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Cloud Atlas
The Wachowskis have never been short on ambition; they've been blowing minds (or trying to) ever since The Matrix put them on the map. Now they're back with Cloud Atlas, and critics are divided -- some say it's an awe-inspiring work of visual and emotional daring, while others say it's muddled, pretentious, and overlong. It's a series of interconnected vignettes that follows a variety of characters (played by, among others, Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, and Jim Broadbent) across centuries, as seemingly small actions and events have monumental repercussions. The pundits agree that Cloud Atlas is a singular film, but while some are thrilled by its monumental scope and big ideas, others say it's too undisciplined and disjointed to realize its outsized aims.
As a biologist intrigued by Buddhism, and who is exploring the parallels and convergences between this modern and largely Western science and that ancient and largely Eastern "wisdom tradition," I find myself increasingly convinced that Kipling was wrong: The twain have met, and for the most part, they get along swimmingly.
Nonetheless, I and many other Buddhist sympathizers part company with traditional Buddhist beliefs when it comes to the doctrine of reincarnation. As we shall see, there is a very limited respect in which reincarnation can in fact be interpreted as consistent with modern biological science, but definitely not in the conventional sense of Buddhism or Hinduism; that is, in which individuals (as opposed to their constituent molecules) are somehow reconstituted, complete with their characteristic personalities, either dragging along or buoyed by their prior actions—i.e., their "karma." For those of us interested in reconciling Buddhism with science in general and biology in particular, reincarnation remains a troublesome outlier.
Nonetheless, a kind of bottom-line, bare-bones reincarnation does take place in the literal recycling of atoms and molecules, fundamental to the biological (and Buddhist) acknowledgment that "individuals" do not have intrinsic existence, separated and distinct from the rest of the world. But this is a far cry from the more traditional understanding of reincarnation, East and West, whereby not just atoms and molecules but some—typically unspecified—aspect of an individual is reborn into a different body, yet mystically still constituting an ineffable, nonmaterial component derived from his or her prior life (rather, lives): a soul.
It is unthinkable for traditional Buddhists, and indeed for most followers of the Abrahamic Big Three, to deny the existence of souls. But it is equally unthinkable, I assert, for any scientist to accept the existence of something that is immaterial, eternal, immeasurable, and also complexly and indelibly associated with each of us, distinct from one another. When I die, my carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and so forth will be recycled into other creatures, other components of this planet and the universe (and ditto for you) … But I cannot accept the fairy tale that I, like some sparkly Tinkerbell, will in any meaningful holistic sense be reborn, reincarnated, inserted, or in any way incorporated into a new, temporary body, and not only that, but that the outcome—the precise kind of body "I" will next inhabit—is a direct (karmic) consequence of how well or poorly I have lived my life.
"Souls cross ages like clouds cross skies," we are told by a futuristic, grammar-challenged shaman in Mitchell's bold, time-bending-book, "an' tho' a cloud's shape nor hue nor size don't stay the same, it's still a cloud an' so is a soul." I don't believe this for a moment, and I bet that deep in your heart (notice, I didn't write "your soul"!), I bet you don't either. Nor should you. We all know that many "things" that are immaterial nonetheless exist: love, beauty, hate, suffering, fear, hope, etc. But the existence of a soul—mine, yours, that of the Buddha or Charles Darwin—is an extraordinary and altogether different assertion. As Carl Sagan emphasized, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and such evidence is wholly lacking.
"The" Buddhist attitude toward reincarnation is diverse and—I must add, at the risk of seeming unkind—muddled. Buddhism typically maintains an account of the soul's rebirth that differs from the prevailing Hindu view, which posits a pervasive, worldwide, irreversible, and permanent atman. By contrast, the Buddhist perspective involves anatman, the explicit absence of any concrete "self." Add to this the fact that according to Buddhist thinking, anitya (impermanence) is also universal, and the notion of a distinct and unchanging self that is transmitted from a dead or dying body into a new one is simply not tenable. Instead, the Buddha described a process analogous to a sequence in which successive candles are lit by the flame of a preceding one; as a result, the flames are causally linked, forming a continuing stream, but they are not identical.
Nonetheless, many Buddhists claim, for example, that especially enlightened practitioners can remember their "past lives," and they quote various Buddhist texts (sutras) to buttress their position. But as far as I'm concerned, sutra-slinging warrants no more intellectual or scientific respect than does bible-beating.
On the other hand, I am rather partial to the notion that we "birth our future" by what we do, just as from a strictly evolutionary perspective, our present—the genetic makeup that (albeit temporarily) helps give rise to our "selves"—was birthed by what our ancestors did or didn't do. Call it a kind of reincarnation if you must. I prefer to celebrate it as natural selection.
No one swims outside the gene pool. What each of us identifies as "our self" is only a temporary collection of genes drawn from a much vaster, shared genome, destined to dissolve back into that gargantuan, universal melting pot, and whose physical substance is shared with all matter, nonliving as well as living. Think of an eddy in a stream, not really existing independently, all by itself, but rather a temporary arrangement of "passing-through stuff," given a name for the time being, and sometimes called "bison" or "oak tree"—or "person." This is not news to the modern biologist, nor to the practicing Buddhist, two seemingly distinct perspectives that originate very differently yet coalesce remarkably in outlook and insight.
Just don't confuse myth-making and poetry, à la Cloud Atlas, with scientific fact.
David Barash is a professor of psychology at the University of Washington. His most recent book is Homo Mysterious: Evolutionary Puzzles of Human Nature (Oxford University Press, 2012).
gavesako wrote:Someone who saw the film wrote about it:
the movie is typical in that it teaches us that there is suffering, which is blatantly obvious from start to finish, but neglects the cause, the end, and the path. good guys kill bad guys and love conquers all.
it teaches us about kamma, and rebirth, but not how to break the cycle. in fact, it does the opposite. all the characters fall in love and can't wait to be reunited after death.
i do like that it showed humans being born on both earth and in other galaxies over time, that the kilesas will be cause for our destruction, and that we can become better people. i was even reminded of the Aganna Sutta, which i believe was referenced a lot.
the Mara character had a great role and so did the character overcoming him. i also enjoyed seeing the skills, and realizations, each character develops in each life continue on into future rebirths
The common theme that binds these stories together soars above and beyond the comet-shaped birthmark. It's a story about power, domination, and the ultimate quest to rule. The stories stress on the selfishness of people, and how ultimately, this will lead to the inevitable apocalypse.
Yes, the devil shall take the hindmost until the foremost is the hindmost. In an individual, selfishness uglifies the soul; for the human species, selfishness is extinction.
I couldn't get to sleep afterwards, worrying about the possible endings of the stories that had been started. Maybe that's why I'm a ghostwriter. The endings have nothing to do with me.
You know the real drag about being a ghostwriter? You never get to write anything that beautiful. And even if you did, nobody would ever believe it was you.
We're all ghostwriters, my friend. And it's not just our memories. Our actions too. We all think we're in control of our lives, but they're really pre-ghostwritten by forces around us.
The above quotes illustrate another prominent aspect of the book: the role of fate, of chance, of the chain-reaction. The sheer randomness of the stories, and the way the characters inter-connect is pivotal to the novel, and keeps the reader completely engrossed. Of course, the other side is, by the time the reader actually starts relating to the narrator or nodding in agreement with their sentiments, a new narrator is introduced and the old narrator a thing of the past.
Ghostwritten: a Buddhist Novel?
David Mitchell's Ghostwritten is a novel for the interconnected, globalised times in which we are buffeted among billions; it offers not so much an answer as a neural network of thought, not so much an argument as ideas whirring like minds, and interacting like electrons. Was it the first Dharma novel of the millennium? Why do things happen? That's the big subject for novels.
Having lost the belief that we can ever really know the causes of an event, we have also lost faith in omniscient narrators. They peered down on the lives of their creations like spy satellites fixing their lenses, or they pried into their consciousness like a migrating spirit (both cues that Mitchell picks up). Contemporary novels tend to follow or be narrated by a character who participates in the story, who cannot know the context in which they were living (just as we can't know the contexts of our lives). They cannot know their true motivations, nor the consequences of their actions that ripple out beyond their view.
Beneath character and plot lie the mysteries of subjective experience and causality. This is where Buddhism comes in. Or at least it could and should, because these are its abiding concerns. A Dharma novelist worthy of the name will know that things arise in dependence upon conditions: some of the conditions we know, some are mysterious – and both kinds are important.
Think of the universe of human consciousness as it exists right now: seven billion minds whirring away, trying to make sense, trying to cope: loving, fearing, desiring. Why are they the way they are? Let's say it's conditions (knowable, and mysterious). But you cannot separate the conditions that impinge on someone from the way those conditions are experienced. So imagine you could download into a consciousness, like a computer file downloading from the internet (and Mitchell plays with this, too) into any one of those six billion. You could know how it felt to be Chinese or Russian, you could switch sex, experience growing old or dying, and then switch out again. But could you both inhabit that subjectivity and at the same time step back to see the causes and the effects?
That is what David Mitchell attempts in Ghostwritten, and he is a candidate to be the first real Dharma novelist in the modern world. The book comprises 10 linked monologues, each character occupying a radically different set of values, drives and pre-occupations. It starts with a Japanese fanatic who has set off a subway sarin gas attack. Then come a Japanese teenager falling in love, a financial lawyer in Hong Kong whose shady dealings are catching up with him, a Chinese peasant, a St Petersburg criminal, a London musician and ghostwriter, a quantum physicist on the cusp of a breakthrough, a New York late-night chat show host. And there are two disembodied consciousnesses whose identities I shall not divulge.
Ghostwritten also shows a world shot through with Buddhism, from the millennial distortions of Aum Shinrikyu, to the giant Buddha in Hong Kong, a long-suffering Chinese devotee, a Gelugpa performing consciousness transference, a 'sort-of-Buddhist Londoner', and a computer called Arupadhatu (which is the sphere of no form, because we might as well say that is where a computer consciousness would exist).
Each has a wonderful story to tell, and Mitchell has a generous imagination. He could have devoted a novel to any of these characters, and a lesser writer would have hoarded the ideas that pour out of each page of Ghostwritten. ...
Establishing each voice is important because it articulates a worldview. Mitchell writes others' lives like a ghostwriter. But, as one of the characters suggests, our lives are themselves a form of ghostwriting, scripted by forces beyond us, even though we claim to be their authors.
This was Mitchell's first novel, and it reminded me of other first novels like Catch 22 or A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.It creates a form tthat is able to express a new kind of consciousness, and a new experience of the world. This is a novel for the interconnected, globalised times in which we are buffeted among billions; it offers not so much an answer as a neural network of thought, not so much an argument as ideas whirring like minds, and interacting like electrons.
Viscid wrote:I don't really think it's important for people to romanticize these ideas any further than they already do. Also, movies like this do not make people take the idea of reincarnation/rebirth any more seriously-- they will just be more likely to associate it with fantasy fiction.
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American Indians in Children's Literature is a blog created by native blogger Debbie Reese. Her aim is to educate others about the culture and perspective of indigenous peoples especially pertaining to children's literature.
First Book's Post Pick: Top Ten Books Recommended for Elementary School
Developing Young Readers is a great resource for tips and activities pertaining to reading and literacy. It provides tools for parents and educators that are specifically designed to foster good reading habits at any age.
First Book's Post Pick: Pre-literacy and Puzzles
Bookjoy is written by author Pat Mora who believes strongly in the power of creativity to enrich people's daily lives. Her blog is a helpful source of inspiration and support for literacy initiatives.
First Book's Post Pick: Children as Creators
Reading Really Rocks is written by an especially enthusiastic teacher aiming to spread a love for literacy. This blog contains useful grammar resources as well as children's book recommendations.
First Book's Post Pick: Favorite First Grade Read Alouds!

