text:
Federal police have suspended an investigation into claims former Howard government minister Mal Brough was part of a conspiracy to bring down former parliamentary speaker Peter Slipper.
Labor backbencher Graham Perrett wrote to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in December asking them to investigate Mr Brough and others singled out in a Federal Court judgment that dismissed former staffer James Ashby's sexual harassment case against Mr Slipper.
Justice Steven Rares had described the case as an abuse of process, saying Mr Ashby had acted in combination with fellow Slipper staffer Karen Doane and Mr Brough, who is running as the Liberal National Party candidate for Mr Slipper's federal seat of Fisher.
In his letter, Mr Perrett said the judgment indicated there may have been a "political conspiracy" designed to harm Mr Slipper and the federal Labor government.
"This conspiracy involved using a fabricated sexual harassment claim to politically damage and publicly humiliate Mr Slipper," his letter said.
AFP Commander Errol Raiser responded to Mr Perrett earlier this month, saying the agency's investigation had been suspended until after an appeal application related to the Ashby case was heard in Sydney on May 30.
Mr Perrett released the letter he received from Cmdr Raiser to the media on Thursday.
"As the facts surrounding the appeal are consistent with your referral, the AFP has suspended its evaluation of the matter until the outcome of the appeal has been finalised," Cmdr Raiser says.
Mr Slipper said he found it odd the AFP would suspend its investigation, given that Mr Brough was not involved in the application to appeal the court decision.
"To my knowledge, Brough and Doane ... are not seeking to contest the judge's adverse findings against them and thus have not sought leave of the court to challenge His Honour's findings," he told AAP on Thursday.
"In these circumstances it is difficult to understand why the AFP has suspended/postponed, though not cancelled, its investigation of the matters raised in Mr Perrett's letter to the AFP commissioner."
But he said it was clear the AFP was taking Mr Perrett's complaint "very seriously".
Mr Perrett told AAP he intended to write back to the AFP pointing out that Mr Brough was not involved in the court appeal.
He said the "injustice" needed to be dealt with well before the federal election on September 14.
"It's a strange premise to drop the investigation given that leads get cold, trails get stale and time is a crucial factor," Mr Perrett said.
"We've got 198 days to an election when Mr Slipper's character is going to be a key matter for him."


text:
Baseball games aren't played at Internet speed. That's part of their charm.
But Major League Baseball wants fans to have high-speed Internet access when they're attending games at the 30 Major League stadiums across the country.
So MLB Advanced Media — the league's technology arm — announced Thursday that it has teamed with San Diego's Qualcomm to evaluate the ballparks for ways to improve wireless Internet connectivity.
"Particularly for the younger demographic, connectivity is oxygen. It's a requirement," said Joe Inzerillo, senior vice president and chief technology officer for MLB Advanced Media. "You need to have good connectivity like you need to have toilets."
As part of the agreement, a Qualcomm engineering team will provide in-ballpark assessment and planning for wireless Internet access, including Wi-Fi, 3G and 4G networks. The project will continue over the next two years.
Relatively few Major League ballparks have stadium-wide Wi-Fi today. San Francisco was the first to adopt it about a decade ago. The San Diego Padres installed free Wi-Fi throughout the ballpark last year, putting in 425 antennas.
Working with Verizon Wireless, the Padres also took steps to enhance cellular coverage.
"Our competition is the couch at home, air conditioning and a refrigerator full of beer," said Steve Reese, vice president of technology with the Padres. "The ownership here realizes we're in that competitive environment, so we really need to be on top of our game."
Reese estimates that less than a quarter of Major League ballparks have stadium-wide Internet connectivity. It's tricky to bring access to stadiums, he said, not only because crowds clog networks but also because of unusual angles and structural steel that block wireless signals.
Inzerillo said this is the first time a sports league has made a comprehensive effort to bring better Internet service in its stadiums — "not just a little piece of connectivity but really trying to do a program that is leaguewide."
It's a smart move, said Will Richmond, head of Internet video research firm Broadband Directions. Several new stadiums, such as the NBA Brooklyn Nets' Barclays Center, are opting for technology as a way to draw crowds.
"You can certainly imagine an app that allows you to watch replays or have contests and things like that," he said. "You could do a dugout cam; interact with the players — all kinds of different things that aren't really possible when all you have is the Jumbotron."
Major League Baseball's goals aren't that ambitious yet, Inzerillo said. For now, the league wants to learn how people use the Internet in stadiums. It also wants ballparks to have enough capacity to handle peak demand.
"We're trying to make sure every ballpark is up to the level where, if they hosted a playoff and World Series game, they could," Inzerillo said. "You are going to get 45,000 or 50,000 people, and the time to find out whether you can handle that capacity is not when the event is occurring."
Qualcomm has been doing this kind of work for years. It consulted on wireless connectivity at the last four Super Bowls. It has worked behind the scenes at the Olympics, national conventions and NCAA championship games.
But those efforts were in conjunction with wireless operators such as Verizon and AT&T. This is the first time that Qualcomm has joined a sports league to consult on boosting wireless availability at its stadiums.
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but a Qualcomm spokeswoman described the deal an in-kind arrangement with a multimillion-dollar value. The company will become an official technology partner of MLB Advanced Media.
"Mobile data traffic is exploding, particularly in high-traffic areas such as Major League Baseball ballparks," said Anand Chandrasekher, chief marketing officer for Qualcomm. "Qualcomm has been preparing for an astounding 1000x increase in data demand, and we are leading the charge with MLB Advanced Media to provide passionate baseball fans with access to digital content."

subset: commoncrawl


text:
In an effort to catch the shooter, the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office posted on YouTube surveillance video taken at a PG&E substation in Northern California about 1:00 a.m. on April 16, 2013. Bullets hit the fence, causing sparks, which can be seen at minutes: 1:54, 2:07, 2:10, 2:57 and 3:01.
It wasn't a cyber attack. And it doesn't appear to be the work of vandals. A congressman fears that it was a "military-style" raid. To the nation's electric grid regulator, it was nothing less than "domestic terrorism."
What we know is this: In April last year, several transformers at a power substation in Silicon Valley were targeted. Fiber cables were cut. More than 100 rounds were fired from a high-powered rifle. Who was behind the attack and why the shooter(s) did it remain a mystery.
Seventeen transformers were taken offline, The Wall Street Journal reports, delving into the attack that has stumped experts. Continue reading


text:
The Eureka Planning Commission will meet Monday to decide whether to recommend to the City Council the purchase and rezoning of property owned by C. Robert Barnum and Fred Lundblade.
The property, located on the west side of Fairway Drive at the east end of the Eureka Municipal Golf Course, is currently zoned as single-family residential. If purchased by the city, staff recommends the property be rezoned as natural resources, public or parks, and recreation.
The meeting will be held Monday at 5:30 p.m. in the Eureka City Council Chambers, 531 K St.


text:
Thank you. You should be receiving a reset link at the email address you provided shortly.
Pricing Information
Price description
Special Offer price
Special offer description 200 characters
Student rep info: name, email, ph #
Offered in partnership with
ed2go Classes
choose another school
(8 contact hours) Although there are many ways to meditate and many different forms of meditation, they all share a unifying characteristic: Each focuses on intentionally training a person's attention and concentration. Meditation practices have been used by cultures around the world for thousands of years.
In this certificate program, you'll explore the many meditation techniques that can be used to support the mind-body connection and promote healing and wellness. You'll gain an overview of the religious roots of meditation in Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity, and Sufism, as well as how these techniques can be used by any practitioner, regardless of faith or religious affiliation. The program is designed for health professionals and nurses as well as general consumers, and covers techniques including Transcendental Meditation™, guided imagery and visualization meditation, mindfulness meditation, Osho Kundalini Meditation™, Vipassana meditation, walking meditation, laughter meditation, centering prayer meditation, and concentration meditation.
As you'll learn, meditation's health effects have been well documented. The practice offers improvement of the symptoms of various diseases and allows practitioners to experience a deeper spiritual connection. This program will guide you as you discover how the practice of meditation can be used to increase mindfulness, reduce stress, deal with pain and illness, and support overall well-being.
Program Benefits:
The Meditation certificate program offers a multidisciplinary educational experience. Your certificate in Meditation will distinguish you as a knowledgeable, skilled, and committed professional. This program will:
Career Opportunities:
The Meditation certificate program provides health care professionals and interested individuals in a wide range of careers with the knowledge and skills to effectively meet the needs of a culturally diverse patient and client population. Today, opportunities exist in the fields of nursing, social work, massage therapy, teaching, hospice care, administration, and research. Opportunities also exist within government programs and agencies; public and private institutions that provide health, education, and social services; research centers; special interest groups; colleges and universities; and corporate human resources divisions.
This certificate is relevant for registered nurses, nurse practitioners, licensed vocational nurses, practical nurses, nursing assistants, social workers, occupational therapists, recreation therapists, physical therapists, respiratory therapists, administrators, psychologists, marriage and family therapists, dieticians, educators, personal care assistants, volunteers, physicians, physician's assistants, chiropractors, clergy, physical fitness professionals, and interested individuals.
Note: All healthcare providers are responsible for checking the "Accreditation" list to determine if this course awards contact hours for their profession.
The Meditation certificate program consists of a total of 4 courses:
ALLEGRA Learning Solutions, LLC is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation.
ALLEGRA Learning Solutions, LLC was awarded Accreditation with Distinction, the highest recognition awarded by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Accreditation Program.
ALLEGRA Learning Solutions courses are acceptable for CE contact hours in all states.
Provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider #CEP 14693, for the stated number of contact hours.
ALLEGRA Learning Solutions courses are approved for continuing education credit for diabetes educators. All ANCC accredited courses are accepted for continuing education credit by the National Certification Board for Diabetes Educators (NCBDE).
ALLEGRA Learning Solutions, LLC is approved by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork (NCBTMB) as a continuing education Approved Provider. Provider Number 451562-11
No individual in a position to control content for this activity has any conflicts of interest or relevant financial relationships to declare.
There is no commercial support being received for this activity.
Expiration Date: 9/15/2018
Course Revised March 2015
A new session of each course opens each month, allowing you to enroll whenever your busy schedule permits!
How does it work? Once a session starts, two lessons will be released each week, for the six-week duration of your course. You will have access to all previously released lessons until the course ends.
Keep in mind that the interactive discussion area for each lesson automatically closes 2 weeks after each lesson is released, so you're encouraged to complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.
The Final Exam will be released on the same day as the last lesson. Once the Final Exam has been released, you will have 2 weeks plus 10 days to complete the Final and finish any remaining lessons in your course. No further extensions can be provided beyond these 10 days.
• Internet access
• Email
• One of the following browsers:
o Mozilla Firefox
o Microsoft Internet Explorer (9.0 or above)
o Google Chrome
o Safari
• Adobe PDF plug-in (a free download obtained at Adobe.com .)
The Certificate in Meditation consists of a total of four lessons. You must complete all lessons to receive your certificate.
To complete each lesson, click on the lesson title that you would like to complete. When you are ready to take the final for each lesson, proceed to the Finals section and select the final you wish to take.
You must pass the final exam in all lessons with a score of 80% or higher AND complete the Evaluation Form in order to receive your Certificate of Completion. Finals are graded as Pass or No Pass. Receipt of your certificate indicates successful completion of the course and that you have passed all final exams with a score of 80% or greater. You may retake final exams as many times as necessary within the six week duration of the program at no additional charge.
I took this course for my personal benefit. I wanted to gain knowledge and experience to improve the quality of my life and overall health. I now practice meditation twice a day and focus on my thoughts.
I work in the dental setting and I see many patients who are clenching and grinding their teeth due to stress. I can now educate them on meditation as a form of stress reduction.
I really enjoyed this class. The material was very interesting and informative.
Loved the course, I'm a very happy camper now!
I will be more mindful and aware of what I am doing and thinking. I believe I can use the information taught in this course to better my living conditions, especially lowering my blood pressure.
I work at a retirement community. This knowledge will help me work with residents who are nearing the end of their lives.
I can now help my nervous massage clients that are willing to do the homework to set up relaxation programs for themselves.
The raisin and chocolate exercise is excellent for teaching seniors meditation, through mindfulness. This would be a great future class to do at a senior center. It was helpful to learn the different types of meditation based on culture and religions.
This is exactly what I was looking for! I am very happy that I saw it offered. I have wanted to learn meditation for a long time. I like the format, as it allowed me to do it when I could. Thank you so much!
I am now more likely to introduce meditation to more of my psychotherapy clients. I may even start a meditation group for those with anxiety disorders.
Copyright © Education To Go. All rights reserved. The material on this site cannot be reproduced or redistributed unless you have obtained prior written permission from Education To Go. Education To Go and ed2go are registered trademarks of Education To Go, a part of Cengage Learning.
Cengage Learning
Copyright Notices
Terms of Use
Privacy Statement


