. Smart planning can save you thousands of dollars in taxes over the years to come. Saving on taxes helps your business grow and puts money in your pocket.


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BEIRUT — U.N. experts who collected samples from last week's alleged chemical weapons strike outside Damascus left Syria for the Netherlands on Saturday, hours after President Barack Obama said he is weighing "limited and narrow" action against the Syrian regime his administration blames for the attack.
In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin urged Obama not to rush into a decision. The Russian leader implied the chemical attack came from among the rebels, saying he was convinced it was a provocation carried out by those who wanted to draw in the United States.
If the Americans have evidence to the contrary they should present it to the United Nations inspectors and the U.N. Security Council, he said. "If there is evidence it should be presented," Putin said. "If it is not presented, that means it does not exist."
Russia is one of Syrian President Bashar Assad's staunchest allies. Putin's comments were his first on the crisis since the suspected chemical weapons attack on rebel-held suburbs of Damascus on Aug. 21.
The U.N. inspectors spent three days this week touring stricken areas near Damascus and a fourth day interviewing patients at a government-run military hospital. They wrapped up their investigation Friday and left Syria on Saturday, via Lebanon.
The team then flew to the Dutch city of Rotterdam aboard a German government-chartered plane, the German Foreign Ministry said. An aircraft believed to have been chartered by the German government landed in Rotterdam on Saturday afternoon.
In Syria, rebels fighting to topple Assad said they plan to go on the offensive against his troops in attacks timed to coincide with the U.S. strikes.
"Zero hour begins the moment the first missile is fired," said Qassem Saadeddine, a senior rebel commander and spokesman for the rebels' Supreme Military Council.
"As the (U.S.) strikes gets underway, we will launch attacks against military airports, command centers, missile bases and military checkpoints," the former army colonel told The Associated Press from his base in Turkey.
Several other rebel commanders based in the rebel-held suburbs of the capital, Damascus, confirmed they would exploit the U.S. action to try and advance on the capital, seat of Assad's power.
Still, some opposition fighters said they felt uneasy about the prospect of U.S. strikes on their country, calling the U.S. objectives vague and "suspicious."
The U.N. experts had taken blood and urine samples from victims as well as soil samples from the affected areas for examination in laboratories in Europe. The U.N. has said it will try to expedite its final report.
U.N. disarmament chief Angela Kane is to brief Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon later Saturday on the investigation.
With the inspectors out of Syria, the looming confrontation between the U.S. and Assad's regime moves one step closer to coming to a head. The Obama administration has made clear that it is confident in its assessment and could act before the U.N. releases the results of its probe.
Obama has said that if he opts for a military strike, any operation would be limited in scope and only aimed at punishing Assad for his alleged use of chemical weapons.
But U.S. action carries the potential to trigger retaliation by the Syrian regime or its proxies against U.S. allies in the region, such as Jordan, Turkey and Israel. That would be dangerous new turn for the Syrian civil war, which has already killed more than 100,000 people, forced nearly 2 million to flee and inflamed tensions across the Middle East.
While Obama long has been wary of U.S. military involvement in the conflict, the administration on Friday forcefully made its case for action. It accused the Assad regime of carrying out what it says was a chemical attack on Aug. 21 that killed at least 1,429 people — far more than previous estimates — including more than 400 children.
However, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, one of the main groups monitoring casualties in Syria, said Saturday it has only been able to confirm 502 deaths, identifying victims by name.
Its list is based on interviews with hospital officials and activists in the affected areas, said Rami Abdel-Rahman, the head of the Observatory.
The Britain-based group, which draws its information from a network of anti-regime activists in Syria, urged the Obama administration to release the information its far higher death toll is based on.
Obama has said he has a strong preference for multilateral action, but France is so far his only major public ally.
The Arab League scheduled an emergency meeting for Sunday, two days earlier than initially planned, but it appeared unlikely to come out unanimously in support of military action against Syria. The league condemned the Aug. 21 attack in a previous meeting, but stopped short of endorsing military action, with Egypt vehemently opposed.
