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Tom Brady will be a Patriot until he is 40 years old.
Brady agreed to a three-year contract extension with New England on Monday, a person familiar with the contract told The Associated Press. The extension is worth about $27 million and will free up nearly $15 million in salary cap room for the team, which has several younger players it needs to re-sign or negotiate new deals with.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the extension has not been announced.
Sports Illustrated first reported the extension.
The 35-year-old two-time league MVP was signed through 2014, and has said he wants to play at least five more years.
A three-time Super Bowl champion, Brady will make far less in those three seasons than the going rate for star quarterbacks. Brady currently has a four-year, $72 million deal with $48 million guaranteed.
Drew Brees and Peyton Manning are the NFL's highest-paid quarterbacks, at an average of $20 million and $18 million a year, respectively.
Brady has made it clear he wants to finish his career with the Patriots, whom he led to Super Bowl wins for the 2001, 2003 and 2004 seasons, and losses in the big game after the 2007 and 2011 seasons. By taking less money in the extension and redoing his current contract, he's hopeful New England can surround him with the parts to win more titles.
Among the Patriots' free agents are top receiver Wes Welker and his backup, Julian Edelman; right tackle Sebastian Vollmer; cornerback Aqib Talib; and running back Danny Woodhead.
Brady has been the most successful quarterback of his era, of course, as well as one of the NFL's best leaders. His skill at running the no-huddle offense is unsurpassed, and he's easily adapted to the different offensive schemes New England has concentrated on through his 13 pro seasons.
The Patriots have gone from run-oriented in Brady's early days to a deep passing team with Randy Moss to an offense dominated by throws to tight ends, running backs and slot receivers.
Brady holds the NFL record for touchdown passes in a season with 50 in 2007, when the Patriots went 18-0 before losing the Super Bowl to the Giants. He has thrown for at least 28 touchdowns seven times and led the league three times.
Last season, Brady had 34 TD passes and eight interceptions as the Patriots went 12-4, leading the league with 557 points, 76 more than runner-up Denver.

subset: commoncrawl


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My Favorite Ravelry Version of Selbu Modern
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Average Class Size is the average number of students in a particular class.
"Common Branch" refers to self-contained classes in Grades 1-6 that are taught by teachers certified to teach all subjects typically included in elementary school. Additional student and educator data is available in the Student and Educator Report.
A positive school climate promotes school safety, student self-esteem, emotional well-being, mental health, and lower incidences of substance abuse, student absenteeism, and suspensions. The New York State Education Department (NYSED) continues to promote initiatives to foster student engagement and thereby increase student achievement, safety, and wellness.
Our Social Emotional Learning materials support the state's ESSA plan priorities and promote a positive school climate. The resources outline benchmarks and frameworks for educators to implement Social Emotional Learning practices in their schools and classrooms.
Mental health education can assist young people and their families and result in positive decision-making and life-long success.
School Safety indicates the safety of the school's environment based on reported incidents.
What percentage of students attended school on the days the school was open?
What percentage of students were suspended from school at least one full day during the school year?
What percentage of students were absent 10 percent or more of the days they were enrolled in school?
The Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA, the main federal law for K-12 public education, requires that states hold public schools accountable for how students achieve. New York State established a set of indicators to measure school and district performance.
The accountability system classifies schools into one of three categories: In Good Standing, a Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) school, or a Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) school.
School District Designations | |
Good Standing District | Target District |
A district in Good Standing demonstrates success in all performance goals. | Districts that struggled to prepare some of their student subgroups on some or all indicators are identified as Target Districts. |
This classification system is all about achieving equity. By identifying schools that need the most attention, NYSED and school districts can focus resources on these schools. Visit our website to learn more about what happens if your child's school is identified as a CSI or TSI school.
Read the Accountability Fact Sheet for Parents for more information. Find more information about ESSA Accountability Designations on our website.
How do students at your child's school perform on New York State tests?
Students in New York State take standardized tests in English language arts and mathematics in grades 3-8, science in grades 4 and 8, and high school Regents exams in English, mathematics, science, and social studies. The tests are designed to measure how well students are mastering the learning standards that guide classroom instruction and help to ensure that students are on track to graduate from high school with the critical thinking, problem solving, and reasoning skills needed for success in college and the modern workplace.
Students are assigned a performance level based on how well they do on the tests, with 4 being the highest level a student can earn.