text:
16 members
Hi Eugene,
Welcome to Home Energy Pros! Feel free to join the conversation in the Forum and Groups. And share your energy efficiency photos, videos and upcoming events. If you're blogging about home performance, this is the place for you!
Don't forget to upload your profile photo. And add your location on our Member Map!
Diane, HEP Moderator
Hi Gene and welcoms aboard, Looking forward to seeing an ocassional comment so I can learn even more.
© 2017 Created by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Powered by


text:
Current Highlights on Broadway
Find a show or venue
Order by phone
Your independent guide to the best shows in New York
149 West 45th Street, New York, NY 10036
Ended 17 Jun 2012 after 4 months
Tony Winner
Venus in Fur makes its Broadway premiere in October and promises to be 90 minutes of good, kinky fun! Starring Tony Nominee Nina Arianda, and Directed by Tony Award Winner Walter Bobbie, this comedy is not to be missed.
Please note that casting is subject to change.
No comments yet, be the first to write a review.
Please note: The term Lyceum Theater and/or Venus in Fur as well as all associated graphics, logos, and/or other tradermarks, tradenames or copyrights are the property of the Lyceum Theater and/or Venus in Fur and are used herein for factual descriptive purposes only. We are in no way associated with or authorized by the Lyceum Theater and/or Venus in Fur and neither that entity nor any of its affiliates have licensed or endorsed us to sell tickets, goods and or services in conjunction with their events.


text:
we werent gonna bid on a PF unless we were able to unload Hansbrough
'); var yuipath = 'clientscript/yui'; var yuicombopath = ''; var remoteyui = false; } else // Load Rest of YUI remotely (where possible) { var yuipath = 'http://yui.yahooapis.com/2.9.0/build'; var yuicombopath = 'http://yui.yahooapis.com/combo'; var remoteyui = true; if (!yuicombopath) { document.write('
we werent gonna bid on a PF unless we were able to unload Hansbrough
I would have loved to have Scola on the team, but even with him and Green the only additions, lets say, does that put us over the top next year? He has a lot more mileage on him than West does, even though he is one year older. Does his production fall off more after another summer of Olympic play? Brand is even older. I just don't see them being what we need to take the next step, but then again, i could be completely wrong. Wouldn't be the first time.
Over the top? Highly unlikely...but better? I dunno....Whos better, Tyler or Scola? and they would cost about the same...thats the scary part. And you could have Scola for a nother couple years at that price...thats just tremendous value...at a position with serious questions going forward. Not to mention I think he would quickly become a fan favorite.
Somebody has to sit on the bench. Only 5 play at a time...and god knows weve paid a ton more than 3 million to sit on the bench. God forbid we get better on fantastic financial deal like that would be. All this concern over LT and salary cap, and yet a steal comes along at a position of need and we totally whiff.
What if we don't win the bidding? I think the FO was more comfortable knowing what they had in hand instead of what they might end up with.
Not sure much needed to change. If managed properly couldve likely just been an addition. And if we lose the bidding then we have exactly what we have now.
You sent PS&E your extensive resume yet cinotimz? I mean hell, you know the market better than the people who actually set it.
I doubt they could afford me
I think some of you are getting so defensive because you are afraid cinotimz might be right. First Donnie Walsh has a long history of over paying players. Tinsley's deal is one of the best examples but 40 million for George Hill is going to look pretty bad in a couple of years. Sixteen million for Mahinmi also seems a little spendy. If Simon is worried about money why would he even let Walsh into the building? Reasonable deals for these two would have saved the Pacers more cash than the chickenfeed they were paying Jones
. OK with the acquisitions but the pacers overpaid and many of you who are long-term fans should be able to see the pattern repeating.
FWIW, I had no problem with moving DC and D. Jones for cap space. Cap space can go for surprising amounts some times - for example, Minnesota just paid two 2nd rounders to NOH to get ~800k of cap space. So I'm willing to give the FO the benefit of the doubt and assume that trading DC and Dahntay for nothing is the best deal on the table at the time.
What bothers me more is what we didn't do with the cap space - which was that we didn't make full use of it. I like our signings well enough, but we're at least $5m below the tax line. It seems odd that we should stop spending when we still have needs and there are still good players left on the market. Especially since we knew that cap space would disappear once we sign our RFAs.
Possible reasons why we did so: 1) Hibbert and Hill's agents forced the issue of timing. This seems unlikely to me, as both players have already waited a while and a few more days isn't going to hurt them. Plus, the Pacers have an excellent rationale to ask them to wait a little longer. You'd think that the agents would continue to play ball, just to maintain good will. 2) Our FO just isn't interested in the remaining players out there, save for maybe Barbosa or similar budget player, who we can still sign with our $2.5m room exception. The problem with this is that it misses the opportunity for adding amnesty players on the cheap, since acquiring amnesty players requires cap space, and can't be done with exceptions. 3) I mentioned this possibility in another thread, and it's one that I'm not very comfortable with. But it's possible that we're operating on a self-imposed spending cap that's comfortably below the tax line (say $65m as compared to $70m for the tax). It could be that our owner is only comfortable spending up to this amount, it could be that our FO wanted to maintain future flexibility in the face of expected future spending. It would explain though why we've been dancing around balancing contracts like an over the cap team would - Shinn's Hornets and the current Grizzlies do this all the time, for example. Regardless of why, again the problem with this is it misses the chance of adding cheap contributors from amnesty. If we do end up going over budget after all, we still have plenty of time to dump a contract (like Hans' $3m expiring).
So what could the FO have done to make me a happier fan this offseason? For me, it's simply to wait through the amnesty period before finalizing Hibbert's and Hill's contracts. The amnesty period this year is from 11 July to 18 July - players can't be amnestied outside of this period. So just wait it out, bid on players that make sense for us, and if we miss, well we end up exactly where we are now. Surely we could have waited a week to do this.
At the very least, I hope they frontloaded Hill, Mahinmi, and Green's deals as much as possible. Which is to say, instead of standard escalating contracts, I hope we gave them flat or even decreasing contracts. That would at least have made more use of this season's cap space (as compared to escalating contracts) before that cap space disappeared into the ether.
I really think that would have stood a good chance of happening if they hadn't resigned Hibbert.
Honestly, I missed it until you quoted it. Your evil plan worked.
Who cares?
The Pacers brass doesn't have to tell us every detail and rationale of their business dealings.
The deal is done. The sports blogger experts and the message boards don't see the sense in it. But I don't think the Pacers much care what entities unrelated to their running of the team think about what they do or why.
Hell, in that case Hicks might as well shut this site down instead of Shade migrating it elsewhere. You heard him fans: show up, pay your money, and shut up! (can't make this green on my phone)
It's definitely a make or break year for Tyler. The team is giving him the green light as the primary backup PF, despite some safer options becoming available.


text:
I received a call from Joe Pinzone, a casting producer for Leftfield Pictures with word of a TV show looking to add some gay flair. In-Laws sounds more than just your typical high-drama lowbrow affair (but keep reading) and it is on A&E. He tells me the premise touches on the relationships between family members and, yeah, the in-laws. He reached out to the Voice because they are definitely interested in finding a same-sex couple and how they deal with meddling mothers-in-law or disapproving family members — healthy relationships can apply as well, but it is TV:
Do you and your in-laws have different ways of doing things that can sometimes be frustrating? Do your in-laws old-fashioned values differ from your modern lifestyle? Does the statement, "When mom says no, ask grandma" ring true in your family? Do your in-laws do strange things that get on your nerves? Do you wish your mother-in-law wouldn't baby your husband so much when she is around because when she leaves he won't do anything around the house?
If you love your in-laws but want to learn to adapt to each other's way of life, this is the show for you!
What's more, you'll get paid for participating. We know the Dallas market is prime for gay reality show participants (RuPaul's Drag Race, The A-List), so I have a feeling that the perfect couple is out there. Pinzone says to either apply, to nominate a couple or just learn more, contact him by email or by calling 212-564-2607 ext. 2395.
• Not much for family drama, but all about the partying and drinking? Lost in Austin invites all kinds of peeps who are at least 21 years old to make a full out Tex-ass of themselves. This shouldn't be a surprise, as one of the producers is behind Jersey Shore. You could be the next Snooki — provided you move to Austin:
Lost in Austin will feature a house full of outrageous Texans who will live it up in the ultimate pad in the heart of Downtown Austin as they rule the bar scene, rope in the hottest of the hot and drink anyone under the table.
This has glorious train wreck written all over it. Non-Austinites must supply a video of themselves via the website for casting which will be held in May.


