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2000 Miles in a 545i 6 spd
Last month I drove 2000 Miles through 5 countries in Europe. I love my car. I am posting to provide real owner feedback for potential E60 buyers that are swamped with the bad press that this car has received for Ergonomics, I-Drive and exterior styling.
Sure it took some getting used to, but like all new models this car is a fresh change. I now look at the older model and find it very dated.
I-Drive and Ergonomics
Yes, I too was concerned as it took two germans at the delivery center in Munich half an hour to figure out how to answer my questions on the Navigation system... BUT they hadnt lived with the car.
We obviously couldn't drive for the two nights that we were in Venice, so I read the manual cover to cover, twice. We were forced to use the I-drive on a regular basis as we relied on it exclusively for Navigation. Folks, this is like learning a new piece of software for the first time. Ofcourse its hard but once you get used to it its very inuitive and you will wonder how you ever lived without it.
Indicator Pod- Read many complaints here. Suffered my self and then just turned off the triple signal function. All is well. I might turn it on again.
Entertainment- Figured it out after 500 miles and was overjoyed at the ability to press one button on the steering wheel and then talk to the car. 'CD4" Changes to the 4th CD in the changer. "Track 5" plays the 5th track on the CD. You can do this at 135MPH and never take your eyes off the road. Whats wrong with that?
Active Steering- Yup, I nicked a curb in Florence. 3rd Day in the car. (Joy - They replaced the wheel and tire at VDC)But ever tried parking in a European city? This thing made it a cinch. Something else that you just get used to within a few days behind the wheel.
Guages- So there is no fuel guage. Who cares when you are being told exactly how many miles you can go on this tank based on your driving style. No temperature guage? In 150,000 miles the temperature guage on my Honda Accord told me the engine was cool, then warm. Big deal. What the driver really needs to know is how high he can rev the engine. The dynamic tach takes care of that. The complaints on these items appear to stem from creatures of habit.
My wife caught on within the first 4 days in the car. She was working the NAV, climate and Entertainment from the passenger seat with no problems. And no, we are not Geeks.
There is nothing needed in the i-drive menu to drive this car. Its engine is as smooth as silk, the car handles like a dream without breaking your back and the braking is astonishing.
BMW is looking to the future. My 4 year old daughter navigates a computer screen intuitively, I am sure my 8 yr old son will be moving around the I-drive with no problems within 8 hours in the car. If you live and function in this millenium in the 1st world, then don't let the i-drive reviews put you off.
Sadly, the press have little time or patience for this and so do most people who are driving the car for just a few miles.
I would love to hear from an owner who has lived with his E60 for atleast a couple of thousand miles (under 40 and who can program a VCR). It's a great car isn't it??
And for the E60 haters out there. I welcome your comments, but be nice please.
2008 550i 6spd SP |Carbon Black | Natural Brown | NAV | Sat | Ipod |Comfort Access |L7
Retired 545i 6spd ED 7/04. |Titanium Grey | NAV | Premium sound | PDC | Grey Leather | Re-united 9/04
Last edited by hormazd; 10-07-2004 at 11:13 AM.
Had my 545 for just about 6000kms.
Agree with you every way! I get more comments on that car then I can count. When people see it in person they love it. I too now love the style. I love this car, and now that I know how to use Idrive, its hard to drive the X3 since it doesnt have it. I just got my handfree phone hooked up and I love the voice controlling.
The car is silky smooth and drives liek a dream. I have had about 8 people tell me they didnt think the car looked good in magizines, but when they saw it in person it looks amazing....
Of course not. If they could pull it off BUT....
Radio. There are two hard buttons, one on the dash and one on the steering wheel that let you move through your presets and tracks.
Climate. Fan Velocity is right there. I big Knob that you turn to increase or decrease fan speed.
Air Direction. Maybe, but if you actually drive the car you will find that the auto setting takes over air direction and works exceptionally well allowing driver and passenger to adjust temperature individually through big hard dials. Defrost, Recirculate AC etc are all hard buttons.
Honsestly if I would be the first to point out any I thought were useability flaws.
I did read one posting about the location of the central locking button. Its in the middle of the dash. Stupid and inconvenient place I agree.
2008 550i 6spd SP |Carbon Black | Natural Brown | NAV | Sat | Ipod |Comfort Access |L7
Retired 545i 6spd ED 7/04. |Titanium Grey | NAV | Premium sound | PDC | Grey Leather | Re-united 9/04
Glad your enjoying the car. I have about 6200 miles thus far and am more than pleased. I agree that I-drive is a breeze and don't really understand all the complaints. If one lives with the car, then Idrive shouldn't pose a problem.
About the turn signal stalk, I find that the triple signal function to be qutie useful and wouldn't mind to see it in other cars.
I usually fill up anywhere from half tank to 1/4 tank left and the light has gone on a few times, because there is a fuel guage right there. Look again, it's right under the speedometer.
I'm up to about 4000mls in my ED 545/6sp and it is easily the best vehicle I've ever driven. I too noticed a slight shudder when depressing the clutch from low-speed in first gear, but have found that the shudder goes away if I have just a little pressure on the gas pedal when I put the clutch in.
I've had some very minor electrical gremlins, like the seats and wheel not remembering their key-specific positions, but that was quickly fixed.
From an ergonomic standpoint, I wish that the window switches and central locking switch were still on the center console, like they were in my 330. Even after a couple of months I still find myself going to the center console once in a while to roll down the windows or unlock the doors.
The voice control that you get with the NAV system is incredible, and makes all the iDrive complaints essentially moot. Plus, it seems like noone knows the trick of "shift+hold" to quickly go from one mode to another. (i.e. shift and hold the puck "down" when in the NAV mode and you go straight to the last place you were in in the Entertainment section). The system is really much easier than most people who have limited (or no) experience with it give it credit for.
I really dig the new turn signal actuation, too. It didn't take me any time at all to get acclimated to it, and it's really annoying now to have to hold the stalk to signal a lane change when I drive my wife's VW Passat.
(ED 5/11/13) '13 328i M-Sport Estoril Blue II/Black, Trip Journal
(ED 5/25/10) '11 335i M-Sport Le Mans Blue/Oyster, Trip Journal
(ED 5/19/08) '08 X3 3.0si Alpine/Tobacco, Trip Journal
(ED 5/7/07) '07 335i/6sp TiAg/Lemon, Trip Journal
(ED 4/18/05) '05 X3 3.0 Blue Water/Black, Trip Journal
(ED 4/28/04) '04 545i Silver Gray/Beige
I've gotta say, I agree with you all the way. I was dreading the i-Drive based on all the grumbling I've seen on the board, but after about 30 minutes in the car, I was in love with it. It took me zero time to get used to ... then again, I'm 31 and have grown up with technology. The voice control system is genius, and makes it so much easier to control the car without taking your eyes off the road. I'll take voice over knobs any day.
My only wish is that bluetooth capability was available now, since it's illegal to drive in Washington, DC without a handsfree device. But that I can live with.
Finally, regarding the styling, I like it. I suppose I'm in the minority here, but I always felt that the old body style was nice, but a bit pedestrian. I'd rather have something more modern and distinctive, and the E60 definitely delivers on this aspect.
You must have read my ED thread regarding the clutch. I am stil waiting for the car to get back to the US. I probably just sub-consciously changed my shifting style.
2008 550i 6spd SP |Carbon Black | Natural Brown | NAV | Sat | Ipod |Comfort Access |L7
Retired 545i 6spd ED 7/04. |Titanium Grey | NAV | Premium sound | PDC | Grey Leather | Re-united 9/04
You are right about the fuel guage! I haven't seen my baby since for three weeks since I left her in Nice, so some details on the dash may be fading. I never really looked at the guage, the big LED showing me my range was always more prominent and informative.
2008 550i 6spd SP |Carbon Black | Natural Brown | NAV | Sat | Ipod |Comfort Access |L7
Retired 545i 6spd ED 7/04. |Titanium Grey | NAV | Premium sound | PDC | Grey Leather | Re-united 9/04
I just took delivery of my ED 545i/6 speed, after putting over 1000 miles on it in Europe. I agree with everything you say. I absolutely love this car. The I-Drive is great, and easy to use. It handles like a breeze, and is a ~beautiful~ car. I especially love driving it at night, with the Xenon lights and the adaptive headlights, or whatever they call them. But, I can come up with some negatives, just to be even-handed:
1) The window buttons. I still can't get used to these. I'd think that pulling the little lever down would lower the window, and pushing it in (up) would raise it. It's the opposite. I'll get used to it eventually.
2) It could use a little depression in the console as a place to put down a cell phone, spare change, etc, like my E39 had.
3) Is there a change-holder? I don't see one.
4) I wouldn't mind some hard buttons for the radio presets. Cycling through them on the steering wheel isn't that big a deal.
5) When navigating radio stations on the I-Drive, I think that it should wrap around. So, when you reach the end of the dial on the right, another turn clockwise should put you in the stations at the other end of the dial. As it is, you have to turn it counter-clockwise and go back through the stations you just visited.
6) The cupholders are horrible. I very rarely drink in the car anyway, so it's not that big a deal to me. But, yesterday on a long trip, I bought a soda, and tried to put the can in the driver's cupholder (which is in front of the passenger (?). When the soda was less than half full, it wasn't heavy enough for the cupholder to hold it, and the cupholder wanted to forcefully eject it, which wouldn't be a good thing. I held the soda between my legs.
7) What's with the phone holder thing in the console? Kind of hard to get to. What's that for - a BMW phone? I may see about removing it.
8) Not crazy about the sports seats. Wish I had gotten the comfort seats.
That's all I can think of for now. All pretty minor complaints, but a few of the "what were they thinking" variety.
- Dave
Last edited by Dave T; 08-20-2004 at 10:26 AM.
Dave Ts comments bring back memories of our trip.
