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Three ailing wide receivers returned to the practice field Wednesday, a day after the Ravens gave players their first off-day of training camp.
LaQuan Williams (arm), Tommy Streeter (undisclosed) and Marlon Brown (undisclosed) were warming up on the field with their fellow receivers at the start of practice. Williams had missed three straight practices, Streeter had missed two, and Brown hadn't practiced since the first full-squad practice of camp.
The only players who weren't spotted early in Wednesday's practice were tight end Dennis Pitta (hip), guard Marshal Yanda (shoulder), guard-tackle Ramon Harewood (knee), linebacker Jameel McClain (bruised spine) and center Ryan Jensen (broken foot).
Rookie defensive lineman Kapron Lewis-Moore (knee) remains on the non-football injury list.


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Federally protected coastal habitat is no match for global warming
The road ends abruptly at a barrier of steel highway railing. Behind it lies crumbled asphalt, a short spit of beach and the wide open expanse of Delaware Bay. Decades ago, the water's edge at Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge in Delaware was hundreds of yards out. But here, as in many of the nation's other coastal wildlife refuges, rising sea levels driven by climate change are washing away vital wildlife habitat.
At Prime Hook, this means that instead of wetland grasses continuing to grow over 4,000 acres in the middle of the marsh—which had provided important habitat for migrating ducks, geese and shorebirds—open water now spans every direction. The marsh has disappeared.
"In 2009, a Veteran's Day storm created two inlets and brought in the slug of sand and saltwater with its storm surge, killing all the freshwater vegetation," says Susan Guiteras, the refuge's supervisory biologist. "Once the plants died, their roots couldn't hold the marsh muck together, so the peat just washed away, deepening the water to a depth that even saltwater-tolerant plants could not establish."
It's a scenario that reflects the challenge faced by virtually all the country's 160 coastal national wildlife refuges in a warming world.
"Even if we begin strict emission-reduction strategies today, substantial shifts in climate patterns can no longer be stopped and will continue for centuries to come," says Noah Matson, Defenders' wildlife and climate change expert, who visited Prime Hook in April for a firsthand look at the effects of sea-level rise and coastal storms. "Climate change is already affecting the timing of biological processes and breaking up ecological communities. This poses a major challenge to wildlife conservationists everywhere and threatens to undo decades of conservation work on 20 million coastal acres. As the climate changes, we can no longer count on protected areas delivering the same benefits and habitats they once did."
Matson's goal is to gauge the on-the-ground impacts of global warming and assess ways that conservationists can help wildlife on the frontlines adapt to the changes. For example, coastal refuges could plant salt-tolerant vegetation and restore shoreline reefs to stop erosion, which can lessen the impacts of sea-level rise. "This would buy time for species and habitats to adapt," says Matson.
Armed with uniform information, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which oversees all 555 national refuges on more than 150 million acres, could then develop a system-wide strategy so that each refuge manager wouldn't have to face the problem alone or reinvent the wheel when an effective response is already in place somewhere else.
"These shared experiences can provide information and inspiration not only for refuge system employees and other federal, state and local government officials coping with similar issues, but also for conservationists, legislators, journalists and citizens concerned about rising sea levels and climate change," Matson says.
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With engaging stories and spectacular photography, Defenders of Wildlife's magazine provides readers with a behind-the-scenes look at what biologists and conservationists are doing to protect imperiled wild animals and plants.

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Angles - Dan Le Sac Vs. Scroobius Pip
Panasonic Youth
Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 12:36 pm
Joined: 04 Sep 2007
Posts: 2336
Right this is the first review I've ever done so I apologise in advance if it's shit.
We all know about alternative hip hop duo Le Sac Vs Pip due to their brilliant single, Thou Shalt Always Kill that taught us that Godflesh/Jesu/Final/Techno Animal etc are just bands. The new album came out this time last week (or at least in the UK it did). I recieved it on the day of release so it's had a week to digest. I'm gonna do this track by track cos that's what I normally find most helpful in reviews.
The Beat That My Heart Skipped
- This was the second single but unlike the single version, it starts with a spoken word intro recorded at a gig in Amsterdam (go to
to watch the whole thing). It leads into the single track which makes clever use of samples with some tongue tying lyrics. Very catchy.
2. )
- Another track with sampled guitar, this time about Scroobius Pips development as a poet/rapper. Again, clever lyrics but this is standard across the whole album. Half way through the song the guitar is dumped for a more hip hop style electronic backing after a voice tells Scroobius that the second verse is 'straight garbage'
Look For The Woman
- One of my favourites on the album. It begins with Dan Le Sac singing with a piano backing then goes straight into a descending bassline which is present throughout most of the song. The song is about a couple who are still together but the spark is gone ('there's a weight over me, something I have to say, love you too much to leave, don't like you enough to stay') so it's quite a sad song although not the saddest on the album. Some nice piano and high pitched synths in here which contrast with the bassline.
Rapper's Battle
- Quite a lo-fi tune with some simple synth sounds with a hip hop drum beat behind it. The simple synth line then develops into chords later on and stays pretty much the same throughout most of the song. This song is an attack on modern hip hop and has some samples towards the end which at first are good but then it ends on a sample which is just plain annoying. Still a good track but one of the weaker ones.
Tommy C
- Begins with spoken word where Pip attacks the use of beauty in pop music. The rest of the song is pretty standard for Le Sac Vs. Pip with a bass line high in the mix and some hip hop drums. The lyrics are the story of Tommy Coopers death occassionally interspersed with Pip singing the chorus 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder'. Although the music isn't that interesting it's the lyrics that keep you listening and towards the end you can even ignore some of the small factual errors because of the passion Pip puts into his rapping 'Now please note, at the moment this entertainer died, even with a room full of people, not one tear was cried. Much less they rose to their feet and they laughed and they clapped, now tell me one fucking thing that's more beautiful than that'
- Another one of my favourites. This song makes use of a sampled beat from Dizzee Rascal's 'Fix Up Look Sharp' This song is another attack on hip hop and is Le Sac Vs. Pip 'fixing hip hop as best we can'. After the intro there is a nice descending guitar line, again the musical backing is quite repetative but it changes enough the hold your attention but as with most of this album the focus is on the lyrics 'Hip hop is art, don't make another pop hit, be smart. Take it back to the start like KRS and Rakim use passion and heart' This is one of the more lively songs on the album with the drums getting quite fast towards the end when the chorus is repeated with some extra ascending synth lines which contrast nicely with the descending nature of the rest of the song.
- This is the title track (no shit) and as with most title tracks is brilliant. It begins with a Closer-esque drum beat and goes on to tell a story. In this song the backing is very very simple to emphasise the lyrics which need your complete attention to understand the story. These are some of the most clever lyrics on the album. They tell a story of one particular incident from the point of view from each person involved. Another depressing/angry poem from Scroobius Pip. The highlight is when they the texture thins out to emphasise the final lyrics 'As he approached me there was nothing to say, I stabbed that fucker eight times before they could take me away'
Letter From God To Man
- Another one which has been floating around the internet for a while. Nice use of a sample from Radiohead's Planet Telex which forms the main part of the backing track. Lyrically this track is about how fucked organised religion is (although not religion itself as Pip points out in interviews). As the song goes on Pip gets angrier and angrier until he shouts the final lyrical twist. The outro is a glitchy drum and bass ditty. I think the backing to that part is sampled from another Radiohead song but I'm not sure which one.
The Magician's Assistant
- The most depressing track on the album is a scathing attack on self harm. The backing is just a simple ascending synth line which is manipulated to fuck it up to reflect the nature of lyrics. As the lyrics gets angrier the synth gets more noisy and fucked up. Again Scroobius Pip puts a massive amount of passion into this 'If one day you can't rein it in, and of your last breath you are the only witness, then FUCK everybody else cos it's not something you've gotta live with!' Another highlight of the album.
Back From Hell
- This is a massive leap from Magician's Assistant. This song is quite upbeat with some cool sub bass and fast (for the album at least) drums. This is a pretty standard track with some good lyrics and delivery and some interesting stuff in the backing track. TO me this song is what Hadouken! are trying to do but failing miserably. God I hate Hadouken!.
Thou Shalt Always Kill
- I don't think I really need to say much on this. The vocals have been re recorded and the song has been slowed down ever so slightly but I don't think it's that noticeable. Lyrically it's still the same except for when he said 'oh err I lost my place' now he says 'why did we bother re recording these vocals?'
Waiting For The Beat To Kick In
- The final (listed) track on this album and in my opinion the best. The backing track is once again quite subdued to place emphasis on the vocals which tell a story teaching us about life and morals. All of which I agree with and have already tried to use in my life anyway before I heard the song. Another reason I like this track is how human Pip seems. Many rappers often seem to place themselves above normal people and can seem to be too preachy but Pip is definitely one of us. This track climaxes with a final bit of advice to bring us down to earth after all the morals taught earlier on in the song.
Reading My Dreams
- This is a secret track which begins 20 seconds or so after Waiting For The Beat To Kick In comes to a noisey close. This song in contrast is a very soft song with a sweet synth line complimenting a tired but happy vocal delivery. This song is about just lying with a loved one and not needing anything other than eachothers company. 'When our eyes meet like this and it's just like before, we both instantly realise; we need nothing more'
Overall I would give this an 8/10.The album takes you through a whole host of emotions; anger, sadness, euphoria and some good 'new fashioned fun' Both men are skilled at what they do particularly Scroobius Pip who is
as good with words as Saul Williams. The only thing stopping this album from getting a 10/10 is that it gets a bit repetative after a while. Sure the lyrics and backing tracks can be complicated and clever but I feel some of the weaker songs, although good on their own bring the album down a bit because nothing really seperates them...
Hope that wasn't too rambley. Can you tell I'm not that great at music analysis?
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Posted: Mon May 26, 2008 2:48 pm
Enemy of the SCHWANZ
Joined: 04 Sep 2006
Posts: 6893
Location: We have always here.
Good job my man! Informative, relevant to tastes while still being a bit "out of the box" and not afraid top say "this bits good, this bits shit". Cheers.
Now, if only I could get around to sitting down and actually writing those reviews of Blut Aus Nord I've been promising myself to do for funting weeks!
TWONKENHANMMER - The Birth of Hammer Twonk
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I fully suppotz this decision simply because beard.
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Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 7:43 pm
I'll never escape
Joined: 07 Jul 2011
Posts: 1491
the youtubez versions of The Beat That My Heart Skipped and Thou Shalt Always Kill are way better than the CD version
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Aloe Vera of America Receives Blue Thumb Award
Congratulations to Aloe Vera of America for receiving the Blue Thumb Award from the City of Dallas for the second year in a row. It was also among 16 companies in Dallas to also receive a Pollution Prevention (P2) award and were among the Top 5 companies to receive special recognition at the award ceremony this year.
The Blue Thumb Award recognizes Significant Industrial Users (SIUs) that discharge into the Dallas Water Utilities Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTWs) and demonstrate outstanding compliance with the Pretreatment Program. This award program started in 1987 to recognize the industries that are helping to protect human health and enhance the environment by protecting the water quality of the Trinity River.
We are always proud to celebrate the achievements of our companies worldwide. Hats off to another great year!


