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David Dewhurst added another big name to his list of endorsements on Monday – although this one may surprise some folks.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee – who has voiced his disapproval for actions of Gov. Rick Perry – released a statement Monday revealing his support for the Lieutenant Governor and right-hand-man to Perry.
"Dewhurst is a strong fiscal conservative, with a record to show for it. He's been an ardent supporter of legislation to create jobs and improve the economy of Texas," Huckabee's statement reads.
The endorsement comes a few days before a GOP U.S. Senate debate in Austin and a week after Texas Gov. Rick Perry endorsed Dewhurst in Iowa, saying "Lord Willing" Dewhurst "soon will be a member" of the Senate. Dewhurst's campaign championed the endorsement with a campaign ad soon after.
Despite their shared evangelical beliefs and their seven year stint as neighboring governors, Perry and Huckabee have somewhat of a rivalry dating back to the 2008 presidential race.
In 2007, Huckabee asked Perry to be his national chairman, but Perry declined and instead endorsed his opponent and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Perry said he did not think Huckabee could win the nomination.
Huckabee's most recent criticism of Perry came last summer when Perry announced his presidential candidacy in South Carolina on the same day as the Iowa straw poll.
Huckabee blasted Perry for "trying to pull as much attention as possible away" from the event, and claimed that Perry disrespected Iowans.
Regardless of the differences between Huckabee and Perry, Dewhurst will undoubtedly garner the support of a well-known Republican.
The Southern Baptist minister also wrote in his endorsement statement about hot-button issues that have been prevalent in the GOP debates recently, gay marriage and abortion.
"Lt. Governor Dewhurst has worked on passing legislation to protect the sanctity of life and define marriage as a union between one man and one woman."
These two issues have also been part of the ongoing dispute between the two governors.
Last summer, before Perry announced his candidacy, Huckabee emailed supporters saying "For all his new found commitment to hyper-conservatism, he'll get to explain why he supported pro-abortion, pro-same sex marriage Rudy Giuliani last time."


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The following was issued by WWE this week.
NEW YORK – August 18, 2011 – Syfy and WWE announced today its first ever WWE SmackDown live special, "SuperSmackdown Live," airing Tuesday, August 30 at 8-10PM/ET
on Syfy, originating from the INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas.
The Tuesday night special will feature WWE's biggest Superstars and Divas, including World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton®, Christian®, Sheamus™, Mark Henry®, Sin Cara™, Cody Rhodes™, Wade Barrett™, Daniel Bryan™, Brodus Clay™, Natalya™ and Alicia Fox™.
The special will re-air in SmackDown's regular time slot on Friday, September 2 from 8-10PM (ET/PT).
SmackDown is averaging 3.1 million total viewers for 2011 to date.
About Syfy
Syfy is a media destination for imagination-based entertainment. With year round acclaimed original series, events, blockbuster movies, classic science fiction and fantasy programming, a dynamic Web site (www.Syfy.com), and a portfolio of adjacent business (Syfy Ventures), Syfy is a passport to limitless possibilities. Originally launched in 1992 as SCI FI Channel, and currently in more than 99 million homes, Syfy is a network of NBCUniversal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies. (Syfy. Imagine greater.)
About WWE
WWE, a publicly traded company (NYSE: WWE), is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family friendly entertainment on its television programming, pay-per-view, digital media and publishing platforms. WWE programming is broadcast in more than 145 countries and 30 languages and reaches more than 500 million homes worldwide. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo.
Additional information on WWE (NYSE: WWE) can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com. For information on our global activities, go to http://www.wwe.com/worldwide/.

subset: commoncrawl


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Emmy-award winning actor Eric Stonestreet has lined up a prestige project to fill his "Modern Family" downtime. Looks like he'll be playing infamous silent film comedian Fatty Arbuckle in an HBO movie based on David A. Yallop's book "The Day the Laughter Died."
Arbuckle, of course, was one of the silent film era's biggest (in every way) stars, until he was accused of raping and murdering a woman during a holiday party. Even though he was acquitted of all charges, the damage to his career was done and he never recovered.
The project is being headed up by writer Kirk Ellis ("John Adams") and director Barry Levinson ("You Don't Know Jack").
U.S. & World
So, a solidly-pedigree'd project that lets Stonestreet to bring his comedy game (which we know he's got) while also allowing him to show off his drama chops AND doesn't require him to lose weight? This is a win-win all around.


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Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)
Acquire and analyze data from connected assets, locations, and people to act upon insights at the industrial edge.
Use your data wisely with IIoT
Get hold of your data—then use it wisely. Bring computing to your data streams to shorten decision times and eliminate the expense and risk of sending data to the cloud. Find relationships in your data to determine cause and effect, and improve efficiency and predictability. You can make the most of your data with Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solutions from HPE.
+ meer weergeven
Do more with your data
Use your data to manufacture more quickly, predict failures, reduce unexpected downtime, and increase automation.
Analyze data at the edge
Converge OT and IT data in ruggedized systems with data center-like capabilities at the edge.
Connect and protect your data and devices
Build a network to connect, protect, and use data. Is your IoT infrastructure ready to deliver measurable ROI?
Get the most from your IIoT data
Tap the power of artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, and advanced analytics to uncover insights and employ intelligence to your IIoT data.
Put your solution together
Learn how to overcome technical and management challenges that may arise during IoT projects.
Integrate into partner solutions
Connect to your industrial IoT applications and data with the help of HPE, and our IIoT ecosystem partners.
Put your solution together
Learn how to overcome technical and management challenges that may arise during IoT projects.
Integrate into partner solutions
Connect to your industrial IoT applications and data with the help of HPE, and our IIoT ecosystem partners.
HPE receives 451 Research's Firestarter Innovation Award
HPE Edgeline Converged Edge Systems recognized for its exceptional innovation in addressing the challenges of real-world IoT deployments
Industrial IoT Solutions
Automate and drive insights from your IoT data and apps by connecting, analyzing, and sharing data.
HPE Edgeline Converged Edge Systems
Systems that can connect, compute, and store data at the edge with data center-like capabilities. HPE Edgeline systems can aggregate and filter data, while also analyzing video streams, time series data, and translating industrial protocols.
Tour a refinery of the future
Visit an operating chemical processing plant that leverages advanced industrial IoT capabilities for improved process analytics, up-time, customer satisfaction, video analytics, and worker safety.
Seagate optimizes manufacturing using AI analytics at the edge
Seagate is working to improve productivity using an edge-to-cloud architecture that converges operational and information technologies to result in greater efficiency and productivity during manufacturing.
Bring in new technologies such as deep learning, machine learning, and neural networks to analyze images, improve product quality, and manufacturing efficiency.
Seagate leveraged HPE's expertise in converged edge systems that combine IT technologies such as deep neural networks with HPE Edgeline Converged Edge Systems and HPE AI analytics at the edge.
"What we get is the ability to have central control of OT resources in our factories as though they were IT data center resources."
Seagate now has the ability to make real time decisions, leading to greater efficiency and productivity in its manufacturing process.
Texmark builds a refinery of the future
HIROTEC—Smart manufacturing with IIoT
Kaeser vermindert downtime met 60%
CenterPoint Energy: Fueled by IIoT data
Edge computing—From the edge to the core to the edge
You can deliver faster data insights to drive greater business value with edge computing. Take a look at the transformational opportunity of edge computing in the enterprise and its role in delivering business agility and value.
- 68% Leverage edge computing to improve data acquisition and preprocessing.
- 63% Leverage edge computing to improve security or monitoring.
- 72% Indicate that edge computing entered their organization through operations and not IT.
1 IDC Directions Conference, Frank Gens Keynote Address, February 2017
2 "The Internet of Things: Mapping the Value Beyond the Hype," McKinsey Global Institute, June 2015
3 HPE/Aruba survey, January 2017


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Struggling to find The Best Male Enhancement Pills?
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Simpsons Comics #176
There's a new cat lady in town, and her name is Lisa Simpson! Hoping to pad her college-bound resume with community service, Lisa lends a helping hand to Eleanor Abernathy (aka The Cat Lady) only to find that the feline-friendly female has gone missing. Soon, Lisa becomes responsible for the care and well-being of the wacky woman's whole kit and kaboodle of kitty cats.