text:
Best and Worst Player
Best Player
Goal Choice
C. TévezManchester City Position: Attacker
Fan Choice
C. TévezManchester City Position: Attacker
Worst Player
Goal Choice
N. NosworthyWatford Position: Defender
Fan Choice
J. BondWatford Position: Goalkeeper
Team Ratings
Manchester City
C. Pantilimon
The goalkeeper's handling was tested, especially early in the game, but he came through it with no problems and showed why Roberto Mancini had no qualms throwing him in for Joe Hart.
P. Zabaleta
Picked up an inexplicably stupid booking in the first half for dissent. Attacked well, careering down the right, and defended adequately while Fernado Forestieri did manage to roam into the space Zabaleta was supposed to occupy.
V. Kompany
The poor early season form is a thing of the past and he is forever one of City's better performers. Won the physical battle with Deeney when required and when a spare man, chose to venture forward to kick-start attacks. The only time he was really beaten, Deeney almost punished him.
J. Lescott
Did struggle up against the pace of Matej Vydra on the break, but is always susceptible to that and it is nothing new. Otherwise, looked to attack the space in front where Watford were dropping balls into Troy Deeney and did so well, intercepting on numerous occasions.
G. Clichy
Marco Cassetti did not truly believe he had the beating of Clichy, so it was a relatively quiet afternoon for the defender. He defended as you would expect and pressed the ball well when needed.
David Silva
Sometimes had to track back, and did so brilliantly. In the attacking third he is a wizard at work, obvious in the build-up to the second goal, skipping beyond his man to play James Milner into the box.
G. Barry
Always does the simple things well from deep, but managed to get himself forward more than usual and scored the all-important second goal to kill the game off, arriving in the box to head past the goalkeeper.
Javi García
Could be criticised for not imposing himself on the game more, but Garcia did what was asked of him from deep: get it and give it, to keep the ball moving. While he does not light up matches, his positional sense is excellent and he could flourish in 2013.
J. Milner
Started in a midfield three, but because of Watford's expansive formation, Milner enjoyed himself by playing with more width. He was a constant thorn in Daniel Pudil's side, consistently testing the visitors with tricky runs and crosses.
C. Tévez
The striker scored a wondrous free kick, like Leighton Baines a few days ago, in one of the few moments of genuine class. After that he looked busy, often creating chances for others and was at the centre of all that was good about City's attacking.
E. Džeko
Again, another disappointing performance from the start for Dzeko, as so often has been the case this season. Looked lethargic and Joel Ekstrand won the battle between the two.
J. Bond
His only Watford action before this was a defeat against Bradford City, but Bond looked like he belonged, making a couple of smart saves, commanding his area well and dealing with set pieces without fuss.
L. Doyley
In a fluid formation, Doyley was asked to play in between centre-half and right-back, depending on how deep Watford were defending, and he was caught out by sliding runs on his outside.
M. Cassetti
Did not really believe that when he got over the halfway line, he could beat Gael Clichy round the outside for pace, which limited the midfielder to early crosses, which mostly found Costel Pantilimon.
D. Pudil
Pudil is possibly the least defensive-minded full-back you are likely to see, often caught far too high up the pitch in trying to nick a goal before he was brought off at half-time.
J. Ekstrand
Chose to hold his position on the left-hand side of central defence rather than chase runners, and it proved effective. The Swede had to carry his partner Nyron Nosworthy for spells and was the last line of defence when slips were made.
N. Nosworthy
Completely outclassed by the inventive opposition, Nosworthy's last ditch tackles when one-on-one masked what was a cumbersome performance that fans of Sunderland will be very aware of.
N. Chalobah
Every Championship team needs a leggy midfielder able to get box-to-box and serve have the engine of two men. Chalobah was that man today, and worked hard for his team without having the quality desired.
J. Eustace
A very dangerous tackler of the ball, Eustace was booked in the first half which thankfully softened his game and nobody was in serious danger. He is like Karl Henry, but a little bit worse, but has a purpose as the anchorman in this side and did well on the ball.
F. Forestieri
Was put clean through just after City scored their first goal and if he had found the net, this might have been a different game. But he fluffed his lines, and did so a couple of times in front of goal, even though his play before then was productive.
M. Vydra
The maverick of the Watford side, Vydra has the pace and trickery to hurt teams as he so often does in the league. While he is a touch lightweight, most of the Hornets' bright moments revolved around the Czech.
T. Deeney
Looked an isolated figure in the second half when Watford tried to keep the score down, but put himself about and is a nuisance in the air. Posed a goalscoring threat but had little opportunity to score.
Marcos Lopes
Could not have wished to announce himself to the home crowd any better - scoring with his first touch late on the round off the victory nicely. Showed good awareness to get in there to finish.
S. Sinclair
Does the fact he was not given a chance from the start tell some sort of story? Sinclair came on, took up good positions, but lacked a true final ball.
M. Balotelli
Brought on in the second half to rapturous applause, showing that the training ground incident this week has not stopped the supporters loving the striker. Showed for the ball and wanted to impress, with his late shot being parried for Maros Lopes' goal.


text:
the branch of theravada we all have now comes from the Mahavihara, which as i understand it was not originally the only game in town as far as theravada was concerned. it's just what we have now thanks to an accident of history (or many accidents whatever)
do you think there is a respectable and respectful way to make a different branch of theravada?
how does one go about this? has it already happened in institutionalised theravada? or is it mostly a western lay movement?
actually any and all thoughts on this subject are welcome.
especially from our ordained members who's lives are more closely tied into how the dhamma plays itself out, is there a fear of change in this regard in the sangha that you can see?


text:
Adding whole grains to your diet can be easy and tasty! Here are some tips to help you find new and inventive ways to increase your whole grain intake and enjoy healthier meals.
Top 10 Tips for Integrating Whole Grains
Replace up to 50% of your baking with whole wheat flours.
Use Whole Wheat Flour for breads and Whole Wheat Pastry Flour for pastries such as muffins, cookies and cakes.
For whole grain nutrition with less whole wheat taste, use Hard White Whole Wheat Flour in your baking. Use as you would Whole Wheat Flour.
Replace up to 25% of your recipes with whole grain flours such as Quinoa, Barley, Millet and Spelt Flours.
Integrate whole grain dry cereals into your baked goods. You can replace up to 20% of a recipe with oats, multi grain cereals, farinas, cracked or rolled grains.
When using all whole wheat flour, use 7/8 cup per 1 cup of white flour for best results. The would be equivalent to 2 Tb less flour per cup.
Eat barley, quinoa, brown rice, kasha or another whole grain as a side dish instead of white rice or potatoes.
Use grains such as quinoa or barley in entrees like risotto, pilaf and stuffed peppers.
Add whole grains to soups, stews and salads.
Soak whole grains in the morning to cut down on cooking time for dinner preparation.
A customer submitted a great recipe for a coffee cake and we used one of these principles for adding more whole grain goodness. While the recipe called for 2 cups white flour, we found using 1 cup white flour and 1 cup 10 Grain Flour worked wonderfully. If you do not have access to the 10 Grain Flour, Whole Wheat Pastry Flour or Hard White Whole Wheat Flour will work as well.
Recipe by John Ernest II
1/2 cup chopped Pecan Halves
1/4 cup Sugar
2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 cup Butter
1 cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1 cup Banana, mashed
1 Tb Vanilla
1/2 cup Sour Cream
1 cup White Flour, Unbleached
1 cup 10-Grain Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Sea Salt
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a spring form pan and set aside.
Combine the chopped pecans, ¼ cup sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl, set aside.
Cream together the shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, bananas and vanilla. Add the sour cream and mix until blended.
In a separate bowl, mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add this to the batter and beat until just blended.
Sprinkle half the sugar/nut mixture into the greased pan. Top with half of the cake batter. Follow with the second half of the sugar/nut mixture and end with the rest of the cake batter. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes in the pan, then remove springform rim to finish cooling. Makes 18 Servings.