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|Mayor Fenty at the Capitol Bikeshare kickoff. Credit: DDOT via Washcycle.
|1,100 bikes. Credit: Capital Bikeshare
The bikes themselves are 3-speeds with a front basket, internal gear hubs, fenders, chainguards, and headlights and taillights that run whenever you are riding. Because of the step-through design, the bikes fit just about anyone with a little seat adjustment (they have quick release seat posts).
|A Bike For The Rest Of Us. Credit: Capital Bikeshare
So, in D.C. and Arlington, you no longer need to own a bike to get around by bike (not that there's anything wrong with owning bikes). This comes at a time when D.C. has more and better bike facilities than ever before, including several area bike co-ops, bicycle-specific traffic signals and more bike lanes - even on America's Main Street - Pennsylvania Avenue. There are also many opportunities for multi-modal transportation.
|Regional buses can carry up to 2 bikes on the front. Bikes can go on Metro before or after rush hour on weekdays and anytime on weekends. Credit: WMATA
|Chatting about bike sharing in front of Zipcar, the car sharing company. Bike sharing and car sharing go together like peanut butter and jelly. Credit: twitter


text: Clay holds off Sissonville in girls sectional By Tommy R. Atkinson February 20, 2013 Story Share Kenny Kemp Sissonville's Madison Jones (15) has her shot blocked by Clay's McKinzee Barker (23) as Alley Summer (10) helps out. POCA, W.Va. - Clay County's players have leaned on one another all year long and that togetherness carried the Panthers a long way in their postseason opener Wednesday evening.The Panthers nearly let their season unravel after squandering a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter before hanging on for a 53-44 victory over Sissonville in the semifinals of the Class AA Region 4 Section 1 tournament. A crowd of about 400 attended at Poca High School.The Panthers (17-5), No. 5 in this week's final Associated Press poll, will play in the section championship game at 7 p.m. Friday against No. 3 Nicholas County, which defeated Poca 60-33 later Wednesday. Friday's winner will host next week's regional game while the loser will play on the road with a state tournament berth on the line in both games.Not a whole bunch went right for Clay in the fourth quarter Wednesday. The Panthers saw their 15-point cushion dwindle to five, junior leading scorer Brittany Gould scored a basket for Sissonville, Clay committed eight of its 13 turnovers and missed nine free throws."There was a lot of team effort,'' said Clay coach Mary Ramsey, who guided the Panthers to a semifinals appearance at last year's state tournament. "All 12 of them have practiced hard every day for this. They've stayed together as a team. Even if they weren't in the game everybody was up cheering for everybody.'' "That's what we do,'' added Panthers sophomore point guard McKinzee Barker, who picked up her effort with 15 points, 15 rebounds, four steals and three blocks. "When one of us is down we pat them on the back and tell them to put it behind them and that they have to worry about the rest of the game.''Barker's driving layup five seconds into the final period put Clay up 43-28 and on cruise control. The Indians (16-7) answered with an 8-0 run, which included Gould's layup for Sissonville, to close with seven points (43-36) with 4:52 left in the game.Sissonville came within 46-41 on freshman guard Karli Pinkerton's pair of foul shots with 1:44 left. The Indians, though, couldn't take advantage of the opening the Panthers provided as poor shooting plagued them all evening. Clay sank just enough free throws (4 of 10) to build its edge back to nine points (50-41) with 51.9 seconds to go. And Gould redeemed herself with a layup with 31.4 seconds left to keep Clay's lead at nine.Pinkerton and the Indians' other freshman guard, Madison Jones, the team's top two scorers, combined to shoot 7 of 34 from the floor and 1 of 14 on 3s. Clay and Sissonville split during the regular season, with each winning on their home court. "We knew if our guards didn't step up and play good defense then they would burn us up,'' Barker said. "We won the game by boxing out and getting rebounds. That's how they beat us last time; they outrebounded us.''Gould, who leads the team with 21.7 points per game, made just 5 of 17 shots for 14 points and added five boards. Panthers sophomore post Bethany Young contributed eight points and 10 caroms while freshman forward Emily Wynn added eight points.Sissonville never found its shooting touch Wednesday, finishing at 25 percent (14 of 56), including a 5-of-31 effort in the second half. The Indians made only 1 of 15 shots from long range."How many of them were point blank?'' asked Sissonville coach Rich Skeen. "That's what the coaches talked about the last few days, how are we going to handle the situation. [Clay] was more physical than us. Just all those things combined. Our girls never quit, just couldn't get a break here or there.''Pinkerton finished with 15 points, eight boards and four assists for Sissonville and Jones had 11 points. Indians freshman post Brooke Reed contributed six points, 12 rebounds and two blocks.The Indians are still full of potential with Jones, Pinkerton and Reed returning along with sophomore starter Taylor Rhodes. Also, junior Mariah Youngblood, who tallied six points Wednesday, is the top substitute off the bench. "The future is bright, but we've got to work'' Skeen said. "We've got to get stronger and we've got to get better.''Reach Tommy R. Atkinson at email@example.com or 304-348-4811. Story Share Story Share Trending Now 1 New leaders begin to emerge for Marshall football 2 Derek Redd: Marshall thinks outside the cable box for broadcasts 3 Philanthropist Betty Schoenbaum of Shoney's fortune turns 100 4 DHHR report: No neglect, criminal charges in death of ResCare client 5 Deer in 8 WV counties found dead from EHD AAA wrestling championship there for the taking Previous Story Herd's road losing streak comes to an end Next Story


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Observational Study of the Preventive Trial With HIV-1 Tat Protein (ISS OBS P-001)
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- How to Read a Study Record
The results of the Phase I Safety and Immunogenicity Trial of Recombinant HIV-1 Tat (ISS P-001 and ISS T-001) indicate that the vaccine based on the recombinant Tat protein is safe, well tolerated and immunogenic. The present study is intended to extend the follow-up of the volunteers for additional 3 years to evaluate the persistence of the anti-Tat humoral and cellular immune response. The results of the present study will be key for the design of future phase II trials, particularly for the definition of the optimal schedule for boosting immunizations.
All individuals (20) will be enrolled in a 120-weeks observational study and monitored every 24 weeks for the following 3 years. During these visits, in addition to the hematological and biochemical assessment, the anti-Tat specific humoral and cellular immune responses will be evaluated.
|Healthy Subjects
|Study Type:
|Study Design:
|Time Perspective: Prospective
|Official Title:
|Observational Study of the Phase I Safety and Immunogenicity Trial of Recombinant HIV-1 Tat in HIV-1 Uninfected Adult Volunteers
- To evaluate the persistence of specific immune responses, volunteers will be monitored for anti-Tat specific antibodies, anti-Tat proliferative response and in vitro γIFN and IL-4 production in response to Tat (Elispot).
- To develop test procedures in order to evaluate humoral and cellular anti-Tat immunity for future efficacy trials.
Biospecimen Retention: Samples Without DNA
|Study Start Date:
|November 2007
|Study Completion Date:
|December 2010
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|18 Years to 50 Years (Adult)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
|Sampling Method:
|Non-Probability Sample
Inclusion Criteria:
- Previous participation to the Phase I Clinical Trial ISS P-001
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01024764
|San Raffaele Hospital
|Milan, Italy
|I.R.C.C.S. Spallanzani Hospital
|Rome, Italy, 00100
|Istituto Dermatologico S. Gallicano-IRCCS
|Rome, Italy
|Principal Investigator:
|Pasquale Narciso, MD
|I.R.C.C.S. Spallanzani Hospital, Rome
|Principal Investigator:
|Aldo Di Carlo, MD
|S. Gallicano Hospital- Rome
|Principal Investigator:
|Adriano Lazzarin, MD
|San Raffaele Hospital - Milan
Additional Information:
|Responsible Party:
|Barbara Ensoli, CNAIDS - Istituto Superiore di Sanita
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|NCT01024764 History of Changes
|Other Study ID Numbers:
|Study First Received:
|December 2, 2009
|Last Updated:
|February 28, 2011
Keywords provided by Istituto Superiore di Sanità:
Tat protein
Preventive vaccine
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on September 21, 2017


text: An invasion of aliens are coming to the Dodge booth of the Chicago Auto Show this weekend! February 15, 2013 11:30 AM Cast members in full costume from the upcoming Syfy show "Defiance" are coming to the Dodge display to find their ride. The official vehicle of this futuristic, post-alien invasion world is the Defiance Dodge Charger (see attached). The cast of aliens will be greeting auto show goers from noon- 5:00 PM both Saturday and Sunday. Here are the details… WHAT: Aliens visit their ride… the "Defiance" Dodge Charger at the Chicago Auto Show WHEN: Saturday, February 16 (Noon – 5:00 PM) Sunday, February 17 (Noon – 5:00 PM) WHERE: Chicago Auto Show - Chrysler Group Display in the South Hall of McCormick Place (Near the exit to Camp Jeep and the Street Courses) Back to News


