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Editor's Note: Earlier this month, ProgrammableWeb spotted a Facebook post that took the producers of a specific hackathon to task over how the event was organized. We asked the author of that post, Brandon Wirtz, if he would be interested in writing something more prescriptive for ProgrammableWeb's audience. The idea? How can all hackathon organizers learn from the mistakes of their peers. This is particularly relevant for ProgrammableWeb since we are planning to run some multi-vendor hackathons in 2014.
Wirtz is CTO of Stremor.com; a company that provides APIs for natural language processing, summarization and search. Here was his reply:
In the past month I have both sponsored and attended hackathons. Looking back at those events it was apparent that there are at least 10 things you have to know when being an API sponsor at a hackathon.
1. Don't leave your booth unmanned. Much of the hacking happens at 3 am. Nothing will lose you a soon to be loyal evangelist of your API faster than not being there to support them when they need it. A user waiting 6 hours to find out that the issue is a small error in your documentation will sour them against you.
2. Don't sponsor if you haven't tested your API's thoroughly. For one of the hacks we were putting together, you had to call one API to get a list of products, and then hit a different endpoint for the product details. The first API didn't return IDs that were in the second endpoint because the second endpoint was a late addition. This API provider openly said their goal for the event was to test the APIs. Many of the hackers at hackathons make a living competing. One of our team mates was such an individual. The idea that he was betting this month's rent on being able to build something that would win in some category made him unhappy to be a beta tester.
3. Don't sponsor an event where you don't get to pick someone to be in the finals. You are paying to be there. Your money is the prize money. Make sure you are going to get your API and all its coolness up on the stage so that everyone can see what it can do. Let the judges be harsh if they must, but make sure you can get at least one good example of your tech in front of all the attendees.
4. Don't sponsor an event that doesn't encourage the judges to favor sponsor APIs. I saw an awesome hack using an API that allowed developers to do all sorts of interesting things based on proximity to various wireless signals. The Judge at their table left them feedback that "there is no use case for this project" which was not the case. As I sat among the crowd of hackers who were reading and sharing emailed feedback, I seriously thought there might be a lynch mob forming. Not only was this a great hack for the API, it was just plain a great hack. It essentially made everything that had a wireless signal a near field communication device. A hack that would jumpstart a market which has been struggling to get adoption because no one has enough things with RFID or NFCs to really get user adoption would suddenly have lots of things to interact with. Every hacker in the crowd got it. But a bad judge combined with no knowledge of which API's the judges were supposed to be looking for resulted in the team getting a two out of ten when the crowd would have given them an eight at minimum and many would have given it a solid 10.
5. Don't sponsor a "feature" of the event that doesn't work. The company sponsoring the broken WiFi that the teams depended on for Internet wasn't winning points for having a WEP password of "Thank You *sponsor name*". In fact the lack of reliability made for some funny jokes:
"What's in your wallet?"
"Nothing I'm spending all my money on data overages so I can get some Internet in this place"
"Are you building a Financial App?"
"Yep, it is a micropayment system so you can divvy up infrastructure costs amongst your team mates at hackathons"
But this isn't limited to infrastructure. The sponsored "breakfast" of soggy burritos filled with raw potatoes and strips of fat labeled bacon were not winning that sponsor any favors either. Whereas the sponsor who provided some very tasty Dutch Waffles won over quite a few hackers."
6. Don't give away consulting, lunches, or advice as a prize. Sure the cost of being a sponsor was high. But you need to budget for a prize as well. Lunch is not a prize. No matter how smart you think you are, or your dev team is, you are being patronizing if you think that lunch with you is worth the $1000 the other API Sponsor is giving away. Believe it or not some participants at hackathons have done really interesting things, made millions, and aren't just starving coders who will hang on your every word. There are of course exceptions. If you are giving away lunch with the CEO of a billion-dollar-per-year company, lunch might be an OK prize. But short of that, stick to things that are a bit more tangible.
7. Don't expect hackers to come up to you. Instead go out to them. Getting out into the crowd is the best way to get hackers to use your API. Ask what they are doing and engage with them about ways they could use your API. Don't pressure. Just hint at things that might be interesting. This doesn't mean you should convince the guys making something with toasters that it should also be a fashion app. It means taking the things that are a good fit and giving them a bit of a nudge.
8. Don't sponsor an event that doesn't have some press and bloggers in attendance. If you do great things and no one is around for it, does it really count? Many hackathons brag that they don't have any bystander passes. You don't want to sponsor these. You want people to talk about what was built with your stuff. If the event doesn't have a good amount of press, it won't matter if a group uses your API to solve world peace. This is also something you don't want to leave to chance. Bring your own bloggers. Encourage press you have relationships with to attend. Make videos and promote them in your own social channels.
9. Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty. Lend a hand. Helping a team with a code snippet, or "brogramming" with them to get them through a hard spot is great for you, and for the team. You will learn how your documentation should be improved and what pain points there are for those using your APIs.
10. Don't be discouraged by out of the box thinking. The best hacks are the ones you never dreamed were possible. If your shopping API gets mashed up with a hardware hack for a talking bear, embrace it. Your car API gets mashed up with shopping, embrace that too. The idea is to have developers find cool applications. So embrace the weird and unexpected.
What about you? Whether you're an API provider or a developer, how do you think hackathons can be improved? Feel free to comment below.


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Columbia Residents React to Gov. Nixon Gay Marriage Support
Related Story
COLUMBIA - Governor Jay Nixon announced Thursday he would allow gay couples married in other states to file joint tax returns in Missouri.
Amanda Prescott is the President of LGBTQ and STEM Association at the University of Missouri.
"It's good that it is like a step in the direction of equality, but it's not marriage," Prescott said. "Taxes are one thing, visitation benefits would be nice."
"Socially, it's just important to be recognized," said Prescott.
Columbia resident, Jared Meredith said everyone has their rights, but he said his religious beliefs keep him from agreeing with Nixon's statement.
"I have no problem with gay people marrying gay people," said Meredith. "My point of view is with the Bible. I'm not for it, but I'm not going to say you can't marry somebody.
The Missouri House of Representatives released the following statement from Missouri House Speaker, Tim Jones:
"Once again, Governor Nixon is trying to play all sides of every issue, indulging his liberal ideals while hedging his bets by saying the courts have forces this hand. The Governor's job is to defend out state's constitution - including the constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman, that was passed overwhelmingly in this state - not to surrender to the whims of the Obama administration..."

subset: commoncrawl


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- This event has passed.
Belgium vs Algeria – World Cup 2014
June 17, 2014 @ 9:00 am| Free
Event Navigation
San Francisco Recreation and Parks and America SCORES Bay Area are teaming up again to bring you live broadcasts of World Cup soccer action at Civic Center beginning this Saturday, June 14. Throughout the month of June, we'll be hosting viewing parties of several tournament matches, including England versus Italy on June 14, and the U.S. team's matches versus Ghana on June 16, Portugal on June 22, and Germany on June 26. Then, in July, we'll host the highly anticipated semi-finals and finals. Click here to find out more information, including schedules, game day activities and food options.


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Happy Friday everyone! I don't know about you, but I am SO ready for the weekend. We still have a little unpacking left to do, but the bulk of it is done. Time to buy new plants and have some friends over to see the new place. We're thinking of making one of these cocktails tomorrow night. I'm loving all the fresh ingredients and sweetness compliments of fruit, honey and/or agave.
What's your vote?
{The Salted Tarragon Greyhound}