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What We DoWeddings by JDK hosts a collection of wedding services all in one location, including custom catering, Instagram-worthy florals, personalized event design, specialty rentals and planning components to orchestrate your dream day.Nothing means more to us than being able to capture the personalized beauty of you on your wedding day. For over 31 years...
One day, owner Nureya (Reya for short) was driving through Baltimore County with her daughter who was screaming "feed me." At home, her daughter eats all organic, gluten/dairy free food. She looked at her options and opted for a popular chicken drive through. She figured this has to be the lesser of the fast food evils. That is when she had an ep...
Blue Ridge Cafe & Catering Co. is one of Virginia's premier Wedding and event caterers, located in Ruckersville, VA just north of Charlottesville. Shawn Hayes, Chef and Owner, is know throughout central Virginia for his delicious culinary creations and is beginning his 21st year of service. In addition to his fabulous food offerings, he and h...
Winner of the 2016 Golden Fork Award! Specializing in Authentic Italian/Continental Cuisine, Piccolo Trattoria Catering brings the old world flavor of Italy to your home or one of our many partner venue locations throughout the Delaware Valley! Due to overwhelming demand, we now have four restaurants to serve you in N...
Amber Weaver, founder and owner of Thandie Catering was inspired to deliver foods that prevent health issues such as vitamin D deficiency, high cholesterol, diabetes and high blood pressure by providing gluten free, pork free, and non-genetically modified organism contained (GMO) products. Amber has been cooking healthy foods since her mother was diagnosed w...
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Boston bombing case: death penalty lawyer Clarke 'humanizes' clients
NEW YORK - When death penalty expert Judy Clarke joined the defense team for the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, she spent months trying to establish a rapport so she could convince him to accept a plea deal that would spare him capital punishment.
Though she and his other lawyers angered Kaczynski when they sought to introduce evidence of his mental illness, he eventually pleaded guilty in 1998 and received a life sentence.
"I think she has a real gift," David Kaczynski, his brother said on Tuesday, a day after Clarke was assigned to the defense team for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. "Even if it's the smallest sliver of common ground, Judy's going to be able to find that. There's no doubt in my mind that Judy saw my brother's humanity despite the terrible things he'd done."
Tsarnaev, 19, is accused of setting off explosives April 15 near the finish line with his older brother, Tamerlan, killing three and injuring 264. He was arrested April 19 after a massive manhunt that left his brother dead following a police shootout.
Tsarnaev faces charges of using a weapon of mass destruction and malicious destruction of property with an explosive device, both of which can carry the death penalty when they cause the death of others. He has not yet entered a plea. U.S. authorities have not said whether they will seek capital punishment.
In court papers asking a judge to appoint Clarke as a public defender, one of Tsarnaev's lawyers, Miriam Conrad, cited a federal law giving defendants in potential capital cases a right to an attorney with experience handling death penalty cases.
Over nearly two decades of representing infamous defendants in capital cases, Clarke, who opposes the death penalty, has built a national reputation for avoiding executions for her clients.
In addition to Kaczynski, Clarke defended Eric Rudolph, the 1996 Atlanta Olympics bomber, and Susan Smith, the South Carolina woman who drowned her young sons in 1994.They both were spared the death penalty.
Most recently, Clarke represented Jared Loughner, the 24-year-old charged with killing six and wounding former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in a January 2011 mass shooting. Loughner, who faced death, pleaded guilty in August 2012 in a deal that sent him to prison for life.
Colleagues said Clarke is known for her meticulous research into the lives of her clients to find possible mitigating factors, and that she possesses a sharp sense of humor and a folksy style that belies her intense, no-nonsense preparation.
"She humanizes the client. But more importantly, she humanizes the jury, the lawyers, the judges," said Gerald Goldstein, a defense lawyer who has known Clarke for 30 years. "Judy's brilliant at making people reconsider their values ... to reconsider our place in making life or death decisions."
With an unassuming manner, Clarke can come across as "gentle Judy," said a longtime acquaintance, criminal defense lawyer Donald Rehkopf.
"She's not flamboyant or in your face - just the opposite," he said.
Clarke rarely grants media interviews and did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
Last week, at a forum at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, Clarke delivered the keynote address, explaining that her job was to convince reluctant clients that opting for prison was better than choosing a death sentence.
"They're looking into the lens of life in prison in a box," she said, according to an Associated Press account. "Our job is to provide them with a reason to live."
Her efforts are not always welcomed by her clients, many of whom suffered from mental illness. Kaczynski tried to have his legal team fired and later unsuccessfully asked an appeals court to throw out his guilty plea, while Loughner spat and lunged at Clarke during a meeting in prison early on in his case, according to court filings.
There is no evidence that Tsarnaev, a naturalized U.S. citizen and a student at the University of Massachusetts, suffered from psychological problems.
Legal experts have said that defense lawyers could point to Tsarnaev's youth and the possible influence of his older brother as reasons for the government not to seek capital punishment.
Clarke previously ran the San Diego office of the Federal Defenders and served as president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. She is in private practice in San Diego with her husband while continuing to take on public defense work in capital cases.
For Barry Scheck, the co-founder of the New York-based Innocence Project, which uses DNA evidence to exonerate convicted defendants, Clarke has become the "go-to" public defender for capital cases.
"She has a profoundly developed sense of humanity, aside from being a great lawyer," said Scheck, who has known Clarke for more than 20 years. "That's a powerful combination."


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Earth Replies to Space Signal After 35-Year Delay
Nov 22, 2012 5:00 AM PT
This story was originally published on Aug. 22, 2012, and is brought to you today as part of our Best of ECT News series.
Just after 11 p.m. on Aug. 15, 1977, while pointing toward the constellation Sagittarius, Ohio State University's Big Ear radio telescope picked up a mysterious transmission that would very soon make history.
For 72 seconds, the Big Ear was able to listen to that signal, which has since come to be known as the "Wow! Signal" for the excited notation made on a printout of the data by Jerry Ehman, the astronomer who discovered it.
"Several pages into the computer printout I was astonished to see the string of numbers and characters '6EQUJ5' in channel 2 of the printout," Ehman recalled in a retrospective look at the event written in 1997. "I immediately recognized this as the pattern we would expect to see from a narrowband radio source of small angular diameter in the sky."
In other words, the transmission looked a lot like a signal from outer space probably would, and it's since been the focus of considerable attention in the ongoing search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI).
Sending a Reply
Since the arrival of the "Wow!" Signal, there's never been another discovery quite like it, despite repeated attempts to find something similar in the same stretch of sky. Until recently, there had also been no official "reply" sent to what many hoped was, in fact, a message from intelligent extraterrestrial life.
Last Wednesday, however -- the day of the 35th anniversary of the event -- National Geographic's "Chasing UFOs" series and the giant Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico sent off a reply to the Wow! Signal consisting of digitized versions of viewers' contributed tweets along with videos from celebrities including Stephen Colbert, Miss Universe and others.
Is this the beginning of our first real conversation with E.T.? Well, let's just say the odds are against it.
Probably Routine
"The Wow! Signal that was received 35 years ago was one of the most discussed signals discovered by any SETI system," Douglas Vakoch, director of interstellar message composition with the SETI Institute, told TechNewsWorld.
At the same time, "I think it's gotten more publicity than its scientific value merits," Vakoch said. "It's very similar to the sorts of signals that SETI programs around world receive all the time."
Specifically, signals from other, less-exciting sources such as terrestrial transmitters and spacecraft in orbit around Earth, for example, are common and yet are not always easy to distinguish, he noted.
Much Has Changed
The challenge is to weed out the false signals, Vakoch explained, and over the years the methods for doing so have become more stringent.
"In the past 35 years a lot has changed in SETI," he said.
In the SETI Institute's own searches from Northern California, for example, the goal is to be able to follow up on intriguing signals within 90 seconds, Vakoch said. "What we can then do is say, 'OK, we're getting the signal on this antenna, but not as strongly as on this one."
Then, the group tries to determine if the signal could be coming from Earth instead.
Couldn't Duplicate
The fact that the Wow! Signal was never heard again is also problematic.
"The so-called 'Wow! Signal' is an example of worthless (so far) scientific data for the following reasons," Scott Austin, associate professor of astronomy and director of the astronomical facilities at the University of Central Arkansas, told TechNewsWorld.
"First, the signal was not detected simultaneously at any other facility," Austin explained. "Therefore, one cannot rule out that it was a local terrestrial signal or some sort of glitch in the system.
"Second, there has not been any repeat of that sort of event while observing that part of the sky," he added. "Using the scientific method, one cannot draw any conclusions from the 'Wow!' event."
Three Targets
Last week's transmission was directed at three different stars, chosen because of their similarities to our sun, National Geographic said, including Hipparcos 34511, which is 150 light years away; Hipparcos 33277, which is 57 light years away; and Hipparcos 43587, which is only 41 light years away.
The latter, in fact, is of particular interest because it's "known to have planets, including some thought to reside in a 'habitable zone' for life as we know it," National Geographic explained. As the closest of the three, any intelligent life potentially there would also receive our transmission soonest -- in 41 years, to be specific.
Of course, "they encoded the messages in an arbitrary way, into a binary digit stream," Vakoch pointed out. "There's very little chance an extraterrestrial would be able to figure out what was being said."
Worthwhile Pursuit
Then again, National Geographic has been "very up front about that," Vakoch said.
After all, more than anything, "the Wow! Signal itself is a kind of a token for the sort of thing we're looking for," he explained. If nothing else, "it's nice to commemorate the 35th anniversary -- this has been a way to increase public awareness and get people thinking about what matters to them."
Indeed, "while the type of 'listening' that SETI usually does has a relatively low probability of success, I strongly believe that it should be pursued," Mario Livio, senior astrophysicist with the Space Telescope Science Institute, told TechNewsWorld. "If you don't even try then your chances of success are zero!"


