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Photographer's Note
The Heptapyrgion, also popularly known by its Ottoman Turkish name Yedi Kule, is a Byzantine and Ottoman-era fortress situated on the north-eastern corner of the acropolis of Thessaloniki in Greece. Despite its name, which in both languages means "Fortress of Seven Towers", it features ten, and was probably named after the Yedikule Fortress in Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey). It served as the major redoubt of the city's acropolis, as well as the seat of its garrison commander in Ottoman times, until the late 19th century. It was then converted to a prison, which remained open until 1989. Restoration and archaeological work began in the 1970s and continues to this day.
During the 1890s, the fortress was converted into a prison. The exact date is not known with certainty, but the prison is mentioned in an 1899 map of the city. This conversion entailed the removal of all previous buildings in the fort's interior, of which no trace now survives. The fortifications themselves were only little modified, although their role was effectively reversed: designed to protect its residents from outside dangers, they know served to isolate the inmates from the outside world.
The prison was for long the main penitentiary facility of the city, and housed all convicted, regardless of sex or crime. New buildings were built along both sides of the walls, to fulfill the various needs of the fort's new role. The interior courtyard was partitioned into five separate enclosures by fences radiating from a central watchtower. Three featured a two-storey building housing the cells and a guard post, while the other two held the prison chapel and other annexes. A fourth cell block was situated close to the north-eastern tower, and was destroyed during the Second World War. The exterior buildings, on the fort's southern side, housed the administration, the women's prison and, to the west, the isolation cells.
Ét acquired notoriety through its use to house political prisoners during the Metaxas Regime, the Axis Occupation of Greece, and in the post-war period from the Greek Civil War up to the Regime of the Colonels.
The prison functioned until 1989, when it was moved outside the city. The site was then taken over by the Ministry of Culture and the regional Byzantine archaeology service, the 9th Ephorate of Byzantine and Modern Antiquities, which moved some of its offices there. The ephorate had already been active in the restoration works of 1973 on the north-eastern curtain wall, and then again between 1983 and 1985 in the restoration of the damages caused by an earthquake in 1978.
The systematic archaeological study and restoration of the Heptapyrgion began in 1990. The first phase ended in 1995, with the completing of a photogrammetric architectural survey and the creation of a digital model of the fortress. Several institutes participate in the relevant projects: the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the Cornell University in the dendrochronology project, the Center for Preservation and Heritage of Mount Athos, and the municipality of Thessaloniki.
Thank you for visiting!
Critiques | Translate
dekanski (7375) 2014-01-28 8:12
nice, thanks for the photo and note (frim Wikipedia)!!!
photographer_sg (6059) 2014-01-28 8:15
Hello Chris
The composition is superb with the sombre colours. The fort converted to a prison has surely been witness to a lot of drama and perhaps much human suffering. Your picture brings out the very spirit of the place. Thanks for sharing.
Best regards
Photo Information
- Copyright: Chris Koulis (chrisg76) (1210)
- Genre: Lugares
- Medium: Color
- Date Taken: 2014-01-05
- Categories: Castillos
- Exposición: f/3.1, 1/500 segundos
- More Photo Info: view
- Versión de la foto: Versión original
- Date Submitted: 2014-01-28 5:44
- To photographer_sg: Many thanks! (1)
by chrisg76, last updated 2014-01-28 09:42


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Colorblocking is all the rage right now! We posted a great tutorial on how to piece together 2 shirts to make an easy colorblocked tee! This tutorial is especially great if you have a couple of t-shirts destined for the trash pile.
Also, in case you missed it, I guest posted on Prudent Baby yesterday and shared my tutorial for the Knotted Suede Bracelets. Click HERE to go visit and leave some love!
Make sure you check out Eat. Sleep. MAKE. tomorrow for the last part of the series that will cover what stuff to buy at estate sales!
Come follow Eat. Sleep. MAKE via Google Friend Connect, RSS feed or email. You can also stay informed on the latest news at Eat. Sleep. MAKE via Pinterest, Facebook, or Twitter.

subset: commoncrawl


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Yes, I got ANOTHER new job. This one is immensely better and will allow me to call this one OVERLORD. I don't think that they will actually require I call him that, but I'm gonna think it every day when I report to work.
For sensitive reasons, I can't divulge which division of his empire I'll be working for but I start tomorrow and life is good.
40 is working out really really really well.
(and yes I'll tell you all about the job and which division etc.....soon. Very soon.)


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Welcome to Midwest Ragdolls!
We are currently taking reservations on May/June 2020 kittens!
We have traditional seal and blue points and lynx.
We also expect to retire a couple ladies this spring
We are veterinarian owned and operated since 1994.
- Certified T.C.A. Supreme Cattery of Excellence
- A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau
- 5-star Google+ rating
We do everything possible to ensure our kittens are wonderful, loving companions, and an excellent addition to your family.
Kittens are weaned, potty trained, have received two Heska Feline Ultranasal vaccines, come with a 3-year written guarantee against heart disease or congenital defects, and are at the best possible age to be integrated into a household.
The parents of all kittens are registered with The International Cat Association (TICA), the world's largest registry of pedigreed cats.
When you get a kitten, we will gladly help and support you while you're both acclimating. I have over 20 years of experience in breeding kittens, so if you have any questions regarding a new kitten, please feel free to ask.
Dr. Jennifer and Anna
Send us your pictures!


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World Cup 2010 Final: Spain Defeats the Netherlands 1-0 to Win First World Cup
Spain have been crowned World Cup champions with a 1-0 victory over the Netherlands in extra time.
This was Spain's first World Cup Final, but they are reigning European Champions. Their previous best World Cup finish was fourth place in 1950.
Andres Iniesta fired home the winner when he was put through in the area by Cesc Fabregas.
Dutch keeper Maarten Stekelenburg dived to his right and got a hand to the ball he could not keep it out.
The defeat was heartbreaking for the Dutch, who were down to 10 men after John Heitinga was sent off in extra time. It was their third World Cup final loss after 1974 and 1978.
|PowerPoint: Spain Wins First World Cup by Defeating the Netherlands in Final
|Video: Spain Wins First World Cup by Defeating the Netherlands in Final
|Download PowerPoint Presentation
|Watch on Youtube


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- 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
- 1 cup coarsely crumbled blue cheese
- Buttermilk (optional)
- 1/2 pound thick-cut bacon, cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces
- 1 large head of iceberg lettuce, cut into 6 wedges, each with some core attached
- 1/2 red onion, very thinly sliced
Recipe Preparation
Mix first 4 ingredients in medium bowl. Add blue cheese and stir until well blended. If too thick, thin with buttermilk by tablespoonfuls to desired consistency. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.)
Cook bacon in large skillet over medium heat until golden brown and beginning to crisp. Arrange lettuce on plates. Spoon dressing over. Using slotted spoon, transfer warm bacon from skillet onto salads, dividing equally. Garnish with red onion.


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A Weighty Problemstevejb68 on May 7, 2014 in Leadership, Lessons
I was the runt of my class. I was the smallest boy, both in weight and in height. In fact, most of the girls in my class were taller than I was. When I was in tenth grade another guy moved into our class. Suddenly, I was not the shortest guy in the class of '78. In eleventh grade I finally hit a couple growth spurts. I may not have been the shortest anymore, but I was still one of the lightest. Skinny kids do not weigh much after all.
I stopped growing when I hit 5′-8″ tall. I remained skinny throughout my twenties. I began to put on some weight when I was in my thirties, finally hitting the 160's. I soon began to realize that my metabolism had changed. In my early 40's I hit 170 pounds. By my late 40's I had made it into the 180's. Sitting behind a desk most of the day was taking a toll, and all the snacking was not helping matters. I still remember the first time a young Boy Scout called me fat, but it was not enough of a shock to make me do anything about my weight.
On Monday morning, March 3rd, I stepped on the scale and was shocked to see that I weighed 193 pounds. No wonder my clothes were not fitting well any more. I thought to myself that I needed to do something before this got any worse. I got dressed, had breakfast, and went to work. End of subject. Forgotten once again.
The next day a coworker of mine asked me to help him with a program his wife had downloaded to her tablet. It was a calorie counting app she was using to help her lose weight. He wanted to lose several pounds himself but could not figure out how to create an account for himself. I downloaded the app to my iPad, quickly learned how to use it, and showed him what he needed to do.
He came to me just at the right time. I decided to try using the app myself. I set a goal to loose two pounds per week for 11 weeks to get my weight down to 170 pounds by May 20th. Of course, it was all up to me really. I would have to watch my I eat, and how much of it, and record it into the app. It gave me a daily calorie goal to stay within to loose the weight. I also needed to get out and exercise some more.
My eating habits are probably the same as most people. My meal portions were too big. I ate too my fast food and junk food. And I snacked too much between meals. This app quickly showed me the areas I needed to change to reach my goal.
It has been over 8 weeks since I began my diet experiment. I am happy to report that I am still using the app and still watching what I eat. I have cut way back on the snacking. I very seldom eat at fast food joints anymore. I have cut back on the size of the portions at mealtime. I still get a little hungry between meals but my efforts have paid off. I am on target and have lost 16 pounds so far! There was no fancy diet plan, no exercising until I drop from exhaustion.
It was nice to have to punch a new hole in my belt to hold my pants up. My shirts and jackets are fitting much better. It is great to be back in a suitable area on the Boy Scout physical weight chart. I look forward to reaching my goal just a few weeks before I head to Philmont Training Center in June. And yes, I do realize that once I hit my goal weight I will always have to watch what I eat to maintain it, but I have a positive outlook.
Sorry Burger King and McDonalds. You will not be seeing me often anymore.