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R&C's Annual Invitational Readers' Rides Road-Trip & Performance Showdown
"The thing I'm going to remember most is coming down Highway 1 and saying to myself, 'This is amazing! Here we've got six guys who put these cars together themselves, going 70 miles an hour around these curves.' It's really cool that you can build these things and run them and have such a good time." –Bob Klessig
Bob drives his '52 Chevy everywhere, but the journey from Wisconsin to California was the longest he'd taken with this car. Why did he do it? To participate in the Asphalt Ego-Rama.
Asphalt Ego-Rama is ROD & CUSTOM's annual invitational on-the-road shindig. Our readers pick six participants from hundreds of entries. It's not a cruise, or a race, or a show. It's a cool combo of all of the above, held together by a week's worth of fun.
Asphalt Ego-Rama IV began at Roy Brizio Street Rods in South San Francisco. Roy kept the place open after closing time so we could look around his amazing shop. Before long, we had figured out who was who, and who was driving what. Don Dillard had to drop out of Ego-Rama III but was back with his red-primered '30 Ford. Willie and Pam Martin were driving the flamed '55 Chevy. The '53 Studebaker belonged to Herman and Judee Gantt, from Virginia. From Wisconsin, we had Klessig and co-pilot Dan Lardinois in the Chevy, and Ross and Becky Roloff in the '39 Plymouth. The field was finished with Kris Elmer's bare-metal '31 coupe, from Utah, with Dekon Bakker in the shotgun seat. Also joining us was rod builder Rodney Bauman and his wife Marlene.
We spent the first full day cruising Pacific Coast Highway, stopping in Big Sur, at the famous Bixby Bridge, and at Hearst Castle in San Simeon. For everyone on the trip, the drive down Highway 1 was a highlight. Along the way, members of the R&C staff started hiching rides in each of the cars, to evaluate the ride quality of each one.
Ride & Drive is one of nine Ego-Rama categories. Others are Engineering, Budget, Gas Mileage, Style, People's Choice, Acceleration, Braking, and Cornering. People's Choice was determined by spectator voting at the Woodies & Rods Car Show in Pismo Beach, hosted by Central Coast Car Shows. Event organizer Joe Rivera lined us up along the beachfront, where we got loads of attention.The next day, we drove the final long leg into Los Angeles, stopping for lunch at the Danish-themed town of Solvang, conducting more Ride & Drive evaluations, and figuring out gas mileage.
The road trip was over, but there was still a lot more Ego-Rama to go. R&C web guy Nick Licata met us at California Speedway with timing equipment and cones for our brake testing, slalom runs, and quarter-mile time trials. We tested Cornering on a straight-line slalom, which involves some driver skill and makes for some cool photos. After lunch, we headed to the dragstrip for Acceleration testing. The slippery track produced slower than expected times and caused Don's coupe, which should've scored high here, to lose traction and scrub the wall. Good driving prevented a worse situation, and the coupe escaped with minor injuries. Don wasn't hurt, just a little rattled.
Later, we headed to So-Cal Speed Shop in Pomona for behind-the-scenes tour of the impressive facility.
That night, the R&C staff stayed up crunching numbers from the days' testing, counted People's Choice ballots, calculated Gas Mileage, and compared opinions in the Budget, Ride & Drive, Engineering, and Style categories. By breakfast, a winner had been determined.
At the awards breakfast in the Hall of Champions at the NHRA Motorsports Museum, the winner of the R&C Asphalt Ego-Rama IV was announced: Willie and Pam Martin's '55 Chevy. Willie invited everybody to his rod shop, Ed Martin Garage in Riverside, for a post-event party, and a chance to prep their cars before driving home to Utah, Wisconsin, and Virginia. Then it was over. Six more hardcore hot rodders and one more Asphalt Ego-Rama to prove that the point of building hot rods is to run them and have fun. Congratulations and thanks to everybody.
|Category Winners
|Acceleration: Ross Roloff's '39 Plymouth Coupe
|Braking: Herman Gantt's '53 Studebaker
|Cornering: Willie Martin's '55 Chevy Sedan
|Engineering: Bob Klessig's '52 Chevy Convertible
|Ride amp; Drive: Willie Martin's '55 Chevy Sedan
|Style Points: Don Dillard's '30 Ford Coupe
|People's Choice: Herman Gantt's '53 Studebaker
|Budget: Kris Elmer's '31 Ford Coupe
|Gas Mileage: Willie Martin's '55 Chevy Sedan
Ross & Becky Roloff
Wausau, Wisconsin
'39 Plymouth Coupe
"This was a brand new car when we came out to California. I changed the oil and I was pretty much ready to go."
Ross Roloff bought his '39 Plymouth 25 years ago, but didn't get serious about building up this homebuilt, owner-engineered car until 4 years ago. A very healthy RPM Racing Chevy Rat motor was a definite thrill, and the entire trick suspension not only looks great, but served Ross extremely well when put to the test. "I wanted something that handled, more or less, on a race car theme," said Ross, who once built race cars for Bemco Engineering.
In addition to being well-built, the Plymouth is incredibly detailed, with a long list of trick stuff underneath, including the stainless exhaust system and braided stainless fuel, brake, and transmission lines.
After participating in the 2004 Hot Rod Power Tour, Ross decided to try to keep the Plymouth on the road as much as possible. He'd read coverage of Asphalt Ego-Rama III and decided to enter. "I didn't know what it was about, or if I'd get picked, but I wanted to take a trip to the West Coast and see what everybody was building."
He and Becky did get picked and made the most of the trip, stopping in Reno and Bonneville, and touring San Francisco before Ego-Rama started. During Ego-Rama, they still had fun as tourists, walking along the beach, soaking up the sights, and picking up souvenirs whenever they could.
When it came time to compete, however, Ross and his Plymouth proved to be all business. His only poor showing was in the Gas Mileage category, a combination of having the biggest engine and a driver who stays on it all the time.
The Plymouth did very well in the Slalom portion, thanks to a well-set-up suspension including coilovers, anti-sway bars, and rear four-bar system. Ross' big moment to shine was on the strip. Despite claiming that he hasn't drag raced before, Ross turned in a corrected best e.t. of 13.50/111.71.
When we picked the Plymouth as a semi-finalist, we figured this mightly Mopar could humble some Fords and Chevys. We were right, weren't we?
Acceleration: 13.50 at 111.71 mph
Braking: 143.88 feet
Cornering: 7.34 seconds at 39.2 mph
Gas Mileage: 12.6 mpg
Drivetrain: RPM Racing Chevy 462 big-block, bored 0.030-over; RPM Performer manifold; Demon 850 carb; TH400 carb; nitrous oxide; Ford 9-inch with Posi and 3.55:1 gears.
Chassis: Stock boxed frame; owner-built front stub, tubular control arms, rear four-bar; Koni rear shocks; Pro front shocks; front and rear antisway bars; Ford front and rear disc brakes.
Wheels & Tires: P245/60R17 and P205/60R15 front and rear radial tires; 15-inch and 17-inch front and rear American Racing rims.
Body & Paint: All panels refitted and regapped; Halogen headlights; welded and filled front fender seams; louvers; front vent windows removed; V-butted windshield.
Interior: Stock bench with tweed upholstery; custom wood dash; Auto-Meter gauges; LeCarra steering wheel; Pioneer stereo system; Vintage Air A/C.
Bob Klessig
Antigo, Wisconsin
'52 Chevy Convertible
"I figured I had no chance to win this thing. But the more I thought about it, I figured, "Who cares if I win it?"
Everywhere he goes, Bob Klessig has the same here-to-have-fun attitude he had on Ego-Rama. But Bob wasn't here to goof around. His '52 Chevy held its own, finishing well in Ride & Drive, and winning the Engineering category.
Built for long-term coast-to-coast cruising, the Chevy is the perfect ride for long trips, with loads of comfort and room, and a GM I-6 stovebolt under the hood to keep gas mileage high. In addition to high points for Ride & Drive, Bob won the Engineering category, partly for how well the convertible conversion was done, and the vast amount of custom bodywork.
The car was a hardtop when he found it in 1997. When a friend found a '51 convertible in a junkyard, Bob took both cars to Doug and Dean Gigstead, who lopped off the hardtop and transplanted the convertible crossmembers. The blend came off perfectly and from there the custom tricks continued with nosing, decking, frenched headlights, and more.
The '52 was not a big threat during track testing, but Bob still had a ball. A rear swaybar would've reduced body roll during the slalom testing. "I wish I could've had about two more runs. I would've showed you guys," Bob swears. The I-6 mill produced a fantastic tone echoing off the grandstands at California Speedway, but wasn't much help on the strip. Even so, Bob was happy. "I heard somebody say that the Chevy would probably go 60 mph–and I made 70! I'm not embarassed at 19 seconds and 70 mph [Ed. note: Bob's corrected time was 18.45/73.09] for a 4,200-pound car with six-cylinder power. Most customs don't get out of their own way!"
Former R&C staffers Jim Rizzo and Dan Kahn got Bob to enter the event, and R&C readers voted him in. His involvement with the HAMB message board helped generate interest in the '52 and in the event. In the end, Bob exhibited true Ego-Rama spirit. "I enjoy driving and I put a lot of miles on my cars."
Acceleration: 18.45 at 73.09 mph
Braking: 160.66 feet
Cornering: 8.22 seconds at 34.9 mph
Gas Mileage: 18.5 mpg
Drivetrain: Chevy 292 I-6 engine, bored 0.030-over; Clifford Research manifold and cam; Edelbrock carb; Offenhauser valve covers; 200-4R transmission; Ford 8-inch rearend with 3.50:1 gears.
Chassis: Original frame with Mustang II front end; '51 convertible crossmember; Monroe shocks; Eaton front coil springs; Posies rear leaf springs; front antisway bar; front Camaro brakes; rear Ford drum brakes.
Wheels & Tires: Reversed steel wheels, 15 inches front and rear; Coker Classic wide whitewall tires; '56 Lancer hubcaps.
Body & Paint: Hardtop body transformed into a convertible; '50 Dodge frenched taillights; aftermarket headlights with Lucas lenses; extra grille teeth; Pontiac beltline trim; one-piece Olds windshield; Yukon Polo Green paint by Bob Duchan.
Interior: Stock seats covered with green and tan vinyl; modified original dash with Classic Instruments gauges; '58 Impala steering wheel; Alpine AM/FM/CD sound system; Vintage Air A/C.
Don Dillard
Irwindale, California
'30 Ford Coupe
"I kept telling everybody before it started: I didn't get in because I had the coolest car. I got in because I had a lot of friends."
Another thing Don has is determination. Ego-Rama II participant Sam Strube talked Don into entering his chopped Model A coupe in Ego-Rama III. After being voted in as a participant, he was literally bumped out of the 2003 event when a faulty neutral safety switch caused havoc to both Don and his car. In 2004, he came back to be part of the fun.
Don's chopped '30 A came out of the Auto Trader classifieds. His goal with the project was to build a vintage-looking car, which is why he chose to rebuild a junkyard 327 small-block instead of ordering up a crate motor.
We like the fact that the majority of the work on the car was done by Don, that it was built on a real-world budget, and is driven all the time. The coupe is no stranger to the road, and had worn out multiple chassis parts prior to Ego-Rama IV. After a recent refreshing, Don was ready for the competition. The bare bones hot rod flies down the road like a bullet. Nothing fancy underneath or on top, but ask this car to do anything and it does it without complaint.
In addition to scoring high in the Budget category, we expected Don to do well on the drag strip. Unfortunately, that was not the case. As we mentioned, the strip was pretty slick. As he shifted into Second, the coupe pulled to the left, swerving back and forth across the lane before running against the wall, bending the right front fender, scarring the rear fender, and damaging a tie rod, wheel cover, brakes, and shock. Luckily, Don was not hurt, the coupe remained driveable, and Don's shop was nearby.
For it's simplicity, Don's coupe was a favorite among some of the other competitors. Kris told us, "It speaks to me." Ross had a similar comment, "It just really struck me. It's just a basic car you can just get in it and drive. I'm going to build one like that."
Acceleration: N/A
Braking: 192.97 feet
Cornering: 8.74 seconds at 32.0 mph
Gas Mileage: 13.7 mpg
Drivetrain: Chevy 327 bored 0.030-over; Dart Sportsman 2 heads, Edelbrock Performer RPM manifold; Holley 3310 carb; TH400 transmission with 2,200-stall converter; '57 Ford 9-inch with 3.50:1 gears.
Chassis: TCI frame; Model A front spring with reversed eyes; front and rear four-bars; front Pete & Jake shocks; rear coilovers; front and rear Panhard bars; Magnum 4-inch dropped I-beam axle; front Buick drum brakes: rear '70 Ford drum brakes.
Wheels & Tires: Vented steelies, 15×5.5 front, 15×7 rear; repro '42 Ford caps with rings; wide whitewall tires measuring P165/75R15 and swap meet cheater slicks.
Body & Paint: Top chopped 3 inches; rear fenders bobbed 5 inches; rolled rear pan; "Chicago" headlights with Halogens on a dropped bar; repro '50 Pontiac taillights; finished in red oxide primer.
Interior: Minivan seat, Limeworks steering column; Stewart-Warner Wings gauges; aluminum dash, door panels, and kick panels; original chicken wire headliner; rubber chicken.