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A/NZ online travel booking website, Webjet, will soon adopt Microsoft Cloud technologies as it looks to achieve greater flexibility in a competitive marketplace, support growth and drive its goal of delivering superior customer service.
The multi-faceted, multi-phased IT strategy spans across the business, from employee productivity tools delivered on Office 365 and Windows 8 through to the datacentre, where it will use Windows Azure to power up its Web server capabilities.
It follows Webjet's announcement of the company looking to fuel the next phase of its growth, especially with the surge in its online visitor traffic and bookings – up 30 per cent in total transaction value to $768 million, for the financial year 2012.
The company plans to upgrade its employees by moving to a hybrid Cloud solution with Exchange and Exchange Online, part of the Microsoft's Office 365 productivity suite, by early 2013.
Webjet head of solutions delivery, Graham Anderson, said it chose Microsoft as it differentiates itself from the competition with its hybrid offering, providing the flexibility and reliability of implementing it in the Cloud or on-premise.
"Office 365 will mean we won't have to spend time adding storage, servers, and deploying people to maintaining those servers. Instead our IT employees can focus on more strategic projects that support business growth and help drive the bottom line," he said.
The company also plans to deploy Lync Online, part of the Office 365 productivity suite, in 2013 to allow Webjet employees to more easily share files, schedule online meetings and chat, streamline communications and cut through unnecessary emails.
In supporting the travel booking requirements of its growing customer base early this year, Webjet undertook a trial project that culminated in delivering its mobile solution using Microsoft's Windows Azure.
Before the end of the year, Webjet will deliver additional services on Windows Azure, including its revamped website.
"The scalability, ease of use and integration into our overall development process was key in choosing Windows Azure as it enabled us to expand our travel technology solutions in line with our business growth," Anderson said.
As the Windows 8 launch travel partner in Australia, Webjet has also delivered an app that provides customers with access to its full range of domestic Australian flights and worldwide hotels in a new interface.
The latest generation release will in due course be supplemented by international flights, cars and packages.


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Here's the reading from this morning:GuiACan wrote:So, basically no degradation in the past 2 years and 27000 miles ? That's great news. I'm in the process of buying a used 2014 with about 36000 miles. It's supposed to have all 12 bars left...jamieo wrote:September 18, 2017 AHr=57.28 SOH=87% 383.8V Hx=86.17% 35,577 miles 16QCs & 1,249 L1/L2sjamieo wrote:September 12, 2017 AHr=57.22 SOH=87% 382.51V Hx=86.41% 35,380 miles 16QCs & 1,244 L1/L2s
for reference, almost 2 years ago:
September 28, 2015 AHr=57.47 SOH=87% 388.44V Hx=86.53% 8,176 miles
There's almost no information on Leaf MY 2014 compared to the other MY. I'm glad to at least have one "data point" as a reference.
October 5, 2017 AHr=57.41 SOH=87% 383.75V Hx=86.48% 36,127 miles 16 QCs & 1,263 L1/L2s
My car has a January 2014 manufacture date ... do you know the date on yours? I bought it new in February 2015, and it had 67 miles on it. It sat at the dealer for a year or so before I bought it.


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DETROIT >> This is more than a rough patch, more than just a couple of games where the Detroit Tigers have fallen flat against a good team or a good pitcher.
This is an out-and-out slump, and it's approaching five weeks in duration, a span in which the Tigers saw their divisional lead cut from an MLB-best seven games, to less than two Friday night, for the first time since April 30.
There are a hundred places you could point to for the cause.
Poor starting pitching for a stretch.
Recurring issues in the bullpen, exaggerated by recurring issues with closer Joe Nathan.
A rash of shaky defense.
"I think it's everything. When we've pitched, we haven't hit. When we've hit, we haven't pitched. It's just not going together right now," Don Kelly said after Friday's shutout loss. "It will. We just gotta keep grinding it out."
Maybe most perplexing is a suddenly anemic offense that has gotten shut out three times in 18 games.
While the starting pitching isn't as worrisome, simply because of the track records of the pitchers involved, and the bullpen isn't really that much of a surprise to anyone, considering the low expectations, the offense is a conundrum.
This is the unit which was so vastly remodeled in the offseason, trading power for speed, then spent the first two months proving how wise a decision that was.
In the last five weeks, however, it's reverted to a unit that sits back and waits for the three-run home run, it seems like. And they aren't coming.
At least not enough to sustain a team that's in a free-fall in other areas — including the standings.
"Just seems we're having trouble getting the big hit. The two-run double, or the three-run homer is just not coming right now," manager Brad Ausmus said. "The big hits for us right now are solo home runs and the occasional two-run homer. We're just not getting that blow-it-open hit right now."
That's no more evident than a game like Friday, when Ausmus felt like they had one, maybe two solid chances to score against a pitcher in Minnesota's Kyle Gibson who they'd blown off the mound in the second inning the first time they'd met him.
Of course, that was when they were still hitting like gangbusters.
In the 24 games before Saturday's, the Tigers had scored 3.6 runs per game, down more than a run from the first 39, when they averaged 4.84. That's concerning, considering the team's record in games when it scores four runs or less (10-26), compared to its record when scoring five or more (24-3).
It's been more exaggerated in the last five weeks — a span of 24 games since the high-water mark of May 18 — when the Tigers have gone 1-15 when scoring four or fewer runs. The lone exception was Max Scherzer's complete-game shutout on Thursday.
That makes it hard on a pitching staff already having its own struggles to feel like it needs to shut out the opponent.
What's been the biggest difference in that offensive downturn?
Batting average is down 20 points, as is on-base percentage, while slugging is relatively level. Walks are up, as are home runs. They're (surprisingly) leaving roughly the same number of runners on base per game.
"The at-bats we've had off (Chris) Sale (Thursday), I don't really think you can call it a slump. We've hit the ball well. Bounces just haven't gone our way sometimes," Kelly said. "But you gotta make your bounces, too."
It's that 'waiting' part.
Waiting for the big hit to come, rather than going out and making things happen.
That was the welcomed calling card for the team in the first 39 games, when the Tigers stole a league-leading 37 bases. They've swiped eight since, and been caught seven times.
"Game scenario plays into whether you're more aggressive on the bases, however oftentimes, your steals go down when the guys who are stealing bases aren't on base," said Ausmus, pointing to the recent struggles of both Rajai Davis and Ian Kinsler, the team's table-setters.
"When they're scuffling a little bit with the bat, and not on base ... It's tough to ask Miguel (Cabrera) to be stealing bases left and right, or Victor (Martinez) to be stealing bases left and right. ...
"I think it's just the fact that the guys who steal the bases haven't been on base as much as they were early in the season."
That's true, to a large extent.
Davis' average has dropped nearly 20 points in this recent bad patch, when he's scored just six times, after 20 runs in his first 31 games. He's also stolen just four bases, after 14 to start the season.
Kinsler's drop-off has been even more pronounced, his .220 mark over the last 23 games dropping him more than 30 points from .315 to .279. He's even more cold (.132 average, .466 OPS) in the 16 games since his lone day off of the season snapped his 11-game hit streak.
It doesn't help that the other table-setter, Torii Hunter, came into Saturday's game hitting just .194 in June, with just one extra-base hit.
Until one or more of those guys start to come around, the Tigers' offense is going to continue to splutter.
It won't be able to put the pressure on the opposing pitcher that it was expected to be, and was earlier in the season.
While the Tigers keep waiting for that to happen, they'll have to keep waiting to win games, rather than making it happen.


