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» posted on Tuesday, November 1st, 2016 at 1:15 pm by admin
Miami Herald: LGBTQ Log Cabin Republicans of Miami endorse Trump, despite national group's refusal
Why haven't 15 PD Circuits in Fl. implemented an available database that safeguards against racial disparity in sentencing?
LGBTQ Log Cabin Republicans of Miami endorse Trump, despite national group's refusal
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The final whistle of the national championship game also signals a new beginning.
It's time to start saying goodbye to the Bowl Championship Series as we know it. The cartel hijacked the postseason in 1998 and despite a tweak here and a tuck there, kept it roughly the same during that run, despite facing more criticism than the replacement refs. Mercifully, though, the 2013-14 season, ending at the Rose Bowl next January, is guaranteed to be the last gasp.
The most obvious change the season after that - without going full Jim Mora on you - will be PLAYOFFS???
Or to be more exact, a four-team mini-playoff in January 2015. The site is still to be chosen from among a half-dozen bids, and after that, the process will be open to all comers, the way the NFL chooses its Super Bowl cities. For plenty of us, that can't happen soon enough.
``I won't kid you, this system has been plenty good to us,'' Alabama receiver Kevin Norwood said as the second-ranked Crimson Tide wrapped up preparations in search of their third BCS title in the last four years, this time against No. 1 Notre Dame.
``But I got a lot of calls and texts from friends on other teams who don't think it's fair,'' Norwood added, with a quick glance over his shoulder to see if anyone else was listening in. ``Me, too. When I was in high school at D'Iberville (Miss.), the chance to play for a state title was everything. You could lose a game here and there, and not feel like your season was done. It's a lot fairer for everyone.''
College football won't be that democratic for a while. How fast and far ``bracket creep'' begins remains anyone's guess. The current TV deal extends out a dozen years and most of the same guys who ran the last version of the BCS remain in charge. As noted above, they do not like to be bullied.
There's also nothing in the contract that even hints at expanding the format. But if the mini-playoff proves successful enough, and especially if there's some turnover at the top of the conferences in charge, adding four more teams to the mix could come as early as a half-dozen years down the road.
Anything beyond that, especially the 16-team playoff that would do college football justice, is no more than a pipe dream at the moment. Remember: It took a century or so of wrangling just to reach the threshold of a playoff. So for the moment, let's limit the discussion to the mini-playoff.
Asked what challenges the new order will present to the BCS, executive director Bill Hancock thought the committee charged with selecting the playoff teams will be scrutinized way more than its NCAA basketball counterparts. For teams and players, he suggested ``the week between the semifinals and the championship game is going to be a big adjustment.
``The rhythm will be a lot different than the regular season. There will still be a break and then a big game, and then a bigger game after that. Pros are used to that,'' he added. ``For 19- and 20-year-old kids, it could be tough.''
The toughest adjustment, though, could be the bowl committees themselves. The Rose, Sugar and Orange bowls have already been assured of spots in the national semifinal rotation, expected to be joined by the Fiesta Bowl and two other sites - maybe Atlanta and Dallas.
``We've got a semi every three years and eight other significant games,'' Orange Bowl CEO Eric Poms said. ``Obviously, we're pretty happy with the road map.''
Few of the bowl committees further down the food chain are feeling that comfortable. There were 35 bowls this season and while TV ratings have generally held steady, a slight drop in attendance for the second straight year has some in the industry wondering whether they've reached the saturation point.
``I'm getting that question a lot,'' said Wright Waters, who heads the Football Bowl Association, which looks after the interests and paperwork for all the non-BCS bowls. ``My initial reaction is that as long as the bowls continue to market themselves as events, and not just games, and focus on getting strong regional matchups and competitive, compelling games, we'll be fine.
``I think the challenge is going to be the perception - in the minds of the public and the players - more than the reality. I worry are we going to have the seven (BCS-sanctioned) games and everything else will be well, something less. We saw a little bit of that this year, where teams were focused on winning a championship, then went to a second-tier bowl and lost their enthusiasm.''
From where he sits, however, Wright doesn't see the long-term problem as supply. With the Western Athletic Conference on the verge of dissolving, there will be 10 conferences playing next season, plus independents and any team with a 6-6 record will be bowl eligible. To make certain the demand for second-tier bowls can be met in a way that makes money for the schools, the committees and the host cities involved, the FBA commissioned an analysis back in August.
``It will be nice to get an opinion for somebody who's actually studied the situation,'' chuckled Wright, an old-school guy who used to head the Sun Belt Conference. ``Up until now, the only thing we've had a surplus of is opinions.''
Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke(at)ap.org and follow him at www.Twitter.com/JimLitke


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White Sox - 210 301 000 - 7 11 1 Red Sox - 200 000 030 - 5 9 0Chicago led 3-2 and had runners at second and third with two outs in the fourth. Jon Lester had fallen behind Kevin Youkilis 3-0 and it looked like he was willing to pitch around him and take his chances with Adam Dunn.
But then Lester got two called strikes to run the count full. His sixth pitch of the at-bat was up a bit but right over the heart of the plate - and Youkilis drilled it over the Wall, increasing the White Sox's lead to 6-2.
Lester lasted only four innings (4-7-6-3-4, 91) in yet another disappointing outing. Junichi Tazawa pitched four innings of relief (4-4-1-0-4, 50) and Franklin Morales, bumped from the rotation, pitched the ninth.
For the second straight night, Boston rallied in the eighth. Carl Crawford singled, went to second on a groundout and stole third. He scored on Will Middlebrooks's single. Then pinch-hitter Kelly Shoppach went deep for two more runs. But the Red Sox went in order in the ninth.
Crawford had the kind of game the Red Sox envisioned when they signed him: 3-for-4, three stolen bases, two runs scored, and an RBI.
Ellsbury, CFUPDATE: Globe:
Crawford, LF
Nava, DH
Gonzalez, 1B
Middlebrooks, 3B
Saltalamacchia, C
Sweeney, RF
Aviles, SS
Ciriaco, 2B
Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz does not have a tear or rupture in his Achilles' tendon and will take a few days off, but will not be placed on the disabled list ...
This list may not be complete (and does not include players who missed games without going on the DL (e.g., Adrian Gonzalez, Will Middlebrooks, and now Ortiz)):
Start of Season
Carl Crawford, 15-Day disabled list, left wrist surgery.
Daisuke Matsuzaka, 15-Day disabled list, Tommy John surgery.
Rich Hill, 15-Day disabled list, Tommy John surgery.
Andrew Miller, 15-Day disabled list, left hamstring strain.
Andrew Bailey, 60-Day disabled list, right thumb surgery.
John Lackey, 60-Day disabled list, Tommy John surgery.
Bobby Jenks, 60-Day disabled list, back surgery.
Chris Carpenter, 60-Day disabled list, right elbow surgery.
April 14 - Jacoby Ellsbury, 15-Day disabled list, subluxation of right shoulder.
April 23 - Jason Repko, 15-Day disabled list, slight left shoulder separation.
May 2 - Kevin Youkilis, 15-Day disabled list, lower back strain.
May 6 - Aaron Cook, 15-Day disabled list, left knee laceration.
May 13 - Darnell McDonald, 15-Day disabled list, right oblique strain.
May 22 - Ryan Sweeney, 7-Day disabled list, concussion.
May 22 - Cody Ross, 15-Day disabled list, fracture of navicular bone in left foot.
June 10 - Rich Hill, 15-Day disabled list, feft forearm soreness.
June 16 - Josh Beckett, 15-Day disabled list, right shoulder inflammation.
June 17 - Ryan Sweeney, 15-Day disabled list, toe injury.
June 24 - Clay Buchholz, 15-Day disabled list, gastro-intestinal problem.
July 3 - Daisuke Matsuzaka, 15-Day disabled list, right upper trapezius strain.
July 6 - Dustin Pedroia, 15-Day disabled list, sprained right thumb.
July 15 - Scott Atchison, 15-Day disabled list, right forearm tightness.
Through it all, the Red Sox are 1 GB in the wild card standings, with 72 games remaining.


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Cyberbullying -- a growing problem
Around 10 percent of all adolescents in grades 7-9 are victims of internet bullying.
'This type of bullying can be more serious than conventional bullying. At least with conventional bullying the victim is left alone on evenings and weekends', says Ann Frisén, Professor of Psychology at the University of Gothenburg.
'Victims of internet bullying - or cyberbullying - have no refuge. Victims may be harassed continuously via SMS and websites, and the information spreads very quickly and may be difficult to remove. In addition, it is often difficult to identify the perpetrator.'
Ann Frisén's research concerns body image, identity development and different types of bullying among children and adolescents. She is also part of an EU network of researchers studying cyberbullying and is since 1 January the national coordinator of this type of research.
'Cyberbullying occurs when new technologies such as computers and mobile phones are used to harass or bully somebody. The perpetrators often use SMS, e-mail, chat rooms and Facebook to spread their message.' One example of this is the Facebook group 'Vi som hatar Stina Johansson' (Those of us who hate Stina Johansson).
'This Facebook group was very difficult to remove. It took Stina's parents almost one whole month', says Frisén.
Who are the victims? 'Around 10 percent of all adolescents in grades 7-9 are victims of cyberbullying. There is a clear connection to school life - it usually calms downs in the summer.
The perpetrator is almost always from the same school as the victim. 'It is a lot easier to be a perpetrator on the internet since it enables you to act anonymously. This also makes it possible for a weaker person to bully a stronger, which is uncommon in conventional bullying', says Frisén.
Blurring of boundaries is another important factor:
'In these contexts, people take liberties they normally wouldn't. For example, nobody would ever think of starting a magazine called "Those of us who hate Stina Johansson"'. So how can cyberbullying among children and adolescents be prevented?
Parents have an important role, according to Frisén:
'Adults shouldn't be so naive about what they put out about themselves on the internet, for example pictures. Kids get inspired by what adults do. In addition, it's good if parents show interest and ask their children to show them which sites they like to visit. But it's usually not a good idea to forbid them from visiting certain websites; they should instead teach them how to act when they are there.
'It is also important not to blame victimised children, since it's really not their fault. Our job is instead to help them end the harassment.' Frisén feels that people in Sweden generally are a bit naive when it comes to these issues:
'All school children in the UK are taught to "zip it, block it and flag it" - don't share information, block contacts and tell an adult!'
Explore further