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I honestly don't give a crap any more. I've been out of high school for 10+ years. Time to move on...
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I honestly don't give a crap any more. I've been out of high school for 10+ years. Time to move on...
For one thing coaching matters so that can help to equalize some things to a degree.
For another.... It matters if tax money gets involved instead of the sport being more self sustaining.... or providing a profit.
Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.
"A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, thats teamwork."
-John Wooden
It wasn't about being the team everyone loved, it was about beating the teams everyone else loved.
Division Champions 1955, 1956, 1988, 1989, 1990, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
Conference Champions 1955, 1956, 1988, 2005
NBA Champions 1989, 1990, 2004
I disagree with the notion that single class means the small schools cannot win anything of significance.
With single class, the sectionals were heated, local rivalries. If a small school pulled off an upset, or in fact won their sectional, they were local sports heroes for life, to a greater extent than they would be today when advancing much further but "in their class"
The poster "pacertom" since this forum began (and before!). I changed my name here to "Slick Pinkham" in honor of the imaginary player That Bobby "Slick" Leonard picked late in the 1971 ABA draft (true story!).
Yeah, that's how it was in New Castle, too. As a kid it was instilled in me that sections were a big deal.
As much as I wish it were legit and they really would do what the people want, I still think it's a big tug job and they're going to do whatever they want to do. I'm afraid it's too late to go back to single class, so I'm thinking some type of hybrid system.
"But, first, let us now praise famous moments, because something happened Tuesday night in Indianapolis that you can watch a lifetimes worth of professional basketball and never see again. There was a brief, and very decisive, and altogether unprecedented, outburst of genuine officiating, and it was directed at the best player in the world, and that, my dear young person, simply is not done."
Its not just you. I vividly remember the last single class championship where the entire state thought that Delta was a "small school."
I graduated with 47 (including me). I consider that a small school.
I like how people that aren't from small schools know how the communities that do make up small school corps feel.
I graduated with a class of 76. I won back-to-back sectionals in 03 and 04. Our community rallied behind us fully. When you have two towns with 2000 people each, and maybe another 1000-1500 spread out in the country, and 2500-3000 travel two hours away to your regional games, I don't think you could ask for much more support.
And that's what we took to Tipton in 2003 and to Frankfort in 2004.
In 2009 we went to semi-state and brought a little more to Huntington North. When you're actually in the community, and see almost literally everyone you know, it changes your perspective a bit.
I've said this multiple times in the multiple threads we've discussed this. You guys really should go out to 1A and 2A games during sectionals and regionals and see the excitement first hand.
Last edited by Since86; 04-09-2012 at 02:52 PM.
EDIT: When I was playing they were a large 3A.
EDIT2: Sorry, that was a total school size estimate. They have 1176 total, so just shy of 300 per class.
Last edited by Since86; 04-09-2012 at 02:58 PM.
In any case, I can tell you that despite the raw numbers, New Castle doesn't exactly feel big to anyone who grew up here. It really doesn't. Anyone from here would tell you it feels like a small place, even if there are tiny places that 'look up' to us.
Regarding my previous post, my point was never to say that I thought of New Castle as a "small school", just that as a kid, during the era of the old system, winning a sectional was thought of as a big deal. I don't think many give a **** anymore (at least in comparison to how it was thought of back then). That was my only point.
Personally, I don't really care anymore. Certainly not much.
It was absolutely fun to watch them win the 3A title in 2006, but I'm not going to lie and say I watched a lot of games before or since, either. And hell, even that night when I came on to celebrate on PD, I had someone from the 4A winners school crow about being the REAL champion, which put a bit of a wet blanket on my mood even then.
To me it isn't really about the Finals, it's about the Sectionals.
I remember the Sectionals were all about beating the teams from the next town over, rivalries that were made stronger by the fact you played the teams in the regular season as well as the Sectionals. There were local bragging rights and, since all the teams were local, the house was packed and rocking.
Now a lot of schools have to travel quite a way to get enough other schools their size for a Sectional, and it isn't practical to play those schools in the regular season. Sectionals are still pretty full, but the distant teams' crowds are pretty overwhelmed by the crowd for whatever school is hosting.
County tournaments have kind of taken the place of the Sectionals for local excitement, but since those are at the beginning of the season the games aren't as good as they were when all the teams were in rhythm and had the book on one another.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Or throw in a first-round pick and flip it for a max-level point guard...
Here's something else... If you've got a good team it's pretty much expected you'll go fairly deep in the tourney because the classes have actually watered down the competition. That's true in all classes but especially the smaller classes. Is that really accomplishing anything?
As said above, the sectionals used to mean something.
Lost in all this discussion is how the single class, winner-take-all tournament was a part of Hoosier culture. It was recognized nationally. The finals were televised on ESPN (tape delayed).
It was a source of pride for many... a symbol of the Hoosier state like the Arch is associated with St Louis.
And then one day the IHSAA decided they had a better idea. To many their reasoning sounded like "If one tournament is good just think what 3 or 4 tournaments with more parity between teams would look like!"
And lastly- While for years Milan was the symbol that any school could win, that eventually got turned on its ear and they became the symbol that it had been years since a small school had won and so it was now impossible in the modern era. That ignores the deep tourney runs many small schools made in the subsequent years following Milan's win. It ignores close losses some suffered in games that could've gone either way.
And importantly, it shifted the focus to being all about winning and forgot about character building and pride and knowing you took on the best and gave them all you had.... win or lose.
Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.
"A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, thats teamwork."
-John Wooden
The best solution would be to have a hybrid system for the sectionals, and bring all the schools back together for regionals, and leave semi-state and state alone.
For the record, I was for class sports when it began, and even though my alma mater won 2 state championships shortly after it was installed, I'd vote to go back to single class. It's a better tournament, and just more fun.


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On Saturday 14th November KATY MANNING and TERRANCE DICKS visited the GALAXY FOUR store courtesy of FANTOM PUBLISHING to launch Barry Letts' autobiography WHO AND ME. The pair signed hundreds of copies of the book over a three hour period. Thank you to everyone who attended.
MARY TAMM visited Galaxy Four on Saturday 26th September to sign copies of her new autobiography FIRST GENERATION produced by Fantom Publishing, copies of which are now available to order as a book or CD. Fans turned up from as far afield as Chesterfield, Leeds, Doncaster and Bradford to meet her. Mary was a very generous guest, taking time to chat to visitors and pose for photographs. We send our thanks to Mary for such an enjoyable morning.
Many thanks to Dexter O'Neill at Fantom Films.


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Hello to all! My name is Mathew, and in looking through some of the topics being discussed here I'm thrilled about looking through them more, and in having the ability to ask questions pertaining to modern day situations that I may not be able to find relevant answers to in texts. I have been practicing Buddhism for almost 4 years, with my initial interest mainly being in Tibetan Buddhism. What began to change my persuasion was being gifted a plane ticket out to California to spend ten days at Wat Metta. And, wow. I have since read and listened to so much of Thanissaro Bhikku's wisdom and it has changed my life more than any amount of mantras or visualizing deitys ever did. I must admit I do still hold a fascination for Tibetan traditions, and I attend a chanting class every so often. Anyways, I suppose they both have their value. I've just left a very intense 2 year relationship which kept me distracted and distraught, very often to the point of apathy, and now I hope to begin again my devotion to Dharma with a renewed zeal!
Anyone else on the East Coast?
With Metta,


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A WINCHESTER schoolgirl has won a gold medal at the National Diving Skills Final.
Evie Johnson, 11, was crowned South East Regional Skills diving champion, and travelled to Sheffield with 24 other divers from Southampton Diving Academy to compete in the nationals.
The St Swithun's Junior School pupil competed in the age 11 category against 41 divers from across the country, performing a total of 12 dives from poolside and one and three metre springboards.
The competition lasted over 90 minutes, and Evie, who also swims for Winchester City Penguins Club, scooped the gold medal.


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Tarrytown House Estate Blog
Tarrytown House Community Outreach
The Tarrytown House held its first Community Outreach with the Food Bank of Westchester. Many departments from our Hudson Valley hotel including sales, conference planning, accounting, human resources and catering sales were amongst the volunteers.
This is a great team building event! The Food Bank works with our clients to set up team building events and they are a lot of fun. The Food Bank is also looking at ways to bring the program to our venue through their "Backpack" program. This program sends food to school on Fridays to students so they have healthy meals throughout the weekend. Clients can donate or put their logo's on the backpacks so the children know who provided for them.
The Tarrytown House is looking to increase the volunteer time again in 2013 and highlight the Food Bank of Westchester as a preferred organization for Community Outreach. The Tarrytown House works very closely with the Food Bank and schedules several dates throughout the year.


