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The United Nation's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspected the carnage at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant last week. Take a look at this photograph of their representative. Take a look at their plastic suits with IAEA hastily sprayed on the back in paint or scrawled on with marker pen. Doesn't exactly inspire confidence does it?
The IAEA was at Fukushima to assess the situation at the disaster site in its role as the global nuclear watchdog and regulator. The problem is that that's not the organisations only role. The IAEA is a four-headed beast.
Firstly, the IAEA needs to guard against the spreading of nuclear weapons – among others by overseeing that no nuclear material from the nuclear industry is diverted for military use. You remember probably their missions to Iraq and Iran.
Secondly, the IAEA draws up nuclear safety standards. These are used as benchmarks in virtually all nuclear countries. In the European Union they are even enshrined in law.
Thirdly, it controls research on health issues surrounding radiation that should then feed into its safety standards.
Fourthly, it promotes nuclear power. According to the statutes of the agency, the objective of the IAEA is to 'accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy'. Can you begin to see the conflicts of interest here? An organisation charged with promoting nuclear power around the world also controls nuclear safety and health standards. It's like expecting a tobacco company to prevent lung cancer.
And it gets worse. The IAEA holds a veto over World Health Organization (WHO) programs related to radiation and nuclear power. This has undermined WHO's ability to respond properly to disasters like the one at Fukushima. The IAEA has vetoed WHO conferences on radiation and health. Independent research has been under-funded and critical scientists ostracized.
Through the dominance of the IAEA and the nuclear industry, the health effects of radiation have been misrepresented and underestimated. As a result, the WHO is unable to provide independent advice and assessments of nuclear accidents in order to protect people at risk.
Which brings us back to Fukushima. The IAEA might like to think it is independent but it is far from it. The way it communicates its message is designed to serve the interests of the nuclear industry and governments not people's health or the environment. In the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster, the IAEA channelled all its information through the Japanese government who could then, if it chose, to delay or downplay it.
Thus we got things like the venting of radioactive steam on March 13 that caused much of the iodine contamination being described as a much safer sounding 'controlled release of vapour'.
Furthermore, at no stage has the IAEA given any recommendations or analysis of the Fukushima situation. It failed to issue any kind of warning on the likely amounts of radiation released from the overheating reactors or the overly optimistic assessments provided by the Japanese government in the early days of the crisis.
The latest proof of its happy-clappy outlook on Fukushima can be found in the UK nuclear regulator Michael Weightman-led IAEA mission to the destroyed reactors.
The Japanese Government's longer term response to protect the public,including evacuation, has been impressive and extremely well organized.
What? The village of Iitate close to Fukushima was only evacuated weeks after Greenpeace had found far over-limit levels of radiation there. Schoolchildren were expected to withstand 20 times the International Commission of Radiological Protection's recommended radiation limit. Maybe Mr. Weightman hadn't had the time to follow the news about Fukushima in the last weeks and someone forgot to tell him about this during his trip to Japan.
But the conclusion of the mission report summary maybe beats it all:
The IAEA mission urges the international nuclear community to take advantage of the unique opportunity created by the Fukushima accident to seek to learn and improve worldwide nuclear safety.
Of course! Nuclear safety is in good hands. The Fukushima disaster was the cold shower needed to refresh nuclear safety culture.
It's time the IAEA was reformed. It should remember that it serves the people of the world not the nuclear industry or governments with dirty and dangerous secrets to hide.
Justin McKeating has been blogging the meltdown of the nuclear industry for Greenpeace International since 2008. He is based in Brighton, UK.
(Unregistered) Daithesci
Hilarious article.
The IAEA is to nuclear what the IPCC is to climate. Why is it that GP trusts one without reason, and the other isn't? ...
Hilarious article.
The IAEA is to nuclear what the IPCC is to climate. Why is it that GP trusts one without reason, and the other isn't? There are two reasons:
1) you have irrational bias which clouds your judgement
2) Germany who has mass hysteria about anything nuclear are the main sponsors of Greenpeace. In other words; you are following the money.
Nuclear power is the answer to the Climate Change problem. Lots of power - no CO2. By not supporting it 100% Greenpeace is effectively advocating the destruction of the Arctic, and all the other negative connotations of Climate Change. This puts you beneath all the major oil companies - at least they are investing in alternative power projects. Greenpeace actively impede progress.
Reading between the lines of the above article I bet it *really* bugs you that *nobody* has died as a result of the nuclear reactor in Japan. Yep, a 30 year old plant, of an old design, hit by *two* of the most terrific forces that nature has to offer - on consecutive days - and *nobody* dies. Modern reactors are orders of magnitude safer again. If people had tragically died it would have afforded you some legitimacy in your perverse version of the facts.
Lets compare that with hydroelectric power. Over 130 people have died in the last two years *alone*. Which one is more dangerous?
3 June, 2011 at 13:56
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(Unregistered) Graham Hughes
Now while I agree that the world would be a much more lovelier place if it wasn't for nuclear weapons, I cannot say the same about nuclear power. 75%...
Now while I agree that the world would be a much more lovelier place if it wasn't for nuclear weapons, I cannot say the same about nuclear power. 75% of France's power is nuclear. If they upped their ante on renewable power and got everyone to convert to electric cars, they could be the first carbon-neutral country in the world in just five years. Not bad for a country of 63 million people.
And why should we not be using nuclear power? Because it is perceived to be dangerous. But how dangerous? As unhealthy as making men dig in South American coal mines? As dangerous as a Qatari gas tanker filled to the brim with ultra-flammable fuel sailing through Somali pirate waters? As bad for the environment as deep-sea oil drilling? As bad for the economy as relying on the tyrannical regimes of the Middle East for our electricity? According to all the available data, no. According to Greenpeace, yes.
Again after Fukushima (as after Chernobyl) there was much pulling of hair and gnashing of teeth from the environmental brigade, and (as after Chernobyl) their apocalyptic fantasies failed to come true. More coal miners died in the Pike River mine disaster in New Zealand last year than died tackling the partial meltdown in Fukushima. Let's put this into context: this plant was hit by one of the five biggest earthquakes in recorded history. It was then hit by a 14 metre wall of water: an unprecedented attack in the history of nuclear power.
And what is the reported death toll from the clean-up operation? One. Yup. One person shuffled off this mortal coil – and that was from a heart attack. There is a leakage of radioactive isotopes around the immediate area, but can we please put this into context? 25,000 people died on that awful day in March, and so far not a single person has been killed by radiation poisoning. The Fukushima exclusion zone (at its height) was 20km around the plant. Compare that to the 80-square-mile (210 km²) "kill zone" surrounding the blown Deepwater Horizon oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. So far two people have been hospitalised by radiation poisoning in Fukushima. 500 people have been hospitalised in Europe from eating ORGANIC CUCUMBERS.
I can't stress this enough: just because nuclear power is complicated, it doesn't mean it is inherently more dangerous than coal, oil, gas or even – yes – ORGANIC CUCUMBERS. Fossil fuel – even when NOTHING GOES WRONG – is substantially worse for the miners, transporters, the global economy, local environment and, of course, the whole bloody planet.
Nuclear power could save us, save the whole goddamn world, but is Greenpeace pushing for investment, research, safety procedures, more plants? No. They're pushing to have no plants whatsoever. Why? Because scientists ain't to be trusted.
Isn't that EXACTLY what batshit crazies like Tony Abbot, Sarah Palin and THE ENTIRE FOSSIL FUEL INDUSTRY are saying? Don't trust the hard science, don't peruse the facts, just come up with your own judgement based on how you feel.
This makes me furious – and I'm not even a scientist. I haven't spent my life drilling ice cores in the Antarctic, corralling weather balloons, studying glacier retreat in the Himalayas, analysing meta-data from temperature monitoring satellites all over the world… I haven't done anything to make you live longer, invented anything to make your days more entertaining nor perfected a formula that will make you more comfortable. Scientists have, and despite the fact that we're an ungrateful bunch of bastards, science is not going to give up on us – it's going to keep on searching for a cure for cancer, working out new and wonderful ways for us to communicate, it's going to keep the internet running smoothly, our planes in the air, food on our shelves, power in the grid and our air-bags ready to spring from nowhere and save our lives.
We don't have time for such games - puff pieces like the one above which reeks of innuendo and conspiracy-theorism are playing RIGHT INTO THE HANDS of the right-wing press, the fossil fuel industry, climate chance deniers: the most evil men on the planet. STOP IT. PLEASE.
The anti-science bias of the environmental movement has to end, and it has to end now, for all our sakes – even those who are too pig-ignorant or pig-headed to see what's coming.
3 June, 2011 at 14:23
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(Unregistered) soccermid717
Ok so I really only read the first paragraph. I would read the rest of it but I have to write a paper on health care. But I looked at the picture, and...
Ok so I really only read the first paragraph. I would read the rest of it but I have to write a paper on health care. But I looked at the picture, and what you wrote about them 'hastily' spraying IAEA on their suits. Would you rather they take their time with that? Glitter up their suits, make pretty name tags so everyone knows who is who. I think the important matter is the radiation seeping into the ground, not the blue & black, spray paint & pen.
3 June, 2011 at 20:27
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(Unregistered) [anonymous]
Justin, the IAEA has no authority to regulate nuclear safety. Don't say the Agency should have done this and that at Fukushima; its member states have...
Justin, the IAEA has no authority to regulate nuclear safety. Don't say the Agency should have done this and that at Fukushima; its member states have not provided the organization with a mandate or a staff to do nuclear safety inspections around the world. That is each government's own responsibility. The Agency is not a safety 'watchdog', nor is not a democratic institution serving 'the people' - it was founded by governments to develop all sorts of peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and later was given responsibility to do safeguards activities to verify governments' committments under the NPT and other treaties. If you don't like the IAEA's mandate, lobby your government to take action to change it.
3 June, 2011 at 21:47
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(Unregistered) B1
I do not understand people's encouragement of nuclear power. You must understand how dangerous and unstable this technology is -- it is a novel idea, ...
I do not understand people's encouragement of nuclear power. You must understand how dangerous and unstable this technology is -- it is a novel idea, but certainly not something fit for life on earth. The singular problem of radioactive waste is unprecedented. To create materials that remain toxic for 100,000+ years is sheer stupidity. To render areas of the planet uninhabitable for this amount of time is likewise, whether through insufficient storage (and there is no other kind) or tragic accident.
In response to above posts about the lack of any deaths due to the Fukushima crisis, this is incorrect. Already, three plant workers have died. Radiation poisoning also does not always work quickly. The occurence of cancer might be difficult to trace to distinct causes, but to say that the release of radioactive materials has no effect is hearsay. There are much better solutions to global energy needs, and it is very important that they are pursued.
3 June, 2011 at 23:14
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(Unregistered) sweet pea
reading those comments says to me, humans are too stupid to survive.
global warming v.s. nuclear fallout