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>>>full list
SKILLMAN, N.J. – The Georgia College & State University tennis teams have seen their seasons come to a close, but Bobcat tennis is still bringing in the hardware, according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA). Graduate assistant coach Justin Pickham was recently chosen as the Southeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year, while senior Max Beliankou (Minsk, Belarus) earned Southeast Region Senior Player of the Year.
Pickham is in his first season on the sidelines after playing for one All-America worthy campaign for the Bobcats in 2008-09. He assists with all training efforts, providing insight to help improve the overall game for both teams. One half of the finalist doubles team pairing in the 2008 ITA Division II National Tournament, Pickham has also worked closely on doubles strategy.
Beliankou was 18-3 as a singles competitor for Georgia College in 2010, primarily in the third slot. He also picked up wins in his last eight matches, as well as 15 of his last 16. Beliankou added a 14-9 record in doubles this year, including an 11-6 mark with classmate Giovane Nucci (Santa Catarina, Brazil).
The Bobcat men went 16-7 in 2010, finishing third in the Peach Belt Conference (PBC) at 6-3. They advanced to the finals of the NCAA Southeast Region-2, making the NCAA Tournament for the 11th time in program history. The women finished the season 12-12 with a 6-6 PBC record, good for seventh in one of the toughest conferences around. The Bobcat women advanced to the NCAA Regional-2 Semifinal match, making their 16th-straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
The GCSU Department of Athletics, winners of the 2008-09 PBC Commissioner's Cup, sponsors 10 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. As a Division II program, Georgia College prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the Bobcats' multiple appearances in post-season competition as well as documented academic success and community-service involvement. Sign up at Twitter.com username GCSUSID for up-to-the-minute reports, and visit www.GCSUBobcats.com to nominate your favorite former Bobcats and Colonials to the GCSU Athletics Hall of Fame.


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Uncle Arranging Boston Bomb Suspect's Burial Rites
WORCESTER, Mass. - A Cambridge city official says it would not be in the interest of "peace within the city" to execute a cemetery deed for a plot at Cambridge Cemetery for the body of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev (TAM'-ehr-lun tsahr-NEYE'-ehv).
The Boston Globe reports Sunday night that Cambridge City Manager Robert Healy says in a statement that the city would be "adversely impacted by the turmoil, protests and wide spread media presence at such an interment."
Healy says the families who have loved ones interred there also deserve to have their deceased family members rest in peace.
Funeral director Peter Stefan said he hasn't been able to find a cemetery in Massachusetts willing to take the body. He said he planned to ask the city of Cambridge, where Tsarnaev lived, to provide a burial plot. He said he would next seek help from state officials.


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Knit a beautiful Horseshoe Lace Cap
In the Fall 2009 issue of Spin.Off, the editors published Janet Wray's Horseshoe Cap pattern on Spinning Daily, and they invited readers to spin and knit their own versions.
Here are some of the beautiful caps that won the contest.
|Janet Wray's original horseshoe
cap design
|Nancy Mudloff's version, with a
scalloped edge, knit from beautiful blues, greens, and purples that Nancy spun herself
|The Horseshoe Cap is a free pattern! Download your copy now, and cast on this
beautiful hat.
|Janet Meadows made a beret version
of the horseshoe cap, and added a
cute button, too!
This beautiful hat is knit from worsted-weight yarn. You can spin your own or choose something from your stash—the pattern takes about 150 yards of yarn.
Spin.Off has so many knitting patterns that you'll love. Don't miss out on any of them—subscribe today!
P.S. Are you a spinner? What's your favorite thing to knit from your handspun yarn? Leave a comment and tell us about it!


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Puzzle Levels
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Download a FREE Solution for your puzzles!
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Golden Gate Bridge - 3D Jigsaw Puzzle
Product Information
|Put together the jigsaw puzzle.
|3D, 1-100 Pieces
|47.8 cm x 20 cm x 11.9 cm / 18.8 in x 7.9 in x 4.7 in
|Cardboard Box
|Total Pieces
Product Description
Puzzle Pieces: 20
Maker: CubicFun
Size When Completed:18.8 in x 7.9 in x 4.7 in / 47.8 cm x 11.9 cm x 20 cm
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge which was the longest suspension bridge in the world upon its opening. Its construction began in January 1933 and was completed in April of 1937. The bridge gets its name because it spans what is known as the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay onto the Pacific Ocean.
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main(713) 222-2273
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Anchored by Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital, Memorial Hermann has many convenient locations in the Katy, Texas community including breast care centers, diagnostic labs, imaging centers and physical therapy clinics.
Use the map below to locate a medical facility near you, or scroll down for a complete listing of Memorial Hermann facilities in the Katy, TX area. See all Memorial Hermann Locations »


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HAVELOCK � Craven County Schools is looking to make connections with community and business leaders, and to that end, hosted a group of about 30 from the Havelock area last week at Havelock Middle School.
HAVELOCK � Craven County Schools is looking to make connections with community and business leaders, and to that end, hosted a group of about 30 from the Havelock area last week at Havelock Middle School.
�This is about connecting with all of our partners,� said Lane Mills, superintendent of Craven County Schools. �It�s critical that we work together as partners, and you are all our partners.�
During the meeting called �Connections,� Mills highlighted some of the successes of the school system and where the system wants to go.
He mentioned a $2.4 million Department of Defense grant that would allow the system to create labs that focus on science, technology, engineering and math, known among educators through the popular abbreviation STEM. While high school algebra labs will be set up at Early College EAST in Havelock and Havelock High School, Mills said the funds would allow more expansion of STEM into elementary schools.
�That�s a big impact for our elementary schools,� he said.
Mills said the focus on STEM programs would lead to better futures for students once they leave school, regardless of their career path.
�What we�re talking about is future-proofing your kids,� he said. �Everyone has to be a critical thinker, a problem solver, an innovator. Those are life skills kids need every day for the future. I know I don�t want to work with someone who doesn�t have those skills.�
Mills mentioned that the schools of today are changing.
�The schools don�t look like what we are used to,� he said. �But, it�s what we need to do for our schools and our students. We want to have your input, and we want to have your collaboration.�
Those attending the meeting toured the Early College EAST classrooms on the Havelock Middle School campus. Students gave a presentation on the Holocaust and also displayed small roller coasters they constructed. Each coaster had a theme that allowed the students to learn about history while putting their math and engineering skills to the test. Those attending the meeting took turns dropping marbles on the coasters, which featured channels that took the marbles on a series of loops, twists and turns until reaching the bottom.
The Early College was short a few students, six to be exact, who were in Germany at a trade show displaying their underwater remote-controlled rover that won a national engineering competition in February.
The attendees also toured the Havelock Middle School STEM lab and watched as students worked on everything from bridge designs to miniature pinewood derby cars.
�This is amazing,� said Pat Smith, a former Havelock Middle School assistant principal who retired in 2007 before the lab was built. �It�s a big change. It�s amazing what they are doing.�
After the tour, Annette Brown, assistant superintendent for instruction, discussed the Common Core State Standards, saying that the new standards were not federally mandated but came from a joint effort of governors and state school officers.
She said in English and language arts, students would have to understand more difficult and complex text. Math students would learn why a process or algorithm works before they memorize or use the process.
�The new assessments are going to be a whole lot more challenging than anything you or I ever faced,� she said.
Chris Bailey, director of career and technical education for Craven County Schools, discussed work ready communities and the national career readiness certificate. Students earn bronze, silver, gold or platinum levels that they can present to potential employers.
�They�re walking out of high school and they�re ready to work,� Bailey said. �It helps employers know that they have a qualified applicant that has a certain level of skills. It�s a portable credential that means we have put our stamp of approval on that student and believe the student can be a good and valuable employee for your business.�
Mills said he wanted today�s leaders to know what tomorrow�s leaders are doing in school.
�We want you to see what�s happening,� he told the group. �It�s not a secret. It goes on every day.�


