text:
Rugby Union
Select a team
Six Nations
- England
- France
- Ireland
- Italy
- Scotland
- Wales
Aviva Premiership
- Bath
- Exeter
- Gloucester
- Harlequins
- Leicester
- London Irish
- London Welsh
- Newcastle
- Northampton
- Sale
- Saracens
- Wasps
The Rugby Championship
- Australia
- New Zealand
- South Africa
Guinness PRO12
- Cardiff Blues
- Connacht
- Dragons
- Edinburgh
- Glasgow
- Leinster
- Munster
- Ospreys
- Scarlets
- Treviso
- Ulster
- Zebre
Top 14
- Bayonne
- Bordeaux-Begles
- Brive
- Castres
- Clermont Auvergne
- Lyon
- Montpellier
- Racing Metro
- Stade Francais
- Toulon
- Toulouse
- Grenoble
- La Rochelle
- Oyonnax
|Home team
|Away Team
South Africa
|27 - 38
New Zealand
Match Links
- Rugby Championship
- 5th Oct 2013
- Ground: Coca-Cola Park (Ellis Park), Johannesburg
- Att: 63,888
South Africa v New Zealand - Live
80 No advantage as Le Roux intercepts the pass, and that's the game. A remarkable contest in Johannesburg sees New Zealand retain their title but in such dramatic fashion, South Africa getting that try bonus point but unable to prevent the All Blacks sealing one of their own. Nine tries overall in an absolute classic. Thank you for reading.
79 Slow execution now as van der Merwe loses the ball forward, NZ clearing long. Smart break by Louw but the game has descended into farce as Piutau bursts free but can't find McCaw with the final pass. NZ back on the attack with time running out.
77 Pressure on the NZ lineout but they get the ball away, Lambie collecting the kick. Promising attack finishes as Englebrecht loses the ball forward in the tackle, so an NZ scrum outside their 22 on the right.
75 Super try-saving tackle from Barrett on Le Roux after the winger makes an interception, tapping his ankles just short of the line and forcing his foot into touch. Five metre lineout for the All Blacks.
73 Free kick to SA. Good grubber from de Villiers sends Dagg scampering back, but his kick to touch is brilliant.
71 NZ scrum just outside the SA 22. Slicing run from Nonu but NZ are pinged for accidental offside - scrum to the Boks.
69 Tired bodies all over the park as the ball goes to ground, coming back for a South African scrum. Kerr-Barlow on for A.Smith, Boks clear and then NZ lose the ball at the lineout but recover the ball for a box kick long. Kirchner pinned back and Nonu does well at the breakdown, the ball rolling into touch.
67 Test of character now for the Springboks with the chance of winning the title gone. Their defence at times, along with at the restarts. NZ scrum inside their own half - Barrett clears high and Le Roux gathers. Brilliant carry by de Villiers but Luatua knocks the ball out his hands and the All Blacks clear.
65 TRY, NEW ZEALAND, READ! 27-38: All Blacks clear the danger through Barrett, lineout to the hosts inside NZ territory. Won against the throw, Luatua clearing up at the back. Du Preez loses the ball forward so NZ attack, numbers on the left and Read is clear and away! Savea draws the man and that is a classy score. A fifth try for the All Blacks!
64 YELLOW CARD, NEW ZEALAND, B.FRANKS! Swinging arm at the breakdown from Ben Franks on Oosthuizen. Boks kick into the corner.
63 Bizarre stoppage in play as there's a dispute given that Dane Coles isn't down on the written teamsheet. Regardless, we play on.
61 TRY, NEW ZEALAND, BARRETT! 27-31: That is that. Beauden Barrett makes up for his earlier error by stepping through a gap and racing away untouched to score under the posts! New Zealand will retain the Rugby Championship thanks to that try bonus point. What a thriller.
59 TRY, SOUTH AFRICA, DE VILLIERS! 27-24: Astonishing. Wide ball to de Villiers who skips out of the tackles, flattens Barrett and scores! That's the try bonus point! South Africa now having to win by more than seven points to win The Rugby Championship. Unbelievable scenes at Ellis Park.
57 Vermeulen under the high ball as SA attack again. Steyn bounces Retallick, Le Roux switching the play left as they go tight to the touchline. De Villiers nearly with an interception there but the ball goes into touch. Botched lineout by NZ and the Boks are five metres out...
56 PENALTY, NEW ZEALAND, BARRETT! 22-24: All Blacks into the lead after that simple penalty for Barrett. Still game on.
56 Phenomenal try-saving tackle by Kolisi stops Nonu just short of the line, so we come back for an NZ penalty for offside.
54 Steenkamp on for Mtawarira as NZ press forward. Savea with an astonishing run down the left touchline, brushing off tacklers and getting the All Blacks behind the gain line. Good carries from B.Franks, and then Nonu! Is he in? TMO checking the score, a fourth try for NZ will seal the Rugby Championship title.
52 Vermeulen bursts off the base. Boks coming left, Retallick gets over the ball though and wins the turnover for NZ who clear. Kirchner runs it back as the Boks look to re-establish field position, but NZ win another penalty at the breakdown. Barrett kicks deep into SA territory.
51 Scrum reversed in favour of the Boks. Five metres out, that elusive fourth try in sight. Both du Plessis brothers replaced by Strauss and Oosthuizen.
49 Absurd passage of play. It starts with Etzebeth cantering down the left touchline, before NZ turnover and chase long through Barrett putting du Preez under pressure in his 22. Kirchner takes the pass and bursts away, putting Englebrecht into space down the right touchline. He finds Le Roux inside but the tackle is huge from Savea, forcing the knock on. NZ scrum five metres from their line.
47 TRY, SOUTH AFRICA, LE ROUX! 22-21: Boks waste no time as Le Roux beats his man to get over the line, NZ watching on as Messam departed. One more try needed for South Africa...
45 YELLOW CARD, NEW ZEALAND, MESSAM! Boks win a penalty at the breakdown against McCaw and kick into the corner. Taken by Kruger, Bismarck with the ball at the base. Maul finishes, Boks five metres out. Eight phases now as the NZ defence holds. Wide now to Englebrecht who is stopped. 12 phases now, Kirchner with a strong run and Le Roux outside but he doesn't pass, looked like a certain try there. SA persist, winning a penalty at the breakdown and Messam goes to the bin!
43 High chip from de Villiers over the top but Dagg calls an excellent mark in the corner. Boks playing with plenty of width so far. Hore replaced by Coles.
41 Restart won by Mtawarira but NZ counter-ruck and then race away through Savea, his kick just beating him into touch.
40 Steyn to start the second half - as things stand, New Zealand will retain their Rugby Championship title.
40 TRY, NEW ZEALAND, MESSAM! 15-21: Hooter sounds as the All Blacks work in broken play. Keeping the ball alive, Nonu cutting in and breaking tackles. Well-worked overlap on the left-hand side and Hore combines with Messam, who cuts inside and beats Mtawarira too easily to step in and score! Great drama before half-time and NZ have three tries to SA's two. Cruden converts and New Zealand lead by six at the interval.
40 Alberts departs, Kolisi on. Vermeulen carries well off the base and Steyn clears to just outside the SA 22.
40 Lengthy stoppage as Alberts receives treatment. Stretcher onto the field.
40 Scrappy lineout from SA but the ball is knocked forward by NZ, so the hosts have the scrum just short of their own line. Read down for treatment.
38 Scrum to SA just outside their own 22. Well set and Steyn clears long. Dagg shanks a high kick but the All Blacks regather, before kicking deep behind the defence. Pressure on the Springboks lineout before half-time.
36 Pass to Englebrecht is almost too flat on the gain-line and he loses the ball forwards, NZ kicking clear. Kirchner's response is high but taken by Savea. Nonu's effort is fielded and then Steyn finds a good touch inside the NZ half.
35 Excellent drive from the Boks on the second scrum and they reverse the put-in - now in a promising attacking position five metres out.
33 Good defence on that driving maul from NZ and they win a scrum five metres out from their own line.
32 Strong counter-drive from the All Blacks, advantage to the Boks. Du Preez tries to go quick but isn't on the mark. Another lineout...
30 Boks win the lineout and feed de Villiers on the short ball. Ten metres out from the try line, de Villiers again skipping tackles. Alberts bashes up, long pass out from Bismarck gathered by Kirchner. Advantage so playing it wide but nothing comes from it, so back for the penalty. Steyn kicks into the corner.