you really are ignorant if you t...
reading those comments says to me, humans are too stupid to survive.
global warming v.s. nuclear fallout
you really are ignorant if you think there aren't alternatives to Both!
Green Peace, you are doing the right thing.
We need the Truth and some answers!
My parents taught me to examine the consequences before making irreversible choices.If those in charge of my health and safety are not following the rules of common sense .. humans are going to screw themselves out of their future.
my $ is on the cockroach.
3 June, 2011 at 23:59
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(Unregistered) Cgrl
But it IS curious that this agency doesn't have regulated gear. And whether or not we believe hastily spray-painted suits gives one insight into the I...
But it IS curious that this agency doesn't have regulated gear. And whether or not we believe hastily spray-painted suits gives one insight into the IAEA, what does give us reason to be suspect (regarding this pict) is their HASTILY PHOTOSHOPPED work on the back of some of the other men standing in the picture. look closely. there are white squares. empty. pixilated. why? It's all strange, staged, so many excuses, so little time.... I think no matter what we think of any of it, at least in the name of HUMANITY people should bond together in one important aspect of this disaster: saving the children. GET THE CHILDREN IN & AROUND FUKUSHIMA CITY OUT OF THERE! I have much more respect for Greenpeace today - thanks so much for your efforts.
4 June, 2011 at 0:40
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(Unregistered) GoneToPlaid
That Preliminary Summary piles up the bs rather high, doesn't it? I notice that there wasn't one mention of venting which would have prevented the hyd...
That Preliminary Summary piles up the bs rather high, doesn't it? I notice that there wasn't one mention of venting which would have prevented the hydrogen explosions, the lack of effective passive cooling systems for the cores, or mention of the utter failure to properly estimate the maximum strength of earthquakes and tsunamis which could impact the site location. And the statement that not one person has been harmed by the radiation is an outright lie.
4 June, 2011 at 3:30
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(Unregistered) Savvy
@ Daithesci / Graham Hughes: Your statements reveal your own irrational bias towards the supposed "saviour" status of science. Yes, science ...
@ Daithesci / Graham Hughes: Your statements reveal your own irrational bias towards the supposed "saviour" status of science. Yes, science has brought many technologies to our world. MOST of these technologies (and indeed the MAJORITY of the resources of planet Earth) are currently being used to destory life: consider all the wars and armed conflicts, all the munitions and vehicles and supplies and medical/death expenses, all the long-term suffering and chaos caused in the regions where these conflicts are taking place (and even globally, due to the inherent inter-connectedness of everything), and so on.
Any person with their eyes open even can clearly see that science does have the POTENTIAL to serve the good of ALL, yet it is currently being used to DESTROY LIFE for the sake of the "good" (meaning greater profit-and-power) of the very few. Nuclear technology self-evidently falls into this "destroy life" category. How can technology that pollutes the entire environment of planet Earth with many of the most carcinogenic substances known to man while creating incredible tons of accumulating toxic waste lasting 100,000+ years (as mentioned in another comment) be considered at all sane and safe and good for the planet? What sort of incredibly uninformed fools are you to champion such death-dealing technology, without apparently having done the slightest REAL research about these matters?
The only "answer" provided by nuclear power is that humankind is possibly the most short-sighted and foolishly self-destructive (and even world-destructive) species that has ever lived. Really, there is no other "answer" provided by the fact of nuclear power.
One of you mentions that "nobody has died" (and the other states that only one person has died) due to the nuclear catastrophe in Japan. How do you know this? Have you gone to all the hospitals in the Fukushima region (hospitals that are in the past week reporting that 40% of ALL patients admitted have significant and dangerous-to-the-health levels of internal radiation exposure) to check on who has died lately and to do an autopsy to attempt confirmation (or denial) that any recent deaths in the Fukushima region are related to the poison we know as ionising radiation?
Also, neither of you apparently understand that MOST of the millions (yes, AT LEAST millions) of deaths that will inevitably be occurring due to the radioactive poisons spewing out of Fukushima (all over the northern hemisphere, as well as into the Pacific Ocean) will be occurring within a 2-10 year timeframe (with many more millions of global deaths and deformities occurring for decades and even hundreds of years beyond that). Are YOU going to be doing the epidemiological research relating to the current nuclear disaster, taking into account the next 25 years of medical records (at least) from the entire world (as many others have done relative to Chernobyl, using at least 1000s of documents and records from all over Russia and Europe)?
Those who have done that research relative to Chernobyl (and there are many such researchers, a number of whom have come to very similar conclusions based on examination of vast amounts of evidence) estimate the death toll due to that one disaster at around one million people (and counting). Where are the figures of such a massive death toll caused directly in the civilian (not energy worker) population by any other energy industry? I would like to see those figures if you have them, though I know you will not be able to provide them as such figures do not exist.
To summarise: both of you are either completely misinformed fools (unknowingly parroting the usual lies that have been propagated by the nuclear death industry for 65+ years) OR you are paid shills (working for the government or a corporate entity serving the global nuclear mafia) who are intentionally spreading deceitful propaganda relative to the worst industrial disaster in history. In either case, your comments are completely distracting, useless, aggravating, and negative. Thus, I ask you (as I'm sure many who know the truth about nuclear power would also like to ask you): please refrain from writing such time-and-energy wasting nonsense in the future! Thanks!
4 June, 2011 at 5:49
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(Unregistered) ZaneinVernon
Wow! So intelligantly written, article and submissions. I just wanted to know? Is the end beautiful?
4 June, 2011 at 9:45
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|Opera Seconda Loudspeakers
|Wednesday, 03 October 2012
Sometimes good things appear in big packages. So it was when Federal Express arrived at my door with two huge boxes that happen to house one Opera Seconda loudspeaker each. Opera manufactures its loudspeakers in Italy and is sister company to Unison Research, whose two brilliant tubed CD players, the glorious Unico CDE and CDPrimo, I reviewed -- I was taken both by the beautiful build quality and gorgeous sound of both units, especially the CDE.
Like the Unison Research line of products, Opera speakers offer plenty of choices, and are all made in the Treviso, Italy factory. Also, like Unison, Opera covers most price points, offering unique products at even at the entry level. After my extremely positive experience with the Unison CD players and one of their hybrid integrated amps, I was quite excited to hear an Opera speaker for the first time in my home setup.
The Opera Seconda, a sealed two-and-a-half-way floorstanding speaker, has been in the Opera line up for many years, but was extensively updated in 2011. It is equipped with a 1" silk dome ScanSpeak tweeter, and two 7" custom ScanSpeak aluminum cone woofers. Interestingly, this woofer is used as a midrange driver in the Quinta, which is one model up from the Seconda. The front baffle is relatively wide, at approximately 10 inches, and pretty deep, at 17 inches. They are heavy, as I can tell you from carrying up a several flights of stairs myself, weighing in at 80 pounds each. On the electrical side, sensitivity is rated at 89 dB, and a nominal impedance of 4 ohms. Bass is said to go down to 30 Hz.
Set Up
Setting up the Secondas was relatively straight forward, with a few considerations. Before installing them, I attached the supplied spikes and support footing. I placed in them in almost the exact location where my current reference, the Thiel CS2.4, normally stand. Toe in was around 20 degrees, and they were about three feet away from walls and corners. Since the Secondas come with two sets of high quality binding posts for bi-wiring, which I did not do, there are supplied jumper links. My experience is you are all almost always better off replacing the stock links with high quality aftermarket links, which I did. I used a pair of spade terminated Anti Cable links, which are an amazing value for the money.
The rest was routine; Transparent Super MM2 speaker cable into the 4-ohm tap of the KT120 outfitted Audio Research VS55 tube amp. Later, I also used a powerful solid-state integrated amp. After getting the mundane stuff out of the way, I realized how stunning the Secondas were in appearance. Their white gloss finish and black leather front baffle project Italian luxury. Finally, I ditched the attractive protecting grilles for listening at the suggestion of Marc Phillips, of Opera importer Colleen Cardas Imports (see my interview with Marc after this review).
I started off listening to a lot of instrumental music, for no other reason than mood. I cued up classic McCoy Tyner, Tony Williams Lifetime, and some recent stuff by Brian Blade. The Secondas loved acoustic music. Horns, piano, acoustic bass, and drums had tons of lifelike verve and literally jumped out the speakers. Complicated, harmonized horn lines were easy to follow and sounded amazingly "live" (*when well recorded). And tonal accuracy? There in spades.
Moving to the present day, legendary Canadian band Rush has released a later career masterwork called Clockwork Angels. I purchased the 96 Khz, 24 bit download and it has been on heavy rotation. The Secondas provided all the necessary slam, dynamics, and crunch to enjoy this album even very high volume levels. So the Secondas could swing, groove, and rawk out.
Comparing Secondas to my Thiel CS2.4s was interesting. I would say the CS2.4s are balanced a bit more evenly, while the Opera are a bit slanted towards mid bass. The Secondas were superior in dynamics, meaning cymbal splashes and horn blasts seemed to burst out of the speaker. They were also has more bass weight, with super articulate low frequency reproduction. The Theils, on the other hand, offered a smidgen more resolution in the midrange, and a bit more high frequency detail. In the end, the two speakers were not too far apart in overall presentation. The Operas would probably benefit from being matched with electronics that do not veer to the overly warm side, while the Thiels don't do as well with overly analytical amplification. The Thiel is approximately $1500 more than the Opera. Both speakers benefit from being matched with high quality amplification.
Like products from their sister company, Unison Research, Opera loudspeakers are made with great care, in a dedicated factory in Italy, and are designed by a team of music lovers and engineers who have a passion for the art of home audio. The Opera line includes two monitors and multi-way floorstanders, at reasonable price point too. The Secondas are joined in the Classica series, by the Quinta ($5495), Grand Mezza ($2795) and Mezza ($1495), and at $3995 are very fairly priced based on sound quality, build, and comparisons to more expensive speakers.
Avrev: Can you tell us a bit about the Opera loudspeaker design team and if there is a any overlap with the Unison Research engineering group?
Opera Seconda Floorstanding Loudspeaker: $3995 per pair.
Frequecy response: 30-30000 Hz
Sensitivity: 89 dB/2.83Vrms/1 meter
Nominal Impedance: 4 ohm (minimum > 3.2)
Size: 102 24.5 x 43 cm 40 x 9.5 x 17 inches (HxWxD)
Net Weight: 45 Kg / 100 lbs
Review System 1
CD Transport: Musical Fidelity M1 CDT
Server: Squeezebox Touch w/ CIA VDC-SB power supply
via Ethernet to MAC Mini w/ Western Digital & Seagate
external drives.
DAC: Bryston BDA-1
Headphone Amp: Pro-Ject Head Box II
Headphones: Grado SR60
Preamp: Audio Research SP16
Amplifier: Audio Research VS55
Speaker: Thiel CS2.4
Cables: Stager Silver Solids, Kimber KCTG (IC), Transparent MM2 Super (IC), Transparent Plus (Speaker) Acoustic Zen Tsunami II (AC),Transparent (AC).Shunyata Venom (AC) Element Cable Red Storm (Digital AC), DH Labs TosLink, DH Labs AES/EBU, Belkin Gold (USB) DH Labs (USB)
Accessories: Symposium Rollerblocks, Shakti Stone, Audience Adept Response aR6 power conditioner,Salamander rack
Review System 2
CD Player: Marantz 5003
Music Server: Squeezebox Touch via Ethernet to
MAC Mini w/ Western Digital & Seagate external drives.
DAC: Musical Fidelity V-DAC II
Integrated Amplifier: McIntosh MA6600
Tape Deck: Revox A77
Speaker: Harbeth Compact 7ES3
Cables: Kimber Hero HB, DH Labs White Lightning (IC),QED Genisis Silver Spiral (Speaker),PS Audio (AC), Pangea Audio (AC), DH Labs TosLink, Audioquest Forest USB, Wireworld Ultraviolet USB
Accessories:Cable Pro Noisetrapper, Sound Anchors Stands, Wiremold