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SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – UC Santa Barbara hung tight with No. 6/7 ranked Kentucky for 20 minutes on Friday afternoon in the Thunderdome, but was unable to hold on as the Wildcats powered their way to a 66-38 victory.
With the loss, UCSB falls to 4-7 on the season and drops its second straight. The Wildcats, meanwhile, improve to 10-1 after locking down their ninth straight and their ninth win by a margin of 18 or more points.
"We played a great team tonight that is going to be a lot of teams by 25 or 30 points, even when they get to SEC play," head coach Carlene Mitchell said. "It's about the bigger picture for us. Hopefully our kids will understand that we have the chance to be really good. We have to stay healthy and continue to want to improve each day."
The game got off to a slow start with only six points being scored collectively in the first five minutes, but Kentucky proceeded to build upon its 4-2 lead with a 13-4 run that gave it the biggest advantage of the half with 8:08 on the clock. Melissa Zornig hit a three-pointer to cut the Gaucho deficit back down to single digits and spurred a 7-2 Gaucho run that shaved Kentucky's lead to just three points with just under six minutes to go in the half.
Kentucky was able to force several Gaucho turnovers and push its lead back to 10 points with 1:05 on the clock, but a layup by Kirsten Tilleman with 29 seconds left put the score at 28-20 at half. Kentucky's 28 points marked its third-lowest first half output this season and its lowest against an unranked opponent.
The Gauchos shot 47.1% (8-for-17) from the field in the first half and Zornig led the way scoring all nine of her points while shooting 100% in the opening stanza. UCSB out-rebounded the Wildcats, 14-12, but also led in turnovers, 17-8. Kentucky shot 41.4% (12-for-29) and was led by DeNesha Stallworth's 10 points and five rebounds.
Unfortunately, this game was a tale of two halves. Kentucky came out of the locker rooms and went on a 25-7 run to take its biggest lead to that point at 53-27 with 9:21 to go. The Gauchos were unable to cut their deficit to any less than 23 points as they shot just 26.1% from the field (6-for-23) during the second stanza. For its part, Kentucky shot an improved 48.4% in the second, going 15-for-31 from the field.
The Gauchos certainly had some bright moments, as they out-rebounded the Wildcats, 31-30 and shot an impressive 88.9% (8-of-9) from the free-throw line. UCSB, which ranked 40th in the nation for fewest turnovers earlier this week, had a season-high 28 in the loss.
Sweets Underwood and Zornig led the team with nine points apiece and Underwood chipped in a team-leading 12 boards. Tilleman had 10 rebounds to go along with six points and Nicole Nesbit chipped in seven points and three assists, tying Zornig for the team-high in helpers.
Kentucky had three players in double-digit points. A'dia Mathies had a game-high 19 points while Stallworth contributed 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Samarie Walker finished with a double-double, scoring 12 points to go along with 10 rebounds.
"For me, as the head coach, I am extremely proud of the effort; we played hard, we left everything we had on the court for 40 minutes and there are just going to be days that the ball doesn't go through the hoop for us," Mitchell said. "We played the No. 6 team in the country even – in my mind – for 20 minutes, and that says a lot about the character and the drive of the kids that we have here."
The Gauchos will take a break for the holidays before returning to action on Saturday, Dec. 29 when they host Kansas State at 2 p.m. in the Thunderdome. To purchase tickets, visit the Ticket Office in the Intercollegiate Athletics Building on campus, call 805-893-UCSB (8272) or purchase online by clicking here.


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February Highlights of the Month
BALTIMORE—Senior Keith Onto of the men's track and field team was named UMBC Athlete of the Month for February 2011 in a poll of fans conducted from March 1-7. Onto received 848 of 1,312 total votes (64.6 percent) to outdistance himself from runner-up Abbey McKenney of women's swimming and diving (353 votes, 26.9 percent). Erin Brown of women's basketball, Amanda Deller of women's track and field, Justin Fry of men's basketball and Brad Reitz of men's swimming and diving were also nominated.
Onto won the heptathlon at the 2011 America East Indoor Track and Field Championships with a score of 5,096 points. The school record holder in the toughest event in indoor track won the 1,000-meter run and 60-meter hurdles portions of the heptathlon while finishing second in the high jump and shot put and fourth in the long jump and pole vault. The native of Point Pleasant, N.J., also competed in the 60-meter hurdles individual event, where he finished seventh in a time of 8.44 seconds.


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Senior Crown attorney Peter Craig said after reviewing evidence at trial he determined Michael Ryan's evidence wasn't necessary to refute the duress defence of his ex-wife Nicole Ryan, and that he still believes the Crown presented enough evidence to overcome it.
Last week, the Supreme Court of Canada ordered a stay of proceedings against Nicole Ryan, essentially leaving her free. At the same time, the court granted the Crown's appeal and overturned the acquittal verdict that was reached in 2010.
Craig said Thursday the Supreme Court's decision to grant a stay is unusual and something that will be debated.
"It's unprecedented in terms of ever having been done before," he said in an interview. "I think there will be lots of discussion both academically and among reasonably informed members of the public about this decision."
The Supreme Court says Michael Ryan conducted a "reign of terror" against his ex-wife, basing its conclusions about him on the findings of fact made by the trial judge, who accepted Nicole Ryan's testimony "without question," as the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal noted.
In an interview this week, Michael Ryan denied he was abusive and questions why the Crown never gave him a chance to tell his side of the story during the original trial in Digby, N.S.
Craig said he had other considerations to make when he prosecuted the case.
"I can understand why Michael Ryan would feel he's never had the opportunity to advance his side of the story, so to speak, but that's not what the Crown looks at when determining whether to call a witness in a criminal case," he said.
"We're governed by calling evidence to support the legal issues that are raised in the case. I'm not Michael Ryan's lawyer. I determined after reviewing the evidence at trial that his evidence wasn't necessary to refute the duress defence raised by Mrs. Ryan."
Nicole Ryan's lawyer, Joel Pink, has said he has no doubt his client is telling the truth.
Craig said he remains convinced the Crown presented enough evidence to overcome Nicole Ryan's duress defence.
The court record shows, he added, that Nicole Ryan admitted to committing the offence.
Craig said the agreed statement of facts included a DVD with audio and video of Ryan meeting with an undercover RCMP officer and hiring the hitman to kill her husband.
"I think most people can appreciate that the frequency of that happening ... is extremely rare in our world," he said.
In its decision, the Supreme Court agreed with the Crown that the duress defence wasn't sufficient to acquit Ryan.
Michael Ryan says he sat in the court parking lot during the week of the trial, waiting to refute what his ex-wife was saying at the trial. He wanted to tell the judge that Nicole Ryan was under no duress from him, that they were living apart and he was in a new relationship.
He had been subpoenaed. He was on the witness list so he arrived at the courthouse on the first day of her trial, but could not sit in the courtroom due to a standard witness exclusion order.
However, Craig said there were other avenues for Michael Ryan to discuss the family relationships.
"There were some family court proceedings ongoing throughout the time the criminal matter was before the courts," he said.
"That is perhaps the place where he'd have an opportunity to tell his side of the story. More so than in criminal court."
Michael Ryan said his ex-wife did not make the same allegations of abuse during the child custody proceedings, which happened in the middle of her criminal case.
Earlier this week, he said he is coming forward now in part because the court proceedings are over, and in part for their daughter.
The 12-year-old lives with Ryan, his new wife and their 16-month-old son in Essa, Ont. Both Ryan and his wife work at CFB Borden. Ryan was granted sole custody of his daughter.
Pink said he's sure Michael Ryan is going to deny the allegations of abuse, "but the evidence is the evidence."
"The judge made a finding based on the evidence and that's what everybody should be looking at."
None of Michael Ryan's claims have been proven in court.
Craig described Michael Ryan's situation as "unusual."
However, he added, "the role of the Crown isn't to conduct a criminal trial in a way that's going to advance his position of their relationship or the public perception of it."
Craig said the Supreme Court judgment, which included a minority dissent, may raise questions among legal scholars.
"In our respectful view the most unusual feature of the case is that having found that the defence wasn't established, the Supreme Court of Canada ordered a stay to the prosecution," he said.
"This has never occurred in this situation before in any decision that we're aware of.
"There was never a charter breach allegation, or that the accused's charter rights were infringed in any respect. And what's more, this remedy, the stay of proceedings, wasn't sought at trial ... the Supreme Court unilaterally came up with this remedy."
Justice Minister Ross Landry, who is also Nova Scotia's attorney general, said he has been gathering facts about the case but there are no plans for a formal review of the RCMP or the prosecution's conduct in the case.
"I don't see at this stage that there's any breach there, and that the courts and the system in this case worked," he said.
Nova Scotia's Liberal party is calling for an independent review of the RCMP's early handling of Ryan's allegations of abuse and of the public prosecution service's role in the case.
"We believe there needs to be an independent review ... so that everybody involved in this matter can have their say and the public can see exactly what took place," said Michel Samson, the party's justice critic.


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- Did you mean
- classes events selling december consider
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Market Gardener Training Program
agricultural products for the market. Classes will meet Thursday evenings, from 6:00 – 9:00 pm, February 6th ...
YALC End of The Year Party
Chipotle! All are welcome to attend, even if you have never been to a YALC event before! Check out what we ...
Ohio State University Extension Small Farm Program announces the 2020 Ohio New and Small Farm Colleges
exploring options for land uses but not sure where to turn or how to begin? Have you considered adding an ... Tuesdays, beginning January 21, 2020 through Monday, March 10, 2020. Classes run from 6:00-9:00 p.m. each ... week. This class will be limited to the First 50 registrations. The cost of the course is $150 per ...
Processed Meats Product Show
a marketing and advertising plan for the products. The show is part of a class taught by Macdonald Wick, ... a CFAES associate professor. Also on display will be other products produced by the class throughout the ...
Special Holiday 2-for-1 Membership Offer
of our Spring Plant Sale and Auction, May 7, 2020. free or reduced admission to events sponsored by ... you prefer, you may still purchase memberships by completing the paper form but please consider giving ...
Chow Line: Growing Giant Pumpkins
Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. Generally speaking, some of the other things to consider ... several hours of daily sunlight and access to water, considering that pumpkins require large amounts of ...
Applications for The Market Gardener Training Program are open!
enterprises growing produce and other agricultural products for the market. Classes will meet Thursday ... this 10-week class is $150 and can be paid after you receive the notice of acceptance. Payment plans ... are available however the first payment will be due before the first class. If you have any questions ...
Soil health at risk on fallow fields
COLUMBUS, Ohio—With so many Ohio fields left unplanted this year, farmers should consider the ... the time or money to invest in sowing a crop they could not later harvest and sell, Sundermeier said. ...
Ohio farm incomes forecast to rise-again
Ohio State's Columbus campus. She is one of several faculty who will speak at the event sponsored by ...
Need Farm Workers? It could get easier
program to help the business, which sells produce at roadside stands in central and southeast Ohio. "The ... a disadvantage when it comes to selling their product," he said. Administrative changes to the H-2A visa process ...