New York State Assessments (Tests) Performance Levels | |
Performance Level | Description |
Level 4 | Advanced Proficient |
Level 3 | Proficient |
Level 2 | Partially Proficient |
Level 1 | Not Proficient |
Students who achieve a performance level of 3 or 4 are considered to be proficient. The data below indicate the percentage of students that achieved a performance level of 3 or 4 on each test.
Additional information about tests is available on our State Assessment website, including fact sheets about the 3-8 tests for parents and stakeholders.
This district's or school's Financial Transparency Report outlines how much is spent per student and the source of the funds. These financial transparency reports were issued for the first time in 2020 for the 2018-19 school year, and annual releases will be available after April 1st in each subsequent year. School district financial transparency reports, which display per pupil expenditures for individual schools, as well as district averages, inform conversations within districts about whether equitable resources are being provided at the school level. At the state level, these reports help inform future Board of Regents State Aid requests and other policymaking decisions.
The graduation rate is the percentage of students who entered grade 9 in the same school year who earned a local or Regents diploma four years later.
The New York State Education Department (NYSED) reports the percentage of students who earned a local or Regents diploma by June, four year after they entered grade 9. NYSED also reports the percentage of students who earned a local or Regents diploma by August of the same year (the August percentage includes all students who earned a diploma by June and August combined).
The New York State Education Department also reports the percentage of students who earned a local or Regents diploma five and six years later.
4, 5, and 6-Year Graduation Rates (June and August) | |
Cohort | Graduation Rate |
2018 4-year August Cohort | 92% |
2018 4-year June Cohort | 91% |
2017 5-year August Cohort | 93% |
2017 5-year June Cohort | 93% |
2016 6-year August Cohort | 92% |
2016 6-year June Cohort | 92% |
For more information about the graduation rate by student subgroup, or to compare graduation rates for your school or district to the state graduation rate, please refer to your school or district's full report on graduation rate data


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NEW YORK (AP) -- Microsoft has joined the negotiations to buy struggling computer maker Dell, according to media reports.
Both CNBC and The Wall Street Journal reported that Microsoft Corp. may invest some of the money needed to take Dell Inc. private after 25 years as a publicly traded company. Tuesday's stories cited unidentified people familiar with the negotiations.
If Microsoft joins in a Dell buyout, CNBC and the Journal say the software maker would contribute $1 billion to $3 billion. That amount would make Microsoft Corp. a minority investor in a complex deal expected to cost $23 billion to $27 billion if it's completed.
Microsoft declined to comment on the reports.
Word that Dell Inc. is interested in selling to a group led by buyout firm Silver Lake Partners first surfaced last week. Dell's stock price has climbed about 20 percent since then. The stock rose 33 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $13.17 in Tuesday's early afternoon.
Dell, which is based in Round Rock, Texas, hasn't said whether it's interested in selling. Going private, though, would enable the company to overhaul its operations without having to meet Wall Street's demands for higher quarterly earnings.
Dell, the second largest U.S. computer maker behind Hewlett-Packard Co., is one of Microsoft's biggest partners. Among other things, Microsoft licenses its Windows operating system to Dell's personal computer makers.
Like many other PC makers, Dell's revenue has been sliding as the popularity of smartphones and tablet computers divert consumer and business spending from laptop and desktop machines.
By becoming a part-owner in Dell, Microsoft would risk being viewed by HP and other PC makers as more of a rival than a partner. Microsoft already has rankled some of its PC makers by releasing a tablet computer called Surface that competes against their products.
So far, though, there has been little evidence indicating that the Surface is reshaping the market for computing devices.


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A bearded man in a green and brown fatigue-style jacket stabbed two 13-year-olds in their chests at the South Bay Galleria in Redondo Beach for no apparent reason, detectives said Sunday as they tried to identify him.
Police called the attack "unprovoked" and said they want to catch the man as fast as possible.
"The motive is unknown," Redondo Beach police Sgt. Shawn Freeman said. "His mental state, why he did it, we have no idea. They are sitting there and, I don't know if they know what direction he came from. The guy comes up and stabs them."
The teens, a boy and a girl visiting the mall with their family but window shopping on their own, each underwent several hours of surgery and were placed Sunday in the intensive care unit at a local hospital.
Their identities weren't released, but police said they were South Bay residents.
The pair remained unconscious following the 7:20 p.m. Saturday attack until Sunday, when they were able to provide limited information to Redondo Beach detectives.