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A few days ago I sat across from a woman I decided I want to be like when I grow up. She is bright and engaging and passionate about her work. Molly MacDonald, who calls herself a SurThrivor ™, started the Pink Fund after her bout with early-stage breast cancer. She had a ferociously difficult time — not just from the disease, but from all the regular pressure of finances, family, and daily demands. It became her desire and passion to help other women in a similar situation during their battle with breast cancer.
What I really love about Molly is her philosophy — to start by helping just one person. She didn't have much at that time, so she couldn't go out and change the world. But she had the idea that if she could just help one person, that would be a start. She did start by helping one person, and then another and another. The result was The Pink Fund, which provides financial support to other people struggling with breast cancer. Her fund helps out with a car payment, a house payment, or even an insurance payment during this difficult time.
We all know that breast cancer is not the only issue once you have been diagnosed. There are bills to pay, a family that needs you, and often a career that may have to be put on hold. Women need help through this devastating time, and Molly wants to be there. She partners with cancer centers all over the nation who refer candidates to her fund. The hard work comes from finding partners and sponsors to help meet the needs. Molly is bright and has a plan. She is trying to avoid the pitfalls of building a big organization that takes much of the donations to pay for administration and facilities. It is an admirable effort.
Molly is bringing author and filmmaker Kris Carr, the woman behind the documentary Crazy Sexy Cancer, to speak at a fundraising luncheon here in Rochester, Michigan, on October 1. The luncheon will provide an opportunity for women and men to meet, chat, and hear from this wonderful woman. It will also help the Pink Fund, which is the best part.
It all reminds me of that great slogan "Fight Like a Girl." Molly is one tough fighter, and the good part is that she is fighting on behalf of other people diagnosed with breast cancer. For anyone who has been through the battle, or wants to help support someone else through theirs, I urge you to find out more about Molly and how you can help the Pink Fund.


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There is a house on Madeira island that I absolutely love. I've been spending a weekend there almost every year since before I remember existing (I have photos to prove it!). This house is on the north coast and in the mountains, so it is the perfect place to escape from the absurd heat and humidity in the city. It may sound strange, but one CAN get tired of sun and warmth.
There is no electricity there, which means: no TV, no computer, no radio, no charging phones (or cameras), no fridge, no electric light! And that is what I love most about it...for 3 days we gather the family there and have a wonderful time just playing board or card games, going for walks in the woods, talking and laughing... and the days feel sooo long... it's just a piece of paradise.
I don't have many photos, and in all honesty the one's I have aren't that good, but maybe you can get a "taste" of the atmosphere there.
all photos by me


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In technical terms, being strong refers to muscular strength, which is the ability of a muscle to exert a maximal or near maximal force against an object. In the military, muscular strength is an important component of optimal performance, especially in situations such as lifting heavy artillery, moving cargo on and off vehicles, or carrying a lot of pack weight over long distances. Building muscle improves your body composition (the ratio between fat and muscle), increases your bone strength, burns calories and it's important whatever age you are—18 or 80. Increasing muscle strength also can help in reducing injuries.
Here are a few workout strategies you can use to improve your muscular strength and supplement your daily PT. It's important to choose a program that you enjoy and that will help you reach your muscular strength goals. If you are new to strength training on your own, be sure to consult a professional instructor for proper technique. All movements should be controlled and involve a joint's full range of motion.
Strategy #1
Prior to starting a program, assess your current level of strength (with a partner for safety) using the 1-repetition maximum or 1RM test to help determine the amount of weight you should be working with. This is the most accurate test to assess maximal strength.
Strategy #2
Improving your muscular strength requires a specific type of training—the use of heavier weights and fewer repetitions than for endurance training. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends following FITT guidelines for strength training:
- Frequency is the number of sessions in a week that an individual trains. You should do strength training at least two days a week.
- Intensity is defined by the amount of weight used per repetition. For muscle strength, your training should involve one to 12 repetitions of 65% to 90% of 1RM per set, and two to four sets.
- Time of your sessions should range from 30 to 60 minutes, with 30–120 seconds of rest between sets.
- Type of exercise should vary in both your strength and conditioning routines to prevent boredom and improve gains. ACSM recommends a combination of free weights and machines.
- Progression consists of increasing any one or more of the FITT components. Change your training routine gradually, avoiding large increases in any single component to decrease your risk of injury. Reasonable increments of change for the average adult are increases in duration of five to 10 minutes per session every one to two weeks for the first four to six weeks.
- Rest between sessions for at least 48 hours, or train every other day for the same muscle group (i.e., exercise you upper body and lower body on alternate days).
Strategy #3
Free weights or dumbbells are available in most fitness centers and can be purchased at most sports stores. Using free weights for strength training can improve your stability and identify imbalances in strength between dominant and non-dominant (left and right). You can get creative with free weights—use household items like milk cartons or bottles filled with rocks, sand, or water and add more material as you get stronger.
Strategy #4
Machine weights are also popular for strength training and are found in most gyms, but they are more expensive for personal purchase. These machines isolate certain muscles for each activity that the machine is built for. For example, a leg extension machine may help isolate and strength your quadriceps muscles, but you need to make sure the machine is set up properly for your body to optimize the exercise.
Strategy #5
Body weight exercises (the use of your own body weight as resistance without the use of additional weights) are also great, especially for beginners, these exercises improve stability and strength by using just your body weight for resistance. The use of additional equipment such as suspension straps can supplement and increase the intensity of these types of exercises. However, suspension training may require more skill and instruction if you have never done this type of workout before.
Strategy #6
Resistance bands are a portable and affordable option for resistance training as well, especially for beginners. By anchoring the band in a door way or to an immovable object, users are able to increase tension (therefore resistance) by adjusting hand positions closer or further away from where the band is anchored.
Strategy #7
Circuit training is a type of training aimed at keeping heart rates elevated while doing short bouts of resistance exercises and battling boredom. Circuit training is typically a combination of cardio and resistance training combined in one quick(er), efficient workout—you get the benefits of cardio exercise such as a decrease in blood pressure and cholesterol levels (which can improve your time on the running portion of your PRT/PFT) PLUS the benefits of strength training (increased muscle and bone strength and reduced risk for injury). This type of training is most similar to an actual PT test, with a series of different exercises performed one after the other, sometimes with short rest periods in between.
Strategy #8
These days, there are apps for just about any of these types of workouts that will show you how to do the exercises and may even have preprogrammed workouts for you to follow. Most services have an app of their own, but you can start by checking out these apps from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard.


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Designs and variants
PTFE composite strips
PTFE composite strips consist of a sheet steel backing on which a 0,2 to 0,4 mm thick porous layer of tin/bronze is sintered (fig. 2). Furthermore, by a rolling process the pores of the sintered layer are filled with a mixture of PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) and molybdenum disulphide additives. This additional 5 to 30 μm thick running-in layer provides an optimum combination of the mechanical properties of the sintered tin/bronze and the good sliding and lubricating properties of the PTFE mixture.
Running-in period
During a short running-in period, minute amounts of the PTFE material from the running-in layer are transferred to the counter surfaces. After this transfer has taken place, the characteristics low friction and wear properties of these strips are reached.
POM composite strips
SKF POM composite strips have pockets in the sliding surface (fig. 3), which serve as grease reservoirs and should be filled with grease prior to installation. This makes these strips suitable for applications that require minimal maintenance under difficult operating conditions, for example in contaminated environments where lubricant cannot be supplied continuously or frequently. Despite of their compact design, POM composite strips can accommodate heavy loads and are less sensitive to misalignment. They are suitable for slow rotational or oscillating movements.
POM composite strips consists of a sheet steel backing on which a 0,2 to 0,4 mm thick layer of tin/bronze is sintered. The principal characteristic of these strips is their relatively thick (0,3 mm) covering layer of acetal resin (POM – polyoxymethylene) with additives. This covering layer has pockets to retain grease and is firmly attached to the sintered tin/bronze layer (fig. 4).
The thickness of the covering layer makes these strips less sensitive to misalignment and the edge loading associated with that misalignment.