subset: commoncrawl


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May 1, 2006
NORTON, Mass. - No. 4-seed MIT advanced to its first NEWMAC Baseball Tournament title game with a 14-4 win over sixth-seeded WPI early Sunday at Wheaton College's Sidell Stadium. WPI was eliminated from the tournament following the loss.
Now 18-11, MIT opposes top-seeded Wheaton in the first of a possible two championship-round games at 1:30 p.m. Should the Engineers down the Lyons, the teams will square off again Monday at 4:00 p.m. at Sidell Stadium. Wheaton has won six of the seven NEWMAC Tournaments and downed MIT in yesterday's semifinals, 14-6.
MIT broke on the board with six runs on one hit and three WPI errors during the home half of the second inning. After drawing four consecutive walks to open the frame, MIT scored its next two runs when two miscues occurred on the same play. Senior Wayne Duggan picked up the lone hit in the inning, a two-run single through the right side.
WPI crept back into the contest in the fourth, cutting its deficit in half thanks to three runs on two hits and two errors. Freshman Scott McNee and senior Nick Angelini each smacked run-scoring singles during the frame, but MIT fired right back with two runs in the bottom of the inning. After WPI made it an 8-4 game in the top of the fifth, MIT tallied the final six runs over the next three innings, highlighted by junior Jason Witzberger's two-out, three-run triple to straightaway centerfield in the seventh.
Witzberger finished 3-for-6 with four RBI, two doubles and the triple out of MIT's leadoff spot, while senior Kyle Zeller went 2-for-3 and scored twice. Duggan drove home three runs, and freshman David Nole scored three runs and stole three bases to lead MIT's 7-for-7 day on the base paths. Classmate Chris D'Annunzio allowed one earned run on two hits over the first four innings before sophomore Jay Turner notched the win with four innings of one-run, three-hit ball.
Senior Billy Flaherty smacked a double for WPI, one of five hits for the visitors, while classmate Paul Ragaglia suffered the loss after allowing four earned runs and five walks during one no-hit inning of work.


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SOPA activists focus on Swartz case
A year ago Friday, an online grass-roots movement toppled Hollywood and routed Congress in the name of Internet freedom. They had no second act until last week.
Now they have a martyr.
Story Continued Below
Aaron Swartz, a 26-year-old tech pioneer and leading player in the takedown of anti-piracy legislation, hanged himself just before the anniversary festivities began.
( PHOTOS: 21 landmark SCOTUS rulings)
Internet activists associate Swartz's suicide partly with his legal troubles. Federal prosecutors accused Swartz of breaking into a closet at MIT, plugging in a laptop, and then hacking a database of millions of scholarly articles — crimes they say warranted a three-decade prison sentence.
Swartz's comrades in digital activism see the case against him as an example of the exact government overreach he fought against last year. The wonder kid turned crusader championed attempts to beat back looming anti-piracy laws in Congress, known as SOPA and PIPA.
Now the movement is seizing on Swartz's death as a rallying point to tackle the anti-hacking statute under which he faced charges.
"It's made people really consider the abuse in certain instances of federal prosecution and is making us rethink what does it mean," Alexis Ohanian, the co-founder of the social news website Reddit who helped spearhead last year's protests, told POLITICO.
Silicon Valley Democrat Zoe Lofgren this week floated draft legislation known as "Aaron's Law" that would narrow the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and a subsequent wire fraud statute. The bill would legalize violations of user agreements or terms of service, helping make cases like Swartz's more rare.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has dispatched an investigator to the U.S. Attorney's Office that filed the charges.
"In a single line: No longer would it be a felony to breach a contract," Lawrence Lessig, Harvard law professor and Swartz comrade, wrote in a comment to Lofgren's Reddit posting. "Let's get this done for Aaron — now."
Lessig encouraged supporters to back Zofgren's bill, further amend the computer fraud act and push for a full inquiry into the case. "We're asking [lawmakers] to help rein in a criminal system run amok," he and leaders from Demand Progress, the activist organization Swartz founded, said in a recent letter.
In hacking cases like these, backers say, the punishment far exceeds the trespass. Swartz faced up to 35 years in jail.
Lofgren, before unveiling the legislation, said Swartz's death "makes me know we really need to act."
Swartz's parents blamed his death partly on "prosecutorial overreach."
U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz defended the charges against him and said her office did not seek the maximum penalties. "The career prosecutors handling this matter took on the difficult task of enforcing a law they had taken an oath to uphold, and did so reasonably," she said in a statement to The Associated Press.


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Happy Labor Day everyone!!
Hope everyone had a great Summer! I know I had a blast with my boys and it went by way too fast!! But they are actually really excited to start school tomorrow. And I'm excited to start homeschooling my oldest tomorrow and so is he!
I'm announcing some exciting shop news today!
I'm announcing some exciting shop news today!
☆.¸¸.•´¯`♥ The SALES continue into my END of Summer event!!! All earrings will be 50% OFF all September long!! And if you use coupon code: ENDSUM10 You will receive 10% OFF on your entire order!! <<<*Coupon Code can only be used at BrossArtAddiction. ♡ ♫ ♡ ♫ ♡
All my digital stamps sets will also be 50% OFF!!
I've been adding new items to the shop over the past few weeks, including; new earrings and stitch marker charms!
And I can't believe the holidays are upon us already!! And with that, I've added some of my holiday cards to the shop too and I will continue to add more through the week!
My main shop: brossartaddiction.etsy.com
My digital stamp designs shop: brossartfuldesigns.etsy.com
Thank you all for stopping by!


text:
NRA steps up lobbying efforts in Conn.
HARTFORD (AP) — The National Rifle Association helped bus hundreds of supporters to the Connecticut Capitol on Monday, the latest sign of its stepped-up presence in a state that hasn't typically posed a challenge to the gun rights organization's mission.
The NRA decided a week ago to help organize a lobby day after Gov. Dannel P. Malloy released his package of gun control proposals and a bipartisan legislative panel unveiled competing gun violence recommendations from Democrats and Republicans, said John Hohenwarter, an NRA state liaison.
Legislative leaders are considering those recommendations and others as they try to draft a bipartisan bill for the full General Assembly to consider, likely later this month. The leaders met behind closed doors Monday as the gun rights supporters descended on the Capitol.
Dom Basile, a firearms instructor from Watertown, said he attended Monday's lobby day to make sure what he called onerous and constitutionally questionable legislation does not become law. He opposes proposals to require guns owners to register annually, an expanded assault weapons ban and a ban on large-capacity ammunition magazines.
Basile said he worries lawmakers feel pressured to pass such legislation because the Dec. 14 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, carried out by a lone gunman, happened in Connecticut.
"Connecticut's a small state. Sandy Hook is right in our backyard. So everybody in the nation is looking upon Connecticut to do something," he said. "The bottom line is, if all of these bills, all 110 of them, were the law of the land on Dec. 13, still none of them would have prevented Adam Lanza from doing what he did the following day."
Hohenwarter said he would prefer to see Connecticut emerge from the shooting by taking a leadership role in improving school security and mental health, two areas that task forces created by the legislature and the governor are looking at.
"Hopefully what will come out of this is to have our elected officials in this state take a step back and really think this thing through and create good policy, and not made-for-TV lawmaking," Hohenwarter said of the lobby day, which the NRA said drew an estimated 3,000 people. State Capitol Police could not confirm that figure.
Since the shooting, which left 20 first-graders and six educators dead, the NRA had not been particularly visible in Connecticut until Monday. Hohenwarter said the group has hired two lobbyists for this year's legislative session but has followed the debate from behind the scenes, working with lawmakers and keeping a low public profile.
Monday's "lobby day" was co-sponsored the Connecticut Coalition of Sportsmen, the National Shooting Sports Foundation and the Connecticut Citizens Defense League.
Robert Crook, executive director of the Connecticut Coalition of Sportsmen, noted the NRA's involvement marked its first big political event in Connecticut in a long time. He said gun control bills that have come up in the General Assembly over the past 10 or 15 years have been defeated without major NRA support. Crook, an NRA member, has often been the lone lobbyist fighting gun control legislation.
"But this year, they've thrown everything in the barrel," Crook said of the legislature. "And they're concerned, they're really concerned."
Crook said the NRA helped to pay for buses to bring the gun rights activists to the state Capitol from Cabela's in East Hartford, a large store that sells hunting and fishing equipment. The NRA also handed out stickers and signs that read "NRA: Stand and Fight."
Gun control advocates are ramping up their lobbying efforts, as well. The Newtown Action Alliance is organizing its own "lobby day" on Wednesday to demand changes to gun laws. The group Connecticut Against Gun Violence has plans to soon release an ad campaign that will include online, print and radio ads.
"Given the outpouring of support we have received from across Connecticut, for the first time our organization has the resources to effectively compete with the opposition," said Marty Isaac, president of the CAGV. "The days of being drowned out are over."