The stabbings occurred on a bench a short distance from the AMC Theaters on the Galleria's third floor. Until the teens were able to talk, police knew little about what had happened, calling the crime baffling and frustrating.
Movie patrons standing in line for tickets saw the teens collapse to the ground and waved for nearby Galleria security officers to help. No one saw the stabbing, and there was no commotion or disturbance that included screams or shouts from the victims or witnesses, Freeman said.
By Sunday afternoon, the scenario was starting to take shape.
"As far as we know, they are sitting on the bench there and the suspect comes up and stabs them and walks away," Freeman said. "It appears to be a random, unprovoked attack."
The man, police said, used a kitchen-type knife with a black handle.
Police described the man as black, 40 to 50 years old, tall with a medium build. He had a beard and a possibly graying mustache, and might have worn prescription glasses. He wore a possibly green-and-brown fatigue-style jacket, blue jeans, a black T-shirt and a dark-colored beanie.
Detectives on Sunday were poring through mall surveillance video in an effort to spot the man and secure a photograph to release to the public.
"Now that we know what we are looking for (and) we have a time frame, we can narrow it down," Freeman said.
Following the attack, Redondo Beach police officers, assisted by officers from several South Bay departments, stopped and checked cars as they departed the shopping center's parking structure. Police also scoured the mall looking for clues and witnesses, Redondo Beach police Lt. Joe Hoffman said.
No evacuations or lockdowns occurred.
Business at the mall appeared normal Sunday. Customers shopped, purchased Cinnabon pastries near where the teens collapsed and stood in short lines for movie tickets.
Some mall patrons were unaware of the stabbings and appeared surprised to hear what had occurred. Others learned about it on the morning news.
"It makes me nervous," said Roger Espana, 32, of Los Angeles.
Espana considered going to Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance instead of the Galleria to see a movie, but said he went to the Redondo Beach mall for a showing that better fit his schedule.
Gloria, a Torrance resident who declined to give her last name, arrived to shop with several family members. None was aware a stabbing had occurred. Gloria said the information made her "a little bit concerned."
"I would say they need more security here," she said.
Another man, who declined to give his name, said the violence would not frighten him from going to the mall.
"I'm not scared of nobody but Jesus," he said.
Police asked that anyone with information about the stabbing call the Redondo Beach police tip line at 310-937-6685 or text to 310-339-2362. Emails can be sent to email@example.com .
"There's a guy out there who stabbed two 13-year-old kids," Freeman said. "We want to make sure we apprehend him as soon as possible."
CHICAGO It was February, the middle of lunch hour on a busy South Side street. The gunman approached his victim in a White Castle parking lot, shot him in the head, then fled down an alley.
The next month, one block away, also on West 79th Street: Two men in hooded sweatshirts opened fire at the Bishop Golden convenience store. They killed one young man and wounded five others, including a nephew of basketball superstar Dwyane Wade. The shooters got away in a silver SUV.
In July, a Saturday night, two men were walking on 79th when they were approached by a man who killed one and injured the other. This shooting resulted in a quick arrest; police had a witness, and a security camera caught the shooting.
These three violent snapshots of a single Chicago street are not exceptional. It's been a bloody year in the nation's third-largest city.
A spike in murders and shootings much of it gang-related shocked Chicagoans, spurred new crime-fighting strategies and left indelible images: Mayor Rahm Emanuel voicing outrage about gang crossfire that killed a 7-year-old named Heaven selling candy in her front yard. Panicked mourners scrambling as shots ring out on the church steps at a funeral for a reputed gang leader. Girls wearing red high school basketball uniforms, filing by the casket of a 16-year-old teammate shot on her porch.
A handful of neighborhoods were especially hard hit, among them Auburn-Gresham; the police district's 43 homicides (as of Dec. 21) ranked highest in the city, and represent an increase of about 20 percent over 2011. The outbreak, fueled partly by feuds among rival factions of Chicago's largest gang, the Gangster Disciples, rippled along 79th street, the main commercial drag. That single corridor offers a window into the wider mayhem that claimed lives, shattered families and left authorities scrambling for answers.
The scars aren't obvious, at first. Drive down West 79th and there's Salaam, a pristine white building of Islamic design, and The Final Call, the restaurant and newspaper operated by the Nation of Islam. Leo Catholic High School for young men. A health clinic. A beauty supply store. Around the corners, neat brick bungalows and block club signs warning: "No Littering. No Loitering. No Loud Music."