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Bacolod Overview
Bacolod is the capital of Negros Occidental in the Western Visayas region. Dubbed as the City of Smiles, it is one of the best places to live in the Philippines. It is widely popular for its Masskara Festival during the third week of October. Expect a sea of vibrant colors with its carnival-like appeal of tribal street dances and parade of colorful costumes and masks where most are handmade. Bacolod is also famous for its "chicken inasal" (grilled chicken on skewers) served with garlic rice, and various local delicacies that make good gifts, like the luscious "diwal" or angel wing clams.
Flights to Bacolod
Four airlines fly to Bacolod from Manila. Cebu Pacific offers 2 early morning and 2 late afternoon flights every day of the week plus staggered flight schedules on other days. PAL Express schedules five flights throughout the day, seven days a week, while AirAsia Zest has three flights each day. Tigerair Philippines offers morning flights daily and one afternoon flight on Friday, Sunday and Monday. All flights land at the Bacolod-Silay International Airport in Silay City, 15 kilometers from the city of Bacolod.
Need to Know
PAL Express provides a snack pack for its passengers. Most airlines flying domestic routes these days only serve snacks for flights that are less than 75 minutes long. Inflight snack bars are provided for passengers wishing to buy additional food items. Most airlines also no longer provide audio and video entertainment to keep the flight rates down. Domestic flights give free baggage allowance from 10kgs. to 15kgs. Hand carry luggage should be less than 7kgs.
From the airport, shuttle services are offered by public utility vehicles. Another option to reach the city is to take a motorized tricycle. Several hotels are just a few minutes away from the airport, including L'Fisher, Circle Inn, and The Suites at Calle Nueva.
Today's currency rate
Cheapest time to fly to Bacolod (BCD)
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No. In fact, on a DTivo, 4.0 isn't worth the trouble with 6.2 now easily hackable.Originally Posted by lancer123
Yep. Though there isn't just one "patch" you will need to install.Or, can I let the tivo install 6.2 (which directv is sending out automatically) and then apply the patch?
No document.Since I have no experience with unix, I need the easiest way possible. Last, If I do need to the 4.0 to 6.2, is there one document which will explain how to do all of this?
There are step by step guides out there, but most gloss over important information, leave steps out, or add unnecessary steps. You won't like hearing this, but you have a lot of reading to do. What you'll need (do searches on the key words and you'll find more details):
- You'll need a good Linux boot disk for your PC to do work from. Many here have recommended Knoppix. I was lazy and used the $5 special from PTVUpgrade. Just make sure that if your HD is >137gb to use one that is LBA48-aware.
- You'll need to pull the drive and cable it up to your PC, then boot from the boot CD mentioned above
- You'll need to use bootpage to figure out which partition is your active boot and which is your active root. Lots of examples of how to do this around here; start with the killhdinitrd thread below.
- You'll need to break the chain of trust that prevents changes to the Tivo's system by dd'ing over a compatible kernel that has been killhdinitrd'd. Read this thread for information on what killhdinitrd does and how to use it. It has a link to the files thread to actually get the file.
- You'll then want to install Alphawolf's all-in-one utilities (files are here and support/instructions are here ) and apply NutKase's 67superpatch (located here, support is here ).
- You'll need to run the set_mrv_name_67.tcl script (included in the superpatch listed above) to "name" your Dtivo.
- Since you're coming from 3.xx, you probably manually insmod'd the USB drivers and manually used ifconfig to configure your IP address. Pull those lines out of your rc.sysinit.author (or whatever). Then run netconfig.tcl to insert your IP information into MFS, or else MRV won't work properly.
- You probably want to install Jaime's backported USB drivers.
- Finally, if you want to use HMO to view photos/hear music, you'll need TivoDesktop or JavaHMO installed on a PC
(Senior folks, please correct me if I have erred.)
I haven't done the upgrade yet -- just finish hacking the rest of my 3.1.1e boxes over the weekend. My 6.2 upgrade is planned for this coming weekend, though I will be using slices to do it. Dunno if there's a reason to monte (can't see why there would be unless you want a custom kernel of some type). No idea what's involved in getting wireless going on any DTivo as I'm running on copper.
If you don't understand most of what I said...you're not ready. Read the stickies in the newbie forum and the Series 2 support forum, then do some searching.


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Vestas is set to seek compensation from its suppliers over a gearbox bearings fault affecting its V90-3MW turbines in what is the latest in a series of crises to engulf the firm.
The Danish manufacturer revealed in its results for the first financial quarter of 2012 that it was setting aside an additional €40 million in warranty provisions to cover a gearbox bearings malfunction affecting 376 of the machines, which represent 15% of all V90-3MW turbines installed.
All of the affected turbines contain gearboxes using an integrated bearings solution. The gearboxes were supplied to Vestas between June 2009 and September 2011 by Hansen Transmissions, now known as ZF Windpower Antwerpen following its acquisition by German firm ZF Friedrichshafen in November 2011.
A Vestas spokesman said the company would look at seeking compensation from both ZF and Schaeffler, ZF's supplier of the bearings. "Vestas has allocated EUR40 million to cover the potential additional maintenance, repair or replacement costs of our customer's gearboxes," said the spokesman.
"Vestas will pursue all relevant actions with regards to potential compensation from ZF and the bearing manufacturer."
A ZF Windpower spokesman said the firm was working with Vestas and Schaeffler to remedy this situation as soon as possible.
The affected bearings are the rotor main bearings that are fitted in the gearbox input shaft, a spokesman for Schaeffler explained.
"We are aware of individual cases of damage to rolling bearings of this type in the named turbines," he said. "We are currently investigating this issue to find the cause of the damage and are holding constructive talks with our customer on this matter."
Vestas declined to name which projects are affected, but of the 376 turbines in question, 36 are offshore machines.
The affected turbines' combined capacity of 1,128MW is the equivalent of all multi-megawatt turbines supplied to wind farms by Vestas in 2011. However, despite the substantial scale of the problem, Vestas declined to comment on whether any funds - in addition to the EUR40 million - would be required to tackle the problem, as this was part of the ongoing negotiations with ZF.
Ongoing woes
It is the latest in a series of crises to engulf the world's largest turbine manufacturer over the past eight months. The issues started in November 2011 when Vestas announced a profit warning and revealed operational issues following a failure to bring its generator factory online for its latest Gridstreamer and V112 turbines. This was followed by a further profit warning in January, again prompted by higher-than-expected development costs for the V112. One week later Vestas announced it was restructuring and cutting 2,335 jobs.
February then marked a month of boardroom upheaval for Vestas, with the firm's offshore chief Hans Jorn Rieks being axed only three weeks after being appointed to the position and the resignation of its deputy chief executive and chief financial officer Henrik Norremark just one month after he was appointed to the position by chief executive Ditlev Engel. Chairman Bent Carlsen and deputy chairman Torsten Rasmussen meanwhile informed the board that they would not be seeking re-election.
Also in February, Vestas published its preliminary annual results for 2011, revealing a EUR60 million operating loss and that it missed its revenue targets by 16%. The firm's revenues for 2011 were EUR5.8 billion, compared to a forecast of EUR7 billion.
Last month's publication of results for the first quarter of 2012 continued the bad news, with the firm revealing it had made a pre-tax loss of EUR225 million, an even worse showing than the EUR118 million loss recorded in the first three months of 2011. The one ray of hope was that its first quarter revenues were EUR1,105 million, up 4% on the EUR960 million revenues recorded for the same period last year.


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PARIS (Reuters) - BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) said it would kick off a three-year plan to save 2 billion euros ($2.69 billion) in annual costs and ramp up growth in Asia after its fourth-quarter profits were hit by Europe's weak economy.
France's No. 1 listed bank said the savings would come from simplifying its reporting structure and from investing in technology improvements, which would cost a total of 1.5 billion euros. It said no business would be shut down.
While BNP is seen by analysts as robust and well-capitalized after a year-long drive to cut its balance sheet and shrink its holdings of risky eurozone sovereign debt, it is still heavily exposed to mature European markets and is under pressure to show investors new paths to growth.
The bank said on Thursday it was eyeing a ramp-up in Asia, where it wants to lift revenues from investment banking and its asset-gathering Investment Solutions division to over 3 billion euros ($4 billion) by 2016, up from 2 billion in 2012. It is also aiming to hire 1,300 people in the region through to 2015.
"We see a low-growth scenario in Europe (in 2013)," BNP Chief Executive Jean-Laurent Bonnafe told Reuters Insider television. Acquisitions are not currently planned, he said.
BNP reported a one-third fall in net profit for the fourth quarter of 2012, to 514 million euros. Analysts had been expecting a profit closer to 1.0 billion, according to a Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S average forecast.
Among the troublespots were Italy - where BNP took a 300 million-euro goodwill writedown on its BNL subsidiary as part of an effort to raise its capital strength - and investment banking, where a rebound in revenues was hampered by a rise in loan losses on the back of one specific unidentified loan.
BNP said it would propose a cash dividend of 1.50 euros per share and said its focus on balance-sheet strength in 2012 had lifted its Basel III Core Tier 1 Ratio to 9.9 percent.
Smaller rival Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) reported a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss on Wednesday and held back from giving any numbers or targets on its own plan to unlock cost savings over the next three years.
Half of BNP's planned 2 billion-euro savings will come from retail banking, where cuts are seen as long overdue now that the economic slowdown and government budget cuts have started to hit core markets like France.
Profits at the bank's French, Belgian and Italian retail operations fell in the fourth quarter, with rising loan losses in Italy almost halving BNL's earnings before tax.
The French economy shrank 0.3 percent in the final three months of 2012, preliminary national figures showed on Thursday, as companies cut back on investment and exports flagged.
Savings at BNP's corporate and investment bank, which bore the brunt of cuts last year in the wake of a euro-driven market panic, will account for a third of the total. The unit will focus on growth in U.S. and Asia and will further develop its fixed-income platform after a boom year for bond markets.
Asked whether the savings plan could be done without cutting jobs, BNP's Bonnafe said: "We'll see." He said that the bank was always monitoring staffing levels and would prioritize moving staff to other divisions over straight reductions. ($1 = 0.7442 euros)
Reporting by Lionel Laurent; editing by Mark John