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|Now you can accept payments on your website in any of the currencies supported by PayPal through the Multiple Currencies feature.
The instructions below will show you how to create a PayPal payment button in the currency of your choice for any of the following website payment solutions:
To create a new payment button in your desired currency, select the currency from the "Currencies" drop-down menu in the button factory.
For an example of a non-U.S. Dollar payment button, see the "Sample Code" section below.
If you already have payment buttons on your website, you can convert the buttons to a different currency by adding one line of HTML code. (Make sure you also convert the item amount when you convert your buttons to another currency.) For example, if you wish to accept payment in Euros, specify the currency_code in your payment button as follows:
The value you specify for the currency_code should be one of the following available currencies:
If the currency_code is omitted, the default currency will be U.S. Dollars.
Here's what the payment button code looks like for an item priced in Pounds Sterling:
For more information on creating payment buttons, please visit our Business Resource Center or the PayPal Developer Network.


text:
President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney sparred on education in dueling campaign events Wednesday afternoon in separate battleground states.
Obama continued his attack on Romney's education policy at Canyon Springs High School in North Las Vegas, one day after having accused Romney of being oblivious to the burdens of paying for college during stops at schools in Ohio and Reno.
"How many teachers' jobs are worth another tax cut for millionaires and billionaires?" Obama said Wednesday in what he called a question for Romney.
Romney fired back on education at an aluminum casting supply company in Bettendorf, Iowa. Noting that Obama "wants to invest in young people," Romney said the president should start with improving kindergarten through twelfth grade education and not "pass on trillions in debt."
For complete coverage of the 2012 election visit NBCNews.com.
"It's not investing in people to max out the credit card," he said.
Romney's campaign was also airing an ad Wednesday called "Nothing's Free" that linked cuts in Medicare to spending on Obama's health care overhaul, The Associated Press reported.
The battleground state push comes ahead of next week's GOP convention in Tampa, Fla., and as the Democratic Obama-Biden ticket leads Romney-Ryan 48 to 44 percent nationally in a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
Obama's lead was down two percentage points from July, suggesting that Romney did not receive a significant bump in support from selecting Paul Ryan as his running mate, NBC News reported.
He continues, though, to be attacked by the president over Ryan's budget plan.
Democrats argue Ryan's budget proposal would slash $115 billion from the Education Department, which would punish many middle class and low-income families trying to obtain an education.
In a new ad released Wednesday to run in Virginia and Ohio, the Obama campaign suggested that cuts in Ryan's budget plan would lead to larger class sizes, The Associated Press reported.
"Gov. Romney says we've got enough teachers, we don't need any more," Obama also said Wednesday in Las Vegas. "The way he talks about it, it seems that he thinks these are a bunch of nameless, government bureaucrats that we need to cut back on."
Meanwhile, Ryan attended rallies in Virginia and North Carolina, and accused Obama of presiding over an "imaginary recovery."
Speaking in Roanake, Va., Ryan invoked Obama's "you didn't build that comments" to accuse the president of having a "mindset" that favored government over private enterprise. Last month, Obama said at a fire station in Roanake that businesses relied on schools and infrastructure funded by the government.
"You didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen," he said then.
Vice President Joe Biden was also on the campaign trail Wednesday, attending events in Detroit, while Michelle Obama was due to speak with grassroots supporters in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
President Obama was also headed to New York City for a campaign event Wednesday evening at Lincoln Center.


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Supporting populations in fragile and conflict-affected situations (FCS) is a key priority for the World Bank Group. The Group's President, Jim Yong Kim, has repeatedly stressed the importance of finding ways to bring sustainable peace and development to these difficult contexts. According to the World Development Report 2011: Conflict, Security, and Development, more than 1.5 billion people in today's world live in FCS, or in countries with high levels of criminal violence.
Apart from the very human cost of fragility, it colors foreign investors' perceptions of risk, especially political risk, affecting private sector activity. This begets a vicious cycle, where economies worsen, increasing fragility. The importance of political risk, including political violence, in the perceptions of investors is well documented, including in the annual MIGA-EIU surveys presented in MIGA's World Investment and Political Risk report. In particular, MIGA's 2011 report focused specifically on investing into FCS, and the survey results demonstrate that political violence remains a very serious factor inhibiting investment.
Aside from capital, foreign direct investment (FDI) can bring essential knowledge and technology across borders. These benefits are often what make FDI so sought-after by policy makers. But investors have to consider the return on their investment relative to the risks they are taking, especially political risks such as expropriation, currency convertibility and transfer restrictions, breach of contract by the sovereign, and war and civil disturbance.
Conventional investment wisdom states that with higher risk should come higher returns. Given the heightened political risk associated with FCS, at MIGA we sought to estimate the return on investment (RoI) on FDI into FCS.
In its annual World Investment Report , the UN's Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) publishes rates of return of inward FDI by country, with the metric defined as: "annual rates of return are measured as annual FDI income for year divided by the average of the end-of-year FDI positions for years t and t-1."
Our first step was to assemble a list of countries (53 in total) that have ever been on the World Bank's FCS list since its creation in 2004. Next, using the data on rates of return on inward FDI for these countries, which UNCTAD generously shared with MIGA, we calculated the median average rate of return for each country for the years 2006-2011. We repeated the exercise using the list of countries classified as low-income countries (for the same period of time) as a control group. Finally, we compare the findings with the global average rate of return. It is important to note that there are limitations in the dataset since not all countries consistently report their FDI data.
We found that for the years 2006-2011, the average rate of return on inward FDI into FCS, after removing outliers, was 14.5%. In all low-income countries the average was 9.7% for the same period, and the global average was 6.2%.
This very preliminary exercise suggests that the data bear out an important premise for investors: FCS countries, while more risky, may provide a higher RoI (when compared to all low-income countries or globally) to compensate for this risk. Amid the current quest for yield, FCS may offer an opportunity for FDI especially when effective schemes to mitigate the political risks exist.
While rates of return are a measure of return to foreign investors, the broader economy-wide benefits of FDI, when undertaken with appropriate safeguards, are perhaps most important to host country governments and their people. In recognition of this, MIGA is committed to guaranteeing investments in FCS that have strong, long-term development impacts.
MIGA's multi-country, donor-funded Fragile and Conflicted Affected Economies Facility (CAFEF) was launched in July 2013 to encourage further investment into FCS. MIGA's goal is that Facility-insured projects will promote stability and sustainable economic activity, contribute to rebuilding efforts following conflict, and bring much-needed capital, employment, technology, and skills. This is particularly important for infrastructure projects, which underpin private sector investment and create jobs.
FDI into FCS brings high returns and is one way to enhance sustainable economic development. If one of the key obstacles to such FDI (political risk) can be mitigated by MIGA, other parts of the World Bank Group, or other donors or partners, then investors—and all of us—have an opportunity that should not be missed.
Does this calculation include
Does this calculation include United States FDI into Iraq and Afghanistan? Imagine that would massively influence the result.