28 TRY, NEW ZEALAND, MESSAM! 15-14: The All Blacks hit right back with a try through Messam - the flanker burrowing his over from close range. Cruden converts to make it a one-point game.
25 J.du Plessis penalised at the scrum, NZ clear long into the SA half. Habana forced off after pulling his hamstring, a cruel blow so Serfontein comes on and Englebrecht moves to the wing.
23 High kick from Kirchner lands perfectly just outside the 22, but the ball is knocked on as Le Roux goes to gather. All Blacks scrum deep in their half.
21 All Blacks win the restart once more and set up camp in the Boks half. Habana looks to have pulled up as he takes the mark, but passes to du Preez who finds an outstanding touch kick back into the NZ 22.
18 Restart falls the way of SA this time and they clear long. Dagg's kick goes high and is well taken by Du Preez. Louw runs down the inside channel and gets the offload around the back to Habana, who brilliantly chips over B.Smith, gathers the ball and scores! Astonishing try and the dream is alive for SA.
15 TRY, SOUTH AFRICA, HABANA! 10-7: Free kick to NZ at the lineout. Strong double tackle on Cruden forces the scrum to the hosts in midfield. Ball comes left to de Villiers, coming from deep in attack. Vermeulen makes a half break and Habana is in! The number eight spotted the gap between Faumaina and Nonu and Habana runs around under the sticks to get the first try. Excellent response. Steyn converts.
13 Springboks desperately need a response - Smith was outstanding there the way he glided past four defenders for the try. SA lineout in the NZ half - working an opportunity again out wide but Le Roux crowds Englebrecht into touch with that pass. Springboks not making the most of their territory yet.
11 TRY, NEW ZEALAND, B.SMITH! 3-7: NZ again winning the ball at the restart, building the phases in the opposition half. Fine break on the right by Ben Smith who cuts inside and scores! Yet another try for the All Blacks winger and Ellis Park is stunned into silence. Cruden converts.
9 PENALTY, SOUTH AFRICA, STEYN! 3-0: No problem from that range for Steyn who hits the target. Springboks in the lead.
8 Great platform for SA. Advantage played as de Villiers is stopped short. Du Preez kicks the ball away and the Boks opt to go for the posts.
6 Kirchner again in the thick of the action as South Africa go over halfway. Pass flung wide and Englebrecht finds a half gap, freeing Le Roux who chips over the top and forces A.Smith to carry the ball over his dead ball line. Scrum five to the Boks.
5 Bounce favours the Boks from a high ball as they attack from within their half, Alberts and then Kirchner driving straight. Kick from Steyn bounces long and the All Blacks will have a 22.
3 Springboks clear their lines and engage into a kicking duel with Dagg who eventually lands an excellent return. SA lineout inside their own half.
1 Early pressure from New Zealand ends after seven phases when Nonu grubbers through to Kirchner. The Springboks clear but Read's next kick is a smart one, forcing the Boks back onto their own five-metre line.
With the anthems complete, the All Blacks line up to perform the Haka lead by Messam. The Ellis Park crowd drown it out with rousing singing and we're set to get underway! Cruden to kick off.
Dry and clear in Johannesburg as the All Blacks run out to hostile reception from the Ellis Park faithful. McCaw and his side now waiting for the Springboks as Tendai "Beast" Mtawarira runs out for his 50th Test cap.
Captain Richie McCaw returns to the All Blacks starting XV to play in his 120th Test but first at Ellis Park. There are two changes to the team that beat Argentina last week with tighthead prop Charlie Faumuina replacing the injured Owen Franks, who is sidelined with a groin injury. Sam Cane drops to the bench at the expense of Jeremy Thrush. Amongst the replacements Dan Coles takes over from Keven Mealamu while Ben Franks fills the gap left by Faumuina.
Springbok centre JJ Engelbrecht has recovered from a contusion to his quad muscle. Tendai "Beast" Mtawarira will play in his 50th Test, Bismarck du Plessis rotates with Adriaan Strauss at hooker, while Juandr� Kruger comes in at lock for Flip van der Merwe. The uncapped Franco van der Merwe has been selected on the bench.
Hello and welcome to Ellis Park for this all-important clash in The Rugby Championship between South Africa and New Zealand. What a game we have ahead of us.
Updates to appear here at 16:45 local (15:45 BST, 14:45 GMT)
Sky Bet Odds:Click Here for Your Free Bet
- Match Gallery
|Aviva Premiership
|Saturday 30th May
|Aviva Premiership
|Bath 16 - 28 Saracens
|Saturday 23rd May
|Bath 47 - 10 Leicester Tigers
|Northampton 24 - 29 Saracens
|Saturday 16th May
|Exeter 44 - 16 Sale Sharks
|Leicester Tigers 22 - 14 Northampton
|Bath 50 - 30 Gloucester
|Newcastle Falcons 37 - 21 Harlequins
|London Irish 40 - 40 Wasps
|London Welsh 17 - 68 Saracens
Rupert Cox's Off Load: Clermont, England Sevens and Jean Deysel come under scrutiny
Rupert Cox shares his highlights from the week's rugby action in his round-up blog.
Hits and tries
The biggest and toughest hits and tackles plus the best tries from the world of rugby union.
Rupert Cox's Off Load: Hurricanes, Toulouse and Nick Williams all come under scrutiny
Rupert Cox shares his highlights from the week's rugby action in his round-up blog.
Experts & Blogs
Phil Edwards
Read the thoughts and opinions of Phil Edwards with skysports.com


text:
GSIS, Inc. DBA GSIS Insurance Solutions, Inc.
License # 0I01602 | The MoveInsure Program
Why MoveInsure?
Conflict-of-Interest Free
Many moving companies fund and adjust their own claim payments. Inherent conflicts of interest exist since these moving companies decide how much to pay you in case of a claim for damages that they themselves and others may have potentially caused.
With MoveInsure, your claim will be assessed by an objective third party. Our insurance carriers are subject to department of insurance regulations in every US state that protect the public from bad faith adjusting. Moving companies who fund their own claims based on liability per lb Valuation are NOT subject to such insurance regulations.
Lower Rates
As the leading insurance provider for household moves – also known as relocation insurance – MoveInsure offers the most competitive rates in the industry.
Broader Coverage
Whether you're moving domestically or internationally, MoveInsure offers the widest insurance coverage available for household moves. In addition to Gold Coverage (All Risk) and Silver Coverage (Named Perils), we also offer Pairs & Sets and Storage Extension Coverage, so that you have the flexibility to choose the coverage that is right for you.
Faster Claims Service
MoveInsure takes great pride in the way it handles claims. Should your move not go as smoothly as planned, simply File a Claim online, and a MoveInsure Claims Specialist will be in touch with you within one US business day. That's right. No run-a-rounds. We never keep our customers waiting in the dark. What's more, over 95% of all claims are settled within 30 days or less.* Compare that to the 2 to 3 month industry average, and you can see why our customers rave about our service.
With MoveInsure, buying your insurance policy couldn't get any simpler. A few easy steps. Save your work as you go along. Come back later if you need to. World-class customer support to help you with any questions. Now that's a breeze.
You know that not all insurance companies are as financially sound as they should be. That is why MoveInsure provides insurance coverage rated A+ or higher by A.M. Best, one of the highest ratings for financial strength and stability in the industry. The last thing you need to worry about is whether your insurance provider can meet its obligations if and when you have a claim. We're serious about quality of coverage - your coverage.
Privacy and Security
MoveInsure is serious about protecting and safeguarding your information which is maintained according to current industry standards. In addition to constant daily monitoring of its site, MoveInsure employs Verisign's True 128 bit Extended Validation SSL Certificates and McAfee's SECURE website certification, so you can be confident in placing your trust with us.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Convert Units for Free
113 reviews
By installing you agree to the Terms of Use and other terms
PublisherFree the Apps!