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Solar Cup slides into Lake Skinner
As a freshman at Murrieta Mesa High, Selina Valladolid had no idea what career she might pursue after graduation, but four years later -- standing Sunday near the shores of Lake Skinner and fresh off piloting a boat she helped build -- she said she will study to become an engineer at UCSD this fall.
"I've realized I can do this for the rest of my life," Valladolid, 18, said of engineering -- which wasn't even on her radar at the start of high school. "Solar Cup sealed the deal."
Solar Cup, an annual high school competition sponsored by regional water districts, pits students representing dozens of campuses from across Southern California against each other in a solar-powered boat competition at Lake Skinner.
At the competition, which launched Friday and ended Sunday, students raced boats powered by solar panels and solar energy stored in batteries, concluding a seven-month undertaking during which they built the boats from scratch, as well as completed water conservation projects.
This year, teams from every school district in Southwest County were represented.
"It's a lot of fun," Valladolid said. "It started as scraps of wood. We have to put together the circuits. We have to put together the motor. We have to hook it up to the solar panels. All the way up to the finished product. It's neat."
Organizers said the program aims to apply textbook lessons in math and engineering to hands-on learning, promote stewardship of natural resources, teach students problem solving, teamwork and sportsmanship, and encourage them to pursue college and careers.
"It's a chance to use what they learn in the classroom in a competitive, real-world scenario, with deadlines, high expectations and innovation," said Perris High School science teacher Ryan Hays.
Mission accomplished, several students said Sunday.
"This just strengthened what we do in the classroom," said 17-year-old Perris High School senior Alfonso Navarrette. "It's physics applied to engineering -- it's the best of both worlds."
Perris and Paloma Valley high schools teamed up this year to compete together, and the collaboration was worth it, Alfonso said.
"It was better than doing it yourself," he said. "It's a different vibe. We got the work done faster. The people from other high schools had different ideas."
Similarly, the Temecula-based Rancho Vista, Great Oak and Chaparral high schools came together as one team. Students praised the merger, saying they had fun with their crosstown peers, although their boat did have a few hiccups Sunday.
"Sparks were flying out of the battery when we were charging it, but nobody died, so so far so good," said Jared Henningsen, 17, a junior at Great Oak High. "We are learning stuff for next year."
Students said the program is meant to teach them about science, but it really does impart lessons on camaraderie and teamwork as well, and allows different students to shine at different tasks.
In Murrieta Mesa High School's team, for example, each student took on certain roles.
The team included 20 students, among them: 15-year-old sophomore Danny Valenzuela, good at thinking outside the box; 17-year-old junior Dakota Merchant, a.k.a. "the muscle" -- who said "I'll take the shocks, the bruising, the pain"; 16-year-old sophomore Michael Losi, known in the group as "the problem solver," who was quick on his feet Sunday morning, reattaching the boat's flagpole after it broke off right before a heat; and 15-year-old Preston Berchtold, "the freshman," the group's official photographer and a self-described "errand boy."
"It's not just all AP kids," said Pete Matus, faculty adviser to the Murrieta Mesa High School team. "It's all the modalities of student learning, and everybody brings something."
For the competition's results, visit www.mwdh2o.com.


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I hope you are all having a blessed beginning of this Easter season.
Our celebration of the Easter Triduum at the cathedral was wonderful and we have some very beautiful pictures that I want to share with you.
However, before I get to that, I want to mention what a joy it was to attend the 25th anniversary celebration for Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Methodios on Wednesday of Holy Week.
Though they had a liturgical celebration, unfortunately I was only able to go to the reception. There were several hundred people there and a number of community leaders, including Mayor Menino and John Silber. The head of the Greek Orthodox Church in the United States, Archbishop Demetrios, was also in attendance and gave the keynote.
With Dr. Silber, Metropolitan Methodios, Archbishop Demetrios and Mayor Menino
I presented Methodios with a replica of a 14th century stone reliquary that I brought back from Rome.
He, in turn, gave me very beautifully framed San Damiano Cross.
Our friendship with the Metropolitan has been very, very close. I thanked him for always standing with the Church, even in the most difficult times. I also thanked him for his leadership in the community and his great work on behalf of unity between our two churches.
– – –
Holy Thursday we celebrated the Mass of the Lord's Supper and the mandatum.
In my homily, I reminded people that in Jesus' farewell address he gives us a gift and a command.
The gift is the Eucharist and the command is the New Commandment (mandatum novum) that we should love one another.
I said that it is in the Eucharist, where Jesus makes a gift of himself, that we find the strength to be able to live the new commandment of love.
After the Mass, it is a custom to reserve the sacrament in the repository and hold a eucharistic vigil.
We had a wonderful vigil at the cathedral and many of those attending were college students involved in local campus ministries. It was impressive to see that the chapel was standing room only until midnight!
On Good Friday, around noon, we joined the last stations of the Way of the Cross for Life which prays the stations with a pro-life theme while processing through the streets of downtown Boston. There was a very good turn out this year.
Then at 2 o'clock we also welcomed at the cathedral the Way of the Cross organized every year by Communion and Liberation. They start on Boston Common and walk throughout the city. They had a beautiful schola that sung for them and I preached on one of the stations for them.
Immediately afterwards, we had our Good Friday services in English at the Cathedral and Father Romanus Cessario gave a reflection after the reading of The Passion.
In the evening, I celebrated the services in Spanish.
As always, we had the stations of the cross with someone representing Christ and carrying the cross.
Most years we make the procession through the neighborhood around the cathedral but this year we did it indoors because of the rain.
On Holy Saturday we had lunch with the Memores Domini, who are members of the lay association of Communion and Liberation, at their residence in the North End.
And then, of course, in the evening we celebrated the Easter Vigil.
This liturgy is the most important liturgy of the year when we go through the history of salvation, with the blessing of the fire, the blessing of the water and the renewal of our baptismal promises. It is sort of the culmination of Lent — which is a baptismal retreat preparing us to renew our commitment as the Lord's disciples in the Catholic Church.
We were blessed to receive four people into the Church at the vigil, which is always a joy. Israel Rodriguez, our deacon, sang the Exultet beautifully and did a wonderful job.
On Sunday morning I traveled to WHDH Channel 7 to celebrate the televised Easter Sunday Mass. We are grateful to all the folks over at channel 7 for their help and support through the years.
If you would like to see more of my Holy week activities be sure to watch this slideshow put together by George Martell of our Catholic Foundation. He was with me at many of my events week, documenting my activities.
[flv:http://www.bostoncatholic.org/uploadedFiles/BostonCatholicorg/Multimedia_Library/Categories/Media/Video/FinalHolyWeekProjectFile.flv 400 300]
If you have trouble with the video above, you may also watch it by clicking on the image below
– – –
On Wednesday of this week I was happy to attend the installation of the new Archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan.
I was very pleased to see the enthusiastic reception that the people of New York gave their new archbishop. Of course, that is one of the wonderful things about New York; everything there is always sort of bigger than life! (It certainly is a very different "Geist" than Boston, which is more understated and reserved.)
I think Archbishop Dolan will fit right in to the culture of New York. He is a very joyful man with a wonderful personality as well as a gifted preacher and communicator.
I knew him at the nunciature in Washington and then, later on, as the rector of the North American College in Rome. I sent a number of seminarians there precisely because he was the rector. I had confidence in the formation he would give them and the sense of joy at being a priest he was able to communicate to the seminarians.
He gave a lovely homily. Of course, the readings for the day were beautiful because it was the story of the road to Emmaus. He told a story about being in the Holy Land with a Franciscan friar who was showing him around.
The archbishop said he asked the friar, "I want to walk on the road to Emmaus" and the friar responded, "Well, nobody really knows where that is. But, of course, the advantage to that is that any road can be the road to Emmaus for you." Archbishop Dolan went on to talk about how Broadway or Fifth Avenue can be our road to Emmaus.
But then, at one point, he talked about Christ's resurrection as being manifest in the Church in our defense of the unborn and there was an explosion of applause and enthusiasm. People jumped to their feet!
I couldn't help but to notice the politicians sitting in the front row. They stood with the rest of the assembly, but I thought to myself that its so good for them to see this, because many people want to give them the impression that Catholics really don't care about abortion—that it's just the bishops—but the response was wildly enthusiastic.
I think the archbishop was even surprised by it. He even had to stop his homily because of the outburst. I think it shows that Catholics who love the Church, or practice their faith, are deeply identified with the pro-life cause.
– – –
On the subject of great communicators, I'm pleased to say that I recently became a member of the episcopal board of advisors for the beatification cause of Archbishop Fulton Sheen. I was very honored to be asked to be a part of that group.
For those younger blog readers who may not be familiar with Archbishop Sheen, here's a YouTube video of one of his classic television programs.
It was my privilege to have known Archbishop Sheen. When I was a child he would visit our parish regularly and I would often serve Mass for him. In those days, of course, the Masses were in Latin and ordinarily there was no preaching during the week — preaching was on Sunday — and then the lessons were in Latin. However, when Archbishop Sheen was at the parish during the week, the church would be standing room only. He would preach every day of the week, which was very, very unusual at the time.
Later on, in 1975, I organized a preaching seminar for the Holy Year at Catholic University, in the Hartke Theater and we had about 600 priests come to it. The two speakers I had invited were Father Avery Dulles and Archbishop Fulton Sheen and, of course, they were both spectacular. Archbishop Sheen, at that time, must have been in his 80s, but he had not changed, he looked like he always did on television and was still playing tennis everyday.
The only thing that shocked me, having not seen him since I was a child, was how short he was! But, he was a huge personality and a very important figure in the history of the United States.
No one did as much to break down prejudice against the Catholic Church as Fulton Sheen. I always say that John F. Kennedy could never have been elected president of the United States had it not been for the television program and radio programs of Archbishop Sheen.
He made thousands of converts during his life by his preaching. Of course, his main job was supporting the missions as head of the Propagation of the Faith. He did an extraordinary job at that.
Archbishop Sheen was a very holy priest, and I think that his role in the history of the Church in the United States was a very important one. It would be wonderful to see him elevated to the altars.
We have a new archbishop in New York who is also a great communicator and we hope that his ministry there will be like Archbishop Sheen's that attracted so many people to the Church.
Cardinal Seán