Look closer, though, and there are signs of distress and fear: Boarded-up storefronts. Heavy security gates on barber shops and food marts. Thick partitions separating cash registers from customers at the Jamaican jerk and fish joints. Police cars watching kids board city buses at the end of the school day.
Go a few blocks south of 79th to a food market where a sign bears a hand-scrawled message: "R.I.P. We Love You Eli," honoring a clerk killed in November in an apparent robbery. Or a block north to the front lawn of St. Sabina church where photos were added this year to a glass-enclosed memorial for young victims of deadly violence over the years.
Then go back to a corner of 79th, across the street and down the block from where two killings occurred, both gang-related.
There, in an empty lot, a wooden cross stands tall in the winter night. Painted in red is a plea:
THE TOLL: Chicago's murder count reached 500 last Friday the first time since 2008 it hit that mark. In 2011, there were 435 homicides. More than 2,400 shootings have occurred. Gang-related arrests are about 7,000 higher than in 2011.
Gang violence isn't new, but it became a major theme in the Chicago narrative this year.
Maybe it was because of the audacity of gang members posting YouTube videos in which they flashed wads of cash and guns. The sight of police brandishing automatic weapons, standing watch outside gang funerals. The sting of one more smiling young face on a funeral program. Or dramatic headlines in spring and summer, such as: "13 people shot in Chicago in 30-minute period."
It was alarming enough for President Barack Obama to mention it during the campaign, noting murders near his South Side home. Then, addressing gun violence in the aftermath of the Newtown, Conn., school shooting, he cited Chicago again.
As grim as it is, Chicago's murder rate was almost double in the early 1990s averaging around 900 before violent crime began dropping in cities across America. This year's increase, though, is a sharp contrast to New York, where homicides fell 21 percent from 2011, as of early December.
Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy says while murders and shootings are up, overall crime citywide is down about 9 percent. He says crime-fighting strategies against gangs some just put into place this year are working, but they take time.
"The city didn't get in this shape overnight," he says. "I think that we're doing ourselves a disservice by advertising a Vietnam-type body count. I've got to tell you when I speak to people ... they generally say, `You know what? We don't even hear that anymore. It's white noise.'... The fascination unfortunately seems to be in the media and it's become a national obsession."
After the 500th homicide was reported, McCarthy released a statement saying the pace of violent crime had slowed since early 2012. Murders skyrocketed 66 percent in the first quarter of the year over the same period in 2011; by the fourth quarter, the increase had dropped to 15 percent, he said. For shootings, it was a 40 percent hike in the first quarter and 11 percent in the last quarter compared with 2011. The superintendent called the numbers "great progress."
Up to 80 percent of Chicago's murders and shootings are gang-related, according to police. By one estimate, the city has almost 70,000 gang members. A police audit last spring identified 59 gangs and 625 factions; most are on the South and West sides.
Gangs in Chicago have a long, dangerous history, some operating with the sophistication and hierarchy of corporations. In the 1980s, the leaders of the El Rukns were convicted of conspiring in a terrorism-for-hire scheme designed to collect millions from the Libyan government. Before the feds took down the leadership of the Gangster Disciples in the 1990s, the group had its own clothing line and political arm.
Nowadays, gangs are less structured and disputes more personal, says Eric Carter, commander of the Gresham district, home to 11 factions of the Gangster Disciples. "It's strictly who can help me make money," he says. "Lines have become blurred and alliances have become very fragile."
Carter says a gang narcotics dispute that started about six years ago is at the root of a lot of violence in his district.
Another change among gangs is the widespread use of YouTube, Facebook and other social media to taunt one another and spread incendiary messages. "One insult thrown on Facebook and Twitter becomes the next potential for a shooting incident on the street," Carter says.
McCarthy, who has consulted with criminologists, has implemented several plans, including an audit that identifies every gang member and establishing a long-term police presence in heavy drug-dealing areas, aimed at drying up business.
In two districts, police also have partnered controversially with CeaseFire Illinois, an anti-violence group that has hired convicted felons, including former gang members, to mediate street conflicts. McCarthy, who has expressed reservations about the organization, is taking a wait-and-see attitude.
"It's a work in progress," he says. "It hasn't shown a lot of success yet."