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I am really struggling with Christmas this year. Not the trees, or the lights, or the baking or the songs. It's the stuff. Every day people are calling asking about what to get the kids for Christmas. And I never know what to say. There is nothing they need. And while I love shopping for my kids and planning out the Santa stuff, I am having a hard time wrapping my brain around the commercialism. Don't get me wrong- I get a terrible case of the gimme's when I walk up and down the aisles of that fantastic red bullseye store. And everytime I see the commercials for Wii's, I picture our family having a blast playing with it and I put it on my wish list. But, while I have a child thousands of miles away who has NOTHING, it all just seems so meaningless. I have such bad guilt. Every time I make a purchase, I think- wow... do you know how many hungry kids that money could feed? Or I go to the electronics section and get mad that there are still parts of the world with no electricity.
A year ago- I didn't even know where the Congo was on a map. And while I was always mindful that there are sick and starving people all over the world, it never affected my day to day life. But this adoption journey has opened my eyes to so many things. I've learned and seen things that have changed me to my very core. And now that I am aware, I'm just not really sure what to do with it all. I keep wondering what it says about me that there are material things I'd love to have, knowing full well the hurt and the poverty that exists in the world. I feel so divided in my heart that I want to shower Sadie and Noah with things, while Miles will be spending Christmas in the orphanage just like it is any other day. I feel conflicted. I feel helpless.
So while I figure there is nothing I can do to stop the commercialism of Christmas ( heck- I can't even stop in my own home!) there are a million different things that I can do to bring some balance to the season. In our home today starts day 1 of the 12 days of Christmas kindness. I've seen this idea on a few other blogs (so I can in no way take credit for the idea). The premise is that on each of the 12 days before Christmas, our family will participate in a random act of kindness. I have lots of things planned and will try to share every day what special thing we do. Nope- we're not saints- Santa better still stop at this house! But this is my way of making sure that my children have an intentional way of focusing on the meaning of Christmas. It would seem so hypocritical to tell them that Jesus is the reason for Christmas, without doing anything to be His hands and feet in our community.
So for the 1st day of Christmas Kindness we collected all of our outgrown and unworn winter coats to donate to our local mission. Sadie is already chomping at the bit to do tomorrow's activity! So maybe this can be our new Christmas tradition- and when my kids grow up, they'll remember that THIS is what having the spirit of Christmas is all about.
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text: If ever a gadget is going to promote responsible drinking, then the Shot Caller is it. And let's face it, when you're playing drinking games with your buddies, it is all about being responsible and drinking up when you are told to drink up. Made for the Power Hour and Century Club drinking games, the Shot Caller prepares you for when it is time to drink, with red, amber and green lights. You can set it for either an hour or 100 minutes, and it comes with four regulation-sized shot glasses. The financial cost is $10. [The Shot Caller via DVice]


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SKF Cooper split bearings
Simple to install, inspect or remove
Our long experience in the requirements of the marine segment means that the standard product can incorporate a range of customised features to suit individual requirements and specifications. Examples of these are shown in our Z line pedestal unit opposite.
- Spherical cartridge lubrication allows extra movement to handle flexing of the vessel hull.
- Flat, solid underside of the pedestal base affords the perfect surface for chocking compounds.
- Jacking screws enable simple alignment of bearings along the shaft.
- Inspection holes for in-place measurement of shaft axial position.
- Tapped holes for temperature and vibration sensors.


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Europe Week Ahead: Watching China Again
A series of Chinese data releases will be under scrutiny next week after disappointing import data published Friday raised worries about domestic demand. Dow Jones's Andrea Tryphonides and Market Watch's Sara Sjolin report.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
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California's budget crisis is serious. But how much worse can things get?
When referring to budget cuts, we've all heard officials use terms like "unfortunate" and "difficult". Seldom, if ever, have we heard the term "absolutely terrible" to describe the cuts. But that's exactly the language Governor Schwarzenegger's press secretary used in describing the state's fiscal road ahead.
"What you can expect generally is no taxes and terrible cuts, absolutely terrible cuts," Schwarzenegger press secretary Aaron McLear told the Sacramento Bee. "We're not going to get through the deficit we have without some really tough decisions and some really terrible cuts."
U.S. & World
As time goes by, the cuts will only get deeper -- and now the governor is having to dig deep. He may have to consider eliminating some prison, health care and welfare programs. Schwarzenegger has no plans to eliminate existing tax breaks for businesses -- he argues that those tax breaks will help businesses grow and help create jobs.
How far is the governor digging to get the job done? Here's one of his ideas: Install traffic enforcement cameras at intersections to drive revenue from speeding tickets. How much controversial revenue could that generate each year?
It seems to be the proverbial deck chair off the Titanic. Rest assured, the cameras won't be going up anytime soon. Both sides of the legislative aisle shot that one down.
How this situation ultimately gets fixed is anybody's guess. Whatever the case, some Californians may face an "absolutely terrible" state of affairs heading toward this year's elections.


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Paying for fake reviews and disguised blog post advertorials is wrong. It's lying to people, plain and simple. If your company does it, you're evil, untrustworthy, and stupid. Why risk your brand reputation and FTC prosecution for a back-alley marketing stunt? Good news: Researchers from the University of Victoria have designed and validated a detection […]
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Brotz Hall is located on the north end of the Lakeland campus. It offers a unique coed facility with room for 96 students on three floors. Most of Brotz Hall's residents are second-year students, but it is open to all students.
Brotz Hall features an apartment-style layout. There are 12 pods with each pod containing three double rooms, two single rooms and two restrooms with shower and bath. A pair of pods share a large living area, kitchen and study. The bedrooms are large and fully carpeted.
Common areas include a comfortable lounge with fireplace, a computer lab, classrooms and plenty of study space. Brotz Hall is both alcohol- and tobacco-free.Click Here To See the Floor Plan


text: Your membership is something to be proud of. So are the exclusive savings you could get on car insurance. Click here to find out why. You could save hundreds on car insurance. It's Our Way of Supporting the Hostos Community College Alumni Association. Check out the low rates you could get with our special member discount. Student Our smartest technology with special student pricing. Save on Surface, software, and accessories Shop these Student categories: PC deals Windows 8 Pro Student Office 365 University Microsoft discounts for students on software Microsoft DreamSpark Rethink Possible. Connecting you to your world, everywhere you live and work. Students (18% off) Staff (20% off) Alumni Benefits The Alumni I.D. Card is your passport to many benefits after graduating from Hostos. The Alumni I.D. Card gives Hostos graduates access to selected areas in the College, including: Library Services Career Development Services Athletic and Recreational Facilities Cultural Events Networking Activities Geico - Special Member Discount + Great Rates and Services Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. 10% off select Sprint plans Discounted rates on IOS and Android devices HR Benefits Health Insurance Retirement Flexible Spending Benefits Pre-Tax Savings Plans Time & Leave Open Enrollment Ending Employment Unions CUNY Work/Life Promotional discounts, special giveaways, and FREE software are also available for members of the CUNY community while shopping at the CUNY eMall. Log-in to your CUNY Portal and look for the CUNY eMALL link at the top of the page. Clothing, Entertainment, Computers, Office Supplies, Communications and much more. Hostos Benefits & Discounts Suggestions Do you know of any benefits and/or discounts that you may be eligible for? Tell us more here!