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In the early spring of 2009, a team of doctors at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University lifted a 2-year-old into an MRI scanner. The boy, whom I'll call Bryce, looked tiny and forlorn inside the cavernous metal device. The stuffed monkey dangling from the entrance to the scanner did little to cheer up the scene. Bryce couldn't see it, in any case; he was under general anesthesia, with a tube snaking from his throat to a ventilator beside the scanner. Ten months earlier, Bryce had received a portion of a donor's liver to replace his own failing organ. For a while, he did well. But his latest lab tests were alarming. Something was going wrong — there was a chance that one or both of the liver's bile ducts were blocked.
Shreyas Vasanawala, a pediatric radiologist at Packard, didn't know for sure what was wrong, and hoped the MRI would reveal the answer. Vasanawala needed a phenomenally hi-res scan, but if he was going to get it, his young patient would have to remain perfectly still. If Bryce took a single breath, the image would be blurred. That meant deepening the anesthesia enough to stop respiration. It would take a full two minutes for a standard MRI to capture the image, but if the anesthesiologists shut down Bryce's breathing for that long, his glitchy liver would be the least of his problems.
However, Vasanawala and one of his colleagues, an electrical engineer named Michael Lustig, were going to use a new and much faster scanning method. Their MRI machine used an experimental algorithm called compressed sensing — a technique that may be the hottest topic in applied math today. In the future, it could transform the way that we look for distant galaxies. For now, it means that Vasanawala and Lustig needed only 40 seconds to gather enough data to produce a crystal-clear image of Bryce's liver.
Compressed sensing was discovered by chance. In February 2004, Emmanuel Candès was messing around on his computer, looking at an image called the Shepp-Logan Phantom. The image — a standard picture used by computer scientists and engineers to test imaging algorithms — resembles a Close Encounters alien doing a quizzical eyebrow lift. Candès, then a professor at Caltech, now at Stanford, was experimenting with a badly corrupted version of the phantom meant to simulate the noisy, fuzzy images you get when an MRI isn't given enough time to complete a scan. Candès thought a mathematical technique called l1 minimization might help clean up the streaks a bit. He pressed a key and the algorithm went to work.
Candès expected the phantom on his screen to get slightly cleaner. But then suddenly he saw it sharply defined and perfect in every detail — rendered, as though by magic, from the incomplete data. Weird, he thought. Impossible, in fact. "It was as if you gave me the first three digits of a 10-digit bank account number — and then I was able to guess the next seven," he says. He tried rerunning the experiment on different kinds of phantom images; they resolved perfectly every time.
Candès, with the assistance of postdoc Justin Romberg, came up with what he considered to be a sketchy and incomplete theory for what he saw on his computer. He then presented it on a blackboard to a colleague at UCLA named Terry Tao. Candès came away from the conversation thinking that Tao was skeptical — the improvement in image clarity was close to impossible, after all. But the next evening, Tao sent a set of notes to Candès about the blackboard session. It was the basis of their first paper together. And over the next two years, they would write several more.
That was the beginning of compressed sensing, or CS, the paradigm-busting field in mathematics that's reshaping the way people work with large data sets. Only six years old, CS has already inspired more than a thousand papers and pulled in millions of dollars in federal grants. In 2006, Candès' work on the topic was rewarded with the $500,000 Waterman Prize, the highest honor bestowed by the National Science Foundation. It's not hard to see why. Imagine MRI machines that take seconds to produce images that used to take up to an hour, military software that is vastly better at intercepting an adversary's communications, and sensors that can analyze distant interstellar radio waves. Suddenly, data becomes easier to gather, manipulate, and interpret.
How Math Gets
Compressed sensing is a mathematical tool that creates hi-res data sets from lo-res samples. It can be used to resurrect old musical recordings, find enemy radio signals, and generate MRIs much more quickly. Here's how it would work with a photograph.
1 Undersample
A camera or other device captures only a small, randomly chosen fraction of the pixels that normally comprise a particular image. This saves time and space.
2 Fill in the dots
An algorithm called l1 minimization starts by arbitrarily picking one of the effectively infinite number of ways to fill in all the missing pixels.
3 Add shapes
The algorithm then begins to modify the picture in stages by laying colored shapes over the randomly selected image. The goal is to seek what's called sparsity, a measure of image simplicity.
4 Add smaller shapes
The algorithm inserts the smallest number of shapes, of the simplest kind, that match the original pixels. If it sees four adjacent green pixels, it may add a green rectangle there.
5 Achieve clarity
Iteration after iteration, the algorithm adds smaller and smaller shapes, always seeking sparsity. Eventually it creates an image that will almost certainly be a near-perfect facsimile of a hi-res one.
Photos: Obama: Corbis; Image Simulation: Jarvis Haupt/Robert Nowak
Compressed sensing works something like this: You've got a picture — of a kidney, of the president, doesn't matter. The picture is made of 1 million pixels. In traditional imaging, that's a million measurements you have to make. In compressed sensing, you measure only a small fraction — say, 100,000 pixels randomly selected from various parts of the image. From that starting point there is a gigantic, effectively infinite number of ways the remaining 900,000 pixels could be filled in.
The key to finding the single correct representation is a notion called sparsity, a mathematical way of describing an image's complexity, or lack thereof. A picture made up of a few simple, understandable elements — like solid blocks of color or wiggly lines — is sparse; a screenful of random, chaotic dots is not. It turns out that out of all the bazillion possible reconstructions, the simplest, or sparsest, image is almost always the right one or very close to it.
But how can you do all the number crunching that is required to find the sparsest image quickly? It would take way too long to analyze all the possible versions of the image. Candès and Tao, however, knew that the sparsest image is the one created with the fewest number of building blocks. And they knew they could use l1 minimization to find it and find it quickly.
To do that, the algorithm takes the incomplete image and starts trying to fill in the blank spaces with large blocks of color. If it sees a cluster of green pixels near one another, for instance, it might plunk down a big green rectangle that fills the space between them. If it sees a cluster of yellow pixels, it puts down a large yellow rectangle. In areas where different colors are interspersed, it puts down smaller and smaller rectangles or other shapes that fill the space between each color. It keeps doing that over and over. Eventually it ends up with an image made of the smallest possible combination of building blocks and whose 1 million pixels have all been filled in with colors.
That image isn't absolutely guaranteed to be the sparsest one or the exact image you were trying to reconstruct, but Candès and Tao have shown mathematically that the chance of its being wrong is infinitesimally small. It might still take a few hours of laptop time, but waiting an extra hour for the computer is preferable to shutting down a toddler's lungs for an extra minute.
Compressed sensing has already had a spectacular scientific impact. That's because every interesting signal is sparse — if you can just figure out the right way to define it. For example, the sound of a piano chord is the combination of a small set of pure notes, maybe five at the most. Of all the possible frequencies that might be playing, only a handful are active; the rest of the landscape is silent. So you can use CS to reconstruct music from an old undersampled recording that is missing information about the sound waves formed at certain frequencies. Just take the material you have and use l1 minimization to fill in the empty spaces in the sparsest way. The result is almost certain to sound just like the original music.
With his architect glasses and slightly poufy haircut, Candès has the air of a hip geek. The 39-year-old Frenchman is soft-spoken but uncompromising when he believes that something isn't up to his standards. "No, no, it is nonsense," he says when I bring up the work of a CS specialist whose view on a technical point differs — very slightly, it seems to me — from his own. "No, no, no, no. It is nonsense and it is nonsense and it is wrong."
Candès can envision a long list of applications based on what he and his colleagues have accomplished. He sees, for example, a future in which the technique is used in more than MRI machines. Digital cameras, he explains, gather huge amounts of information and then compress the images. But compression, at least if CS is available, is a gigantic waste. If your camera is going to record a vast amount of data only to throw away 90 percent of it when you compress, why not just save battery power and memory and record 90 percent less data in the first place? For digital snapshots of your kids, battery waste may not matter much; you just plug in and recharge. "But when the battery is orbiting Jupiter," Candès says, "it's a different story." Ditto if you want your camera to snap a photo with a trillion pixels instead of a few million.
The ability to gather meaningful data from tiny samples of information is also enticing to the military: Enemy communications, for instance, can hop from frequency to frequency. No existing hardware is fast enough to scan the full range. But the adversary's signal, wherever it is, is sparse — built up from simple signals in some relatively tiny but unknown portion of the frequency band. That means CS could be used to distinguish enemy chatter on a random band from crackle. Not surprisingly, Darpa, the Defense Department's research arm, is funding CS research.
Compressed sensing isn't useful just for solving today's technological problems; the technique will help us in the future as we struggle with how to treat the vast amounts of information we have in storage. The world produces untold petabytes of data every day — data that we'd like to see packed away securely, efficiently, and retrievably. At present, most of our audiovisual info is stored in sophisticated compression formats. If, or when, the format becomes obsolete, you've got a painful conversion project on your hands. But in the CS future, Candès believes, we'll record just 20 percent of the pixels in certain images, like expensive-to-capture infrared shots of astronomical phenomena. Because we're recording so much less data to begin with, there will be no need to compress. And instead of steadily improving compression algorithms, we'll have steadily improving decompression algorithms that reconstruct the original image more and more faithfully from the stored data.
That's the future. Today, CS is already rewriting the way we capture medical information. A team at the University of Wisconsin, with participation from GE Healthcare, is combining CS with technologies called HYPR and VIPR to speed up certain kinds of magnetic resonance scans, in some cases by a factor of several thousand. (I'm on the university's faculty but have no connection to this particular research.) GE Healthcare is also experimenting with a novel protocol that promises to use CS to vastly improve observations of the metabolic dynamics of cancer patients. Meanwhile, the CS-enabled MRI machines at Packard can record images up to three times as quickly as conventional scanners.
And that was just enough for 2-year-old Bryce. Vasanawala, in the control room, gave the signal; the anesthesiologist delivered a slug of sedative to the boy and turned off his ventilator. His breathing immediately stopped. Vasanawala started the scan while the anesthesiologist monitored Bryce's heart rate and blood oxygenation level. Forty seconds later, the scan was done and Bryce had suffered no appreciable oxygen loss. Later that day, the CS algorithm was able to produce a sharp image from the brief scan, good enough for Vasanawala to see the blockages in both bile ducts. An interventional radiologist snaked a wire into each duct, gently clearing the blockages and installing tiny tubes that allowed the bile to drain properly. And with that — a bit of math and a bit of medicine — Bryce's lab test results headed back to normal.
Jordan Ellenberg (email@example.com), an associate professor of mathematics at the University of Wisconsin, wrote about the Netflix Prize in issue 16.03.Go Back to Top. Skip To: Start of Article.