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The stomach-churning flight from Kathmandu deep into the eastern Himalaya dropped suddenly between terraced green ridges outside Lukla. Minutes later, the DHC-6 Twin Otter skidded to a stop at the Tenzing-Hillary Airport, a landing strip the size of a football field with a steep, rock-cluttered hill at one end zone and a 1,000-foot drop-off at the other. We quickly gathered our packs and gear and hit the trail north, headed toward the distant, snow-covered peaks.
Though not exactly a walk in the park, the first two days from Lukla were easy – a gradual, 2,000-foot ascent followed by two nights and a day at 11,300 feet in a bare-bones hostel in the crossroads trading town of Namche Bazaar, where we studied our maps and acclimatized slowly to altitude. In our free time we climbed nearby summits, growing new oxygen-heavy red blood cells by climbing higher in the daytime than where we slept at night. It was cold, the nights especially, but clear, and in both moonlight and sunlight, the sky-high jagged mountains were sharply detailed, as if my bespectacled eyes had magically regained their perfect youthful sight. The ridges and peaks were igneous wedges out there, not sedimented ledges, and I could almost see the tectonic plates moving, the Indo-Australian Plate plunging under the Eurasian, driving the mountains up into the sky.
It's said that if the mountains are high enough, you're likely to meet your feared true self up there, the self that evades you down below. It's probably one of the several reasons why we climb mountains. And indeed, I came face to face with my doppelgänger, my nemesis, in the Himalaya. But not in the thin air of a snow-covered summit. I met him early, on one of the lower slopes, a day out of Namche Bazaar, barely halfway to Renjo-la, the first of the three high passes of the Sagarmatha National Park. I must have been looking for him even before I arrived in Nepal. Maybe as far back as a year ago, when I signed on for this three-week trek and then talked two friends into joining me.
Besides our Sherpa guide, Dambar, and his assistant guide, Gaushal, and two porters, Yam and Prem, who seemed to have been named by Samuel Beckett, there were three of us: Gregorio Franchetti, a 24-year-old film student; Tom Healy, a 50-year-old poet; and me, the 72-year-old scribbler who'd instigated this trek. Like son, father, and grandfather, Gregorio, Tom, and I are men of three different generations, and we're close friends. We have climbed in the Adirondacks together, and two years ago we climbed Kilimanjaro more or less to commemorate my 70th birthday. This, however, was a climb at a whole different level of physical and mental difficulty and risk. And I was two years older. For men the age of Gregorio and Tom, if you're well-made to begin with, and they are, a couple years' aging usually improves you. At my age, however, in two years your body can unexpectedly maderize, like an old-vine chardonnay uncorked beyond its time. All of a sudden, gone. Undrinkable.
On the fourth day of the trek, we were ascending a narrow winding trail, making our way up a long valley gouged into the moraine by an ivory-colored river of ice melt off the Bhote Koshi Glacier. We passed packs of resigned yaks descending from Tibet top-heavy with goods, mostly Chinese knockoffs of high-end climbing gear and clothing to sell in the stalls of Namche Bazaar and Lukla to inexperienced trekkers surprised by the cold and the effects of altitude. We were headed for a high-meadow farm settlement called Thame. From there for the next three weeks we would steadily make our way deep into the Himalaya to within ten kilometers of Tibet. We would climb half a dozen mountains, all of them about 18,000 feet, including the famed Three Passes, Renjo-la, Cho-la, and Kongma-la, visit Everest Base Camp, then trek back down to Lukla, and in triumph, catch our Air Tara return flight to Kathmandu. That was the plan, anyhow. The hope.
Crossing the Dudh Kosi River on a narrow suspension bridge strung between two cliffs, I meant not to look down at the milky river crashing against rocks 500 feet below, but then suddenly remembered Thornton Wilder's scary novel, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, and looked down anyhow. If the swaying bridge, as in the novel, were to inexplicably give way, I wanted to see where I'd be hurled. What I saw down there was a small herd of mountain goats, the brown Himalayan tahrs, grazing on the far bank like suburban deer, six or seven females and kids and a large male with a shaggy mane watching over them. It's rare to see them in a herd, especially with the male.
An old goat, I thought. Like me.
The trail, where we left the bridge, cut sharply uphill, away from the river. Coming toward us was an elderly man, European or North American, picking his labored, careful way over rocks and roots with climbing poles. Poor guy, I thought. Definitely too old for this. Balance clearly shot, legs trembling, shrunken lungs sucking air even on the descent. Too much vascular hardening, too much lost muscle and bone mass to handle this tough a climb. There comes a point when an old man ought to stay home by the fire, I thought.
But then behind the man appeared a slim, very attractive blond woman in her early thirties. The old guy drew near and looked me squarely in the face. I looked him back and realized that I was probably the same age as he – a fellow septuagenarian. Neither of us smiled or acknowledged the other. Though we stood and stared at each other for several long seconds, neither of us wanted to see or be seen by the other. We were the same, he and I, and neither of us appreciated the fact. I knew he was hoping that I'd think the young woman was his mistress, not his granddaughter or niece, and that I'd think him an old goat, like the bearded, brown, alpha-male tahr, and not an old fool. And indeed, I did hope that the young woman was his mistress, not his granddaughter or niece. But I still wasn't sure he wasn't an old fool trying and failing to do what's done best by much younger men. Even – perhaps especially – as regarded the young woman coming along behind him.
For the first time, I saw the problem. Barely four days into the trek and at a relatively low altitude, I'd met my feared, true self: a man who could as easily be an old fool as an old goat. But wasn't that one of the reasons, maybe the main reason, why I'd decided to make this trek in the first place, to figure out which of the two I really am? I hadn't considered it back then. I was just working my way down my bucket list, which was growing shorter by the year. Not because I was checking things off the list, so much as I was running out of time – the lion-in-winter syndrome. Climbing in the Himalaya had been on my list for a decade. But at 72, I could remember 62 like it was yesterday. Which made 82 look a lot like tomorrow. And, friend, no matter how you cut it, 82 is elderly. It's not the new 62. It's not the new anything. I'd reached the age where it was pretty certain that if I didn't go to the Himalaya now, I'd never get there.
To pull it off successfully, I'd have to lift my level of fitness higher than it had been since my thirties. I'm not healthy because I exercise regularly; I exercise regularly because, thanks to my gene pool, I happen to be healthy. For years I've worked out mainly to counter the effects of sarcopenia, the one percent per annum of muscle mass that our bodies begin to devour as we age, even while we sleep. Back in November, six months before the Himalaya spring-climbing season, I swapped that old, easygoing, three-days-a-week, maintenance-level routine for a more strenuous daily training regimen, alternating aerobic and weightlifting workouts in the gym with long, thigh-punishing bike rides. I took my body, like an old Volvo, its warranty long since expired, to the shop for a thorough drive-train check and tune – blood work, EKG, echocardiogram, even a colonoscopy – and got prescriptions filled for Cipro (against dysentery) and Diamox (against altitude sickness). Also Viagra – the doctor explained that originally Viagra was developed to deal with angina and other cardiovascular issues and can relieve altitude sickness. In an emergency, he said, if the Diamox is too slow to act, pop a couple of Viagra and quickly descend. (So Viagra's a multipurpose drug, I thought. Good to know.)
By April, my weight was down from 215 to 190, and I was feeling stronger than any time in the past 20 or 25 years. Yet one never knows, as I'd learned in the Andes and on Kilimanjaro, until one is actually on the mountain. My two climbing pals, Gregorio and Tom, had signed up early in the year. Gregorio, who planned to make a film of the trek, said he had cut back on his smoking and was doing some jogging and yoga. Tom, in his role as chair of the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, had spent the year traveling and worried that he'd laid on a few extra pounds at embassy dinners. I wasn't concerned about their fitness level, however. Only my own. Two years earlier, climbing Kilimanjaro for the third time, I'd discovered that in the five years since my previous ascent my sense of balance had gone into serious decline, and though I was still plenty strong enough for the climb, I was working much harder at it than Tom and Gregorio, taking great care not to fall – like that old guy with his poles – while my pals hopped from rock to rock like teenagers. I'd worked since then on recovering my sense of balance by means of a specified set of exercises, but worried about what new physical, neurological, or psychological diminishment I'd discover trying to climb in the Himalaya.
Tom, who was in Indonesia on a Fulbright mission, planned to meet us in Kathmandu. Gregorio and I convened in New York to complete our packing and fly out of Newark together. Gregorio was already filming. Making a visual record. It would be hard to lie about this one, I thought, even in print. On my way to a meeting with my publisher, I popped into a Barnes & Noble to pick up a long novel to carry to the mountains in my backpack and chose, for its combined portability and length, a pocketbook edition of 'Great Expectations'. I'd somehow managed to reach the edge of old age without having read what was, to judge by the cover, John Irving's favorite novel. Another, if minor, item on the bucket list to check off.
A little later, I was in my editor's corner office with him and his boss, both men of a certain age – which is to say, baby boomers, men not quite my age yet, but close – and we ended up talking about how all our male near-contemporaries, ourselves excepted, of course, were suddenly getting old. We mentioned mutual friends' hip and knee replacements, prostate cancers, stents, retirement parties. I observed that nowadays when we wake up in the morning the only thing that's stiff is our back and heard nervous laughter of recognition.
Gregorio, struggling with tripod, camera, mic, lights, batteries, cables, and laptop, in addition to backpack and duffel stuffed with clothing and climbing gear, filmed our taxi ride to Newark Airport. It was amusing and endearing to watch him, a young man obsessed with his self-selected, open-ended task, working alone without financing or a contract – the sort of task, as an aging professional writer, I no longer seemed capable of taking on. He filmed our departure on United's 15-hour flight to Delhi, filmed our overnight wait in Indira Gandhi International Airport for the connecting flight to Kathmandu, and filmed our bleary-eyed arrival early the next morning, when we checked into the Dwarika's Hotel.
In the Sixties, Kathmandu was the first stop out of San Francisco on the Hippie Trail, and a lot of my friends had passed through the city back then. I'd missed it in my own youthful wanderings. So while waiting for Tom to come in from Indonesia, we hit the chaotic, congested streets of the district called Thamel and pushed through crowds of panhandling European and American dreadlocked kids with clustered tattoos and piercings searching for the long-gone ghosts of Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. We visited, and Gregorio filmed, the famous Hindu temple, Pashupatinath, where we inhaled human ashes blown from the open-air cremations smoldering on platforms above the Bagmati River and watched stoned sadhus, for small change from tourists, lift rocks tied to their penises. We stopped at the round Buddhist stupa, Boudhanath, placed like a gigantic white navel at the center of the Tibetan exile community, where during a sudden rain shower we drank beers in the Tibet Kitchen rooftop cafe and agreed that the Hindu shrine and rites were medieval and obsessed with death and rebirth, while the Buddhist shrine and rites, where pilgrims of all ages happily circumambulated the temple even in the rain, were good-natured, almost clownish, an Asian parallel to preclassical Greece, more life-affirming than the Hindu, we decided. Another good reason to climb high mountains: It gets you out of the house. We weren't just trekkers, mountain climbers. We were travelers, too.
That afternoon, Tom arrived, and later we met for a briefing with Samden Sherpa, who with his energetic mother, Yankila Sherpa, runs Snow Leopard Trek, the outfitter we'd hired for the trip. Back in the early 1970s, before the era of "adventure tourism" hit the Himalaya region, the American writer Peter Matthiessen came to Nepal to search for the elusive, endangered, near-mythical snow leopard, a quest that became, as these things often do, a search for his own soul. With the help of Yankila's late husband, Tendi, Matthiessen pulled together a group of local guides and porters and trekked all over northwestern Nepal. After Matthiessen returned to the States to write his prize-winning book, 'The Snow Leopard,' Yankila reformulated the group as one of the first outfitters in the country and named it after the book.
Samden Sherpa also brought to the meeting Dambar Magar, the man who would guide us into the Himalaya, and a second guide, Gaushal Magar, Nepalese cousins, both broad-faced, short, stocky men in their late thirties. Dambar spoke excellent colloquial English, obviously a man with a gift and affection for language. Gaushal, who seemed not to speak any English at all, smiled benignly throughout the meeting. Dambar had a brightly lit, charismatic flair and intensity that seemed consciously designed to attract and hold our attention. He talked rather steadily throughout the meeting and listened not at all. Evidently narcissism is not culturally specific, I thought, and wondered if in the upcoming weeks we'd be able to meet his need for attention.
Now, five days later, as we decamped from the high meadow settlement of Thame and headed up the Bhote Koshi Valley to a lodge at Lungden, my question was being answered. Since landing at Lukla, Dambar had been bugging us endlessly with jokes and song-and-dance routines. He was a knowledgeable guide, experienced and more than merely competent. But his need to entertain everyone in hearing range was starting to irritate us. Perhaps me especially, the Old Goat. At times it was like climbing with Robin Williams or Liza Minnelli. Or both.
The plan was to acclimatize at Lungden at 14,370 feet for a day and two nights before attempting Renjo-la, the first of the three high passes. We were many miles west of the more popular routes into the Himalaya now, so there were very few fellow trekkers and no more yak trains coming across from Tibet or down from Everest Base Camp in the east. We were in high tundra, crossing the arid, wind-scoured zone between the tree line and the snow line, scrambling uphill across scree and waist-high boulders. I could see that if I was going to get over the upcoming passes, climb the mountains ahead, and cross the dangerously melting glaciers beyond, I'd have to focus all my attention on the task at hand. I couldn't keep nodding and smiling in approval to keep my loquacious guide happy. I decided to confront Dambar and try to explain my difficulty.
After we dropped our packs on our narrow bunks, I took Dambar aside and said, "Look," I told him, "I'm an old man, and this is hard for me. To do it successfully, I need to concentrate. To concentrate, I need you to be quiet."