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ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes most of the ASU Theses and Dissertations from 2011 to present. ASU Theses and Dissertations are available in downloadable PDF format; however, a small percentage of items are under embargo. Information about the dissertations/theses includes degree information, committee members, an abstract, supporting data or media.
In addition to the electronic theses found in the ASU Digital Repository, ASU Theses and Dissertations can be found in the ASU Library Catalog.
Dissertations and Theses granted by Arizona State University are archived and made available through a joint effort of the ASU Graduate College and the ASU Libraries. For more information or questions about this collection contact or visit the Digital Repository ETD Library Guide or contact the ASU Graduate College at firstname.lastname@example.com.
- Jager, Justin
- Dumka, Larry
- 1 Arizona State University
- 1 Ettekal, Idean
- 1 Kochel, Karen P
- 1 Kochenderfer-Ladd, Becky
- 1 Ladd, Gary W
- 1 English
- Reverse Fountain Cytoplasmic Streaming in Rhizopus Oryzae
- Diné Research Practices and Protocols: An Intersectional Paradigm Incorporating Indigenous Feminism, Critical Indigenous Research Methodologies and Diné Knowledge Systems
- Developing an Augmented Reality Solution for Mapping Underground Infrastructure
- Characterization of 2D Human Ankle Stiffness during Postural Balance and Walking for Robot-aided Ankle Rehabilitation
- Using Molecular, Cellular and Bioengineering Approaches Towards Understanding Muscle Stem Cell Biology
It is widely recognized that peer-directed aggression and victimization are pervasive social problems that impact school-aged children and adolescents. This study investigated the developmental course of aggression and victimization, and more specifically, addressed three primary aims. First, distinct subgroups of children were identified based on similarities and differences in their physical, verbal and relational aggression and victimization. Second, developmental stability (and instability) were assessed by examining the extent to which individuals remain (or change) subgroups throughout childhood and adolescence. Third, group classifications and transitions over time were assessed as a function of children's individual characteristics and their relational and contextual …
- Contributors
- Ettekal, Idean, Ladd, Gary W, Dumka, Larry, et al.
- Created Date
- 2016


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Two Harvard scientists known for questioning conventional wisdom are challenging the idea of making lower-fat milk the only milk option available to children.
They note that guidelines from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and many health organizations recommend limiting the consumption of beverages that contain calories — such as soda and juice — "except reduced-fat milk, of which people in most age groups are encouraged to consume three cups daily."
David Ludwig and Walter Willett question "the scientific rationale for promoting reduced-fat milk consumption at these levels."
They suggest that until there are additional studies, guidelines for milk consumption should designate a range of perhaps zero to three cups, avoid recommending low-fat over whole milk and focus on limiting consumption of flavored milks.
One problem, they say, is that there have been few randomized trials of the effects on weight gain of reduced-fat milk compared with whole milk and that current guidelines presume lower-fat milks will decrease total calorie intake.
But studies show that a "primary focus on reducing fat intake does not facilitate weight loss compared with other dietary strategies," they wrote in JAMA Pediatrics.
That might seem counterintuitive at first. But the scientists explain with an example. What if a child who usually eats two 60-calorie cookies and drinks a cup of whole milk for a snack instead drinks skim milk? A cup of whole milk has around 150 calories, a cup of skim about 90. But if that child feels less full by consuming less fat and to compensate eats another cookie, Willett and Ludwig say, "this substitution of refined starch and sugar for fat might actually cause weight gain."
The scientists said there's evidence that high-glycemic-index carbohydrates — such as refined grains, sugary beverages and desserts such as the cookies — are associated with weight gain while whole milk is not.
Much of the public conversation about milk, particularly in schools, has come in light of high rates of childhood obesity and efforts to improve the nutritional profiles of cafeteria foods. The debate over flavored milk often centers on the idea that kids don't like low-fat milks but will drink them if they're flavored with chocolate. But children generally like the taste of whole milk, which rarely is served in schools.
One reason is that whole milk contains saturated fat, which raises what's called "bad" cholesterol, a risk factor for heart disease. But Willett and Ludwig say the picture is more complicated when compared with refined carbohydrates.
Reduced-fat chocolate milk reduces saturated fat by 3 grams but raises sugar by 13 grams per cup, the scientists wrote.
In an email, Ludwig said 2 percent milk is "probably a reasonable compromise" between whole milk and 1 percent or nonfat.
"The issue is not to focus single-mindedly on fat reduction, and then condone lots of added sugars, as in chocolate milk," he wrote. "The bottom line is that reducing fat has not proven to be an effective approach to obesity, whereas there is very good evidence for the adverse effects of added sugars," especially for children.


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business of innovation, business of inventing, Capitalism, Creating, creators, Cricket House Studios, cricketdiane, drawbacks of inventing, innovating, Inventing, invention, inventors, makers, making, making a business from an invention, problems to solve, prototyping, who invents, women innovation efforts, women inventors, women makers, women owned businesses
In the world today, there are probably over fifty-thousand problems or more still in need of solutions and certainly some better ideas. Online there is an explosion of wonderful things, innovations, inventions, discoveries and small business start-ups seeking to solve some of these problems.
And then what happens to them? That is a good question. And in one of these posts, I'm going to try and answer that. But, before I get on a tangent about only 1.9% of women owned businesses getting any venture capital and how start-ups, especially women owned start-ups are ending up with loan packages at 40% interest rates and having to pay off investors at the two or three year mark when the business should be getting established, then taking a hit instead – I'll cover some of the things still needing solutions.
But first, I found this article in my twitter feed and went over to read it –
It describes why the US may have missed out on millions of inventors. Their research indicates that –
Innovation has slowed in the U.S., stymying economic growth. To get back on track, the U.S. needs more low-income children, women, and minorities to become inventors — but that won't be easy.
The research also shows that innovation in the U.S. could quadruple if women, minorities, and children from low-income families became inventors at the same rate as men from high-income families.
Whatever policies are eventually adopted, policymakers need to think in terms of long-term solutions. "You want is to increase the pipeline of people on the supply side who are great inventors," Van Reenen said. "You want to take the talent that is already in America and get those kids imagining themselves being an inventor or potential inventor. It is not a quick fix, but in the long run it is going to be a more effective policy."
from –
It is worth going and reading that article, however, I just about hit the ceiling when I read it and even now with a four bullet point list of what I want to say about it – well, angrier about it than I can even express.
There's a Different Response & Support When A Man Creates Something
When a man, young man, or boy in white upper class America comes up with an invention – what happens next is tremendously different than what happens when someone from any other of those groups, gender or income levels invent or innovate something.
There is more than whether someone can believe themselves to be an inventor. It takes being able to have some help and support, protection from theft of the invention and massive amounts of money and networking to get the invention patented, prototyped and then into investor backing processes. Women and minorities don't have that.
One of these 50,000 plus problems still in need of good solutions and inventions is a way to take mining tailings out of the water system once they've been allowed to get into it. Obviously, that continues to be a problem in the United States and around the world.
What Happens When A Woman Creates Something or Innovates Something
Let's say I have designed something for this purpose and am a woman without any real support from friends and family to back my idea to fruition. How often that is the case for every woman, every person without a strong financial foundation and most minorities, people that are poor and people who have disabilities specifically.
There are no family members going to network an attorney friend or blueprint maker to any of us as they would if a white male from an upper class family has the idea. There are no instances of getting some family members to financially back having the prototype made or getting the patent process done or pitching it to other people for us as happens for those guys and their idea.
So, when the researchers in this MIT/Sloan study support putting in place programs to help people who are women, who are poor and who are minorities believe we can invent and be inventors, it is very disingenuous.
Women Do Create, Invent Solutions, Innovate and Make Inventions To Solve Problems
We do create, invent solutions, innovate and make inventions that solve real world problems, but without the other components that are obviously available to white men who do it – from family, from friends, from investors, from bankers, from the community at large, from attorneys, from skills in their family's networks of acquaintances – our inventions are lost to mankind and to our country.
These inventions and innovations either don't get brought to fruition, are stolen by those who have means as we try to do something with them, or are ignored by companies until the patent we do manage to get doesn't have the fees paid or runs out – then takes it for nothing.
Families of middle class and below, economically disadvantaged, working poor and outright financially destitute individuals simply are denied the access and equal opportunity for processes of protecting the invention or innovation or idea from inception to realization to be available to us.
Inventing and inventions, innovations and concepts for an innovation that could be brought to the marketplaces are not treated with value in these arenas either because everyone has seen that there is no chance of realizing any rewards from those efforts and bringing it to the marketplace.
Even once the patent is made, prototype created and market analysis is done for some product or invention, there is no money to go forward from that point for people in these groups either. Investors want to see 2 -3 times their money back in short periods of time and see that it can be done without any risk to them whatsoever.
New Things Don't Have An Existing Track Record and Appear More Risky So They Often Fail To Get Needed Support
No matter what invention or innovation it may be, there is typically no existing track record of what it will do in the marketplace because it is new or a new approach or has not been done that way already or would have to supplant something else in the market that is currently being used for whatever problem it approaches. That makes it appear to be unworthy of the risk involved of backers putting the money with it that the process would take to bring it into the market successfully.
Some investors, angel investors, venture capital investors, banks and sources intended to serve minority run businesses won't even approach these new ideas without a track record. And, some loans to do it if not denied, have interest rates of 40% which rob the business potential of the idea at every stage. Then, about the time the business with this new invention or innovation are getting established, investors pull their money out – after 2 – 3 years, if anyone from any of these groups even get that far with it. Most often, the access for funding is simply non-existent no matter how many are approached.
This Is What A Male Experiences But Females Don't – When They've Invented Something Or Have A Great Idea For Something
To show the picture a little clearer – if a white male in a family has an idea for an invention, the first thing that happens in his experience with it is to receive respect for his value and the value of whatever he has come up with. Next, family members hook him up with friends of theirs and from their networks of acquaintances, that can help the idea be fleshed out into drawings and plans or they pay for it to be done outright.
Then, family members and business friends hook that guy up with an attorney to write out a non-disclosure agreement so the innovation, invention or idea can be shown to potentially interested companies.
Then, they call their friends and extended family members and pitch the need for backing this idea financially FOR HIM, and line up funds to get the thing going so the patent can be filed and a prototype created.
They might even get drawings or computer work done from a friend or family member or hire it to be done, to show off the idea, invention or innovation so it looks slick when they take it to bankers and friends who have access to invest in it.
An Ad Hoc Army Comes Together From Friends of Family To Help Men Realize Their Invention or Business Idea To Fruition And Success
Then, rather than the person – the white male from an upper class income in this case, having to pitch the idea, invention or innovation through his own efforts, there is already a team of family members, friends of the family, extended family and business acquaintances of the family supporting him, supporting his efforts, supporting his idea or invention, protecting the invention with appropriate legally binding elements, but also pitching it for him, pitching it to funding sources and rounding up money for it – for him.
That is not what happens to women, people who are poor or even middle-class, minorities, disabled people, elderly people, and children of every other group that is not financially well-off.
But, we do hear a lot of "who do you think you are?" and "why should I give any money to you?" As well as, we do get a lot of ideas, inventions, innovations and fully fleshed out prototypes of inventions and marketable products stolen from us that we've invented or created, hijacked from us, diverted from us participating in any of the rewards of them despite having created them.
This Failure Of Our Nation To Support Women's Inventions And Business Concepts Is Costing Our Future And Present Economic Well-Being As a Nation
The stories of that are far and wide, common in so many iterations that the experience of those around me without great financial means match my own in this area.
It is apparently been and continues to be a common practice, to not allow rewards of our inventions, labors, ideas, innovations, new characters, new processes, new possibilities for things to come to us. It must be intentional without those in our society doing it having any understanding of the cost to all of us and our nation's potential when they do it that way.
- cricketdiane
About CricketDiane –
I've been creating nearly every day since I was a kid and that is over 50 years. I've created in numerous ways in a range that moves from art to problem-solving to inventing, creating music, sculpting and painting to writing and doing various computer / online based projects.
"It is better to make the effort to move forward and release the flow of ideas to work with them and do things creatively, create things and invent and write and make – I definitely know that by experience." – cricketdiane, 2018
You can find more of my art and designs here –
CricketDiane and Cricket House Studios Store on Zazzle
and other blog writings by me here –
On YouTube –
CricketDiane Phillips
The website for Cricket House Studios Art and Design is found here –
And see my current efforts on GoFundMe to make a board game I created into a video game that I'm working on right now –
The Scared Donkey Mine Money Game by CricketDiane on GoFundMe
Thanks for checking us out!
The Cricket House Studios Team and CricketDiane