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Archive for May 2010
Ten Ways to Kick our Oil Habit
Gail over at The Oil Drum has a surprisingly comprehensive list that goes beyond merely 'trying to drive less':
1. A better "cash for clunkers" program. A two year plan that gives credit for only replacement vehicles with 35 miles per gallon efficiency or greater is suggested. This program would be paid for by extending the 1978 gas guzzler tax to cars and trucks.
2. Emergency funding for endangered mass transit. The article notes that 59% of public transit networks have cut service, raised fares, or both since January 2009. More federal funding could help this situation.
3. A national telecommuting and videoconferencing initiative. Federal employees should be directed to do these as much as possible. "For everyone else, a campaign would make these more normative and socially acceptable."
4. Smarter freight movement. Grist suggests that Congress commission a study of methods to make trucking, rail and jet transport more efficient, including approaches to improve milage and ways to reduce empty travel of vehicles.
5. Smarter land use. Grist suggests that Congress could direct (and help fund) efforts to update zoning and land use regulations, to encourage more compact development.
6. Smarter travel through IT. Grist recommends a national study, noting that UPS saved 3 million gallons of fuel in a year, by equipping its trucks with software that allowed them to map out routes that avoided left-hand turns. Also, traffic lights could be timed better.
7. Educating drivers. Drivers ed programs and other outreach programs might teach the importance of slower acceleration and maintaining tire pressure for getting good gas mileage.
8. A resolution saying efficiency is a new national priority. Congress should pass a resolution on the importance of efficiency, and tell government agencies to improve efficiency. Funding for new projects might also depend on efficiency.
9. Prizes for tech breakthroughs. A prize is now awarded for 100 mph vehicle. Similar prizes could be offered for other breakthroughs.
10. Efficiency "visibility." Congress should fund the development of a National Energy Efficiency Data Center (NEEDC), which would study efficiency technologies.
Obama Moves to Massively Expand Covert Military Abroad
Via The New York Times, President Obama has just ordered a "broad expansion of clandestine military operations" in an attempt to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat Al Qaeda". The 'covert operations' will likely include anything from target assassinations, 'drone' attacks in Pakistan, secret bombing campaigns, money transfers to client states (a la Karzai and Maliki), and many things in-between. This is a significant move for a variety of reasons, not least of which stands the utter lack of public consultation for such a policy.
Mr. Greenwald has a timely essay on why Mr. Obama can undertake such extreme actions in the absence not only of opposition to his imperial policy, but indeed, any discussion whatsoever. Our major news outlets have reported the order in classic 'objective' style, assigning as little controversy to it as possible and treating it instead as a run-of-the-mill executive action. But it is interesting to examine why, in this year 2010, after nine continuous years of war, public opinion is such that a unilateral expansion of our secret military complex can occur with as little discussion as imaginable.
First, Mr. Greenwald notes, because this military expansion is taking place under a "Democratic" President, it creates the illusion of so-called 'bipartisan support'. Back when President Bush was carrying out covert operations in Yemen, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, etc., they were painted as the actions of an 'extremist' administration, one which regards the opposition with disdain and made a point of treating international law with utter contempt. However, after 18 months of military escalation, these wars are as much Mr. Obama's (that is, "Democratic" wars), as they were Mr. Bush's. As such, the number of "Democrats" willing to risk their political futures by opposing military action has dropped precipitously, as have the number of war-opposers in the general population. Specifically, the subset of people for whom Mr.Obama can do no wrong will automatically agree with his war policy – or if they disagree, put forth some excuse as to how Mr. Obama 'has no choice'.
The biggest reason Mr. Greenwald identifies, however, is the complete lack of documented impact these wars have on our livelihood. It has been often mentioned that, unlike in Vietnam, very few Americans have had to go to war against their will. Our press is largely censored as to the true cost of our warfare not only on the beleaguered people of Iraq and Afghanistan, but even our own soldiers. Recall the recent dust-up when our Secretary of War, Robert Gates, "harshly condemned" the media's display of a flag-draped coffin. And that was just one soldier, who had admittedly died in combat, but whose grisly death we had been totally shielded from. As much as possible, we citizens are encouraged not to think about our military "commitments" abroad, and instead to simply carry on with our daily lives, a few dollars shorter than the day before, a little more ragged perhaps, but still inestimably "proud" of our "commitment" to "democracy in the Middle East". One wonders just how far that pride would take us if more than 1% of the US population was involved in our military escapades, as the statistic stands now.
But beyond that, what Mr. Greenwald hints at but never explicitly states, is the psychology of powerlessness to which we citizens are routinely subjected. We literally have no say in what our government does abroad, and we have less and less of a say in even its domestic policies. In the 2008 elections, both candidates were unabashedly pro-war, Mr. Obama more so than even his most fervent supporters might have dreamt. For whom are we to vote if we wish to exit Iraq and Afghanistan immediately? Which Congressman, which Senator would even entertain such a possibility? To whom do we donate that we can be sure our paltry $50 will not be rendered irrelevant by the millions of dollars industry interests donate in order to keep these wars going? It is an implacable question, one made all the more urgent by President Obama's dramatic escalation of our already over-stretched 'commitments'.
The feeling of powerlessness can lead to apathy, but also to fear. When one recalls the brutality to which previous "anti-war protesters" have been subjected in the US, including savage beatings with nightsticks, water-cannons, ear-splitting sound emitters, tear gas and rubber bullets, it is not hard to imagine from whence this fear of dissent arises. Recall, also, that since the Homegrown Terrorism Act of 2007 passed, civil disobedience – the mere act of peaceful protest – has been defined as 'terrorism'. And once you are accused of 'terrorism', citizen or no, you are immediately stripped of every right you think you have.
This latest move towards military hegemony is particularly insidious, and I suppose it follows that Mr. Obama merely announced his policy, in true decree style, with little or no discussion. With one stroke of a pen, Mr. Obama has resserved the right to carry out military operations anywhere around the globe, from "surgical strikes", bombing campaigns, ground incursions, assassinations, or, indeed, anything his enigmatic mind may wish. It is worth remembering at this point that Mr. Obama also reserves the right to assassinate US citizens in their beds (that is, far from a battlefield), and 'render' accused terrorists to a global prison complex where no defense attorney dares enter. There, they can be beaten, tortured, or even murdered, far from the watchful eye of the Red Cross.
It is easy to imagine this latest move on the part of Mr. Obama is merely a continuation of Mr. Bush's odious policies. It is that, of course, but its implications go far deeper. Mr. Bush's covert actions were largely piecemeal: an assassination here, a few 'drone' attacks there, maybe some 'cash assistance' to some friendly dictator or another for spice. In contrast, Mr. Obama's new 'national security strategy' systematizes these covert acts of aggression, and sets up, in essence, a new governmental body, with no congressional or popular oversight, to carry out his murderous will around the globe. It is difficult to overstate the significance of this 'overhaul', yet it is even more difficult to convince anyone of that significance.
Mr. Hitler once coined the term for the Germans as a 'sleep-walking people', but the same could easily be said of Americans (or, for that matter, anyone else). We face, in our generation, a confluence of crises of which we are only just beginning to see the magnitude, and unfortunately the first step to solving a crisis is to realize it exists, something for which, at least with regards to our present constitutional crisis, we still have quite some ways to go.
Hamid Karzai: The NYT's Faithful Client
The New York Times has a rather fluffy article in today's issue about how Abdullah Abdullah, the gentlemen from whom Hamid Karzai stole last year's election in Afghanistan, was given a "cold shoulder" from the White House. The United States, it seems, did not want to give an impression of "doubt" that Mr. Karzai, whose brother is Afghanistan's biggest drug kingpin, is serious about "combating drugs and corruption". A more clear and direct vote of confidence for our faithful client in Afghanistan, one can hardly envision.
The article stands as a tract to justify Karzai's illegitimate rule in Afghanistan, but it does more than that. The most interesting quote comes halfway through the piece:
"There is no point in rolling out the red carpet for a guy who is wanting recognition for being himself," said a senior European diplomat who is involved in Afghanistan. "The world doesn't work that way. Karzai is the elected leader of Afghanistan."
Forgive me, but why did this "senior European diplomat" need anonymity to state such a trite banality? Did they really need to hide his identity so that he could spout the US governnment's "line" with an air of objectivity? And who is this mystery diplomat anyway?
A clue comes in his final statement: "Karzai is the elected leader of Afghanistan". Now, it should be clear to anyone who has even loosely followed the debacle of Afghanistan's election last August that Hamid Karzai is not the rightfully elected leader of Afghanistan, that he fabricated at least one-third of his votes, that he engaged in widespread voter intimidation and ballot-box stuffing, and that nearly every international monitoring agency declared the election in which Karzai won a sham.
The only "senior European diplomat" who has consistently apologized for Karzai's election "engineering" is Kai Eide, who summarily fired his subordinate, Peter Galbraith, for breaking the story that one-third of Karzai's votes were fraudulent last October. Kai Eide is one of the most odious UN officials working for Afghanistan, one who has consistently and repeatedly covered up for Hamid Karzai's staggering corruption, his lawless reprisals against dissent, and his slavish devotion to the US occupation of Afghanistan. It would make perfect sense for him to lend his "expertise" to the New York Times for a hit-piece on his best buddy Karzai's biggest rival.
But the article is even more insidious than that. Nowhere does it even mention that Karzai's August 2009 victory was fradulent, save for a single mention that Abdullah Abdullah, Karzai's vanquished rival, "accused the Karzai government of profound corruption and electoral fraud", a sling which could be interpreted as mere sour grapes, if it didn't happen to be true. An uninformed reader, after digesting this one-sided pap, would come away with the clear impression that Hamid Karzai legitimately won the August 2009 election, and that the United States is correct in giving his losing rival the "cold shoulder". This is a falsehood and a fallacy. Karzai did not legitimately win the election, and the US is wrong and undemocratic to deny the rightful victor, Abdullah Abdullah, an audience with President Obama, who, after all, is leading a vicious occupation of his country.
A sad showing from the once-venerable Gray Lady.
Russian Journalists Pay For Their Craft in Blood