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About us
The Interroll Group is the leading global provider of material handling solutions. The company was founded in 1959 and has been listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange since 1997. Interroll provides system integrators and OEMs with a wide range of platform-based products and services in these categories: Rollers (conveyor rollers), Drives (motors and drives for conveyor systems), Conveyors & Sorters as well as Pallet & Carton Flow (flow storage systems).
Interroll solutions are in operation in express and postal services, e-commerce, airports, the food and beverage industry, fashion, automotive sectors, and many other manufacturing industries. Among the company's end users are leading brands such as Amazon, Bosch, Coca-Cola, DHL, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, Siemens, Walmart and Zalando. Headquartered in Switzerland, Interroll has a global network of 34 companies with turnover of around CHF 559.7 million and 2,400 employees (2019).
Inspired by Efficiency
Our claim 'Inspired by Efficiency' refers not only to the benefits customers can expect from Interroll Solutions. Products and solutions provided by Interroll enable companies to do business more profitably, reduce their environmental footprint and generate sustainable growth. Interroll also places a strong emphasis on its own resource efficiency. For Interroll, the right use of resources is the main precondition for maintaining and consolidating its technological and innovative pre-eminence – and that benefits customers, too.


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Gemma Arterton has decided to "shun" big movies.
The 27-year-old actress has starred in numerous blockbuster films, such as 'Clash of the Titans' and James Bond flick 'Quantum of Solace', but recently made the choice to turn down commercial features as she finds herself feeling "uneasy" taking part in them.
Speaking in an interview with Metro newspaper, Gemma explained: "I've decided to shun the 'big' side for a bit. Over Christmas, I turned down this huge, very commercial film - I can't tell you which but it's one of those feel-good family films you know is going to be a massive smash but I felt this unease about doing it.
"I think I'm ... I'm ... it's delicate in that it's this bizarre line where you have to be a bit of a 'name' to get the financing for the smaller films but if you don't have the respect and credentials as an actor, you probably won't get asked to do the really covetable roles."
Instead, Gemma wants to be involved in more "unusual" projects and realises she must stand her ground in order to prove she doesn't need mainstream roles to make her a successful actress.
She continued: "I want to work with good directors and so really unusual things. You can't sit on the fence in this job. You have to be strong."
Gemma can next be seen in action flick 'Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters' alongside Jeremy Renner, out in cinemas on February 27.


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Bisons bounce Braves
The Bisons ended their three-game losing streak on Tuesday night using the big stick to get a 6-3 win at Coolray Field over the Gwinnett Braves.
After Gwinnett took a 3-1 lead in the second inning, the Herd brought out the long ball to tie the game and then take the lead.
After a lead off base hit from Jorge Padilla in the fourth inning, Valentino Pascucci struck a two-run bomb over the left field wall for his eighth homer of the year to tie the game at three.
Then with two men on in the fifth frame, Jorge Padilla knocked his first home run of the year as a Bison, after four long balls with Triple-A Las Vegas. The three-run homer gave the Bisons a 6-3 lead, which they would hold on for the final score.
Bisons starter Pat Misch got the win after losing his previous two starts, going eight innings and surrendering only three runs on 10 hits, to improve his record to 6-3.
The offense star of the game was the newcomer Jorge Padilla, playing in just his fourth game with Buffalo, he went 3-5 with two runs scored, three RBI, and the game-changing home run.
The Bisons look to keep on rolling tomorrow night in game three of the series from Coolray Field, with a 7 p.m. start time.
BISONS NOTES: Pat Misch picked up his first win since June 1…The home run for Pascucci was the 201st of his career…The three-hit night for Padilla was his first as a Bisons…Russ Adams entered the game for Andy Green in the second inning and went 1-3 with a walk and run scored.


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DETROIT (AP) — Ford is recalling nearly 1.5 million pickup trucks in North America because the transmissions can suddenly downshift into first gear.
The recall covers F-150 trucks from the 2011 through 2013 model years with six-speed automatic transmissions.
The company says a glitch in sending a signal from the transmission speed sensor is the cause. Ford has five reports of accidents including one that caused a whiplash injury from a sudden downshift.
Owners will be notified by letter starting March 4. Dealers will update the powertrain control software to fix the problem.
Ford's F-Series pickup is the top-selling vehicle in the United States.
You can check to see if your car was recalled by entering the VIN here: https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls


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OCEAN CITY — In the brief this week, Winterfest took a hit from the so-called blizzard of 2009, while the town got the go-ahead from the Mayor and City Council to add some new "lighting" to the Boardwalk.
New Digital Message Boards To Appear On Boardwalk
After Mayor Rick Meehan brought the idea to the City Council in September, the town went forward and got the necessary Homeland Security Grant (for approximately $30,000) that would enable the town to construct two new variable message boards on the Ocean City Boardwalk this summer.
The signs, which will resemble the digital message boards on state roads, will be erected on nine-foot concrete poles and placed at two strategic locations on the Boardwalk, which should provide timely updates on town events, warnings or upcoming events.
"We want to be able to put up what is going on, like if there are rip currents, or explain why the beach is being cleared," said Meehan. "We want to just let everyone on the Boardwalk realize what is happening."
More than likely, the boards will be constructed near N. Division Street and 9th Street, as there are already network connections available at those two streets, according to City Engineer Terry McGean.
"The signs are approximately two feet high and six feet long and we will be having a concrete company design the poles so that everything looks sharp and uniform," said McGean.
Town officials stress that the signs will only be used to promote town events, advise tourists to matters of public safety and to notify them to untimely changes for town scheduled events.
"The perfect example where these signs would have been helpful is a few years ago when we had to change the time of the 4th of July Fireworks," said Council President Joe Mitrecic.
Meehan said that in a time when information is seemingly streamlined at a rapid rate, the town needs to be able to notify its residents and visitors of current events in a similar fashion.
"We've been looking for ways to better get the information out there, and sometimes it is difficult to get information to the public," said Meehan. "We feel that the more information the public has, the better off we are in all circumstances."
Winterfest Takes Revenue Hit Due To Weekend Storm
In theory, the Winterfest of Lights would benefit from a winter wonderland of sorts, but Recreation and Parks Department Director Tom Shuster said the reality is quite the contrary.
Last weekend's blizzard that blanketed much of the Mid-Atlantic region under a feet of snow, or more, may not have reared its ugly head quite as profoundly here in the resort area, but Shuster said that the weather was bad enough on Saturday to force the Winterfest of Lights to close, essentially costing the town thousands of dollars in potential revenue.
"Usually, on a Saturday night, we bring in anywhere between $10,000 and $20,000," said Shuster. "We had been going at a much better pace than last season, up until last Saturday."
Shuster also noted that since the storm forced locals and those already in the area to stay home, it certainly stopped many visitors who traditionally have taken advantage of Ocean City's "drive-to" geographics.
"The day-trip destination visitors were certainly under traveler distress, so we probably came back to earth as far as where our revenue compared to last year is," said Shuster. "As with any business, you need customers to make money and the customers obviously had nothing to do other than to stay home."
The final weeks of Winterfest are usually pretty strong, according to Shuster, who hinted that he remains confident that the annual holiday light extravaganza will post ahead of last years' numbers.
Pilot Service Starts Slow
Public Works Director Hal Adkins said that the recently created Med-Trn service has started very slow, but he said, "that's to be expected this time of year."
After months of deliberation and planning, the Med-Trn service, which is essentially a door-to-door transport for Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) eligible elderly and handicapped residents of Ocean City to doctors' offices in Berlin, has only had a handful of riders since it was launched on Dec. 11.
"We have made one round trip for two users," said Transportation Superintendent George Thornes; "We have been receiving a few phone calls a week asking about the service, however."
Adkins said that the low number of riders is a bit deceiving as there is always a decrease in the amount of doctors' visits because of the holidays.
"This is the time of year when people are focusing on the holidays, and some doctors' offices are either closing or people just are simply pushing their appointments back until the first of the year," said Adkins. "I think that coupled with how new the service is, is the reason for the low number of riders so far."
Adkins says that he expects rider-ship to spike after the New Year.


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Here's a quick review of a movie that I saw on Wednesday night. 'Hitman'. All I can say is, "MAN, what a hit. NOT". There's totally nothing in it whatsoever, except for loads of blood, guns, explosions, a naked Russian chick that flashes her bod very frequently, and a few decent kills. I mean, remember Vin Diesel's 'xXx'? It was totally brainless and filled with over-the-top action. Yet, 'xXx' still managed to pull it off and still managed to get decent marks for its coolness with its sole dependability on Vin Diesel. But 'Hitman', with the lead star being Timothy Olyphant, he did not give you a sense of badass-ness when he appears on screen, or makes you go "whoa, respect" when he makes a kill. No. When you see Timothy as 'Hitman', immediately you will think of a bald cancer patient with nice tailored suits and with a knack to kill people. That's Timothy. And with that, the movie failed to launch from the first minute of this film. I got nothing against Timothy, he is a good actor with fine work done in the TV series 'Deadwood'. But I guess this movie suffered from a bad case of mis-casting as Timothy Olyphant is way too dynamic and has way too varied facial expressions in his acting palette, that when he is 'Hitman', he gave confusing portrayals to the viewers. Should we feel sad for 'Hitman', should we feel glad? Is he an all-out badass or an assassin with a heart? All this signals are not clear throughout the course of the movie and much of this mess falls on the lap of the director, Mr. Xavier Gens. My opinion of him is that he does not bother greatly about the emotional side of the character but concentrates heavily on the action. And yet, with the character of 'Hitman', he should do exactly the opposite. By going along with Timothy Olyphant as 'Hitman', a non-badass with a heart and soul, then the emotional side of him should be portrayed much more clearly than the action. If indeed 'Hitman' is a total all-out-badass, then action outweighs the emotions and clearly Timothy is not your guy and hence, the whole movie is mis-placed and mis-potrayed to the viewer. When this happens, no matter how big or grand the action is, the movie will suck and it did suck from the very moment it started.
I'm not even going to bother about the storyline because it is not even there. The acting is rubbish and I feel sad that this piece of work by Timothy had caused a big blemish to his portfolio of work. The action, even with much effort from the director, is sadly mundane and serves nothing to awe you in any way. Everything feels like an ordinary TV episode of any action series you may see on a regular week night. Everything is all wrong with this movie, and that is what you get for making an adaptation just for the sake of adapting it ('Hitman' is adapted from a popular video game). Except for some nice blood spattering on walls when bullets hit bad guys, I recommended you give this a miss. A hit this is not.
Verdict: 5 / 10
Reviewed by: Raymond Choy
What do you think? Love it? Hate it? Tell me about it!!!
Just so you know, I've moved… - … to a new blog persona: http://majidah.wordpress.com Let's meet there:)
10 years ago