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| 8.6°C Belfast
Almost 4,000 NHS staff who have been made redundant in the last four years have since been re-employed by the health service.
Labour accused the Government of "handing out cheques like confetti" after ministers admitted that, be tween May 2010 and last November, 3,950 staff were made redundant and have since been hired back.
Responding to a parliamentary question from Labour's Julie Hilling, MP for Bolton West, Health Minister Dan Poulter said: " By reducing managers and administrators by over 21,100, we are freeing up extra resources for patient care - £5.5 billion in this Parliament and £1.5 billion every year thereafter.
"The number of National Health Service staff estimated to have been made redundant since May 2010 and subsequently, up until November 2013, re-employed by an NHS organisation on (a) a permanent basis is 2,570 and (b) a fixed-term contract basis is 1,380."
Dr Poulter also cautioned that the figures, taken from the NHS's electronic staff record, were "unvalidated".
Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said: "It will be utterly galling for nurses who've just had a pay cut from David Cameron to see he's been handing out cheques like confetti to people who have now been rehired. On his watch, we have seen pay-offs for managers and pay cuts for nurses.
"It's clear that people who received pay-offs are now coming back to the NHS in ever greater numbers. We need to know whether the Prime Minister has honoured his promise to recover redundancy payments from people who have been re-employed by his new organisations.
"The sickening scale of the waste caused by Cameron's reorganisation is finally becoming clear. It will infuriate people who can't get a GP appointment or nurses who are struggling to pay the bills."
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "It is important for action to be taken in this area. That is why reforms are being made to redundancy arrangements, including the capping of payouts and the ability to claw back some or all of payments if those individuals concerned return to work within a year of being made redundant.
"When it comes to administrative staff in the NHS, there are now 21,000 fewer administrative posts since 2010."
The spokesman made clear that the contractual reforms to allow the clawback of payments did not apply to the redundancies of the 4,000 staff who have already been rehired, as they would originally have been employed under previous arrangements.
"We are having to deal with the legacy of previous contractual arrangements," he said. "The arrangements I pointed to are new ones coming into force."
A Conservative health spokesman said: " This is sheer hypocrisy from Labour - this Government's hands were tied by unacceptably lax rules on redundancy which they put into contracts in 2006, and which we're reforming.
"We are working on tough new plans to cap redundancy payouts for senior managers and claw back all or part of the payment if they return to work for the NHS within a year of being made redundant."


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2020 Dove Award Nominee: Song of the Year - "Nobody"
2020 Dove Award Nominee: Pop/Contemporary Song of the Year - "Nobody" ft Matthew West
2019 Dove Award Nominee: Song of the Year - "Only Jesus"
2019 Dove Award Nominee: Pop/Contemporary Song of the Year - "Only Jesus"
2019 Dove Award Nominee: Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year
From the award-winning band comes a musical challenge encouraging us to look beyond ourselves and focus on the One whose name is everlasting! Reflect on Jesus' glory as you listen to "Starts Right Here," "One Awkward Moment," "Wake Up This Sleeper," "Even When You're Running," "One More Song for You," "The Change in Me," "Hands of the Potter," and more.
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- Release Date: November 16, 2018
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ABC Touts 'Contentious' Interview With Ted Cruz, Blames Him for Shutdown
Good Morning America's Jon Karl on Friday continued his efforts to assign blame for what he called the "Ted Cruz shutdown." This prompted the Texas senator to shoot back: "A lot of the media did" that. [MP3 audio here.] GMA co-host George Stephanopoulos touted the Republican's appearance as a "contentious and defiant interview."
Karl attacked, "People hated this shutdown. They hated this impasse. And this was seen as the Ted Cruz shutdown." He blamed, "You more than any single individual were seen as the one that triggered this crisis to begin with."
Cruz attempted to explain how the Democrats and Barack Obama have some culpability as they rejected compromise efforts. But Karl maintained, "But there never would have been a shutdown if you hadn't gone with this strategy of saying we're not going to fund the government for six weeks unless we can defund ObamaCare."
Stephanopoulos closed the segment by condescendingly quoting "calmer voices" who are attempting to avoid a repeat of the shutdown.
On October 16, Karl offered a one-sided take, sneering that conservatives have "brought the economy to the brink" and "have nothing to show" for it.
On October 1, the journalist actually asked a tough question at a White House briefing. He quizzed Obama, "...If you won't negotiate, how can you get a solution? How can you bring an end to this if you won't talk to the congressional leaders?"
Yet, Karl and ABC ignored this question. It did not appear on that evening's World News or the next day's GMA.
A transcript of the October 18 segment is below:
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: We have news overnight from the top Tea Party leader who led the fight to kill ObamaCare. Senator Ted Cruz, you see him right there, in a contentious and very defiant interview with our Jon Karl.
2 minutes and 19 seconds
ABC GRAPHIC: Tea Party Senator Vows to Keep Fighting: Avoiding Repeat Crisis as Government Reopens
STEPHANOPOULOS: We're going to turn to Washington now, where the government is up and running again. Both President Obama and top Republicans are vowing it won't shut down again. But at least one Tea Party favorite is promising to keep the fight going. Senator Ted Cruz sat down with our Jonathan Karl. And Jon., a lot of defiance there.
JON KARL: That's for sure, George. Ted Cruz says the biggest problem in all this is that Republicans were divided and that they backed down too easily. So, you would do it again?
TED CRUZ: I would do anything and I will continue to do anything I can to stop the train wreck that is ObamaCare.
KARL: Will you rule out pushing to the brink of another shutdown?
CRUZ: Jon, I know – Jon I know–
KARL: Or will you say you're not going to do that?
CRUZ: Jon, I know you want to nail down all sorts of future tactical decisions. What I intend to do is continue standing with the American people to work to stop ObamaCare because it isn't working. It's costing people jobs and it's taking away their health care.
KARL: People hated this shutdown. They hated this impasse. And this was seen as the Ted Cruz shutdown. You, more than any single individual, were seen as the one that triggered this crisis to begin with.
CRUZ: I agree that a lot of D.C. politicians tried to call it that. And a lot of the media did, too.
KARL: I'm talking – I'm talking about public opinion nationally.
CRUZ: Look, let me be very clear, I said throughout this, we shouldn't have a shutdown. I don't want a shutdown. I repeatedly voted to open the government.
KARL: But there never would have been a shutdown if you hadn't gone with this strategy of saying we're not going to fund the government for six weeks unless we can defund ObamaCare.
CRUZ: And you know what, Jon? You know what? There never would have been a shutdown if Harry Reid and President Obama hadn't said we will not compromise. We will not negotiate. Shut the government down.
KARL: Now, Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress, like the President, are saying emphatically, George, that there will be not be another shutdown.
STEPHANOPOULOS: That's what they're promising right now. Although we saw the fight there. Meantime, there are some calmer voices starting to get together right away to see if they can put together some kind of small-scale budget deal before the end of the year.
KARL: Yeah. Very important and very significant meeting over breakfast Thursday between Paul Ryan, the top Republican on budget matters and Patty Murray, the top Democrat. They're trying to get together. This would not be a big deal, George. But this would be something to ensure when the money runs out again on January 15th, they have another agreement in place to fund the government for the rest of the year.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Government stays open. Debt limit extended. Let's hope that happens. Jon. Karl, thanks very much.
— Scott Whitlock is Senior News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Scott Whitlock on Twitter.