My wife is left handed, maybe thinks with the other side of her brain. She had no problems with the window buttons. I kept doing exactly the opposite of what I was supposed to. So arriving at the numerous toll booths thoughout our trip was quite at pain. No coin holder. Considering that carrying $20 in coins is normal in Europe, this surprised me. Hmm... no place for my sun glasses..... And the telephone holder, will I need it if I get Bluetooth? I don't know. Cup holder problem, yup, drink half your soda and the cup holder starts wanting to spit it out.
I too wish I had the comfort seats, not that I didn't enjoy the seats. My dealer still maintains they are not an option on the 545 6spd.
Haven't used the radio much, since I haven't driven the car at home yet. I am sure your comment is valid.
2008 550i 6spd SP |Carbon Black | Natural Brown | NAV | Sat | Ipod |Comfort Access |L7
Retired 545i 6spd ED 7/04. |Titanium Grey | NAV | Premium sound | PDC | Grey Leather | Re-united 9/04
I may be mistaken, but I believe that the car will holla if the engine overheats. Warnings on the dash and also in Idrive. Thats all I care about. If I am wrong, I would have to agree with you. The last car I monitored the temp guage all the time was a 67 MGB. I just cannot imagine my $64K Bimmer overheating.
2008 550i 6spd SP |Carbon Black | Natural Brown | NAV | Sat | Ipod |Comfort Access |L7
Retired 545i 6spd ED 7/04. |Titanium Grey | NAV | Premium sound | PDC | Grey Leather | Re-united 9/04
Regarding the seats - the comfort seats are absolutely an option on the 6-speed. After buying this car, I complained to my dealer that he never showed me the seat choices, and wanted to switch. He was pretty cool about it, offering to swap the seats if they could find comfort seats in another car, at another dealer. Unfortunately, they couldn't - I got Auburn, which is fairly unusual. And, it wasn't an option to buy a new car and swap the seats with that, because the 05's are out now, and they're not compatible. Oh well, I'll get used to them I guess. If not, I'll have an excuse to do another ED trip prior to my usual 5 years of owning a car! They sure are a lot stiffer than the sports seats I had in my last two cars, though (94 530 and 99 540).
- Dave
Hello to both hormazd and DaveT.....
I am asking you both (since you both did the Euro Delivery) have a 545i with a 6-speed to opine on what it was like driving the stick in Europe and what it is like (or will be like) driving in your local traffic. DaveT, since you are in Boston (home of some titanic traffic and under construction areas) how do you like the manual in town?? hormazd, how do you think your 6-speed will be in that legendary LA traffic???
I am finally leaning towards a 6-speed manual in my car, despite some of Austin's terrible traffic. My main route home is on a highway that includes one long steep hill. Last year (when going home) there was a wreck over the top of that hill and I was stopped halfway up on the incline. If I had been in a manual, it would have been terrible. In fact, last week I was driving home on that same hill, and a truck had stalled and managed to get into the drainage ditch..though his long trailer was still in the right lane. There was serious lane jockeying as cars got into the left lane. Needless to say, traffic almost stopped again.
Now, I do have two other routes to use. So, if I suspect traffic is bad, I can always go one of the longer ways..hey. more time behind the wheel!!!!
But since everyone seems to dump on the SMG, and after driving my mom's X5 on several local club drives (and not being crazy about it), the 6-speed looks more and more likely as a choice!!!
Finally, I agree with the comments about iDrive. I test drove a 530i with my mom, and I found the iDrive to be pretty easy for a 1st time user..and believe me, I am no computer geek!!!
Cheers, and thanks for the feedback!!!
Mark in Austin
Last edited by mwagner1; 08-23-2004 at 08:55 AM.
Regarding the stick - yes, it isn't really practical in traffic, etc. But, it's more fun to drive. Where you weigh in on the trade-off is totally personal preference. I've been driving a Bimmer stick for 10 years (530, 540, and 545), and I enjoy the stick, which is why I keep getting one. Putting it in gear on a steep hill is probably the hardest, most annoying thing about a stick. But, when you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy, and is a little challenge conquered that gives you pride in your driving ability every time you do it. And, you can always wimp out and engage the emergency brake before you try to put it in gear.
- Dave
Like Dave, I have always driven a stick. I don't enjoy automatic transmissions. I know I am in the minority here.
Driving in Europe was a breeze. Bare in mind, more than 70% of cars in Europe are manual, including Taxis. I have driven a manual in Los Angeles for the last 14 years and spent numerous hours on the notorious 405 parking Lot. I found my car would just bumble along without any help in 1st or second gear depending on whether you want to roll at 10mph or 25mph.
The key seems to be the quality of the transmission. If the clutch is heavy and you need our governor's thighs to depress it you will be uncomfortable in slow traffic. This is not the case with the new 6spd. It really does not require that much effort.
Considering that its mated to a 4.4L V8, this is quite impressive.
The decision is very subjective, The pleasure of controlloing how your car changes gear cannot even be found in SMG even though it will out perform a manual. My decision to buy this car was based on the fact that I had about 3 choices if I wanted a powerful sedan with a manual transmission. Cadillac, Audi and BMW. There is nothing else out there.
2008 550i 6spd SP |Carbon Black | Natural Brown | NAV | Sat | Ipod |Comfort Access |L7
Retired 545i 6spd ED 7/04. |Titanium Grey | NAV | Premium sound | PDC | Grey Leather | Re-united 9/04
YOU read manual for 2 nights in Venice?????
On the last night there, I couldn't sleep. (Jet Lag had caught up) and I was excited about getting back behind the wheel after two days. Funnily some of it is now useless, as 2 software upgrades later, some Nav features and Entertainment items like RDC are now different. The most useful document in my car now is the extensive Voice command list which I am trying to familiarize my self for almost everything. Yesterday I programmed parked car ventilation in 20 seconds using voice commands.
Here is the document I am talking about.
2008 550i 6spd SP |Carbon Black | Natural Brown | NAV | Sat | Ipod |Comfort Access |L7
Retired 545i 6spd ED 7/04. |Titanium Grey | NAV | Premium sound | PDC | Grey Leather | Re-united 9/04
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text: MABTON, Wash. -- Federal officials have found 29 of the 80 head of Canadian cattle that entered the U.S. in 2001 with a Holstein infected with mad cow disease. The latest animal, which was found Thursday, would be euthanized after being tested, the U.S. Agriculture Department said. full story: http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/CalgarySun/News/2004/02/01/331760.html ---------- Your Portal to Animal Concerns Forum (discussion board), More News Headlines, AR-News on the Web, Events, E-Mail Lists, Jobs, and Organizations! Try searching for the news item on Animalconcerns! http://www.animalconcerns.org/ ------------------------------------------------- This mail sent through IMP: http://horde.org/imp/

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The Review at a Glance: ( max score: 5 )
Audio/Video total rating:
( Max score: 100 )
Studio and Year: Anchor Bay Films- 2010
MPAA Rating: R
Feature running time: 92 minutes
Genre: Thriller/Horror
Disc Format: BD-50
Encoding: AVC (MPEG-4)
Video Aspect: 2.40:1
Resolution: 1080p/24
Audio Format(s): English, French, Portuguese DTS-HD MA 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, English Audio Description track Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
Starring: Amber Heard Odette Yustman and Karl Urban
Directed by: Marcos Efron
Music by: tomandandy
Written by: Jennifer Derwingson and Marcos Efron (screenplay), Brian Clemens And Terry Nation (1970 film "And Soon the Darkness")
Region Code: A/B/C
Blu-ray Disc release Date: December 28, 2010
"Alone. Stranded. No One to Trust."
Film Synopsis:
Stephanie (Amber Heard) and Ellie's (Odette Yustman) vacation to an exotic village in Argentina is a perfect 'girl's getaway' to bask in the sun, shop and flirt with the handsome locals. After a long night of bar-hopping, the girls get into an argument, and Stephanie heads out alone in the morning to cool off. But when she returns, Ellie has disappeared. Finding signs of a struggle, Stephanie fears the worst, and turns to the police for help. But the local authorities have their hands full already - with a string of unsolved kidnappings targeting young female tourists. Skeptical of the sheriff's competency, she enlists help from Michael (Karl Urban), an American ex-pat staying at their hotel. Together they go on a frantic search for Ellie, but Stephanie soon realizes that trusting his seemingly good intentions may drag her farther from the truth. With danger mounting, and time running out, Stephanie must find her friend before darkness falls.
My Take:
Lets lay down some ground rules that you should tell your daughters should they take a trip to a non-turista (actually movie rules seem to indicate anywhere you are called a "Turista"---you best watch yourself) area of a Central America.
1. Never split up.
2. Never split up when wearing skimpy Bikini's in the middle of nowhere.
3. Don't dirty dance in-front of the locals.
4. Stay Off The Moors (oops..wrong movie).
5. Call home, call the embassy, ask questions...or SOMETHING should 1,2 and 3 happen and your friend has disappeared.
Not all movies can be saved by hot chicks (oh and girls, Karl Urban is in it as well). As much as I wanted to scream "You idiot's, you don't do that while on vacation in remote area's of foreign countries!" I was still glad the morons did their moronic things...or I wouldn't have seen Odette Yustman (Cloverfield) drunkenly dirty dancing to the Divinyls song "I Touch Myself". Doing that at a local bar in rural Argentina in-front of the locals is a surefire way to cause a stir and possibly increase the odds of some nasty sex-trade type of disappearance happening, right?
Stephanie (Amber Heard) and Ellie (Odette Yustman) have a fight about Ellie's actions and Stephanie leaves her alone while sunbathing in the middle of nowhere. Of course Ellie is abducted, and of course by the obvious person we knew would be doing it. Once her friend is missing, Stephanie doesn't make a logical decision, ask a logical question (sometimes even ask a question at all).
I was hoping for a sleeper when I saw the cast and read the packaging upon the Blu-rays arrival. Unfortunately that wasn't the case and I wanted to turn this flick off.
OK so you know how I felt. There was no suspense, mystery or horror. There is a reason this baby went to go straight to video.