Dambar misread me, however. He said he was confident that I could complete the climb successfully. And not to worry about being such an old man, he said. Plenty of old men who were even older men than I had completed this same trek with total success.
I doubted that, having been reliably informed by a friend back home that, regardless of age, most of the trekkers who sign on for the Three Passes route don't complete it. She herself is a mountaineer and guide who had recently returned from the Annapurna region and knew whereof she spoke. "Just pay close attention to your body," she advised me. "No matter how fit you are, don't go all macho and push it till you collapse or fall. That's how these mountains kill people."
The cut-stone lodge at Lungden was rough and cold. The common toilet was an overflowing latrine, and the entire building stank of it. There was only one other climber at the lodge with us, an enormous, middle-aged Australian who called himself Rocket. He liked to drive fast, he explained. "Like a fookin' rocket!" Traveling alone without guide or porter, he'd been at the lodge in Thame the night before and limped into Lungden a few hours behind us, a delightfully eccentric man who told us he was a ladies' hairdresser in Perth. He had a substantial belly, spindly legs, claimed to smoke six cigarettes a day, and carried several, maybe many, pints of whiskey in his huge backpack, from which he now and then pulled out one to sip from as he climbed. This was the fourth time he'd gone trekking in the Himalaya, he said. "Me wife says I'm a loner, and I s'pose I am."
Something about him reminded us of Elton John, his affable, unflappable weirdness, maybe, so we called him Rocket Man, which he liked, and he soon began referring to himself as Rocket Man. His knees were in pain, and he wasn't sure he could make it over the passes and on to Everest Base Camp, but unlike the climbers we'd met so far, all of whom were intent on summiting, as if cutting notches in their belts, Rocket Man, with an equanimity I envied but couldn't match, didn't seem to care. "Nah, if it gets too fookin' tough, I'll just head back to Namche Bazaar."
He was going straight up Renjo-la the next morning without taking the extra day and night of acclimatization, which seemed at the time like a good idea. None of us liked the lodge at Lungden – it was filthy, dark, and cold – so we proposed to Dambar that we skip the extra day like Rocket Man and go up Renjo-la and on to Gokyo Camp tomorrow instead.
Dambar said he was concerned that without more acclimatization and rest it would be too tough for me. I assured him that I was feeling strong and so far the altitude hadn't bothered me at all. It seemed clear that, despite what he'd said earlier, Dambar was indeed concerned about my age. But in the end, we prevailed, and Dambar agreed to depart the next morning at 5:30. It would be a long day, he said, and then broke into a Bollywood song cycle and danced away.
Later, after a supper of dal bhat and momos, Tom, Gregorio, and I in hats, parkas, and gloves huddled in the common room as close to the fire as possible. With each stop, the meals had gotten more and more fundamental, with fewer and fewer fresh components. Between the tree line and the snow line is the protein line, above which no meat other than nearly inedible reconstituted dried yak steak is available. Otherwise it was mostly combinations of rice, noodles, cabbage, turnips, and carrots, and the steamed dumplings called momos. The lodges are called teahouses (probably because when you arrive they serve hot tea from a Thermos), but now that we were at the very end of the inhabited world, they weren't much more than minimalist barracks. No electricity, no running water, no heat, except in the common room from a metal stove for burning yak chips. Beds were a thin slice of foam rubber on a piece of plywood. Toilets were a shared hole in the ground, or floor, at the end of the hall. Forget washing.
Tom, who at 50 could imagine being 60, but not 70, asked me what was the difference between how I felt about my body 10 years ago, when I was in my early sixties, and now. Tough question. Especially since I was in better shape now than I was back then. I said the main difference was fear – fear of being in denial as to my inescapably diminished powers. Which could result in overconfidence and absurd and embarrassing moments of public exposure of weakness and vanity: an old fool.
Back in November, when I had the self-confidence, the chutzpah, to sell Tom and Gregorio on the idea of making this trek, it was on the assumption that I myself could successfully climb these passes and mountains. But if I couldn't actually do it, I'd be exposed as an old fool. And there's nothing worse than being an old fool. Climbing Renjo-la tomorrow would be a crucial, self-defining test for me. And unless I passed it, my pride and our friendship, among other things, would be impaired. We three might travel together again, but we'd probably not go climbing together again.
We headed out the next morning in darkness and cold, guided by headlamps, locked inside our individual thoughts. It wasn't long before the sun cracked the horizon and revealed Renjo-la above, a V-shaped notch in a jagged line of three snow-covered, 20,000-foot peaks, Kyajo Ri, Pharilapche, and Henjo-la. I chugged steadily onward and upward at my chosen slow pace, while Gregorio lugged his camera and tripod ahead and set up to film us as we ascended toward him; then, when we passed by, moved ahead again and set up at a further, higher point. Tom seemed to withdraw inside himself and climbed in front of me a ways, more or less alone. Our porters, Yam and Prem, carrying two duffels each, had left the lodge at Lungden even earlier than we had and were now well out of sight. Gaushal stuck close to Gregorio and helped carry his film equipment. Dambar stayed by me. I couldn't tell if it was because he thought of me as the old goat, the alpha male and leader of our group, or the pathetic old man who could screw up the entire climb if he fell and broke his leg or back and had to be helicoptered out. He might well not make it over the pass at all – too weak, too old – and have to go down to Lungden by nightfall and return to Namche Bazaar the next day and wait alone for 15 or 16 days while the others completed the trek without him.
Dambar continued to natter incessantly on, until again I asked him, somewhat grumpily, to be silent so I could concentrate. He got it this time. He said, "Sorry, sorry, sorry!" and put on a silent sulk, as if to punish me for having hurt his feelings – suggesting that passive aggression is also no more culturally specific than narcissism.
By mid-morning Rocket Man was far behind and way below us, a slow-moving ant in the distance. I avoided looking ahead of me and up – it discouraged and depressed me to see how far and high the pass was and how far ahead of me Tom and Gregorio were. After six hours of climbing, my lungs were burning, and my thigh muscles were threatening to go into spasm. Also, I was woozy – my brain was oxygen-deprived from the altitude – and the switchbacking trail crossed treacherous, icy slabs of shale and slag. The temperature was dropping fast now, and a sharp wind shaved the rubbled face of the mountain. Patches of ice and snow crumbled underfoot. The slabs of shale and slag had given way to large, slippery, bronze-colored boulders. To keep from falling, I fastened my gaze to my feet and ignored whatever might be above and ahead of me and how far up the mountain I had yet to climb. Head lowered, wrapped in profound solitude, as alone as a human being can be, I kept climbing. My world was my body, and my body was suffering. Hour after hour, short step by short step, then a hitch up and over one suitcase-size boulder onto another, where I grabbed a diluted catch of breath, lungs rasping, blood pounding in my ears like a locomotive piston at full bore, and then there's another boulder to negotiate, my steps slowing and getting shorter, and between each step a deep inhalation, a gasp for air nearly emptied of oxygen, until it seemed I was closer to suffocating than to breathing and was barely moving at all.
So that I was almost startled by my sudden arrival at the pass. Strings of brightly colored prayer flags snapped, crackled, and popped in the freezing wind. Gregorio was filming, Tom was resting off to one side, and Gaushal, Yam, and Prem were grinning and waving, happy to see the old man reach the pass, while Dambar, his sulk now dissolved, celebrated with dance and uninhibited song, and this time I didn't mind it at all.
In fact, I barely heard or saw him there. I stood with my back to the way I had come and looked out from the high, wind-pummeled pass. Before me, the cloudless blue sky opened above a vast snowfield and the Machhermo Glacier. Three thousand feet below, a north-running chain of turquoise lakes led to a broad, fawn-colored valley, and beyond the valley the Ngozumpa Glacier sprawled from north to south for 50 miles. At the far horizon, carving out great chunks of sky, four of the 10 highest mountains on the planet loomed, Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu, and the highest of them all, dark and glowering, the only peak covered in clouds, Sagarmatha: Mount Everest.
It was as if I had emerged from a fallen world far behind and below me and entered another, purer world from above, from the sky. One climbs a mountain, not to conquer it, but to be lifted like this away from the earth up into the sky. This is what the ancient Buddhists and Incas knew, perhaps what all ancient peoples knew. Climbing a mountain is how one clutches the sky and enters it with one's body still intact, still connected to the earth, flying through the air with one's feet on the ground and one's head and hands in the sky. It's a way of practicing, not for dying, but for death itself – a way to greet the gods on their own terms.
I had climbed to 17,677 feet and had crossed over Renjo-la, the first of the three high passes and the first real test of our trek. Feeling no ill effects of altitude, I was confident now that – barring an accidental slip and fall, which of course could happen anywhere along the way, and if it did, would not make me an old fool – I would complete the rest of the trek. My spirits were high, I was even a little giddy, and for the first time found Dambar's comic routines entertaining, as we traversed the snowfield and rounded the gray, till-filled skirt of Ngozumpa Glacier and stopped for a moment before beginning our descent to Gokyo, a clutch of low, cut-stone trekker huts and lodges beside the distant lake.
It might get harder and higher over the next 16 days, but I knew now that as we ascended and descended those upcoming passes and peaks, I was going to be made stronger by it, not weaker. I knew that I would make it successfully to the end. Standing here at the eastern edge of Renjo-la Pass with the wind off the high Himalaya in my face and a broad glacial valley sprawling thousands of feet below, I was no longer the anxious, perplexed man who wasn't sure if he was an old goat or an old fool, and it made me capable of finding poor needy Dambar's quirky narcissism amusing and culturally interesting. I was able to accept him simply for who he was.
By the time we got down to the hut in Gokyo, Tom was suffering the beginnings of altitude sickness: lethargy, headache, chills. Not seriously enough yet to go to a lower altitude, but cause for concern. Gregorio seemed OK, but said he felt drugged and was thinking and moving slowly, as if underwater. I felt fine, a little leg-heavy, but otherwise ready to climb another mountain.
Rocket Man would pull in by dark, four hours after us, his bad knees about to give out, and the next morning, after his first cigarette, announced that he was through and was heading back down to Namche Bazaar. After he departed, Dambar led us on a scheduled six-hour hike from Gokyo up along the Ngozumpa Glacier to view a string of glacial lakes, and that afternoon we climbed Gokyo Ri, an 18,000-foot mountain with a 2,500-foot vertical approach from the hut. But Dambar may have been right after all, and we shouldn't have left Lungden for the first pass without the extra day and night of acclimatization. After the long walk to the lakes and climbing Gokyo Ri, Tom would become truly altitude sick, dangerously so, and would have to descend immediately to lower altitudes with Gaushal for two days and nights to reacclimatize.
He would rejoin us east of Cho-la, the second of the three passes, for the rest of the trek. We would traverse melting glaciers with 500-foot-deep sinkholes where a year ago there were hard-packed trails. We would cross Kongma-la, the highest of the three passes at 18,159 feet, and summit 18,196-foot Chhukhung Ri, the tallest of the mountains on our itinerary. We would make it to the Everest Base Camp, which was crowded and cluttered with refuse and old, used-up climbing gear, as helicopters shuttled back and forth, carrying out injured and altitude-sick climbers and as many of the bodies of the 10 climbers who died on the mountain that week as they could carry down to base camp. There were 150 climbers strung along the dark, bony shoulder of Everest the afternoon we came to visit. It would turn out to be the only depressing day of our climb.
Gregorio would make his movie, or at least shoot it so that it could be edited later in New York. Inspired by the extremity of the climb and the world that surrounded us there, Tom would draft most of a book of new poems. And I would finish reading 'Great Expectations,' but only because I had nothing else to read up there. The image of that sturdy septuagenarian with the climbing poles whom I'd come face to face with on our first day out of Namche Bazaar – the original old goat, as I now thought of him – stayed with me till the end of our climb and beyond. In the beginning, he had been my nemesis, my doppelgänger, my feared self, a man too old to be climbing in the Himalaya in the company of a much younger person, a beautiful young woman, for God's sake. Now, however, I admired that old guy and hoped I was a little bit like him. All he was doing was taking the measure of his absolute physical limitations, marking the nearness of the end of everything, getting as close to that final leap into the void as he could while still standing on the planet. He was no old fool. And if he wasn't, then I was no old fool, either.
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Michael Fassbender has signed on to narrate Paul Crowder's new Formula One-themed documentary film "1" at Spitfire Pictures. The action documentary examines the glamour, speed, danger, and excitement of Formula One Grand Prix racing.
The film includes never-before-seen archive footage along with interviews with the likes of Sir Jackie Stewart, Mario Andretti, Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher, Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel, Emerson Fittipaldi, Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill. [Source: ]
Hard Drive
Douglas Smith ("Big Love") and Megan Follows are set to star in William D. MacGillivray's indie coming-of-age tale "Hard Drive" which is currently shooting in Nova Scotia.
Based on the novel "Ditch" by Hal Niedzviecki, the story deals with a young man's unexpected plunge into adulthood in the digital age. Laura Slade and the jazz drummer Jerry Granelli also star. [Source: THR]
Isla Fisher is the latest to join Dan Schechter's adaptation of Elmore Leonard's 1978 novel "Switch". Fisher would play Melanie, the same role played by Bridget Fonda in Quentin Tarantino's 1997 "Jackie Brown" which uses several of the same characters.
The "Ruthless People"-esque story follows two guys who kidnap the wife of a Detroit developer and collect some easy ransom money. They don't figure on a bum of a husband who has a secret mistress and no desire to get his wife back. [Source: Variety]
10 Things I Hate About Life
Evan Rachel Wood ("The Ides of March," "True Blood") has scored the female lead in Gil Junger's Los Angeles-set rom-com "10 Things I Hate About Life".
The story follows a young man and woman who meet while each is attempting to commit suicide, and they find in each other some great reasons to keep on living. [Source: Deadline]