Clifford J. Levy, The New York Times' Moscow correspondent, has provided us excellent reporting over the years, and he really hit it out of the park today with an in-depth look at the violence and lawlessness muckraking reporters in Russia must contend with. We had heard for some time that Russia was a dangerous place in which to practice journalism (Reporters Without Borders just topped their list of worst media predators with Russia and China), and of course we knew the sad case of Anna Politkovskaya, a courageous reporter whom the Putin regime murdered in 2006 for her reports on Chechnya, but Mr. Levy's report lays bare the pervasion of violence against reporters in Russia:
"Last spring, I called for the resignation of the city's leadership," Mr. Beketov said in one of his final editorials. "A few days later, my automobile was blown up. What is next for me?"
Not long after, he was savagely beaten outside his home and left to bleed in the snow. His fingers were bashed, and three later had to be amputated, as if his assailants had sought to make sure that he would never write another word. He lost a leg. Now 52, he is in a wheelchair, his brain so damaged that he cannot utter a simple sentence.
To the north on the M-10 highway from Khimki is a city called Solnechnogorsk, where a newspaper, Solnechnogorsk Forum, was publishing exposés about how local politicians were seeking to do away with elections to maintain power.
The newspaper's editor, Yuri Grachev, is 73. In February 2009, several men assaulted him as he left his home, putting him in intensive care for a month with a severe concussion, a broken nose and other wounds.
Police officials first said he was drunk and fell down. Then they said he had been the victim of a random robbery, though all that was taken was a folder with material for the newspaper's next issue. The muggers have not been found, and politicians from the governing party, United Russia, said the attack had nothing to do with Mr. Grachev's work.
These are not isolated instances, and they serve as a grim reminder of the relative liberty journalists enjoy in America. Our media may be choked with propaganda, our reporters systemically lied to, our independent media ruthlessly crowded out of existence by the news-manufacturing combines, but to my knowledge, journalists in America, even decidedly inconvenient ones such as Glenn Greenwald or Naomi Klein, do not have to contend with car bombs and assassination attempts. This is something which I think we take for granted, and which I only think we will miss, if we do at all, once it has been taken away from us.
Elena Kagan – The Executive's Dream
The smartest points on the Elena Kagan Supreme Court nomination, were, as usual, made by Glenn Greenwald, who noted that not only does Ms. Kagan have no documented views on any important subjects, she has often expressed herself stolidly in favor of a greatly expanded executive branch. Ms. Kagan believes that habeas corpus and the right to a speedy civilian trial should be revoked to people accused of Terrorism, as well as their right not to be interrogated by torture, their right to see the evidence against them, and their right to see a lawyer. She has expressed this, at least, in various letters which can be found with a Google search.
It's difficult to express my sadness at this nomination. We had prayed that Dianne Wood – a far stronger candidate with a proven, documented record against unlimited executive power – would end up the nominee. Some of our most cherished privileges, such as the right not to be interrogated by torture, hang by the thread of a single Supreme Court justice. Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, Boumediene v. Bush, Rasul v. Bush and several other crucial cases were decided by a narrow 5-4 majority. The above cases ruled nearly every aspect of the Bush-Obama secret detention program unconstitutional, and though they were largely ignored, their value is inestimable.
The New York Times, our bellwether to establishment opinion, let loose a glaring (Freudian?) slip in its treatment of the Kagan nomination. Halfway through the article, they say:
As he presses an ambitious agenda expanding the reach of government, Mr. Obama has come to worry that a conservative Supreme Court could become an obstacle down the road, aides said. It is conceivable that the Roberts court could eventually hear challenges to aspects of Mr. Obama's health care program or to other policies like restrictions on carbon emissions and counterterrorism practices.
Which is baffling for a variety of reasons. First, the "ambitious agenda [to expand] the reach of government" would likely include, in NYT parlance, the health care reform bill, the financial regulation bill, the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell, or other such Obama initiatives. The "ambitious agenda" surely does not include an unlimited expansion of executive power to torture, detain, and assassinate anyone around the globe, something with which Ms. Kagan (a so-called "liberal") wholeheartedly agrees. To the contrary, Mr. Obama has real reason to fear a liberal Supreme Court, which would continue to strike down his unconstitutional uses of executive power – hence his selection of a cheerleader for indefinite detention and torture. Were Ms. Kagan, like her predecessor Justice Stevens, to have spoken out vociferously against our present detention practices, I have no doubt Mr. Obama would have passed her over for the nomination, as he did to Dianne Wood.
The confirmation hearings are sure to unfold as usual – that is, with as little substantive information as possible. When Ms. Kagan is asked about her views on previous decisions, she will of course say: "I will not interfere with precedent." When she is asked about any future decisions she might make, she will naturally say "I cannot comment until the case comes before me." So we end up learning nothing about her judicial views, except for the few stray comments that suggest she supports a "robust" interpretation of executive power. Change we can believe in!
Lieberman Wants to Revoke NYC Bomb Suspect's Citizenship
At Harper's, Scott Horton makes a great catch:
Senator Joseph Lieberman has developed a knack for craven fearmongering. His latest proposal was born from the police operation by New York's finest that led to the capture of Faisal Shahzad last weekend. Shahzad, a financial analyst, is a United States citizen and, as a long-time resident of Bridgeport, one of Lieberman's constituents, which Lieberman considers a troublesome complication. Lieberman says he will sponsor legislation under which the president will be given the power to deprive a person of his citizenship simply by bringing certain charges.
Lieberman is vague about the proposals, and he offers no explanation of how a citizen could be stripped of his citizenship by executive fiat consistently with the Constitution,a step that would have all the traditional badges of tyrannical government. He also apparently believes, incorrectly, that only U.S. citizens have a right to receive aMiranda warning. (That's the sort of mistake that a young lawyer sitting for the bar would never make, although Lieberman has been a lawyer since 1967 and was a former Connecticut attorney general.)
Though obviously legislative adventures such as those of Mr. Lieberman should be avoided at all costs, I think it is important to remember that the "facts" of the Times Square incident are now murky and inconclusive at best. We have a "suspect", but no idea if he actually did it; we have a confession, but no idea how it was extracted. For all the front-page accusations of his supposed "links" to "The Taliban", we know only for sure that
1) – A crude, incompetent bomb consisting of M-88 firecrackers (the sort children play with), a sealed tank of propane, and a couple bags of fertilizer was placed at the back of an SUV in Times Square. This is not how you make a bomb, and given that the sort of firecracker he bought cannot undergo self-reignition (one M-88 can't set off another M-88 with its detonation), I have real doubts that the "explosion" would have even broken through the car. It was hardly the sort of device one envisions upon hearing the phrase "car bomb", particularly as the citizens of Baghdad have come to know it.
2) – A Pakistani-American citizen was picked up at an airport attempting to leave the country with a ticket he paid for in cash. The Times sent its reporters scurrying to find his relatives the moment the NYPD released his name, and they emerged with a hit piece on how the suspect, Mr. Shahzad, "fit the profile of a Terrorist". Rife with circumstantial evidence, the article describes his "'money woes", his newfound "zeal for Islam", his "strong religious identity" and so forth. The article does not mention the evidence against Mr. Shahzad, and takes his guilt as a foregone conclusion.
3) – The suspect confessed. But I should stress emphatically that that is all we know of his confession. Mr. Shahzad has been accused of five terrorism-related charges, according to the New Statesman, and apparently gave his interrogates "the goods" – that is, he confessed to having trained in Pakistan, having "links" with "The Taliban", etc – precisely what our policy planners might have wanted. The AFP was kind enough to note that Mr. Shahzad has not been in a court, and has in fact, "disappeared" since his "dramatic arrest" 4 days ago. We don't know where he was taken, who interrogated him, or what exactly he confessed to.
I do not wish to be called a "conspiracy theorist", but it is well known (and given the tone of coverage, tragically well accepted) that if you are accused of the crime of Terrorism, you will be interrogated in secret and tortured at the very least by days or weeks of sleeplessness (try it, reader!). I have no idea how Mr. Shahzad was interrogated, except that it was done by the military. Unless I see documentary evidence to suggest otherwise, I think that given the military's past experiences with interrogation, we can assume Mr. Shahzad was tortured.
Then what is his confession worth? Very little, it would seem, and even less given the almost hilarious nature of his "crime". The contents of his car were essentially inert. Is it a crime to have firecrackers, a sealed propane tank, and a few bags of fertilizer in your car at Times Square on a Saturday night? Evidently, if you happen to be on a particular list, everything is a crime.
It would be difficult to overstate the danger of Mr. Lieberman's proposal and those like it. By classifying a certain class of crime ("Terrorism") as one for which normal rules do not apply, one creates a dangerous precedent. Who, after all, is a Terrorist? Mostly Muslims, for now, but the Administration has given indications for years that it plans on expanding the definition to, say, civil disobedience.
This is an unhealthy trend, and ought to be stopped. To have two sets of laws – one for people accused of "Terrorism" and the other for everyone else – is illogical and absurd; and worse, it demolishes the idea of whether or not we can conclusively ascertain a "Terrorist's" guilt. Precisely because Mr. Shahzad likely confessed under torture, we shall never know whether or not he was actually guilty.
BP Off the Hook for Billions
Many have mentioned and I think it bears repeating that British Petroleum, who, along with Haliburtion, bears full responsibility for the stain of death expanding through the Gulf of Mexico, is only liable for $75 million in damages – what you would call a drop in the bucket. They must pay for 100% of the cleanup, which is substantial, but fishermen and tourist companies, those who have seen their lives ruined for BP's avarice, can collectively get only $75 million in damages.
The economic damage of this oil spill is sure to run in to the billions of dollars, and many commentators estimate the lost capacity resulting from this spill will run into the tens of billions. All of the property destroyed, the fisheries massacred, the empty tour boats and so forth will have to fight for a slice of the $75 million that BP is offering.
This ridiculous situation came after the fallout of the Exxon-Valdez spill of 1990, which occurred off the coast of Alaska and involved orders of magnitude fewer economic victims. Rikki Ott of Reuters explains how Exxon bargained with the Senate then to shoulder all of the cleanup costs if the Senate could guarantee that they could only be sued for $75 million.
Those are the rules which govern our present disaster, and they are, to say it mildly, unfair. As we know, BP lobbied against the regulation that would have required them to buy a valve ($500,000) which would have prevented this disaster (>$5,000,000,000). They ought to be liable for every cent of damage their avarice caused.
Congress is now working on raising BP's liability cap from $75 million to $10 billion, a proposal I think we could all get behind. I'll be eagerly waiting to see what becomes of it.