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Well a Doctors opinion over the internet should not be taken as an actual medical assessment. Every doctor would agree.This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote
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Well a Doctors opinion over the internet should not be taken as an actual medical assessment. Every doctor would agree.
You can't get champagne from a garden hose.
I miss the days when Butler fans weren't annoying.
Jared Jefferies.
Still within a decade for one more year.
"I had to take her down like Chris Brown."
-Lance Stephenson
i don't get why so many people are against Hayward either. I had a thread asking if we should draft him last season, and i was quite suprised by the overall negative feedback. people actually thought and believed that Gordon wasn't a pro prospect. saying that Hayward was or is a bust is balderdash. now after this season, where Gordon has recently somewhat proved himself, people around here are still bashing him. he is a good young prospect as well as Paul George. they both have equal ceilings in the NBA, and should have good productive careers.
Doesn't offend me. I just find the "You're just too young" or the "You're just too old" line in all of its variations to be a sign of not having much else to say so you revert to the lowest common denominator.
Not all all, it was a direct response to your whining about the existence of a Gordon Hayward thread. The young people comment was in reference to your maturity of having to attack the very existence of the thread as if its being shoved in your face. Like I said you don't have to read it.
You can't get champagne from a garden hose.


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We recently received a dozen spurtles we ordered from Tim Cebulla. He made them all of Oregon myrtle wood on his lathe, but each one is a little different from all the others.
What the heck is a spurtle? you may be wondering. It is a Scottish cooking implement used to stir oats (porridge) as they cook. We will be competing in the 16th Annual Golden Spurtle™ World Porridge Making Championship in Carrbridge, Scotland on October 11 as the first contender from the US. See www.goldenspurtle.com.
Tim designs and makes hand-turned wood items for his business, Wood I Kid You. In addition to spurtles, he makes writing instruments, kitchen items, desk accessories, vanity items, pendant watches, mirrors, weaving and knitting items, and custom items – he can even make a baseball bat, wine goblets, or a wizard's wand! He also makes non-turned items such as cribbage boards.
A retired USPS maintenance supervisor, Tim has been turning wood since 2002, after working in a woodcraft store and taking a lathe class.
Tim also makes accessories for his wife Judy and her sister's business, "Threads of Magique." They make fantasy dolls, felted wall hangings, and fabric art.
They both offer their products for sale on etsy.com and artfire.com. Tim also sells his artwork at the Rogue Valley Growers and Crafters Market, where he is a board member.
Tim uses salvaged wood whenever possible, and native Oregon woods, especially myrtle wood, but also madrone and Manzanita and exotic woods like zebrawood and cocobolo.
We will be using one of these spurtles to stir our steel cut oats in Scotland. Hopefully it will bring us luck in the contest!


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There are many radical theorists within the cinematic firmament, but Jean Isidore-Isou (born Ioan-Isidor Goldstein) is in a class by himself. Isou's film Traité de Bave et d'Èternité (Venom and Eternity) (1951) is truly a one of a kind project, which Isou created out of stock footage, numerous views of Isou himself walking throughout Paris looking like a disconsolate rebel, advertisements for his various book and pamphlets, and a soundtrack that resolutely has absolutely nothing to do with the film's images — the creation of what Isou calls in the film "le cinéma discrépant" — the separation of visuals from the soundtrack.
Much of the film takes the form of a supposed lecture that Isou interrupts with his theories, much to the derision of the rest of the audience, but we only hear this on the soundtrack; the images are a separate track altogether. Isou also raises the very interesting, and very real question of "what constitutes beauty" — why we deem some images "beautiful" and some not.
As he shouts on the film's soundtrack: "I believe firstly that the cinema is too rich. It is obese. It has reached its limits, its maximum. With the first movement of widening which it will outline, the cinema will burst! Under the blow of a congestion, this greased pig will tear into a thousand pieces. I announce the destruction of the cinema, the first apocalyptic sign of disjunction, of rupture, of this corpulent and bloated organization which calls itself film."
Towards the middle of the film, Isou ceases lecturing the viewer, and instead presents examples of the kinds of images he would like to use in film, such as scratched and bleached stock footage of upside-down dump trucks, along with a soundtrack of Lettrist poetry, which is composed for the pleasure of sheer sound alone. Indeed, Isou was the founder of the Lettrist school of poetry, whose later adherents included François Dufrène and Guy Debord, though they soon split off to form their own groups.
"I want to make a film that hurts your eyes" Isou rants on the soundtrack at one point, but it really doesn't do that at all; what is does accomplish is waking one from the reverie of scripted narrative, from preconceived notions of pictorial composition, and from the chains of synchronous imagery, in a film that is both audacious and impossible to repeat.
When Isou screened the film at the 1951 Cannes film festival, a riot broke out, and Jean Cocteau, who appears briefly in the film and who supported Isou's work as that of a genuine original, was asked to defend the work. He refused to take to the stage, but later commented in an article that "someday Isou's work may be the fashion," and saw to it that the film was awarded a special prize.
Once seen, never forgotten, Isou's film is a call for a complete revolution in the cinema, and although he goes over the top — to put it mildly — he raises some very real and interesting questions.
You can see a clip from the film here.


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A Trial Investigating the Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of rFVIIa in Patients With Haemophilia A or B With or Without Inhibitors
This study has been completed.
Novo Nordisk A/S
Information provided by (Responsible Party):
Novo Nordisk A/S
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
First received: September 13, 2013
Last updated: November 13, 2014
Last verified: November 2014
- Full Text View
- Tabular View
- No Study Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
This trial is conducted in Europe. The aim of the trial is to investigate the pharmacokinetics (the exposure of the trial drug in the body) and pharmacodynamics (the effect of the investigated drug on the body) of rFVIIa (activated coagulation factor VII) following one single injection of 270 microg/kg compared to three injections of 90 microg/kg rFVIIa in patients with haemophilia.
|Congenital Bleeding Disorder Haemophilia A Haemophilia A With Inhibitors Haemophilia B Haemophilia B With Inhibitors
|Drug: eptacog alfa (activated)
|Phase 1
|Study Type:
|Study Design:
|Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Crossover Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary Purpose: Treatment
|Official Title:
|An Open-label Single- and Multiple-dose Trial Investigating the Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of rFVIIa Following i.v. Administration of One Dose of 270 Microg/kg and Three Doses of 90 Microg/kg in Patients With Haemophilia A or B With or Without Inhibitors
Resource links provided by NLM:
Genetics Home Reference related topics: hemophilia
MedlinePlus related topics: Hemophilia
Drug Information available for: Recombinant FVIIaU.S. FDA Resources
Further study details as provided by Novo Nordisk A/S:
Primary Outcome Measures:
- Thromboelastography (TEG) parameter Maximum Thrombosis Generation (MTG;'maximum velocity') [ Time Frame: 10 minutes post-dose for 270 microg/kg and 10 minutes after the first injection of 90 microg/kg ]
Secondary Outcome Measures:
- TEG parameters r-time, MTG, alpha angle, and maximum amplitude (MA) [ Time Frame: Prior to and 24 hours following the administrtion of 270 microg/kg and each of the 3 administrations of 90 microg/kg ]
|Study Start Date:
|September 2013
|Study Completion Date:
|November 2013
|Primary Completion Date:
|November 2013 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
|Assigned Interventions
Active Comparator: 270 microg/kg rFVIIa
Each subject will receive one single injection of 270 microg/kg and three injections of 90 microg/kg rFVIIa (one injection every 3 hours) in a randomised order. The two administration days will be separated by a wash-out period of at least 48 hours
Drug: eptacog alfa (activated)
Subject will receive a single injection (i.v.) of 270 microg/kg rFVIIa (NovoSeven®)
Active Comparator: 3x90 microg/kg rFVIIa
Each subject will receive one single injection of 270 microg/kg and three injections of 90 microg/kg rFVIIa (one injection every 3 hours) in a randomised order. The two administration days will be separated by a wash-out period of at least 48 hours
Drug: eptacog alfa (activated)
Subject will receive 3 injections (i.v.) of 90 microg/kg rFVIIa (NovoSeven®) over a 6 hour period (each injection will be separated by 3 hours)
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|18 Years and older (Adult, Senior)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Inclusion Criteria:
- Informed consent obtained before any trial-related activities. Trial-related activities are any procedures that are carried out as part of the trial, including activities to determine suitability for the trial
- Male patients with confirmed diagnosis of severe congenital haemophilia A or B (higher than 1% FVIII or FIX) with or without inhibitors to coagulation factors VIII or IX, based on medical records
Exclusion Criteria:
- Congenital or acquired coagulation disorder other than congenital haemophilia A or B
- Any clinical signs or known history of arterial thrombotic events or previous deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism (as defined by available medical records)
- Use of any anticoagulant (e.g. un-fractionated or low molecular weight heparin, vitamin-K antagonists, direct thrombin inhibitors or factor Xa inhibitors)
- Bleeding prophylactic treatment or FVIII or FIX immune tolerance induction (ITI) treatment during the trial period
Contacts and Locations
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the Contacts provided below. For general information, see Learn About Clinical Studies.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01949792
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01949792
|Madrid, Spain, 28046
Sponsors and Collaborators
Novo Nordisk A/S
|Study Director:
|Global Clinical Registry (GCR, 1452)
|Novo Nordisk A/S
More Information
Additional Information:
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on September 21, 2017
Additional Information:
|Responsible Party:
|Novo Nordisk A/S
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|NCT01949792 History of Changes
|Other Study ID Numbers:
2013-000040-26 ( EudraCT Number )
U1111-1138-2521 ( Other Identifier: WHO )
|Study First Received:
|September 13, 2013
|Last Updated:
|November 13, 2014
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Hemophilia A
Hemophilia B
Blood Coagulation Disorders
Hemostatic Disorders
Blood Coagulation Disorders, Inherited
Hematologic Diseases
Coagulation Protein Disorders
Hemorrhagic Disorders
Genetic Diseases, Inborn
Genetic Diseases, X-Linked
Vascular Diseases
Cardiovascular Diseases
Factor VIII
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on September 21, 2017