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We've got a good feeling about this.


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This tasty bread is low in saturated fat and cholesterol, thanks to the small amount of oil and egg used.
Nutrition Facts
Ingredients and Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Lightly oil a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.
- Stir together dry ingredients in large mixing bowl. Make a well in center of dry mixture.
- In separate bowl, mix together remaining ingredients; add this mixture all at once to dry ingredients. Stir just enough to moisten and evenly distribute carrots.
- Turn into prepared pan. Bake for 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
- Cool 5 minutes in pan. Remove from pan and complete cooling on a wire rack before slicing.


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Flu hit working-age adults hardest this year
Young people and middle-aged adults were at high risk this flu season. Working-age adults accounted for 61% of influenza hospitalizations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
Last flu season, about 35% of flu hospitalizations were in people ages 18 to 64, CDC reported Thursday.
People in that age range accounted for about 60% of flu deaths. That compared with 18%, 30% and 47% for the three previous seasons, the CDC reported.
"One of the reasons flu is hitting young adults hard is such a low proportion get the flu shot," said CDC Director Tom Frieden. "Only one-third were vaccinated." That's in contrast to a 60% vaccination rate for seniors and more than 50% for children.
Vaccination rates have a clear link to illness. "We're seeing more of our cases in working-age adults," said Edward Belongia, an expert on flu vaccine effectiveness at the Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation in Marshfield, Wis.
People with underlying illness, especially obesity, diabetes and lung problems, were at highest risk. Only about 15% of adults hospitalized for the flu didn't have an underlying medical complication, said Anne Schuchat, who directs the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
Flu is usually most dangerous to the elderly. But this season, the dominant strain was H1N1, which emerged in 2009. The last time a virus resembling H1N1 circulated was in the 1950s. People born later had never been exposed to it and had no immunity.
When H1N1 first appeared in 2009, so much of the population was vulnerable that it triggered a global pandemic, notable for high hospitalization and death rates among the young and middle-aged.
The good news was that this season's flu vaccine did a good job. Being vaccinated reduced the chance of having to go to the doctor for the flu by about 60%, the CDC reported.
That effectiveness rate is comparable with previous years. The CDC recommends that everyone 6 months and older get an annual flu vaccine.
"This season, vaccinated people were substantially better off than people who did not get vaccinated," Frieden said.
This year's flu season isn't finished, the CDC said. There will probably be several more weeks of flu activity, especially in regions where activity started later such as the Northeast and West Coast.


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Capital Region Farmers Market
Every Saturday 7:30 am to 11:30 am
Sample the region's freshest produce at the Capital Region Farmers Market.
The Market is a community project run by the Rotary Club of Hall, the only rural Rotary Club in the ACT.
Find your way to the Market with our directions to EPIC. We have over 100 stallholders each week who bring their freshly picked, grown and hand crafted produce to the Market. Speak to a stallholder and ask them where their produce comes from – you'll be surprised what you'll learn and pick up cooking, storage and usage tips. Find your favourite stallholder in the directory. Looking for more cooking and produce usage ideas – search our growing recipes blog.
The Rotary Club of Hall is proud to do something positive to underpin the growing agri-business opportunities in the region and offer a great seasonal food experience. Find out more about our special events on our calendar. The Market provides a direct and unbroken link between food producers and customer and also enables the Rotary Club of Hall to support important regional community projects.
Last Market for 2019 is Saturday 21st December. We will return after a short break on Saturday 11th January 2020.
Meet our producers!


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Gray Skies, Silver Linings: How Companies Are Forecasting, Managing, and Recruiting a Mature Workforce
- Authors:
Publication Date:
December 2007
The specter of baby-boomer retirements looms large, causing workforce shortages and knowledge-retention crises. Companies must manage mature workers as well as they manage younger ones, and design recruitment plans targeted at mature workers. Employers who listen to their older workers and respond to their needs with programs like flexible work arrangements and financial planning will often keep those employees working longer and more effectively. Twelve case studies explore how companies are meeting the challenge of approaching retirements, plus bottom-line strategies applicable to every business, and the big-picture insights of The Conference Board.


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Plummeting interest rates prompted more U.S. borrowers to refinance their mortgages for the week ending July 13, pushing overall mortgage applications up 16.9% from the previous week.
The Mortgage Bankers Association noted that the refinance index grew 22% over the prior week, reaching its highest level since mid-June. The seasonally-adjusted purchase index remained mostly the same, edging down a slight 0.1%.
"Refinance application volume increased last week to near peak levels for the year as mortgage rates dropped to a new low, driven down by growing concerns about the health of the U.S. economy," said Mike Fratantoni, MBA's vice president of research and economics. "Applications for HARP refinance loans accounted for 24% of refinance activity last week, in line with the HARP share for the past few weeks."
In addition, the refinance share of mortgage activity rose to 80.1% of total applications, an increase from 77% from the previous week. The adjustable-rate arm share of activity, meanwhile, declined to 4.1% of all applications.
The average interest rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage with a conforming loan limit of $417,500 or less declined from 3.79% to 3.74%. Meanwhile, the 30-year, FRM with a jumbo loan balance declined from 4.05% to 3.98%, the lowest rate in the survey's history.
The average interest rate for a 30-year, FRM backed by the FHA declined from 3.63% to 3.55%, while the 15-year, FRM declined from 3.15% to 3.12%.
In addition, the average contract interest rate for a 5/1 ARM remained unchanged at 2.71%, matching the lowest rate recorded for that particular product.