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How to Install Android on the HP Touchpad - The Easy Way!
Since I last made a thread on this topic, some wonderful new tools have been made to make this process much easier and less risky!!!
However be aware, If you do not follow these instructions carefully, there is a chance that you can brick your device. While this is a risk, I have never had this happen. Please read through all the instructions before doing anything.
Let's Get Started!!!
1. Make sure you got Novacom installed. You can get it from here.
2. Get the necessary files.
3. Connect your Touchpad to your PC or Mac with the USB cable and put it into USB Mode (Recovery Mode) by either of these methods:
Power it off and hold the Volume Up and Power button till you see the big USB symbol.
- or -
Hold the Power + Home buttons until the screen changes (about 10 seconds) and the start holding the Volume UP Button until you see the big
USB symbol.
4. Extract the TPToolbox.zip file. Copy the 4 files you downloaded above onto the resulting extracted folder and choose one of the following:
For Windows:
Run the batch file named tptb_v40_win.bat.
For Mac and Linux:
Run the script named tptb_v40_nix.sh.
5. Decide if you want to keep WebOS installed, or delete it and have extra space for fun things like pictures and games.
To delete WebOS:
Make sure that you get any important data off of your webOS before wiping it!!!
Wait for it to load, and using the the volume keys to move and the home button to select, choose the Complete Data Reset option.
5A. Choose Yes 3 times.
5B. Once it finishes, install Android as described below.
To dual boot Android and WebOS:
Skip to step 6.
6. Using the the volume keys to move and the home button to select, choose the Install Android option. Navigate on your computer to your Touchpad (Look under My Computer on Windows), and copy the Gapps, Recovery Image and Android Build into the ttinstall folder. Wait for this to finish, usually several minutes.
7. Back on your Touchpad, choose Unmount Media Volume, confirm install, and wait patiently as it installs Android! It should reboot. Once it does, you will see a bar along the top with a large TWRP on the upper left hand side. Continue Waiting Once it reboots again, you will see a menu pop up with blue text. Using the Volume buttons to move up and down and the home button to select, choose boot CyanogenMod.
8. Setup Android and Enjoy!!!
Congratulations!!! Wasn't that easy?
If you got any question post them below!!!


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Rogic remains humble despite rapid rise in football world
TOMAS Rogic is keeping a level head despite all the attention he is receiving over his rapid rise to the ranks of international football.
The 19-year-old Mariners rising star earned his first Socceroos cap as a second-half substitute in the recent friendly against South Korea, and is likely to get further caps in the coming East Asian Cup qualifying tournament.
But he says while the attention he is getting is nice, he will not let it get to him.
"I try not to take too much notice of it all (the media attention), because if I was to do something wrong it would just work against me," Rogic said.
"I just try to read the positives into it. I try to stay away from the media as much as I can … sometimes it is hard."
Rogic is in Socceroos coach Holger Osieck's provisional 25-man squad for the qualifiers to be held in Hong Kong from December 1-9.
Australia will compete against Taiwan, Guam, Hong Kong and North Korea in the qualifying tournament.
The East Asian Cup will be held in South Korea in July next year.