The U.S. already has warships in place in the eastern Mediterranean Sea near Syria's coastal waters. The vessels are armed with cruise missiles, long a first-line weapon of choice for presidents because they can strike distant targets without need of air cover or troops on the ground.
The Syrian government dismissed the administration's claims as "flagrant lies" akin to faulty Bush administration assertions before the Iraq invasion that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. A Foreign Ministry statement read on state television late Friday said that "under the pretext of protecting the Syrian people, they are making a case for an aggression that will kill hundreds of innocent Syrian civilians."
In Damascus, residents braced themselves in anticipation of strikes.
"We are anticipating it starting tonight, since the inspectors have left, but we don't really know," said Nour, who lives on the outskirts of Damascus.
"Just in case, we stocked up on some water and food. Our building has a basement that we can use as a shelter. The building supervisor started preparing it a couple of days ago, he cleaned it and we put some pillows, blankets, water and a first aid kit with basic medications," said the 23-year-old pharmacy student. She gave only her first name for security reasons.
Syrian state TV on Saturday morning broadcast footage of Syrian soldiers training, fighter jets soaring in the sky and tanks firing at unseen targets, all to the backdrop of martial music. The potential U.S. military strike dominated the station's morning talk shows.
Obama met with his national security aides at the White House on Friday and then with diplomats from Baltic countries, saying he has not yet made a final decision on punitive strikes.
But the administration did nothing to discourage the predictions that action was imminent. That impression was heightened both by sharply worded remarks from Secretary of State John Kerry and the release of an unclassified intelligence assessment that cited "high confidence" that the Syrian government carried out the attack.
In addition to the dead, the assessment reported that about 3,600 patients "displaying symptoms consistent with nerve agent exposure" were seen at Damascus-area hospitals after the attack.
In his remarks, Kerry added that "a senior regime official who knew about the attack confirmed that chemical weapons were used by the regime, reviewed the impact and actually was afraid they would be discovered."
The U.S. assessment did not explain its unexpectedly large count of 1,429 deaths, far in excess of an estimate from Doctors Without Borders from earlier this week that put the toll at 355. Not surprisingly — given the nature of the disclosure — it also did not say expressly how the United States knew what one Syrian official had allegedly said to another.
Mindful of public opinion, Kerry urged Americans to read the four-page assessment for themselves. He referred to Iraq — when Bush administration assurances that weapons of mass destruction were present proved false, and a U.S. invasion led to a long, deadly war. Kerry said this time it will be different, and that "we will not repeat that moment."
Citing an imperative to act, the secretary of state said "it is directly related to our credibility and whether countries still believe the United States when it says something. They are watching to see if Syria can get away with it because then maybe they, too, can put the world at greater risk."
While Obama was having trouble enlisting foreign support, French President Francois Hollande was an exception. The two men spoke by phone, then Hollande issued a statement saying they had "agreed that the international community cannot tolerate the use of chemical weapons, that it must hold the Syrian regime responsible and send a strong message to denounce the use of (such) arms."
Obama long has been wary of U.S. military involvement in Syria's civil war, as he has been with tumultuous events elsewhere during the so-called Arab Spring. In the case of Syria, his reluctance stems in part from recognition that while Assad has ties to Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, the rebels seeking to topple him have connections with al-Qaida-linked groups.
Still, Obama declared more than a year ago that the use of chemical weapons would amount to a "red line" that Assad should not cross. Obama approved the shipment of small weapons and ammunition to the Syrian rebels after an earlier reported chemical weapons attack, although there is no sign the equipment has arrived.
Associated Press writers Zeina Karam, Yasmine Saker and Karin Laub in Beirut, and Geir Mouslon in Berlin contributed to this report.
BEIRUT — U.N. experts who collected samples from last week's alleged chemical weapons strike outside Damascus left Syria for the Netherlands on Saturday, hours after President Barack Obama said he is weighing "limited and narrow" action against the Syrian regime his administration blames for the attack.