text:
President Obama and Climate Change
Remarks of President Barack Obama
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
October 23, 2009
Excerpt from President Obama's speech at MIT:
"Everybody in America should have a stake in legislation that can transform our energy system into one that's far more efficient, far cleaner, and provide energy independence for America -- making the best use of resources we have in abundance, everything from figuring out how to use the fossil fuels that inevitably we are going to be using for several decades, things like coal and oil and natural gas; figuring out how we use those as cleanly and efficiently as possible; creating safe nuclear power; sustainable -- sustainably grown biofuels; and then the energy that we can harness from wind and the waves and the sun. It is a transformation that will be made as swiftly and as carefully as possible, to ensure that we are doing what it takes to grow this economy in the short, medium, and long term. And I do believe that a consensus is growing to achieve exactly that."
For text of the speech, click here.
For video of the address, click here.
Related blog post: The Clean Energy Economy of Tomorrow
Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
May 16, 2009
Excerpt from President Obama's weekly address:
Chairman Henry Waxman and members of the Energy and Commerce Committee brought together stakeholders from all corners of the country – and every sector of our economy – to reach an historic agreement on comprehensive energy legislation. It's another promising sign of progress, as longtime opponents are sitting together, at the same table, to help solve one of America's most serious challenges.
For the first time, utility companies and corporate leaders are joining, not opposing, environmental advocates and labor leaders to create a new system of clean energy initiatives that will help unleash a new era of growth and prosperity.
It's a plan that will finally reduce our dangerous dependence on foreign oil and cap the carbon pollution that threatens our health and our climate. Most important, it's a plan that will trigger the creation of millions of new jobs for Americans, who will produce the wind turbines and solar panels and develop the alternative fuels to power the future. Because this we know: the nation that leads in 21st century clean energy is the nation that will lead the 21st century global economy. America can and must be that nation – and this agreement is a major step toward this goal.
For full audio of the address, click here.
For video of the address, click here.
Statement of Eileen Claussen
President, Pew Center on Global Climate Change
on the President's FY 2010 proposed budget
February 26, 2009
President Obama's budget contains the key building blocks for creating the clean energy economy we so badly need. It re-emphasizes the President's support for an economy-wide greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program, sets aggressive but achievable targets for reducing emissions, invests in new low-carbon technologies and helps those families, communities, and businesses that need assistance in transitioning to a low-carbon economy. Most importantly, the budget also recognizes that now is the time to act and calls for a trading system to be up and operating by 2012.
Excerpt from the President's budget.
The Administration is developing a comprehensive energy and climate change plan to invest in clean energy, end our addiction to oil, address the global climate crisis, and create new American jobs that cannot be outsourced. After enactment of the Budget, the Administration will work expeditiously with key stakeholders and the Congress to develop an economy-wide emissions reduction program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions approximately 14 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, and approximately 83 percent below 2005 levels by 2050. This program will be implemented through a cap-and-trade system, a policy approach that dramatically reduced acid rain at much lower costs than the traditional government regulations and mandates of the past. Through a 100 percent auction to ensure that the biggest polluters do not enjoy windfall profits, this program will fund vital investments in a clean energy future totaling $150 billion over 10 years, starting in FY 2012. The balance of the auction revenues will be returned to the people, especially vulnerable families, communities, and businesses to help the transition to a clean energy economy.
Statement of Eileen Claussen
President, Pew Center on Global Climate Change
on the President's address to Congress
February 25, 2009
President Obama understands that our economic recovery and our energy future are inextricably linked. By calling upon Congress to send him market-based global warming legislation, the President has clearly signaled that he understands the risks we face from unmitigated climate change. His talent for explaining tough problems and motivating us to work together to solve them is reason to feel incredibly positive about our ability to succeed in these critically important areas, despite the tough economic challenges we face.
Excerpt from the President's Address to Congress
February 24, 2009
But to truly transform our economy, protect our security, and save our planet from the ravages of climate change, we need to ultimately make clean, renewable energy the profitable kind of energy. So I ask this Congress to send me legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy in America. And to support that innovation, we will invest fifteen billion dollars a year to develop technologies like wind power and solar power; advanced biofuels, clean coal, and more fuel-efficient cars and trucks built right here in America.
Statement of Eileen Claussen
President, Pew Center on Global Climate Change
on appointment of Todd Stern, Special Envoy on Climate Change
January 26, 2009
Secretary Clinton's appointment of America's first special envoy on climate change is another clear and early signal that the Obama administration is determined to address this issue head on. This new position can help ensure strong and focused engagement at the highest levels as the United States works with other countries to forge a new international climate agreement. As special envoy, Todd Stern brings the expertise, insight and judgment needed to represent renewed U.S. leadership in the global effort against climate change.
Statement of Eileen Claussen
President, Pew Center on Global Climate Change
on President-Elect Obama's New Energy and Environment Appointments
December 11, 2008
This is a team with a keen interest in addressing climate change, and the talent and skills to get the job done. With Steven Chu, Carol Browner, Lisa Jackson and Nancy Sutley at the helm, President-Elect Obama's Administration will be well-equipped to tackle the challenge of building a new clean energy future that preserves the climate while revitalizing our economy. We look forward to working with the new Administration to achieve these goals.
On the occasion of President-Elect Barack Obama's Statement to Bi-Partisan Governors' Global Climate Summit
November 18, 2008
This is exactly the kind of leadership the country and the world have been waiting for. President-elect Obama's statement makes clear that he's ready to roll up his sleeves and deliver the action that is needed to protect our climate, our economy, and our national security. He is setting the right goals and choosing the right policies. We urge the bipartisan leadership in Congress to work closely with the new president to quickly enact an economy-wide cap-and-trade system. Doing so will ensure significant reductions in U.S. emissions at the lowest possible cost, and help set the stage for a new international agreement ensuring that all other major economies contribute their fair share as well.
On the occasion of Senator Barack Obama's election to the presidency, the Center released the following statement of Eileen Claussen, President, Pew Center on Global Climate Change
November 5, 2008
President-elect Obama faces an array of urgent challenges when he assumes the Presidency on January 20, but I am confident that he will provide the leadership needed to enact a comprehensive climate policy that significantly reduces U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. I am equally optimistic that new leadership will provide the impetus we need to forge a strong green energy economy and restore America's standing in the world community, and I look forward with great anticipation to working with the Obama administration to achieve these critical goals.


text:
I'm on holiday this week, visiting my parents. Part of being on holiday means not doing my day job. (Those of you who've seen me work or who have seen the output of my work know that this is pretty rare.) I do have most of my work resources with me -- my laptop, my phone, a notepad, and an Internet connection, but this week is devoted to something besides writing and editing.
One of my goals this week was to do more work on Everything. Though the company's long since out of business, it's still viable software. There are still plenty of improvements to make, and I'd like to use it for a couple of projects in the future.
To aid in my goals, I decided to write yet another standalone web server. Being a smart (read lazy) programmer, I used HTTP::Daemon. I could install Apache and mod_perl on my laptop and work through the configuration there, but this allows other people to debug Everything on their laptops and will help with a future goal.
HTTP::Daemon and CGI.pm have never played well together. With the GET request method, it's not difficult to populate
%ENV appropriately. It's harder with POSTed parameters. One solution is to tie
*STDIN. I've done it before. Another idea is to write your own CGI parser. Good luck. (I've done that too.)
This time, I took a two-pronged approach. Since Gisle had already explained the wonders of
headers_only last July (thanks, Gisle!), I didn't have to work around HTTP::Daemon having already read the entire request. First, I modified Everything slightly so as to pass an initializer filehandle to the CGI constructor. Then, I overloaded the iterator (
readline, basically) in HTTP::Daemon::ClientConn. With a few lines of code to read a line at a time (respecting buffers and reading from sockets), CGI now gets something it expects.
GET works, POST works, images work (and can be generalized to regular files easily), and cookies work. I'm pretty sure uploads work, but I haven't tested them. All of this in a hundred and thirty lines of readable code: EVServer.
That was a big boost to my mood. As it turns out, though, I was coming down with a nasty, nasty head cold. That explains why I've been wanting to sleep twelve hours a day for the last week.
I'm also working with HTTP::Daemon. It's a pretty neat class (even with the annoying SIGPIPE errors). Collecting CGI form params is a little annoying, but I use this method:
sub get_cgi {
my ($self, $r) = @_;
my $q = CGI->new($r->content); # POST args
my %get_args = $r->url->query_form;
while (my ($k,$v) = each %get_args) {
$q->param($k, $v);
return $q;
This lets me pretend that the CGI module is working correctly in this environment.


text:
22-770 - Heavy Duty Crimp Tool For Solderless Terminals 10-22awg
Crimps insulated solderless terminals for wire gauges 22~10 Ratcheting action ensures a full crimp cycle for positive connections Locks in the closed position for storage
28-6295 - 175 Piece Solderless Terminal Kit
Solderless Terminal Assortment Kit
175 piece kit contains a complete assortment of insulated ring, spade, butt and disconnects, all conveniently arranged in a clear polypropylene storage case. Perfect for a wide variety of service and installation needs, and esse...
29-1970 - Mini Mag Lite - Black
The Mini Mag Lite is the flashlight that changed the industry. Until Mag introduced the Mini Mag Lite no one ever dreamed a flashlight could be so small yet so powerful. The Mini Mag Lite includes a spare lamp and two "AA" batteries.
22-24120 - 22" Black Tactical Weatherproof Equipment Case
Durable equipment case provides maximum shock protection for contents making it useful for instruments, audio/video equipment, tactical gear, photographic equipment and test equipment. Pre-cut cubed foam insert (top layer only) is easily customizable to fit nearly...
They always have good communication and the products I order show up in time.


text: While LEDs have helped many businesses reduce their carbon footprint, each retailer must decide if the endeavor is a worthy long-term investment. By: Erin Rigik, Associate Editor There's not a business owner that wouldn't love to save to money on utility costs while achieving energy efficiencies. LED lighting is allowing many convenience store chains to


text:
By Kimberly M. Smith, Piedmont Natural Gas
Energetic Women is an organization with an important mission: "To increase the pool of promotable women in Energy Operations and Engineering." As "Our Values Statement" notes, we will always:
- Communicate in a positive manner
- Provide an encouraging and supportive environment
- Respect each other's diverse experiences, background and contribution
- Encourage collaborative, inclusive and professional dialog
The launch of Energetic Women was first publicized via the June 2007 Midwest Energy Alliance (MEA) Energy Delivery News & Solutions eNewsletter, in an article with the same title as this Viewpoint:
"Ladies of the Energy Industry Unite! (MEA Announces NEW "Energetic Women" Group!)"
Fast-forward six years and it's easy to see that we've grown to be much more than a newsletter item. A partial list of our activities/milestones includes:
- Hosting the 6th Annual Energetic Women conference this year (June 12 -14, in Baltimore, MD)
- Hosting bi-monthly Webinars on various topics
- Providing articles on leadership and development
- Providing tools for mentorship
- Providing online leadership training
- Inspiring book clubs/reading recommendations
- Having a LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter presence
- Exceeding expected participation and sponsorship
What does Energetic Women mean to me? First, it's a confidence-building organization. It is also a growing movement—one that's expanding as we learn more about what women are seeking in the areas of leadership and development while working for a utility company. The tools we offer, however, are useful and meaningful to women seeking advancement or enhanced skills in their current roles, regardless of industry sector.
As a woman working in the utility operations field for 10+ years, my experience has been somewhat different from that of others who came before me. I've been able to actually see, know and work alongside a number of women who have become professional engineers. Though this pool may be small, I realize that I was blessed with an opportunity early in my career that many never have.
The reality is that more times than I care to admit in the course of my work, I've been the only woman at the table with an engineering background. I want that to change. Since becoming involved with Energetic Women, I've begun leveraging tools provided by the organization to guide my steps as I "Lean In" and try to be an example to other women with interest in engineering and operations.
Although increasing numbers of women have begun venturing into roles traditionally held by men, Energetic Women will continue to inspire and support women in the utility industry. Over time, we hope more and more women will say they chose to pursue engineering and operations paths based on utilization of the networks, training, mentors and tools our organization built to pave the way to career development, advancement and success.
Energetic Women today is the beginning of what may be the future of utility operations training and development—for both women and men. I invite you to visit us at www.energeticwomen.org. MT
Kimberly Smith is Operations Supervisor for Piedmont Natural Gas, in Charlotte, NC. A mechanical engineer, she also serves as Chair of the Energetic Women organization.