AMONG THE DEAD: An 18-year-old walking on a sidewalk. A 36-year-old at a backyard party. A 28-year-old in a car two blocks from the police station. A 40-year-old convenience store clerk, on the job just two months.
In a storefront on 79th, Curtis Toler has a map of the street and surrounding area with 10 stick pins. Each represents a homicide in 2012.
Toler, a former gang member, spent much of his life causing chaos. Now, he's preaching calm. As a supervisor at CeaseFire, his job is to ease tensions and defuse disputes before they explode.
Violence, he says, has become so commonplace, people are desensitized to death.
"I don't think we take it as hard as we should," he says. "When someone gets killed, there should be an uproar. But the ambulance comes, scoops them up, nobody says anything and it's back to business."
Toler's own life was shaped by guns and drugs. "In the early `90s, I was going to funerals back to back to back," he says. "When you're out there, you think you pretty much got it coming. It's a kill-or-be-killed mentality."
As he tells it, he was in a gang (in another neighborhood) from ages 9 to 30, including a six-year prison stint for involuntary manslaughter. He was shot six times, he says; he lifts a gray stocking cap pulled low over his head and presses a thumb over his right eyebrow to show the spot where a bullet struck. "I was blessed" to survive, he says, with a gap-toothed smile.
He was once so notorious, Toler says, that one day about a decade ago his grandmother returned from a community policing gathering and began crying. "She said, `The whole meeting was about you. ... You and your friends are destroying the whole community. ... You're my grandson, but they're talking about you like you're an animal.'"
Now a 35-year-old father of four, Toler says he decided to go straight about five years ago. He knows some police don't believe his transformation. He regrets things he's done, he says, and for a time had trouble sleeping. "Life has its way of getting back at you one way or another," he says. "I believe in the law of reciprocity."
Toler's message to a new generation on the streets: I keep asking them,' What's the net worth on your life? There is no price.... You only get one. It's not a video game.'"
"You get some guys who listen," Toler says, "and some who really don't care. ... They say, `I'm going to die anyway.'"
Two blocks east in another storefront on 79th, Carlos Nelson works to bring a different kind of stability to Gresham.
As head of the Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corp., he lures businesses to a community that despite its problems, has well-established merchants and middle-class residents who've lived here for decades.
But Nelson, a 49-year-old engineering graduate raised in Gresham, sees changes since he was a kid, most notably the easy access to guns. "These aren't six-shooters," he says. "These are automatic weapons."
Police say they've seized more than 7,000 guns in arrests this year. Strict gun control measures in Chicago and Illinois have been tossed out by federal courts, most recently the state ban on carrying concealed weapons.
Nelson says he sees limited progress despite new crime-fighting approaches. "The Chicago police department is a lot like a rat on a wheel," he says. "They're getting nowhere. They put metal detectors in the schools but they don't put that same amount of money in to educate our kids."
But Nelson also believes the problem goes beyond policing. A cultural shift is needed, he says, to break the cycle of generations of young men seeing no options.
"It's almost like the walking dead," he says. "They're emotionless about shootings or death or drugs. They think that's all that's expected of them ... that they will die or end up in jail. That's a hell of an existence. That's truly sad."
AMONG THE LIVING: A 17-year-old hit in the leg, wrist and foot while in a park. A 13-year-old struck in the back while riding his bicycle, A 38-year-old shot in the face while driving.
Cerria McComb tried to run when the bullet exploded in her leg, but she didn't get far.
Someone heard her screams, her mother says, and rushed outside to help her make a call.
"Mommy, mommy, I've been shot!" Cerria cried into the phone.
Bobbie McComb ran six blocks, her husband outpacing her. "I'm panicking," she recalls. "I can't catch my breath. All I could think of was I didn't want it to be the last time I heard her voice, the last time I saw her."
Cerria and a 14-year-old male friend were wounded. The bullet lodged just an inch from an artery in the back of Cerria's right knee, according to her mother, who says her daughter is afraid to go out since the early December shooting.
Police questioned a reputed gang member they believe was the intended target; Cerria, they say, just happened to be in the wrong place.
"I'm angry," McComb says. "I'm frustrated. I'm tired of them shooting our kids, killing our kids, thinking they can get away with it. ... If it was my son or my daughter standing out there with a gun, I would call the police on them."