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Needing outfield help, Dodgers hope Puig is spark
Top Cuban prospect set for debut after impressive spring, stretch in Minors
By Ken Gurnick / MLB.com
DENVER -- Out of necessity, if not urgency, Dodgers management will reluctantly promote Cuban outfield sensation Yasiel Puig to the Major Leagues on Monday -- a move they announced after Sunday's 7-2 loss to the Rockies.
General manager Ned Colletti made the announcement. With Matt Kemp on the disabled list and Carl Crawford nursing a hamstring cramp, manager Don Mattingly was scrambling for a healthy outfielder. Matt Magill, Sunday's losing pitcher, will return to Triple-A Albuquerque to make room for Puig prior to Monday's opener against the Padres at Dodger Stadium.
There's no need to make room for Puig in the outfield. Followers of Minor League prospects have clamored for the 22-year-old's arrival, but with an All-Star outfield of Kemp, Crawford and Andre Ethier, the only way that would have happened this soon is if many things went wrong.
And many things have gone wrong for the last-place Dodgers this year. Puig will start immediately, probably in center field, although Mattingly said he wouldn't reveal that until he first talks to Puig, the organization's top prospect, according to MLB.com.
"It's not a bad thing from what we saw in Spring Training," Mattingly said of the promotion. "Before, how would we get him in the lineup? That's not a factor for me now. You don't want him to sit. The fact that we'll play him and he'll get at-bats makes it a lot easier for me."
Meanwhile, Puig has made like Superman this year, dominating Major League Spring Training in unprecedented fashion for a Dodgers position player, then continuing his stellar play at Double-A Chattanooga, where he hit .313 with eight homers, 12 doubles, three triples, 37 RBIs and 13 stolen bases in 40 games. He has 29 strikeouts and 15 walks.
In Spring Training, Puig didn't have any walks in 58 at-bats, but he hit .517 in 27 games. He hit five doubles, two triples and three home runs, driving in 11 runs.
"You don't want to build him up to where it's impossible for him to live up to all the hype," cautioned Mattingly. "In my mind, he's still a young player, obviously with huge potential.
"There's still so much baseball, and I don't say that in a flippant way that these games don't matter. But you saw with the Angels and Mike Trout last year, he came up and things completely turned around with what he brought to the table. It's unfair to say that happens here, but he could make a big impact."
Puig's only hiccup this year -- and one that was no surprise to those who have seen him drive -- was an arrest for driving 97 mph in a 50-mph zone.
He will wear the No. 66 he had in Spring Training.
Puig was signed last summer for a staggering $42 million Major League contract. The total financial package Puig received is spread over seven years and included a Major League roster spot. At the time, the Cubs were believed to be the Dodgers' most aggressive competition for Puig's autograph.
The $42 million was considered wildly excessive by most clubs, but the Dodgers needed impact hitters in their farm system and wanted to make a statement that the years of ignoring international talent because of economics were over.
With a body like Bo Jackson, Puig possesses power, running speed, ball-catching skills and a right fielder's arm. But with limited exposure as a young Cuban ballplayer, Puig's raw skills were relatively under wraps when he escaped his homeland for free agency.
He showed up four years ago on the radar of Dodgers scout Mike Brito, who shared the credit with Corito Verona for signing Fernando Valenzuela in 1979. Brito and current scouting vice president Logan White watched Puig bat in a controlled workout last summer in Mexico City, then White took the ball in a full-court pursuit that resulted in Puig's stunning signing.
Ken Gurnick is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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The Nexus 4 and iPhone 5 are the best smartphones on the market today. In this video we compare them. See also our story: Nexus 4 vs iPhone 5 comparison review.
Nexus 4 vs iPhone 5: design and build
The iPhone 5's build quality is supreme. It's thin and light, and features the new, smaller Lightning dock connector and headphone socket.
The back panel has small glass inserts, but is mainly aluminium, adding durability without extra bulk or weight.