Parental Guide:
Rated R for sexuality, brief nudity, and language.
AUDIO/VIDEO - By The Numbers:
REFERENCE = 92-100 / EXCELLENT = 83-91 / GOOD = 74-82 / AVERAGE = 65-73 / BELOW AVERAGE = under 65
**My audio/video ratings are based upon a comparative made against other high definition media/blu-ray disc.**
(Each rating is worth 4 points with a max of 5 per category)
Audio: 84
- Dynamics:
- Low frequency extension:
- Surround Sound presentation:
- Clarity/Detail:
- Dialogue Reproduction:
Video: 78
- Resolution/Clarity:
- Black level/Shadow detail:
- Color reproduction:
- Fleshtones:
- Compression:
The encode does a nice job rendering what was filmed, which at times has a boost in contrast. Some shots of the scenery were really nice, especially the ruined city of the films last act.Colors go from peppy and a little over-indulgent to washed out and stylized like a 70's film. Grain is palpable but I did notice the occasional spike. Blacks are black...and at times some crush was evident. Over all it is a decent release, but has no stand-out elements to push it over the top. The Audio track is similar...nothing memorable, but sufficient. Dialouge was clear and clean, as were the musical elements. I felt as though the high-end was a bit tiresome to listen to, but the low end was rich and made up for it. Surround activity seemed like it needed a boost and a little more action.
Bonus Features:
- (HD) Directors Video Diary
- (HD) Deleted Scenes
- (HD) Theatrical Trailer
- (HD) Preview: Altitude
- BD Live enabled
- movie IQ
Final Thoughts:
'And Soon the Darkness' is a remake of an unknown 70's British film of the same title. I sure hope the original was much better! The film lacked anything of worth-- It was a terrible story with no real character development, the horror was not horrific, the mystery was laid out for you and the end result is 90 wasted minutes of blandness. At least it looked decent. I watched the special features hoping to find some worth, but no such luck. Some deleted scenes and a video diary from the director. Pass.
Lee Weber
AVS Forum Blu-ray Reviews
Reference Review System:
JVC DLA-RS50 1080p High Definition Front Projector
Custom 1.3 Gain 128" 2.37:1 CinemaScope Screen
Pioneer SC27 Receiver (Calibrated by Jeff Meier)
Pioneer Elite BDP-23FD Blu-ray Player (HDMI Audio/Video)
Triangle Zerius Speakers (7.1)
SVS PC13-Ultra Subwoofer
It just goes on and on....another turd !
It's a shame to hear this movie has little merit, but unfortunately it will not prevent me from renting it, masochist that I am. Thanks for the review!
Saw the trailer and as bland as what Lee said about it i might still give it a rent. Funny he mentioned about "Turista" because the premise of this reminds me of another movie which is actually called "Turistas". lol!
Sorry to disappoint you, it wasn't.
1: a superiority in weight, power, importance, or strength
2a : a superiority or excess in number or quantity
2b : majority
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Varejao is a game-time decision
Completely unrelated, but I just wanted to get an idea of what guys on this site think of the Jeremy Lin craze going around. I'm an Asian currently in Palo Alto so it's particularly strong around me. What do you guys think is sustainable and what isn't? In the Nets game I saw several schematic things you could do to limit him (i.e., he never drove left or consistently hit jumpers) but he's answered more questions as we've gone forward. Is this week-long dominance a fluke? Or should we be worried that he's turning a bunch of scrubs (Knicks minus Amare, Carmelo) into a winning ballclub?
Can't comment on his play as I haven't seen him in action yet, but it's a great story. Hope it continues. To me, the NBA is stronger as an entity when the Knicks are strong.
"Linsanity Drives Lakers Crazy" - NY Daily Times, today
"The Linderella Story Rolls On" - NY Post, today
Not sure. It's too hard to tell. D'Antoni's system favors PGs and I wonder how Melo will fit in once he comes back. That being said, I think he is a legit starting PG.
Time will tell if he's the next Steve Nash or the next Mo Williams.
33rd percentile you mean
I guarantee I am the biggest Ivy League basketball fan on this board, and let me promise you, this won't last. Lin was a very very good Ivy League player, and nothing more. He never won conference player of the year, he never even won a conference championship for Harvard. In his best season he scored 16 a game. I love watching the guy play, and I'm pumped that an Ivy Leaguer is becoming successful (in basketball), but this absolutely won't last.
It's been 2 years since he left college. You don't think he could have gotten better since then?
If he was playing for any other team besides NYK, BOS, or LAL, I would be rooting for him :(
I hope you're right. All of his points last night came off of jumpers, mainly long twos.
Few interesting info about Lin-
"the Rockets waived Lin to clear payroll to sign center Samuel Dalembert"
"He scored 89 points in his first three career starts, the most by any player since the merger between the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the NBA in 1976–77."
Of course he could've gotten better, but the talent level isn't extremely high. Yes, I know the rare few can be special players even without the best talent, but if Ivy League coaches figured out how to stop Lin, NBA coaches will too. After the Knicks-Wiz game, Ryan Wittman (former Cornell star, still plays summer league games) called his dad (Wiz coach) and said "Dad, we defended him so much better than you guys did." That being said, Lin might just be in the perfect system for him right now as well.
Varejao out tonight, MRI showed he has a non-displaced fracture in his right wrist and will be out indefinitely.
Tristan Thompson gets his chance to start, I guess. He had 13 boards last night, but only 2/8 from the floor.
I think it's time to put my entire gambling account on Sixers -7.
"There's no shame in losing back-to-back games to the Spurs and the Clippers. The Sixers won't be the only team to drop games to quality opponents.... The Sixers need to avoid reacting like their fan base has to the Clippers loss. It hurts, it stings, they should've won the game, but it's just one loss. Two in a row isn't even a streak, it's a blip."
If I'm not mistaken, they were a combined 9-13 on the road going into the games they played against us, and you expected both games to not even be that close. In the last ten games, the most we've scored is 98, and we've been held under 80 in three out of the last seven. I would say that the long-awaited regression to the mean for an offense that was 17th in the league last year with identical personnel has arrived. (By the way, we had the lowest turnover percentage in the league last year too; our making shots at an unsustainably high rate, not our care with the ball, has been what' fueled this offense.)
And since you've shockingly taken the pessimist's viewpoint, why don't we look at what they did to the league's 2nd-best offense last night. The offense may be suffering from a bit of regression, but the defense is not.
I mean, what's the worst case scenario? If they wind up with the #17 offense, they'll still have a better offense than your beloved Pacers.
And your insistence that they're shooting above their heads doesn't hold a whole lot of water. Their eFg last season was .494. To this point this season, it's .497. They've actually improved their turnover rate by about three times as much as their eFg. Using the league ranks in stats is a cute way to obscure the improvement when things look much differently when you focus on the actual numbers.
Here's another funny stat. Their OFR last season (which ranked 17th) was 106.6. This season they do rank 7th, with a 106.0 OFR. So the team that returned all its players is pretty much right where they were last season offensively, or even a little below. They aren't playing over their heads offensively, they're playing pretty much exactly to the same level they did last season on the offensive end, but their defense has improved greatly.
@pdcavsinsider: Semih Erden will start at center tonight for #Cavs
lavoy starting for the voose who will come off the bench
that's deserved.
Didn't hear anything during the rebroadcast last night, but does anyone know what happened to V8 relatively early in the game that the medical team was checking him out for? Looked like he had some sort of tubes or paper in his nose, did he take a hand to the face at some point early on? Sure would've been nice to have had a real center out there at some point in that game...
looked like a bloody nose
lavoy allen the latest to lose the tip
Jrue got to the line!
Lavoy getting beat to a couple loose balls and boards. Pulled early for Thad.
Horrible energy so far. Two 50/50 plays and they just didn't hustle.
I think both were "on" Lavoy. So he goes out.
why is rebounding still an issue against the Cavs?
Sweet wrap-around pass by Dre to THad.
good pass jrue
Come on Dre, you had the baseline J.
Come on guys, wake up...
lou and jodie together
Thad blows by Jamison for lay-in.
Good establishing position Thad. Charge taken out top.
Ugh Evan, that's twice you've been loose w/ your dribble. Turnover that time.
Thad w/ a not so good shot.
Sixers turning down opportunities in the post so that they can take contested 28 footers. Getting to be to common a theme.
Very lackluster effort so far. Bench came in and has resorted to a bunch of one on one. Hangover from last night to this point. They look lifeless, tired almost, just spent.
Lazy dribbles, bad shots & defense right now. Why is Dre and Jrue out?
They played alot of minutes last night
Lou w/ a good cut backdoor, his defender overplaying. To the line.
thad had voose or a hook shot but saved the ball
Thad's in the building, if no one else is so far. He's hustling.
I don't mind Lou missing that shot. Good drive that he'll convert most of the time.
The offense has been terrible for a while now.
Still not boxing out, giving up too many o-boards already. Really need to go harder, just being out-hustled and out-efforted so far.
PHI up 2. End of 1st.
Thad w/ the floor board, and alley to Vuc!
great job thad and lou for not settling for the jumper
THAD is the early leader for POTG, sweet toss to V8!
Thad w/ the putback on Jrue's missed bunny.
Lou to the line, initiating and absorbing contact.
Thad, right on cue, with the hustle and 2 offensive boards early in the 2nd, leads to scores.
great d by thad on gibson
Good start to the 2nd quarter for just the first minute and a half.
Lou for 3!
Thad FTW
Everybody on this friggin team except for Thad look like they need about a week off...I wonder if DC will start giving these guys "maintenance days" during easy games like this one (should be) so they can take a day off...er, for phantom injuries like Laviolette does for the Flyers?
I think EB is way ahead of you on this.
12-0 run. Keep this up, whatever Doug yelled between quarters.
Good start to the 3rd. Energy not completely there yet, but Sixers starting to pick up their (!) game.
20-0 bench points. That'll work.