A few blocks west, on 78th Place, another mother, Pam Bosley, sits at the youth center of St. Sabina Church, trying to keep teens on track. The parish is run by the Rev. Michael Pfleger, a firebrand white priest in an overwhelmingly black congregation whose crusades against violence, drugs and liquor and cigarette billboards are a staple of local news.
Bosley's 18-year-old son, Terrell, a college freshman and gospel bass player, was killed in 2006 when he and friends were shot while unloading musical equipment outside a church on the far South Side. A man charged was acquitted.
"I think about him all day and all night," Bosley says of her son. "If I stop, I'll lose my mind."
Bosley works with kids 14 to 21, teaching them life and leadership skills and ways to reduce violence. Sometimes, she says, neglectful parents are the problem; often it's gangs who just don't value life.
"You know how you have duck (hunting) season in the woods?" she asks. "In urban communities, it's duck season for us every day. You never know when you're going to get shot."
In December, Bosley phoned to console the grieving mother of Porshe Foster, 15, who was shot a few miles away while standing outside with other kids. A young man in the group has said he believed the gunman was aiming at him.
"I know how it feels to wake up in your house without your child, and you don't want to get out of bed, you don't feel like living," Bosley says.
St. Sabina is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. Bosley sent balloons to the girl's funeral.
On Dec. 6, hundreds celebrated the A-student who liked architecture and played on her school's volleyball and basketball teams.
Her brother, Robert, 22, says his sister "knew what was going on in the streets as well as we did," but he didn't worry because she was either at school, home or church.
"She was always a good girl," he says. "She didn't have to look over her shoulder. She was a 15-year-old girl. She didn't ever do any wrong to anybody."
In March, St. Sabina parishioners, led by the Rev. Pfleger, marched through the streets in protest, calling out gang factions by name. They planted the "Stop Killing" cross on 79th.
In April, the priest and other pastors returned to 79th to successfully stop the reopening of a store where there was a mass shooting; they condemned it as a haven for gangs.
In December, Pfleger stood in his church gym, watching gang members hustle down the basketball court.
On this Monday night, in this gym, it was hard to tell who was who.
The basketball teams wore different colored T-shirts with the same word: Peacemaker. They're all part of Pfleger's 12-week basketball league, aimed at cooling gang hostilities by having rivals face each other on the court. Many players, from 16 to 27, have criminal records.
The league grew out of a single successful game this fall and has high-profile supporters, including Joakim Noah of the Chicago Bulls.
Pfleger says the games have helped players build relationships, see beyond gang affiliation and stop shooting each other, at least for now.
"I have people tell me I'm naive, I'm stupid, I should be ashamed of myself working with these gangs," he says. "I could care less. We've demonized them so much we forget they're human beings."
But Pfleger also says games alone won't change anything. These young men need jobs and an education, and he's working on that.
"When there's no alternative," he says, "you'll continue to do what you do."
When the country is grappling with thousands of sexual assault cases against women reported daily, trust Kiran Bedi to come up with one of the most holistic plans to combat these crimes. The former IPS officer and India Against Corruption member presented her 6Ps plan Crime Prevention Plan within police, people (society), prosecution, politician, prison and press (news media and film industry) on CNN-IBN .
Bedi was confident that if this plan of hers is implemented, police administration can be improved and crime rate can be reduced to a considerable extent.
She said, 6Ps means crime prevention plan within police, within people because community has a very major role to play. So the people, the police, the prosecution; then comes the role of the politician, the prisons and the media, which is the press and press also includes the films, and then comes the jail. So it is the 6Ps and a J.
Kiran Bedi also stressed on the need to devise a community plan because the plan would fail without the support of the community. You can't have sons of mothers, who have no control over their boys. So you need social, primary education at the family level, she added.
Though there is widespread skepticism over the role of the police, Bedi said, that can only be solved if there is community policing irrespective of beat policing. Community policing a system in which police officers of an area kept in touch with all the members and activities of that area, was a system that Kiran Bedi had put into place when she was a top cop in Delhi.
She stressed the fact that the police must build relationships with families in the neighbourhood for effective policing. She said, You see, when a beat officer goes, he is walking his beat, he is building relationships. He is also preventing crimes because he is collecting intelligence. He is also visiting past criminals and doing rehabilitation.