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This is part 6 of our ongoing reporting with many updates about the massive 8.9 9.0 earthquake / tsunami which struck Japan on March 11 2011.
Click here for part one - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7
For an actual in-depth report on damage, fatalities, injured, etc please consult our "CATDAT Excel Sheet" or our "CATDAT Graphic".
UPDATE 09:18 UTC : While the construction of temporary accommodation has started in some Prefectures, many areas are finding it very difficult to find suitable pieces of land to build upon. The coastal area in Tohoku is mountainous and it is difficult to find plots of land that are flat.
UPDATE 08:47 UTC : On top of the damage misery, freezing temperatures are hampering relief efforts. Positive news however is that relief items are reaching the affected areas.
UPDATE 08:44 UTC : The number of evacuees and evacuation centers has been reduced, but 318,000 people remain homeless
UPDATE 08:44 UTC : More than 90% of telecommunication lines restored
UPDATE 08:42 UTC : The Government of Japan bans the sale of some vegetables from Prefectures close to the Fukushima Power Plant
UPDATE 23/03 - 08:05 UTC : We have updated our CATDAT damage excel file (see link on top of this page) to include all FDMA and Police reports issued until now.
UPDATE 23:46 UTC : The Japan Police corps has given a new update. 9,199 people have been confirmed killed and 14,000 are being listed as missing.
UPDATE 23:43 UTC : The US navy has dispatched 13,000 troops, 20 naval vessels and 140 aircraft to help the Japanese emergency services with the many different tasks they still have to do.
UPDATE 23:35 UTC : The general situation at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear power plant was further improved as power was restored to the control room of the troubled reactor nr 3. Thermometers are also working again at 3 reactors. This was the situation before the aftershocks discussed in detail here.
UPDATE 23:16 UTC : Iwaki has a population of 357,309. A lot of people will have been moved from this dangerous area after the mainshock. Many people are also staying in shelters.
UPDATE 23:14 UTC : Aftershocks of the aftershock are continuing top rattle the Fukushima area.
UPDATE 23:08 UTC : The aftershocks come at a really bad moment for the nuclear plant who was gradually improving the situation.
UPDATE 23:07 UTC : JMA 5+ intensity at :
Iwaki-shi Miwamachi (fukushima prefecture)
JMA 5- intensity at : Hokota-shi Toma* (Ibaraki prefecture)
UPDATE 23:03 UTC : The 07:16 local Japanese time has been recorded by JMA as a shallow M 6.0 earthquake. Below land and shallow (close to the surface), this earthquake can be damaging.
UPDATE 22:55 UTC : JMA (Japan) has categorized the intensity of these aftershocks as a 5+ (on a scale from 0 to 7). The aftershocks are especially dangerous because the area has been hit before on March 11 and by the many strong aftershocks afterwards. Some buildings are not yet stabilized.
M 5.7 2011/03/22 22:12 Depth 1.0 km EASTERN HONSHU, JAPAN
March 23, 2011 at 07:12:29 AM at epicenter
2 very dangerous strong aftershocks 20 minutes separated and close to Iwaki.
The aftershock is especially dangerous because the hypocenter seems to be very shallow
21 km (13 miles) WNW (283°) from Iwaki, Honshu, Japan and 72 km (45 miles) SSE (165°) from Fukushima, Honshu, Japan
Satellite map of the greater epicenter area
UPDATE 18:28 UTC : Good News : All six reactors at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant were reconnected to external power.
UPDATE 14:21 UTC : High radiation levels have been detected as far as 40 km from the power plant. It is clear to earthquake-Report that a vast area surrounding the plant will have to be evacuated for a very long time, as the government will not allow any risk for the people of the radiated areas.
UPDATE 14:18 UTC : An Australian high pressure water cannon did arrive in Tokyo to aid the cooling operations at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear plant. The pumps will be operated by Japan Self Defense Forces.
UPDATE 14:14 UTC : Rain and snow will make cleaning operations more difficult in some affected areas. The temperature will be dropping around 0°C on Tuesday.
UPDATE 14:00 UTC : The police have listed a new death toll of 9,080 with an additional 13,561 missing.
The FDMA statistics are mirroring more and more the Police statistics. We are waiting for further updates from the cities and towns in Miyagi province as to building damage estimates, but have estimates of up to 85,000 additional destroyed or partially destroyed buildings in this prefecture, using shelter and individual city estimates.
UPDATE 12:44 UTC : A lot of strong to very strong earthquakes today but luckily at a safe distance from the coast. JMA has reported only 4 intensity. Today is certainly a very active tectonic day with 2 M 6.6 and 1 M 6.4 aftershocks.
M 6.6     2011/03/22 09:44    Depth 15.5 km    OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
Another VERY STRONG aftershock approx. 100 km out of the Miyako coast. Categorized as JMA 4.
M 6.4     2011/03/22 09:19    Depth 27.0 km   NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
Another very strong aftershock closer to the Iwaki coastline, but nevertheless labeled by JMA also at a 4 intensity
Japan, Honshu : aftershocks of M5 or greater
M 6.6 2011/03/22 07:18 Depth 26.5 km OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN - JMA 4
M 5.0 2011/03/22 06:28 Depth 40.7 km OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN - JMA 4
M 5.1 2011/03/22 05:59 Depth 20.6 km NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
M 5.9 2011/03/22 03:38 Depth 11.4 km NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN - JMA 4
M 5.1 2011/03/22 01:13 Depth 35.9 km NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
Next to our earlier published Excel damage sheet, we have also created a GRAPHIC PDF which enables our readers to have a better and quicker overview of the actual situation.
UPDATE 07:48 UTC : JMA (Japan) has NOT issued a tsunami alert for this aftershock (to weak to generate a tsunami). The JMA findings are : max. JMA intensity : 4 @ Chiba and 3 @ Miyagi, Fukushima, Ibaraki and Tochigi
UPDATE 22/03 - 07:35 UTC : Very heavy but harmless aftershock out of the coast of Iwaki.
The aftershock has a Magnitude of 6.6 at a depth of 26.5 km.
The distance to Minamisoma is at least a secure 250 km.
There is NO tsunami warning in place.
GDACS just issued a GREEN earthquake alert.
UPDATE 13:26 UTC : Every new report from FDMA and the Japanese Police, the death toll is climbing again and again.
At this moment 8,649 people have been confirmed dead and 13,261 missing.
UPDATE 21/03 - 13:11 UTC : We just published a new update of the CATDAT summary of damage, injuries and fatalities. The most extensive statistics on the Internet outside Japan. Click on this link to view the spreadsheet.
UPDATE 19:42 UTC : New Update of this cruel disaster : Fatalities : 8,450 up from 8,198 and Missing : 12909 up from 12,722.
Miyagi is especially hard hit with more than 5,000 fatalities.
UPDATE 15:04 UTC : Japanese government has decided (in covered terms) to halt electricity production at the Fukushima nuclear power plant once is it is safely stopped.
UPDATE 15:00 UTC : Japan Fire Department has resumed cooling Fukushima reactor number 3 with water hosing.
UPDATE 14:56 UTC : The aftershock below has been recalculated at 5.8 at a depth of 45.7 (USGS data)
UPDATE 12:23 UTC : M 6.1 2011/03/20 12:03 Depth 53.1 km NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
09:03:48 PM at epicenter
Epicenter only 10 km from Funakoshi Bay ! JMA intensity so far is 4 (on a scale of 7)
Iwate prefecture has the highest intensity value. Aomori, Miyagi and Akita intensity JMA 3.
92 km (57 miles) ESE (115°) from Morioka, Honshu, Japan
Satellite map of the greater epicenter area
UPDATE 10:35 UTC : The unthinkable resulted in a happy end for 2 people in Ishinomaki as they were rescued to safety after an incredible 9 days. The rescue of the 80 year old woman and a boy from 16 years can be really called miraculous.
UPDATE 10:33 UTC : The Fukushima nuclear reactor no. 3 is not yet in a stable Safe condition but engineers decided NOT to release radioactive steam against their earlier intentions.
Japan Self Defense forces sprayed 80 tons of water on reactor nr. 4, and have ended this operation.
Japan, Honshu : aftershocks of M5 or greater
M 5.3 2011/03/20 07:56 Depth 28.9 km NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
116 km (72 miles) E of Mito, Honshu, Japan
M 5.2 2011/03/20 05:58 Depth 27.3 km NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
Approx. 50 km from Choshi and 119 km (73 miles) ESE of TOKYO, Japan- Max. JMA 3
M 5.4 2011/03/20 05:55 Depth 51.0 km NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
Approx. 35 km from Soma and 72 km (44 miles) SE of Sendai, Honshu, Japan- Max. JMA 3
M 5.5 3/20 01:30 Depth 22.8 km NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
Only 28 km (17 miles) ESE of Iwaki, Honshu, Japan- Max. JMA 4
M 5.0 2011/03/20 01:24 Depth 31.3 km NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
Approx. 60 km out of the Minamisoma coast- Max. JMA 4
M 5.2 2011/03/20 01:09 Depth 36.9 km NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
Only 40 km out of the Kamaichi coast- Max. JMA 4
UPDATE 08:02 UTC : Version 6 of James Daniell CATDAT Sendai / Great East / Tohoku Japan earthquake database has been uploaded. Click on the link on the upper part of this page to have an overview of the present situation. We are publishing based on location and prefecture, the number of Population, Fatalities, Missing, Injured, Seriously Injured, Collapsed houses, Partially destroyed houses, Partially damaged houses, Total Fires, etc. etc., too long to mention it here.
This material can also be used for scientific purposes.
Republishing is allowed ONLY if CATDAT, James Daniell and Earthquake-Report.com are mentioned on top of the article.
UPDATE 07:35 UTC : The tittle of this article is a cruel one, but will stay actual for hopefully only a couple of days more. The numbers have been increasing further to :
Fatalities : 8,198
Missing : 12,722
Remember : we only publish Official numbers from the authorities (Japan authorities can be trusted)
UPDATE 20/03-00:12 UTC : A huge media story 8 days after the earthquake, showed a man who was miraculously rescued. The miracle rescue came 1 day after the Search & Rescue teams stopped their search to find survivors.
This man proved that the SAR people were wrong.
NO, they were not wrong. The man did fled in time to higher grounds and stayed many days in an evacuation center nearby. On the day that he was detected and rescued, he simply went to his collapsed house and was "found" by rescue people wrapped in a sheet against the cold.
UPDATE 22:48 UTC : The situation at the Fukushima nuclear power plant is slowly improving. Two reactors are now connected to external power, a vital element for safety.
The water temperature is dropping at reactor nr. 5
Overview of a number of aftershocks which occurred on March 19 JST (Japan Standard Time)
19:00 JST 19 Mar 2011 18:56 JST 19 Mar 2011 5+
18:59 JST 19 Mar 2011 18:56 JST 19 Mar 2011 5+
18:58 JST 19 Mar 2011 18:56 JST 19 Mar 2011 5+
18:58 JST 19 Mar 2011 18:56 JST 19 Mar 2011 5+
18:57 JST 19 Mar 2011 18:56 JST 19 Mar 2011 5+
JMA description of 5+ : "Cracks in the walls, overturning of gravestones, stone lanterns etc., damage to chimneys and stone fences." "It is considerably difficult to remain standing. In houses, slight damage is generally sustained. A soft ground can split or break. Unstable furniture falls over."
Unfortunately the combined death/missing toll has risen to over 19,000, with around 7500 killed and 11600 missing. Miyagi continues to be the worst hit, with Iwate and Fukushima also having large losses.
UPDATE: Situation Report 5 from CATDAT and earthquake-report.com is now available. CLICK ABOVE!
Unfortunately the combined death and missing toll has risen to over 18,000.
UPDATE 18:23 UTC : Fire Department from Tokyo was dispatched to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station and used a water cannon that can fire from a special high position to cool the troubled reactor. Restoring power to the plant will not happen soon. The Japanese government has raised the Fukushima accident to level 5, which is equal than the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island, USA
CATDAT and earthquake-report.com present the 4th public damage report combining all manner of Japanese sources. It will be online in a few minutes under the above link.
The casualty total has risen substantially again today. 6,911 are dead, and 10,754 are missing. You can click on the CATDAT Summary of Sendai Damage above for all information. The worst affected prefectures are Miyagi (4030 killed, 2214 missing), Iwate (2223 killed, 4253 missing) and Fukushima (602 killed, 4282 missing).
In other news, the reactor problems continue, however this will hopefully be resolved by the end of the weekend, with reports coming through of lower temperatures.
UPDATE 07:55 UTC : Unfortunately some very bad news too : The death toll has increased to 6,539.
With 6539 confirmed killed, this makes the largest death toll from an
earthquake ever to hit a developed country.
Kobe killed 6434 people.
As of 07:00 UTC 18/03, the National Police have said that 6539 have been killed, and 10354 are missing, mainly from Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima Provinces.
UPDATE 07:55 UTC : More good news at the Fukushima nuclear power plant where SDF (Japan Self Defense Forces) were injecting water in the reactors with fire trucks. TEPCO, the power plant owner, is trustfull that the cooling systems may be restored on Saturday. This would be great news as this would end the superdangerous nuclear accident.
UPDATE 07:50 UTC : At least some good news for the Honshu coastal settlements struck by the tsunami. The magnitude and frequency of the aftershocks is continuing to decrease. Since midnight UTC only 3 aftershocks were recorded at values of 5.2, 5.4 and 5.5.
UPDATE 18/3 - 00:50 UTC : We have added a special page to "understanding the M 9.0 Sendai earthquake and tsunami" - Click here to visit this page
UPDATE 23:20 UTC : Nearly 300,000 people are being accommodated in 2,200 shelters. In, Miyagi Prefecture 166,000 people have found a shelter, Fukushima Prefecture 47,000, Iwate Prefecture has 48,000 evacuees and the Kanto region (includingTokyo) 20,000.
UPDATE 18:57 UTC : Let's bring some positive news on Fukushima nuclear power plants. Radiation decreased a little after the Japan Self Defense Forces injected water by pump trucks.
UPDATE 15:57 UTC : All actions to cool down some of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors by helicopter seem to have failed. More engineers are on site to determine what to do next.
International nuclear specialists are emphasizing that this tragedy cannot be compared with the Tjernobyl accident, which was a lot more damaging and carried more health risks to the people living in a wide radius around the plant.
UPDATE 15:46 UTC : A powerful aftershock of magnitude 5.8 at a depth of 30 km occuured along the Fukushima coast. The max. JMA value was 4 for some locations in the following prefectures : Fukushima, Miyagi and Ibaraki.
UPDATE 15:27 UTC : Many thousands of people will have been killed by the tsunami on March 11 having faith in the special Tsunami barriers who had to protect them from the violent sea. A big number of these so called Tsunami walls were simply washed away. Kamaichi is a perfect example of such a destroyed town fortified by huge concrete reinforced tsunami walls.
The earthquake-report conclusion : in case of an very powerful tsunami, nr. 1 measure : EVACUATE TO HIGHER GROUNDS !!!
UPDATE 14:41 UTC : Missing up to 9522. CATDAT Update v2 including all known damage has been uploaded. Click here to visit this page.
UPDATE 13:18 UTC : The Miyagi Prefecture has given their most recent results. We will
give an in-depth summary soon.
In other news, for the Sendai Quake the death toll has risen to 5692, and the missing toll to 9506. This brings the total to 15198 people.
UPDATE 13:06 UTC : The rolling blackouts keep on occurring across Japan. Mixed reports
are coming through that the temperature of the reactor is not reducing in the last ditch effort.
UPDATE 11:58 UTC : For all our russian users, there is a great earthquake-report.com
article in the press using CATDAT data.
UPDATE 11:52 UTC : We just published a new version of our damaged Prefecture and Cities
list. Click here to visit this page.
UPDATE 11:47 UTC : According to the latest summary of the police, the number of people
missing or deadexceeded 15,000.
UPDATE 11:46 UTC : According to the Ministry of Defense, 35 minutes and 7 pm for the Unit
3 cooling Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, two fire engines with
high pressure water cannon started.
UPDATE 11:08 UTC : After reviewing the JMA data we can conclude that this earthquake which affected the Aomori and Iwate prefectures was recorded at a magnitude of 5.8 at a depth of 20 km. The value of the JMA scale (O to 7) was max. 4 (compared to a 6 or 6+ for the March 11 (tsunami) and March 15 Mount Fuji earthquake.
UPDATE 10:49 UTC : A very strong aftershock in the coastal area of Iwati prefecture and about 30 km from Kuji, has been experienced by the Kuji people as a VI MMI.
As a lot of buildings have been damaged by the violent shaking f the March 11 earthquake, a VI MMI can be the shaking too much.
This earthquake is an aftershock in the same faulting area than the March 11 mainshock, but at a totally diffrent location. It is very concerning that these very strong aftershocks are starting to shake totally different areas.
UPDATE 10:43 UTC : According to Japan National Police, who is the countries official spokesperson, 5,583 people are confirmed killed and an additional 9,594 is still missing.
UPDATE 10:41 UTC : Japan is very upset that so many governments in the world are asking their people to leave the country. Most of the governments are taking this decision because they feel that on top of the earthquake-risk, the Japanese authorities are not trustworthy on their nuclear radiation reports.
UPDATE 10:34 UTC : Earthquake-Report has refreshed his very detailed CATDAT list, summarizing the fatalities, injured, etc statistics per prefecture and city. Click here to visit this page.
UPDATE 17/03 - 07:57 UTC : Official sources have confirmed that until now 5,198 deaths have been counted. 9,429 people are still missing. This number of missing people reflects only the number registered with the authorities. Official sources now say that the final number may be in the tens of thousands.
UPDATE 16/03 - 22:20 UTC : U.S. troops, helping the Japanese with the tsunami aftermath, have to stay away at least 70 km from of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
UPDATE 21:57 UTC : We just published a new version of our damaged Prefecture and Cities list. Click here to visit this page.
UPDATE 21:50 UTC : Japan's Emperor Akihito appeared on National TV to express sympathy for people affected by the cruel Tsunami.
UPDATE 19:00 UTC : The number of fatalities have risen to 4,340 with 9,000 people missing, which brings the total of assumed killed people to 13,340.
UPDATE 08:53 UTC : The number of fatalities have risen to 3,771 with 8,181 people missing, which brings the total of assumed killed people to nearly 12,000.
UPDATE 08:50 UTC : The Fukushima nuclear power plant accident situation is still unclear, but at the positive side, we can report that the plant workers are again allowed in the power plant (they have been ordered to urgently evacuate on Tuesday).
UPDATE 08:46 UTC : 80,000 Japan Self-Defense Forces are working day and night in the continuing Search and Rescue operations. The chance of finding survivors diminishes by the hour due to dehydratation and winter conditions (freezing cold and snowfall).