The Nexus 4 feels great in the hand, a true premium smartphone. There's a silver bezel around the screen and, if you flip the phone over, you'll find unique finish consisting of a matrix of tiny silver dots, each reflect light at different angles. It's a love it or hate it finish.
We were initially a bit worried about the glossy finish of the Nexus 4, making it quite a slippery handset. However, between the front and back of the phone is a grippy rubbery finish. There's no removable cover and the phone feels sturdy and well-built.
The Nexus 4 has easily the best build quality for an Android smartphone we've seen.
Nexus 4 vs iPhone 5: screen
The Nexus 4's 4.7in IPS screen looks stunning with a detailed 768x1280 resolution, excellent contrast and rich colours. We found it performed particularly well outdoors.
The iPhone 5 is the first iPhone with a 16 by 9 display, which makes it great for watching videos. Existing apps will have to be redesigned for the new screen - in the meantime they will be displayed with black bars to fill in the spaces. The screen is taller, but not wider and feels completely natural to use: you don't have to stretch your thumb to reach things.
Nexus 4 vs iPhone 5: performance
Apple says the new A6 processor is up to twice as fast as the iPhone 4S. In our benchmarks we found this was true. The iPhone 5 scored 1650 points in Geekbench 2, compared to the 4S's score of 632. That's over 2.6 times faster.
When it comes to gaming, the iPhone 5 ran our Egypt HD test at 38fps, which is exactly twice the framerate of the 4S's 19fps.
Browsing the web is super speedy. When tested for JavaScript rendering speed, wef ound the iPhone 5 to again be around twice as fast – scoring 903ms in the SunSpider test, against 1891ms for an iPhone 4S.
In general use, the iPhone 5 feels incredibly snappy, opening apps and loading websites quicker than ever before.
The Nexus 4 offers similar performance. Inside the Nexus 4 is a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro, a quad-core chip clocked at a healthy 1.5GHz and 2GB of RAM. It set a new record for a phone of 2009 points in the GeekBench 2 test. It also matched the iPhone 5 in terms of graphics with 39fps in GLBenchmark.
Nexus 4 vs iPhone 5: storage
Built-in storage is limited to 16, 32 or 64GB and - as before - you can't add more. In terms of connectivity, the iPhone 5 now has dual-band Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4. And as we mentioned, it's the first iPhone with 4G for faster mobile internet.
Storage is the Nexus 4's biggest downfall with only 8GB and 16GB models to choose from. Like the iPhone, there's no microSD card slot.
Nexus 4 vs iPhone 5: cameras
The Nexus 4's 8Mp rear and 1.3Mp front facing cameras provided us with decent results. The easy to use camera app includes an HDR mode and Photo Sphere for 360 degree panoramas.
There's been no major update to the iPhone 5's rear camera. It still takes 8-megapixel photos and 1080p video. Photos look slightly better than those from the 4S, perhaps helped by the new sapphire crystal lens.
Sound recording is improved, though, thanks to three microphones, including one next to the rear camera.
From the front, the camera can now capture HD video, and it's now possible to make FaceTime calls over cellular 3G or 4G connections.
Nexus 4 vs iPhone 5: software
The iPhone 5 runs iOS 6. There are plenty of improvements to the interface, including more options when receiving calls, more streamlined email and reminders apps, and better integration with Facebook.
Google Maps have been replaced with Apple's own Maps app. It includes impressive 3D maps of several cities, but it lacks an equivalent of Google's Street View and there are some worrying inaccuracies which we hope will be sorted very soon. You can, of course, simply install Google Maps.
Nexus 4 vs iPhone 5: verdict
The iPhone 5 is a classy act with great raw speed and unsurpassed build quality. The Nexus 4 is a close rival, at a much cheaper price. Select either of these phones and you won't be disappointed.


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Senate Bill No.