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Just over a year after Richard Mel Wilkinson, 84, of Willits, was dragged to his death, his grandson, accused of committing the heinous act, has changed his plea from not guilty to not guilty by reason of insanity. The plea change may again delay the trial of Kenneth Lee Wilkinson, 23, of Willits, currently scheduled for May 6.
Kenneth Wilkinson had pleaded not guilty at his June 2012 arraignment. His defense counsel has been hinting for weeks about a possible change in plea. When Wilkinson changed his plea last Friday, it triggered a new calendar of expert hearings from psychiatrists for both the prosecution and defense. Those hearings may require the murder trial be postponed again. Trial was originally set for November 2012; it has already been postponed several times at the defense's request.
Wilkinson is charged with first-degree murder with a special enhancement of torture. These charges could land him with a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Wilkinson waived his preliminary hearing so the public has heard little new evidence about the case.
Wilkinson is accused of dragging his grandfather to death behind a pickup truck from the 1800 block of East Hill Road on March 17, 2012, to Pine Mountain.
According to police, Richard Wilkinson died of "multiple blunt force trauma," but Kenneth Wilkinson's attorney raised early doubts about when the elder Wilkinson actually died.
California law requires a substantial burden of proof to sustain a special enhancement of torture. The prosecution must first prove the defendant intended to kill the victim; that he intended to inflict extreme physical pain while the person was alive; and that the act would inflict extreme physical pain. It does not require the prosecution prove the murder victim actually felt the pain.
The victim was living with his daughter at an East Hill Road residence for several years. Alzheimer's disease had left Richard Wilkinson requiring around-the-clock care. The night Richard Wilkinson died, he was left in Kenneth Wilkinson's care while other family members went out to dinner, say police. When family members returned to the compound, the elder Wilkinson and Kenneth Wilkinson were both missing. Family members at first believed Richard Wilkinson had wandered off, but soon became suspicious and called police to report a possible assault. Before deputies arrived, Kenneth Wilkinson drove up and allegedly told the family he had "taken the elder Wilkinson away."
Deputies followed the trail of grisly evidence and soon discovered the body dumped down an embankment on Mariposa Creek Road. Roads throughout the area were closed for hours to allow forensic teams to gather evidence.
Early reports by family members suggested Kenneth Wilkinson had allegedly been under the influence of alcohol or drugs the evening of the murder.
Trials involving insanity pleas are split into two parts. The first requires the jury determine whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty of the crime. If the defendant is found guilty, then the jury must decide whether the defendant knew the difference between right and wrong at the time of the crime. Only if the defendant did not understand the nature of his act, or did not know it was wrong, will the jury find him not guilty by reason of insanity.
For this part of the trial, it is the defendant who has the burden of proof.
If someone is found to be insane, he is sentenced to a state mental hospital rather than prison.


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Gain Yardage With Men's Golf Drivers
Buying Tips
Expert Advice
The right driver can make a huge difference in your game. If your driver isn't up to par, you could be sacrificing power and accuracy off the tee. Hit longer, straighter drives and shave strokes off your scores with a new driver from Golf Galaxy.
Golf Galaxy features a full selection of the best golf drivers from the brands you trust, including TaylorMade®, PING®, Callaway®, Cobra®, Nike® and more. Find exactly what you need for your game. We carry:
- A full selection of right- and left-handed drivers
- Lofts ranging from 8 – 16 degrees
- The flex you need for your swing: Regular, Stiff, Extra Stiff, 2X Stiff or Senior
At Golf Galaxy, you're sure to find the driver you need for your skill level and price range. To get the most out of your new driver, schedule a custom driver fitting at your local Golf Galaxy store. Our PGA Pros and Certified Fitters will analyze your clubhead speed, spin rate and launch angle and customize your new driver to your specific needs.
Buying Tips
With all of the options available today, buying a new driver may seem like an overwhelming process. But it doesn't have to be. You can make sure you make the right choice by focusing on a few key factors:
A higher-lofted driver helps get the ball in the air, which leads to more distance. The amount of loft you need comes down to your swing speed:
- Less than 60 MPH: 14 – 15 degrees of loft
- 60 – 70 MPH: 12 – 13 degrees of loft
- 70 – 80 MPH: 10.5 – 11.5 degrees of loft
- 80 – 90 MPH: At least 9 – 10.5 degrees of loft
- Over 90 MPH: Lowest loft available
The flex of the shaft impacts trajectory, accuracy and distance. Choose your shaft flex based on swing speed. Use the following to guide your selection:
- Extra Stiff: 105 mph or higher
- Stiff: 90 to 105 mph
- Regular: 80 to 95 mph
- Senior: 70-85 mph
Take greater control of your game with an adjustable driver. Many of today's drivers allow you to customize several features:
- Hosel: Adjust the loft to achieve optimal launch angles and spin rates. Typically, you cannot adjust the loft without affecting the lie, but some clubs do allow you to alter these features independently.
- Center of Gravity: Many drivers now feature moveable weights that you can adjust on the sole of the club. This allows you to tailor the club to hit a fade, draw or neutral shot.
Expert Advice
So, now you've found the perfect driver, but are you playing the right ball? Yes, the golf ball you choose can have a huge impact on your game. Learn more about our in-store golf ball fittings and find out which ball best suits your unique skills.


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One Listless Market
I think that, if there were a definition for the U.S. market today, it would have to be "apathy." But why is it happening? This is the best place to get a return on invested dollars, yet there seems to be no action, no momentum, no trend and certainly no volume of which to speak. Is it psychological? Is something else at work? Something or someone has put a vice grip on this market that is preventing it from moving forward.
Are we seeing fear from an event yet to come? I have a hard time believing that to be the case. After all, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), that measure of fear, is sitting under 17%. If anything -- again -- the market is reflecting enormous complacency, and yet the market has fallen nearly 7% from its recent highs....218 more words left in this article. To read them, just click below and try Real Money FREE for 14 days.
There's no substitute for a trading floor to get great ideas, so Jim Cramer created a better one at Real Money and blogs there exclusively. We then added legendary hedge fund manager, Doug Kass, with his exclusive Daily Diary and best investing ideas. Staffed with more than 4 dozen investing pros, money managers, journalists and analysts, Real Money Pro gives you a flood of opinions, analysis and actionable trading advice found nowhere else, and allows you to interact directly with each expert.
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It always seems stunning that major movies and videogame releases are treated as tradable events that move stocks. You don't have to be an efficient market purist to believe that the news should be priced into the shares.
But that's not how it works. Goldman Sachs is telling clients to think of Walt Disney (ticker: DIS) as "DIS the Great and Powerful" ahead of the March 8 movie launch of Oz the Great and Powerful.


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The recession isn't stopping lovers from spending big to win their intendeds' hearts on Valentine's Day – even if they do leave until the last minute, according to traders in Marlborough.
But, luckily for their better halves, love conquers all and when the men did eventually hit the shops they were willing to splash the cash.
Florist Hedge Rose, of London Road, Marlbor-ough, has an array of roses on offer ranging from £30 for half a dozen to £69 for their luxury bouquet.
Owner Kate Howard said: "It's hard to say whether we'll meet last year's sales until the day itself, because it tends to be left to the last minute, but we've had a lot of orders come in and we expect to get a lot more.
"I think people are willing to spend the money because women still like to receive flowers and this is a perfect day to buy them."
Joanna Freeman, owner of Floral Fayre in Marlborough Road, said the men of Pewsey always make a quick dash to the florist to show their loved one they care.
She said: "It's always left to the last minute because, dare I say it, it's up to the chaps to organise. So there is always a rush when they hear something on the radio or somebody in the office receives something.
"I tend to steer people away from the traditional red roses because suppliers put the prices up and our prices have to reflect that. I suggest a mixed bunch with a single red rose in the middle because you only need one to say 'I love you'."
Some have gone one step further than a bouquet and if recent purchases in jewellers David Dudley are anything to go by they will be a few men down on one knee this evening.
Sabine Orton, of David Dudley, said: "We've had a few people purchase engagement rings in recent weeks, so it could be that they're planning to propose on Valentine's Day.
"There has been a steady flow of customers but the weather hasn't helped, nobody wants to be out shopping for Valentine's gifts when it's so cold.
"We're always happy to help partners who aren't sure what to get."
Kasia Caruso, who runs Italian restaurant Pino's in New Road, Marlbor-ough for father-in-law Pino Caruso, has decorated the restaurant in a Valentine's theme to make sure the setting is just right for anyone popping the question there.
She said: "We are almost fully booked, and we expect to be fully booked on the day, but what is nice is that groups have booked tables as well as couples, which is unusual.
"I expect people will bring gifts to us on Thursday to present to their partners because that's what usually happens. The restaurant is decorated in red with cherubs and hearts.
"I think it's a shame that it's just one day because it looks beautiful with the open fire and candles."


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- Cellular Protection
- 4 mg
- Potent Carotenoid Antioxidant
- Healthy Inflammatory Response*
Astaxanthin is a naturally occurring carotenoid that because of its unique structure, provides a wide range of antioxidant benefits. Astaxanthin can help to protect cell membranes against free radical attack and potentiates the action of other antioxidants like Vitamins E and C. Scientific studies have demonstrated that Astaxanthin can help to support a healthy inflammatory response, enhance immune function and provide neurological support. Recent research indicates that Astaxanthin may even help to support the skin's structure during exposure to sunlight.*
Suggested Usage: As a dietary supplement, take 1 softgel daily, preferably with a meal. Consider taking this product in combination with NOW® GliSODin® and Alpha Lipoic Acid.
Contains no: sugar, salt, starch, yeast, wheat, gluten, corn, milk, egg, shellfish or preservatives.


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Photo By:
Michael Eugene Webb passed away November 12th at his home in San Jose due to congestive heart failure. Born January 10, 1955 in Washington D.C., he moved with his family to California in 1962, living in Sunnyvale and then Los Altos. He was a graduate of Homestead High School and earned his E.E. degree at San Jose State. In 1999 he married Deborah Williams and they became the happy parents of 4 children. He was a devoted husband and father, active in scouting and loved giving his children the opportunity for many interesting pursuits. Always generous with his time and talents, he was a ready source of help with anything mechanical or electronic.
He will be dearly missed by his beloved wife, Debbie, his children, Michael, 12, Robert, 10, William, 8 and Jane, 3; by his mother, Ethelyn Bloom, his father, E.Y. Webb III, his brother, Steve Webb (wife Kate), his sister, Eileen Sturner (husband Dave) and by his nieces and nephews. His wife's father, her 2 brothers and their families will also feel his loss.
Services and interment were on November 19th at Oak Hill, S.J.