Download size< 1 MB
Last updated12/2/2010
Works with
- Windows Phone 8.1
- Windows Phone 8
- Windows Phone 7.5
- Windows Phone 7
App requires
- owner identity
- photo, music, and video libraries
- data services
- phone dialer
- web browser component
- HD720P (720x1280)
- WVGA (480x800)
- WXGA (768x1280)
Supported languages (1)
Download the only app with custom conversions! This free (yes, free) application lets you create your own unit conversions for anything you want, quickly and easily. Covert Units for Free is an essential tool that you'll love and use everyday. Over five million users already do. ★★★★★ "(…) this app is amazingly versatile and user friendly. Unbelievable that it's free. Converts dozens of measurements and types and does so easily for those of us with no mathematical abilities whatsoever. The customizableness (there's a word...!) makes conversions fluid, understandable and remarkably convenient and easy to input. Can't say enough nice things about this app. Thank you for this much needed and often used tool." -Adam Schramm ★★★★★ "I would fail geometry without this!" -Aroga It doesn't matter whether you're a physics student, a cyclist or a plumber, you have conversions to make. You could use a pen and paper or dig out a calculator but why would you? It's not necessary now that you have Convert Units for Free. Why tax your brain when you can get conversions in mere seconds, right on your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. Need to convert an area or an angle? Want to figure out speed, force or volume? No problem. Convert Units can handle whatever you throw at it and best of all, it won't cost you a cent. Not now, not ever. Convert Units for Free is not only powerfully capable, it is also the one and only app offering custom unit conversions. It comes with 13 ready-made categories containing hundreds of conversions for you to use but if you don't see what you need, just create a new one! Here are the included categories that are all set up and ready for you: * Angle * Area * Data * Energy * Force * Length * Mass * Power * Pressure * Speed * Temperature * Time * Volume degree to be able to take full advantage of Con
6/7/2015Confusing interface to me
10/8/2014Great app!!
9/13/2014Needs updating cant put miles in to meters shuts the app down
5/18/2013This app sucks. Constant connection errors!!!
3/31/2013No currency?
12/21/2012Its ok. Worked for what I needed but the interface is clunky
12/2/2012Loved this on my IOS device was glad to see it here.


text:
The Bachelorette
Fail! Ben Flajnik Isn't Into Jennifer Love Hewitt
Jennifer Love Hewitt is back to being a party of one. The Ghost Whisperer star had a "date" with Bachelorette Season 7 runner-up Ben Flajnik on Saturday night in San Francisco, but "a source close to Ben" told RumorFix that it's not a love match in the making.
"Jennifer Love Hewitt was obsessed with Ben Fla[j]nick on the show and so she had her people reach out to him and she flew all the way out to San Fran[c]isco just to see him and have lunch with him," the insider said. However, "He wasn't into her — he, like, totally wasn't feeling it."
Well, the heart wants what the heart wants… and maybe Ben's heart is set on being the Season 16 Bachelor. If not, he can still give us a call!
Source: RumorFix
Need your daily dose of The Bachelorette? "Like" us on Facebook! After all, you'd get our final rose.


text:
Missouri State MarooNation event comes to Joplin
The Missouri State University Alumni Association will host a MarooNation gathering for alumni and friends living in the greater Joplin area Feb. 28 from 6–8 p.m. at Twin Hills Golf and Country Club, 2019 S. Country Club Drive.
The event will include an Italian buffet dinner and feature remarks from President Clif Smart. Art Hains, voice of the Missouri State Bears, will emcee the evening and interview Missouri State Athletics Director Kyle Moats and Head Football Coach Terry Allen.
"It is exciting to know that we have many loyal alumni and friends living close by in the greater Joplin area," said Julie Ebersold, executive director of alumni relations. "Our goal is to connect fellow Bears to each other and to keep everyone in touch with Missouri State."
Each guest will receive a Missouri State memento, and door prizes will be awarded. The cost for the buffet dinner is $5 per person, payable at the door or in advance with online registration. Reservations are requested at www.alumni.missouristate.edu or by calling Renee Fogle, event coordinator, at (417) 836-5654.
#About Missouri State University
Missouri State University is a public, comprehensive metropolitan system with a statewide mission in public affairs, whose purpose is to develop educated persons. The university's identity is distinguished by its public affairs mission, which entails a campus-wide commitment to foster expertise and responsibility in ethical leadership, cultural competence and community engagement. New media resources
For more information about MSU, visit www.missouristate.edu. You can also be our fan on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, add us to your circle on Google+ and see what's happening on YouTube. Receive notification of Missouri State news releases as soon as they are posted by subscribing to our RSS feed. About the Alumni Association The Missouri State University Alumni Association exists to connect the university with its more than 100,000 alumni by providing ways for all alumni to stay in touch, informed and involved with their alma mater. As a non-dues-paying organization, all alumni are viewed as members.
Filed Under: Alumni Association · community


text:
With Instructables you can share what you make with the world and tap into an ever-growing community of creative experts.
share what you made with text, photos, video, and files
Create »
gather your favorite instructables together
If you are fortunate enough to get your hands on an old tube radio, but are also unfortunate in that the radio will never work again, you may want to ...
Once the old tube radio is determined to be unsalvageable, cut the power. Once all power is cut, carefully disassemble the components. Use wire cutt...
Once the desired components are collected and cleaned, select a medium to mount them on. I used an old pine board, but many other substrate materials...
Use nails or all metal pins to affix the components to the substrate. Take care to arrange the components in a pleasing grouping that is not too crow...
Take the cleaned wire that was saved, and begin clipping pieces to go between components. The wiring choice is purely artistic, so use color and dire...
Carefully solder all components together using the wire that was prepared in the preceding step. The solder is placed for two purposes, first to conn...
Once this project is complete, add a hanger for displaying it. The project is a perfect gift for an engineer's office space, and would be appropriate...
We have a be nice comment policy. Please be positive and constructive.
3,003 views
10 favorites
Steampunk Highlighterby prosper58
my steampunk monocleby dark clerick
Steampunk Costumeby dancord05
Steampunk Mechanical Pencilby prosper58
Steampunk Cheese Cutterby Winged Fist
Steampunk LCD Monitorby HighWing
steampunk clockby spunkman
Steampunk spectacles #2by gogglerman
Steampunk - Goggles (showcase)by MurphyHarris
Steampunked Mechanicle Pencil!!!by absolute zero
See More
Download our new apps for iOS, Android and Windows 8!
© 2015 Autodesk, Inc.
By clicking "Create Account" you are indicating that you have read and agree to the Terms of service.
Already a member? Login »
Enter the email associated with your account and we will send you your username and a temporary password.
Not a member? Sign Up »


text:
I was standing in the buffet line after church when the fight broke out. Now, folks, we weren't in the Green Lantern in Natchez, Mississippi, where a fight is as near as your mother-in-law on a cross country road trip. This was a moderately fancy restaurant with attentive servers and well-appointed accouterments. I backed away quickly from the fried chicken livers to avoid the fray and instinctively sought out the source of the pushing and shoving. It was a gaggle of ladies wrestling over the beets!
We had to be in West Tennessee.
It's the only place in the world where fisticuffs flare and feelings run hot over a vegetable that has never sponsored a TV show or had poems written about them. I'm not anti-beet by any means. I have actually eaten them on occasion. Aunt Beatrice would serve up pickled beets at Thanksgiving and Christmas that would melt in your mouth. Mother pushed them off on us as "a very healthy food". Of course, she said the same thing about spinach, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and spam.
I might could have envisioned a stand-off over the last country fried steak or maybe the sole remaining piece of homemade coconut cream pie. Leon, David and I once fought all afternoon over a lone chicken leg. But we're talking beets here, people! I've crawled on my belly like a reptile through the wild Johnson weeds to bust open one of Mr. Archie Moore's ripening watermelons. I walked Cynthia Wheat home so many times we wore out a path across Bethel College's front lawn to get close to her mother's sugar cookies. I've had wild cravings for chocolate milk shakes, pork shank and baked beans, Milk Duds, peanut butter and banana sandwiches, rutabagas and fried catfish. But beets don't exactly set your heart on fire as a "go to" dish. And fighting over them in a public restaurant seems to me to fall into the "Bridge Too Far" category. Jerry Springer couldn't have orchestrated this!
We were in fact in West Tennessee; Milan to be exact. And this is no indictment on that particular partition of the great Volunteer state. I'm just saying that I doubt womenfolk go toe to toe over beets at an upper Manhattan eatery, in a dinner club in New Orleans or at a fancy Hollywood bistro. And I can't picture any scenario where the Chicago police rush in and arrest fourteen ladies for brawling over an emptying pan of beets.
West Tennessee people take their eating a mite more serious than some. I had already taken note of the hominy on this buffet going like fifty cent pan cakes at a Kiwanis sale. The lines were long in front of the cabbage and mustered greens bins as you would expect. But nothing beat (no pun intended) the throng congregated around the ruby complexioned root.
I held my plate over my head and elbowed my way toward the center of the action. I had to get a closer look. Order was near 'bout restored before I could snake my way to the front. I couldn't tell if the red faced men breaking up the fracas were mad or embarrassed.
"What happened?" I asked the petite little girl that had seated us.