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Title: Samhain: Season of Death and Renewal
Post by: Heather Delaria on October 01, 2007, 12:47:06 pm
Samhain: Season of Death and Renewal
by Alexei Kondratiev
Copyright © 1997 Alexei Kondratiev
All Rights Reserved
May be reposted as long as the above attribution and copyright notice are retained
[Originally published in An Tríbhís Mhór: The IMBAS Journal of Celtic Reconstructionism, volume 2, issue 1/2, Samhain 1997/Iombolg 1998.]
As the nights lengthen and the leaves take on their autumn colours, many of our cities prepare for a seasonal festival dominated by dark and frightening imagery. Ghosts, skeletons, hags, nocturnal creatures such as cats and bats, and grinning monster faces peer out at us from shop windows. Much of it is just commercialism, yet there is no denying that the atmosphere of the holiday still has a profound effect on the modern psyche -- as we can see from the spontaneous outrageousness of Hallowe'en parades, the creative expressions of death-related themes, and the general surge in mischief-making. All these customs, however, are a diffuse reflection of the beliefs and practices of the Celtic populations of Europe, for whom this feast was a crucial turning-point in the flow of time.
The earliest record we have of the festival of Samhain in the Celtic world comes from the Coligny Calendar, a native Celtic lunar calendar inscribed on bronze tablets and discovered in eastern France a hundred years ago. The calendar -- dated, through epigraphic evidence, to the 1st century CE -- is written in the Latin alphabet and was found in conjunction with a Roman-style statue (identified by some writers as Apollo, by others as Mars), but the language used is Gaulish and the dating system itself bears little resemblance to Roman models, implying that it represents the survival of an indigenous tradition maintained by native clergy. A detailed discussion of the calendar lies outside the scope of this article, but for our purposes it will be enough to point out that its year consists of twelve regularly recurring months that fall naturally into two groups, one headed by the month that is labeled SAMON (for Samonios) and the other by the month GIAMON (for Giamonios), and that the names of these two months are clearly related to the terms samos "summer" and giamos "winter" (cf. Gaelic samh(radh) "summer", geamh(radh) "winter"; Welsh haf "summer", gaeaf "winter"). The date of SAMON- xvii is identified as TRINVX SAMO SINDIV, which can be readily interpreted as an abbreviation of Trinouxtion Samonii sindiu ("The three-night-period of Samonios [is] today"). This is one of the very few dates in the calendar that is given a specific name, testifying to its importance as a festival; and since Samoni- is obviously the origin of the modern name Samhain, it is reasonable to equate the Trinouxtion Samonii with the feast that is still one of the most important dates in the Celtic ritual year.
We should note, however, that since the Coligny Calendar gives no indication of how its months relate to those of the Roman calendar, we have no conclusive evidence that would allow us to fit it into the framework of our own year, and scholars are still very much divided on the issue. The most confusing element, of course, is that Samon- refers to summer, and so would naturally lead one to think that a month with that name would head the summer half of the year; and many of the earlier interpretations of the Coligny Calendar take this for granted. In living Celtic tradition, however, the festival of Samhain, despite its name, is definitely the beginning of winter. Though such evidence doesn't necessarily exclude the possibility that Continental Druids used a completely different terminology, many scholars now accept the authority of the living tradition and place the Samonios month in October/November.
What does the name of the festival mean, however? Here, again,we run into controversy. The traditional interpretation -- first put forward in the Mediaeval glossaries and still held to by native speakers -- is that it means "summer's end", being a combination of samh "summer" and fuin "ending, concealment". This is obviously a folk etymology, since we know that the earliest form of the word (Samoni-) had a different structure, but its importance to the living tradition should make us wary of dismissing it too lightly. Although philologists have been unable to find a plausible Indo-European explanation for a suffix -oni- meaning "end of" (the suffix, by the way, occurs in at least three of the other Coligny months), this is not conclusive in itself: there are quite a few other derivational suffixes attested in Old Celtic that resist an easy Indo-European etymology, although their meanings are uncontroversial. What should be kept in mind is that in the ritual context of the Celtic Year, Samhain is strongly identified with the "end" or "concealment" of Summer, the Light Half of the year. In the modern Gaelic languages the festival is called Samhain (Irish), Samhuinn (Scots Gaelic), and Sauin (Manx). The night on which it begins (Oíche Shamhna in Irish, Oidhche Shamhna in Scots Gaelic, Oie Houney in Manx) is the primary focus of the celebration. The Brythonic languages call the feast by a name meaning "first of Winter", borrowing the Latin term calenda which designates the first day of a month (Welsh Calan Gaeaf, Breton Kala-Goañv, Cornish Kalann Gwav), but the beliefs and practices associated with it are consistent with what we find in the Gaelic countries, and will help us discover a pan-Celtic theology of Samhain.
Title: Re: Samhain: Season of Death and Renewal
Post by: Heather Delaria on October 01, 2007, 12:48:08 pm
The Coligny Calendar's division of the year into two halves associated with summer and winter is still very strongly reflected in Celtic folk practice, where the yearly cycle consists of a dark half beginning on Samhain (November 1st), mirrored by a light half beginning on Bealtaine (May 1st). The rituals surrounding Samhain and Bealtaine are closely related to each other and make it clear that the two festivals are linked, but also that they deal with opposite energies within the unfolding of the year. What is explicit and active in one is implicit and dormant in the other, and vice versa. This is often expressed as the notion that what disappears in our world at once becomes present in the Otherworld, and it has even been suggested, on this basis, that Samhain's "summery" name was originally intended to designate the beginning of an Otherworld summer! Whether this is plausible or not, it remains certain that while Samhain began one kind of yearly cycle, Bealtaine began another, and both could be construed as a kind of "New Year". In ancient Ireland the High King inaugurated the year on Samhain for his household (and, symbolically, for all the people of Ireland) with the famous ritual of Tara, but in nearby Uisneach, the sacred centre held by the druids in complementary opposition to Tara, it was on Bealtaine that the main ritual cycle was begun. In both cases sacred fires were extinguished and re-lit, though this happened at sunset on Samhain and at dawn on Bealtaine. Bealtaine was a time of opening and expansion, Samhain a time of gathering-in and shutting, and for herd-owners like the Celts this was expressed with particular vividness by the release of cattle into upland pastures on Bealtaine and their return to the safety of the byres on Samhain.
Which of these two dates, then, should we think of primarily as the "Celtic New Year"? Although both deal with the beginning of a cycle, Samhain begins it in darkness, and there is no doubt about the pre-eminence of darkness in Celtic tradition. In De Bello Gallico Julius Caesar notes that the Celts began their daily cycle with sunset (spatia omnis temporis non numero dierum, sed noctium finiunt; dies natales et mensum et annorum initia sic obseruant, ut noctem dies subsequatur -- "they define all amounts of time not by the number of days, but by the number of nights; they celebrate birthdays and the beginnings of months and years in such a way that the day is made to follow the night"), and this is confirmed by later Celtic practice. Darkness comes before light, because life appears in the darkness of the womb, all things have their beginning in the fertile chaos that is hidden from the rational mind. Thus the year begins with its dark half, holding the bright half in gestation as the seeds lie in apparent death underground, although the forces of growth are already at work in Otherworldly invisibility. The moment of death -- the passing into the concealing darkness -- is itself the first step in the renewal of life.
This association of death with fertility provided the theological background for a great number of end-of-harvest festivals celebrated by many cultures across Eurasia. Like Samhain, these festivals (which, for example, included the rituals of the Dyedy ("Ancestors") in the Slavic countries and the Vetrarkvöld festival in Scandinavia) linked the successful resumption of the agricultural cycle (after a period of apparent winter "death") to the propitiation of the human community's dead. The dead have passed away from the social concerns of this world to the primordial chaos of the Otherworld where all fertility has its roots, but they are still bound to the living by ties of kinship. It was hoped that, by strengthening these ties precisely when the natural cycle seemed to be passing through its own moment of death, the community of the living would be better able to profit from the energies of increase that lead out of death back to life. Dead kin were the Tribe's allies in the Otherworld, making it certain that the creative forces deep within the Land were being directed to serve the needs of the human community. They were, in Celtic terms, a "humanising" factor within the Fomorian realm.
Whatever the specific elements had been that determined the proper date of the end-of-harvest honouring of the dead in various places, by the ninth and tenth centuries the unifying influence of the Church had led to concentrating the rituals on November 1st and November 2nd. The first date was All Hallows, when the most spiritually powerful of the Christian community's dead (the Saints) were invoked to strengthen the living community, in a way quite consistent with pre-Christian thought. The second date, All Souls, was added on (first as a Benedictine practice, beginning ca. 988) as an extension of this concept, enlarging it to include the dead of families and local communities. Under the mantle of the specifically Christian observances, however, older patterns of ancestor veneration were preserved.
Most traditional Celtic communities maintain a year-round link of some sort with their departed, making them a part of all significant occurrences in the family, such as births, weddings and funerals. In areas of the Irish Gaeltacht it is still not unusual for a household to have a seomra thiar ("western room"), a section of the house (often just a nook or alcove) dedicated to the dead of the family. Objects that bring individual dead relatives to mind (old photographs, pipes, jewelry, etc) are placed on a shelf or mantlepiece, and as one contemplates them one faces the setting sun and the vastness of the Atlantic, the direction the dead follow in their journey to the Otherworld. The rituals of Samhain, however, involved a more intense bonding with the dead, using the institution which, in Celtic tradition, was used to cement social links in a sacred and durable manner: the communal feast. Sharing food in a solemn context ("in the sight of gods and mortals") placed common and mutual responsibilities on all participants. Inviting the dead to such a feast encouraged the living to remember and honour their ancestors, while the dead in return were encouraged to have an interest in the welfare of their living kin.
On Samhain, the moment of the year's death, this world and the Otherworld become equivalent to each other, classificatory boundaries are removed from all categories, no barriers exist between the dead and the living, so both can authentically come together in one place to share a ritual feast. Individual Celtic communities have preserved a wealth of different customs related to the way this feast was actually celebrated: one can still discern some distorted elements of them in modern urban practices, such as Hallowe'en parties and trick-or-treating. Most of the customs, however, fall into two broad patterns. According to the first, a certain amount of food was set aside for the exclusive consumption of the dead. The dead were believed to be present as invisible entities; doors and windows were left unlocked to facilitate their coming into the house. In some cases, a specific type of food (usually cakes of some kind) was made solely for the dead; in others, a portion of the same food that the living would eat was set aside for them. The most classic example of this pattern (which is also found in Ireland and Scotland) is the boued an Anaon ("food of the hosts of the dead") custom in Brittany. The Anaon (the word appears to be the same as Annwn, the Welsh Otherworld; it is certainly a pre-Christian term) are the massed hosts of ancestral spirits, usually portrayed as hungry for sustenance from the world of the living. A large amount of food was set aside for their sole use, and had to remain untouched by any living hand for the full duration of the ritual period. Eating the food of the dead (even if one was desperately hungry) was considered to be a dreadful sacrilege: it condemned one to becoming a hungry ghost after death, barred from sharing the Samhain feast along with the rest of the Anaon. It was, in effect, a particularly horrible form of excommunication.