Young draws the foul. I've seen everything tonight.
Dre 4 3! didn't particularly like the shot though.
Jrue on a runout, to the line.
There you go Jrue, they open the lane for you like that, take it hard just as you did. Lefty finish rolled in.
Third straight game giving up way too many points in the paint. 20 of their 29 so far.
Sixers really picked it up this quarter. Nice. Everybody looks into it now.
Still giving up too many points in the paint.
Lou's passing the ball really well to this point. Setting guys up, and making the pass before the pass to set someone up.
good work eb
Nice touch pass Jrue to Thad.
thad to jodie
Jodie on the baseline screen. Thad w/ the pass, Jodie off the glass.
Man, we're shooting the ball quick, just pressuring them when we're on offense.
Finish this last 2:30 now, keep this lead at or around 20. Very, very good quarter. Just excellent.
Bad shot Jodie.
Forced shot Dre, got fouled though, no need to force it like that.
he made both!!!!
Annnndddd...he makes both freebies!! yippee!!!! hooray
Nice solid ass-kicking in that Q...do it for one more and then bring in the graveyard shift, eh guys?
A solid TWO minutes for Turner in he first half.
Yeah, and it really killed the Sixers. Fire Collins ;)
I want ET to get some more minutes, but I really never give it so much thought that it is my main thought when the team is up 20 at the half.
He played 9
nba.com says 09:26
espn says 2:00
If you're looking at a boxscore that's not accurate, he played way more than that.
My bad. I stand corrected. I came down midway through the 2nd quarter...saw that he wasn't on the floor...went to ESPN and it said 2 minutes.
58-41. Two more like that last one and we'll all be pleased.
Thad and Lou's shoulders feel very heavy, Jrue's too.
They actually got to the line 16 times that half. That has to be a record for this year, no?
14/16 free throws first half. that's nice also.
Bad start here. Get it together. Cavs have more energy just like the 1st quarter start.
Good pass from Lavoy to EB, Brand misses it.
Jrue w/ the backdown.
bad shot lavoy
Vuc J.
nice pick and pop
Ugh Dre, too hard of a pass. Offline too.
Jrue to the line again, attacking the paint.
meeks 3!!!
Meeks 3! Good find Dre.
Lou for 3!
Dre attacking, to the line. Chances he makes both again? 40%
Yep, 1 out of 2, heavy on the second one, backrim
hmmm this team sure does appear to be making more of their free throws...except for that last one by AI9...
lou to the line
Lou absorbing contact, to the line.
Dammit Thad, ugh, didn't matter anyway.
So-so quarter there, kind of but not really reminiscent of the 1st quarter, at least offensive wise.
Won it by 2, up 79-60. Close this out early so Noc can work the cobwebs out.
Should try to sit Brand the rest of the way. No point having him playing hurt if we're up 17.
so how far ahead do they have to be for this game to be Nocioni-proof?
...why Lou why would you take that shot so damn early in the shot clock?? Pound the air out of the ball so this game ends faster...
Nice Thad and Jrue screen and pass. Thad converts.
Vuc had to pull something on that one. Ouch
voose is hurt, twisted his ankle
looks ok
I wanted to share my Historical BOSS Index. 3 or tp 4 are Sixers.
Ht under 6'3
Asst/g Min/g>23
Eyenga had his hands in ET's shorts right there and they didn't blow the whistle.
Lou and-one, after he walked I think.
ahahahaha could that Cavs mascot look any more depressed??
get brand out dont wont him to get hurt anymore
if Brian is watching this thread, PLEASE screengrab that guy/thing sitting in the stands so we can have a caption contest during the off day tomorrow!
haha, Jrue got the o-board, then foolishly chucked it back up at the rim.
Jrue weaving thru traffic, after collecting his dribble. to the line again.
Lou right before the shot clock expires.
That was lazy Turner. ugh
Jrue splitting the pick. Layup.
Why didn't ET try to dunk that?
He probably didn't realize how close that guy was. Got lazy on it
Jrue/Lou/Meeks/Turner/Vuc? Smallest lineup ever?
Dunk that ball, what a pussy
Ha, said the same exact thing above, just more politely phrased question, but I was silently saying the same thing you were.
Get Jrue and Lou out of the game Doug. No need for them to be in.
Meeks dribble pull-up.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz that's more like it...nice win fellas, now on to the next one!
30 FT attempts. Most this year?
Lou, Jrue, or Thad for POTG.
POTG? I'd say Thad, for his early hustle and overall good, efficient play. Although Jrue played well too: 20pts on 13 shots, 4 boards, 5 dimes, 1 steal, 1 block and 0 TOV.
Hm, tough call.
Jrue's best game of the year (based on style of play.) But Thad gets POTG because single handedly put away the Cav's when it counted.
eh, Lou was just as good as Thad in that 2nd, sans the scrappy hustle. He was setting guys up, think 4 dimes and several buckets.
Lou and Jrue combined:
12-17 fg
3-6 3 pt
12-15 ft
10 dimes
2 steals ......
.....wait for it ...... ZERO (0!) turnovers
whoops - correction 12-27 fg's - sorry typo
Come on Wolves, you're just giving it away.
They gave it away. Linsanity continues despite the fact that he took 24 shots to get 20 points, had 4 shots blocked and had 6 turnovers.
Just finished the game. Jrue is POTG. Writing my wrap now.


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text:
The Higher Self with Rabbi Finley
Multiple Dates
Event Details
For many people, the span in between the High Holidays feel more like the Days of Wha? than the Days of Awe. Join HIGHER SELF for the next few weeks as we re-dedicate ourselves to personal growth by prepping to spend those days between much like a sabbath for the year.
In this four-part series, we'll create and refine personal journals to have on hand during the High Holidays. By the time Yom Kippur arrives, rather than complaining about a fast that feels meaningless, you can turn your hunger inwards, towards something authentic, spiritual and real guided by the pages within of your journal.
Rabbi Finley promises to illuminate notions such as Sovereignty of the Divine -- even for Atheists; High Holy Days as Sacred Theater; Becoming Angels and Authentic Happiness. Plan ahead to carve the time out to attend on 9/8, 15, 22 and 29, from 6:30-7:30 pm -- and bring a blank journal and a pen!
Classes will be held in the JCC's Dance Studio. Park in our lot (entrance is on Effie between Myra and Bates), and the stairs to the studio will be on your left when you enter through the yellow gate.
For questions and additional info contact firstname.lastname@example.com.
Rabbi Mordecai Finley is the spiritual leader of Ohr Ha Torah in Mar Vista and Professor of Jewish Thought at the Academy for Jewish Religion, California Campus. http://www.rabbifinley.com/
Silverlake Independent JCC
1110 Bates Avenue
Los Angeles,
Multiple Dates
Add to my calendar


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Japan is no stranger to creepy robots, but if they are trying to emulate human babies with the Pneuborn-7II and Pneuborn-13 robots, they might want to go back to the drawing board. I don't picture these robotic monstrosities laughing adorably on viral YouTube videos anytime soon. Seriously, it would have turned the bubble eating dog into one full minute of horror.
Using a sophisticated set of pneumatic muscles, researchers at Osaka University designed Pneuborn-7II to mimic the movement of a seven-month-old while Pneuborn-13 mimics a a 13-month old walking. The baby bots are set to debut at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Shanghai later this week.
Check out the walking version after the break.
(Plastic Pals via io9)


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It's quite appropriate that on the 35th anniversary of Star Wars, we get another historic moment in the realm of space, but this time in real life. Check out this video provided by NASA of the International Space Station Expedition 31 crew successfully connecting to the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, which launched earlier in the week.
Check out continuing updates on the SpaceX program by visiting the group's Web site.
Keith Shaw rounds up the best in geek video in his ITworld.tv blog. Follow Keith on Twitter at @shawkeith. For the latest IT news, analysis and how-tos, follow ITworld on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.
Now watch: Watch the Batman logo mutate over 70 years What the Avengers sequels will inevitably look like Tech predictions from 1993: Video phones, tablets and hovercars


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Business Law
Ask a Business Lawyer. Get Business Law Questions Answered ASAP.
NOTICE: My goal is to assist people who cannot afford traditional legal services. Without your contribution, I will be unable to continue to help others in this forum. I am always available to answering your follow-up questions after you click Accept – however, if you do not click Accept, the website gets paid, and I receive nothing. This is true, even if you are on a subscription plan. So please click Accept, so that I will be able to continue to provide this service for others in the future.
Does the fact that the renewal clause is not 8 pt bold face font have any merit in California law like it does in property lease renewals. Also are you aware of any changes in the law because both new contracts which are for 36 months (Waste Management and new vendor) have changed from an automatic renewal if no notice is given to month to month at the end of the 36 months giving me the suspicion that the law has changed recently?
I personaly have contacts written that vendor notify me at least 90 days ahead of time in writing. Most are willing to comply.


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A look back at the stories that have made the CNSNews.com 'Best of The Week.'
A Goof for the Centuries?
During a House Oversight Committee hearing, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D- District of Columbia) said that "perhaps the most catastrophic war of the 20th century - invasion by the United States of America" in Iraq.
There were a lot of wars to choose from in the 20th century. Of course, the Iraq War was in the 21st century.
Reid on Racism
On the Senate floor Wednesday, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) criticized the name of the Washington Redskins claiming, "A tradition of racism is all that name leaves in its wake."
Reid lauded the NBA's decision to ban Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling over his comments about African-Americans, but criticized the NFL for letting the use of the name Redskins continue.
Tops for Taxes
The Tax Foundation has ranked the states by their state income tax rates and among the highest are California, Hawaii, and Oregon.
Non-Working Families
In 20 percent of American families in 2013, according to new data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), not one member of the family worked.
A family, as defined by the BLS, is a group of two or more people who live together and who are related by birth, adoption or marriage. In 2013, there were 80,445,000 families in the United States and in 16,127,000—or 20 percent--no one had a job.