"Wilma Dean was late getting the beets out." She said it like the restaurant was somehow responsible.
"Does this happen often?" I was craning my neck under the glass to get a look at what must be the best tasting beets on earth. The cupboard was bare.
"Only when Wilma Dean takes one of her slow notions."
I tried to picture a "slow notion" as I moved back to let Wilma Dean empty a whole new bucket of beets onto the buffet. The crowd standing around with half filled plates cheered. You can't even get this kind of stuff on "Duck Dynasty".
"We have plenty; please line up in an orderly fashion." The petite girl apparently doubled as referee. I wasn't about to line up for beets. I moseyed over to the country ham and red-eye gravy, green beans, squash, fresh tomatoes and cornbread. I could survive without the beets.
You know how the Lord will work on you right out of the blue at times. I was buttering up my cornbread when it dawned on me, "How many of those nice folks fighting over the beets had just come from church?" Many were sporting their Sunday best. I wondered if any of the morning sermons were on that peace that passes all understanding, the patience of Job or Jesus' command to love thy neighbor. Them West Tennesseans are truly a "peculiar people"! I was standing up to ask for a show of hands of all that had just come from a worship service when that verse about "judge not lest you be judged" smote me in the eye.
I figured we'd had about as much fun as could be had at one meal. I'm pretty sure Jesus never turned beets into wine or fed five thousand with them. But I thanked Him for our meal anyway, and was especially grateful that Olive Loaf wasn't on the buffet……a full blown riot might have broken out!


text:
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- University of Tennessee at Chattanooga rising senior Stephan Jaeger (Munich, Germany) is getting to live his dream this week as an invited amateur to the BMW International Open June 23-26. Jaeger is one of two amateurs, Marcel Schneider, entered in the field.
The event is played at Jaeger's home course, Golfclub München Eichenreid, in Munich.
"This is a dream come true," said Jaeger. "I've followed this event my entire life and to be invited to play is an honor. If I could choose just one event to compete in, this would be it."
Jaeger just completed his third stellar season at Chattanooga. He is the two-time reigning Southern Conference Golfer of the Year and has earned PING All-East Region status all three years with the Mocs.
He wound up No. 42 in the Golfstat Cup, No. 60 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Perfomance Index and No 68 in Golfstat's final rankings. Jaeger finished the season at one-under par, just the second UTC golfer to play par or better for the season (Jonathan Hodge - 2008).
"Jaeger prepares like no one I've ever been around" said Chattanooga head coach Mark Guhne. "To get the chance to play an event he has followed his entire life at his home course...it's just a great opportunity for him."
Joining Jaeger in Munich are some of the top names in golf, present and past. World No. 3 Martin Kaymer is scheduled to be there along with No. 11 Dustin Johnson, No. 12 Paul Casey, No. 22 Francesco Molinari, No. 26 Retief Goosen, No. 28 Miguel Angel Jimenez, Colin Montgomerie, Jose Maria Olazabal and German great Bernhard Langer.
It's the 23rd year of the tournament dating back to 1989. Past winners include Kaymer (2008), Henrik Stenson (2006), Jimenez (2004), Lee Westwood (2003), John Daly (2001), Montgomerie (1999), Paul Azinger (1990 & 1992), Sandy Lyle (1991) and David Feherty (1989 - inaugural event).GoMocs.com is the official website of the Chattanooga Mocs. The Mocs can also be followed on their official Facebook page, www.facebook.com/ChattanoogaMocs, or on Twitter, www.twitter.com/GoMocs. Find out how to join the UTC Mocs Club and support more than 300 student-athletes by clicking here.


text:
Main Content
Commemorate the New York Rangers as the 2013-14 Eastern Conference Champions with this framed collectible. Each piece comes designed with three photographs and a descriptive plate. It contains a team logo and an actual piece of game-used puck (not from any specific game, event, or season). The product is officially licensed by the National Hockey League. It comes matted in team colors and is framed in black wood. It measures 23.5'' x 27.5'' x 1'' and comes ready to hang in your home or office. This collectible is a limited edition of 100.
- Fanatics Authentic Presented by Mounted Memories
- High-quality photographic print
- Includes game-used puck
- Limited edition of 100
- Made in the U.S.A.
- Made of wood and paper
- Measures approximately 20" x 24"
- Statement of authenticity included
- Officially licensed
Special event items are produced by manufacturers only after the outcome of a game or event. These are advanced sale items and will ship immediately after they are received in our warehouse.
Manufacturer direct items are shipped directly from the manufacturer. These items are not available for international or expedited shipping.
Customized items can be personalized with options such as your name, your favorite number, and/or designs. Some options may be limited by league rules.


text:
Passing Strangeness e-book coming soon, and new blog
Ladies and gentlemen, I'm happy to say that the Passing Strangeness e-book is nearly ready to be published. I'll have more details for you within a few weeks.
As it starts to wrap up and I wait out a variety of bureaucratic processes, I've begun a new book project False Steps. As before, work will be posted beforehand in a blog, which can be found here. In it I hope to trace a variety of ways in which the Space Race (which I've generously expanded outside of the usual 1957-1969 time frame to 1939-Present Day) might have gone. If you liked the Passing Strangeness posts Orbital Longshot and The Ghost Rockets, it just might be your cup of tea. Regardless, I invite you to come on over and check it out — Paul Drye
The Land Beneath the Waves
Beneath Land's End and Scilly rocks
Sunk lies a town that Ocean mocks.
– Unattributed rhyme from Legend Land, Volume 2, George Basil Barham, published in 1924
The Isles of Scilly barely enter into history. About the only major event associated with them was the Scilly Naval Disaster of 1707, when the gloriously named Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell sailed a significant fraction of the British Navy into their shallow waters, losing four ships and approximately 1,400 sailors' lives—including his own. The disaster led to the solution of the Longitude Problem by means of naval chronometers, and as these precise clocks spread they and their descendants revolutionized war, industry, trade, and science. Thank Admiral Shovell when the alarm clock wakes you tomorrow morning. However, the other particularly interesting thing about the Isles of Scilly looks back into the past rather than forward into the Industrial Age.
Britain is lousy with towns and even entire lands lost to the sea. H.P. Lovecraft was influenced by the story of Dunwich in Suffolk: one of the most important towns in medieval England, it was progressively swept into the ocean after a storm surge hit it in 1286. A bit further east the central part of the North Sea covers Doggerland, which was above sea level during the last Ice Age and only submerged about 6500 BC; the author owns a chunk of mammoth tusk dredged up from the area. The effect of the Ice Age on Britain hit Scilly too, but in a less obvious way. The southern half of Britain is further underwater than it should be after accounting for the melting of ancient ice caps, while the north is, in places, actually higher than it was at the Last Glacial Maximum, 20,000 years ago. This is because one of the ice caps was actually on Scotland and Northern England, and the weight of the ice pressed that section of the island down. Now that the ice has been removed, Britain has been slowly rebalancing itself, and the southern reaches are subsiding as the north rebounds, like a great tectonic see-saw.
This post-glacial rebound is continuing even as we speak, so the Isles of Scilly—literally the most southern point of England—have changed well into the last couple of millennia. It's worth looking at the British Admiralty's depth charts for the waters around the islands. The rather small brown areas are the present-day Isles, while the green represents flats that can become exposed if the tide is low enough. The blue area is a rough approximation of what Scilly would have been like some time in the past, with a depth of four meters or less. As you can see, this produces a single large island (sometimes called Ennor after a castle on the largest of the present islands, St. Mary's) out of most of the plural, 21st century Scillies. The main difficulty here is knowing just when this island existed. Charles Thomas, emeritus Professor of Cornish Studies at Exeter University has suggested it disappeared some time around 1600 BC, but others have suggested that it existed until more recently—possibly as late as 500 AD. It's worth noting that the Roman name for the Isles, Scillonia insula, is singular.
If the latter is true then Ennor existed well into the Celtic period of Britain, which is interesting because there are several legends about drowned lands in Celtic mythology. Readers who know their Thomas Malory (or Jack Vance) are aware of Lyonesse, home of the Arthurian Tristan, and Lyonesse has long been associated with the Isles of Scilly. However, there are signs that the association is a 16th-century invention. The first known mentions of Lyonesse in literature are just variations on Lodonesia, which is the Roman name for Lothian in Scotland; "Tristan" itself is just a variant, via Latin, of the Pictish royal name "Drust″. The identity of Lyonesse and Scilly (or, rather, the Seven Stones Reef , deathbed of the Torrey Canyon, to the northeast) wasn't entirely cemented until Alfred, Lord Tennyson got his hands on it in his mid-19th century Idylls of the King.