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Packers won't have Woodson back for Bears game
Matthews expected to play against Bears
Jay Cutler can't catch a break this season.
Clay Matthews was back at practice Wednesday for the first time since pulling his hamstring last month, and he's eager to terrorize the Bears quarterback again Sunday when the Green Bay Packers (9-4) travel to Chicago. The Packers can clinch the NFC North title with a victory over their biggest rivals.
"When you have a good day rushing the passer - it might not equal sacks directly, but if you feel good as a pass rusher you get into a routine, a rhythm and a groove," Matthews said. "I definitely felt that was the case the first time we played them. I want to break out a little bit of the rust, obviously, sitting out a few games, but there shouldn't be a drop-off.
"Hopefully, there isn't."
Tormenting Cutler has become one of Matthews' favorite activities. He has six sacks in seven games against the Bear, and Cutler probably still has some bruises from their meeting in September. Matthews had a career-high 3 1/2 sacks, seven tackles - six of them solo - and also batted down a pass. The Bears managed just 168 yards in that game, a 23-10 Green Bay win that was even more lopsided than the score indicated.
Despite missing the last four games, Matthews still leads the Packers - and is tied for sixth in the NFC - with nine sacks.
"He's practicing today? That's good to know. We could use all the help we can get," Bears coach Lovie Smith said in a conference call with Packers media. "He's one of the best players in the league. That'll definitely give them a boost. They're a better football team with him on the football field."
The Packers would be even better if Charles Woodson was ready to go, but coach Mike McCarthy said doctors decided the perennial Pro Bowler needs to give his broken collarbone another week to heal. Woodson practiced last week, and was hoping he'd be able to play against Chicago.
The Packers-Bears rivalry is the oldest in the NFL and, no question, its fiercest. Curly Lambeau and George Halas used to refuse to shake hands after games, and Bears receiver Brandon Marshall said Wednesday he's never disliked a team as much as the Packers.
That the Packers can clinch the division title has only added to the hype.
"Very frustrating day. Charles was ready to play, he's ready to go," McCarthy said. "It's the judgment of our medical staff, in particular Dr. McKenzie. He does not feel it's in Charles' best interest to play in this game. Trust me, that's not easy. He's been preparing himself. He practiced last week. I know he's extremely frustrated."
Matthews is anxious to get back on the field, too, but he knows he has to be smart about it. This is his third hamstring injury, and there's no sense getting back on the field if he's only going to have to come right back off a week or two later.
Especially with where the Packers are in the season.
Green Bay has been one of the hottest teams in the NFL after its 2-3 start, winning seven of its last eight. Not only are the Packers closing in on the division title, they still have a shot at the NFC's No. 2 seed - and the first-round bye that goes with it.
"I'm not going to put myself in an older category, but maybe a younger Clay might have pushed it a little too much in trying to get back out there," said Matthews, who is in his fourth season. "But you have to realize the bigger picture here. ... With a few games left and an opportunity to clinch this thing, with an opportunity to get into the playoffs, ultimately that's the big picture. It's to get healthy and go into the last part of the season and playoffs full-strength and full-speed. Hopefully that's the case. Today was a good step."
McCarthy said they'll see how Matthews responds the rest of the week. The Packers aren't practicing in pads at all this week, but they will be in shells Thursday and it will be their longest and hardest practice.
"The plan is for him to play in the game," McCarthy said. "But that's why you practice. It's important to go through the process physically, mentally. ... We'll do our best to get him ready."
Cutler might want to do the same.
Notes: OL T.J. Lang practiced after missing last week's game with an ankle injury. At his old left guard position, no less. Lang was shifted to right tackle after Bryan Bulaga suffered a season-ending hip injury Nov. 4 against Arizona. "Today was the first day I really got to run around and plant on it, put weight on it," Lang said. "I'm definitely feeling better each day. If I continue to make the improvements I'm making the past week, I feel pretty good about Sunday." ... McCarthy said WR Jordy Nelson (hamstring) is a "longshot" for Sunday's game. ... Jeff Saturday remains the starter though Evan Dietrich-Smith took snaps at center during practice.