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Windows components player Syncfusion has released Metro Studio 2, a free-to-members utility that contains more than 1,700 vector-based customizable Metro icons.
NOTE: Originally released in May of 2012, Metro Studio 2 is a collection of customizable Metro-style icon templates. To date, it has been downloaded over 22,000 times. All the icons you create are royalty-free, even for commercial applications.
Syncfusion's latest iteration of Metro Studio 2 features the ability to customize and export multiple icons at the same time. There are also icon sprites for web developers and the ability to copy icons to the clipboard to facilitate integration with Microsoft Office applications. There is also serialized icon customization for manipulation at a later time and the ability to customize text as icon shapes.
The release of these 800 additional new icons corresponds to the firm's "Technology Resource Portal" free e-books channel. Syncfusion's "Succinctly" series of e-books range from 50-100 pages and can be read on a Kindle or downloaded as a PDF. The most popular e-books to date are:
- jQuery Succinctly by Cody Lindley: Conveys the concepts essential to intermediate and advanced jQuery development.
- HTTP Succinctly by Scott Allen: Explains HTTP from a developer's perspective.


text: Please do not reply directly to this email. All additional comments should be made in the comments box of this bug. https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=673790 --- Comment #17 from Jon Ciesla <limburgher at gmail.com> 2012-02-27 08:30:51 EST --- Git done (by process-git-requests). -- Configure bugmail: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/userprefs.cgi?tab=email ------- You are receiving this mail because: ------- You are on the CC list for the bug.


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See all countries >
OHCHR Human Rights Programme for Europe and Central Asia
Country Mandates Established by the CHR/HRC
Standing invitations to Special Procedures
Regional Members of the Human Rights Council:
Austria 2021
Bulgaria 2021
Croatia 2019
Czechia 2021
Denmark 2021
Iceland 2019
Italy 2021
Hungary 2019
Slovakia 2020
Spain 2020
Ukraine 2020
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 2019
Voluntary Pledges and Commitments
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights' (OHCHR) Regional Office for Central Asia (ROCA) was established in 2008 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and currently covers four of five countries in the region: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
The mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights as set out in General Assembly resolution 48/141 of 20 December 1993, states that ROCA will engage with Governments, intergovernmental organizations, civil society, the private sector as well as relevant United Nations partners, to formulate and implement strategies, programmes and measures for the promotion and protection of all human rights in the countries of Central Asia.
ROCA works with countries in the region to strengthen the capacity of national governments, national human right institutions, non-governmental organisations and civil society organisations to increase compliance with human rights standards and improve protection against human rights violations, in particular violations relating to torture and the right to a fair trial.
ROCA has a presence in Bishkek and Osh, Kyrgyzstan, in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, and in Astana, Kazakhstan.
ROCA's thematic priorities for 2014-2017 are; widening the democratic space, strengthening the effectiveness of international human rights mechanisms and the progressive development of international human rights laws and standards and combating impunity and strengthening accountability and the rule of law.
Since its establishment in 2008, ROCA has positioned itself as a solid, trusted source of human rights expertise and has established close links with many actors in the region, in particular with civil society and the international community. Over 2014 - 2017, ROCA will continue to focus on the human rights situation in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
Across the region, ROCA undertook activities to strengthen the capacity of governments, National Human Rights Institutions (NHRI), civil society, and the international community (including United Nations Country Team (UNCT)) to protect and promote human rights. In particular, ROCA continued to promote human rights safeguards relating to fair trial, prevention of torture, and minority and housing rights.
In the past biennium, ROCA's engagement has contributed to the following human rights achievements:
Previous engagement has resulted in ROCA developing a comparative advantage for promoting and protecting human rights in Central Asia. ROCA's key added value lies in three main areas:
These elements highlight ROCA's comparative advantage and explain why the Office is best placed to further advance human rights in Central Asia, by playing an active role in promoting and protecting human rights.
Field Operations and Technical Cooperation Division (FOTCD)
Contact is in Geneva, Switzerland.
Europe and Central Asia Section
Geneva Conventions
ILO Conventions
Refugee Conventions
Council of Europe
European Union
Organization of American States
International Criminal Court
Inter-American Commission for
Human Rights
Organization for Security and Co-operation in
Monetary Fund
World Bank


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I love orange juice. I just love the stuff. When there's orange juice in the fridge, I am constantly tempted to pull out the container and pour me a glass of it.
This is particularly true when the container is mostly full, but when the container starts to get low, I slow down. I know that the juice will run out soon, so I savor it a bit.
A couple things to think about:
First of all, if I have a lot of orange juice, I drink it faster. If I go to the store and buy one of the really large containers of orange juice, our family will go through the whole thing in three or four days. On the other hand, if I go to the store and buy a small container of orange juice, our family will go through the whole thing in… three or four days.
Why is that? Well, when we have an abundance of something, there's a tendency to overconsume. I'll drink it with breakfast, in the morning, in the afternoon… if I feel there's a lot of orange juice left, I'll drink it.
Second, although the cost per ounce of the big container of juice is lower than the smaller container, the big container does cost more. The sticker price on the 96 ounce container is substantially higher than the one on the 32 ounce container.
Now, you could easily argue that these points are moot because I'm talking about something non-essential to begin with. We don't need orange juice, so the entire purchase is non-essential.
However, the same phenomenon exists with more essential purchases, too. Take hygiene products, for example.
Let's say I buy a very large jug of shampoo at the store. I'm standing in the shower with it and I give it a little squeeze. Immediately, an overabundance of shampoo hits my hand. I don't need that much shampoo. The thing is, even if I'm really careful, the nature of that large bottle often puts too much shampoo on my hand. It just goes to waste.
(On the other hand, when there's just a little shampoo left, I tend to be very frugal and careful with it. I'll use as little as possible so I can make the bottle last longer.)
Another example: spices. It might be less expensive per ounce to buy a large amount of dried thyme at a spice store, but if you can't use it quickly and it sits in your pantry for a couple of years, it becomes useless, losing its flavor.
This leads us, again, back to bulk buying. Bulk buying doesn't save you anything if you waste the excess. On top of that, having a large quantity of something often encourages wasteful use, like drinking too much orange juice or using too much shampoo or leaving too much thyme in your pantry.
Because of this, I've started to hold off on bulk buying unless it's something that I'm not going to overconsume and I'm not going to waste. I buy small amounts of spices and I buy the small container of orange juice. With shampoo, I keep a small container in the shower and fill it occasionally from a big container I keep in the closet, which still causes me to have that "I only have a bit left … better make it last" attitude when in the shower.
What do I actually buy in bulk and use normally, though? Garbage bags. Household cleaning supplies. Liquid soap, particularly if I have a dispenser for it that allows me to dispense a squirt at a time. Individually packaged goods. Rechargeable batteries. In other words, non-perishables that I can't easily overuse.
Bulk buying is a great idea, but if it leads to overconsumption or to waste, you're not really gaining anything. Bulk buying only really shines when you're buying something that you'll use completely but not use excessively.