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Tetris Trivia (Amiga)
Published by
Also For
Critic Score
100 point score based on reviews from various critics.
User Score
5 point score based on user ratings.
1001 Video GamesTetris appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.
DOS versionIncluded in the original DOS commercial release package was a memory-resident version of Tetris, with graphical backgrounds and all. It took up over 50K of precious DOS RAM, but Tetris could be played instantly from within any application.
Licensing historyFrom the BBC documentation Tetris: From Russia With Love (2004):
In the late 80s, when Tetris was under the control of the Soviet Union's electronic gaming department, the man responsible, Mr Belikov, managed to masterfully play the West at its own capitalist game in what stands as an interesting footnote to The Cold War.
Belikov cut tycoon Robert Maxwell out of the equation (who made threats about damaging trade with the UK all the way to his contacts in The Kremlin), meaning that rights that had already been sold on to Atari via a Hungarian entrepreneur called Robert Stein were null and void. Henk Rogers, a lone producer who had picked up games for the Japanese market, went to Moscow and managed to secure both the rights to handheld and home console Tetris for Nintendo from under everyone's nose. Belikov held meetings with Stein, Rogers and Maxwell Jr on the same day, playing one off against the other!
Alexey Pajitnov, who wrote the original game whilst working at the state's computer centre in Moscow, only started to make money from Tetris royalties in the past few years. He emigrated to the US and, as of 2004, works for Microsoft.
RecordsAs of 2008 Tetris is listed in the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition as the most ported game, appearing on 55 different computer game platforms.
References to the gameTetris turns up, of all places, in Thomas Pynchon's 2006 novel Against the Day, around page 100:
The ship in the distance was distinguished by an envelope with the onionlike shape---and nearly the dimensions, too---of a dome on an Eastern Orthodox church, against whose brilliant red surface was represented, in black, the Romanoff crest, and above it, in Gold Cyrillic lettering, the legend BOL'SHAIA IGRA, or, "The Great Game." It was readily recognized by all as the flagship of Randolph's mysterious Russian counterpart---and, far too often, nemesis---Captain Igor Padzhitnoff [...]
The parallel organization at St. Petersburg, known as the Tovarishchi Slutchainyi, was notorious for promoting wherever in the world they chose a program of mischief, much of its motivation opaque to the boys, Padzhitnoff's own specialty being to arrange for bricks and masonry, always in the four-block fragments which had become his "signature," to fall on and damage targets designated by his superiors. This lethal debris was generally harvested from the load-bearing walls of previous targets of opportunity.
TitleThe word "Tetris" comes from the ancient Greek "tetra", which means "four".
- October 1988 (issue #13) - Included in the Top-100 list of 1987/1988 (editorial staff selection)
- February 1991 (issue #41) - Included in the list Greatest Games of all Time, section Puzzle Games (editorial staff choice)
- Amiga Power
- May 1991 (issue #00) - #85 in the "All Time Top 100 Amiga Games"
- Computer Gaming World
- November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) - #14 on the "150 Best Games of All Time" list
- November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) – #14 Most Innovative Computer Game
- April 1999 (Issue #177) - Introduced into the Hall of Fame
- February 2006 (Issue #200) - #4 out of 200 on the "Greatest Games of Their Time" list
- Game Informer Magazine
- August 2001 (Issue #100) - #3 in the "Top 100 Games of All Time" poll
- GameSpy
- 2001 – #19 Top Game of All Time
- GameStar (Germany)
- Issue 01/2007 - One of the "Ten Most Influential PC-Games" (It requires both timing and organized thinking, something which only electronic games can achieve, is easy to access and forgoes violence. It also is one of the most-played games of all time and the grandfather of today's casual games.)
- Power Play
- Issue 01/1989 - Best Game Idea in 1988
- ST Format
- August 1991 (Issue #8) – #11 Top Atari ST Classic Games (Editorial staff vote)
- January 1993 (issue #42) - #37 in '50 finest Atari ST games of all time' list
Contributed by Old man gamer (389) on Jun 14, 2000. [revised by : 4 other people]. -- edit trivia


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The Expansion Commission and the Olympic Commission have been constituted as first IKA working parties. Now it is up to some specialists comittees to start working on the development of kiteboarding.
While the Expansion Commission is intended to help new national class associations to be founded and to make a proper start into the organization of their national issues, the Olympic Commissions task is to develop a strategy and format for the olympic games, that represents kiteboarding as an inidvidual sport.With the likes of Michael Gebhardt, two time olympic medalist and Bruno de Wannemaker, olympic Race Officer, amongst others, the best specialists are now working on the task to get kiteboarding into the olympics, while officers from the national class associations of Germany, Great Britain and France will help interested groups in countries from all over the world to start their own national associations, run first national events and bring them step by step into the IKA family.
More information about the IKA sub-committees as well as scope of work and members can be found here.


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Munch Munch is mainly Richard and Thomas - their eyes met across a crowded room, it was love at first sight. Thomas is also in a freakoid shit-polka collective called Adelina Poerio. Richard is also in a pseudo copy-cat hair metal outfit called Go! Team! Go!.
Munch Munch make bedroom recordings using a laptop and whatever instruments they find lying around. Live, Munch Munch are a larger collective of friends, all playing real instruments, in the form of two drummers and a mixture of ukulele, keyboards, shakers and other bits and bobs.


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It's Game Week here at iPad.AppStorm, and all this week we're going to have tons of reviews, giveaways and other good stuff, all centered around the gaming world!
A little over a year ago, Shaun Inman introduced Flip to the iOS screen. Intergalactic war was drawing to a close, and Flip was the last rocket to roll off of the assembly line. Unfortunately, the ship became trapped in a star's gravity field, and Flip had to escape before both he and the ship were swallowed by the star.
Flip managed to escape as the ship spiraled into oblivion, but the resulting stellar shockwave leaves little time for celebration. Shaun Inman's Flip's Escape reunites players with the star of The Last Rocket and his computer companion as he flees the impending wave, avoiding speeding astroids and collecting their orbital power ups. But does the second chapter of Flip's adventure hold the same thrills and charm as the first, or is it a cosmic dud? Let's find out.
Like the article? You should subscribe and follow us on twitter.
Players are tasked with helping Flip to dodge oncoming rocks and outrun the solar blast. The controls are dead simple; Flip moves back-and-forth across the screen, but users can stop him by tapping and holding the screen. There aren't any directional controls or swipes, just simple brakes. Appropriately-timed stops are the key to keeping Flip from colliding with Asteroids. Stopping does come at a price, because the solar explosion inches closer to Flip for as long as he brakes.
Each asteroid has an orbiting star that acts as a power for Flip's star meter. Flip must collect the stars and fill his star meter while avoiding the asteroids. Once the blue meter is filled it changes to red. If the meter is red, Flip can hit an asteroid without exploding, which nets him a few gems but drains the meter. If a player fills the red meter, Flip warps. Flip collects gems while warping, and gems can be used to purchase upgrades. Players can boost the warp by tapping the screen rapidly and filling the warp meter.
Flip's Escape is a completely different adventure than The Last Rocket. There's very little story to follow, and there are no levels. Despite the simplicity of the game, Flip's charm remains intact. The 8-bit soundtrack compliments the pixels that make up the gaming experience, and every inch of Flip's Escape oozes classic-console goodness. Unlike the original, there's no endgame here. Flip's goal is to go as far as possible without being destroyed, but there is no true escape. The joy comes in achieving a new high score, or trying to beat Inman's score in the iOS Game Center.
Flip has several friends and tools to help him escape the blast, but each of these comes at a cost. Gems are the currency of choice in Flip's Escape, and these are used to purchase upgrades and consumable performance enhancers. Initially, players only receive gems while warping, but purchasing "The Fare" upgrade nets players a gem for each 10 units travelled.
The consumable drill and star magnet upgrades are stackable, so players can stock up before play. The nose cone drill saves Flip from destruction when colliding with an astroid with a blue star meter. The star magnet attracts five missed stars. Players can purchase three of each of these upgrades, but "The Trailer" upgrade triples the storage limit. Players can also activate the speed reducer or booster to slow Flip's maximum speed or increase his minimum speed. There are three tiers and players will want to choose between the reducer or booster based on personal strategy. A slower rocket is easier to control, but a faster rocket nets gems at a speedier rate.
Upgrades, aside from speed enhancers, also result in cosmetic changes. AMI tags along clumsily, while Flip's drill spins, hungry for asteroids. These touches add character and charm to a game who's simplified story would otherwise seem flat. Players with extra gems to burn can purchase two additional costumes, a ninja or cactus, but these offer no gameplay advantages.
Although players can earn gems through gameplay, players can also purchase gems in the game's mine. Some may cringe, but Inman takes a respectable approach to in-app purchases. While most apps have dual currencies, where players are forced into buying currency in order to afford specialty items, Inman sticks with gems. It's perfectly possible to play the entire game and purchase all upgrades without spending an extra dollar. There isn't a tedious grind to gain enough money for an upgrade, so purchasing gems directly is merely an option of convenience. If anything, Flip's Escape could benefit from additional upgrade tiers, somewhere in the million-gems range. Avid players will soon find their store emptied and upgrades maxed out.
Universally Awesome
Flip's Escape packs a punch on both the iPhone and iPad. Gameplay is identical on both devices, but the large iPad screen makes it easier to time Flip's pauses and movements. Fortunately, the game upgrades and high scores don't sync across devices, meaning that iPad players won't set an unrealistically high bar for themselves if they want to play on the iPhone. Game Center does show the users highest score across devices, but this doesn't affect any in-game action. Despite the iPad's gameplay advantages, there's something about the iPhone's small screen that suits the 8-bit style. Regardless of device, Flip's Escape is a blast.
Flip's Escape may not be as complex as its predecessor, but there's something special amidst the meteors and Ninja costumes. While The Last Rocket has little appeal after its satisfying conclusion, Flip's Escape will leave players tossing their iDevices in frustration long after they first experience destruction at the hands of the stellar wave. It's this kind of frantic screen-tapping gameplay, combined with excellent retro graphics, that brings back memories of quarter rolls and arcade machines — in a good way.
Help Flip escape the stellar explosion and dodge asteroids in this followup to The Last Rocket.
- Flip's Escape |
- $0.99 |
- Shaun Inman