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Is anyone genuinely surprised that this GOP led Congress has the lowest approval rating on record? I'm not…
The Huffington Post
Americans are plenty angry at Congress in the aftermath of the debt crisis and Republicans could pay the greatest price, a new Associated Press-GfK poll suggests.
The poll finds the tea party has lost support, Republican House Speaker John Boehner is increasingly unpopular and people are warming to the idea of not just cutting spending but also raising taxes – anathema to the GOP – just as both parties prepare for another struggle with deficit reduction.
To be sure, there is plenty of discontent to go around. The poll finds more people are down on their own member of Congress, not just the institution, an unusual finding in surveys and one bound to make incumbents particularly nervous. In interviews, some people said the debt standoff itself, which caused a crisis of confidence to ripple through world markets, made them wonder whether lawmakers are able to govern at all.
"I guess I long for the day back in the `70s and `80s when we could disagree but we could get a compromise worked out," said Republican Scott MacGregor, 45, a Windsor, Conn., police detective. "I don't think there's any compromise anymore."
The results point to a chilly autumn in Washington as the divided Congress returns to the same fiscal issues that almost halted other legislative business and are certain to influence the struggle for power in the 2012 elections. They suggest that politicians, regardless of party, have little to gain by prolonging the nation's most consequential policy debate. And they highlight the gap between the wider public's wishes now and the tea party's cut-it-or-shut-it philosophy that helped propel Republicans into the House majority last year.
The survey, conducted Aug. 18-22, found that approval of Congress has dropped to its lowest level in AP-GfK polling – 12 percent. That's down from 21 percent in June, before the debt deal reached fever pitch.
Related articles
- AP-GfK Poll: 87% in US disapprove of Congress (sfgate.com)
- Congress Approval Rating: Poll Shows 87% Disapprove Of Congress (huffingtonpost.com)
- Poll: 87 Percent in U.S. Disapprove of Congress (abcnews.go.com)
- Voters are mad as hell at Congress (capitolhillblue.com)
- Congress' approval rating hits new low, poll shows (sfgate.com)
- Disapproval of Congress at all-time high in new poll (msnbc.msn.com)


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SIRIUS XM Radio to Launch Paul McCartney's Fireman Radio
Fireman Radio to give listeners unprecedented access to Paul McCartney
McCartney to host weekly "fireside chats"
SIRIUS XM Radio announced that it will launch a limited-run channel devoted to the music of Paul McCartney, in celebration of his new critically-acclaimed album recorded under the guise of his alter ego, The Fireman. Paul McCartney's Fireman Radio will premiere on Valentine's Day, February 14 and will air through Friday, March 13 on The Bridge, SIRIUS channel 33 and XM channel 27.
The channel will feature a rare in-depth and revealing interview with Paul McCartney. During the interview, the legendary artist will share his inspiration behind his secret Fireman projects.
Paul McCartney's Fireman Radio is an exclusive commercial-free channel, completely devoted to McCartney's legendary and expansive post-Beatles music-making and will include music from his solo records, tracks from every Wings album, the three Fireman albums, 1993's Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest, 1998's Rushes and 2008's Electric Arguments as well as musical surprises from Paul's vault.
Additionally, every week, McCartney will host a special "fireside chat" where he will discuss music, politics, news and any other topic he feels compelled to discuss.
McCartney, on Fireman Radio, will take SIRIUS XM listeners on an in-depth exploration of each song from The Fireman's latest album, Electric Arguments. He will speak candidly and openly about every track and will shed new light on this acclaimed music project, which for years has been shrouded in secrecy. On Paul McCartney's Fireman Radio, McCartney will pull back the curtain to reveal the creative process behind The Fireman. Never before has McCartney shared so many personal insights into this fascinating chapter in his musical legacy.
"Paul McCartney's Fireman Radio allows all of us the privilege to hear a revealing side of one of the world's biggest artists, sharing his work in a way that is unprecedented in its scale, unduplicated in its intimacy, and completely unique to SIRIUS XM," said Scott Greenstein, President and Chief Content Officer, SIRIUS XM Radio.
It has been ten years since McCartney and Youth, the bassist in British post-punk rock band Killing Joke and a respected producer, have collaborated on their experimental side project, The Fireman. In November of 2008, The Fireman released their third album, Electric Arguments.
For more information, please visit www.sirius.com or www.xmradio.com


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Students compete in robotics challengePosted: Updated: Feb 23, 2013 05:53 PM
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SOUTHFIELD, Mich. – Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) Director Kirk Steudle has been inducted into first class of the College of Engineering Hall of Fame at Lawrence Technological University. He joined eight others who were inducted at a Nov. 30 ceremony.
Steudle, who earned his bachelor's degree in civil engineering from LTU in 1987, has served as Michigan's transportation director since 2006 under both Democratic and Republican governors. He joined MDOT in 1987 as an engineer trainee and served the department in various positions across the state before becoming director.
"I share this honor with the forward-thinking administrators and engineering faculty at LTU as well as the professionals at MDOT, who embrace change and share my goal of providing a safe and efficient transportation system for everyone traveling in our great state," Steudle said. "With technology developing at an exponential pace, there are many exciting changes to come. I'm proud to say that LTU and MDOT will be at the leading edge."
As head of MDOT, Steudle oversees a budget of more than $3 billion and is responsible for the construction, maintenance, and operation of nearly 10,000 miles of state highways, more than 4,000 state highway bridges, and some 2,500 employees. He also administers a variety of multi-modal transportation programs and projects that range from aviation to the Zilwaukee Bridge.
Steudle is a national expert in connected vehicle technology, a high-tech highway operations technology that enables vehicles to communicate with roads and each other to improve safety and mobility. He has served as president of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and in various leadership capacities with the Strategic Highway Research Program II, Intelligent Transportation Society of America, Intelligent Transportation Systems, and the Engineering Society of Detroit, the largest engineering society in the United States.
In 2010 Steudle was recognized nationally for his outstanding contribution to highway engineering when he received AASHTO's prestigious Thomas H. MacDonald Award. In 2011 he was awarded the P.D. McLean Award from the Road Gang for excellence in highway transportation.
Lawrence Technological University, www.ltu.edu, is a private university founded in 1932 that offers more than 100 programs through the doctoral level in its Colleges of Architecture and Design, Arts and Sciences, Engineering, and Management. Bloomberg BusinessWeek lists Lawrence Tech among the nation's top 20 percent of universities for return on undergraduate tuition investment, and highest in the Detroit metropolitan area. Lawrence Tech is also listed in the top tier of Midwestern universities by U.S. News and World Report and the Princeton Review. Students benefit from small class sizes and experienced faculty who provide a real-world, hands-on, "theory and practice" education with an emphasis on leadership. Activities on Lawrence Tech's 102-acre campus include over 60 student clubs and organizations and a growing roster of NAIA varsity sports.