text:
I heard a groar outside my window and a large cracking blasting noise.
I grabbed my camera and turned the video on from it
and walked up to the edge of the side walk to get a
good view of the storm. Standing there awaiting the lightening
to strike so that the camera
could catch it, and it did. I was frightened for the first
time from lightening. It down poured like sheets,
and buckets of water, filling the gutters up to a quarter inch,
this was a strom of a lifetime.
I wished that I had recorded more, I thought I was recording and it wasn't, I held the camera most of the storm and then found out I only recorded the beginning of the storm.
Try these GREAT links for more;
2 Videos my youngest daughter took off the coast.
My daughter at the coast (pictures).
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Simple HTML placing link technique
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text:
September 13, 2001, Section A, Page 27Buy Reprints
At 9:03 a.m. Tuesday, as Vice President Dick Cheney was staring at the TV screen, the second hijacked airliner exploded against the Twin Towers. At that moment his Secret Service detail grabbed him and hurried him down to ''PEOC.''
The President's Emergency Operations Center is an underground facility hardened to withstand blast overpressure from a nuclear detonation. On the way to the tubular structure, Cheney was told that another plane, or a helicopter loaded with explosives, was headed for the White House.
Cheney promptly called the president in Florida, who had just boarded Air Force One, and urged him not to come back to Washington immediately.
In the PEOC, the vice president was joined by Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, and Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, among others. They were told that six commercial aircraft were unaccounted for, all of which were potential missiles. One had supposedly crashed in Kentucky (not true), and another in Pennsylvania (that report of a crash was valid; its passengers or crew, apparently struggling with the hijackers, may have saved the White House).
According to a high White House official speaking to me on background, the airliner that had taken off at Dulles -- AA Flight 77 -- ''did a 360'' (meaning it changed direction from the White House) and at 9:45 slammed into the Pentagon.
About that time, accounts began coming into PEOC that four international flights were headed toward Washington over the Atlantic and another from Korea. It could not be immediately determined that they were not hostile and part of the terrorist scheme. U.S. fighter aircraft and an Awacs control aircraft were scrambled aloft.
A threatening message received by the Secret Service was relayed to the agents with the president that ''Air Force One is next.'' According to the high official, American code words were used showing a knowledge of procedures that made the threat credible.
(I have a second, on-the-record source about that: Karl Rove, the president's senior adviser, tells me: ''When the president said 'I don't want some tinhorn terrorists keeping me out of Washington,' the Secret Service informed him that the threat contained language that was evidence that the terrorists had knowledge of his procedures and whereabouts. In light of the specific and credible threat, it was decided to get airborne with a fighter escort.'')
After the president put down at an Air Force base in Louisiana and made a tape for broadcast (presumably no satellite was available for a live feed), he was, in Rove's term, ''pretty antsy'' about not being at the center of command.
Bush made clear to Cheney, says my source who was in the bunker, his intense desire to return to Washington immediately. The Secret Service objected strongly. The vice president, a former secretary of defense, suggested Air Force One go to Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, headquarters of the Strategic Air Command, with a communications facility where the president could convene the National Security Council.
''It would have been irresponsible of him to come back, pounding his chest,'' says my source, ''when hostile aircraft may have been headed our way. Any suggestion that he should have done so is ludicrous.''
Confession: I made just that suggestion in yesterday's column, which stimulated two set-it-straight calls. Why didn't the V.P. make an appearance during that long afternoon in Bush's stead? The official reason is that Cheney was busy in the basement; the real reason, I think, is that he was unduly concerned it would appear presumptuous.
The most worrisome aspect of these revelations has to do with the credibility of the ''Air Force One is next'' message. It is described clearly as a threat, not a friendly warning -- but if so, why would the terrorists send the message? More to the point, how did they get the code-word information and transponder know-how that established their mala fides?
That knowledge of code words and presidential whereabouts and possession of secret procedures indicates that the terrorists may have a mole in the White House -- that, or informants in the Secret Service, F.B.I., F.A.A. or C.I.A. If so, the first thing our war on terror needs is an Angleton-type counterspy.


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|Location: Coventry
|Salary: £20500 - £34000 per annum
|Sector: Retail & Sales
|Type: Permanent - Full Time
|Contact: Tom Back
Our client is currently looking for a Field Sales Executive and you will be responsible for driving brand awareness and converting footfall through on-site, face-to-face interaction with consumers.
- A background in delivering exceptional customer service standards in a sales or service driven environment.
- Possess a positive attitude to work as part of a team and on your own initiative.
- Confident communicator, able to share information in different ways with a broad range of customers, developing rapport and engaging with the customer.
- Motivated to achieve targets and goals, possess a 'can-do' attitude.
- Able to introduce, describe and sell a service confidently and comfortably.
- You will need to have / take a DBS check (reimbursed)
- You will be required to work 2 weekends per month
The Role:
- Building effective relationships which will contribute to the brand success through the deliverance of exceptional customer service.
- Make a connection with every potential customer you come in contact with, using open-ended probing questions to acquire as much information as possible, understanding their needs and requirements to effectively close a sale.
- Qualifying and understanding the customer's needs, in order to introduce the service which will benefit themselves.
- Ensuring up to date product knowledge to ensure able to answer customer queries in a professional and accurate manner.
- Utilise the tools and offerings provided to overcome objections and close the sale.
- £20,000 - £21,000 Basic Salary
- £30-33,000 On Target Earnings
- Additional incentives
- Paid Holiday, pension etc
- 5 days over 7 working pattern


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The Energy Department is upgrading its Jaguar supercomputer to make it an even more powerful tool for big science, and possibly reclaiming the title of world's fastest supercomputer.
Located at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF) in the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, Jaguar is the most powerful supercomputer in the United States, said Leo Williams, a lab official. Once the upgrades are complete this fall, he said the modified system will be renamed Titan and be capable of 10 to 20 petaflops (a petaflop is a quadrillion floating-point operations per second).
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text:
I'm an amateur on a quest to understand QM. In various places (such as early in chapter III.4 of the Feynman Lectures) I have seen an argument that looks like it's trying to convince me that any class of indistinguishable particles must necessarily behave either like bosons or like fermions -- i.e., that this is not only an empirical fact, but a deductive consequence of the basic structure of QM.
I have trouble understanding these arguments. They seem to pull an assumption out of nowhere, that interchanging two of the identical particles must necessarily correspond to multiplying the wavefunction by a constant. Once this is given, I can see that this constant must be either $1$ or $-1$, but where does that assumption come from? If I write down a wavefunction without knowing in advance that the particles are identical, there are oodles of ways to write one that doesn't react to an interchange merely by a constant factor. Is there something that a priori excludes all those states from consideration?
I've been able to reconstruct an argument that works for a world containing only $2$ instances of the indistinguishable particles, to wit:
What it formally means for the particles to be indistinguishable must be that the operator $P$ which interchanges the two particle commutes with every observable, in particular with the Hamiltonian.
If we have any random state of the system, we can write it as a sum of eigenstates of $P$, and because $P^2=1$, the eigenvalues must be $\pm 1$. Now whenever time passes (we apply $H$) or we make an observation (and apply some other observable operator), the operator we use commutes with $P$, and therefore we can diagonalize $P$ and the operator simultaneously and see that the $+1$ eigenstates never contribute any amplitude to the $-1$ eigenstates and vice versa.
Thus if at some point in history we have made an experiment to determine out whether our two particles are bosons or fermions, right after the experiment the state of the world is going to be a pure $+1$ or $-1$ eigenstate -- and because of the above reasoning it is going to stay in that eigenspace for all eternity henceforth.
So in this case it's of no use to consider mixed states.
The problem with this argument is that it doesn't seem to scale beyond two particles. With $n$ particles there are a lot of different permutations of them one could consider, and these permutations don't commute internally, and so I cannot be sure that they will all diagonalize simultaneously with the operator I'm observing.
This is probably not just a problem with my proof skills, as dimension-counting shows. Let's consider a discrete system where each of $3$ particles can be in one of $3$ states. The state space has dimension $27$ over $\mathbb C$ -- but the "fermion" subspace (consisting of those states that go to their negative under an interchange of any pair of particles) has dimension $1$, and the "boson" subspace (those states that stay unchanged under any transposition) has dimension $10$ if I count it correctly. There are $16$ dimensions left unaccounted for! Is there a principled reason why all of those states are necessarily unphysical or uninteresting?
In Zee's Quantum Field Theory in a Nutshell (which I bought by mistake but don't have anywhere near the prerequisites to understand) there's some mumbling about "anyons", which as far as I can decipher it seems to claim that a strict Bose-Fermi dichotomy is only necessary if one has a continuous set of base states of dimension at least $3$ -- by some topological considerations that mostly went over my head.
Am I misunderstanding it when I think Feynman and others claim that the dichotomy is a derived result?


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go out of (one's) way (to do something)(redirected from go out of one's way to)
go out of (one's) way (to do something)
1. Literally, to travel somewhere by an indirect or circuitous route. Are you sure you want to go out of your way to deliver this package? Doing so will add 20 minutes onto our drive.
2. To make more effort than is required or expected (to help or benefit someone else). You need to thank Monica—she really went out of her way to get you this job interview. I'd appreciate your help with that if you can get to it, but don't go out of your way.
go out of one's way(to do something)
1. Lit. to travel an indirect route or an extra distance in order to do something. I'll have to go out of my way to give you a ride home. I'll give you a ride even though I have to go out of my way.
2. Fig. to make an effort to do something; to accept the bother of doing something. We went out of our way to please the visitor. We appreciate anything you can do, but don't go out of your way.
go out of one's way
Inconvenience oneself or take extra trouble to do something beyond what is required. For example, He went out of his way to introduce me to everyone there, or She went out of her way to be kind. This usage alludes to deviating from one's intended path or normal procedures. [Mid-1700s]


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08. 'Mind Reading' Could Soon Be A Reality, Say Scientists
The Huffington Post UK Kyrsty Hazell
Scientists may soon be able to listen to paralysed or brain-damaged patients who cannot speak, thanks to a form of electronic telepathy.
In a study described as "quite remarkable" by leading health experts, American researchers from the University of California discovered that they're able to 'decode' unspoken words that are going on inside a person's head.
Deciphered from electronic brain waves picked up using intelligent computer technology, scientists are able to 'predict' a word from a person's mind, very much like mind reading. It is thought the same electric brain signals may record the imagined conversations we play in internal monologues in our minds.
"This is huge for patients who have damage to their speech mechanisms because of a stroke or Lou Gehrig's disease and can't speak," says Professor Robert Knight, one of the researchers from the study.
"If you could eventually reconstruct imagined conversations from brain activity, thousands of people could benefit."
Researchers made their discovery after enlisting the help of people undergoing brain surgery to investigate the cause of untreatable epileptic seizures. This involved cutting a hole into the skull of the epileptic patient and placing 256 electrodes onto the surface of the brain.
Patients were then told to listen to men and women saying individual word including nouns, verbs and names.
Brain activity from the temporal lobe was recorded in 15 seizure patients and researchers were able to listen to five to 10 minutes of conversation. Using two different computational models, researchers matched spoken sounds to the pattern of electrode activity.
Between these two programmes, synthesised sounds were produced and the most realistic sound was the one scientists used to guess the original word.
Researcher Dr, Brian Pasley compared this technique to a pianist 'hearing' the music a colleague is playing in a sound-proof room simply by looking at the keys on the piano.
"We are looking at which cortical sites are increasing activity at particular acoustic frequencies, and from that, we map back to the sound," says Dr. Pasley.
"This research is based on sounds a person actually hears, but to use this for a prosthetic device, these principles would have to apply to someone who is imagining speech.
"There is some evidence that perception and imagery may be pretty similar in the brain. If you can understand the relationship well enough between the brain recordings and sound, you could either synthesise the actual sound a person is thinking, or just write out the words with a type of interface device."
Researchers are hoping that this discovery, published in the journal Public Library of Science Biology, will help comatose and brain-damaged patients communicate without having to speak.
There were fears that scientists could 'mind read' our innermost thoughts, provoking an ethical debate. However, researchers played down these fears by saying that at the moment, this technology can only be used on people willing to have surgery.
They added that this technology will continue to be invasive, as non-invasive brain scans are not powerful enough to read this level of information.
"Perhaps luckily for all those of us who value the privacy of their own thoughts, we can rest assured that our skulls will remain an impenetrable barrier for any would-be technological mind hacker for any foreseeable future," added Dr. Pasley.