The other pattern of Samhain custom, on the contrary, encourages the recycling of the offered food into the community, thus strengthening social bonds. The most classic example of this second pattern is the Welsh cennad y meirw ("embassy of the dead") custom, although similar customs are found elsewhere in the Celtic and ex-Celtic world. Here, while the wealthier members of the community put together lavish Samhain feasts for their households, the poor take on the collective identity of the community's dead, and go from door to door to receive offerings in the name of the ancestors. At each house they are given a portion of the food that has been set aside for the dead. Originally the cenhadon would have been masked to abolish their mundane social roles and allow them to represent the dead more convincingly. To refuse food to the cenhadon for any reason at all was an act of impiety and would invite retaliation in the form of destruction of property -- retaliation that would go unpunished because of the holy nature of the ritual period. We can here see one of the origins of the "trick" aspect of our modern Hallowe'en customs, although nowadays it has largely lost its moral dimension.
A communal feast, of course, involves more than just food. The dead would not only have to be fed, they would have to be entertained. Games and pastimes associated with Samhain feasting vary a great deal from community to community, but they have certain themes in common. While the younger people engage in the ritualised games, the elders will be gossiping, reviewing all the notable events of the past year for the benefit of the dead, who will then be encouraged to continue to take an interest in the affairs of the living. The games themselves, in many cases, seem to have specific links with the mythology of death and the afterlife. Many of them involve apples -- in part, of course, because they are one of the last crops to be brought in and are thus easily available, but also as a reflection of the role apples play in beliefs about death: in Irish tradition the Otherworld place where the dead gather at a feast is called Eamhain Abhlach ("paradise of apples"), and its Welsh equivalent is Afallon. Some of the Scottish games in this context make use of parallel ordeals by water and fire, the two main elements out of which the world is made. The water ordeal is the familiar bobbing for apples, while the fire ordeal involves trying to take a bite out of an apple attached to a hanging stick which also bears a lit candle. This seems to be a reference to myths about the ordeals faced by the dead on their journey to the Otherworld -- a body of beliefs we unfortunately know only through fragments, although the basic concept of the journey and the ordeals is well established. Sharing the experiences of the dead was yet another way of affirming the solidarity between the dead and the living, and of aligning the powers of renewal in the Otherworld with this world's needs.
While the dead were brought closer to the living by the formal sharing of food, other offerings had to be made to the Land-spirits to reward them for their cooperation during the Harvest period, and to replenish their creative energy as they prepared to enter into a new cycle. With Samhain, the period of "truce" that had begun on Lúnasa was officially ended, and the fruits of the soil (especially wild crops) could no longer be harvested with impunity. Well within living memory, children in Celtic communities were warned not to eat the late berries that might still be ripening on roadside bushes, because "the fairies" or "the devil" had made them dangerous to consume. Having enabled the human community to survive by making the crops grow and by standing aside to let the Harvest take place, the powers of the Fomorian realm were now entitled to a gift of life-renewing blood; and Samhain was the season when the cattle that would not be kept through the winter were slaughtered. In historical times the date of the slaughter has specifically been Martinmas (November 11), certainly in part because the name of the saint suggested the Gaelic word mart ("cattle marked for slaughter"). As late as the 1830's, when Amhlaoibh Ó Súilleabháin discussed some of these customs in his famous diary, the occasion was understood as a ritual "shedding of blood", and other sources show that during the same period blood sacrifices could even still be held indoors, to protect a house from malignant "fairy" influences by sprinkling an offering of blood at each corner.
Renewing social links with the dead and feeding the Land-spirits were both ritual means of ensuring a safe future. While Samhain (and the phenomenon of death which it celebrated) was obviously the end of a cycle, it was more importantly the start of a new one. Because all true novelty springs from the chaotic freedom and vitality of the Otherworld, a new cycle could be inaugurated only by dissolving all of the structures of the old one -- just as the moment of death dissolves our identity in this world, allowing the fresh energies of the Otherworld to impel us towards new life. This meant that, as happens in the feasts of renewal of many different cultures, certain types of social disorder were actively encouraged during the period of the festival, because they promoted the renewing influence of the Otherworld at the point in the yearly cycle where it would be most beneficial. Customs originating entirely in the world of cultural values -- such as those relating to social rank or gender-appropriate behaviour -- were the most likely to be violated. Disrespect could be shown to elders or to members of the upper classes. Cross-dressing was one of the most widespread and popular ways of expressing the dissolution of social categories, and in parts of Wales groups of young men in female garb were referred to as gwrachod ("hags" or "witches") as they wandered through the countryside on Calan Gaeaf, indulging in all kinds of mischief.
But the disorder, of course, was only the prelude to the return of order in a strengthened form. The structures that had been dissolved had to be re-created in order to channel the new energy from the Otherworld in the desired directions. While local communities would have had their own diverse methods of accomplishing this ritually (often through the extinguishing and re-kindling of household fires), more elaborate ceremonies were conducted by religious specialists at the sacred centres of a territory, in the name of the entire population. In pre-Christian Ireland the ritual of Tara, focusing on the High King in his role as linchpin of the social order, was the means for re-creating the world on Samhain. The Middle Irish text entitled Suidigud Tellaig Temra (The Settling of the Household of Tara) describes the essentials of the ritual and relates some of the mythology that explains its symbolism (albeit with a somewhat Christianised background), while Geoffrey Keating, the seventeenth-century encyclopaedist of traditional Irish lore, provides us with additional explanations of some of the elements. Since the Land itself, as a ritual entity, was conceived of as a square, so was Tara, for the purposes of this ceremony, seen as a four-sided space. Each of the directions was associated with one of the three functional classes of society (and with the divinity who was seen as the ruler of that function), the South being devoted specifically to the power of the Land and to the goddess who gave energy to the exercise of the social functions. The High King occupied the centre of the ritual area, while around him, strictly ordered by social rank, were representatives of the four provinces. Thus, when the New Year actually dawned, the magical heart of Ireland would contain a model of the entire social order of the country in miniature, engaged in the solemn feasting whereby all social links were strengthened, and all parts of the country would then benefit from the influence of this ritual. The actual inception of the new cycle was signaled by the lighting of a fire, not at Tara but at Tlachtga, which symbolically represented the southern province of Munster within the High King's central realm. This was the place where Tlachtga, the daughter of the mythological Druid Mug Ruith, died after being raped by the "sons of Simon Magus" (who wanted to gain the knowledge and talents she had inherited from her father) and after giving birth to three sons from three different fathers. This myth is obviously garbled in its modern version, yet one can still discern in it the figure of the Land-goddess and her three "functional" consorts. The association of the festival with the pre-eminently "female" southern quarter may explain why in some Welsh and Scottish communities it is specified by custom that Samhain ritual (preparation of the ceremonial food, etc.) must be overseen by nine women (in contrast to the nine men who preside over Bealtaine).
What of the role of the gods in this crucial turning-point of the ritual year? Since virtually all our knowledge of detailed ritual practices among the Celts comes from Christianised communities, references to divinities who were actually worshipped are, as one would expect, rare and indirect. However, some of the stories preserved in both folklore and mediaeval literature seem relevant to the theology of this feast. Images such as that of the hero Diarmait killed by a boar after his romance with Fionn Mac Cumhail's wife Gráinne; or that of wild Myrddin emerging from the forest with a herd of stags to kill his wife's lover by piercing him with a pair of antlers; or that of Gwyn ap Nudd ("White son of Mistmaker") fighting with Gwythyr ap Greidawl ("Wrathful son of Hot") every Calan Mai (Bealtaine) "until the day of Judgment" for the hand of their common love, Creiddylad; and the notion of the Fianna living off the wilderness from Bealtaine to Samhain and indoors from Samhain to Bealtaine all suggest a myth of certain divinities changing their status in relation to the Land-goddess in response to the change of seasons along the Samhain-Bealtaine axis. The common denominator of these motifs seems to be the figure of the antlered god now conventionally referred to as "Cernunnos", whose mythology has definite links to the stories of the Fianna and whose attributes symbolise seasonal change as well as the interface between nature and culture. Antlers are a seasonal phenomenon: they drop off in winter and begin to reappear as velvet at winter's end, returning to full glory in the spring. In Scots Gaelic terminology, the month immediately preceding Samhain is called an Damhar (damh-ghar, "stag-rut"), because it is when stags clash with each other during the mating season, shortly before losing their antlers, as the antlered god must undoubtedly lose his (which is why some "Cernunnos" statues -- like the one from St. Germain -- apparently had holes for removable antlers). Our sense of the seasonal importance of this event in Celtic ritual symbolism is reinforced by the custom in southwestern Brittany of baking appropriately shaped cakes called kornigoù ("little horns") to celebrate the coming of winter. From the many versions of the myth one can deduce that the antlered god is separated from his goddess-consort (who takes another lover) during the light half of the year, when he must live as a renunciate in the wilderness and wear his horns; but that with the coming of the dark season his rival is eliminated and he can return to his consort's embrace in the Otherworld -- abandoning, by the same token, the "horns" of his cuckoldry. It is unlikely to be a coincidence that the bonnag Samhna -- the Samhain cake prepared specifically for the ritual-- made by the women who preside over the Samhain feast in parts of Gaelic Scotland is named after a cuckold in the community. And we find echoes of the same motif (as we often do) at the other end of the Indo-European world, in the ritual calendar of India, where on Divali (Dipâvali), the Feast of Lights, which is usually celebrated very close to Samhain, Lakshmi, the goddess of abundance and well-being, leaves her usual consort Vishnu (who falls asleep at this time) to return temporarily to her first husband, Kubera, the fat god of material riches.
The Land-goddess, too, changes her appearance at this time: the fertile part of her retreats to the Otherworld where she can join with her consort in beginning the creative work of the new yearly cycle (in their summer, which is our winter, as it were), but in our world only her "Fomorian" aspect remains, making the land barren and hostile to human comfort. In the Scottish Highlands this is the season of the Cailleach Bheura, the monstrous hag who wanders in the hills bringing bad weather, while in Wales we hear of the Hwch Ddu Gwta ("tailless black sow") who lurks menacingly in the darkness. Yet these are all aspects of the same being, the multiform Provider on whom we all depend, who must, like all things, replenish herself through alternating periods of action and repose, and who touches -- as we all must -- darkness and death to find the source of true renewal.
Céitinn, Seathrún (Geoffrey Keating), (ed. by Padraig de Brún) Foras Feasa ar Éirinn. Dublin, 1982.
Danaher, Kevin, The Year in Ireland. Cork, 1972.
MacNeill, Eoin, On the Notation and Chronology of the Calendar of Coligny, Ériu 10 (1926).
McNeill, F. Marian, The Silver Branch. Glasgow, 1953-66.
Owen, Trefor M., Welsh Folk Customs. Cardiff, 1959.
Rees, Alwyn & Brinley, Celtic Heritage: Ancient Tradition in Ireland and Wales. New York. 1961.
Sébillot, P. Y., Le Folklore de la Bretagne. Paris, 1968.
Suidigud Tellaig Temra (R.I. Best, ed. and trans.), Ériu 4 (1910).