Nun Still Stuns
Sister Cristina Scuccia, an Ursuline Sister of the Holy Family who stunned audiences with her singing on Italy's "The Voice" in March, returned to the stage again last month to belt out Cyndi Lauper's classic "Girls Just Want to Have Fun."
Check out these stories and more on CNSNews.com


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One of the most succinctly utopian statements about the potential of the internet came in response to the 1996 Telecommunications Reform Act from John Barlow, a co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, entitled, "A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace." Freed of the material constraints imposed by government, the manifesto argued, a "civilization of the mind" could flourish in cyberspace (the term already feels dated) and "from ethics, enlightened self-interest, and the commonweal, our governance will emerge." Yet within this statement of pure self-government the term "democracy" never appears. (It doesn't appear in the U.S. Declaration of Independence, either.) Perhaps it is an unwritten assumption, or perhaps it is considered a synonym for "liberty" or "freedom," each of which appear in the declaration. But this omission means that the mechanism by which we organize ourselves politically is wholly dependent on the assumption of equally rational actors.
An article in Slate last Friday about the dominant users at sites like Wikipedia and Digg ("The Wisdom of the Chaperones") shatters the illusion that these "Web 2.0" technologies are exemplars of democratic participation. The article points out that the authority of Wikipedia is not derived from it's inclusiveness -- anybody can participate -- but rather from the contributions of an elite (1% of Wikipedia users contribute half of the site's edits). So while it is not a closed system, an aristocracy, it has organically let the cream rise to the top -- the essence of a meritocracy. The very medium I am writing in, the weblog, functions according to this "power-law" distribution of influence (good academic summary here. [PDF]), rather than being an example of democratic participation. Perhaps at the beginning, before blogging was an integrated component of the new media, one could point to the egalitarian nature of the medium. But now, if traffic popularity is any indication, there is an undeniable blogging elite; and furthermore one that is very difficult to break into. (To be clear, I am not counting myself among these elites.) Presumably all these elite bloggers rose to the top on the merits. Whether they continue to exhibit meritocratic or aristocratic tendencies is an open question.
On balance, however, it is far more beneficial to weigh the impact of blogs, Wikipedia, etc. as a function of merit, rather than the bellowing of the mob. This is how critics like Andrew Keen or Lee Siegel characterize these technologies. Rather than looking to the top they fixate on the anonymity of the internet as its defining feature. They seem concerned that expertise and privilege will be washed away in a sea of illiterate and vulgar blog commenters. But the Slate article confirms just the opposite: merit, expertise and participation ultimately win out, which is to say, as it always was, that the message (and messenger) matter more than the medium.
The following website describes obsolete skills, such as "Cleaning head of a VCR," "Placing a coin on a tonearm to prevent skipping," and "Using a slide rule" that can immediately tell you how old you are. Others are less predictive, such as "Sword fighting" or "Polaroid photography," the latter of which might date you to the era of bell-bottom pants, but actually was only recently discontinued by the Polaroid company. Still others are of an incredibly recent vintage, namely "Assessing the relative merits of BluRay and HD-DVD."
At any rate, enjoy.
Busy at TAPPED, but this is awesome:
October 2006, according to the archives, is when I first predicted that either John McCain or Newt Gingrich would be the Republican nominee for president. I greatly elaborate on that thesis here. McCain's implosion last summer caused me to reevaluate my prediction, and Gingrich's formal denial of presidential ambitions sealed it. But today, with McCain the nominee (barring something extraordinary), and the veepstakes heating up, suddenly the second half of my prediction might be looking a whole lot better, as Mike Boyer at FP's Passport blog surmises.
I don't actually think Gingrich will be McCain's choice (there are too many to choose from that would suit McCain's style), and in fact I think the importance of a VP selection is overrated in general (has there ever been a presidential campaign that won or lost on the strength of the running mate?). But like any writer who wants to influence people, making good predictions two years ago certainly helps.
The puzzling thing about Richard Viguerie's latest organizational enterprise is that it doesn't draw lessons from the technique that made his previous organizational effort so successful: direct mail. Viguerie's central insight was that one could build a movement by directly appealing to individuals whose sympathies might lie with that movement. Direct mail allowed Barry Goldwater to tap small donors for campaign contributions. Direct mail helped National Review build an audience. And direct mail helped conservatives build a formidable political movement.
But the reason direct mail worked was because conservatives were precisely targeted. ConeservativeHQ, by contrast, doesn't appeal to conservatives through their mailboxes (electronic or otherwise) -- rather, the site depends on gathering input from conservatives, as Viguerie himself pleads:
I'm urging conservatives across this country to start a national discussion, and to e-mail me at email@example.com with their thoughts on these questions: Do you think opening up the race is a good idea? Do you have any other suggestions for candidates? Could someone come in off the sidelines, change the direction of the momentum, get the fans back into game, and lead us to victory?
Instead of soliciting conservatives for money or magazine subscriptions, this new model solicits conservatives for ideas. A top-down approach that culls random input from the rank-and-file isn't a grassroots movement, it's astroturf. And this demonstrates two things. First, that a hard ceiling has likely been reached on the number of conservatives that can be directly marketed to. Direct mail gave them a sense of identity and shared community, and now that identity is looking increasingly anachronistic and grossly unrepresentative of the public at large. And second, the conservative movement, as if were, has become so habitually reliant on a hierarchical power structure based on the personalities of specific Republicans that it doesn't so much draft candidates anymore as it is constantly in search of the next Reagan. (Notice how Viguerie describes each of the Republican candidates' positive traits in Reaganite terms.)
Rick Perlstein takes all this as evidence that the movement is exhausted and essentially at its end. That may well be. But as he also points out, you wouldn't know it from the degree of representation of people like Viguerie in the elite media.
Passed along without comment, courtesy of Lance Mannion:
If the Goverment is a car setting out to give every one a ride to work, then for 40 years the Republicans have been puncturing the tires, pouring sand in the gas tank, stealing the distributer cap, and, whenever they can get their hands on the wheel, driving it straight into the nearest ditch and then, pointing to the wreckage as the tow truck backs up to it, saying, See, this proves that people were meant to walk.
And they do this so that they don't have to chip in on gas.
I'm not sure who Andrew Sullivan is accusing of not wanting to use the word "evil" to describe "Islamofascists," but this insistence on label purity is getting rather annoying. Islamofasicsm might be a truly useless (and irresponsible) way of undestanding violent Islamic fundamentalism, but simply calling them evil doesn't solve the problem. They're still there whether we call them evil or not. And if the goal is some sort of moral clarity, then again, who exactly--specifically--is lacking this moral clarity?
It seems to me the point of these labels has always been to make the accuser feel morally superior compared to others.
The Democratic candidates remind me of the Nixon-era TV series "The Mod Squad": One white, one black, one blonde.
And really, that's all I know about the show and about all I know about the candidates. What are the differences among them? Obama is eloquent and elegant. Hillary is earnest. Edwards is TV-actor cute and shouts more than the others-not that that ended up counting for much.
And like the TV show, the Democrats' Mod Squad is based on a lot of ideas that seemed cool in the early '70s -- energy independence, groovy kinds of alternative energy, national health insurance, fine-tuning the economy, higher taxes, cheap money, interest rate freezes, corporation-bashing, and ending the war but not any time soon.
So instead of a bridge to the 21st century, the Democrats this year are offering us a bridge to the post-Woodstock era.
Obviously someone who hasn't spent any time coming to understand the policy positions of the candidates is going to be tempted with this level of superficial analysis. (I've long suspected that libertarians are incapable of taking Democrats seriously on anything related to governance.) But for Boaz this is a sign of good things to come!
But the good news is that while the early '70s were marked by plenty of policy disasters--Nixon's wage and price controls, Ford's "Whip Inflation Now" buttons, Carter's "turn down your thermostats"--those things did make more people aware that the old regulatory policies had dramatically slowed down economic growth. As the '70s went on and turned into the early '80s, good things actually started to happen. Transportation, energy, finance, and telecommunications were deregulated. Capital gains and then income tax rates were reduced. Both large corporations and large unions were on the decline. CNN, Microsoft, and Apple were founded. Blacks, women, and gay people moved into the mainstream of society. After Watergate and Vietnam, Congress curbed some of the powers of the presidency.
First, it's not at all clear that people became "aware" that regulatory policies had slowed economic growth. That seems to me a direct result of the conservative movement's political efforts to reshape the debate. It was true enough for the public to buy it, but it wasn't like they came to that conclusion all by themselves.
Second, it doesn't follow that the deregulation of "transportation, energy, finance and telecommunications" led directly to CNN, Microsoft and Apple (the latter two were formed in the late seventies), to say nothing of minorities moving into the "mainstream of society." There's precious little correlation, and there's no causation. And what do you know! Those same regulatin' Democrats curbed executive power without creating a totalitarian state! Miraculous!
Stuff like this lends itself to the adage that "If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail." And that is the fatal flaw of this sort of libertarian reasoning.
Courtesy of Sadly, No!, this gem of wisdom from Michelle "intern 'em" Malkin, is actually pretty descriptive:
So, Arnold Schwarzenegger endorsed John McCain. He extolled McCain for "reach[ing] across the political aisle to get things done."
We'll hear that annoying platitude a bazillion and one times through Super Tuesday and beyond.
To which I say: When did it become the Republican Party's top priority to "get things done?"
Ezra is right, this is the best endorsement of Barack Obama's campaign I have read.
Just read it.
With the departure of John Edwards from the race for the Democratic nomination yesterday, the focus now turns to how the vacuum left by his campaign will affect the campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. First there is the question of delegates, which turns out to be the easiest puzzle to solve. According to the Democratic Convention Watch blog, all of Edwards' uncommitted superdelegates (27) will go back to a "no endorsement" pool. Edwards' delegates from the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries (12) will revert to uncommitted, while his caucus delegates from Iowa (17) will be reallocated to Obama and Clinton proportionately, based on their performance in those events.