All is not lost, however. The Celtic legends go deeper than Lyonesse, to stories such as Brittany's Ker-Is (or Caer Ys, if you prefer the more common Welsh or Narnian spelling to the Breton). It too is a sunken land, this time placed in Douarnenez Bay south-east of Brest. There is even a potential connection between it and Scilly: Mont Saint-Michel is not too far away on the border between Brittany and Normandy and it was the sister house of the remarkably similar-looking St. Michael's Mount in Cornwall—right where the British coast is closest to Scilly and where a drowned forest can be seen at low tide. It doesn't take a lot of imagination to suppose a Breton monk, familiar with the story of Ker-Is, being transferred to St. Michael's Mount when it was gifted to the Norman monastery in the 11th century and him making the obvious inference when he saw what was in the water.
On the other hand, the story may be entirely native. The Welsh have a similar legend, Cantre'r Gwaelod, which is supposed to be a drowned hundred in Cardigan Bay. If it comes down to it, the story could even be both native and imported. After all, Brittany was colonized by Britons from Wales and Cornwall in the 4th and 6th centuries (a trek legendarily led by a Welsh prince whose name hits two fantasy heroes in one blow, Conan Meriadoc). Ker-Is may just be the colonists' version of Cantre'r Gwaelod, 1500 years on.
The main difficulty with fitting Ennor to any of these stories is that they're all of sudden inundation. Most are about sinful lands suffering the wrath of God and feature a single survivor literally galloping his horse away from the clawing waves—a myth memorialized in the coat of arms of the Trevelyan family of Cornwall. The flooding of Scilly's central plain would have taken many years; a snail could have escaped, let alone a horse. Still, this isn't a fatal rupture of the connection between the two. Human beings have a knack for making stories more interesting, and it's not too difficult to see a folk tale that "once there were farms under the bay" slowly turn into a story of dash and adventure, especially under the influence of the biblical story of Noah.
Ultimately, we'll learn more about Ennor only through archaeological investigation. Surprisingly for the heritage-mad United Kingdom there's never been a large-scale investigation of the waters around the present-day isles. But the so-called Lyonesse Project began in 2009, and is to run until 2011. Its goal is to determine what the Isles of Scilly were like prior to inundation. Results are expected in the next few months.
Van de Kamp's Planets
In the history of astronomy up to 1992 there were only two people who could cleanly claim to have discovered a planet: William Herschel found Uranus and Urbain Le Verrier can claim Neptune; if you're feeling somewhat charitable, you can give half of Neptune to John Couch Adams. For almost eighty years Clyde Tombaugh was in this group, but Pluto was famously demoted in 2006. The discoverers of the first four asteroids (Giuseppe Piazzi who discovered Ceres; Pallas' discovery by Heinrich Olbers; Karl Harding who claimed Juno; and Olbers again with Vesta) had a similar fate. For close to forty years they were planet-discoverers. All their "planets" were discovered between 1801 and 1807, and were considered important enough for the title because they were the only known planetoids until Astraea was discovered in 1845. But that discovery signaled a rash of new inhabitants for the Asteroid Belt—eighteen more by the end of 1852, and a total of 62 by 1860; it became clear that the previously lonely four were something quite different from planets and so they were downgraded.
Since the 1990s, though, a variety of new techniques has uncovered more than 500 more planets to date—the difference now being that increases in instrument sensitivity make it possible to see planets outside of the Sun's system, in the systems of the much more distant stars. For a little while in the 1960s and early '70s, though, one other astronomer made a plausible claim that he'd discovered a planet, and it too was outside the Solar System.
That astronomer was Piet "Peter" van de Kamp, from 1937 to 1972 the director of Sproul Observatory of Pennsylvania's Swarthmore College. Van de Kamp's claim needed to be taken seriously because his specialty was the tiny motions of stars in the sky and the announcement depended on just that.
It seems that while studying the proper motion of 18,000 stars he started considering the possibility that he could find a planet or planets around Barnard's Star. Barnard's Star is notable for two main reasons: it is the second closest star system to the Earth (third, if you count the Sun), and it has the largest proper motion of any star. In other words, it changes its position in the sky faster than any other, taking "only" 173 years to cover a width equal to the full Moon's. Van de Kamp's insight was that while planets themselves were invisble to the technology of the time, no star with planets would move in a straight line. Instead, the planets would tug it this way and that as they orbited the star, causing it to make tiny loops in the sky. As Barnard's Star was so close, the loops would be relatively large and easy to see.
Of course, "relatively" is the key word here. Barnard's Star was already making little loops because of the Earth's own motion around the Sun, and they would be about 100 times larger than the ones caused by any planet orbiting the distant star. Depending on exactly how big the hypothetical planet was, and how far away it was from the star, the displacement it caused would be on the order of a micrometer (one one-millionth of a meter) on Sproul Observatory's photographic plates. Nevertheless, van de Kamp thought he could pull it off.
He began his observations shortly after moving to Sproul in the spring of 1937, and kept them up for 26 years before announcing that he had in fact discovered a planet around Barnard's Star. By his calculation it was about 60% bigger than the planet Jupiter, and it orbited the star at a distance of 4.4 AU (a bit shy of Jupiter's distance from our own Sun). His discovery made quite a splash, as being the first to see an extra-solar planet (even indirectly) was a major coup. Other scientists had a hard time duplicating his results, but this was no great surprise: it relied on the Sproul Observatory's 24-inch refractor, a kind of photographic telescope that was being mothballed in other observatories in favour of spectroscopic ones; furthermore van de Kamp had needed more than two decades of observations to be sure. It was going to take time for anyone else to check his results.
The first sign of trouble came after van de Kamp announced planets around other stars too: Epsilon Eridani, 61 Cygni, and one he'd mooted back in 1951, Lalande 21185. Another astronomer, Bob Harrington, noticed that the shape of the planetary wobbles was the same for all three, and for Barnard's Star too—as if it were the photographic plates that were moving, not the stars. That turned out to be the case. When it was first made the Sproul Observatory telescope van de Kamp was using had had one of its lenses inserted the wrong way, and while the effect on its operation was very small, in 1949 it had been removed and reset the proper way. The slight change in the lens had made a slight change in the way light focused on photographic plates taken with the telescope, and by bad luck the change was about the same size as what van de Kamp had been expecting to see from his planets. He agreed that all of his data prior to 1950 was now suspect, but still argued that everything taken since then still supported his discovery.
With the idea of instrument error now in the open, though, another astronomer by the name of George Gatewood published a paper in 1973 which demolished van de Kamp's planets. The consensus is now that there was a cycle causing the image of the stars to move, but that it was down here on Earth. The telescope underwent regular maintenance, and every time it did its focus shifted ever so slightly and made any star it observed appear to have moved. Ironically, Gatewood eventually changed his mind about one of van de Kamp's claims, Lalande 21185, but this too has turned out to be instrument error
After retiring, van de Kamp returned to his native Netherlands, where he died on May 18th, 1995. To the end he believed he had found at least one planet around Barnard's Star, and maybe two. One real set of planets, orbiting the pulsar PSR 1257+12, had been discovered in 1992 but they were a peculiar case having probably formed after a supernova and not giving any real insight into planets in the universe as a whole. The Golden Age of Extra-Solar Planets began when Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz announced they had discovered 51 Pegasi b (AKA Bellerophon) just under five months after van de Kamp passed away. Its existence, as well as that of hundreds of others of new planets since then, has been demonstrated conclusively using two new techniques called the Doppler Method and the Transit Method. Van de Kamp's photographic method is now considered a dead end.
Terra Preta, or, The Lost Cities of Amazonia
One of the many inexplicable statements in historical literature is Gaspar de Carvajal's description of his travels down the Amazon River with Francisco de Orellana. He says in numerous ways that the banks of the Amazon were stuffed with people, literally village after village for most of its length. No-one else reported this. All subsequent expeditions found the Amazon Basin much as it is today—thinly inhabited. Indeed it had to be this way, as Amazonian soils are notoriously poor for farming. The tragedy of modern-day deforestation of the jungle there is that the poor Brazilian farmers doing the cutting end up with farms that can't support them for more than a few years before the soil's nutrients are gone. Even the native Amazonians have to resort to slash-and-burn agriculture, clearing an area then moving on after a while to let the soil recover rather than settling in villages. De Carvajal, like many early explorers, must have been embellishing his tale to the point of lying.