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Apple continues to slowly release information about iCloud as developers gain access to more and more features during the beta testing period. It now appears that, as part of the migration to iCloud, paid MobileMe subscribers will get an extra 20GB of storage at no charge for the first year. However, in the process of migrating, users will lose some useful data syncing features. Apple made the unusual step of releasing a new beta of iOS 5 to developers over the weekend—such updates are typically released during the week when both Apple's engineers and most developers are actively working. In addition to the iOS update, Apple also enabled the ability for registered developers to migrate an existing MobileMe account to iCloud to test the account migration features.
There's plenty of good news for those migrating from MobileMe. According to screenshots posted by 9to5Mac, your existing me.com e-mail address will be moved over to the new servers, as will contacts and calendars. MobileMe users can use existing Gallery, iDisk, and iWeb publishing features until MobileMe is shut down on June 30, 2012, even after migrating an account. And since paid MobileMe accounts originally came with 20GB of storage, Apple will automatically add 20GB to the free 5GB of iCloud storage space. The transition won't be problem-free, however. As Apple previously warned, Dashboard widgets, Dock items, Keychains, Mail accounts—including rules, signatures, and Smart Mailboxes—and System Preferences will no longer sync between Macs. Also, shared calendars are affected somewhat in the transition process—a source told Ars that private calendars are only viewable by other iCloud users, while public calendars have to be re-published after moving to iCloud. As MacRumors noted, users migrating from MobileMe will be set up to automatically renew the extra 20GB of storage on June 30, 2012 for $40 per year. You can downgrade to the free 5GB before next year and avoid the automatic billing, though.
[Ars Technica]


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The repository was established at the Institute of Slavic Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences with the organisational support of The Slavic Foundation
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WASHINGTON (AP) - You can call it a snowstorm of historic proportions. You can call it the return of New England's blizzard of 1978. You can call it simply dangerous. And you can even call it Nemo.
But don't call it hype.
The new director of the National Weather Service says some may be getting carried away in describing the winter storm bearing down on the Northeast. But he says the science is simple and chilling.
Louis Uccellini is an expert on snowstorms. He says meteorologists are telling people that this is a dangerous storm because it is.
Jeff Masters, meteorology director of the private Weather Underground, said the storm deserves the attention it's getting. "This is a serious life-threatening storm if you're trying to travel in it and getting stuck."
One of the big differences between this one and the 1978 blizzard is that back then, it caught people by surprise, leaving many stranded on the highways, said Keith Seitter of the Boston-based American Meteorological Society. This time preventive steps, like closing schools and an early order for people to be off Massachusetts roads before dark, should save lives and make road-clearing easier, experts said.
For more than a week, forecasters have seen this one coming. Meteorologists put it in the category of those that earned nicknames like the East Coast "storm of the century" in 1993. In size, that one topped the 1978 blizzard. The Weather Channel is even giving this storm a name _ Nemo.
The National Weather Service has rejected the cable TV network's naming system. The weather service uses names for hurricanes and tropical storms created by the World Meteorological Organization, but not other types of storms.
Snowbound MIT meteorology professor Kerry Emanuel agrees that forecasters are telling it like it is. But he adds that extreme weather like this fascinates not just weather geeks, but the media and everyone.
"People sort of like it," says Emanuel, who is stuck in his Lexington, Mass., home. "It's the weather porn phenomena. There are people glued to The Weather Channel."
Experts aren't too worried about future weather warnings being ignored if this storm fizzles, because fizzling seems unlikely.
Decades ago, storms like this would come with at most a day or two warning. But now because of satellite technology, high-powered computers and better data and modeling, forecasters are seeing storms several days in advance, says Uccellini, co-author of two books on snowstorms.
Computer model forecasts accurately predicted last fall's Superstorm Sandy about a week in advance and with this blizzard, the first models were showing trouble brewing 10 days out, Uccellini says.
With so much warning, there are days of waiting for a storm with little news to report, sometimes leading to exaggeration. On occasion someone will overemphasize one of the scarier computer model simulations _ there are dozens_ while the weather service and others use a combination that's more conservative and has more scientific consensus, Uccellini says.
"The longer you to have the watch the storm, the more anticipation you're going to get, the more interest it's going to generate," Masters says.
In that way, the lead-up to the storm has been the atmospheric equivalent of the week before the Oscars or Super Bowl.
And now it even has the catchy Nemo name thanks to The Weather Channel.