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This article appears in the July 15 gameday magazine. To see the complete magazine, click here.
It would surprise many to look over a resume that includes an MLS Defender of the Year award, multiple visits to training camps with the U.S. men's national team, 210 regular season appearances and seven trips to the playoffs in eight MLS seasons, and realize that the player was undrafted out of college. That CV, however, belongs to Dynamo defender Bobby Boswell, who earned an opportunity with D.C. United eight years ago and has not looked back, embarking on a career that includes success on the pitch and more than a few stories off of it.
Boswell grew up in Tampa, Fla., another football-crazed state in which men's college soccer programs were hit hard by Title IX. The best in-state option for Boswell was Florida International University, where he received an academic scholarship and a chance to play soccer with his older brother Billy.
"Sometimes when two people are different they get along better than two people who are alike," said Boswell about his relationship with Billy. "We definitely have our differences, but my brother made me into the person that I am today and the player that I am. He was always hard on me as an older brother. I think I am where I am because of him."
Buy tickets for Sunday's showdown with D.C. United at BBVA Compass Stadium
Boswell was not selected in the 2005 SuperDraft nor the Supplemental Draft, but had a trial with Viborg FF of the Danish Superliga. Afterward, Boswell was invited to Washington for a spell with D.C. United, which had won its fourth MLS Cup the year before but was in need of a defender. Boswell earned a contract from United and says he never felt upset about going undrafted.
"I never looked at it as a snub or anything like that," Boswell recalls. "I think there are a lot of good players and it's hard to pick who's going be successful and who is not…It's about the system, the opportunity and how well you do, and I was fortunate to get an opportunity."
Boswell contributed immediately as a rookie in 2005, making 26 starts in the 32-game regular season and adding three goals and an assist for D.C. United.
"I came into a very good team, with veterans like Jaime Moreno and Ben Olsen and young guys like Freddy Adu and Alecko Eskandarian," Boswell remembers about his first season in Washington. "Peter (Nowak) was a great coach in that he gave you confidence and all the time you needed to really work on player development. He worked with guys to develop them and I was definitely one of those guys.
"I didn't play center back in college, I played defensive mid, so to come in and be expected to play center back he worked with me a lot and we watched video on some preseason trips. Every night we would watch video together and he'd show me what he wanted me to do – good plays and bad plays – and he worked with me."
Olsen, now in his third season as head coach of United, will coach against Boswell, his former teammate, for the third time on Sunday. Boswell appreciates the patience and mentoring Olsen provided him as a youngster in the league.
"Ben Olsen was a veteran guy, and he was great at not letting you get too high or too low," Boswell reminisces. "He would pull the reigns if he thought you were getting a little ahead of yourself, and there were times if you were getting a little down, and he could sense that, and he would pick you up."
"I look back on that and think he was probably a little annoyed with me as a snot-nosed young guy who was full of energy that probably annoyed him. Now that I look at it as an older player, I really appreciate the things that he did for me. He kept me going through the hard times, and any good team has some veteran leaders and some good young guys and that's what we had there. That is similar to what we have right now in Houston."
In 2006, Boswell completed a remarkable two-year run from undrafted college player to MLS Defender of the Year. The year included his first U.S. men's national team training camp in January and his first cap in February. His notoriety grew off the field as well, as he appeared in the November issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine as Mr. Virginia on its 50 Most Attractive Bachelors list.
"It was a lot of fun," Boswell says about the experience with Cosmopolitan. "I think guys give me a harder time about it in the locker room that anywhere else. They (Cosmopolitan) created an email address for me and I got about 300 emails from girls looking for dates and some of it was funny, some of it was sad, and some of it was cool. It's unfortunate that I'm getting older because I still feel like that 22-year-old kid that I was a few years ago."
Tom Soehn replaced Peter Nowak as United head coach before the 2007 season and after that campaign Boswell knew it was time to move on.
"I knew guys were getting offloaded and I knew I wanted out," Boswell recalls. "I had asked for a trade and Tommy (Soehn) and Kevin Payne granted me that wish. I was uncertain of where I would end up but I knew I wanted to go somewhere. When I found out I was coming to Houston I was really happy about it. To go from one great team to another great team was pretty phenomenal."
The transition was made easier for Boswell by his familiarity with a core of national team players on the Dynamo roster.
"That year (2007) I had been in national team camp with about six of the Houston players, so I knew a lot of the guys, just from being in camp with them, and I really got along with Eddie (Robinson). To come into a place where I was his partner in the back, that was a lot of fun."
Robinson, the 11-year veteran who won four MLS Cups with Houston and San Jose before retiring this winter, is quick to tell you what has helped Boswell achieve success in MLS.
"To be a good defender, you have to take pride in it," Robinson declares. "To really be good, and to make forwards not want to play against you, you have to take pride in defending and Bobby does. Not just from a personal standpoint, but from a team standpoint. His communication, his encouragement to the forwards and the midfielders, to defend, he takes pride in defending and keeping clean sheets"
It also helps to stay on the field, something that has come remarkably easy to Boswell in his career. Boswell has started at least 22 games in every season of his career and has played full time in 28 consecutive MLS games since Sept. 14, 2011.
"I always joke around with the guys. I say, 'You have to have muscles to tear them,'" Boswell says half-jokingly. "I don't necessarily have those fast-twitch fibers, but all joking aside, I've been blessed with good genes. My parents are pretty tough and I think having three older brothers definitely toughened me up.
Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear appreciates Boswell, who has become a fixture in his backline since the 2007 trade brought Boswell to Houston.
"Bobby is very durable and rarely misses games or practices," Kinnear said. "He is a good communicator, an honest defender, and he does well on set pieces for and against. He is a good example for a lot of young players when they come through. He's always available. He's as honest as they come. When he plays well, our teams plays well. He passes the ball well out of the back. He's confident and overall a good, solid defender for us."
Boswell is thankful for his health and insists that there are no real secrets to his durability.
"I think I've only missed one game due to an illness, but I don't think I've ever missed a game due to an injury. I'd like to keep it that way. There's no off-field secret. I drink my milk in the morning and I show up ready to work every day and it has worked out for me."
Watch Boswell face his former team in Sunday's showdown with D.C. United at BBVA Compass Stadium


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Electrical Fundamentals and Need for power systems protection
Welcome to the world of Power Systems. The first part of the session focuses on Introduction to Power Systems, Goal of Power systems protection, fundamentals of Electricity, AC or DC, Importance of electricity, Power system voltage levels and consumers of electricity. Need and Complexities in protection of power system primary Equipment like Generators, Motors, Transformers and Circuit Breakers and finally analysis of what can go wrong on a transmission line.
Introduction to Protection Relay and Power Systems Faults
Second part of the session explains use case for protection relay, the sequence of events during a fault, Fault Types and the approach for fault analysis. The Session also explains commonly used protection relays and application of different relays along the grid for protection of Generation, Transmission, Distribution and Industrial equipment, Evolution of protection relays from traditional mechanical, static and the current generation digital relays.
AC Analog Input Module Architecture (AIM)
The third part of the session provides details on the need to focus on AC analog input module and its use cases in different types of protection relays, Different types of current sensors and the use cases for these sensors including key advantages and dis-advantages. Explains AC analog input module architecture including block diagram showing the critical products and EERD with different subsystems identified showing different approaches for designing an AC AIM.
Selection of Key Components (ADC, Signal Conditioning Amplifier) for AC Analog Input Module (AIM)
Fourth part of the session explains representation of Voltage or Current waveforms in Time and frequency domain and also looks at the customer use case for application of Time or frequency domain Analysis. The session also explains different sampling approaches like Simultaneous sampling, Coherent sampling, Oversampling to improve system performance, criteria for ADC selection and choice between SAR and Delta-Sigma ADCs. There is a list of TI products that can be considered during the design of the AIM and finally provides overview for Focus ADCs for this session.
Design Details for TI design TIDA-00834 High Accuracy Analog Front End Using 16-Bit SAR ADC with ±10V Measurement Range Reference Design
Fifth part of the session will focus on providing detailed information on TIDA-00834 TI design. The initial slides cover Design Overview, Features, Key Components, test Setup, market differentiators, Block Diagram with links to relevant TI Designs, EVMs and TI product used in this design. Circuit representation and detailed description for ADC interface, Voltage and Current measurement and Power supply are provided. Graphs for Voltage and Current measurement accuracy are shown; along with collaterals and TI design links that can be referred by customers during design.
TI Precision Labs - Op Amps: Instrumentation Amplifiers
In this video series you will learn the basic fundamentals of instrumentation amplifiers, including what an instrumentation amplifier is and how to use one. These videos will also address the different categories / topologies of instrumentation amplifiers and discuss their benefits and trade-offs.
Cell Phone GSM Interference
TI Precision Labs - Op Amps: Stability - Measuring system stability
TI Precision Labs - Op Amps: Slew Rate - Settling time
TI Precision Labs - Op Amps: Noise - Simplifying calculations
TI Precision Labs - Op Amps: Noise Spice Simulation
TI Precision Labs - Op Amps: Noise - Verifying the noise model
TI Precision Labs - Op Amps: Noise - Measuring system noise
TI Precision Labs - Op Amps: Noise - 1/F flicker noise
TI Precision Labs - Op Amps: Noise - Lab
TI Precision Labs - Op Amps: Stability - Introduction
TI Precision Labs - Op Amps: Stability - Phase margin
TI Precision Labs - Op Amps: Stability - Spice simulation
TI Precision Labs - Op Amps: Slew Rate - Signal response
TI Precision Labs - Op Amps: Slew Rate - Lab