text:
Pinot Days Principle
Pinot Days is the largest gathering of Pinot Noir producers in the world. It has to be; pinot noir is exceptionally stylistically diverse, and our aim is to give every pinot lover a place to "go deep" within the style you love. And, if you're open to venturing outside of your comfort zone, you can learn about, and quite possibly love, other styles as well. To this end we gather hundreds of pinot noir winemakers to pour hundreds of pinots that range from the picture of elegance to forward and "wow." You can't try them all – don't try – it's not the point! The point is to follow your palate like a North Star, and experience this beautiful little grape in as many forms and styles as compel you. It is an endless pursuit of knowledge. So, ignore the critics; ask folks in the crowd, "Who have you tried? What do you like?" Pinot noir is way more than a grape variety - it's an art form. It is an endlessly fascinating intellectual and aesthetic pursuit for people who want to savor the good things in life. So we invite the world to Pinot Days, because pinot noir can change the world, one pretty, little, thin-skinned grape at a time.
Click The Festival City Below To
View Details Of Each Event
Brought to you by
Bay Area Wine Project


text:
Someone needs to make a movie about Billy Beane making the stupid decision to trade Gio Gonzalez.
Someone needs to make a movie about Billy Beane making the stupid decision to trade Gio Gonzalez.
Taking nothing away from Gio, but those last three at bats were pitiful. Swinging harder doesn't make your bat quicker. Mes was even cheating on the fastball.
Gun must be wrong. Gio has to be throwing 106.
Adam LaRoche is one of the most annoying players to me. Just his personality on the field and his swing.
Good outing, Leake.
If Bob C wants to win this year, he needs to tell Walt to take his backend of the rotation seriously. I know they can't be lights out but they have to at least keep us in ballgames.
I'm punting this game. Let Leake go as long as he can and finish the game with Lecure/Hoover/Simon.
"In our sundown perambulations of late, through the outer parts of Brooklyn, we have observed several parties of youngsters playing 'base', a certain game of ball. Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our close rooms, the game of ball is glorious"
-Walt Whitman
Espinosa homered with 1 on. Next batter singles....gettn uglier then Ron Robinson.
Dp 2 outs, Gio up
Sorry -- forgot to re-post this in honor of George Grande's first game of the year:
Grab a few cold ones and join the sensation that is: Caveat Emperor's Official RedsZone George Grande Drinking Game:
This is a group drinking game (Reds baseball is a social affair). If you find yourself playing alone, utilize the drink numbers in [brackets] as your personal drinking responsibilities.
Before the game, everyone must assign themselves a number 1-9. If playing with disposable cups, write your number on your cup.
RULE 1 "Hello": Start the game with a full drink. When George Grande greets you with a "Hi, Hello, and Welcome", give everyone in the group a cheers and take 3 drinks. [3]
RULE 2 "Story Time": Whenever George Grande says "You know his story," everyone must shout out one fact about the player on screen. Anyone who cannot shout out a fact or repeats someone else's fact must take a drink. If someone shouts out an incorrect fact (verified as incorrect by baseball-reference.com or wikipedia.com), he or she must finish their drink. [1]
RULE 3 "Smiling": If George Grande goes to commercial saying the Reds are "On the smiling side of the scoreboard" everyone must start smiling. The last person to smile must take 1 drink for every run the Reds are ahead by. [1]
RULE 4 "Gonna Bee": On any deep fly ball, if George Grande begins to say "It's gonna be...." everyone must start drinking and continue to drink until George finishes his call with "Gone!" If anyone actually finishes their drink during this time, they must shout out "Gone!" as soon as their drink is empty. This person can then give drinks out to the group in the same amount as the HR that was just hit (solo HR = 1 drink, 2 run = 2 drinks, etc.). [2]
RULE 5 "Got It": If any player makes a catch in the outfield and causes George Grande to exclaim "He Got It! He Got It!" everyone must high five someone and have 1 drink for every time George repeated the phrase "Got It." [2 or more]
If "He Got It! He Got It" comes after a "It's Gonna Be......" as a result of a catch at the wall, everyone must finish their drink. [finish]
RULE 6 "Double Play: On a double play ball, if George Grande calls it by the numbers (ex. "6-4-3") every person with that number -- which should have been assigned at the start of the game -- must take 2 drinks. If Grande adds a "Yes, siree!" at the end of his call, everyone BUT the numbers listed must take 2 drinks. [2]
RULE 7 "Birds on the Bats": If George Grande starts talking about the Cardinals, for whatever reason, during a game not involving St. Louis, everyone must take 1 drink. If Grande refers to them as the "Redbirds" instead of their official nickname, take an additional drink. [1-2]
If George specifically mentions Albert Pujols (#5), player 5 gets to assign 5 drinks to the rest of the group. If Grande refers to him as "Sir Albert" or "Prince Albert," player 5 gets to assign 5 drinks but must also take 5 drinks himself. If your group has less than 5 players, everyone must yell "Hail Albert!" and take 5 drinks. [5]
RULE 8 "That's Not My Name": During the broadcast, if Grande refers to player by a nickname everyone must shout out another famous Reds nickname. The last person to shout out a nickname must take 2 drinks. If Grande makes a reference to Juan Castro as "Manos del Oros" everyone must shout "Fiesta!" and take 2 drinks. [2]
RULE 9 "Brilliant!": When Grande is calling a defensive play, if the word "Brilliant" is used as a description, everyone must shout out "Brilliant!" in the manner of the old Guinness ads, give a quick cheers, and take one drink. Anyone who does not shout out "Brilliant!" must apologize to the player who made the play and take 2 penalty drinks. [1]
If anyone is actually drinking a Guinness during the game, he or she may order another player to finish his drink and bring him another. [finish]
RULE 10 "Get 'em on": If, when talking about moving runners or playing small-ball, Grande states "Get 'em on, get 'em over, get 'em in," everyone must take 1 drink (since we're playing for 1 run). If Grande states this as a result of a run actually scoring, everyone must drink 1 for every run the Reds are currently ahead. If the scoring play results in the Reds still losing, everyone must yell at Grande for being an idiot and take 1 drink for every run the Reds are currently behind, plus 2 penalty drinks. [1 or 2]
RULE 11 "The Creeper": During the telecast, any time George Grande makes a reference to Chris Welsh by any of his nicknames (The Crafty Lefthander, the Creeper, etc.), Player 1 (Welsh was a pitcher, after all) must assign 3 drinks to the group. [3]
If Grande discusses Welsh's facial hair (or lack thereof), anyone in the group without a beard, goatee or mustache must take 2 drinks. [2]
If Grande brings up Welsh's only career home run, Player 1 must take 4 drinks. If they actually show footage of Welsh's home run, Player 1 must give out 4 drinks and finish his own drink. [finish / 4]
RULE 12 "Boot-Scootin' Boogie": If Grande describes anyone as "Boot scootin" down the line, the first person to drink gets to assign 4 drinks to the group for being the fastest. If Grande states someone has "scampered" home, the owner of the house where the game is being watched gets to assign 4 drinks to the group. If you are watching the game at a bar, everyone must take 4 drinks and the last person to finish must order another round. [4]
RULE 13 "This One Belongs To The Reds": If the Reds win the game, everyone must cheers and thank George for a job well done. Take 2 drinks for making it to the end. If the Reds lose the game, everyone must give the TV the middle finger and finish their drinks to cover the sorrow.
Cincinnati Here We Go.
26 Years and Counting...
Board Moderators may, at their discretion and judgment, delete and/or edit any messages that violate any of the following guidelines: 1. Explicit references to alleged illegal or unlawful acts. 2. Graphic sexual descriptions. 3. Racial or ethnic slurs. 4. Use of edgy language (including masked profanity). 5. Direct personal attacks, flames, fights, trolling, baiting, name-calling, general nuisance, excessive player criticism or anything along those lines. 6. Posting spam. 7. Each person may have only one user account. It is fine to be critical here - that's what this board is for. But let's not beat a subject or a player to death, please.


text:
Best Start Long Beach Partnership Meeting
First 5 LA
Monthly Event - Fourth Thursday of every month: 4:30 PM (PDT)
Event Details
Best Start Central Long Beach Community Meeting
Thursday, December 19, 2013
4:30pm-5:00pm – Dinner
5:00pm-7:00pm – Year End Celebration
St Mary Medical Center
Parr Health Enhancement Center
1050 Linden Avenue
Long Beach, CA 90813
Best Start Central Long Beach has been busy this year
and it is time to celebrate all of our accomplishments.
We will have music, year-end reflection, crafts,
and even a dance performance!
Bring a friend and come celebrate with us.
Dinner is at 4:30pm and the celebration starts at 5:00pm.
RSVP by December 16th - it is the only information that we have to order enough Food, Childcare, and Parking Passes for you.
RSVP: http://clb1.eventbrite.com/ or call 213.482.7834
Reunión de la Comunidad de Best Start Central Long Beach
jueves, 19 de diciembre del 2013
4:30pm-5:00pm - Cena
5:00pm-7:00pm – Celebración del Fin delAño
St Mary Medical Center
Parr Health Enhancement Center
1050 Linden Avenue
Long Beach, CA 90813
Best Start del Centro de Long Beach ha estado muy ocupado este año y es el momento para celebrar todos nuestros logros.
¡Tendremos música, una reflexión del fin del año, artesanías,
e incluso un espectáculo de danza!
Invite a un amigo y venga a celebrar con nosotros.
La cena es a las 4:30 pm y la celebración comienza a las 5:00 pm.
Asegúrese de confirmar su asistencia antes del 16 de diciembre, es la única información que tenemos para ordenar suficiente comida, cuidado de niños, y pases de estacionamiento para usted.
St. Mary's Medical Center
Parr Health Enhancement Center
1050 Linden Avenue
Long Beach,
Monthly Event - Fourth Thursday of every month: 4:30 PM (PDT)
Add to my calendar
First 5 LA
Champions for Our Children
First 5 LA is a unique child-advocacy organization created by California voters to invest tobacco tax revenues in programs for improving the lives of children in Los Angeles County, from prenatal through age 5.
Since 1998, we have invested more than $1.1 billion in grants and programs to champion the health, education, and safety causes concerning young children and families.
Our vision is to create a future throughout our communities where all young children are born healthy and raised in a loving and nurturing environment so that they grow up healthy, are eager to learn, and reach their full potential.
Our Mission
First 5 LA's mission is to make significant and measurable progress towards our vision by increasing the number of children from the prenatal stage through age 5 who are physically and emotionally healthy, safe, and ready to learn.
We accomplish our mission by partnering with communities and families in Los Angeles County to forward our goals in the areas of Early Learning, Health, and Safe Children and Families.