Except maybe not.
De Orellana's expedition was the first to reach the deep Amazon jungle, in 1541. Surprisingly he began from the west coast of South America, crossing the Andes from the Spanish conquests in Peru and then working his way down to the mouth of the river where the Portuguese had a presence. In between was terra incognita to Europeans. From the end of this expedition in 1542 until until 1637 there were no other trips up or down much of the Amazon (barring the bizarre Pedro de Ursúa and Lope de Aguirre episode two decades later).
Pedro Teixeira was responsible for that new expedition, and he reported a green desert: trees and rampant foliage, and no villages worth mentioning let alone entire civilizations. So it's been down to the present day: if de Carvajal were telling the truth, the ninety-five years between the two expeditions concealed the death of literally millions of people and an entire way of life.
As archaeology climbed out of pseudo-science during the 19th century, its practitioners developed a hard-nosed attitude about lost civilizations. The Mayans may have been disappeared but Chichen Itza remained; we don't even know what the Indus Valley people called themselves, but Mohenjo Daro is a monumental testament to their existence. Atlantis and the Lost Tribes of Israel, though? Well….
Until recently, Amazonian civilization fell into the latter category, and may end up there still. For a long time, De Carvajal's account was the lonely piece of evidence that it ever existed, and since early travel accounts brought us such non-existent wonders as the gold-digging ants of Central Asia, archaeologists were skeptical.
A major problem is the Amazonian environment itself. As we've discussed elsewhere, archaeology is easiest in cold, dry environments where all sorts of artifacts can survive. Incan civilization's remains include beautiful items made of cloth and wood thanks to the high desert in which many Incas lived. But the Amazon presents the opposite conditions: rampant moisture and life literally eat anything other than metal or stone. Worse, the Amazon is extremely short on stone, and no metals besides gold and silver (and a little copper in the Andes) were used south of Panama. Of the wood, bone, plant materials, cloth, and ceramic that could have been the foundation of Amazonian civilization, only the latter could have survived.
This leads to terra preta de Indio, or just "terra preta" for short, the Brazilian Portuguese name for an unusual phenomenon. Good farming soils have many silicate particles, which trap the nutrients a growing crop needs. Amazonian soils are low in silicate and high in aluminum and iron oxide; those oxides have the opposite effect to silicate, making nutrients susceptible to leaching when the rain comes down.
But here and there through the Amazon are patches of terra preta ("black soil") that are extremely fertile despite being low in silicates as well. A high fraction of carbon particles from burned trees and plants, which also have nutrient-trapping properties, take their place. Furthermore, the carbon is buffered from rain by large amounts of crushed pottery mixed all throughout the soil. Some argue that terra preta patches are the remnants of Amazonian waste dumps and so happened by accident; the potsherds are just the broken leftovers of everyday items. Others argue that there's just too much of it mixed in with the soil—that pre-Colombian Amazonians deliberately made pottery for the sole purpose of smashing it and using it to make farmable plots.
The final answer to this question depends on just how much terra preta there is, and for the moment we just don't know. Estimates have varied between 6,300 square kilometers spread over the whole Amazon (in which case it's reasonable to think its creation was an accident) to one hundred times that—in other words, the size of the entire Ukraine, the country with the fifth largest amount of arable land in the world.
Even if we accept that this question is nowhere near answered, though, we can understand something about pre-Colombian Amazonian life from terra preta. With one notable exception (the ancient Jōmon culture of Japan), pottery is only known in settled cultures: heavy and fragile, it's just too much trouble for hunter-gatherers to carry around. Modern Amazonians aren't settled in the present day, so the obvious inference is that their culture must have been settled the past and then changed for some reason.
There's even another clue in a similar vein. An aristocracy, or even a simple chiefdom, depends on a surplus of goods, usually food (land aristocracies like "The Duke of So-and-So" are as they are because the land is worked by farmers). Permanent social hierarchies don't develop until agriculture develops. Hunter-gatherer cultures or slash-and-burn agriculturalists are invariably egalitarian—there is no surplus of anything for a chief to hoard, and in the event someone starts trying to impose on the rest of his group, his prospective subjects can just walk away. Within limits any bit of land is as good as any other for gathering food or a new slash-and-burn plot.
But some Amazonian tribes do have aristocracies. The Yurimagua were known to have a "high king" of sorts into the 1700s, a time when the tribe was living at a hunter-gatherer level. Even in the modern day many tribes (for example, the Kuikuro) have complex social hierarchies, which is unique for societies that don't engage in settled farming.
We even have evidence of one relatively advanced Amazonian culture, which was at the mouth of the river on Marajó Island. While not up to the standards of the Aztecs or Inca, the Marajoara culture raised funeral mounds full of pottery and built canals and weirs to raise fish.
So what happened? There's still argument about when the Marajoara culture disappeared, with some saying before Columbus about 1400 AD and some saying as late as 1650. If the latter, it's not unreasonable to assume that it gave way under the same pressure as destroyed the similarly unencountered central North American civilizations: the introduction of several European diseases to which Native Americans had no resistance.
The gap of 95 years between de Orellana and Teixeira is what makes this a workable hypothesis. If Europeans accidentally introduced smallpox, measles, and others to the central Amazon basin, they had time to repeatedly devastate the population to the point that they'd be reduced to hunter-gathering. The passing decades would have given enough time for the non-durable products of their civilization to decay and the passing generations would have blurred the Amazonians' memory of their ancestors. Come the explorations of Europeans from 1650 onwards, there'd be little clue that Amazonians had lived any differently.
There are now increasing signs that this theory is correct. Starting in the late 80s and much more so in just the last few years a mixture of forest clearing and satellite surveying in the upper reaches of the Amazon have found evidence of a fairly advanced native culture in the uplands between stretches of Amazonian flood plain. Gaspar de Carvajal's account is not the only evidence any more.
The SS John Harvey, Saviour of Millions
Medicine is tricky work because the human body is so complex that it's resistant to traditional science. Ever since René Descartes systems are broken down into their individual components, studied, and then when those components are understood the capacities of the larger group are understood as well. But biological systems often interact subtly, and in non-obvious ways.
This means that for every medical discovery that was made systematically there's one that was heavily dependent on luck. The most famous example is penicillin, which was discovered after a chance observation by Alexander Fleming. Far less well-known is the story of the SS John Harvey and its effect on cancer research.
The John Harvey was an American Liberty Ship, assigned to a cargo run during the invasion of Italy in World War II. On her final voyage she was carrying a secret load of chemical weapons. All the combatants in WWII swore off chemical weapons (even Hitler: he'd been gassed and temporarily blinded as a military runner in the last month of World War I, and was extremely leery of that kind of weapon), but all hedged their bets. Franklin Roosevelt had chemical weapons shipped to the Mediterranean theatre beginning in August of 1943, just in case they were needed, and so in November of that year the John Harvey found itself in the port of Bari, Italy with a hold containing 60,000 kilograms of mustard gas in shells.
As its mission was secret, its captain couldn't ask port authorities for priority; as Bari was one of the major ports supplying the Allies during the invasion of the Italian mainland, the ship was stuck in line for some time waiting for its cargo to be offloaded. It never happened, as on December 2nd Bari was struck by a major German air raid (so big that it shut down the port for more than two months; sixteen ships were sunk and it was dubbed "Little Pearl Harbor" at the time). The John Harvey was not hit, but it was showered with flaming debris, caught fire and blew up. Its cargo was unleashed on its crew and the defenseless town.
Every member of the Harvey's complement who knew what was in the hold was killed, so rescuers dealing with the casualties had no idea what they were up against. Mustard gas (which is actually an oily liquid which vaporizes very easily) needs to be countered before contact with a very specific treatment or, preferably, the entire area needs to be washed down with bleach or a mixture of substances named DS2. Not realizing that they needed to do this, many people succumbed to the attack while trying to rescue the first victims. For example, the HMS Bicester fished 30 casualties out of the water but, being damaged itself, was towed to nearby Taranto for repairs. By the time it got there many of its crew were suffering from chemical burns and blindness.
By the time mustard gas causes symptoms, it's too late to do anything about it, but even at that point the medical personnel couldn't figure out what was going on—partly due to the secrecy covering the cargo and partly because few doctors had seen mustard gas in action since 1918. When someone was pulled from the water he was often covered in oily mustard gas, only to be dismissed because the substance was assumed to be diesel or gasoline dumped into the bay from ships split open by the air raid. Victims of a dunking were often suffering from exposure too, and so were wrapped in blankets that trapped the oil next to their skin.