The more important consequence of Edward's departure is where his supporters will go. Here, demographics appear decisive, yet inconclusive. A Times article yesterday on Southern Super Tuesday states notes widespread reluctance amongst white voters in these states to support Obama's campaign, although this doesn't automatically translate into support for Clinton.
Meanwhile, John Judis notes the significance of voters' age in determining candidate support. Older voters tended to support Edwards, he notes, which should translate into support for Clinton, given her past performance among older voters. And among "moderates" in New Hampshire, there appears to have been greater support for Obama than Clinton, based on a 19-point difference in disapproval ratings.
The exit polls in Florida might provide the most diverse demographic information, although it is unclear how voters in the Sunshine State were affected by the ongoing dispute between the state party and the DNC over the delegate slate. Given that turnout was quite high, however, these statistics would appear to have some value. Chris Cillizza notes that Edwards supporters are evenly divided on who to support next. Sixty percent of these supporters would be "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with Clinton, while 66 percent expressed the same sentiment for Obama.
All of this uncertainty might hinge on an Edwards endorsement, which could come before Super Tuesday, according to numerous reports. For now, Edwards has only sought a promise from Obama and Clinton to keep the issue of poverty front and center during the campaign, which each candidate readily accepted. According to Greg Sargent, though, the endorsement is highly coveted:
Top Edwards adviser Joe Trippi just confirmed to me by phone that the Hillary and Obama campaigns are already working overtime to woo Edwards to their sides -- even before his official dropout speech.
"They're banging down the doors," Trippi told me.
Whether these questions are resolved before February 5 or because of it, the new dynamics of a two-person race depend on who Edwards endorses. It does not seem likely that he will endorse Clinton, based on their past differences, which suggests that his dropping out before February 5 is meant to maximize his influence over the news cycle, should he endorse Obama. Whether an Edwards endorsement of Obama would substantially boost the latter's campaign is debatable, but it might prove decisive to marooned Edwards supporters, who are looking for someone new to back on the road to the White House.
Cross-posted, in slightly modified form, at TAPPED.
Michael Ledeen writes:
I don't believe that events often have single explanations. We're complicated, and the things we do are the results of our many components, desires, thoughts, stupidities, etc. But doesn't McCain's popularity suggest that "the war" remains an issue of fundamental importance? That's the one thing that separates him from the rest of the Republican field. And it suggests that "winning the war" or "running from the war" will be important themes in the fall.
I'm not a poll-reader, and I am notoriously bad at predicting election outcomes, but doesn't this seem right?
Well, no, because if he had read the polls he would have discovered something odd. Republicans who were on balance against the war voted in favor of McCain, who has been the war's biggest supporter amongst the GOP's viable contenders. Now, Ledeen is confusing McCain's war support with a direct translation to electoral support. The polls say otherwise. But overall, the war ranks, along with health care and the economy, as the most important issue to Americans. It's just that McCain's supporters are a bit conflicted on this, which is the real issue. Either they are ignorant of McCain's record, or they believe he will be a better steward of the war -- I really couldn't say. The important point is that the war ranks high, although that doesn't necessarily mean support for it.
K-Lo offers an early retrospective on the Giuliani campaign:
It's a gracious, dignified speech. I disagree with him on some issues, but he ran a race he can be proud of.
Proud of what? Winning two delegates? Never placing better than third (and only then, once, tonight)? Running a campaign premised on evoking a catastrophe at every possible occasion? For using fear-mongering scare tactics at every corner? Yeah, a lot to be proud of there. As others have stated, and I will second, the United States dodged a bullet in 2008 by soundly rejecting this man for president.
The author of Liberal Fascism writes something I agree with (although, unfortunately, not about the subject of liberal fascism):
"Blogitics" [Jonah Goldberg]
That's the name of Fox News' "blog desk." It is, I am quite comfortable saying, one of the dumbest, least euphonious, labels to emerge from the blogospheric age, and that's saying something. It's not original to Fox -- a Google search suggests -- but that's no defense.
I agree with every word.
Andrew Sullivan thought this post was worth flagging, But I don't see the connection.
if this man gets his party's nomination, he's going to be the next president. By a landslide. And he is going to transform this country. If I were a Republican, I'd be very, very afraid. Oh wait, I am a Republican. Dang. Lord have mercy, I wish that man were a conservative. Because there's no doubt in my mind about what he can accomplish for liberalism if he's elected. You've heard of Reagan Democrats? Barack Obama is the Democrats' Reagan...
I know, I know, it's only a speech. And you don't vote for a candidate solely because he gives a good speech, which is to say, entirely for therapeutic reasons. But if this Obama keeps talking like he does here, he's going to be president.
That's not really an argument, for starters. Plus, rhetoric aside, Obama and Reagan could not be different transformational figures. For one thing, Reagan actually changed over time from a New Deal Democrat to a New Conservative. That personal transformation gave him credibility when he spoke to audiences in the 1960s. This brings us to the second point. Reagan got involved in Republican politics as a celebrity, first gaining national attention with his "Time for Choosing" address for Barry Goldwater. As recounted numerous times before, some in the audience at the time wondered whether it was Reagan or Goldwater who was the presidential candidate. This success led to more speaking arrangements, and eventually the California Governorship. Reagan campaigned for president three times, succeeding the final time, and the rest is history. So we're talking about a 16-20 year climb to the top of a party, a political movement and eventually the highest office in the land.
Put that aside and consider Obama. His comparable "Time for Choosing" moment was his keynote address at the 2004 DNC. That was only three-and-a-half years ago. Now he stands a very good chance of being the Democrats' nominee for president. If successful, he will have surpassed Reagan in terms of how fast he accomplished Reagan's highest achievement. The other part of this, the transformative nature of politics, is up for debate. Reagan certainly changed things, at least how we talk them, although it's arguable how much of a lasting impact he had, especially if his would-be liberal counterpart--Barack Obama--is supposedly poised to change everything back to liberal hegemony.
Maybe it's because the SOTU address is tonight, Bush's last, but do we really need to endure stories that begin with head-spinning statements like
Mr. Bush has spent years presiding over an economic climate of growth that would be the envy of most presidents. Yet much to the consternation of his political advisers, he has had trouble getting credit for it, in large part because Americans were consumed by the war in Iraq.
What? Envy of most presidents? The war has distracted Americans from the awesomeness of the Bush economy? What planet did the crack come from that allowed this to be written? Fortunately, we have these people called "economists" who can tell us about economics and all that stuff. Here's Dean Baker's take:
President Bush's growth record is better than his father's, but it is worse than the record of every other president in the last half century. It's not clear why they would be envious. It is also not clear what his political advisers have to complain about.
And here's Paul Krugman:
Looking at this, which presidents, exactly, would the Bush economic climate be the envy of? Even at its best, the Bush economy failed to deliver employment growth comparable to that under earlier presidents. And the Bush economy spent very little time at its best. Only Gerald Ford and Bush the elder failed to deliver performance better than the current occupant of the White House.(Jimmy Carter simply had the misfortune to have a recession at the end of his tenure.)
This tendency to treat Bush as some sort of misunderstood, even tragic figure is quite bizarre. He's the worst president in our history, and that opinion is more than likely to simply coalesce into fact after W leaves office.
I've been arguing against the hyperbole associated with the Clinton political machine quite a bit lately so I really should say something about Hillary Clinton's decision to seat the Florida and Michigan delegates at this summer's convention.
It really is sleazy. There was an agreement in place to not campaign or participate in these states and Clinton put herself on the Ballot in Michigan anyway, even though they had an opportunity to debate the details of the arrangement. It is unclear why Clinton is doing this now, so far ahead of Super Tuesday, which she is almost certainly going to win. She may be threatened by Barack Obama in terms of splitting total delegates, but I think we can safely err on the side of her being the nominee in the aggregate.
Likewise, I am disappointed that Bill Clinton would cheapen his stature by engaging in dirty tricks on the campaign trail. He wastes a lot of his "elder statesman" status by doing this, although we should keep things in perspective. This primary has been pretty mild compared to others. And let's face it, the general campaign will be even worse. So I think it is a mistake to say this latest move by Clinton will create an unbridgeable rift in the Democratic party, and I think it is also a mistake to attribute this to some special deviousness on the part of the Clintons and their associates. They are a highly effective, competent, powerful and ambitious political machine. They play to win. This is rather appealing in a narrow sort of way, compared to the spinelessness of Democrats during the last 15 years or so. But if Hillary Clinton is the nominee, A) are Democrats going to remember this or any other primary-season dust-up when looking ahead to November and B) are they really going to abstain from voting just because Hillary is the nominee? No and no. 2008 is a huge year for Democrats and these things are not going to prevent them from taking the opportunity to win control of the federal government for the first time since 1992. The proof's in the pudding, so we'll need to see whether this latest move actually affects the results of primary voting or not. If it does, it could damage Clinton's chances. If it doesn't, then we'll know that this is essentially the internal politics of the party at work, and if voters are uninformed or don't care, then there's not much the rest of us can do about it.
Jonah Goldberg has taken to reviewing every review of his book that doesn't agree with his book on a blog devoted to his book. Fair enough. If I had written a tome with a weak premise ripe for criticism I'd feel obliged to defend it with all my might too. But this latest one from the American Conservative (a paleo-con rag) seems to have really confused poor Goldberg. Let me quote the excerpt that Goldberg uses:
Progressivism, for example, did not in any meaningful sense lead to liberalism. On the contrary, in 1922, Walter Lippmann, the leading liberal intellectual of the 1920s, wrote Public Opinion, one of the most trenchant critiques of populism and democracy (and, with it, progressivism) ever penned. Lippmann went on to become Mussolini's most unsparing American critic, precisely because Lippmann saw in fascism the same dangers that he saw in progressivism. If we must describe intellectual history in biological terms, then it would be more accurate to say that liberalism drove progressivism into extinction than that progressivism gave birth to liberalism.