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Mplus Home
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Time Points Varying Across Students
Mplus Discussion
Growth Modeling of Longitudinal Data
elizabeth coyne crowe
posted on Saturday, August 23, 2008 - 6:20 pm
Can you recommend any articles and provide an example of syntax for growth models where assessment time points vary across students at each time point?
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Saturday, August 23, 2008 - 6:48 pm
The July-Sept issue of the SEM journal just came out with an article on this topic by Blozis and Cho which looks good.
In Mplus you simply handle this by the TSCORES option of the VARIABLE command and the AT option in the growth model specification using the | approach - see the User's Guide ex 6.12 (without the time-varying covariates and their random slope "st").
Daniel E Bontempo
posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 - 8:51 pm
Bengt - Do you have a paper that discusses the model that results with TSCORES? It seems to be more than the traditional multilevel (tall data) formulation. It appears more flexiable (in some ways) than mixed efects models because endogenous covariates with missing data are handled, and also you can have occasion-specific residuals, while MLR offers only one residual.
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Thursday, August 28, 2008 - 10:17 am
The wide format and AT does provide a more flexible model than the long format for all of the reasons you state. There is no paper that we know of that describes this.
Daniel E Bontempo
posted on Thursday, August 28, 2008 - 10:37 am
Oh well. It is good to have, even without a paper.
I am wondering about the residuals for each growth-curve outcome/indicator. For example, in an age-based model with six yearly outcomes for subjects with six-years of age-heterogeneity at baseline, are these time-in-study residuals or age-residuals? Or a hybrid of the two?
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Friday, August 29, 2008 - 8:10 am
They are age-related residuals. I would hold them equal across the occasions because a given occasion corresponds to different ages for different subjects. More elaborate modeling is possible using Model Constraint, but this equality would be the standard I think.
Cindy Schaeffer
posted on Friday, September 26, 2008 - 7:29 am
Is there any way to get traditional fit indices such as the CFI or the RMSEA for LGMs that use individually-varying time scores (i.e., when using the Tscores option)? If not, what might one say to reviewers who want to get some sense of the absolute level of fit of models, not just the relative fit (using the BIC, etc.).
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Friday, September 26, 2008 - 8:16 am
There are no absolute fit measures in this case. Nested models can be compared using loglikelihood difference testing. Models with the same set of dependent variables can be compared using BIC.
burak aydin
posted on Monday, November 30, 2009 - 9:22 am
I have an ECLS data set with 9484 cases. I try to see if there would be a significant difference on estimations when using interindividually varying time points.
type=random command requires mlr estimation process, and it gives only AIC and BIC values for the model fit.
Is there any way to get other indicies. like CFI, NFI and RMSEA?
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Monday, November 30, 2009 - 9:36 am
This approach falls within the domain of random slopes for observed covariates, in this case time. With random slopes you don't have a single covariance matrix as in CFA/SEM - the outcome variances vary as a function of the covariate values - so the usual fit indices are not developed.
burak aydin
posted on Monday, November 30, 2009 - 1:21 pm
Do you mean this estimation process is similar to what HLM does? or this is a more complex estimation method for LGM? I would like to learn more about this estimation process.
Because I get different results between
1)ML estimation method- fixed time points,like;
2)MLR estimation method- type=random
model: y1-y3 AT c1-c3 where c1 is all zeros,c2 is all 0.5s and c3 is all 1.5s.
Could you please give me some references.
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Monday, November 30, 2009 - 5:41 pm
Mplus provides the same ML estimation that HLM and other multilevel programs do with individually-varying times of observation, treating time as data, not fixed parameters.
You should get the same estimates by your two approaches. To find out why they differ, please first check that you have the same number of parameters. Each parameter is shown in Tech1.
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text:
- 1 SonoSim LiveScan™ Probe
- 2 sets of human-use SonoSim LiveScan™ Tags
- 1 set of mannequin-use SonoSim LiveScan™ Tags
Price: Minimum selection of 2 content packages with initial purchase of SonoSim® Edition is required. Please contact a Laerdal representative for more details on pricing and purchase options.
License Term: Five-year license


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Attractive Kitchen Wall Shelves Photos Of Fresh In Remodeling Wooden Shelves. Ceramics Kitchen Equipment Rustic Wooden Shelves Country Style. Inspiring Rustic Floating Kitchen Shelves Photo Decoration Inspiration. Inspiring Rustic Floating Kitchen Shelves Pics Decoration Inspiration. Under Cupboards Kitchen Rustic Wall Shelves Bbfe. Mesmerizing Rustic Floating Kitchen Shelves Pics Decoration Ideas. Rustic Wood Kitchen Shelves Reclaimed Floating Ddcf. Diy Kitchen Shelves Rustic Shelves. Terrific Rustic Kitchen Shelves Pictures Design Ideas.
Surprising Rustic Open Shelves Kitchen Images Decoration Ideas. Rustic Kitchen With Black Cabinets And Open Shelves Hooks Brick Wall. Kitchen Design U Sahped Idea With Maroon Of Open Shelves And Images Wall Shelves. Marvelous Rustic Wood Shelves Kitchen Photo Ideas. Farmhouse Country Kitchen Ideas Rustic Edfdccd. Open Kitchen Shelves Rustic Shelving Feafa. Lemon Grass Interior Architecture Urban Kitchen In Burbs Rend Hgtvcom. Kitchen Makeover Rustic Shelves From Barn Wood. Kitchen Shelves Combine Storage Also Flower Vase.
Stainless Steel Floating Shelves Kitchen Subway Tile Eterior Tropical Compact Railings Building Designers Sprinklers. Glamorous Rustic Wood Shelves Kitchen Photo Decoration Ideas. Rustic Kitchen Island Spectacular Bucolic Double Tier Shelves Butcher Block Island. Awesome Rustic Kitchen Shelves Pictures Ideas. Amusing Rustic Floating Kitchen Shelves Images Decoration Inspiration. Astonishing Rustic Open Shelves Kitchen Pics Design Ideas. Breathtaking Rustic Kitchen Wall Shelves Pics Design Inspiration. Rustic Open Kitchen Shelves Contemporary With Ikea Kitchen. Rustic Walnut Kitchen Cabinets Barn Open Shelves.


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Eyal Keren needed a new twitter background design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 61 designs submitted by 18 freelance designers.
WinBuyer develops value-added monetization solutions that allow online retailers to enhance site profitability by offering consumer-relevant information at the point of sale. WinBuyer's initial monetization product, an Onsite Comparative Pricing (OCP) application, enables retailers to accelerate consumer purchasing behavior by embedding comparative shopping information into a retailer's product detail page. With OCP, over 200 merchants are realizing the benefits of increased sales conversion, greater average order size, improved site stickiness and enhanced consumer confidence. WinBuyer was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, with offices in Scottsdale, Arizona and London, England.
Online retailer clients and industry insiders who are looking to learn more about WinBuyer and Onsite Comparative Pricing. We want a broad appeal to both large enterprise online retailers as well small and medium online merchants who are interested in generating lift and increasing consumer confidence.
Looking for a neat and Twitter page that would fit with our company moto- being a smart confident innovator that is ahead of the pack. There should be some element in the graphical language that emphasize increasing value or in our industry terminology -generating lift.
The page should blend with our company colors and graphical language in our marketing collateral and web site (attached is our corporate brochure and also check our corporate website at http://www.winbuyercorp.com).
The background should include somewhere our Logo with our slogan of:
Value-Added Monetization for Retailers
and our URL of http://www.winbuyer.com