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Welcome to the Game Day Fire Drill, for this, Calgary's 31st game of the season on Dec. 11, 2009.
Don't really know how to say it any clearer than this: Calgary needs to win this game handily because Minnesota sucks.
Sorry to be so blunt, but it's true. They've done almost nothing well this season, especially on the road. They've only won five of their 17 games away from St. Paul, which is obviously going to kill you, but the way in which they've done it is just stunning. In those 17 road games, they've conceded 48 goals (2.82 per game), which isn't terrible but is at least fairly bad. But the goals for? Yiiiiiiikes. Just 36. That's 2.12 a night. If you round up.
And the teams they played on the road aren't exactly the iron of the National Hockey League. Starting most recently, just have a look: Colorado, Phoenix, Nashville, Colorado, Carolina, Washington, Tampa, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Chicago, St. Louis, Vancouver, Edmonton, Anaheim, San Jose, L.A. and Columbus. Six of those teams are among the 10 worst defensive sides in the league. Another is out of the bottom-10 but still below league average.
And with the way Calgary's defense and goaltending have looked in the last few weeks (see also: remarkably well), how can this team come into the Saddledome and expect to do well? If more than one Minnesota shot gets past Miikka Kiprusoff tonight, I'm going to be annoyed.
The Calgary Flames (19-8-3 for 41 points. Tied for third in the West, first in the Northwest) and the Minnesota Wild (14-13-3 for 31 points. Fourteenth in the West, fifth in the Northwest).
7 p.m. Mountain time and 9:30 p.m. Eastern time. All other time zones should go digital.
Pengrowth Saddledome, Calgary, Alberta.
Calgary is 8-5-0 at home this year, and went 3-0-0 against the Wild in Calgary last year. The Wild are 5-10-2 on the road, which nicely offsets their 9-3-1 home record.
What (to hate about the Wild)
Martin Havlat — He only has two, TWO, goals, and nine assists. He's seventh on the team in scoring behind superduperstars like Owen Nolan and Eric Belanger. He's a minus-17! It's been an absurdly bad season. (Oh I'm sorry this should have been filed under "What (to hate about the Wild if you're a Wild fan)")
Derek Boogaard — Well, his name might be fun to say, but he's a bit of what you'd call a punk. For a guy that's pushing 12 feet tall, he's not even THAT tough.
Andrew Brunette — Insofar as he leads their team in goals. Wait that can't be right. Andrew Brunette is an NHL team's best sniper? No, that's all wrong.
Because you'd love to watch a game against the Wild on Pay Per View. Enjoy the game and enjoy Tara McCool's smooth delivery in the comments section.


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Sailing Sunglasses, Hats, Helmets and Knee Pads
Sailing accessories like sunglasses, hats and knee pads help keep you protected and comfortable on the boat. Hats come in various options that deliver style and protection throughout the seasons – waterproof hats for rain and spray, insulated hats for winter and cold weather sailing, and wide brimmed sun hats for UV protection. For serious head protection there are sailing specific helmets often worn on dinghies and skiffs. Sailing knee pads hold up well to nonskid decks, and allow the active keelboat sailor to position their body comfortably on a hard deck. Protecting your eyes from direct sun and glare on the water is critical. Polarized marine sunglasses come in styles for men, women and kids and are designed for on the water needs. We have chosen the best polarized glasses for use on and off the water.
2 Items
Gill Sailing CapAs low as $19.95
Olivia Constants Trucker Hataps price $20.00
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As a blogger, Buzz Bishop is careful to protect his words and photos from being used without his consent on the Internet.
So he had mixed feelings when he recently saw his son's photo plastered on the backs of Cheerios boxes in a Calgary grocery store.
Although the local radio host was aware the photo would be used for advertising purposes (he was contacted by a representative from General Mills beforehand), he's disappointed the company is refusing to provide what he believes is adequate compensation.
The photo of Bishop's youngest child, Charlie, was originally entered in a 2010 Cheerios contest to win a $10,000 RESP through TD Canada Trust. The picture placed second and the family received a year's supply of the cereal. Charlie's photo also appeared on Cheerios boxes along with the winner and the other finalists.
"It was bragging rights," recalls Bishop. "It was all fun."
Then a year ago, Bishop got a call telling him the same picture would be used in another promotion on Facebook.
"I made a joke to the effect of, 'If you loved it so much, why didn't he win the other contest?'" says Bishop, who was sent another case of Cheerios as compensation.
He was informed by General Mills via e-mail a few months later that his son would also be appearing on Cheerios boxes in 2013.
Bishop admits he was initially thrilled Cheerios had chosen to feature his son's photo in its new campaign. But following conversations with friends and online acquaintances — many of whom said the family should have been better compensated for use of the photo — he began to feel General Mills had taken advantage of Charlie's image. He contacted the company earlier this month to see if they would make a contribution to his now three-year-old son's RESP.
"I did not place a dollar figure on it and articulated I'm not a 'stage dad' trying to get rich," he explains.
"I just feel that if the image is worthy of such a big marketing campaign, it was worthy of winning the original contest, and worthy of an RESP donation as compensation.
"Yes, Cheerios has compensated me for the use of the photo. But have they adequately compensated me for the use of it? I would say no."
Bishop understands he's unlikely to receive any money — or even another box of free Cheerios — for future use of his son's picture by General Mills because of broad, but clearly stated rules and regulations about usage in the original contest entry.
"I'm just thankful it's a good brand," he says. "They're at least using it (the photo) responsibly."
General Mills did not respond to a phone interview request, but instead sent an e-mail statement regarding Bishop's issues.
"General Mills executes contests and promotions several times a year," wrote Catherine Jackson, director of corporate communications for General Mills Canada.
"Each execution has its own rules, which are clearly brought to the consumer's attention before they participate. Consumers should be sure they carefully read and understand these rules. If they do not agree with them, then they should not participate.
"In (Bishop's) case, he agreed to the contest's rules. In addition, when his entry was selected as the winner of the second-place prize, he signed the waiver and photo release. We are disappointed . . . (he) is unhappy with the outcome."
Roland Hung of Calgary law firm McCarthy Tetrault says as companies increasingly run contests through social media sites such as Facebook, people need to be more aware of their rights and how their information or images will be used.
"You should know your obligations, know what you're giving up," says Hung.
"Most people don't read contest rules and regulations before entering. But if you're worried about how your photo will be used, you need to find out whether you are licensing or providing a non-exclusive licensing to use your picture. Under what circumstances can they use it? Are you able to terminate that license at any point in time?"
Hung says people should expect their photos and information to be used outside of the contests they are originally entered in, but adds companies must still adhere to provincial and federal privacy laws.
"Every single contest has terms of use or policy to click on before you enter ... It's there for a reason."


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(CNN) — Human remains have been found on the wrecked Costa Concordia, possibly answering what happened to the last two missing passengers of the cruise liner that ran aground off Italy's Giglio Island in 2012, a spokesman for the head of Italy's civil protection agency said Thursday.
Divers will try to recover the remains, which were found on deck 4, on Thursday afternoon, the spokesman said.
The discovery comes a week after engineers finally righted the ship, which capsized when it ran aground in January 2012, killing 32 of the 4,200 people on board.
The toll of 32 includes two people who were missing but presumed dead: Russel Rebello of India and Maria Grazia Trecarichi of Sicily.
By Barbie Latza Nadeau
For extended coverage on this story, click here.