To this Goldberg responds, "I'm not entirely sure what point Bramwell thinks he's making here" before going on to deflate the myth of Lippmann being some sort of paragon of political consistency. The point isn't whether Lippmann was consistently correct, the point is whether he was correct on this one point, to which the answer is, I believe, yes. That's a debate we could have, but Goldberg doesn't. He just plays dumb and moves on. Lippmann, he claims, explicitly desired a dictatorship in America and even counseled FDR to that effect. This is the heart of Goldberg's evidence, apparently, but what's strange is his summary of it:
It seems to me that when a liberal counsels a president to become a dictator it's not crazy to suggest that he's flirting with something that might even be called "liberal fascism."
Why does Goldberg put his argument in quotes, as if to say liberal fascism is some sort of pseudo phenomenon, not real, and certainly not something to be taken seriously? And indeed, this was one of the fatal flaws I earlier identified about the book: it doesn't argue strongly in favor of its thesis. If Goldberg himself is putting the term he chose (and borrowed from H.G. Wells, as he never hesitates to point out) in quotes, doesn't that weaken the strength of the term itself? Attributing it to Wells only exacerbates the problem. It's as if he's saying, "there's this thing called liberal fascism, which the brilliant English-language writer Wells described, which I am appropriating to A) add intellectual gravitas to my weak thesis and B) pass the ball to in case of pointed criticism." Putting "liberal fascism" in quotes is one of the most telling instances of denial I've encountered since this whole fracas began.
Fears of a co-presidency have spread to the NY Times editorial page:
SENATOR Hillary Clinton has based her campaign on experience -- 35 years of it by her count. That must include her eight years in the White House.
Some may debate whether those years count as executive experience. But there can be no doubt that her husband had the presidential experience, fully. He has shown during his wife's campaign that he is a person of initiative and energy. Does anyone expect him not to use his experience in an energetic way if he re-enters the White House as the first spouse?
Mrs. Clinton claims that her time in that role was an active one. He can hardly be expected to show less involvement when he returns to the scene of his time in power as the resident expert. He is not the kind to be a potted plant in the White House.
Which raises an important matter. Do we really want a plural presidency?
The argument seems to be that it is in Bill Clinton's nature to be an active political player, so thus he should never be allowed near the Oval Office ever again. And although the editorial doesn't mention the 22nd Amendment, it does recount a brief history of the struggles over unitary executive authority during the founding of the Constitution. Certainly, the piece suggests, B. Clinton's presence would violate nothing less than the spirit of the arrangement ordained by the Founding Fathers.
But most strange of all is the fact that another precedent is cited, only seven years too late:
One problem with the George W. Bush administration is that it has brought a kind of plural presidency in through the back door. Vice President Dick Cheney has run his own executive department, with its own intelligence and military operations, not open to scrutiny, as he hides behind the putative president.
No other vice president in our history has taken on so many presidential prerogatives, with so few checks. He is an example of the very thing James Wilson was trying to prevent by having one locus of authority in the executive. The attempt to escape single responsibility was perfectly exemplified when his counsel argued that Mr. Cheney was not subject to executive rules because he was also part of the legislature.
Let's see if I have this straight: Ambitious people who are associated with presidents in some way should not be allowed to be associated with presidents. Do I have that right? Where was Wills during the 2004 campaign, when it was clear how much influence Mr. Cheney had? Should the Times have recommended that Mr. Bush pick a more low-key running mate?
It should be clear that without an explicit law banning these sorts of arrangements, the presidency and the people associated with the presidency are simply going to be in a position of great power. And the degree to which these people check their own ambition or defer to the president's wishes is going to be a matter of personality. So this editorial is arguing nothing, except perhaps that Bill Cinton = Dick Cheney in terms of influence, which is pretty absurd because it is divorced from any policy results. And it highlights yet again that when it comes to the Clintons, the rules of journalism simply get thrown out the window.


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Changing epistemological beliefs in pre-service teacher education students
Brownlee, Joanne M., Purdie, Nola M., & Boulton-Lewis, Gillian M. (2001) Changing epistemological beliefs in pre-service teacher education students. Teaching in Higher Education, 6(2), pp. 247-268.
A teaching program designed to foster the reflection on and development of more sophisticated epistemological beliefs was implemented with 29 pre-service graduate teacher education students at the Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. As part of the year-long teaching program, students were required to reflect in journal entries on the content of an educational psychology unit in relation to their epistemological beliefs. The students engaged in this teaching program (the research group) were interviewed in relation to their beliefs at the beginning (Time 1) and conclusion (Time 2) of the teaching program. Students in a comparison group were not encouraged to explicitly reflect on their epistemological beliefs. They were asked to complete written statements about their beliefs about knowing at the beginning (Time 1) and end (Time 2) of the year-long unit. Schommers (1988, 1990) epistemological beliefs questionnaire was administered to both the comparison and research groups at Time 1 and Time 2. This questionnaire measured beliefs about knowing. The results of both the quantitative and qualitative data analysis indicated that the group of students engaged in the teaching program experienced more growth in sophisticated epistemological beliefs. The success of the teaching program has implications for how teacher educators develop learning environments.
Impact and interest:
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|ID Code:
|Item Type:
|Journal Article
|Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification > EDUCATION (130000) > EDUCATION SYSTEMS (130100) > Higher Education (130103)
Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification > EDUCATION (130000)
|Current > QUT Faculties and Divisions > Faculty of Education
|Copyright Owner:
|Copyright 2001 Taylor & Francis
|Copyright Statement:
|First published in Teaching in Higher Education 6(2):pp. 247-268.
|Deposited On:
|29 Jun 2005 00:00
|Last Modified:
|20 Mar 2013 01:03
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Teacher-training workshops are a great way to learn even more about the IU deliberation model, Deliberation for Global Perspectives in Teaching and Learning (DGP), and how to use it effectively with students in the classroom.
DGP workshops (whole department or school staff) are led by expert trainers who:
I learn more by doing deliberations than I ever did in a regular class.
– High School Student
– High School Student


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You can talk to your friends or penpals on the internet if you have an e-mail address.
Two of the most popular places to get a free e-mail address are sites like Yahoo and Hotmail. If you don't have a computer at home, you can email from school or from internet cafes.
And you can email us at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Seagate has announced it has found a way to burn down a barrier other hard-drive makers are still trying to push their way through.
Late last week Seagate demonstrated a prototype of a hard-drive that records data using heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) to pack a trillion bits per square inch onto a hard disk.
HAMR is a technique invented in the mid-'50s to increase the capacity of tape, which Seagate has been touting as the Next Big Thing in storage since at least 2002.
So far HAMR has finished every race trailing Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (PMR), which became the de facto industry standard in 2006, but will reach its own physical limits at around 1 trillion bits-per-inch sometime during the next few years.
Seagate predicts the capacity of HAMR could reach 50 times that of PMR because, when it runs up against the same limitation in the material used for the surface of hard drives, it changes the material.
Storage capacity increases when the mechanism recording it can make the individual bits of data occupy less space on a magnetic disk. The smaller the bit, the more powerful the magnetic field has to be to imprint it well enough that it won't scramble or fade before being used.
Bits small enough that a trillion of them will fit within a square inch is usually considered the smallest a bit can get without becoming unstable, at least using current techniques. PMR took over from the previous standard – linear magnetic recording – to overcome LMR's density limit of 100 gigabytes per inch.
HAMR's theoretical limit, according to Seagate, could be 50 times as high because it changes the physical characteristics of the surface of a hard disk – by heating it with a laser – just as it records the data.
Seagate doesn't predict when HAMR will find its way into actual products other than vague references to "later this decade."
In this case caution is probably a good idea. Not only did Seagate push HAMR as the next-generation of storage 10 years worth of storage-generations ago, it did the same thing again in 2009, with the same level of commercial success.
Even the 1-terabit barrier, which Seagate claims just to have broken for the first time, fell in October when researchers at Singapore's Institute of Materials Research and Engineering announced a new process called bit-patterned recording (BPR) that could reach densities of 3.3 terabits per square inch.
And BPR doesn't rely on adding a whole new complex system to the process or change the response-characteristics of the disk by heating it over and over, as HAMR does.
BPR adds salt to the surface during manufacture, which allows a more efficient distribution of bits using "nanopatterning," as reported by Ars Technica at the time.
Of course, nanopatterning isn't the only super-small data-manipulating storage technique being developed to add enough capacity to existing hard drives to make any data hoarder happy.
In January IBM announced it had developed a way to pack a full byte of data (8 bits) on 96 iron atoms, rather than the half-billion or so a typical hard drive requires.
It does require the help of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) – a device in use in experimental physics labs for several decades but whose presence is still one of the best ways to identify a lab with a lot of grant money for research and one that hopes to get by with good math skills and plenty of pencils and paper.
It's hard to imagine a manufacturing process in which workers use electron microscopes to line up individual atoms to build components as they roll down the production line, not to mention a hard drive that needs one to read a piece of stored email.
But until you heard about nanopatterning data bits in clumps on a salted hard drive, using a laser to heat the hard drive just as a magnet imprinted a bit of data on it sounded pretty high-tech too, didn't it?
Given the length of time involved (years), I wouldn't bet too heavily that HAMR is going to be the single technology that's going to shatter the one-trillion-bits-per-inch barrier on hard drives you can pick up in Best Buy, or even in high-end servers and storage area network hardware.
When a technology is just on the edge of becoming the next big thing for long enough, something cheaper, faster and better usually cuts into line and steals all the accolades.
HAMR has all the hallmarks of one of the second-place finishers in that particular race; it was invented in the fifties, has been on the cusp of commercial practicality for a decade, just broke a major milestone of its own, but faces at least two more-advanced competitors, at least one of which is likely to be practical within the same window of time Seagate is planning for the advent of the HAMR era.
Storage isn't usually that exciting a topic, but breaking the terabit-per-inch barrier is a legitimate breakthrough.