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The V8.
What could be more American than a U.S.-made muscle or pony car purring with power. A big black Mercury or Lincoln, a Dodge or Plymouth with supercharged Hemi V8, an Oldsmobile Rocket or a small block Chevrolet 350.
My dad owned a 1954 DeSoto Firedome V8. It was smooth, powerful and thirsty. But in post-war America, gasoline only cost 21 cents a gallon.
Now, with gasoline approaching $4 per gallon nationwide, it appears the V8 is likely to be consigned to history or nostalgia as automakers and consumers switch to vehicles with much smaller, more fuel-efficient engines.
Last week, the federal government finalized mileage standards that require automakers to nearly double average fuel economy of new cars from the current 29 miles per gallon to 35.5 mpg by 2016, reaching 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025.
Of course, actual mileage may vary, as they say in those car commercials.
To reach those goals more cars and trucks will have to run on electricity, diesel or compressed natural gas and many of those vehicles will have four cylinder engines, or even smaller, with drivetrains far more efficient than today's most advanced six- or seven-speed gearboxes.
Government officials say the extra cost of developing the new-generation vehicles will add 30,000 jobs to the economy.
"Twenty years from now we'll be looking back on this day we chose innovation over stagnation," Michelle Robinson, director of the Union of Concerned Scientists' Clean Vehicles Program, said in a statement.
"These standards will protect consumers from high gas prices, curb global warming pollution, cut our oil use, and create new jobs in the American auto industry and around the nation."
On Wednesday, President Obama defended the new mileage mandate -- known as Corporate Average Fuel Economy or the CAFE standard -- that Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has called "extreme."
"It doesn't seem extreme to me to want to build more fuel-efficient cars," Obama said during a speech in Charlottesville, Va. "Maybe the steam engine is more his speed."
The president said doubling fleet fuel-economy in the next 13 years "means you've only got to dig into your pocket to fill up your tank half as often. This is the smart thing to do ... We set goals and we meet them. That's what we do as Americans."
A Romney campaign spokeswoman said: "Governor Romney opposes the extreme standards that President Obama has imposed, which will limit choices available to American families. The president tells voters that his regulations will save them thousands of dollars at the pump, but always forgets to mention that the savings will be wiped out by having to pay thousands of dollars more upfront for unproven technology that they may not even want."
Industry experts estimate new fuel-saving technologies could add as much as $2,000 to the cost of a new vehicle, but the price would begin to come down as the technologies were widely adopted and consumers would more than recoup the added costs over time by driving vehicles that are cheaper to operate than older cars. Automakers would earn tax credits for building hybrid light trucks.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood estimates doubling mileage will save more than $1.7 trillion in fuel costs at the pump by 2025, about $8,000 over the lifetime of the vehicle. Deducting the higher cost of the technology, that's a saving of about a $3,400 to $5,000 over the life of a vehicle.
"You put better technology in the car and the price is going to go up," LaHood said. "But it goes up a fraction of what you save on gas."
The new fuel standards, which also will cut carbon emissions into the atmosphere in half, generally have the support of automakers and environmentalists.
Although the new vehicles will be smaller and lighter, most of the technological changes will come under the hood, with big Japanese automakers like Toyota and Nissan concentrating on hybrids and plug-in electrics, while smaller companies like Mazda and Chrysler improve traditional engines and transmissions to boost fuel economy.
"This is a very ambitious, aggressive fuel economy program," Gloria Bergquist, vice president of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, told the Free Press, adding compliance would be based on what consumers want rather than what models manufacturers are required to make.
The alliance represents a dozen automakers including General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. Only European manufacturers Daimler AG, parent of Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen -- which are banking on clean-diesel technology rather than electrics and hybrids -- oppose the new standards.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, are to review the fuel standards program in 2018 and could make midterm changes in the standards if automakers are not achieving its goals.
The National Automobile Dealers Association, an industry group, has estimated the rules will cost automakers $157.3 billion to meet.
"Compliance with higher fuel-economy standards is based on sales, not what we put on the showroom floor," the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers said in a statement.
Consumers hesitant about future cars
While more new cars may resemble the Chevrolet Volt in a few years because of the increased fuel economy standards, General Motors is halting production of the extended-range electric car for a month.
The Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant where the Volt is produced will shutdown from Sept. 17 through Oct. 16. GM said the production halt is to install new equipment at the plant to make the 2014 Chevrolet Impala and is not because of poor Volt sales. GM Thursday announced the plant will make Volts for export to Australia for sale under the Holden brand, which is popular down under.
The 2013 Holden Volt goes on sale Nov. 1, The Detroit News reported. The Detroit-Hamtramck plant also builds the Opel Ampera, the European version of the Volt.
Last week, GM said it expected August sales of the Volt to reach a best-ever 2,500 vehicles. GM sold 10,666 Volts January through July, far short of the automaker's original goal of selling 45,000 Volts in 2012 and sales of the all-electric Nissan Leaf have not be anything to write home about either.
Nissan sold just 3,543 Leafs through July, down 26 percent from 2011.
The 2013 Volt can go 38 miles on a single charge before a gasoline engine kicks in to recharge the battery without interruption.
The acceptance of future cars may be just a matter of time. The government projects over time sales of hybrids, plug-in electrics and all-electric vehicles will increase from less than 3 percent of the market to nearly half of all sales in 13 years.
Sleep driving
Nearly half of the 2,506 drivers questioned by market researcher Penn Schoen said they had fallen asleep while behind the wheel or knew someone who had.
Not surprisingly, almost 90 percent of those asked said they would look at driver-alert and driver-assist technologies when buying new vehicles. Those technologies can detect a distracted driver, check a blind spot and warn of, or even correct steering, when a car wanders out of its lane.
However, the study conducted for Ford Motor Co., found more than 50 percent are not yet interested in cars that can drive themselves.
Predictability, 99 percent said they considered themselves good drivers.
Forty percent of the drivers age 18 and older said they were nervous about parallel parking.


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The King of Pop's reign still holds sway over the living.
Michael Jackson has topped Forbes' annual list of the year's top-earning dead celebrities, coming in ahead of the King of Rock 'N Roll, Elvis Presley.
Jackson's estate hauled in $275 million over the course 12 months starting Oct. 1, 2009, according to Forbes, with gains driven by royalties from his stake in the Sony/ATV catalog, the concert film "This Is It," and sales of other MJ merchandise.
The "Thriller" singer, who inexplicably never landed on Forbes'100 most influential list during his lifetime, posthumously earned more than the other 12 stars on this year's list, the mag reported. Jackson died June 25, 2009 in Los Angeles and landed at no. 3 on Forbes' dead-celebrity list a year ago.
Presley, up two spots from last year to make no. 2 on the list, earned $60 million on merch and licensing sales gains associated with the star's 75th birthday anniversary. Presley also benefited from Graceland admissions and a Las Vegas Cirque du Soleil show, Forbes reported.
In the no. 5 spot is ex-Beatle John Lennon, who was gunned down in 1980 and would have celebrated his 70th birthday this year.
Stieg Larsson, the bestselling Swedish author of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," debuted on Forbes' list in the No. 6 spot with $18 million in posthumous earnings.
Larsson, who died in 2004 before his three "Millennium Trilogy" books were published and became fodder for films, reportedly lived on $30,000 a year. His ex-girlfriend, father and brother are said to be sparring over Larsson's lucrative estate.
Others who made Forbes' list this year are: novelist J.R.R. Tolkien (no. 3), "Peanuts" creator Charles Shulz (no. 4), Dr. Seus aka Theodor Giesel (no. 7), Albert Einstein (no. 8), Yankees legend George Steinbrenner (no. 9), composer Richard Rodgers (no. 10), Jimi Hendrix and designer Steve McQueen (tie) and producer Aaron Spelling (no. 13).
Selected Reading: Forbes, Forbes Gallery


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A bill introduced into the House of Representatives this week will attempt to spur broadband development in the US by overturning existing state bans on municipal broadband deployments. Titled the Community Broadband Act of 2007, the bill (PDF) is cosponsored by Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) and Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI).
Currently, laws in Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, Texas, and a handful of other states prevent cities and towns from installing and operating their own broadband networks. Most of those laws were enacted in the wake of heavy lobbying from the telecommunications industry, which doesn't want to see competition coming from local governments.
Last year's attempted rewrite of the Telecommunications Act contained a similar provision but never made it to the floor of the Senate for a vote. With the state of broadband in the US a hot topic of discussion lately, both on Capitol Hill and around the country, Reps. Boucher and Upton may be able to find allies in Congress a bit more easily this time around. The congressmen are hopeful that, should it be passed, the Act would lead to more—and better—broadband options for US citizens.
"By partnering with private industry, community broadband networks offer the promise of increased economic development and job creation, nowhere is that more important than in my home state of Michigan," said Rep. Upton in a statement. "At the end of the day, we will foster even more competition and choices for consumers across the nation."
Many of the state bans that would be overturned by the Community Broadband Act were strongly backed by the telecoms, and they have a history of digging their heels in whenever cities and towns start taking about solving their broadband woes themselves. That said, AT&T is reacting cautiously to the bill. "We look forward to reading the bill and we commend Reps. Boucher and Upton for their efforts to promote broadband services for all consumers," AT&T spokesperson Brad Mays told Ars Technica. "AT&T is currently involved in several municipal broadband projects, and we are always looking for opportunities to bring the benefits of broadband to consumers."
One example of the telecoms' resistance to municipal broadband came last summer from Qwest, the number three telecom in the US. So far, the company has shown little to no inclination to match Verizon and AT&T's fiber deployments. But when Seattle—which is smack-dab in Qwest territory—started getting serious about building its own fiber network, the telecom resisted—despite CEO Dick Notabaert's admitting that his company had no plans of its own for a fiber deployment. The story has been the same in other places, including Philadelphia and New Orleans.
The telecoms have historically argued that municipalities that own and operate—or even build and lease—broadband networks could give themselves preferential treatment. The Act anticipates that argument with a section on "competition neutrality." Public providers would be banned from giving themselves any "regulatory preference," which should create a level playing field for all broadband providers. Municipalities interested in getting into the broadband business would also have to solicit feedback from the private sector on planned deployments.
The Community Broadband Act looks like a good bill, as it attempts to eliminate barriers that currently exist to meaningful competition and better service in many parts of the country. Should the bill pass and the upcoming 700MHz spectrum auction end in a way that leads to a viable third broadband pipe, there would be reason to think US broadband policy is taking a turn for the better.


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Clash Of Clans
Clash of Clans is an addictive mixture of strategic planning and competitive fast-paced combats. Raise an army of Barbarians, War Wizards, Dragons and other mighty fighters. Join a clan of players and rise through the ranks, or create your own Clan to contest ownership of the Realm. Driving back the goblins is just the first step – your quest isn't over until your clan reigns supreme over all others!
Seller: Supercell Oy
Category: Games
Updated: Oct 22, 2014
Version: 6.322
Size: 52.9 MB
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© 2012, 2013, 2014 Supercell
Rated 9+ for the following:
Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence
Compatibility: Requires iOS 4.3 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. This app is optimized for iPhone 5, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus.


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- Did you mean
- wooster ag facilities consisted research farm
Search results
Agricultural Tax Issues Webinar
throughout Ohio or connect at home or office. The webinar focuses on issues specific to farm tax returns ... the webinar. Topics in the Ag Tax Issues Workbook that is provided to all participants include: Tax ... planning for farmers Proposed §199A Cooperative Regulations §199A and farm rentals Form 4797 issues ...
Welcome, Tyler Morris!
turfgrass courses and with turf research projects led by Zane Raudenbush and Ed Nangle. Tyler's office is in ... Turfgrass graduate who is employed as assistant manager of the Wooster campus grounds operation. Please ...
2019 Buckeye Shepherd's Symposium
campus in Wooster. One of the featured presenters this year is Sandi Brock of Shepherd Creek ... Farms in Onatario Canada. Sandi is well known on social media under her handle of "Sheepishly ... program at a local Wooster restaurant for shepherds under the age of 40. It is an opportunity to network ...
Paws and Pumpkins on October 26
Submitted by Kayla Arnold, firstname.lastname@example.com On October 26 from 10-2pm, the Wooster Campus Staff ... Research Services (room 121), ATI Library in Halterman Hall, and in Skou Hall at the Skou Lounge and Café ...
Develop a Forage Use and Feeding Plan
farms on strategic planning of forage resources, and especially silage. We know 2019 was a difficult ... crop and forage year. On some farms, corn silage and high-quality forages are in short supply. Bill ... recommends dairy farms inventory forages and make feeding adjustments now so that big ration changes are not ...
Fall for Pumpkins
reached at 330-264-8722. CFAES provides research and related educational programs to clientele on ...
2019 OSU Income Tax Schools
1425 Newark Road, Zanesville. Dec. 5-6-- The Ohio State University, Nationwide & Ohio Farm Bureau ... 4-H Center, 2201 Fred Taylor Dr, Columbus. A daylong webinar on Ag Tax Issues will be broadcast Dec. ... will be e-mailed to you prior to the webinar. Registration, which includes the Ag Tax Issues workbook, ...
Transactional Data Analytics Fall Forum on Nov. 7
sessions on data programming and interdisciplinary data analytics research teams, and see how the entire ... (CoFES) at Rice University. A reception will directly follow the keynote address. Research Poster ... Hall) What: Join us as faculty, postdocs, and students present posters on their research and special ...
Research News- October 2019
The October 2019 edition of Research News, the College's monthly newsletter for grant writing ...
Financial Planning
Consumer Sciences Educator and may be reached at 330-264-8722. CFAES provides research and related ...