Mustard gas does have a garlicky smell, though, and both the smell and the developing burns over the next few hours (and days, as still no-one knew to clean up the lingering chemicals) led medics to suspect some sort of chemical. An expert on chemical warfare, Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart Francis Alexander, was sent by the Deputy Surgeon General of the US Army to figure out what was going wrong. Lt.-Col. Alexander ran every test he could think of and eventually pinned down mustard gas as the culprit; he also used the technique pioneered by John Snow of mapping the location of casualties to pinpoint the cause and determined that the John Harvey was the centre.
War-time secrecy clamped down on the accident reports, but too many witnesses had seen what was going on and the US Army eventually admitted a few months later that the John Harvey had been carrying mustard gas. Nevertheless, the incident got lost in the tumult of 1944 and documents pertaining to it weren't declassified until 1959.
In all there were 628 known casualties, including 86 deaths, but there were probably many more. As well as the oily residue on the waters of the port, a cloud of vaporized mustard gas had drifted across the town; civilian Barieses had scattered into the country after the raid and would have had to deal with the slow-burning chemical on their own, far away from where anyone could take official notice.
In the midst of the disaster, though, Lt.-Col. Alexander made an interesting discovery because he had had to do so many tests to narrow the field of suspects down: mustard gas kills white blood cells. Among their many other properties white blood cells divide quickly, which got the Lieutenant-Colonel to thinking about cancer cells, which are also noted for their quick growth. As part of his report, he suggested that someone might want to look into mustard gas, or hopefully something related that was a little less fearsome, as an anti-cancer drug.
As it happened, in 1942 Louis Goodman and Alfred Gilman of Yale University had received a commission from the US Army to study the underlying chemistry of mustard gas' effect on animal cells. They'd noticed the white blood cell-killing effect as well, but this too hadn't got out to the medical world at large due to military secrecy. They'd idly considered the medical implications of their discovery, but then along came Alexander's report to light a fire under them. They tested mechlorethamine, a derivative of mustard gas, on animals and then humans and found that it was effective as a treatment for lymphoma, including Hodgkin's Lymphoma and acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The latter was once a common killer of children, with a mortality rate of 100%; mustard gas-derivatives now make it very curable.
Mustard gas kills rapidly dividing cells by preventing DNA molecules from uncoiling, a necessary step for cell division. In 1943 DNA hadn't even been discovered so the chemical's effect was a mystery, but once James D. Watson and Francis Crick correctly interpreted Photo 51 in 1953 it was just a matter of time before the underlying chemistry was understood and other substances that worked on cancer cells the same way could be developed. Mechlorethamine was just the first many alkylating antineoplastic agents, a major class of chemotherapy drugs. If you know someone who's survived a bout of cancer, or if you've you've survived it yourself, that victory can quite possibly be traced back to the only known release of chemical weapons in the European Theatre of WWII, and one of the worst disasters to strike southern Italy in the 20th century.
The Lakeview Gusher
The largest oil spill of all time is a special case, the deliberate opening of the valves at Kuwait's Sea Island terminal by the Iraqi army during the First Gulf War. Nearly 10,000,000 barrels of oil ended up in the Persian Gulf before American air strikes closed the pipelines in January of 1991.
If one sticks to accidents, though, most of the famous spills—for example, the Amoco Cadiz or the Exxon Valdez—don't really approach the volume of the #1 accident of all time (the Deepwater Horizon's ultimate output is unknown as of this writing, but has only a remote chance of hitting the record). Almost all the big spills happened because of oil tankers and their enormous size, but surprisingly the record-holder was on land, in the California oil fields.
California is not generally thought of as an oil-producing state, but between the opening of commercial oil production in Pennsylvania that peaked in the 1890s and the commercialization of the enormous East Texas oil field in the 1930s, Southern California was the most important source of oil in the United States. Starting in the 1880s large amounts were extracted in the Los Angeles basin (urban LA still produces a noticeable amount of oil), but by the turn of the century the big action was out in the semi-desert of the southern San Joaquin Valley, near Bakersfield.
Lakeview Number One was drilled over the course of fifteen months by the Lakeview Oil Company, partnered with Union Oil of California (later Unocal and now part of Chevron) beginning in 1909. Charles Lewis Woods was the man tapped to do the work, and it's become quite difficult to determine the exact events leading up to the oil spill. In 1910 America was in the habit of semi-mythologizing the people responsible for the US's rapid economic development, whether it was giants like Thomas Edison, fictional personifications like Paul Bunyan, or minnows like Charles Woods. Edison was at least important enough that he left a trail of contemporary reports that can be turned into biography. Woods has little left besides a raft of contradictory legends.
That said, the basic story is that Woods had earned the nickname "Dry Hole Charlie" for his lack of success in the oil drilling business. Looking deeper suggests that this is because his specialty was exploratory drilling—he didn't bother with places where people already knew oil could be found, but rather spent his time trying to open new fields. A second legend is that he was actually told to close up the Lakeview Number One as a failure, and that he ignored orders to drill for one more day, the evening of that day being when he hit oil. That seems a little too "just so" to be true, but the story is part of Woods' legacy.
So, whether or not he was supposed to be drilling any more, Woods reached 740 meters down and the oil started flowing. The California oil fields are usually under pressure, so standard practice at the time, once the layers of impermeable rock above a pocket of oil had been punctured, was to let the pressure pump the well for you. Rather than the stereotypical horse head pulling the oil to the surface, the oil would spurt out of the ground like a geyser — a "blowout" which produces a "gusher" — at which point it would be capped, and the pressure used to push the oil into nearby storage containers. Unfortunately, the Lakeview Gusher was such a monster that the capping step was a problem.
Later analysis would show that Woods' hole had actually missed the pocket of oil it was tapping by more than a meter, but that the pressure within was so high that it actually fractured the last stretch of solid rock on its own. Initially the Lakeview Gusher flowed at a rate of about 15,000 barrels per day, but as it eroded its well shaft the rate increased. At its peak, it was firing anywhere from 60,000 to 100,000 (some estimates are as high as 125,000) barrels of oil up to two hundred feet in the air every 24 hours. Even worse, its oil was what's called "low ratio"—it wasn't pure, but was mixed up with sand. Every "barrel" was actually six to eight cubic meters of muddy goulash, raining down on the landscape for fifty or more kilometers depending on how hard the wind was blowing.
At the well-head the pressure was so high that the first attempt to build a cap (at the time, a heavy box of timber beams) was literally blown to pieces. Eventually the oil company gave up trying to cap the gusher and settled on a second strategy, which had been used elsewhere but not to the same extent. Just like when a river floods, workers were hired to build an embankment of timbers and sandbags around the gusher. The local terrain required them to build a wall 150 feet wide at one end of a nearby gully and 250 feet at the other. It was, in places, 75 feet above the edge of the folds in the ground. In total, it could hold 16 million barrels of oil (or, in more commonly understood units, 672 million gallons, or 2.5 billion liters). Though the oil lake never quite reached the rim, at times the reservoir was up to 30 meters deep. The well was in the middle of this, so workers had to paddle out to it in small boats. This undoubtedly would have broken any number of health-and-safety regulations, if California had had any in 1910.
A "semi-cap" was eventually placed over the wellhead to at least keep the plume of oil in its gully and stop it from spewing all over the landscape. Some idea of the power of the gusher can be obtained by understanding that this new box hovered about ten feet in the air despite weighing several tons. To keep it from being propelled off into the middle distance somewhere, it had to be anchored to the ground by steel guy wires, which were in constant tension as the oil and muck roared and played against the underside of what was essentially a giant timber raft. Eventually the growing weight of the oil lake (and its growing depth) above the wellhead brought the tip of the gusher down to man height.
Most large gushers give out after a short while; the famous Lucas Gusher in Texas' Spindletop oil field was as voluminous as Lakeview One, but dwindled away to much lower levels within a few months. Lakeview kept going at roughly the same volume, diminishing slowly to 60,000 barrels per day, until September 10th, 1911 when the bottom of the hole it had been eroding collapsed and filled in the well (some sources say September 9th). For 544 days the Lakeview Gusher had produced a significant fraction of all the world's oil—to the point that, even with something like 40% of its production being wasted by being absorbed into the soil or flying all around the landscape at the top of an uncapped plume, what Union Oil could recover drove down the world oil price by 70% (from roughly $1 per barrel to 30¢ per barrel).