text:
Topic: TODAY: NCI Seeks Advocacy Community Input
I don't know how many people check the Calendar of Events, so I thought I would post this information on the boards in case anyone would like to participate in the conference call. It's open to anyone, and the details regarding the call are listed below. Please keep an eye on the calendar of events, as we are doing our best with updating it with interesting topics.
NCI Seeks Advocacy Community Input
Start Time: 1:00 PM
You are invited to provide feedback to NCI on the best way to involve advocates in cancer research. We want to hear from all segments of the advocacy community. Join us by telephone on Wednesday, November 5, 2008, from 3:00


text:
|Product Description
• Patented pre-curved fingers with seamless construction for ultimate durability.
• Proton-Ultra™ palm and fingers with wrap construction prevents rope burn tested and proven to be significantly more durable than conventional glove materials.
• Dura-Grip™ fabric on lower part of palm construction providing incredible levels of grip without any compromise in flexibility and durability.
• Contoured fit for dexterity.
• Generous length thumb and index finger for maximum protection.
• Durable stretch woven fabric on back for more flex.
• Inside wrist closure prevents accidental starting of watch.
Model: 7451


text:
Don't miss out on a lower price on this hotel
Get an overview of this hotelPhiladelphia Center City hotel connected to convention center
Popular property highlights
City center location
Linked by skywalk to the Pennsylvania Convention Center and Gallery Mall, this Center City Philadelphia hotel is 7 blocks from Chinatown and 8 blocks from Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. The 13th St Trolley station is just a block away.
Fitness rooms, pool
In the 92,000 square feet of flexible function space, the hotel offers two fitness rooms and an indoor pool; a restaurant, bar, and coffee shop.
Signature bedding
The hotel's 1,408 guestrooms offer Marriott's Revive Collection signature bedding, high-speed Internet access, video games, complimentary premium TV channels, and subtle decor with an antique touch. Free cribs are also available.
Guest Highlights
- Comfortable rooms
- Central location
- Walkability
- Helpful staff
- Clean guestrooms
- Parking wasn't ideal
Philadelphia Marriott Downtown
Renovations & Closures
- Select guestrooms
- One of the swimming pools
- Swimming pool
Hotel Amenities
Hotel Amenities
Connected to the Pennsylvania Convention Center and Gallery Mall via skywalk, Marriott Philadelphia Downtown is in central Center City Philadelphia. Constitution Center, Independence Hall, and the Liberty Bell are eight blocks away.
Recreational amenities include a fitness center in each building with cardio equipment and free weights, and an indoor pool. Free WiFi is available in public areas.
The hotel offers a function space appropriate for conferences, banquets, and weddings. Business services include 72 meeting rooms, a business center, a Kinko's branch in the lobby, and notary, secretarial, and shipping services.
The hotel also includes a restaurant, a bar, and a Starbucks coffee shop.
Smoking is not permitted in the hotel.
- 24-hour front desk
- Total number of rooms - 1,408
- ATM/banking
- Number of floors - 23
- Bar/lounge
- Breakfast available (surcharge)
- Business center
- Newspapers in lobby (surcharge)
- Conference space
- Coffee shop or café
- Express check-in
- Concierge services
- Dry cleaning/laundry service
- Elevator/lift
- Express check-out
- Fitness facilities
- Gift shops or newsstand
- Free WiFi
- Luggage storage
- Laundry facilities
- Meeting rooms 72
- Porter/bellhop
- Restaurant
- Safe-deposit box at front desk
- Conference space size (feet) - 92000
- Snack bar/deli
- Conference space size (meters) - 8547
- Number of meeting rooms - 72
- Smoke-free property
- Indoor pool
- Wedding services
- Valet parking (surcharge)
Family Friendly Amenities
- Family Hotel
- Indoor pool
- Free Wi-Fi
- Snack bar/deli
- Laundry facilities
- Refrigerator
- Cribs/infant beds (complimentary)
Available in all rooms: ,
Available in some public areas: Free WiFi
Valet parking (surcharge)
Room Amenities
- Air conditioning
- Phone
- Bathrobes
- Refrigerator
- Daily housekeeping
- Private bathroom
- Coffee/tea maker
- Free weekday newspaper
- Free toiletries
- Desk
- Hair dryer
- Iron/ironing board
- Cable TV service
- WiFi (surcharge)
- In-room safe
- In-room climate control (air conditioning)
- Pay movies
- Premium bedding
- Premium TV channels
- Shower/tub combination
- Video-game console
- Room service (limited hours)
- Connecting/adjoining rooms available
- Free cribs/infant beds
- Rollaway/extra beds (surcharge)
- Wired Internet access (surcharge)
Where to Eat
13 - American classics with a contemporary twist. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Circ - Lobby bar in a chic contemporary setting. Signature cocktails, light snacks, and appetizers. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Starbucks - Specialty coffees and coffee drinks, pastries, and other baked goods. Open throughout the day.
Room service - available from early morning to late evening.
Nearby Things to Do
The seventh floor of Marriott Philadelphia Downtown's main building houses a fitness room and an indoor pool. A second fitness room is located on the third floor of the deluxe building. Fitness rooms include cardio equipment (each come with individual TVs) and free weights.
Boat tours operate on the Delaware River. Public golf courses are located within five miles of the hotel, including Franklin D. Roosevelt Golf Club, Cobbs Creek Golf Club, and Juniata Golf Course.
- Golfing nearby
- Hiking/biking trails nearby
- Golf lessons available nearby
If you have requests for specific accessibility needs, please note them at check-out when you book your room.
Hotel Policies
Check-in time ends at midnight
Check-in time starts at 4 PM
Minimum check-in age is 18
Special check-in instructions:
Check-out time is 11 AM
Payment types
Children and extra beds
- Children are welcome.
- Rollaway/extra beds are available for USD 20.00 per day.
- Free cribs (infant beds)!
- Pets not allowed (service animals welcome)
You need to know
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy.
- Deposit: USD 250.00 per night
Optional extras
- Fee for buffet breakfast: USD 19 per person (approximately)
- Fee for in-room wireless Internet: USD 12.95 per day (rates may vary)
- Fee for in-room wired Internet: USD 12.95 per day (rates may vary)
- Valet parking fee: USD 49 per day (in/out privileges)
- Rollaway bed fee: USD 20.00 per day
Hotel Name
- Marriott Philadelphia Downtown
- Philadelphia Downtown Marriott
- Philadelphia Marriott Downtown
- Marriott Philadelphia
- Philadelphia Marriott Downtown Hotel Philadelphia
- Philadelphia Marriott Downtown Hotel
- Marriott Hotel Philadelphia Downtown
We should mention
The property has connecting/adjoining rooms, which are subject to availability and can be requested by contacting the property using the number on the booking confirmation.
Stay For Breakfast
Stay in selected rooms and receive daily breakfast for two adults and children under 13.
Extra-person charges apply for additional adults and include breakfast.
This promotion is valid for on-site breakfast from the hot buffet, full menu, or room service. Guests must book the "Stay for Breakfast" room type. Promotion may not be available on all days. Not combinable with other promotions.
Business Power Package
Book a stay in a qualifying rate plan and receive the following:
- Breakfast for one daily
- Complimentary high-speed Internet access
- Complimentary local and long distance calls
Offer not combinable with other promotions. Guests must book "Business Power Package" rate plan to qualify.


text:
NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- Doug Kass of Seabreeze Partners is known for his accurate stock market calls and keen insights into the economy, which he shares with RealMoney Pro readers in his daily trading diary.Among his posts this past week, Kass explained why Apple's Black Friday sale was no big deal and why recent global economic data contradict the doomsayers. Please
Keeping Tab(let)s
Originally published on Friday, Nov. 23 at 8:17 a.m. EST. I forgot to post this poor assessment of Microsoft's ( MSFT) Surface tablet on Tech Crunch from earlier this week, "An iPad Lover's Take on the Surface With Windows RT." And speaking of Apple ( AAPL), the company's Black Friday savings is only $7 on earphones to $101 on a $1,600 laptop -- kind of a so-what sale. > > Bull or Bear? Vote in Our Poll I would construe the lack of big Black Friday sales at Apple as a thin reed but mildly positive indicator that demand is quite strong. At the time of publication, Kass was long AAPL.
The World Keeps Turning
Originally published on Friday, Nov. 23 at 7:39 a.m. EST.


text:
ORLANDO, Fla. - After tracking severe storms across Central Florida on Tuesday, Local 6 meteorologists are tracking a big cooldown for the weekend.
Wednesday will start with some cloud cover, but temperatures will warm to 76 degrees.
"More sunshine will break out as the day progresses," Local 6 meteorologist Troy Bridges said.
The overnight low will drop into the low 50s.
On Thursday, high temps will reach the mid-70s across Central Florida, but cooler weather will reach the region by the weekend.
Temperatures only warm into the mid-60s on Saturday, and lows will drop into the 30s and 40s Saturday and Sunday nights.
By Sunday, temperatures will only warm into the 50s and 60s.
There's a 10 percent chance of rain on Saturday and Sunday.
Watch Local 6 News and stay with ClickOrlando.com for more on this story.
Copyright 2013 by ClickOrlando.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