(By Senators Kessler (Mr. President) and M. Hall,
By Request of the Executive)
[Introduced February 25, 2013; referred to the Committee
on Government Organization; and then to the Committee on Finance .]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto three
new sections, designated §5A-3-10d, §5A-3-10e and §5A-3-60
; and to amend and reenact
of said code,
relating generally to purchasing; authorizing reverse auction pilot program for purchasing commodities; defining "reverse auction"; permitting third-party vendors to administer reverse auctions; affording the Director of the Purchasing Division rule-making authority to implement reverse auction pilot program; providing that reverse auction pilot program expires on July 1, 2017; authorizing prequalification agreements and the secondary bid process for the direct procurement of commodities; defining "state", "prequalification agreement", "prequalified vendor" and the "secondary bid process"; requiring approval of the Director of the Purchasing Division for prequalification agreement and secondary bid process procurements anticipated to cost in excess of $50,000; affording the Director of the Purchasing Division rule-making authority to establish procedures regarding prequalification agreements, prequalification, the secondary bid process and related matters; requiring certain executive department officials to attend annual training on purchasing procedures; and repealing the Department of Health and Human Resources' Medicaid purchasing exemption.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto three new sections, designated §5A-3-10d, §5A-3-10e and §5A-3-60; and that §9-2-9b of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
§5A-3-10d. Reverse auction pilot program.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, the director is hereby authorized to initiate a reverse auction pilot program to procure commodities. The program may be utilized if the director determines the use of a reverse auction would be fair, economical and in the best interests of the state:
, That the director determines that the commodity to be procured:
(1) Is subject to low price volatility;
(2) Has specifications that are common and not complex;
(3) Varies little between suppliers;
(4) Is sourced primarily on price, with limited ancillary considerations;
(5) Requires little collaboration from suppliers; and
(6) Is sold by a large, competitive supply base.
(b) For purposes of this section, "reverse auction" means a process by which bidders compete to provide commodities in an open and interactive market, including, but not limited to, the Internet. Reverse auction bids are opened and made public upon receipt by the director, and then bidders are given the opportunity to submit revised bids until the bidding process is complete. The contract is awarded to the lowest responsible bidder.
(c) The director may contract with qualified, industry-recognized third-party vendors to conduct reverse auctions on behalf of the director.
(d) The director shall propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to establish the procedures for conducting reverse auctions under the pilot program authorized by this section. The rules shall include procedures for contracting with qualified, industry-recognized third-party vendors.
(e) This section shall expire and be of no further force and effect on and after July 1, 2017.
§5A-3-10e. Prequalification agreements; secondary bid process.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, the director may permit the state and its spending units to procure commodities directly and on a recurrent basis pursuant to a prequalification agreement and a secondary bid process if the director determines the process is fair, economical and in the best interests of the state.
(a) For purposes of this section, the term "state" includes the State of West Virginia and its spending units.
(b) For purposes of this section, a "prequalification agreement" is an agreement between the state and at least two prequalified vendors authorizing the state to purchase a commodity or commodities on a direct and recurrent basis through the secondary bid process. All prequalification agreements shall be of a specified duration and shall set forth the special requirements, technical or otherwise, for the commodity or commodities the state may wish to procure. Further, all prequalification agreements shall be approved by the director of the Purchasing Division.
(c) For purposes of this section, a "prequalified vendor" is a "vendor," as that term is defined in section one, article one, chapter five-a of this code, that enters into a prequalification agreement after demonstrating it is responsible and qualified to provide the commodity or commodities identified or to be identified in the prequalification agreement.
(d) For purposes of this section, the "secondary bid process" is the competitive bidding process whereby the prequalified vendors that are parties to a prequalification agreement may submit sealed bids to provide the commodity or commodities identified therein. The state shall commence the secondary bid process by issuing an order for the commodity or commodities identified in the prequalification agreement, stating in the order the quantity of the commodity or commodities to be procured in that particular instance. The prequalified vendor that submits the lowest secondary bid in response to the order shall be awarded the procurement in that particular instance.