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Seven of these runners will be in action on Saturday, attempting to win the Liberty men's cross country team's ninth straight Big South title.
VMI's Meet Information Central Page
Course Map Liberty Flames Twitter Buena Vista Weather The Liberty men's and women's cross country teams will both attempt to defend their conference titles at Saturday morning's 2013 Big South Cross Country Championships. The meet will be hosted by VMI at the Vista Links Golf Course in Buena Vista, Va. The men's 8K championship race will get the day started at 10:30 a.m., with Liberty favored to capture its Big South-record ninth straight team title. The Lady Flames will then aim for their sixth Big South championship in eight years during the women's 5K championship, beginning at 11:30.
How to Follow the Flames and Lady Flames Liberty fans will be able to keep up with the teams on Saturday via live Twitter updates from the course. Fans are urged to follow the official Liberty Flames Twitter account (twitter.com/libertyflames) for updates throughout both of the day's races.
Weather Report Saturday's weather forecast in Buena Vista should meet to distance runners' liking, as it calls for sunny skies and a high temperature of 60 degrees.
Checking Out the Course Saturday's meet will be just the second ever contested at the Vista Links Golf Course, following the Sept. 21 VMI Invitational. The times recorded that day illustrate just how hilly and challenging the course is, especially on the men's side. For example, Liberty's Josh MacDonald recorded an 8K time of 26:43 at the VMI Invitational, one week before he posted a 23:59 for the same distance at the Virginia/Panorama Farms Invitational.
Liberty found the Vista Links Golf Course to its liking on Sept. 21, as an impressive 1-2-3-4 finish by Caleb Edmonds, Ngetich Kipchirchir, MacDonald and Jeremie Bourget fueled the Flames' victory. Edmonds' winning 8K clocking of 26:12 currently ranks as the course record.
On the women's side, Liberty junior Jacy Christiansen took individual runner-up honors, helping the Lady Flames come in a close second to Coastal Carolina.
This is the second time VMI has hosted the Big South Cross Country Championships. The Keydets hosted the 2005 Big South meet at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington, Va. That day, current Liberty assistant coach Josh McDougal took home the men's individual title and the Flames began their current streak of men's team conference championships.
Men's Team Preview Liberty enters Saturday's meet having won a Big South-record eight consecutive Big South men's cross country team championships in a row. That is the fifth-longest active streak of conference titles among NCAA Division I men's cross country teams, trailing only Iona (22 straight MAAC championships), Butler (15 straight Horizon League/Atlantic 10 championships), Wisconsin (14 straight Big 10 championships) and William & Mary (13 straight CAA championships).
The Flames, who boast five runners that placed in the top 14 at the 2012 Big South Cross Country Championships, were a unanimous preseason favorite to claim this year's title. Liberty then backed up those expectations by soundly defeating top conference rival High Point at back-to-back meets, the VMI Invitational (Sept. 21) and the Virginia/Panorama Farms Invitational (Sept. 28).
Liberty is headlined by the quartet of senior Caleb Edmonds, redshirt junior Josh MacDonald, redshirt sophomore Ngetich Kipchirchir and sophomore Jeremie Bourget. They have combined for four Big South individual titles and 19 all-conference honors, including cross country and track & field.
Edmonds and MacDonald have each been named Big South Runner of the Week this season, but two of the key members of the Flames' team on Saturday will be senior Zach Barker and sophomore Sam Hibbs. They will be the top two candidates to serve as Liberty's fifth and final scorer. At last year's Big South meet, Hibbs came in 13th overall while Barker was 14th.
Other Team Challenger High Point – Head coach Mike Esposito's Panthers have finished second to Liberty at each of the last six Big South Cross Country Championships and are the Flames' top contender again in 2013.
Redshirt sophomore Jeff LaCoste has been High Point's most consistent performer this season. Most recently, he finished fourth at the Blue Ridge Open on Oct. 18, earning Big South Runner of the Week honors.
Senior Patrick Crawford will be a key to the Panthers' title hopes on Saturday. He finished fifth at the 2012 Big South Cross Country Championships and got off to a great start this season, winning a pair of Big South Runner of the Week laurels in September. However, Crawford struggled to a 64th-place finish at the Virginia/Panorama Farms Invitational on Sept. 28 and sat out the Blue Ridge Open due to injury, leaving his status for Saturday's race in question.
The Panthers are seeking their first Big South title since capturing three straight crowns between 2002 and 2004.
Team Notes • Liberty has won a conference-high 14 Big South men's cross country championships in the Flames' 22 appearances at the conference meet. During that span, the next closest Big South men's squads are Coastal Carolina and High Point, with three titles apiece. • Liberty has won every Big South men's cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field team championship since finishing second to Coastal Carolina at the 2006 Big South Outdoor Track & Field Championships. That equals seven straight Big South Triple Crowns and 21 consecutive men's team titles for the Flames. • The Flames' eight straight Big South cross country titles have been won by an average of 24 points. Last year, Liberty posted a 21-point victory (28-49) over High Point. • Liberty has won the men's team crown the last four times the Big South Cross Country Championships have been contested in Virginia (1998, 2005, 2008, 2010). The only time the Flames were not victorious in their home state came in 1993, when Liberty took sixth place at Radford. • Liberty and High Point have combined to win 11 straight Big South men's team titles since Winthrop's championship on its home course in 2001. • Liberty has recorded 10 consecutive top two finishes at the Big South meet. Prior to the Flames' current run of eight straight titles, Liberty placed second behind High Point in 2003 and 2004. • The Flames have boasted the Big South individual champion 12 of the 14 times they have won the Big South team crown. The only exceptions came in 1994, when Bill Khan led Liberty with a runner-up finish, and 2012, when David Ricksecker was the Flames' leader in second place.
Men's Individual Preview Liberty runners have won the men's individual title 17 times in the Flames' 22 appearances at the Big South Cross Country Championships. The Flames had captured a conference-record eight straight individual championships before High Point's Jacob Smith broke the streak a year ago.
Liberty's quartet of senior Caleb Edmonds, redshirt sophomore Ngetich Kipchirchir, redshirt junior Josh MacDonald and sophomore Jeremie Bourget finished 1-2-3-4 at the Sept. 21 VMI Invitational at the Vista Links Golf Course, stamping all four as possible individual champions on Saturday.
Edmonds, Kipchirchir and MacDonald have all captured Big South championships on the track, but none of the current Flames have won a Big South individual cross country title. Assistant coach Josh McDougal earned four individual championships in a row, between 2004 and 2007.
Edmonds (third place) and Kipchirchir (fourth place) are the top two returnees from the 2012 Big South Cross Country Championships. Meanwhile, Edmonds was victorious by 18 seconds at this year's VMI Invitational, in an 8K course-record time of 26:12.77.
However, MacDonald has been Liberty's runner in top form in recent weeks, serving as the Flames' No. 1 finisher at the Sept. 28 Virginia/Panorama Farms Invitational and the Oct. 19 ISU/Pre-National Invitational. The California native came in eighth at the 2011 Big South Cross Country Championships before redshirting the 2012 season.
Other Individual Challengers (Listed alphabetically) Patrick Crawford (High Point) – Crawford will look to bounce back from a recent injury and complete an impressive career of performances at the Big South Cross Country Championships. The senior was the 2010 Big South Freshman of the Year before placing third individually in 2011 and fifth last season.
Jeff LaCoste (High Point) – LaCoste is coming off of a strong performance at the Blue Ridge Open on Oct. 18, which saw him place fourth overall and earn Big South Runner of the Week honors. The Panthers' most consistent performer this season placed eighth at the 2012 Big South Cross Country Championships.
Morgan Timiney (Campbell) – A senior, Timiney has been one of the conference's best distance runners during his career, placing 10th at the 2011 Big South Cross Country Championships and sixth a year ago. He was tabbed the Big South Runner of the Week on Sept. 11.
Individual Notes • If a Liberty runner is victorious on Saturday, he would become the eighth different Flame to capture a Big South individual men's cross country title, joining Bill Khan (1991-92), Josh Cox (1995-96), Stephen Githuka (1997-99), Bruce Kite (2000), Josh McDougal (2004-07), Sam Chelanga (2008-10) and Zac Edwards (2011). • The Flames have placed three runners inside the top five at six of the last eight Big South Championships. • With a top 10 finish, Caleb Edmonds would become the 13th men's runner in program history to earn at least three All-Big South cross country awards during his career. Older brother Josh Edmonds is one of two Flames (also Josh McDougal) to be a four-time All-Big South honoree in cross country.
Women's Team Preview The Liberty women's cross country team won its fifth Big South title in seven years in 2012, but the Lady Flames will be challenged to repeat on Saturday. Three all-conference runners graduated from last year's team, headlined by three-time individual Big South champion Jennifer Klugh.
Led by junior Jacy Christiansen's runner-up finish, the Lady Flames were able to finish second to Coastal Carolina at the VMI Invitational on Sept. 21. Since then, Christiansen suffered an injury during the ISU Pre-National Invitational on Oct. 19, leaving her status for Saturday's race in question. Moreover, junior Meredith Mistretta, who placed 15th at the 2012 Big South Cross Country Championships, has seen illness end her season prematurely.
As a result, Liberty will lean heavily upon freshmen at the Vista Links Golf Course, with up to six newcomers toeing the starting line for the Lady Flames. Jessie Proehl has been the team's top freshman thus far in 2013, serving as the Lady Flames' No. 2 runner for most of the season. She came in ninth at the VMI Invitational at the Vista Links Golf Course on Sept. 21 and could be relied upon to pace Liberty's effort on Saturday.
Liberty has suffered setbacks to Coastal Carolina and Campbell this season and defeated High Point by a single point at the Virginia/Panorama Farms Invitational.
Other Team Challengers (Listed alphabetically) Campbell – Led by the talented senior duo of Ashley Mathews and Samantha Robbins, the Camels will aim for their best-ever Big South finish. Campbell's top performance at the conference meet to date was a tie for third place in 1991.
The Camels came in fourth at the VMI Invitational on Sept. 21 and defeated Liberty at the ISU Pre-National Invitational two weeks ago, with Robbins and Mathews each clocking 6K times under 22:30.
Coastal Carolina – Head coach Alan Connie's Chanticleers are literally always in the championship discussion at this meet. For 25 consecutive seasons, Coastal Carolina has finished either first, second or third, including last year's runner-up performance.
Coastal Carolina stamped itself as the early conference favorite with its victory at the Sept. 21 VMI Invitational. The Chanticleers are led by the standout South African duo of sophomore Letitia Saayman and freshman Kyla van Graan, who have combined for five Big South Runner of the Week distinctions this fall. They are backed up by seniors Emma Hulburd, Emily Marchini, Shelby Nicosia and Janel Reeves.
High Point – High Point's roster features six of the 10 runners who captured the Big South cross country title in 2011, led by senior Kayleigh Perry. The two-time all-conference performer has been rounding into form in recent weeks and will be essential to the Panthers' title hopes on Saturday.
Even with all of the veterans dotting the High Point roster, freshman Cozette Collin has immediately emerged as the team's No. 1 runner in 2013. She placed fourth at the VMI Invitational on Sept. 21 and is a leading contender (along with Coastal Carolina's van Graan) for Big South Freshman of the Year honors.
UNC Asheville – The Bulldogs will aim for their first top four Big South finish since 2006 on Saturday, fueled by a tightly bunched pack of runners. Senior Melanie Kulesz broke free from the pack for an impressive ninth-place finish at the Oct. 18 Blue Ridge Open, while Asheville's No. 2-5 runners crossed the line within 38 seconds of each other. That enabled the Bulldogs to finish second among Big South teams at the meet, trailing only Coastal Carolina.
Team Notes • Liberty has finished in the top two at each of the last nine Big South women's cross country meets, including victories in 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2012 and runner-up finishes in 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2011. • The Lady Flames will aim to win back-to-back titles for the first time since 2009 and 2010. • Coastal Carolina (12 titles) and Liberty (eight titles) are the perennial contenders at this meet. The Chanticleers and Lady Flames have combined to win 12 of the last 13 Big South women's cross country championships, with the lone exception being High Point's crown in 2011.
Women's Individual Preview A new Big South women's cross country individual champion will be crowned this season, following the graduation of Liberty's Jennifer Klugh, who won the 2010, 2011 and 2012 conference titles.
Junior Jacy Christiansen was positioning herself at a run to keep the title in Lynchburg prior to getting injured at the ISU Pre-National Invitational on Oct. 19. She is the third-fastest returnee from the 2012 Big South Cross Country Championships and finished second at the VMI Invitational on Sept. 21.
With Christiansen's status for Saturday's race in question, freshman Jessie Proehl could end up as Liberty's top Big South finisher. She could also be in the mix for Big South Freshman of the Year honors, along with Coastal Carolina's Kyla van Graan and High Point's Cozette Collin.
Other Individual Challengers (Listed alphabetically) Melanie Kulesz (UNC Asheville) – A senior, Kulesz has stepped forward as the unquestioned leader of an up-and-coming UNC Asheville squad. Two weeks ago, she placed ninth at the Blue Ridge Open, finishing just nine seconds behind conference individual favorite Letitia Saayman of Coastal Carolina.
Letitia Saayman (Coastal Carolina) – Saayman, the 2012 Big South Freshman of the Year, is the favorite to win the 2013 individual title. All four of her races this season have resulted in Big South Runner of the Week recognitions, including her 17-second victory over Liberty's Jacy Christiansen at the Sept. 21 VMI Invitational.
Saayman already knows what it feels like to be a Big South champion, winning the 10K title at the 2012 Big South Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Jeanne Stroud (Winthrop) – Despite a disappointing 2013 season to date, Stroud's title chances cannot be totally discounted. She led most of the 2012 Big South race before Liberty's Jennifer Klugh came from behind to win. Stroud then won the 2013 Big South indoor 5K and outdoor 5K and 10K championships on the oval.
Kyla van Graan (Coastal Carolina) – Van Graan has teamed up with countrywoman Letitia Saayman to form an impressive 1-2 punch for the Chanticleers during her freshman campaign. She has finished inside the top 10 four times in five races, including a victory at the Sept. 13 CCU Invitational in an impressive 5K time of 17:55.14.
Teresa Williamson (Radford) – Williamson has been the biggest breakthrough performer of the Big South Conference this season. The junior raced to a 6K time of 21:57 at the Charlotte Invitational on Sept. 28 and then posted a 5K clocking of 18:15 at the Oct. 18 Blue Ridge Open. That put her less than four seconds behind conference favorite Letitia Saayman of Coastal Carolina.
Individual Notes • None of the runners in Saturday's field has won a Big South individual cross country title, but Liberty's Jacy Christiansen, Coastal Carolina's Letitia Saayman and Winthrop's Jeanne Stroud have all been victorious in track conference championship races during their careers. • Every time Liberty has won the Big South women's cross country team title, its No. 1 runner has placed in the top three. • A Lady Flame has placed in the top three at the Big South meet every year since 2005. • Liberty's last freshman to serve as the team's top finisher at the Big South Championship was Danielle Jordan, who came in fourth overall in 2004. • Liberty has had four Big South Freshmen of the Year in meet history, with the most recent being Dacia Bushman in 2007. • Only two different Lady Flames have been the Big South individual champion in meet history, including Jennifer Klugh (2010-12) and Heather Sagan (2000-01).
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McDonald's Testing Custom Built Quarter Pounders in California and Illinois
In Laguna Niguel, CA and Romeoville, IL, McDonald's is testing a brand-new strategy: allowing customers to design custom-built Quarter Pounders using an iPad. According to Nancy Luna, food reporter at the Orange County Register, there are more than 20 different toppings and sauces to choose from, ranging from the standard condiments and veggies, to new items like creamy garlic sauce and guacamole. The cost is $5.79 (or $6.79 with bacon).
All burgers start with a quarter-pound patty that's "char-grilled to order," according to a McDonald's rep. Though, judging by the slideshow, which doesn't show any temperature options, "to order" means "when you order it" not "to your requested temperature." You can also double the meat or add bacon. Here's a run-down of all the options for toppings:
Bread: buttered toasted bakery-style bun or buttered toasted artisan roll
Cheese: white cheddar, pepperjack, or American
Toppings: guacamole, jalapeño, grilled mushrooms, sliced red onions, caramelized grilled onions, chili lime tortilla strips, tomato, leaf lettuce, crinkle-cut pickles
Sauces: spicy mayo, Mac sauce, creamy garlic sauce, sweet BBQ, mayo, ketchup, mustard
If you don't want the responsibility of building your own burger, there are a few pre-designed options, like the "SoCal Style" (white cheddar cheese, guacamole, chili lime tortilla strips, tomato, leaf lettuce, and creamy garlic sauce), the "Grill Thriller" (bacon, white cheddar, grilled onions and mushrooms, and sweet BBQ sauce), and the "Hot All Over" (pepper jack, sliced jalapeño, tomato, leaf lettuce, and spicy mayo).
An article on Huffington Post says consumer research backs up the testing of customizable burgers. According to a burger consumer trend report by Technomic, 64 percent of the 653 adults polled say the ability to customize burger toppings is important. The same amount of respondents also said they find build-your-own-burger concepts "highly appealing."
What do you think about McDonald's new strategy?
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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Are you in the United States?
Visit our U.S.A. & International site for relevant pricing, distribution and product availability information.Go to StarTech.com
2 Port HDMI Switch w/ Automatic and Priority Switching - 1080p
Discover hassle-free HDMI connection and automatic video port selection with high-definition picture quality
Product ID: VS221HDQ
- Auto switching
- Priority switching
- Built-in manual control console
- EDID emulation
- Video connection emulation
- Support for video resolution up to 1080p
- Mounting hardware included
Save time and hassle by automatically switching between your HDMI audio/video sources, using the VS221HDQ 2-Port HDMI Auto Switcher. This easy-to-use HDMI switch ensures seamless transition while switching video sources, with EDID copy maintaining your video resolution.
Seamless Signal Selection
Ensure seamless transition while switching video sources, with EDID copy maintaining native resolution with support for 1080p. Video connection emulation ensures the settings on any connected computers are not disrupted while switching to a different video source.
Effortless Control
Save time by connecting two HDMI video source devices to your HDMI display instead of manually connecting individual cables. Mounting hardware is also included for a tidy, professional installation.
Versatile Switching Options
Enjoy hassle-free operation with three different switching modes:
Automatic port selection: Enables your most recently activated video source to be displayed automatically.
Priority port selection: Prioritizes input number two above input number one. If the video source connected to input number two is activated that source will be displayed.
Manual port selection: Enables you to manually select your HDMI source with easy-to-use front panel buttons.
This product is TAA compliant and backed by a Startech.com 2 warranty with lifetime technical support
- Automatically switch between your Blu-ray player, set top box, or gaming console in a home theatre environment
- Connect and switch between two video sources on a test bench, for troubleshooting computers
- Switch between different video sources on your digital signage display in hospitals, shopping centers, or schools
The StarTech.com Advantage
- Save your time, by conveniently accessing multiple HDMI source devices with a single HDMI display
- Worry-free switching, with EDID copy video and connection emulation ensuring no signal loss
- Hassle-free operation, with three video selection modes including automatic, priority, and manual
Product Numbers
Ingram Micro New Zealand
UPC Code
Technical Specifications
|Warranty Information
|2 Years
|AV Input
|AV Output
|Audio Specifications
|7.1 surround sound
|Max Distance
|10 m / 33 ft
|Maximum Digital Resolutions
|1920x1200 / 1080p
|Supported Resolutions
1920x1080 (1080p)
1280x720 (720p)
|Connector A
|2 - HDMI (19 pin) Female
|Connector B
|1 - HDMI (19 pin) Female
|LED Indicators
|1 - Source #1 activated
|1 - Source #2 activated
|Input Current
|Input Voltage
|Output Current
|Output Voltage
|Plug Type
|Power Consumption (In Watts)
|Power Source
|AC Adapter Included
|Operating Temperature
|0°C to 40°C (32°F to 104°F)
|Storage Temperature
|-20°C to 60°C (-4°F to 140°F)
|Physical Characteristics
|Aluminum and Plastic
|Product Height
|0.8 in [2 cm]
|Product Length
|6.1 in [15.6 cm]
|Product Width
|2.6 in [65 mm]
|Weight of Product
|10.2 oz [290 g]
|Packaging Information
|Package Height
|2.8 in [72 mm]
|Package Length
|11.6 in [29.4 cm]
|Package Width
|7.8 in [19.7 cm]
|Shipping (Package) Weight
|30.1 oz [853 g]
|What's in the Box
|Included in Package
|1 - HDMI auto switch
|1 - universal power adapter (NA, EU, UK, AU)
|1 - remote control
|1 - foot pad set
|1 - mounting kit
|1 - instruction Manual
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Discover hassle-free HDMI connection and automatic video port selection with high-definition picture quality
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Share and switch four distinct HDMI® audio/video signals between four displays
DC Power Adapter - 12V, 2A
Replace your lost or failed power adapter
DC Power Adapter - 12V, 5A
Replace your lost or failed power adapter
6 ft High Speed HDMI Cable - Ultra HD 4k x 2k HDMI Cable - HDMI to HDMI M/M
Create Ultra HD connections between your High Speed HDMI®-equipped devices
10 ft High Speed HDMI® Cable – Ultra HD 4k x 2k HDMI Cable – HDMI to HDMI M/M
Create Ultra HD connections between your High Speed HDMI®-equipped devices
15 ft High Speed HDMI® Cable – Ultra HD 4k x 2k HDMI Cable – HDMI to HDMI M/M
Create Ultra HD connections between your High Speed HDMI®-equipped devices
6 ft HDMI to DVI-D Cable - M/M
Connect an HDMI®-enabled output device to a DVI-D display, or a DVI-D output device to an HDMI-capable display
10 ft HDMI to DVI-D Cable - M/M
Connect an HDMI®-enabled output device to a DVI-D display, or a DVI-D output device to an HDMI-capable display
Product Support
Data Sheets
Frequently Asked Questions
Before You Buy
This device outputs HDMI video signals. If you have a display or video destination that uses another type of video connection, there are ways that you can convert the video signal or connection. These options are outlined below and organized by the target connection.
When you consider whether to convert an HDMI video signal to another connection type, it is important to know if the media that is being converted from the HDMI video connection is protected by High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP). If the media is protected by HDCP, you cannot convert to analog video connections because they do not support HDCP. You may experience this issue when you use devices like Blu-ray players, DVD players, and certain gaming consoles.
|Target connection
|HDMI to VGA: https://www.startech.com/AV/Converters/Video/?filter_AVINPUT=HDMI&filter_AVOUTPUT=VGA.
HDMI to DVI: https://www.startech.com/Cables/Audio-Video/HDMI/HDMI-to-DVI/.
|HDMI to DisplayPort: https://www.startech.com/AV/Converters/Video/?filter_AVINPUT=HDMI&filter_AVOUTPUT=DisplayPort.
This device has an HDMI input port. If you have a video source that uses another video connection, there are options available to convert the video signal or connection. These options will be outlined below for each video source connection.
Source Connection
VGA to HDMI: https://www.startech.com/AV/Converters/Video/?filter_AVINPUT=VGA&filter_AVOUTPUT=HDMI.
DVI to HDMI video converters: https://www.startech.com/Cables/Audio-Video/Video-Adapter/HDMI-Cable-Adapters/.
DVI to HDMI video cables: https://www.startech.com/Cables/Audio-Video/HDMI/HDMI-to-DVI/.
DisplayPort to HDMI passive converters: https://www.startech.com/AV/Displayport-Converters/DP-HDMI/?filter_CONVERTTYPE=Passive.
DisplayPort to HDMI active converters: https://www.startech.com/AV/Displayport-Converters/DP-HDMI/?filter_CONVERTTYPE=Active.
DisplayPort Passive and Active Conversions
The converter that you require depends on the type of DisplayPort video source that you are using. For more information about converting DisplayPort video signals, refer to the following FAQ: https://www.startech.com/faq/DisplayPort_Converter_DP_Multi_Mode.
When you troubleshoot issues with a video splitter, there are some quick tests that you can complete to rule out potential problems. You can test to make sure that the following components are working correctly and are not the source of the issue:
Video cables
Video switch
Video source (such as a DVD player or computer)
Video destination (such as a monitor or projector)
Note: When you are testing setup components, you should avoid using video adapters. For example, if you are converting a VGA source to HDMI for use with an HDMI switch, you should use an HDMI source when you test the components.
To test your setup components, try the following:
Use the cable, video switch, video source, and video destination in another setup to see if the problem is with the components or the setup.
Use a different cable, video switch, video source, and video destination in your setup to see if the problem persists. Ideally, you should test a component that you know works in another setup.
When you test your cables, it is recommended that you do the following:
Test each cable individually.
Use short cables when you are testing.
When you test the video source and video destination, it is recommended that you do the following:
Remove the video switch from your setup and test to make sure that the video source and video destination work together without the video switch.
Test to make sure that the video source and video destination work together at the resolution that you want to use.
Note: In order for your setup to work properly, the video source, switch, and destination all need to support the resolution that you are using.
Compliance and Safety
Compliance Letters
Safety Measures
- If product has an exposed circuit board, do not touch the product under power.
- If Class 1 Laser Product. Laser radiation is present when the system is open.
- Wiring terminations should not be made with the product and/or electric lines under power.
- Product installation and/or mounting should be completed by a certified professional as per the local safety and building code guidelines.
- Cables (including power and charging cables) should be placed and routed to avoid creating electric, tripping or safety hazards.
* Product appearance and specifications are subject to change without notice.