text:
Find information on common issues.
Ask questions and find answers from other users.
Suggest a new site feature or improvement.
Check on status of your tickets.
More tags
Quantum dots have a small, countable number of electrons confined in a small space. Their electrons are confined by having a tiny bit of conducting material surrounded on all sides by an insulating material. If the insulator is strong enough, and the conducting volume is small enough, then the confinement will force the electrons to have discrete (quantized) energy levels. These energy levels can influence the device behavior at a macroscopic scale, showing up, for example, as peaks in the conductance. Because of the quantized energy levels, quantum dots have been called "artificial atoms." Neighboring, weakly-coupled quantum dots have been called "artificial molecules."
Learn more about quantum dots from the many resources on this site, listed below. More information on Quantum dots can be found here.
Nanoparticles in Biology and Materials: Engineering the Interface through Synthesis
0.0 out of 5 stars
29 Jan 2007 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Vincent Rotello
Monolayer-protected nanoparticles provide versatile tools for
nanotechnology. In our research, we use these nanoparticles as
building blocks for the creation of functional magnetic and...
Nanotechnology and Occupational Safety and Health: What are the Issues, What do we know, and What is NIOSH Doing
21 Nov 2006 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Chuck L Geraci
Nanotechnology and Occupational Safety and Health: What are the Issues, What do we know, and What is NIOSH Doing
NEMO 3D: Intel optimizations and Multiple Quantum Dot Simulations
14 Aug 2006 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Anish Dhanekula, Gerhard Klimeck
NEMO-3D is a nanoelectronic modeling tool that analyzes the electronic structure of nanoscopic devices. Nanoelectronic devices such as Quantum Dots (QDs) can contain millions of atoms,. Therefore,...
A MATLAB code for Hartree Fock calculation of H-H ground state bondlength and energy using STO-4G
5.0 out of 5 stars
08 Aug 2006 | Downloads | Contributor(s): Amritanshu Palaria
Hartree Fock (HF) theory is one of the basic theories underlying the current understanding of the electronic structure of materials. It is a simple non-relativistic treatment of many electron...
Quantum Transport: Atom to Transistor (Spring 2004)
07 Aug 2006 | Courses | Contributor(s): Supriyo Datta
Spring 2004
Please Note:
A newer version of this course is now available
and we would greatly appreciate your feedback regarding the new format and contents.
Course Information...
Nanotubes and Nanowires: One-dimensional Materials
17 Jul 2006 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Timothy D. Sands
What is a nanowire? What is a nanotube? Why are they interesting and what are their potential applications? How are they made? This presentation is intended to begin to answer these questions...
Engineering Nanomedical Systems
14 Mar 2006 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): James Leary
This tutorial discusses general problems and approaches to the design of engineered nanomedical systems. One example given is the engineering design of programmable multilayered nanoparticles...
Molecular Transport Structures: Elastic Scattering, Vibronic Effects and Beyond
4.5 out of 5 stars
13 Feb 2006 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Mark A. Ratner, Abraham Nitzan, Misha Galperin
Current experimental efforts are clarifying quite beautifully the nature of charge transport in so-called molecular junctions, in which a single molecule provides the channel for current flow...
A Gentle Introduction to Nanotechnology and Nanoscience
13 Feb 2006 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Mark A. Ratner
While the Greek root nano just means dwarf, the nanoscale has become a giant focus of contemporary science and technology. We will examine the fundamental issues underlying the excitement...
Active Photonic Nanomaterials: From Random to Periodic Structures
06 Feb 2006 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Hui Cao
Active photonic nanomaterials, which have high gain or large
nonlinearity, are essential to the development of nanophotonic
devices and circuits. In this talk, I will provide a review of our...
Quantum-dot Cellular Automata (QCA) - Memory Cells
03 Feb 2006 | Animations | Contributor(s): John C. Bean
Scientists and engineers are looking for completely different ways of storing and analyzing information. Quantum-dot Cellular Automata are one possible solution. In computers of the future,...
Quantum-dot Cellular Automata (QCA) - Logic Gates
An earlier animation described how "Quantum-dot Cellular Automata" (QCAs) could serve as memory cells and wires. This animation contnues the story by describing how QCAs can be made into MAJORITY,...
Designing Nanocomposite Materials for Solid-State Energy Conversion
28 Dec 2005 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Timothy D. Sands
New materials will be necessary to break through today's performance envelopes for
solid-state energy conversion devices ranging from LED-based solid-state white lamps to
VolQD: Graphics Hardware Accelerated Interactive Visual Analytics of Multi-million Atom Nanoelectronics Simulations
21 Dec 2005 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Wei Qiao
In this work we present a hardware-accelerated direct volume rendering
system for visualizing multivariate wave functions in semiconducting
quantum dot (QD) simulations. The simulation...
Atomic Force Microscopy
4.0 out of 5 stars
29 Nov 2005 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Arvind Raman
Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) is an indispensible tool in nano science for the fabrication, metrology, manipulation, and property characterization of nanostructures. This tutorial reviews some of...
Quantum Dot Lab
12 Nov 2005 | Tools | Contributor(s): Prasad Sarangapani, James Fonseca, Daniel F Mejia, James Charles, Woody Gilbertson, Tarek Ahmed Ameen, Hesameddin Ilatikhameneh, Andrew Roché, Lars Bjaalie, Sebastian Steiger, David Ebert, Matteo Mannino, Hong-Hyun Park, Tillmann Christoph Kubis, Michael Povolotskyi, Michael McLennan, Gerhard Klimeck
Compute the eigenstates of a particle in a box of various shapes including domes, pyramids and multilayer structures.
Designing Nanocomposite Thermoelectric Materials
08 Nov 2005 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Timothy D. Sands
This tutorial reviews recent strategies for designing high-ZT nanostructured materials, including superlattices, embedded quantum dots, and nanowire composites. The tutorial highlights the...
Bandstructure in Nanoelectronics
01 Nov 2005 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Gerhard Klimeck
This presentation will highlight, for nanoelectronic device examples, how the effective mass approximation breaks down and why the quantum mechanical nature of the atomically resolved material...
Nanoparticle Synthesis and Assembly for Biological Sensing
25 Oct 2005 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): Gil Lee
Nanoparticles have unique physical and chemical properties that make them very useful for
biological and chemical sensing. For example, colloidal gold has been used as an optical transducer...
Semiconductor Interfaces at the Nanoscale
13 Oct 2005 | Online Presentations | Contributor(s): David Janes
The trend in downscaling of electronic devices and the need to add functionalities such as sensing and nonvolatile memory to existing circuitry dictate that new approaches be developed for device...


text:
Trabant 3D Models formats
3D Studio (.3ds)
3DS MAX v.2008-2013 Scanline (.max)
3DS MAX v.2008-2013 V-Ray (.max)
Autodesk FBX (.fbx)
Blender v.2.6 (.blend)
Cinema 4D v.5-11 (.c4d)
Element 3D AfterEffects CS3-CS6 (.aep)
Lightwave v.6-11 (.lwo)
Maya v.8.5 - 2013 (.mb)
Autodesk Drawing (.dxf, .dwg)
Google Sketchup v.6-7 (.skp)
Rhinoceros 3D v.4-5 (.3dm)
Stereolithography (.stl)
Softimage (.xsi)
Wavefront OBJ (.obj)
NURBS/CAD/Solid (.iges) (paid)
We pay big attention for any single detail. Model looks like a real so time to time people ask us to deliver some parts of real cars. It is good to have iPhone 5 just for $40. But you can get virtual Trabant 3D models that we make by photos and dimensions from official sources. So we propose fast and professional way to save your time.


text: "We are proud to contribute equipment to the Academy of Culinary Arts program," says Scotsman spokesperson. Scotsman Ice Systems has unveiled three new ice machines at the Academy of Culinary Arts at Land O' Lakes High School. The academy, which serves the Land O' Lakes, Fla., community, received a joint donation from Scotsman, United Refrigeration


text:
Please wait while we process your request. This should only take a few moments.
Get your questions answered by one of our product specialists!
If you have questions about product availability, pricing, ordering, delivery, international
shipping, or other service issues, please call 1-800-977-5337
Customer Service Available Mon-Fri 7:30am - 8pm, Sat-Sun 7am - 8pm CST
is your leading online source for
TEMPUR-pedic | Simmons | Hampton & Rhodes | Sealy Hybrid | Serta iComfort | Beautyrest


text: Silk tie in stripe with embroidered jackrabbits Item G9802 Color: BLACK Size: ONE SIZE All sizes are US sizes. ONE SIZE Size Charts Quantity: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Prices do not include taxes. Add to Bag Wishlist Add to Bag Add To Wishlist share: size & fit 2 3/4" at widest point. Product Details Sometimes you want to wear a tie even when you don't have to. This one is made from silk in a classic stripe pattern with embroidered jackrabbits. Fun fact: It's handmade in NYC's Long Island City. Silk. Made in the USA. Select stores. Item G9802.


text:
News Releases by Year
Although commercial real estate markets showed signs of recovery in 2011, commercial lending standards have tightened in the past year for small businesses and scuttled a major portion of contracted transactions for smaller properties, according to the National Association of Realtors® annual Commercial Real Estate 2012 Lending Survey.
The National Association of Realtors® has awarded grants totaling more than $60,000 to 19 state and local Realtor® associations through the Housing Opportunity Program. The HOP grants program is a national effort designed to promote and expand affordable housing opportunities in communities across the nation.
Six teams of middle school students participating in the annual School of the Future Design Competition were in Washington, D.C., this week displaying their plans to design environmentally responsive schools that enhance learning and engage the surrounding community.
Pending home sales increased in March and are well above a year ago, another signal the housing market is recovering, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
Spring is the season of fresh starts, and for many homeowners that means it's time to clear the clutter and clean up, inside and out of the home. To help people get into the spring cleaning spirit, HouseLogic is launching a "Spring Cleaning Pinaway" sweepstakes and giveaway on Pinterest, giving entrants a chance to win one of two iPod Touches™.
The National Association of Realtors® is joining forces once again with the U.S. Department of the Treasury to offer aid to homeowners who are struggling to keep their homes and avoid foreclosure and to help Realtors® better assist clients through the short sale process.
Existing-home sales were down in March but continue to outpace year-ago levels, while inventory tightened and home prices are showing further signs of stabilizing, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
The National Association of Realtors® applauds the Federal Housing Finance Agency for issuing new guidance requiring servicers of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans to speed responses to short sale requests.
A narrow definition of the impending Ability to Repay regulation could harm consumers and the housing market recovery, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
WASHINGTON (April 10, 2012) –With the April 17 tax deadline one week away, many individuals and families still have time to take advantage of the valuable tax be