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The fired chief of staff for U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander was ordered held without bond Thursday after the aide's arrest on probable cause for possession and distribution of child pornography, authorities said.
In federal court Thursday, a prosecutor said the charge against Ryan Loskarn involved "a crime of violence against a minor." Defense lawyers wanted bail to be set Thursday, seeking to have Loskarn released from custody, but the magistrate judge delayed the detention hearing until Monday morning to give prosecutors time to prepare.
Loskarn was a rising star who had spent the past decade working his way up to increasingly important posts in the U.S. House and then the Senate.
He is accused of possessing child pornography videos, and offering one for distribution on a peer-to-peer network.
Loskarn was led from his southeast D.C. home Wednesday by U.S. Postal Inspector police, who put him in a black SUV. Loskarn appeared to be in handcuffs, although a coat was draped over his arms.
Court documents say that when postal inspectors went to his D.C. home Wednesday, Loskarn declined to open the door, and they eventually forced their way in. An officer standing at the back of the house said he saw Loskarn place a portable computer hard drive on the outside ledge of an upper floor window of the house, then close the window.
Court documents say investigators found "films featuring young nude boys" and "digital videos depicting child pornography," News4's Chris Gordon reported.
The case began with a joint investigation by U.S. and Canadian officials into a production company that offered sexually explicit videos of children. Loskarn was one of the company's customers, investigators say.
Alexander, R-Tenn., said in a news release Wednesday he was "stunned, surprised and disappointed" by the allegations against his newly departed staffer.
U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, another Tennessee Republican for whom Loskarn had worked as communications director, said she was "shocked, saddened and stunned."
Alexander had initially placed Loskarn on unpaid leave Wednesday morning, but before the end of the day he had replaced Loskarn with David Cleary, the senator's legislative director.
Alexander said in a statement that it will be up to the courts to judge Loskarn, but "under these circumstances, he cannot continue to fulfill his duties as chief of staff."
According to Loskarn's biography on his LinkedIn account and in previous communications for Alexander's office, Loskarn graduated from Tulane University in 2000 and went to work for retired Republican U.S. Rep. Wally Herger of California as a legal assistant.
He later was the communications director for Blackburn and eventually became staff director for the Senate Republican Conference.
Loskarn had served as Alexander's chief of staff for two years.
Alexander is a former Tennessee governor who also has served as the U.S. Secretary of Education. He was first elected to the Senate in 2002 and is up for re-election in 2014. He said his office is fully cooperating with the investigation.
Alexander once co-sponsored legislation to beef up child pornography prosecution.


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Ewan MacLeod necesitaba un nuevo diseño de página web y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 70 diseños de 25 diseñadores freelance.
Belmont Polo Club
Belmont Polo Club is the only one of it's kind open in the Winter, thanks to our artificial pitch. We attract players from all over the world who want to continue to play Polo in the winter as well as amateurs who want to learn to play.
High net worth individuals, accustomed to quality and a refined experience.
We'd like you to create the "look and feel" for the website based around our logo - click on link to view:- http://www.belmontpoloclub.com
Essentially we want it to be simple to navigate, smart and conservative (to adhere to the traditional viewpoint of polo) and at the same time be cool and edgy (to attract new players to the game.)
It might be a good idea to have photos of the club included in the design.
I see the pages being roughly as follows:
1. Home Page
2. About us
3. Polo School
4. Polo Club
5. Corporate
6. Polo Holidays
7. Find us
8. Contact us
To give you an idea of what we're up against my competitors websites are as follows:
Of these websites the two I like the most are the Brett Polo and the Arena Polo websites, however, I am hoping you can do better than any of these.


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The lockout has officially arrived when newspapers start reporting half-baked economic impact projections that are so far removed from reality as to be laughable. You know the sort. "Team X brings in so much money, without them the city would go broke and revert to feudalism OMG." These studies are usually trotted out to justify building billion-dollar taxpayer funded stadiums, so using one to sound the alarm on a labor stoppage is somewhat less odious, if no less full of shit.
If the lockout cancels the entire 2012-13 NHL season, what would it mean for hockey-mad Detroit? MLive spoke to economist David Littman, who I'm sure is a smart guy, but where in the hell he's getting his numbers from I have no idea. Littman lays out the apocalyptic scenario:
Littman's conclusion: If the Detroit Red Wings do not play a single home game this season, Detroit will be out $84.4 million.
Littman reached this number by estimating that the Red Wings would play about 45 home games at the Joe Louis Arena, with that number including a handful of playoff games.
He considered the average ticket price for a game as $53.26, based on a compilation of average rates at statista.com, and estimated the average attendance per game at about 20,000.
Littman then estimated about $20 per person would be spent on souvenirs and food. He added transportation and parking revenues, totaling an estimated $900,000. He tacked on magazine, radio, television and other expense outlays at $200,000.
Added to those elements was a "multiplier," which he said adds the "second and third effect" of game attendees' dollars spent in the immediate area.
Can you spot the flaw? Maybe you said "That multiplier is bullshit. If someone tips their bartender $10, then that bartender buys a hat for $10, that's not $20 added to the economy. That's not how money works." And you'd be right. But there's an even bigger flaw: the fact that Detroit gets almost none of this money.
Attendance? Merchandise? Concessions? That goes straight into the Red Wings' pockets, not the city of Detroit's. (This should probably have been pointed out to Littman.) While Detroit owns Joe Louis arena, it's operated by Olympia Entertainment, Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch's company. The city only receives a tax on cash spent at Red Wings games, a cut of concessions, and whatever Ilitch is paying in rent.
Want a more accurate number? A 2011 Crain's Detroit Business breakdown found that Detroit turns an annual profit of $2.7 million on Joe Louis Arena.
But what about the secondary spending, you ask? Don't people have to pay to park? Yes, but the two biggest parking lots on site are also owned by Olympia Entertainment.
These stadium economic impact projections always contain the same fallacy. They assume that if people aren't spending their money on sporting events, they're not going to spend it at all. That's not true. People tend to spend whatever disposable income they have, and if they're not going to hockey games, they're going to do something else with it. More trips to bars, restaurants, concerts, etc. So a lockout could actually funnel more money back to the city—if Ilitch didn't also own concert venues, movie theaters, food distribution companies, restaurants, the Tigers, and a casino.
A lockout hurts the players, the fans, and the owners who aren't losing money on their teams. The Red Wings are one of those few teams in a good hockey market, turning a big profit—Ilitch doesn't want a lockout. (As we explained, this is about big market owners vs. small market owners, rather than owners vs. players.) Nobody wants there to be hockey more than Mike Ilitch. Hell, he's publicly spoken out against the salary cap. Because he's the one who stands to lose tens of millions, not the city of Detroit. Detroit would take a very minor hit, nothing it can't handle. To imply otherwise is baseless scaremongering.