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Guitar Hero 5 Guide
They're the ones who sing and scream at the top of their lungs, who shred their guitars like they were born with one in their hands. They're the unstoppable drummers who pound out ferocious beats, and the bassists who provide the thumping backdrop of the entire collaboration. They're the bands of rock stars, and in Guitar Hero, it's your chance to take their place.
And due to this turn of events, you—like them—must prove to the crowds that you know what you're doing, or you'll get thrown off stage. We're going to help you get started by teaching you how to play the drums, guitar and bass, and then we'll help you prepare yourself for singing. From there, we'll give you a few tips on the art of perfecting Guitar Hero, and send you on your way to stardom!
In this Guitar Hero 5 strategy guide, you'll find:
Guide by: Valerie Hilgenfeldt
|Give us feedback!
|On to Basics...
Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony Cheats
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City Cheats
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Cheats
Saints Row: The Third Cheats
Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned Cheats
Red Dead Redemption Cheats
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cheats
Assassin's Creed III Cheats
Minecraft (Xbox 360 Edition) Cheats
Call of Duty: Black Ops II Cheats
Professor Layton and the Last Specter
X360 Forza Motorsport 4
Wii Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny
NDS Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns
PS3 Dark Souls
PC Dark Souls (Prepare to Die Edition)
X360 Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine
Web War Commander
PS3 Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3
X360 Trials Evolution
Guitar Hero 5 at IGN
Guitar Hero 5 Cheats at IGN
Guitar Hero 5 Guide at IGN
Guitar Hero 5 at GameSpy
Guitar Hero 5 at TeamXbox
Guitar Hero 5 at GameStats