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Quick and easy access to recreational privileges in Iowa, including hunting, fishing, and specialty licenses:
Purchase Your Licenses Online
Iowa's natural resources plates include the state bird and flower, pheasant, eagle, buck and a Brook trout. Support conservation in Iowa by buying a natural resource plate for your vehicle.
Natural Resource Plates
Experience Iowa's natural beauty and all the fun our state parks offer. Make your online reservation for state park cabins, camping sites, shelters and lodges.
Support conservation in Iowa by buying a natural resource plate for your vehicle.
Natural Resource Plates
Iowa DNR Customer Service
Mon - Fri, 8:00am - 4:30pm CST
p: 515-725-8200
f: 515-725-8201
Submit Online Inquiry
Information / Records Requests
Contact Information by County
Iowa Bird Conservation Area Program
Within the last two decades, alarming declines in a large number of species of North American birds have led to the emergence of national and international initiatives dedicated to conservation of game and nongame birds. Various conservation programs or plans aimed at individual groups of declining birds are gathering under the umbrella of North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI) to conserve "all birds in all habitats." As part of this initiative and in an effort to protect dwindling populations of many Iowa birds, Iowa's Bird Conservation Area (BCA) Program was established by the DNR Wildlife Bureau in 2001.
What is a BCA?
The Bird Conservation Area concept was first proposed by the Midwest Working Group of Partners In Flight (PIF) to maintain populations of breeding grassland birds. That has since been expanded to include birds breeding in a variety of habitats, including grassland, wetland, woodland, and savanna. This concept is backed by research that suggests viable bird populations require conservation efforts at a landscape-oriented level. The present model BCA encompasses at least 10,000 acres of public and/or private lands that includes approximately 25% of the area as key bird habitat. For instance, in a designated grassland BCA, at least 25% of the total land cover should be some type of grassland. Each BCA also should include a large "core" area of protected high-quality habitat (typically at least 20% of the area), with a minimum 2,000 acre core area targeted. Around this core are private lands, plus additional public tracts, managed for good bird habitat or at least maintained to be "neutral" in how they affect bird life. Many of these outlying parcels should be 100 acres or more of contiguous targeted habitat to complete a "matrix" of quality habitat for specific priority birds.
BCAs in Iowa
NABCI defines three >Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs), or ecological regions for Iowa. These are: Eastern Tallgrass Prairie, Prairie Potholes, and Prairie-Hardwood Transition. Representative BCAs have been designated for each of these three regions, and tables listing priority bird species suites have been created for each of these regions.
In 2001, Iowa DNR designated its first BCA, the Kellerton Grasslands Bird Conservation Area. Located in the Eastern Tallgrass Prairie BCR in Ringgold County, this also was the first grassland BCA to be dedicated in the U.S. Greater Prairie-Chickens serve as the umbrella species for this BCA, and by managing for prairie chickens, a host of grassland birds will benefit. This includes such species as Henslow's Sparrow, Bobolink, Dickcissel, Short-eared Owl, and Northern Harrier.
Twenty more BCAs plus one Amphibian and Reptile Conservation area have since been designated across the state. Spring Run Wetlands BCA (Dickinson County) was named in 2002. In 2003, Broken Kettle Grasslands BCA, north of Sioux City in Plymouth County, was dedicated in the spring (see featured activity - April 2003), and Effigy Mounds - Yellow River Forest BCA (Allamakee and Clayton counties), became an official Bird Conservation Area in July. Union Hills Grasslands BCA (Cerro Gordo County) and Iowa River Corridor BCA (Tama, Benton, and Iowa counties) were dedicated (see featured activity - May 2004) during 2004. Within 2005, the Chichaqua-Neal Smith Grassland BCA was dedicated in central Iowa, and the Kellerton Grasslands BCA boundaries were expanded to accommodate the large landscape needs of the Greater Prairie-Chickens calling that area home.
During 2006, Iowa's second largest public forest, Shimek Forest, became an official BCA. Dewey's Pasture Wetland Complex, perhaps Iowa's oldest and most important northwestern Iowa marsh complex became a BCA in July 2006; and the Raccoon River Savanna BCA (see featured activity - December 2006), established around privately owned White Rock Conservancy land in Guthrie County, was dedicated in December 2006. In 2007, both northeast Iowa's Wapsi River Corridor and Eagle Lake Wetlands (Hancock and Winnebago counties) were named as new BCAs. Stephens Forest BCA (Clarke and Lucas counties) became the third Iowa forest bird conservation area in December 2008. With its 6,600+ acres of state forest, it supplies nesting habitat for well over 100 bird species.
In 2009, the Lower Morse Lake Grasslands BCA in Wright County was dedicated. It is one of very few places in Iowa where a person can walk for several continuous miles without leaving public land and where one can still experience the rolling prairies of the region that existed before its settlement by Euro-Americans. Sand Creek Woodland Savanna BCA (Decatur, Ringgold, and Union counties) was dedicated in early 2010. The boundary of the Sand Creek BCA is within just a few miles of the Kellerton Grasslands BCA to the southwest and Stephens Forest BCA to the northeast. Ideally, these three BCAs will one day be connected to create a large corridor of valuable habitat.
The Boone Forks Woodland BCA was dedicated in the fall of 2010 and encompasses the area where the Boone River meets the Des Moines River in Hamilton and Webster counties. This BCA provides rich habitat for nesting woodland birds, having more bird species of Greatest Conservation Need than any other BCA. The spring of 2011 followed with the establishment of Cayler Prairie BCA in Dickinson County. Cayler Prairie is the first BCA centered on a State Preserve, and it is also a National Natural Landmark. This BCA includes a large amount of protected grassland that is critical for a high percentage of the declining migratory and nesting grassland bird species in Iowa.
Each BCA landscape hosts a signature group of birds, many of which are experiencing notable population declines. With the potential for numerous BCAs in Iowa, it will remain a high priority for the Iowa DNR to continue designating Iowa's best bird habitats as Bird Conservation Areas. Sedan Bottoms became Iowa's 18th BCA in July 2013. It is centered on the Chariton River in southern Appanoose County and includes Sharon Bluffs State Park and other important grassland, savanna, woodland, and wetland habitats. Only the Iowa River Corridor BCA hosts more bird Species of Greatest Conservation Need than Sedan Bottoms BCA, which reflects this area's importance to so many declining bird species.
In 2014, Iowa added its 19th Bird Conservation Area, Stephens State Forest-Thousand Acres. This is also the 4th BCA that is centered on a state forest (see BCA map). While this ~50,000 acre BCA (in Lucas, Monroe, and Marion counties) is comprised of about 41% woodland land cover, it also includes about 40% grassland land cover – making this area important to both nesting forest species like the state Endangered Red-shouldered Hawk and state Threatened grassland birds like Henslow's Sparrow. Records indicate that at least 114 of Iowa's regular nesting bird species occur here, and this area provides habitat for about half of Iowa's migrant birds. Finally, the most recent BCA to be designated in the Loess Hills that encompasses Loess Hills Wildlife Management Area and the Loess Hills State Forest.
BCA Brochures (to rotate pdf for easier viewing, right click image and select "rotate clockwise").
Kellerton Grasslands
Spring Run Grasslands
Broken Kettle Grasslands
Effigy Mounds-Yellow River Forest
Iowa River Corridor
Dewey's Pasture
Wapsi River
Eagle Lake Wetlands
Stephens Forest
Lower Morse Lake Grasslands
Sand Creek Woodland Savanna
Boone Forks Woodland
Cayler Prairie
Union Hills
Chichaqua-Neal Smith
Shimek Forest
Raccoon River
Sedan Bottoms
Thousand Acres
Value of BCAs
Bird watching, or birding, is one of North America's fastest growing pastimes, with an estimated 50 - 70 million participants in the United States. These and other associated activities benefit the economies of those regions where they occur. For example, a recent survey by US Fish & Wildlife Service found that over one million Iowans watched wildlife in 2006 and that Iowa residents and nonresidents spent $304 million on wildlife watching in Iowa that same year. Wildlife watching expenditures have grown in the U.S. by 46% since 1991. Special highway and recreational area maps guide birders along "birding trails," and bird festivals and guided birding field trips are offered by a growing number of commercial firms and conservation organizations and agencies. Bird Conservation Areas may help draw the attention of eco-tourism to Iowa, with economic gain for the area motels, restaurants, and other businesses in the BCA vicinity.
The Iowa DNR is moving forward with its efforts to designate special areas of Iowa as BCAs. Such a designation is designed to enhance habitat toward the goal of all-bird conservation in Iowa. There is a strong proponent of building partnerships. If we are to be successful managing landscapes for Iowa's birds (and other wildlife), there will need to be strong cooperation between agencies, private conservation organizations, and private landowners.
These partnerships are key to keeping the landscape alive with the sights and songs of birds.


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If I am not mistaken, the only page on which a reader can link to "new posts" is the index page. If this is true, I wonder if it would be possible to create a "new posts" button on each page so that, having finished reading a topic of interest, a reader could travel immediately back to the new posts department rather than going first to the index page and then to new posts.
Since someone(s) obviously took some time and good effort setting up this forum, I hesitate to ask for still more ... but take it easy on me guys: I'm lazy -- what can I tell you?
Also, if I am not mistaken, once a response has been posted, there is no opportunity to go back into the post and edit the goofs I invariably make. If I've got this right and haven't nust missed something, I think it would be a helpful addition.
Whatever you decide ... thanks for all.


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Building Compassion, Confidence and Creativity
We believe that through the theatrical arts, children build confidence, compassion and creativity.
In our programs, kids are empowered as they live inside of stories and characters and develop their skills as actors.
Our mission is to inspire young people to explore the creative process in order to become engaged participants in their world.


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Regulations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency could be the No. 1 concern of the American Farm Bureau Federation in 2012.
That is, if there isn't a one-year reprieve.
"I suspect we're going to get a little bit of a one-year reprieve on the regs being so awful," Mary Kay Thatcher, senior director of congressional relations for AFBF, told AgriTalk radio on Friday.
With President Obama hearing negative comments about the regulations, EPA may back off between now and the November election, she said. Once the election takes place and if Obama is re-elected, "we can expect the next four years — when he's not up for re-election — to be very, very difficult," she added.
Politics have been infused into the situation and there is a "tumultuous relationship between agriculture and the EPA right now," she said.
For instance, there are regulations that would supposedly regulate dust on farms. Some in the Obama Administration, including U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, say there are no plans to regulate dust. Yes, Thatcher adds, "EPA said as of a month ago they aren't going to move forward. But there's nothing that says next week, next month, right after the election they won't decide to move forward," she said.
Regarding the proposed regulations that would restrict child labor on farms, Thatcher said she applauds Secretary Vilsack for trying to work with the U.S. Department of Labor so that the DOL has a better understanding of agriculture and what takes place on farm.
"I think whether it's DOL or EPA, you've got a lot of people writing regs who don't understand agriculture or have never been on a farm," she said.
Thatcher also commented on the gridlock that is taking place in Washington with government divided between the Republicans and Democrats. Partisanship is stronger today, Thatcher says, than anytime she can remember in the past.
"The bipartisanship is pretty much nil," she added.
She said the American Farm Bureau Federation will also keep an eye on Farm Bill discussions in 2012. It will be far better to get a bill written in 2012 than to wait until 2013, she says. Conventional wisdom is that Congress will be more generous in an election year. And, the impetus to cut the federal budget deficit may become stronger as time goes by.


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ByAndrew Grossman
The Mexican embassy in Washington Friday dismissed Texas Gov. Rick Perry's claim that "there's a very real possibility" extremists from the Islamic State have already snuck into the U.S. over the southern border.
"Mexican authorities have no record of the presence of Islamist extremist groups or individuals in Mexico," a written statement by the embassy said. "Officials from Mexico and the United States maintain permanent contact with each other and continuously exchange information, and there is no indication that would even suggest what Governor Perry has claimed."
Mr. Perry told an audience at the Heritage Foundation Thursday that he was worried about terrorists crossing into the U.S. from Mexico.
"There's the obvious great concern that because of the condition of the border, from the standpoint of it not being secure and us not knowing who is penetrating across, that individuals from ISIS or other terrorist states could be," he said. "I think it's a very real possibility that they may have already used that."
Mr. Perry then added that there's no evidence that terrorist groups have crossed the border.
The Pentagon's press secretary, Rear Adm. John Kirby, also dismissed the idea Friday morning.
"I've seen no indication that they are coming across the border with Mexico," Mr. Kirby said on CNN." "We have no information that leads us to believe that.