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Contributing: Dan Edwards
For the past few years Perfect Game has compiled a Minor League All-Star team made up of former Perfect Game participants. The teams are always filled with impressive talent recognizable to baseball fans across the country. This year's team includes a starting lineup that includes the DH position, a four-man starting rotation, and a closer. Other players who had standout seasons are also mentioned in the article, along with two additional four-man pitching rotations.
Last year's team included current Major League players like speedster Billy Hamilton, Marlins outfielder Christian Yelich, and Rays catalyst Wil Myers in the starting lineup. Last year's pitching rotations including current MLB starter and probable National League Rookie of the Year Jose Fernandez of the Miami Marlins, as well as Pittsburgh's Gerrit Cole and New York Mets hurler Zack Wheeler.
It comes as no surprise that six of the 14 players named to the first team were first round draft picks, while three more were taken in the top five rounds. Jake Barrett was a third round selection, Garin Cecchini a fourth-rounder, and Gregory Bird a fifth round selection. Byron Buxton, Javier Baez, and Archie Bradley are all the top prospects of their respective organizations. The Rockies, Red Sox, and Diamondbacks each have two players on the first team. The Red Sox have four players mentioned, while the Braves and Diamondbacks each have three.
Like past years, all players mentioned have previously attended a Perfect Game event. The lineup was constructed based on the players' strengths and in an order that could easily mirror a professional All-Star lineup in the future.
All prospect rankings courtesy of Baseball Prospectus
* Indicates the player is a former Perfect Game All-American
Starting Lineup
CF Byron Buxton (Twins)
Coming out of high School as the second overall pick in the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft, Buxton had high expectations to meet. To say he has met those expectations would be an understatement, as he's excelled in his first full season as a professional baseball player. Buxton was ranked eighth on the Baseball Prospectus Top 101 Prospects list to start the year and will likely move up after his performance this season. He collected a .334 batting average with 49 extra-base hits, including an eye-popping 18 triples. He showed game-changing speed with 55 stolen bases, along with power (.520 slugging percentage), and the ability to get on base (.424 on-base percentage) and make things happen (109 runs scored). The 19-year-old drew comparisons to what Mike Trout did in the minors, not to mention they both spent some time patrolling the outfield for the Cedar Rapids Kernels. His numbers speak loudly as a hitter, but if there were a category for flashiest plays in the outfield, Buxton would be leading that too. We have him in the leadoff spot because of the impact he has on changing a game every time he gets on base.
2B Devon Travis (Tigers)
A 13th round pick in the 2012 draft out of Florida State University, Travis showed the Tigers organization the Midwest League would be just a brief vacation through his minor league career, posting a .352 average (102-for-290) to go along with a .430 on-base percentage. He proved that the high-A Florida State League wasn't really much different, hitting .350 in 55 games. In fact, he started to flash more power after the promotion, raising his slugging percentage from .486 in the Midwest League to .561 in Florida, where he hit 10 home runs. In a game against the Dunedin Blue Jays on August 7, Travis went 4-for-5 with two home runs, seven RBI, and three runs scored. You could say he finished the season leaving both the organization and fans excited for the future at second base in Detroit.
Mookie Betts (Red Sox) and Tommy La Stella (Braves) were also considered for the second base position. Betts hit .314 (145-for-462) between the South Atlantic League and Carolina League. He tallied a .417 on-base percentage with 55 extra-base hits. La Stella hit an impressive .356 (108-for-303) between the Carolina League and Southern league. He showed excellent plate discipline, finishing the year with a .444 on-base percentage.
SS Javier Baez* (Cubs)
This Cubs shortstop prospect earned our spot as the power guy in our lineup based on the monstrous numbers he put up this season, slugging an impressive 37 home runs this year between high-A and AA, while tallying 111 RBI. He also collected 34 doubles, bringing his extra-base hit total to 75. A shortstop with a .578 slugging percentage? Yeah, he's got some pop in his bat. If the Cubs first-round pick in the 2011 draft continues to produce next year, he isn't far off from landing in Chicago. His 4-for-4 showing on June 10 with the Daytona Cubs kept fans talking for the remainder of the season. He hit four home runs and collected seven RBI and four runs scored in that game alone. This came just nine days after he had a 5-for-6 showing with three doubles, a home run, and six RBI. The power-hitting shortstop was ranked 20th by Baseball Prospectus coming into the season and will likely emerge as the Cubs Top Prospect.
Carlos Correa* (Astros) was considered for the shortstop position after having an impressive season in the Midwest League, hitting .320 (144-for-450) with 45 extra-base hits and 86 RBI. The former Perfect Game All-American and the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 draft also posted an .405 on-base percentage, very impressive numbers considering the Puerto Rican shortstop is only 18-years-old.
DH George Springer (Astros)
If you saw the PG Minor League All-Star team last year, then this name would look familiar. Springer has made the squad two straight years; only this time we are putting him in the cleanup spot. After impressing scouts while at UConn, Springer was taken 11th overall in the 2011 draft. Springer flashed the power tool a fair amount in his first full season last year, hitting 22 home runs in the high-A California League. This year he blew that mark out of the water, connecting for 37 home runs and 108 RBI between the AA Texas League and AAA Pacific Coast League. He has more than just the power tool though, as he tallied an impressive .411 on-base percentage, hit for a .303 average and gave pitchers something to think about on the bases, swiping 45 bags (85-percent stolen base success rate). Posting All-Star numbers at 23-years-old at the AAA level, Springer may be the closest prospect on the list to reaching the majors. Typically a center fielder, Springer is placed in the lineup as DH due to the emergence of Buxton. He was ranked 55th by Baseball Prospectus heading into the season.
LF Corey Dickerson (Rockies)
After spending two years at Meridian (Miss.) Community College, the Colorado Rockies took Dickerson in the eighth round of the 2010 draft. He hit a jaw-dropping .371 (117-for-315) in the AAA Pacific Coast League with a .632 slugging percentage (21 doubles, 14 triples, 11 home runs). On May 11 against the Omaha Storm Chasers, Dickerson fell a single shy of hitting for the cycle, going 4-for-5 with two doubles, a triple, a home run, five RBI, and three runs scored. The 24-year-old showed the Rockies that after three full seasons in the farm system he is Major League-ready. A regular starter in the Rockies lineup since the end of July, Dickerson has made an impression, hitting .290 (42-for-145) with 19 extra-base hits and a .335 on-base percentage, which should earn Dickerson a spot on the Rockies Opening Day roster next season.
Zach Borenstein (Angels) was considered highly for the nod in left field. Spending the season in the high-A California League, Borenstein hit .337 (137-for-407) with 57 extra-base hits, including an impressive 28 home runs and 95 RBI. With an on-base percentage above .400 and a slugging percentage of .631, the decision for left field was very tough.
RF Scott Schebler (Dodgers)
Another potential star outfielder in the Dodgers organization, the 22-year-old out of Des Moines Area (Iowa) Community College improved his numbers in his second full minor league season, this season at the high-A level. Schebler showed corner outfield-type power in 125 games with Rancho Cucamonga, hitting 27 home runs and collecting 91 RBI. The left-handed hitter also posted a .581 slugging percentage with 69 extra-base hits, a .296 average (141-for-477) to go along with a .360 on-base percentage. The 26th round pick for the Dodgers in the 2010 draft has made the most of his opportunities and will continue to rise through the farm system as his numbers do.
1B Gregory Bird (Yankees)
The fifth-round selection by the Yankees in the 2011 draft out of Grandview High School in Aurora, Colorado, Bird had an outstanding season in the South Atlantic League. The 6-foot-3 left-handed slugger connected for 20 home runs and 34 doubles while collecting 84 RBI. While hitting .288 (132-for-458) with a .511 slugging percentage is great, the .428 on-base percentage shows that the first baseman has power along with plate discipline. The first baseman showed Yankees fans what he could do with the bat when he went 4-for-5 with three home runs and seven RBI on July 19 against the Greensboro Grasshoppers.
3B Garin Cecchini (Red Sox)
After missing his entire high school senior season with a torn ACL, the Red Sox took a chance on him anyway and drafted him in the fourth round of the 2010 draft. Initially he showed the Red Sox he could be a productive third baseman until he was struck on the wrist by a pitch and missed most of the 2011 campaign. He returned healthy in 2012 and played a full season in the South Atlantic League. This past season has been most impressive for the 22-year-old. Between high-A Salem and AA Portland, Cecchini hit .322 (146-for-454) with 33 doubles. He showed the ability to consistently get on base, with 94 walks and a .443 on-base percentage. If the seventh-ranked prospect in the Red Sox organization can remain healthy, he is not far off from finding a spot on the Boston roster.
Joey Gallo* (Rangers) put up monster power numbers in the Arizona League and South Atlantic League this year, hitting an incredible 40 home runs for a .623 slugging percentage. We've known about his power potential for a while now, after he hit a 442-foot home run off a 94 mph fastball in the 2011 Perfect Game All-American Classic, the 10th longest home run hit at Petco Park. He was named MVP of the Classic and was a first-round selection by the Texas Rangers in the 2012 draft.
C Michael Ohlman (Orioles)
Ohlman spent the season in high-A with the Frederick Keys, where he gave fans a very good reason to come out to the ballpark. In 100 games in the Carolina League, Ohlman hit .313 (113-for-361) with 46 extra-base hits, giving him a .524 slugging percentage. He sported a .410 on-base percentage and scored 61 runs for the Keys. An 11th round pick by the Baltimore Orioles in the 2009 draft out of high school, Ohlman wrapped up his second straight year hitting .300 or better. After a stellar 2013 campaign, Ohlman will likely make a splash on both the overall top prospect list and the Orioles top prospect list.
Pitching Staff
RHP Archie Bradley* (Diamondbacks)
After a stellar 2013 minor league campaign, the Diamondbacks have to be anxious to have Bradley join their club, which could happen as soon as next Spring. Taken by Arizona with the seventh overall selection in the 2011 draft out of Broken Arrow High School in Oklahoma, he was the 31st ranked prospect coming into the season and will likely break the top ten for next year. Spending his most recent season between the California League and the Southern League, Bradley compiled a 14-5 record with a remarkable 1.84 earned run average (31 earned runs in 152 innings pitched) while collecting 162 strikeouts. With a fastball that routinely registers 95 mph, Bradley projects to have one of the better fastballs out of all starters in Major League Baseball. Bradley started the 2010 Perfect Game All-American Classic for the West Squad, pitching on the same team as Henry Owens (below). This is Bradley's second straight year being named to this team.
RHP Dylan Floro (Rays)
Drafted out of high school in 2009 by the Tampa Bay Rays, Floro passed that up to go play ball for Cal State Fullerton. Three years later the Rays drafted and this time signed Floro to a deal. The 22-year-old ace split the season between the Midwest League and Florida State League, collecting an 11-2 record with a 1.77 ERA (27 earned runs in 137.1 innings pitched) in 23 starts. Floro finished the season on a high note, throwing a complete game on August 13 while giving up just one earned run.
RHP Eddie Butler (Rockies)
Colorado's first-round pick in the 2012 draft out of Radford University, Butler flew through the minor league levels this season with outstanding performances on the mound. Starting the season in the South Atlantic League, Butler made a brief stint in the California League (high-A) before finishing the season in the Texas League (AA). He combined for a 9-5 record with a 1.80 ERA (30 earned runs in 149.2 innings pitched) and a WHIP (walks/hits per innings pitched) of 0.989. He compiled 143 strikeouts and averaged 8.6 strikeouts for every nine innings pitched. Through his outstanding season, Butler will likely break the top prospect list before the 2014 campaign begins.
LHP Henry Owens* (Red Sox)
Taken out of high school by the Boston Red Sox in the first round of the 2011 draft, former Perfect Game All-American Henry Owens joins 2010 Classic participants Archie Bradley and Javier Baez on the Perfect Game Minor League All-Star team. Owens is the lone southpaw on this staff, compiling impressive numbers this season in the Carolina League and Eastern League (AA). Owens was 11-6 with a 2.67 ERA and was a strikeout machine, getting 169 punchouts in 135 innings. Owens is ranked seventh in the Red Sox organization.
Starting pitcher is the most difficult to select each and every year, as we went three teams deep when deciding who should be among the four-man rotation. Here are the other two rotations:
Staff 2:
RHP C.J. Edwards (Rangers)
RHP Keyvius Sampson* (Padres)
RHP Gus Schlosser (Braves)
RHP Lucas Sims* (Braves)
Staff 3:
LHP Brian Flynn (Marlins)
LHP David Holmberg (Diamondbacks)
RHP Anthony Ranaudo (Red Sox)
RHP Robert Stephenson* (Reds)
CL – RHP Jake Barrett (Diamondbacks)
A third round selection by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2012 draft, Barrett has taken his role as a closer to a whole new level. Spending the season between high-A and AA, Barrett combined for 29 saves and a 1.21 ERA (7 earned runs in 52 innings pitched). He struck out 59 batters while walking just 12 and compiled a 0.981 WHIP.
CJ Riefenhauser (Rays) also received consideration for the relief role, posting a 6-1 record with a 1.22 ERA (10 earned runs in 73.2 innings pitched) and an impressive 0.828 WHIP for his AA and AAA clubs. He also tallied 70 strikeouts to just 19 walks.