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Projecting Rios could be a case study in the "statistical sample size" vs. "what have you done for me lately" aspects of performance expectations. On the "lately" side, only the last 10 games of 2009 gave any inkling of hope (he hit .333/.400/.556 in 40 PA). But while we know that 10 games is a "throwaway" sample size, could it be that the entire 2009 is also? BABIP is shown to track with career BABIP, and Rios still sports an excellent .323 career BABIP, due to his line-drive hitting ways (before 2009), good speed, and decent power. So, do we assume that his BABIP will rebound to the .320 range? His BB% and ISO were down a little in 2009 (5.8% vs 6.6% career BB% and .148 ISO vs .163 career ISO), but nothing that seems out of place from a random fluctuation. And his contact rate remained virtually unchanged (though he struck out more after coming to Chicago). …
January 29, 2010
THT Fantasy on Carlos Quentin and Alex Rios
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Blog Archives
Information Overload
I have a theory about the human mind. A brain is a lot like a computer. It will only take so many facts, and then it will go on overload and blow up. Erma Bombeck
"I get saturated", my husband said, as we began to discuss why we had a blow-up argument earlier that morning. " I can only take so much information, and my emotions can only take so much and then I just feel overwhelmed".
Do you ever experience someone displaying an unexpectedly emotional, defensive, or even angry outburst to cause a sudden end to a conversation?
Do you ever feel as if you had a conversation with your spouse, or one of the kids, etc. and they interacted back enough to fool you into thinking they were processing as well as retaining the information…and then later you realize they have no recollection of the conversation, and you might as well have carried on the conversation with the wall?
Maybe the culprit is information overload. In our current technological world, we are inundated with enormous pieces of information in a day….from TV, radio, emails, text messages, advertisements, browsing as well as working on our computers. Information overload is a problem with growing exposure and also an area of new and promising research. It is a proven fact that our brains can only hold so much, and then they have to let some information go to make room for new information. The brain can become overwhelmed with trying to decide what to hold on to and what to ignore. Too much info has a negative impact on our ability to think, reason, and cope.
In our daily interactions with our spouses, this can certainly impact how well they can attend to our expressed needs. As Christian wives, I think it is an important skill to recognize when our husbands are showing signs of saturation. If we keep pressuring them to continue a discussion, for example, when their inner sponge is full, there is going to be overflow…and not typically of a positive nature.
Some suggestions for the household.
1) When discussing issues with our spouse, learn to control any emotional compulsion to have closure to an issue in that moment….trust God and learn to LET IT GO!.. It can always be revisited at a later, more appropriate time.
2) If there is important information that needs to be conveyed, figure out what each person best attends to for retaining that information (ie repeating it back to you, having it in written form, having a "check-in" time during the day when you touch base with each other)
3) Ask for some time when you can have undivided attention of the person you are needing to inform…make sure you have eye contact. Keep the conversation as brief as you can to ensure they do not become too overwhelmed with the information and begin to tune out.
4) Work and re-work the scenarios that go wrong to figure out what can be done differently next time to improve the communication.
Prayer for your communication: May you become more adept at recognizing information overload interfering with the relationships around you. May God grant you the patience and wisdom to know how to keep it from causing discord in your home.
Have you noticed signs of information overload in your home or workplace? What techniques have worked for you? Do you notice how information overload affects you negatively too?
Other Resources:
Watching the Human Brain Process Information: http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/reportsitem.aspx?id=102399
Death By Information Overload: http://www.dailygood.org/view.php?qid=3899
Information Overload and the Art of Communication: http://advancedlifeskills.com/blog/information-overload-the-art-of-communication/
10 Ways to Overcome Information Overload : http://www.teamhealth.com/wellness/mentalhealthmatters/overcomeoverload.pdf
Are You Disconnected From Your Spouse?: http://www.crosswalk.com/family/marriage/are-you-disconnected-from-your-spouse-11603424.html
10 Ways to Recover and Reconnect With Your Spouse: http://www.crosswalk.com/family/marriage/10-ways-to-recover-and-reconnect-with-your-spouse-1315531.html
Marathon Arguing: http://www.marriagemissions.com/marathon-arguing/