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Results tagged ' Al LaMacchia '
Rocco Baldelli News Conference and Tidbits
Trivia Question:
When was the first match up between a deaf pitcher and a hitter in baseball, and who were the participants?
Answer at the bottom of the Blog.
Rocco Baldelli was once called "Joe's twin," by professional Scout Al LaMacchia. This of course, is referring to the great Joe DiMaggio. Rocco had been compared to the Yankee great since his prep days at Bishop Hendricken H.S. in Warwick, Rhode Island.
Baldelli was drafted by the Tampa Bay (Devil)rays in the first round of the 2000 Amateur draft. Rocco worked his way up the Rays' minor league ladder to be named the team's starting Center fielder for the 2003 MLB season. Rocco debuted on March 31, 2003 and hit and powered his way to a third place finish in the Rookie of the Year ballot that year.
In 2004, Rocco was the returning Center fielder and was looking to improve on his 2003 stats. His 2003, .289 average, with 11 HRs and 27 stolen bases was just a glimpse of what might be in store for Rays fans in the future. In 2004, Rocco led all MLB Center fielders in range factor with a 3.3.
Range Factor (commonly abbreviated RF) is a baseball statistic developed by Bill James. It is calculated by dividing putouts and assists by number of innings or games played at a given defense position. [1] The statistic is premised on the notion that the total number of outs that a player participates in is more relevant in evaluating his defensive play than the percentage of cleanly handled chances as calculated by the conventional statistic fielding percentage.
In 2005, Rocco began the year with a ACL tear while playing ball in his R.I. backyard with his younger brother. He was on schedule to be back by the All-Star break in 2005, but he sustained a elbow in jury and was lost for the rest of the season. Rocco had "Tommy John's" surgery to repair his elbow and rehabbed at the Minor League complex in St. Petersburg,Florida.
Rocco was fired up and ready to roll in 2006, and finally got back on the turf versus the Los Angeles Angels at Anaheim on June 7, 2008. Baldelli played throughout the rest of the season ending with a .302 average,16 HRs, and 57 RBI's in only 364 at bats.
In 2007, Rocco began his trip onto the D L after pulling his hamstring during Spring Training. the injury seemed to slowly heal, but while on a Minor League rehab assignment, the injury became worse. Rocco spent the rest of the year inactive, but a very important part of the team. He could be seen on the bench either taking down the pitch stats, or purposely watching the opposing pitcher for signs of him tipping off his pitches or pitch outs to first base. Joe Maddon felt that Rocco had an energy and a positive attitude that was beneficial to his young squad and took him on away games the rest of the season.
During this time, Ron Porterfield, the Rays' Head Trainer, and the medical staff did exclusive tests on Rocco to try and pinpoint the situation and maybe finally get some positive results.
During the Spring Training in 2008, Rocco was an early arrival to camp. He was out there every day trying to get his body to function correctly so he could get back on the field with his comrades. He was used sparingly this Spring until on March12, 2008, Rocco released the following statement to the press:
This off season, because of the physical problems I've been having, I started along with the team's help to search them out and go see some doctors and try to find out what's going on.
I was having a lot of problems the last couple years with my muscles and muscle strains. I think a good way to describe it is literally muscle fatigue and cramping, way before my body should be feeling these things. I would go out there and I was pretty much incapable of doing basic baseball activities as far as running and hitting and throwing.
These were things that I had done my whole life pretty easily and at some point in the last two years – we're not exactly sure why – these things started to change. It was tough for me to deal with, but with the team's help, they sent me to specialists, basically flying me around all over the country to try to figure out what was going on.
What the doctors eventually found through all of this was I have some type of metabolic and/or mitochondrial abnormalities. Basically, somewhere along the line in my body – I don't want to get too deep into the medicine because it's not really my expertise, but either my body isn't making or producing or storing ATP the right way and therefore not allowing, apparently, my muscles to work as they should and, especially, recover on a day-to-day basis. So it becomes very difficult to get on the field every day and play.
When I say fatigue, I go out there and my body is literally spent after a very short amount of time out on the field, which makes it extremely frustrating and difficult, but it's something that's kind of a reality right now and something we're dealing with the best that we can.
As far as my baseball career, I'm not here to stand in front of you telling you I'm retiring. We're still going to pursue every avenue that we can to try to figure out what is going on, have a better understanding of what is going on. But at this time, throughout all of the extensive testing that we've done, we don't have a concrete answer. The doctors' consensus is that these are the problems that I'm experiencing and there's a lot of medical proof of these things, but they've been unable to specifically identify an exact reason or an exact problem down to a specific name. That's kind of frustrating, but that's why we're going to continue along with the team's help to find out what's going on.
I feel comfortable about this because the team has been so good to me and supported me in every possible way I could imagine. Without that, I don't know really where I'd be right now, because this is as probably as difficult and frustrating a thing as I've ever had to deal with as a person. Like I said, we're going to do everything we can to fix and hopefully solve this problem, and that's pretty much where I'm at right now.
I put his entire statement here to reflect and hope that a solution or a cure can be found for this promising player. I have personally chatted with Rocco on occasion, and I can tell you there is no better guy in the clubhouse than him. He knows what was expected of him on Day 1, and he has done his best to make it back onto the diamond.
The Rays' are in a pickle here tho. They were looking for Rocco to be a Center field back-up this season to give BJ Upton some needed rest during the season. Maybe the Rays will look at their Minor leaguer's in camp, or sign a veteran like Kenny Lofton to relieve B J, and Jonny Gomes through the year.
Here is a guy who could have rewritten a few passages in the books, and now might be done in because a metabolic nightmare within his body. I hope the doctors' can find a solution soon, and have a positive prognosis so we can get this great talent back on the field sometime in the not to near future.
I will miss not seeing Rocco out there on another Opening Day in Baltimore on March 31,but his health is more important than the game right now.
Here is a short example of what ATP and the human body have in common. I found this on a website, and I hope it is easy to comprehend and understand.
For your muscles, in fact, for every cell in your body — the source of energy that keeps everything going is called ATP. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the biochemical way to store and use energy.
The entire reaction that turns ATP into energy is a bit complicated, but here is a good summary:
- Chemically, ATP is an adenine nucleotide bound to three phosphates.
- There is a lot of energy stored in the bond between the second and third phosphate groups that can be used to fuel chemical reactions.
- When a cell needs energy, it breaks this bond to form adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and a free phosphate molecule.
- In some instances, the second phosphate group can also be broken to form adenosine monophosphate (AMP).
- When the cell has excess energy, it stores this energy by forming ATP from ADP and phosphate.
ATP is required for the biochemical reactions involved in any muscle contraction. As the work of the muscle increases, more and more ATP gets consumed and must be replaced in order for the muscle to keep moving.
Because ATP is so important, the body has several different systems to create ATP. These systems work together in phases. The interesting thing is that different forms of exercise use different systems, so a sprinter is getting ATP in a completely different way from a marathon runner!
Trivia Question Answer:
It happened on may 16, 1902, featuring William Ellsworth "Dummy" Hoy of the Washington Nationals in the batters box, against New York Giant pitcher Luther "Dummy" Taylor. the opponents greeted each other in sign language, then hoy knocked out a single against Taylor.
The wording in quotes above is the listing in the Baseball reference material I used for the Trivia question. I, in no manner, used the phrasing, "dummy" as a cruel reference or in a demeaning nature here concerning these fine ballplayers.


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In total, only 30 sailors worldwide will be selected through continental championships and the World championship to compete in the Youth Olympic Games. Paul trained very seriously for the North American Championships with his sailing coach, Robert Dunkley, from the Bahamas National Sailing School, and his fitness trainer, Emilio Bullard, from Sweat Therapy, to obtain one of the 4 North American qualifying spots. Paul is the first sailor to ever represent the Bahamas at the Youth Olympic Games.
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