(e) For purposes of this section, all orders anticipated to cost $50,000 or less may be issued by the state directly to the prequalified vendors. However, orders anticipated to cost in excess of $50,000 require advance approval from the director of the Purchasing Division. The state is not permitted to issue a series of orders anticipated to cost $50,000 or less to circumvent the requirements stated in this subsection.
(f) The director of the Purchasing Division shall propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, to establish, among other things, procedures by which prequalification agreements are solicited and entered into; procedures by which interested vendors may be prequalified; and procedures by which the secondary bid processis conducted. The rules shall also address the procedures the state and the Purchasing Division shall follow in the event an order is anticipated to cost in excess of $50,000.
§5A-3-60. Annual purchasing training.
(a) All executive department secretaries, commissioners, deputy commissioners, assistant commissioners, directors, deputy directors, assistant directors, department heads, deputy department heads, and assistant department heads are hereby required to take one hour of training on purchasing procedures annually.
(b) The director of the Purchasing Division shall offer the one-hour training contemplated by this section at least two times per year and shall develop its substance in accordance with the requirements of this article. The training shall be recorded by audio and visual means and shall be made available to the individuals listed in subsection (a) of this section in the event they are unable to attend the training in person.
(c) All individuals listed in subsection (a) shall certify, in writing and on a form developed by the director of the Purchasing Division, the date, time, location and manner in which they took the training. Completed forms shall be returned to the director and maintained in his or her office.
§9-2-9b. Contract procedure for the Medicaid program.
(a) The secretary is authorized to execute a contract to implement professional health care, managed care, actuarial and health care-related monitoring, quality review/utilization, claims processing and independent professional consultant contracts for the Medicaid program.
(b) The provisions of article three, chapter five-a of this code do not apply to contracts set out in subsection (a) of this section:
That the secretary shall comply with the requirements set forth in this section.
(c) The secretary shall develop procedures and requirements for competitive bidding and the awarding of contracts set out in subsection (a) of this section, which procedures and requirements shall include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) Submitting public notice bids;
(2) The general terms and conditions for the contract;
(3) Awarding contracts;
(4) The description of the commodities and services required for the contract, stated with sufficient clarity to assure that there is a comprehensive understanding of the contract's scope and requirements; and
(5) Contract management procedures which will ensure the assessment of contractor performance and compliance with contract requirements on a regular basis as appropriate for the specific contract and no less frequently than on an annual basis for any contract awarded pursuant to the provisions of this section.
(d) The awarding of the contract may be based on:
(1) Best value;
(2) Low bid;
(3) Sole source; or
(4) Any other basis the secretary chooses to award or reject the bid:
That the secretary shall document the basis of any decision made pursuant to the provisions of this subsection.
(e) The secretary may employ the services of independent professional consultants to assist in preparing solicitations or for the evaluation of any responses to such solicitations:
, That the independent professional consultant, or member of his or her immediate family, or business with which he or she is associated may not have any interest in the profits or benefits of the contract for which he or she may participate in the preparation of the solicitation or in the evaluation of the response.
(f) The secretary may terminate any contract with thirty days' prior written notice.
(g) The provisions of subsections (b), (c), (d), (e) and (f) of this section expire on and are of no further force and effect after June 30, 2013:
, That the secretary may continue with any procurement pursuant to the provisions of this section for the competitive bidding and awarding of a contract in which a public notice bid issued pursuant to this section occurred on or before January 1, 2013:
Provided, however
, That the secretary retains authority to review, approve and issue changes to contracts issued under this section, and is responsible for challenges, disputes, protests, and legal actions related to contracts issued under this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to implement purchasing reforms. Specifically, the bill provides the Purchasing Division with alternative methods to purchase commodities, including the reverse auction and prequalification agreement/secondary bid processes; requires certain executive department officials to attend annual training on purchasing procedures; and repeals the Department of Health and Human Resources' Medicaid program purchasing exemption.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
§5A-3-10d, §5A-3-10e and §5A-3-60 are new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.