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Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Sports News
Miami receives notice of allegations
Send a link to a friend
[February 20, 2013]
CORAL GABLES, Fla.
(AP) -- After two years of digging, the NCAA hit Miami with the four words that no school wants to hear: "Lack of institutional control."
And now, the Hurricanes have 90 days to prepare their rebuttal
-- or harsh penalties might await.
With Miami President Donna Shalala firing back at the governing body of college athletics for the second time in as many days, the Hurricanes got their long-awaited notice of allegations on Tuesday, the worst charge being that the school failed to monitor conduct of a rogue booster who provided cash, gifts and other items to players on the football and men's basketball teams.
"We deeply regret any violations," Shalala wrote in the university's response, "but we have suffered enough."
The NCAA did not comment Tuesday, one day after it revealed it was erasing some elements of its case against Miami because the information was obtained through an alliance forged with Maria Elena Perez, the attorney for former booster and convicted felon Nevin Shapiro, whose claims are at the center of this scandal.
The institutional-control charge is typically one of the most severe the NCAA can bring after an investigation of rules violations. A person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press about the lack of institutional control charge, and that some former members of Miami coaching staffs were named in the notice of allegations, including Missouri basketball coach Frank Haith, who was with the Hurricanes from 2004-11.
After his team beat No. 5 Florida on Tuesday night, Haith confirmed that he received the notice of allegation.
"There was no unethical conduct in my notice of allegation," Haith said. "And it is just an allegation, so we get a chance to defend ourselves."
Haith is alleged of failing "to promote an atmosphere for compliance," a charge specific to how he handled things when Shapiro allegedly wanted money in exchange for not going public with accusations that he paid to help the Hurricanes recruit a player.
Next up: The sanctions phase, where Miami's penalties will be decided. The Hurricanes already have self-imposed several sanctions, including sitting out two bowl games and a conference football championship game. Shalala said Monday
-- when she first lashed out at the botched NCAA probe -- that she believes those punishments should be enough, and reiterated the same Tuesday.
"Many of the charges brought forth are based on the word of a man who made a fortune by lying," Shalala wrote. "The NCAA enforcement staff acknowledged to the University that if Nevin Shapiro, a convicted con man, said something more than once, it considered the allegation
'corroborated' -- an argument which is both ludicrous and counter to legal practice."
There's no shortage of possible penalties that Miami may still face. Some examples: Wins can be purged from the record books, scholarships may be reduced, more bowl games may be missed and limits could be placed on games being televised.
It's also possible that no further penalties would be assessed.
Miami told the NCAA in September 2010 that Shapiro -- serving a 20-year prison term for masterminding a $930 million Ponzi scheme
-- made allegations to the school against former players.
Nearly 2 1/2 years later, Miami is now just entering the sanctions phase. It typically takes about three months to get a hearing, and then several more weeks
-- at least -- often pass before penalties are handed down. The sides coming to a settlement beforehand is another possibility.
[to top of second column]
Shalala said Miami will work diligently to prepare a response to the allegations within 90 days.
"We trust that the Committee on Infractions will provide the fairness and integrity missing during the investigative process," Shalala wrote.
The notice of allegations was nearly delivered last month. That's when the NCAA acknowledged that some mistakes were made by its enforcement department through depositions that Perez used subpoena power to arrange under the guise of it being part of Shapiro's bankruptcy case. The NCAA does not have subpoena power, and because that information was deemed to be ill-gotten it resulted in some allegations being dropped.
It also led to yet another delay in the process, which many at Miami believe has dragged on for way too long.
Almost all allegations revolve around football and men's basketball, though several other sports are cited for very minor reasons. Three former Miami assistant coaches are also alleged to have been in violation of what's commonly known as NCAA Rule 10.1, which covers the "principles of ethical conduct."
Within about six months of Miami originally bringing the information it had on Shapiro forward, an NCAA investigation was under way, and the story became widely known in August 2011 after Shapiro provided Yahoo Sports with details of what he claimed to have given dozens of athletes, recruits and coaches over an eight-year period.
Among the gifts Shapiro alleged providing: Memorabilia, cash amounts both large and small, dinners, strip-club trips, prostitutes, and even an abortion.
Shalala labeled most of that as "sensationalized media accounts."
"Despite their efforts over two and a half years, the NCAA enforcement staff could not find evidence of prostitution, expensive cars for players, expensive dinners paid for by boosters, player bounty payments, rampant alcohol and drug use, or the alleged hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and gifts given to student-athletes, as reported in the media," Shalala wrote. "The fabricated story played well
-- the facts did not."
Several Miami football and men's basketball players have either served suspensions, paid restitution or both after their involvement with Shapiro was discovered. Apparently upset with how people he thought were friends turned their back on him following his conviction for the Ponzi operation, Shapiro vowed that he would take down the program.
"Had I realized I was dealing with, what is in my opinion ... such an incompetent regulatory institution, I would have never allowed Mr. Shapiro to have had any type of contact with the NCAA
-- period," Perez wrote in a text message to AP.
Shawn Eichorst, the Nebraska athletic director who held the same role at Miami for some of the NCAA probe, declined to comment. Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt, who was the AD at Miami for some of the time when Shapiro was a booster, did not respond to a request for comment.
Press; By TIM REYNOLDS]
Copyright 2013 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Licorice can.
Licorice come from the root of the plant Glycyrrhiza glabra. It's been used for centuries as a flavoring, sweetener, and medicine.
The main compound responsible for licorice's distinct flavor and pharmaceutical effects is glycyrrhizin. Glycyrrhizin is 50 times as sweet as table sugar. Besides being used in drinks, teas and candies, licorice is also added to tobacco products.
Licorice root extract has been studied in the use of a wide variety of illnesses, including:
- viral hepatitis
- Kaposi's sarcoma
- stomach and mouth ulcers
- bowel conditions, such s Crohn's disease and irritable bowel
- water retention and swelling
- low potassium levels
- heart failure
- elevated blood pressures
Apparently, a British woman had to be hospitalized for licorice poisoning after consuming 200 grams of candy per day. That's a 48 black jellybean-per-day habit! Man. I knew there was a reason why I avoided those black jellybeans. And it's not all about those gunky black teeth either.
Happy Halloween everyone. Hope it doesn't land you in the hospital!