Gushers are much less common these days, as the blowout preventer was invented in 1924 and they're attached to most modern wells. A gusher in Qum, Iran in 1954 was one of the last major ones on land, though it's worth pointing out that the recent Deepwater Horizon accident seems to have been a blowout as well (and its gusher, somewhat amazingly given the extent of the oil spill, is probably no more than half as big as the Lakeview Gusher at its peak).
In Bakersfield's semi-desert landscape, there are still remnants of the sandbags that surrounded the gusher, and the sandy ground still contains enough oil residue that it sticks together in cake-like layers. A plaque dedicated to the event is found near the now dry hole. Legend has it that Dry Hole Charlie then went on to live up to his nickname for the rest of his career.
(A remarkable set of historical and current photos of the Lakeview Gusher can be found here on Flickr).


text:
SAINT LEO, Fla. – The Saint Leo men's soccer team (4-6) defeated the Thomas University Night Hawks (4-5) 4-1, Tuesday night from University Field in non-conference action.
Jonathan Glenn highlighted the night for the Lions' offense, scoring a pair of goals on eight shots taken. Bruce Cutler added his third goal of the season in the first half, before Freddy Menor finished off the Night Hawks with his second goal of the 2009 campaign. The Late Thomas rally could not dampen the efforts of the Lions on both the offensive and defensive end as their precise execution led to a 4-1 victory.
The Lions came out on fire in the first half, blistering the Thomas goalkeeper with 12 shots, six of which were on goal. Glenn opened all scoring with his sixth tally of the year. In the effort, Glenn followed up a rebound opportunity, blasting the ball past the keeper from inside the six-yard area. Glenn made it 2-0 in favor of the Green & Gold when Michael Panter found his teammate in stride inside the 18-yard box. Glenn made one move on a defender and slotted it past the goalkeeper to extend their advantage.
The Lions were not done in the first half, as Bruce Cutler scored his third goal of the year to make it 3-0. After receiving a swing pass from Stephen Tatum, Cutler sent a blast towards net from just inside the area. The ball deflected off a Thomas' player and into the net. The goal was the first non-penalty kick goal of his career.
Saint Leo continued to attack early in the second half, as Freddy Menor added his second tally of the year in the 61st minute to put the game out of reach. Even with the Lions possessing a 4-0 lead, Thomas refused to lie down as they began to excel on the offensive end. The Night Hawks closed the night by peppering Lions' goalkeeper Jake Hirst with 11 shots, eventually squeezing one past Hirst in the 77th minute. The defense tightened once again for SLU, as they refused to let TU get any closer, preserving the three-goal victory.
The win snaps their five-game losing streak, and avenges a 2-1 defeat to the Night Hawks last season.
Starting goalkeeper Erik Mozzo (4-6) was terrific in net for the Lions, stopping four shots on 14 chances while his teammate Hirst also played well, stopping three shots on four shots-on-goal.
SLU takes to the field again on Saturday, October 10 for an SSC tilt with nationally-ranked Lynn University. Kickoff for the contest is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at University Field.


text:
Paris: visits and city tours
As one of the most important tourist destinations, you can find many things to do in Paris. ParisCityVision offers full day tours leaving from your hotels in Paris to discover the top places to visit in Paris with an experimented guide, such as the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. With your family, stroll around Montmartre or visit museums of arts.Do not hesitate to read more about all the things to do while visiting our website. Once booked your hotels, you can search the perfect tour to visit Paris and planned your trip beforehand. Discover Paris by night atmosphere on the best restaurants, or cabarets such as the Moulin Rouge. Take advantage of tours including everything such as a visit of the Eiffel Tower. Visit on your own Paris and its region, like the open air theatre in Boulogne Park where flowers and trees symbolize 5 of Shakespeare's plays. PARISCityVISION, Grayline Paris, is the company specialist of the Tourism in Paris and offers as well many things to do in France such as package tours to the south of France.
Paris by Night: City Tour, Cruise, Skip-the-line Eiffel Tower
Skip the line Eiffel Tower up to the second floor to admire the view over Paris. Commented cruise on the Seine River to see the monuments illuminated along the Seine. Illuminations tour by panoramic bus with individual registered commentary.
Skip-the-Line Eiffel Tower Visit, Paris City Tour, and Seine Cruise
Visit the Eiffel Tower with ticket skip the line during your city tour of Paris up to the second floor, discover the main monuments through a Seine river cruise and a City Tour: the Louvre, Opera, Champs Elysées, Arc of Triumph, Notre Dame de Paris.
Lunch at the Eiffel Tower with Skip-the-Line-Ticket
Take the opportunity to get skip the line ticket to go for lunch at the first floor of the Eiffel Tower. Panoramic view of the top monuments of Paris and the magnificient Champ de Mars from the Eiffel Tower. Get there on your own and take the lift ticket directly at the bottom of Eiffel Tower.
Dinner at the Eiffel Tower, Seine Cruise, Moulin Rouge Show
Unforgettable evening to visit Paris by night : Dinner on 1st floor of the Eiffel Tower with skip the line ticket and admire the view over the monuments, commented cruise on the Seine River and fabulous "Féerie" show famous for its french cancan. Drop off to the proximity of your hotel in Paris.
Paris 2 Days Hop on Hop off Pass - buses depart every 10 minutes
Paris L'Opentour Hop on- hop off tour to visit Paris at your own pace : Opera, Champs Elysées, arch of Triumph, Eiffel Tower, Hotel des Invalides, Louvre museum, Notre Dame cathedral, Bastille, Luxembourg gardens... in open top buses, commentary. 4 routes, get on and get off at any of the 50 stops, 2 day pass.
Paris By Night: City Tour and Seine River Cruise
Visit Paris by night during a commented cruise on the River Seine and a bus tour to see the illuminated monuments all around the city.
Paris City Tour by night + Moulin Rouge Show with Champagne
Visit Paris during a city tour by panoramic bus to see the illuminations of the city. Discover the main monuments of Paris illuminated. Attend the "Feerie" show of the Moulin Rouge with half bottle of Champagne. Dropp off close to your hotel in Paris
Minibus Tour of Paris, Lunch at the Eiffel Tower, and Seine Cruise
Small group or privatized tour. City tour of Paris' monuments by minibus, skip the line Eiffel Tower to enjoy a nice lunch at the 1st floor of the Eiffel Tower, cruise on the Seine River and walking tour of Montmartre. Pick-up and drop-off at your hotel in Paris.
Paris Tour and Visit to the Eiffel Tower
City tour by bus to discover Paris museums and monuments: Louvre, Opera, Invalides, Champs Elysées, Arc of Triumph. Skip the line Eiffel Tower up to the second floor and admire the magnificient view of Paris.
Skip-the-line Ticket to the Eiffel Tower
Take advantage of our priority access to visit the Eiffel Tower at your leisure. You will be amazed by the wonderful view of Paris, discover the top landmarks of the city of lights from the 1rst and the 2nd floor of the Eiffel Tower.


text:
The LEV industry is growing fast, with greatest strength in China today, but also clearly emerging fast in the rest of the world. Up until the last couple of years, ebike sales were concentrated in China, Japan, and the EU. In the last few years, nearly every nation has bought ebikes from China, and in some cases, the volumes are now significant. Sales will reach 130 million yearly before 2025, make it one of the world´s largest industries.
LEVs are one of the largest and fastest growing electric vehicle markets. A Light Electric Vehicle (LEV) is a land vehicle propelled by an electric motor that uses an energy storage device such as a battery or fuel cell, has two or three
Author:Mike Kinge-mailWeb: www.companiesandmarkets.comPhone: London: +44 (0) 203 086 8600


text:
This profile for Phoenix Corporation II, Inc. is located in Sanford, NC. Phoenix Corporation II, Inc. industry is listed as Ret Gifts/Novelties.
Joseph Pruce serves as the President
Beatrice Reinhard is the Store Manager of Phoenix Corporation II, Inc..
Key roles for Phoenix Corporation II, Inc.
Joseph J. Pruce
President Owner
Beatrice Reinhard
Store Manager Manager
Comprehensive Insight Plus Report
|Learn More
|The D&B Comprehensive Insight Plus Report for Phoenix Corporation II, Inc. combines D&B's proprietary statistical scoring with business, payment and financial information all in one report.
US Company Profile Report
|Learn More
|The D&B U.S. Company Profile contains basic information such as address and telephone number, executive names and titles, line of business and SIC codes, D-U-N-S Numbers, organization status, and year and location of incorporation for Phoenix Corporation II, Inc..