text:
Friday, June 11, 2004
Jackson stars in Suns' workout - a.k.a Time for the Suns to dump their pick.
By Chad Ford
ESPN Insider
# Chad Ford's mock draft: Standard version | Slideshow version
CHICAGO -- While the NBA pre-draft camp continued to slog along at the Moody Bible College, Insider got exclusive access to what was shaping up to be the most interesting workout matchup of the week.
Wisconsin point guard Devin Harris, UConn point guard Ben Gordon, Oregon swingman Luke Jackson and junior college star Donta Smith were scheduled to work out against each other early Thursday morning at Hoops Gym. The workout, staged by the Suns, was significant for a few reasons.
It was the first time Harris and Gordon, who have been ranked neck and neck all season, would meet on the same court. The Suns are seriously considering taking a point guard with the No. 7 pick, and Harris and Gordon are the two most likely candidates. It also was a chance to see Jackson, who has been rocketing up most draft boards, work out against one of the best athletes in the draft in Smith.
Unfortunately, as these things often go, by the time we arrived at Hoops Gym the Suns had learned Gordon wasn't going to make it. He had problems with his flight out of New York, and Phoenix had to scramble to find someone to work out with Harris. At the last minute, they brought in Roko Leni Ukic.
While everyone was disappointed the marquee match-up didn't go down, the workout still was pretty spirited. Ukic, with his long arms and quick feet, gave Harris plenty of problems.
While there's no question Harris is quicker and much more offensively talented than Ukic, he struggled at times to take Ukic off the dribble and get to the basket. Though Ukic is just 6-foot-3, his length bothered Harris for much of the workout. Harris also struggled a bit shooting the ball in the drills. He still was shooting well, but he has shot it much better in the other workouts this week.
Defensively, Harris did a nice job on Ukic as well. His quickness and speed bothered Ukic to a certain degree, and several times Harris did a nice job of stripping Ukic of the ball.
The real stars of the workout, though, were Jackson and Smith. While Jackson didn't shoot the ball as well as I've seen him in the past, he showed a couple of things that validate why he's rising on most draft boards.
Jackson's athleticism is better than advertised. During a special shuttle drill the Suns run, Jackson's time was the quickest the Suns have measured this year. That's right -- faster than quick guards like Harris and Jameer Nelson. There's no question the scouting report that he has slow feet is false. In fact, Jackson's feet look very quick for a player his size (6-7).
His toughness and competitiveness were also on display against the stronger Smith. At one point he leveled Smith with a tough screen. Whenever he touched the ball on offense, he was in attack mode and was able to get past Smith to the basket.
Smith also had his moments, though. He shot the ball really well, was spectacular flying through the air and finishing dunks in a drill where the point guards threw him alley oops, and he had several blocks on Jackson during the one-on-one portion of the drill.
Seeing him in this environment was much more enlightening than anything I saw in his individual workout on Tuesday.
I'm not sure where the workout leaves the Suns. They've liked Harris for some time, but he didn't do enough in the workout to make him a slam dunk for the No. 7 pick. This is the second straight workout where Harris was less than spectacular (he also struggled against Northwestern's Tim Young in a workout for Golden State on Wednesday). Don't be surprised if the Suns try to schedule a rematch with Gordon in Phoenix over the next few weeks.
If Phoenix keeps the pick -- and that still is a big if -- I still think Harris could be their man. There are intangibles that just can't be measured in a workout, and Harris has them. He'd be a great fit in Phoenix and one of the few players in this draft who could step in right away and help a team.
The workout also could end up helping Jackson. Several members of the Suns' contingent walked away raving about the Oregon star. Drafting Jackson at No. 7 seems awfully high, not to mention a bit repetitive with Joe Johnson and Casey Jacobsen already on the roster. Still, it's tough not to like what Jackson is going to bring to the table. His shooting, athleticism, competitiveness and his wealth of experience could make him the first senior drafted this year. He also may end up joining Emeka Okafor and Gordon as a favorite for Rookie of the Year if he lands on a team that will give him minutes.
Livingston still a question mark
Shortly after the Suns finished working out Harris and Jackson, they joined the Wizards, Hawks, Sixers and Cavaliers for a private workout for Shaun Livingston. All five GMs and four head coaches (the Hawks still don't have one) attended the workout, to which Insider obtained exclusive access. Trainer Tim Grover took Livingston through an hour of shooting and dribbling drills. Unfortunately, though, Livingston worked out alone.
# He shot the ball fairly well -- he has a very nice release point and can do some nice stuff off the glass, a lost art these days -- and did a number of impressive things with the ball in some of the dribbling drills -- he has the longest fingers I've ever seen -- but the bottom line was that no one got to see what they really wanted to see: His decision making and feel for the 5-on-5 game.
It's tough to get much information out of workouts like these. The most important tidbit was a confirmation that Livingston has put on 20 pounds since the McDonald's all-star game two months ago.
The reaction from teams and scouts was mixed. Everyone was disappointed they couldn't see Livingston go head-to-head against another top guard in the draft. With that said, they also were impressed with the skills they did see and were most impressed with his body.
"That 20 extra pounds changes everything for me," one executive told Insider. "If his body is improving that quick, it means he'll have a real shot of playing right away. That will make a big difference for a lot of the teams here."
Livingston really staged the workout in an effort to get enough feedback to make his final decision on whether to stay in the draft. So far the feedback has been pretty positive. According to sources, it's very likely he'll stay in, and he could make that official as early as Saturday at the NBA media day.
Livingston is one of the toughest players to project in the draft right now. Based on sheer talent and potential, I think he's the best prospect in the draft. However, given team needs and his relative lack of exposure, his draft range is anywhere from No. 4 to the Bobcats to No. 10 to the Cavs, if no one makes a trade.
Another day, another list
On Wednesday, Insider obtained the "physical only" list -- players invited to Chicago to take the league's physical and be officially weighed and measured, despite not taking part in the actual pre-draft camp. It's typically a very good indicator of which players the NBA believes are first round locks.
Thursday, the league released an even more important list -- the players invited to Saturday's NBA Draft media session. Typically the players invited are considered by the NBA to be locks for the lottery. Here's a look at who got the invite:
Andris Biedrins, Latvia
Josh Childress, Stanford
Luol Deng, Duke
Ben Gordon, UConn
Devin Harris, Wisconsin
Dwight Howard, SW Christian Academy (Atlanta, Ga.)
Andre Iguodala, Arizona
Shaun Livingston, Peoria (Ill.)
Jameer Nelson, Saint Joseph's
Emeka Okafor, UConn
Josh Smith, Oak Hill Academy (Va.)
J.R. Smith, St. Benedict's Prep (N.J.)
There were only two real surprises: J.R. Smith's appearance on a second big list by the NBA means he's probably going in the lottery. There are teams that really like him and believe he can be a superstar. After a couple of poor workout performances, we had dropped him to No. 18 on our mock draft. It looks like he won't be on the board that long.
Inviting Jameer Nelson is less of a surprise. I don't think this is indicative of his draft position as much as it's an acknowledgement that he's the college player of the year and the only senior in the room.
T-Mac holding up No. 1 pick
# The fate of the No. 1 pick is still in flux, in part because the Magic still are waiting to hear what Tracy McGrady intends to do after next season. Contrary to printed reports, McGrady has not informed the Magic whether he plans to opt out of his contract next summer and play the free-agent market.
McGrady's decision dramatically alters what the Magic will do on draft night. If McGrady is committed to staying, they'll either try to move the pick for a veteran or take Emeka Okafor, the one guy in the draft who could help them immediately. If McGrady wants out, the Magic will hang on to the pick, take a serious look at high school players like Dwight Howard and Shaun Livingston, and start exploring various trade opportunities involving McGrady.
Magic owner Rich DeVos will meet personally with McGrady next week, along with club president Bob Vander Weide, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
"We want to look Tracy in the eyes and say, 'What do you want to do?' No matter what the agent is suggesting or not suggesting as to options for the kid," Vander Weide told the paper. "At the end of the day, I think it's really important that both Rich and myself say, 'Tracy, tell us where your heart is, and we can work through it, whatever it is.'
"Going into draft week, we really want to have a feeling about where he is. ... We're not going to make any decisions until we know where Tracy the person is. The pieces are very much tied together.
"We can't go through what we did with Shaq ... in the 11th hour, being in the last year of the contract. We have to know between now and the 24th whether Tracy's in or whether he's out ... knowing that we'd love to rebuild through and around him.
"He needs to know that. He needs to feel that. But he also needs to understand if his frustration is real and genuine. ... We are at a point where we can only change so much. We all know we can't be the same team. We got to be different, we got to be better."
Houston, Indiana, Detroit, San Antonio and both L.A. teams have been mentioned as possible trading partners for the Magic if T-Mac decides to leave. The Rockets are dangling Steve Francis. The Pacers likely would offer anything on their roster besides Jermaine O'Neal or Ron Artest. The Pistons have enough cap room to swallow a big deal and also could offer Richard Hamilton, Mehmet Okur (in a sign-and-trade) and even Darko Milicic in return. The Clippers could offer Corey Maggette, Quentin Richardson (in a sign-and-trade) and the No. 2 pick in the draft.
Nets, Blazers talking trade?
The most interesting rumor coming out of Chicago on Thursday, repeated by several sources, has the Nets and Blazers discussing a possible trade of Kerry Kittles and Aaron Williams for Shareef Abdur-Rahim.
It's no secret the Blazers have been trying to move Abdur-Rahim. He didn't fit in with the team last season and is attractive trade bait because his contract comes off the books after next year. The Blazers have been trying to pry Ray Allen from the Sonics, but so far Seattle isn't biting.
While there's talk that the Sonics aren't averse to moving Allen -- which may explain why they've been working out several top shooting guard prospects -- apparently they want more than just Abdur-Rahim in the deal.
Kittles, like Abdur-Rahim, has just one year left on his contract. The trade would be very interesting for the Nets and could be a sign they still aren't sold on re-signing Kenyon Martin, who becomes a restricted free agent this summer.
Sonics not married to their pick
Add the Sonics to the list of teams that don't seem to be in love with their position in the lottery.
"We're not married to keeping our pick this year," Sonics GM Rick Sund told Insider. "I think we've got a young team and that, for the right deal, adding a veteran to the roster will help us more."
Sund believes the draft is deep but doesn't see many impact players at No. 12.
"In two or three years, many of the players in the draft are going to be helping teams," Sund said. "But I think a team can only develop so many young players at a time. We got Nick Collison and Luke Ridnour last year, and we like them both. We just need to surround them with guys who already know how to play."
The Sonics aren't the only team that feels that way. Bulls GM John Paxson told me something almost identical last week. The Wizards are in the same boat and looking to move out. The Suns and Clippers would prefer to add a veteran free-agent point guard like Steve Nash instead of a rookie. Sources claim the Cavaliers also are talking to several teams about swapping their pick for a veteran.
"There's a lot of talk going on right now," one veteran GM who wished not to be identified told Insider. "The veteran teams like the younger players and want to start to replenish the roster. The lottery teams want veterans. I wouldn't be shocked if the draft ends up getting turned upside down."