I just doubt it's going to make much difference to either Seagate or hard-drive buyers anytime at all, not just any time this decade, as Segate hoped.


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Walking Wounded
"Walking Wounded" - Monday 5 August 2013
In 2011, photographer Giles Duley was embedded with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan. His task was to document the war and the suffering of the people there.
Instead he became a victim of the conflict when he stepped on an improvised explosive device (IED). He lost both his legs and part of his left arm. His recovery involved more than thirty operations and a year of rehabilitation, as he learned to walk and look after himself.
Then to the amazement of those closest to him, Giles Duley decided to return to Afghanistan to finish the job he had originally gone to do: to tell the story of the people whose lives had been devastated by a decade of war.
In this extraordinary documentary from Minnow Films we see the story of Giles Duley from the moment he was hit by the IED. Through helmet-cam we see his rescue, his arrival in hospital and we meet the men in the Medevac team who saved his life.
But more than this we meet the people in the rehabilitation units of hospitals in Afghanistan who, unlike Giles, have not received million dollar care, who live with basic plastic legs and arms to replace the ones they have lost. We also witness the potential impact this type of injury can have on families that are left destitute because the breadwinner can no longer work.
Ultimately the story asks: if the perceived benefit of the war in Afghanistan justifies the human suffering it has delivered?
"Walking Wounded" produced by Minnow Films and presented by Kerry O'Brien goes to air on Monday 5th August at 8.30 pm on ABC1. It is replayed on Tuesday 6th August at 11.35 pm. It can also be seen on ABC News 24 on Saturday at 8.00 pm and at ABC iview.
WALKING WOUNDED - Monday 5 August 2013
KERRY O'BRIEN, PRESENTER: Photographer Giles Duley might just be the ultimate survivor. Working on the front line, he stepped on an IED and lost two legs and an arm, and lived.
JEN ROBERTSON, GILES' GIRLFRIEND: They kept saying, "He's not gonna want to live, he's not gonna want to live, he won't want to survive this."
KERRY O'BRIEN: Now he's going back to finish the job he began, documenting the punishing impact of war on the Afghan people.
GILES DULEY: To think it's just you know, walking to school, and in a moment you've suddenly got a lifetime of living like that.
KERRY O'BRIEN: Courage with a capital C. Welcome to Four Corners. I've rarely seen a more powerful, more heart wrenching story than the one we show tonight. It's a story on several levels of one man's immense personal courage and will to live, weigh against the odds. Of the remarkable love that helped him along the way of the now senseless war that has taken an even greater toll on thousands of innocent civilians. And finally, of his determination to tell their story.
His name is Giles Duley. He's an English photographer whose passion for his work took him to the front lines of Afghanistan embedded with an American army unit. His luck ran out on February 7, 2011 when he stepped on an improvised land mine laid by the Taliban and lost both legs and an arm. Duley's strength of purpose and stubborn will not only saw him survive 30 operations and 18 months of intense therapy with the hope of a meaningful life ahead. But also drove him back to the war zones of Afghanistan with added purpose. He's now determined to highlight, in a very personal and potent way through the lens of his camera, the plight of innocent Afghans who've suffered a similar fate - but will never have access to the kind of medical or social support he was given. This gripping moral tale was documented by Minnow films.
(Program plays: "Walking Wounded", featuring Giles Duley and produced by Minnow Films)
KERRY O'BRIEN: A story that goes to the heart of humanity, and the legacy of its dark side. And some more sobering news from Afghanistan, a UN report released just last week recorded a 23 per cent increase in civilian casualties over the past year, and the most affected, women and children.
Next on Four Corners Matthew Carney takes us to South Africa to explore Nelson Mandela's legacy, and find a country struggling to meet his grand vision of freedom and equality. Until then, goodnight.
Background Information
Mid-Year Report on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict in Afghanistan | UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) | 31 Jul 2013 -Afghanistan saw a 23 per cent rise in the number of civilian casualties over the first six months of 2013 compared to last year, with the majority caused by the increased use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), according to UNAMA's 'Mid-Year Report'. Read the report.
Afghan civilian casualty numbers jump by quarter in first half of 2013 | The Guardian | 31 Jul 2013 - UN records 1,319 killed and 2,533 injured, with landmines and battles between Afghan forces and insurgents mainly to blame.
NATO vows better cleanup of unexploded munitions as it closes Afghan bases | McClatchy | 31 July 2013 - The US-led military coalition in Afghanistan has agreed to do a better job of cleaning up deadly unexploded munitions from its bases and firing ranges as it closes them down after the UN accused the coalition of leaving dangerous explosives behind, a coalition spokesman wrote Wednesday in an emailed statement.
PHOTOS: Afghanistan's Children of War | The Atlantic | 1 Aug 2013 - Afghanistan is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a child. The Children of War photo essay shows Afghan children growing up in a country torn by warfare for decades, doing their best to live normal lives. The photos are part of the ongoing series on Afghanistan.
In the line of fire: Afghanistan's IED experts | The Telegraph UK | 17 Feb 2012 - The Army's bomb disposal operatives risk their lives daily to make their comrades safe from improvised explosive devices.
Meet Gino Strada, unsung hero to the poorest victims of war | The Observer UK | 14 Jul 2013 - The surgeon has carried out 30,000 operations in conflict zones such as Sudan, Cambodia and Afghanistan, mostly on desperate people caught in the crossfire of war. No wonder he has some forthright views on war, healthcare - and why President Obama oversees a killing machine.
Civilians live and work among landmines | RAWA | 28 Jan 2013 - At least 45 people lose their limbs every month to deadly anti-personnel mines, which have been banned by 161 countries. Afghanistan should have been free of landmines by the end of 2013. In December last year it was among four countries that requested extensions on their mine clearance deadlines. The country has been granted until 2023 to clear all mined areas.
The Amazing Afghan Toy That Blows Up Old Land Mines | The Atlantic | 10 Dec 2012 - A look at the ingeniously simple wind-driven mine-clearing device and its Dutch-Afghan inventor.
VIDEO: Alberto Cairo "There are no scraps of men" | TED.com | Dec 2011 - Alberto Cairo's clinics in Afghanistan used to close down during active fighting. Now, they stay open. In this powerful TED talk, Cairo tells the moving story of why - and how he found humanity and dignity in the midst of war.
Afghanistan: mine victims want jobs, not pity - Najmuddin's story | ICRC | 26 Nov 2009 - Born in 1966 in Panjshir, Afghanistan, Najmuddin was educated in Panjshir and Kabul. At 18, he lost his legs to a landmine. For the following five years he struggled to find a job, without success, leaving him confined to his home. In 1988, he obtained artificial legs - and a job - from the rehabilitation centre of the ICRC in Kabul. He trained as a physiotherapist and in 1995 became director of the rehabilitation centre. Together with the ICRC, he is promoting the social reintegration of the people with disabilities in Afghanistan.
A Foreign Face Beloved by Afghans of All Stripes | New York Times | 24 Dec 2008 - Alberto Cairo has run the Red Cross orthopedic rehabilitation program in Kabul since 1990. Read this profile.
INTERACTIVE: Guided tour of the orthopaedic centre in Kabul | ICRC - The ICRC has been providing artificial limbs and physical rehabilitation for people disabled by war in Afghanistan since 1988. Our physical rehabilitation work has enabled thousands of people to regain their mobility and reintegrate into their communities. Use this interactive to look at the Kabul centre, the largest of seven that the ICRC operates in Afghanistan.
AUDIO: Photographer turns personal tragedy into opportunity | ABC AM | 3 Aug 2013 - British freelance photographer Giles Duley, who suffered horrific injuries while working in Afghanistan, is on a mission to educate the western world about the consequences of war in that country. Despite losing both his legs and an arm after stepping on a homemade bomb in Afghanistan, he returned to the war ravaged country so he could tell the stories of those whose lives had been devastated by the conflict.
Walking Wounded: Photographer Giles Duley returns to Afghanistan's frontline | The Independent UK | 22 Feb 2013 - Two years after stepping on a Taliban landmine Duley has returned to Afghanistan to uncover the plight of civilian amputees like himself and to take a series of stunning photographs. Look at the gallery of images as seen in the report.
Giles Duley: My siblings saved me after I stepped on a landmine | The Guardian | 16 Feb 2013 - When photographer Giles Duley lost both legs and his left arm covering the war in Afghanistan, it was the love and support of his brother and sister that saw him through.
Giles Duley: 'I lost three limbs in Afghanistan, but had to go back' | The Observer UK | 10 Feb 2013 - Photographer Giles Duley was nearly killed after stepping on a landmine in Afghanistan. Back home, fighting for his life in hospital, he made himself a promise: to return to Kabul to complete his mission of documenting the savage toll that war takes on civilians. This is his story.
ABC News Online Special Coverage on the conflict in Afghanistan - www.abc.net.au/news/specials/afghanistan/
EMERGENCY | @emergency_ong - An Italian NGO founded in 1994 in order to provide assistance to the civilian victims of war. The NGO was founded by Italian surgeon Gino Strada. Read more about Emergency and how to donate. www.emergency.it/history.html
International Committee of the Red Cross: Afghanistan | @ICRC - The ICRC protects detainees and helps them maintain contact with their families; monitors the conduct of hostilities and acts to prevent International Human Law violations; assists the wounded and disabled; supports hospital care; improves water and sanitation services; promotes IHL; and supports the Afghan Red Crescent. www.icrc.org/.../afghanistan/
International Campaign to Ban Landmines - Global network working for a ban on landmines and cluster munitions. www.icbl.org/
UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan | @_UNAMA_ unama.unmissions.org/
'A Careful War': Special Edition on Afghanistan | May 2010 - Watch Chris Masters' two-part report on the conflict in Afghanistan. Flash Video Presentation.
Blood and Honour | Apr 2012 - Can the war in Afghanistan be won and is Australia's involvement worth the price that's being paid? Geoff Thompson reports.
First posted