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NEA honors America's human and civil rights heroes
Annual event honors legacies and contributions of social justice advocates
WASHINGTON - June 29, 2012 -
The National Education Association will honor thirteen of America's human and civil rights heroes at its annual Human and Civil Rights Awards Dinner, July 1, 2012, in Washington, DC at the DC Convention Center. In addition to celebrating some of the nation's leading civil and human rights activists, the ceremony commemorates the 1966 National Education Association-American Teachers Association merger and serves as a time of renewal while renewing a commitment to the social justice struggle that lies ahead.
"We celebrate our civil rights heroes, both past and present, because the struggle for social justice continues and by holding up these heroes we inspire the next generation," said NEA President Dennis Van Roekel. "The people we honor at NEA's Human and Civil Rights Awards Dinner, whether they are widely-acclaimed or unsung, motivate us to purposeful and principled action by providing a vision of what the world could be with cooperation and understanding."
John Robert Fetters (Click on the name for detailed information and photos)
Social Studies Teacher, Mount Vernon Public Schools; Mount Vernon, Ohio
NEA's Applegate-Dorros Peace and International Understanding Award will be presented to John Robert "Rob" Fetters, whose activities in education contribute to international understanding and motivate youth to work for world peace. Fetters' home has served as an international hub for students and teachers from across the world for two decades. Teachers from Japan and college professors from Kenya, all guests in Fetters' home, interacted with and taught students from the Mount Vernon area—exposing the students enrolled in Mount Vernon, Ohio public schools to worldly experiences, culture and art.
Jerry Gore
Professor (retired), Morehead State University; Maysville, Ky.
Jerry Gore's unfettered commitment to expand the understanding of African American heritage by linking the past with the present, has earned him NEA's Carter G. Woodson Memorial Award. Gore established an Underground Railroad Museum called Freedom Time, where he unearthed much of the railroad's history in Maysville, Ky. The museum, through its Freedom Time Tours, has had a major impact on students who have only read about the Underground Railroad. Students can retrace the path to freedom for human justice and dignity, and explore the secret hiding places and trails used by enslaved Africans and conductors of the Underground Railroad.
Mary Ann Pacheco
Professor, Rio Hondo Community College; Whittier, Calif.
Following in the famous footsteps of César Chávez, Mary Ann Pacheco is a long-time advocate for improving the status of labor and the lives of workers, earning her NEA's César Chávez Acción y Compromiso Human and Civil Rights Award. Pacheco is a staunch advocate of the DREAM Act. She has extended her passion and activism to fighting for the collective bargaining rights of higher education faculty members. She has spoken forcefully for academic freedom and union rights whenever and wherever they are threatened.
Stewart Kwoh
President and Executive Director, Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC); Los Angeles, Calif.
This year's NEA Ellison S. Onizuka Memorial Award will be awarded to Stewart Kwoh for his work in education and his commitment to equal opportunities for Asians and Pacific Islanders. Kwoh has worked tirelessly for the inclusion of Chinese history, culture, language, as well as Chinese American history, in the Los Angeles public school system. Moreover, Kwoh has fought against stereotypes by combining muted diplomacy with steely determination to end discrimination against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
Rosalinda Carreón-Altamirano
Bilingual/Multicultural/Migrant Education Department facilitator, Las Cruces Public Schools; Las Cruces, N.M.
Rosalinda Carreón-Altamirano is a high-octane, multi-tasking activist and leader. She has been a powerful and persistent advocate for bilingual education and educators for three years. She is the kind of educator George I. Sánchez had in mind when he predicted that the Spanish language would one day be considered an asset—not a deficit—by educators. Carreoén-Altamirano's passionate commitment to bilingual education make her the perfect recipient for this year's honoree of the George I. Sánchez Memorial Award.
Dream of Eagles
Intertribal organization (501c3); Omaha, Neb.
The Leo Reano Memorial Award will be presented to Dreams of Eagles for the intertribal organization's work in preserving the tribal customs, oral traditions, language and history of Native Americans and Alaska Natives. The group has been instrumental in organizing cultural activities and classes to assist Native people in maintaining their cultural tradition. Over the past seven years, Dream of Eagles has helped to expose more than 28,000 4th grade students to Native American arts, crafts, traditions, lifestyles, and history.
Reverend Doctor Ralph David Abernathy
Posthumously; Atlanta, Ga.
Jailed 17 times, alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Reverend Abernathy's church and home were bombed. Yet, despite the violence and injustice inflicted upon him, the Rev. Dr. Abernathy was steadfast in his quest to achieve fairness and freedoms through nonviolence. In honor of his peaceable philosophy and techniques, the Rev. Dr. Abernathy will be posthumously honored with NEA's Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Award.
Theresa Bwanya Kashale
English Teacher, Hawthorne Elementary School; Sioux Falls, S.D.
A refugee from the war-torn Congo, Theresa Bwanya Kashale not only transforms lives through teaching, but also saves lives. When she is not raising money for her orphanage in the Congo or teaching in the classroom or studying for another degree, Kashale is helping refugees in Sioux Falls, especially the women who learn from Kashale's self-determination. Kashale will be honored with NEA's Mary Hatwood Futrell Award for her international work and commitment to improving the lives of women.
Paul Hernandez, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Central Michigan University; Mount Pleasant, Mich.
Before he earned a Ph.D. in Sociology, before his bachelor's degree, before his associate degree from a community college, Paul Hernandez was an "at-risk" K-12 student—at risk of dropping out. Now, he works with schools to implement a unique pedagogical approach, of his own design, that helps teachers and administrators improve passing rates and build meaningful relationships with students at risk of dropping out. Hernandez will received NEA's Reg Weaver's Human and Civil Rights Award for his fervent commitment to helping poor students and eliminate poverty.
Caroline Hunter
Science and Math Teacher (retired); Mass.
Caroline Hunter is a champion of human and civil rights, which is why she will be awarded NEA's Rosa Parks Memorial Award. As a person of conscience, Hunter was instrumental in exposing her then employer, Polaroid Corporation, for doing business with the apartheid government of South Africa. After seven years of protests led by Hunter, Polaroid completely pulled out of South Africa. Polaroid's decision helped launch the international divestment movement, which eventually crippled apartheid in South Africa. Now, a retired secondary science and math teacher, Hunter continues her life as a social justice activist.
Jefferson County Teachers Association (JCTA)
Local Education Association; Louisville, Ky.
The 2012 Rosena J. Willis Memorial Award will be presented to the Jefferson County Teachers Association for the revitalization of its human rights program. Jefferson County has an emotionally charged history of segregation that continues to impact the community today. JCTA's leadership decided to revitalize its Human and Civil Rights Committee to help address human and civil rights issues; the Committee now conducts rigorous diversity trainings for JCTA members throughout the year.
Graeme Taylor
Student; Ann Arbor, Mich.
Graeme Taylor has appeared on nationally syndicated shows and cable network news programs in support of an educator who was suspended without pay for disciplining a student who made anti-gay remarks. Taylor is an outspoken anti-bullying activist. Graeme Taylor will receive the 2012 SuAnne big Crow Memorial Award for his continued work to enhance the sense of worth and dignity of fellow GLBT students and his strong commitment to guiding teachers in understanding what it is like to be a GLBT student.
Reverend Mark Kiyimba Yusuf
Minister, Unitarian Universalist Church of Uganda; Uganda
Homophobia already existed in Uganda, but when three evangelical Christians arrived in the country to speak at a conference against homosexuality, it ignited an explosion of anti-gay sentiment. Into this cauldron of hate has an extraordinary man rose—the Rev. Mark Kiyimba Yusuf. Rev. Kiyimba Yusuf has the only church in Uganda that welcomes all people—gays and lesbians, Blacks and Caucasians, rich and poor. He preaches the gospel of love, and has publicly opposed the attacks on gays and lesbians. Rev. Kiyimba Yusuf's courage has resulted in hundreds of death threats. But, Rev. Kiyimba Yusuf also will be honored for his courage with NEA's Virginia Uribe Award for Creative Leadership in Human Rights.
The annual Human and Civil Rights Awards Dinner was originally created by the American Teachers Association (ATA), which represented Black teachers in segregated schools—and when NEA and ATA merged in 1966, NEA agreed to carry on this annual human and civil rights awards tradition. NEA members submit nominations for the annual awards. Nominations are reviewed by NEA's Human and Civil Rights Committee which makes recommendations to the NEA Executive Committee. The Executive Committee determines the award recipients.
Interviews with honorees are available.
Detailed information and photos for each honoree may be found at: www.nea.org/grants/51401.htm. For more information regarding the Human and Civil Rights Awards Dinner, visit: www.nea.org/hcrawards
Follow us on twitter at www.twitter.com/NEAMedia.
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The National Education Association is the nation's largest professional employee organization, representing more than 3 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators and students preparing to become teachers.
CONTACT: Dana Dossett (202) 822-7823, firstname.lastname@example.com


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In celebration of the release of the band's newest album, "Love Keeps No Score," AG Silver will perform at the Park Theatre on Saturday, Dec. 6, at 8 p.m. in a CD-release concert sponsored by the campus ministries office at HopeCollege.
In celebration of the release of the band's newest album, "Love Keeps No Score," AG Silver will perform at the Park Theatre on Saturday, Dec. 6, at 8 p.m. in a CD-release concert sponsored by the campus ministries office at HopeCollege.
Although the band calls West Michigan home, its hometown shows are fairly rare, with the ensemble playing in Holland only about twice a year. "Holland is our favorite place to play," said AG Silver front man Jon Ornée. "We've played in over 30 cities this fall from Massachusetts to Oregon and Alaska to Texas, but there's nothing like playing in front of a home crowd."
Before embarking on a three-month national tour which began on Wednesday, Sept. 3, the band spent much of the summer locked in the studio crafting "Love Keeps No Score," a five-song EP that is a progression from where the band left off on its full-length album from 2006, "Wake Up and Smell Reality." This time, though, AG Silver enlisted the help of mixing guru Craig Alvin (Athlete, Eisley, Chevelle).
"We were really proud of our last album," said Ornée, "but the thing we hear again and again from fans is that the live show is so much better. With that in mind, we tried to keep the new tunes a little more raw in an attempt to capture the energy that the listener would feel at one of our shows."
The four members of AG Silver regularly use the element of surprise to spruce up their live show. One minute the band may be in the hushed chorus of a ballad; and the next, all four members are playing an intricate drumline-inspired percussive concoction. AG Silver's dynamic live show helped the group win Michigan's largest Battle of the Bands in 2003 and has been captivating college students across the country for the past two years.
This fall the band has been partnering with the organization Blood: Water Mission for a "Clean Water for Africa" tour. The goal of the tour is to raise awareness about the clean water crisis in the continent of Africa and also to help raise money to dig clean water wells in communities that desperately need them. Additional information about the initiative is available at www.agsilver.com/cleanwater.
AG Silver has HopeCollege and Holland roots that run deep. Lead singer Jon Ornée is a 2003 Hope graduate and worked on the campus ministries staff at Hope for four years before pursuing life as a full-time touring musician in 2007. Ornée currently lives with his wife in Holland. The December 6 show will also feature 1999 Hope alum Josh Schicker, who has been on tour with the band all fall as the show's opener/manager.
Tickets for the December 6 show at the Park Theatre are free for Hope students with a Hope College ID and $5 for the general public, and are available at the ticket office in the main lobby of the DeVos Fieldhouse. The ticket office is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and can be called at (616) 395-7890. Any remaining tickets will be sold at the door, which will open at 7:30 p.m.
The DeVos Fieldhouse is located at 222 Fairbanks Ave., between Ninth and 11th streets. The Park Theatre is located on River Avenue across from CentennialPark between 10th and 11th streets.