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Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah says the most important attributes any of his players must have are commitment and discipline.
The Stars play Cape Verde in their last competitive friendly of the calendar year on Wednesday night, and the bulk invitation of fringe players had led to speculation that certain regulars were assured a place at the next African Cup.
But though Appiah admits certain positions may have already been secured, he explains his need to get more options across board.
"The team [to face Cape Verde] is not actually based on whether someone is going to the Cup of Nations or not. There are some players that I've to make my final decision on. Some of them, I think, I've already made my final decision on them."
He also denied speculation that the regular members of the Black Stars not called up are definitely making it to South Africa.
"As to the view that those who were not called up for this team [to play Cape Verde] are definitely going [to the Cup of Nations]? That's not it."
"Everyone has got a chance and the important thing is to look for those who are those really, really committed to fight for Ghana and at the same time I will be looking at the discipline aspect as well because we need unity in the team"
"But I believe that for anyone chosen – whether it's for a competitive game or a friendly – the most important thing is that you the player must play your best for me to make the right decision"
The Black Stars will be in Group B alongside DR Congo, Mali and Niger when the tournament kicks off on January 19, 2013.


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AFTER two years of work, the Port of Milford Haven's solar park at Liddeston Ridge is officially up and running.
Although currently only running at 25 per cent capacity, by next week the 20,000 panel solar park will generate enough electricity to power 1,000 homes.
Tim James, the Port's renewable energy manager, said the switch-on was a proud moment for the whole team.
"It has been a lot of hard work to get us to this point. Over two years has been spent taking the project from an idea to fruition," he said.
"It's renewable energy at its purest: great for the environment and a long-term revenue stream for the Port, as well."
The profits generated from the project will be reinvested back into the Port's activities as a Trust Port.
An important element of the project has been the careful management of the surrounding habitat and over the coming months work will be undertaken to create a wildflower meadow attracting a variety of insects, birds and animals.
The construction has also been good news for local businesses, with more than £500,000 spent locally on trades and materials.
The Port is now pushing ahead with ambitious plans to put solar panels on the historic Sunderland Hangars in Pembroke Dock.
An application has been submitted to install 400 panels on the Grade II listed buildings.
Built in 1934 to house the Sunderland Flying boats that kept convoys of supplies safe from German attack, the hangars have vast roof space making them a perfect site for solar panels.
Mr James said that, if successful, the project would take the Port's total carbon emission savings to more 2,200 tonnes each year.


text: New MuralMax Brushes were developed by artists as an upgrade to the already popular Creative Mark Mural Brushes. Artists painting in extremely large-scale formats and outdoor murals wanted a durable, oversized brush with excellent control and a long handle for reach — and this is precisely what MuralMax delivers! The multi-diameter synthetic filament hair is resilient and bouncy, holds its shape well, and can withstand painting on surfaces like brick and stone as well as plaster, drywall, and canvas. The long, balanced handles are lacquered with 8 coats of paint for a strong and attractive finish, and each brush is over a foot long for incredible reach! Even the ferrules are tough and durable: made from seamless nickel-plated brass, each ferrule is securely glued to the handle; the smaller brushes are crimped while the larger sizes are secured with finishing nails for long-lasting performance. Finally, a high quality, tough, responsive brush for the large-scale mural artist — MuralMax Brushes are the ultimate choice for large format art!


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Here is a video of two big bombers playing a round at West Lake DGC. West Lake is an incrediblity tough course. MDR and Ben are both big distance throwers. MDR won the distance competition for Am's at the 2004 Worlds. Ben won the USADGC a couple of years back. I've seen both these guys throw 600+.
This is just a promo video put together by a Quad City player. MDR is looking to try and do a few of these videos throughout 2013. Should be fun to watch.


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CLEVELAND (AP) -- Police say a 16-year-old boy was found shot to death after being chased into an apartment in Cleveland.
WEWS-TV (http://bit.ly/Tw8Y61 ) reports the teen was found in the back bedroom of the apartment on the city's east side Thursday night.
A witness told police that a man in his late-teens to early 20s chased the teen into the building and shot him several times. He was shot in the back and pronounced dead at the scene.
Other details, including the victim's name, haven't been released.
Information from: WEWS-TV, http://www.newsnet5.com


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wow this shocked me
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via Colts.com, also activated Josh Chapman from PUP, placed Drake Nevis in IR and activated tight end Kyle Miller from practice squad
Last edited by BlueCollarColts; 11-12-2012 at 04:19 PM.
We'll live. I'm sure our other cornerbacks are equally bad in coverage as Powers is.
it will be interesting to see if Darius Butler was just a one game wonder against a bad team or if he is a decent player, he is playing for his career right now and next week he will have motivation playing against the team that cut him, Cassius Vaughn is a good nickel corner IMO, Vontae Davis needs to be that #1 corner we want him to be now
Probably has played his last game as a colt with a poor year and with the contract he will want/demand i see grigson moving him on.
adios amigo.
Counting down the days untill DJ Augustin's contract expires.
I think losing Nevis is equally or more concerning at this point.
I'd rather die standing up than live on my knees.
-Emiliano Zapata
not good
Smothered Chicken!
Being unable to close out a game in which you have a comfortable lead in the 4th Q = Pulling a Frank Vogel
And seeing as how he was a Polian draft pick even less of an attachment for Grigson
chapman is gonna be good, and i wasnt never sold on powers, good cover 2 corner, thats it!!!
Funny to see how the community mindset can change about a guy. This dude was considered our top DB and a possible Pro Bowl candidate during training camp, due for a breakout season in which he provided leadership for our young guys.
And now..... "don't let the door hit you on the way out".
There are two types of quarterbacks in the league: Those whom over time, the league figures out ... and those who figure out the league.
I think this clearly makes Davis our #1 corner at this point. Hopefully one of our young corners can step up and establish themselves as the other corner.


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REDWOOD CITY — A judge tripled the bail Monday for a man suspected of slaying East Palo Alto activist David Lewis after prosecutors raised concerns he might try to flee if released.
Gregory Elarms, 60, of Pittsburg, remained behind bars after San Mateo County Superior Court Judge John Grandsaert bumped his bail to $500,000, District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.
Until two weeks ago Elarms was being held without bail for Lewis' 2010 murder in a parking lot at Hillsdale Shopping Center in San Mateo. However, after a judge dismissed the murder charge, saying police had illegally gotten a confession from Elarms, his bail was set at $150,000 for additional charges.
Wagstaffe said his office argued Elarms is aware prosecutors will appeal the dismissal and thus he has "every reason" to take off if released. Defense attorney Jonathan McDougall didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
The heftier bail increases the chance Elarms will remain behind bars during the appeal, which is expected to take 12-18 months. Elarms has remained in custody due to charges stemming from the three occasions where jail guards reportedly caught him with a toothbrush, spork and pencils fashioned into weapons.
Lewis, who co-founded revolutionary drug treatment center Free at Last, was fatally shot in the abdomen as he walked from his car at the Hillsdale mall. His killing remained unsolved for six months, until Elarms called police and offered information about the case. Police say Elarms later confessed to the killing, which had no clear motive.
Contact Joshua Melvin at 650-348-4335. Follow him at Twitter.com/melvinreport.


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Retin A and Ortho Tri Cyclen
I began taking Ortho Tri Cyclen birth control in November of 2012 and it absolutely destroyed my skin for 3 months. The before pictures were taken in January 2013 and the after pictures were taken in May 2013. I think my skin is finally getting used to the birth control and I've been on Retin A for about 9 weeks. I also use PanOxyl 10% face wash and take a daily probiotic. I still get about 2 or 3 pimples a week and have a lot of post inflammatory hyperpigmentation but the Retin A seems to be helping with that.
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He's not just a flash in the pan
Thomas Ulsrud and his team will long be remembered for their play (as well as their flashy attire) at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics where they walked away with a silver medal, coming up just a bit short in the final game against Canada's own Kevin Martin.
Thomas has been on the curling scene for many years. In 1997, he skipped in his first European Curling Championship, finishing in seventh place. He has gone on to win the European crown in each of the last two years. He's competed in numerous world championships, winning bronze in 2006, 2008 and 2009, and he also has 6 World Curling Tour titles to his credit.
We are proud to welcome Thomas and his team as one of our Goldline ambassadors this season!
Fresh off an appearance at the Oslo Cup, the Norwegian skip spoke with Goldline's Hallgeir Moen this past week.
If you weren't curling what sport would you be playing?
Where were you born?
I was born, and still live in Oslo, Norway, the most expensive city in the world!
What is your full time job?
Self-employed curling instructor and event coordinator
When did you start curling?
Who is your favourite athlete?
Roger Federer and Tiger Woods
What's your favourite place to curl?
It was the Vancouver Olympics but ask me again in a couple of years' time and it will probably be Sochi, Russia
What's your favourite food?
I'm a man – I like steak!
Where is your favourite vacation spot?
Mirabella, Spain
What's your favourite TV show?
The Big Bang Theory
What're you listening to on your Ipod?
Depends on my mood, but I listen to a lot of classic rock – AC DC and Queen
Who is your favourite curler other than yourself?
Eigel Ramsfjell
Who's your role model?
Norwegian biathlete Ola-Ole-Eina Bjorneadlen
Have you ever been in a bar fight?
Oh yes, the girl was really pretty
Who's your celebrity crush?
Jennifer Aniston
What's your favourite book?
Golf is Not a Game of Perfect
What's your favourite movie?
The Bourne series
If someone wrote a book about your life, what would they title it?
Secrets to my Olympic Gold
If you could be anyone dead or alive who would you be?
For better or worse, Tiger Woods
What would you do if you had a million dollars?
In Oslo, a million dollars only pays for a loaf of bread, but if I had a whole lot of cash, I'd use it to promote the sport of curling. The sport needs to be a bit more flashy to attract young people.
Who is the best curler to follow on Twitter?
Ben Hebert
Who is your favourite sports team?
Vaalerenga Soccer (Norwegian soccer team)
What's your preferred shot to win a game?
A draw to the button with the sweepers using Norway pads to get the rock there
What is one of your favourite quotes?
Our team has a quote that we use repeatedly: If you want to be a champion, did you train like one or practice like one today?
What is your favourite body part?
The butt
What's your favourite form of exercise?
Off road biking
If you could choose to stay a certain age forever, what age would it be?
What's the hardest thing you've ever done?
Convince my wife that I need to be away for a few months every year to play with the boys