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I suspect nearly every live-aboard narrow boater has a washing machine. It seems an essential item for all but the hardy. The issue I have mulled over is what functions will we require in the chosen machine. There isn't much room on the boat so size is important. However the smaller the size the less the washing capacity. Moreover I'm not all that keen on living with wet laundry hanging around my ears. I suspect it would be hard to dry in winter and significantly increase the condensation within the boat.
So a washer/drier seems to be our preferred option. Drying is going to increase both water and electrical consumption. Therefore the more water that can be extracted in the spin cycle the less energy will be used in the drying cycle. We need to look for a machine with high rpm on the spin cycle.
Then there is the cost.
Most of these machines appear to only have a cold inlet and the water is then heated in the machine. This too will place demands on our ability to produce electricity. One option is to consider somehow plumbing the washer/drier so it can take surplus hot water from the calorifier. For many years in Australia Jan has done cold washing. We may be able to continue with this practice.
So the essential criteria for the machine is:
- Washer/Drier
- Size
- Price
- Spin speed
- Ability to accept hot water
- Energy rating
- Water usage
Simple really……
After a considerable amount of trolling using Google and reading various reviews I created a small matrix of potential appliances and then colour coded the strengths and weaknesses of each machine. In the end I selected a Candy GO4W464 Washer Dryer as our preferred machine. It never rated any particular strengths but then neither did it rate any weaknesses. It was "middle of the road"!
Now all I have to do is find a supplier at the right price!


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UFC 159 'Jones vs. Sonnen' Preview
Jones vs. Sonnen
Jon Jones has finished seven of his last eight opponents. | Photo: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com
It is a bout that has been seven months in the making, thanks to sound bites, social media and taunts -- nearly anything one can think of except, of course, actual fighting.
On Aug. 7, 2010, Chael Sonnen gave Anderson Silva the hardest four and half rounds of "The Spider's" Ultimate Fighting Championship tenure, and he continues to reap the benefits today. Without having earned a single victory in the weight class, Sonnen will challenge Jon Jones -- who is well on his way to matching Silva in terms of divisional dominance -- for the 205-pound championship at UFC 159 on Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
Never mind that Sonnen came up short against Silva on that summer night more than two years ago or that he was woefully outclassed in their middleweight title rematch at UFC 148. On the basis of 23 minutes plus some astute self-promotion after the fact, the "Gangster from West Linn" has enough people convinced that lightning can (almost) strike twice. Thankfully, the time for talking has neared its end. Now Sonnen must prove himself against Jones in the Octagon, where thus far, everyone else has failed.
Here is a closer look at UFC 159 "Jones vs. Sonnen," with analysis and picks:
Sherdog Fantasy MMA: UFC 159 Free Fan Pick'Em
Photo: D. Mandel/Sherdog.com
Sonnen has never won at 205 pounds.
UFC Light Heavyweight Championship
Jon Jones (17-1, 11-1 UFC) vs. Chael Sonnen (27-12-1, 6-5 UFC)
The Matchup: Give Sonnen credit for realizing that his fame has an expiration date. Instead of continuing to toil in the middleweight division after two losses to Silva, Sonnen elected to move up to 205 pounds and pick a fight with Jones. His timing could not have been more perfect, as he offered to step in and face Jones at UFC 151 when Dan Henderson withdrew from the bout with an injury. Jones' refusal to face the Team Quest product on short notice only served to stoke the flames for a future matchup, and the two were installed as rival coaches on Season 17 of "The Ultimate Fighter."
The fighters were fairly cordial on the show, but Jones appeared to have grown tired of the promotional aspect of the fight when Jon Anik interviewed both men at "The Ultimate Fighter 17" Finale, offering abbreviated responses to the commentator's queries. Sonnen, of course, was more than happy to bask in the spotlight when his turn on the microphone came. Love him or hate him, Sonnen is one of the smartest fighters in the sport today when it comes to selling himself, but even he has to realize that his relevance as a title contender will be all but over with another defeat.
Jones has encountered trouble twice thus far during his dominant title reign. The first instance came at UFC 140, where Lyoto Machida utilized movement and striking to vex the champion during the first round before "Bones" asserted himself and submitted "The Dragon" in the second frame. Jones' most significant danger came in his last outing, when Vitor Belfort trapped him in a tight armbar in the first round of their UFC 152 showdown. Jones escaped, however, and dominated the rest of the encounter en route to tapping "The Phenom" with a keylock in round four.
The problem for Sonnen is that he is unlikely to follow the path of Machida or Belfort with much success. Although he managed to get the best of some standup encounters with Silva at UFC 117, Sonnen's striking is basic, as he throws one-two combinations while relying on forward movement to keep opponents on their heels. While it is not unreasonable to think that Sonnen could land some decent punches due to sheer pressure, he is far less likely to pull off a submission if planted on his back. The Oregonian thrives on top control, from which he wears down foes with a consistent barrage of punches and elbows. He does a good job of posturing up inside guard and remaining active to avoid referee restarts. Unlike Silva, who proved to be susceptible to takedowns, Jones controls fights with his wrestling. His Greco-Roman background enables him to get takedowns from unusual angles, and his length allows him to maintain position on the floor. If Sonnen finds himself on his back, he will have to defend against Jones' trademark elbows, as well as a creative submission game.
It will be a tall task for Sonnen to even move into takedown range against the Jackson's Mixed Martial Arts product. Jones will have an 11-inch reach advantage, and he understands better than most how to use that length in his favor. The New York native is creative in landing a variety of punches, kicks and elbows on the feet. Kicks to legs and knees, in particular, will gradually slow Sonnen as he attempts to close distance.
However, there do not seem to be many alternatives for Sonnen to pull off the upset. When he attempts to get too creative on the feet, the results can be disastrous, as evidenced by the ill-advised spinning back fist that sealed his demise in the UFC 148 rematch with Silva. Jones has yet to be taken down in UFC competition, so it is worth the risk to see how he would respond in such a situation. By transitioning from striking to takedowns and chaining together multiple attempts, Sonnen at least has the ability to make Jones work to defend his attacks.
The Pick: Scary as it seems, Jones should only be getting better. He will first pick apart Sonnen on the outside before taking the action to the canvas to expose his opponent's faulty submission defense. Jones coaxes a tapout in round two.
Next Fight » Michael Bisping vs. Alan Belcher


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Product Description
Blend, mix or shake 1 rounded scoop (43 g) with approximately 8 oz. (250 mL or 1 cup) of water or low-fat milk depending on desired taste and consistency anytime you want a premium satisfying high-protein shake.
Use only as directed. For adult use only. Consult a health care practitioner prior to use if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, if you have liver or kidney disease, or if you have been instructed to follow a low protein diet. Do not use if outer seal is broken. Store in a cool, dry place. Keep out of reach of children.
Prop 65 Warning
This product may contain one or more chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm.
About AllMax Nutrition
The ALLMAX Nutrition brand stands for Science, Innovation, Quality and Results. Rigorous research standards yield powerful results. This has resulted in a line of products that has gained the trust of thousands of dedicated professional and amateur athletes, trainers and those who have chosen to make high quality nutrition a part of their life. They Believe in dedicating ourselves to strict policies of quality in manufacturing. They maintain the absolute highest grade of manufacturing for all their products ヨ pharmaceutical grade cGMP, government-inspected facilities featuring state-of-the-art conditions with sealed air-pressurized chambers. They continue to quietly grow through word-of-mouth recommendation, as satisfied athletes and trainers continue to tell others about their impressive results.
- Item# :157401
- Brand :AllMax Nutrition
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- Servings :53
- Dosage :1Scoop
- Flavor :Chocolate
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Western blot analysis of extracts from HeLa cells, transfected with 100 nM SignalSilence® Control siRNA (Unconjugated) #6568 (-), SignalSilence® CDK5 siRNA I #6216 (+) or SignalSilence® CDK5 siRNA II (+), using CDK5 Antibody #2506 (upper) or α-Tubulin (11H10) Rabbit mAb #2125 (lower). The CDK5 Antibody confirms silencing of CDK5 expression, while the α-Tubulin (11H10) Rabbit mAb is used to control for loading and specificity of CDK5 siRNA.
Product Information
CST recommends transfection with 100 nM CDK5 siRNA II 48 to 72 hours prior to cell lysis. For transfection procedure, follow protocol provided by the transfection reagent manufacturer. Please feel free to contact CST with any questions on use.
Each vial contains the equivalent of 100 transfections, which corresponds to a final siRNA concentration of 100 nM per transfection in a 24-well plate with a total volume of 300 μl per well.
SignalSilence® siRNA is supplied in RNAse-free water. Aliquot and store at -20ºC.
SignalSilence® CDK5 siRNA II from Cell Signaling Technology (CST) allows the researcher to specifically inhibit CDK5 expression using RNA interference, a method whereby gene expression can be selectively silenced through the delivery of double stranded RNA molecules into the cell. All SignalSilence® siRNA products from CST are rigorously tested in-house and have been shown to reduce target protein expression by western analysis.
Oligonucleotide synthesis is monitored base by base through trityl analysis to ensure appropriate coupling efficiency. The oligo is subsequently purified by affinity-solid phase extraction. The annealed RNA duplex is further analyzed by mass spectrometry to verify the exact composition of the duplex. Each lot is compared to the previous lot by mass spectrometry to ensure maximum lot-to-lot consistency.
Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) are serine/threonine kinases that are activated by cyclins and govern eukaryotic cell cycle progression. While CDK5 shares high sequence homology with its family members, it is thought mainly to function in postmitotic neurons to regulate the cytoarchitecture of these cells. Analogous to cyclins, the regulatory subunits p35 and p39 associate with and activate CDK5 despite the lack of sequence homology. CDK5 is ubiquitously expressed, with high levels of kinase activity detected primarily in the nervous system due to the narrow expression pattern of p35 and p39 in post-mitotic neurons. A large number of CDK5 substrates have been identified although no substrates have been specifically attributed to p35 or p39. Substrates of CDK5 include p35, PAK1, Src, β-catenin, tau, neurofilament-H, neurofilament-M, synapsin-1, APP, DARPP32, PP1-inhibitor, and Rb. p35 is rapidly degraded (T1/2 <20 min) by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway (1). However, p35 stability increases as CDK5 kinase activity decreases, likely as a result of decreased phosphorylation of p35 at Thr138 by CDK5 (2). Proteolytic cleavage of p35 by calpain produces p25 upon neurotoxic insult, resulting in prolonged activation of CDK5 by p25. Research studies have shown accumulation of p25 in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) (3,4).
Explore pathways + proteins related to this product.
Swiss-Prot Acc.: Q00535
Entrez-Gene Id: 1020
Cell Signaling Technology is a trademark of Cell Signaling Technology, Inc.
SignalSilence is a registered trademark of Cell Signaling Technology, Inc.