"By definition when we give things a name, it does allow us to connect with it," says Heidi Cullen, chief climatologist at Climate Central, a nonprofit science journalism group. She's also a former Weather Channel expert. "It gives it a narrative. We're hard-wired for stories and we can turn these weather events into stories."
But Uccellini and others don't like it because it's arbitrary and leads to confusion. This storm is the product of two systems, one coming from the west, dumping snow over the Great Lakes and one moving north from the southeast coast. Which of those were Nemo, if either, he asks. And what makes some storms name-worthy and others not?
The name Nemo was getting significant use, trending Friday on Twitter. The Huffington Post website fully embraced the name, trumpeting "Nemo Cometh" in a morning headline. But it was an easy target for jokes, too. CBS News' Major Garrett mused on Twitter: "I thought only Dairy Queen named Blizzards."
Seth Borenstein can be followed at http://twitter.com/borenbears
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)


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Thomas Gerbasi, UFC - On June 12th, UFC Hall of Famer Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell makes his long-awaited return to the Octagon to face Rich Franklin in a clash of superstars that headlines UFC 115 in Vancouver. After more than a year on the sidelines, can Liddell add to his list of defining moments against the former middleweight champion?
By Thomas Gerbasi
On June 12th, UFC Hall of Famer Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell makes his long-awaited return to the Octagon to face Rich Franklin in a clash of superstars that headlines UFC 115 in Vancouver. After more than a year on the sidelines, can Liddell add to his list of defining moments against the former middleweight champion?
Kevin Randleman – May 4, 2001 – UFC 31
Result – Liddell KO 1
When Liddell entered his bout with former heavyweight champion Kevin Randleman in Atlantic City, he was seen as a solid contender, but also one who was expected to be a stepping stone for 'The Monster', who was making his UFC debut at light heavyweight. Liddell had other plans, and there was no denying the fight ending power or quiet charisma of Liddell, who would hence be known simply as 'The Iceman'. And this time it wasn't just a catchy nickname; it was a warning of what Liddell could do to you if he landed cleanly – you were iced.
The Randy Couture Trilogy
June 6, 2003 – UFC 43
Result – Couture TKO 3
Two years after truly arriving on the scene with his win over Randleman, Liddell finally got his long awaited-title shot against ageless Randy Couture. Couture was undoubtedly the real deal, but to many, the coronation of a new king from San Luis Obispo, California appeared to be a mere formality. Not so, as Couture grounded and pounded him out in round three. It was a costly lesson for 'The Iceman', who learned never to read your press clippings and enter a bout overconfident.
April 16, 2005 – UFC 52
Result – Liddell KO 1
It was fast – only 2:06 – but in winning the UFC light heavyweight title after close to seven years in the fight game, Liddell finally had the validation all fighters hope to one day get. Sure he says all the right things and insists that he would fight even without the belt on the line, but at the end of the day, every fighter wants to be a champion, and Liddell finally got to the top, and by knockout against a fighter who stopped him no less. That's redemption.
February 4, 2006 – UFC 57
Result – Liddell KO 2
A bout overshadowed by the post-fight (and temporary) retirement by the legendary Couture, Liddell's knockout win over 'The Natural' not only put a definitive stamp on the UFC's first great trilogy (in the Iceman's favor), but it became a true changing of the guard for the organization and Liddell, who became not only the biggest star in mixed martial arts, but also one that transcended the sport into the realm of mainstream acceptance. In other words, whether you're a fan of MMA or not, when Chuck Liddell fights, you'll find a way to check it out.
Bad Blood with Tito Ortiz
April 2, 2004 – UFC 47
Result – Liddell KO 2
If Chuck Liddell never wins another mixed martial arts match, he'll always be remembered for this bout – a one-sided beatdown of his former buddy Ortiz - which was one of the sport's most anticipated fights. In the process, he showed an ability to not only handle his business inside the Octagon, but outside of it, as he became a much-requested interviewee among the media in the weeks leading up to the bout, and in the years since.
December 30, 2006 – UFC 66
Result – Liddell TKO3
Despite the one-sided nature of bout number one, by the time the rematch was signed, the entire MMA world was eager to see if Ortiz could reverse the result the second time around. He couldn't, but in defeat Ortiz showed a ton of heart and he even made it to the third round. But Liddell's ability to keep his rival on the end of his punches made it impossible for Ortiz to implement his gameplan.
Vernon White – August 21, 2004 – UFC 49
Result – Liddell KO 1
Beating someone you chased for a couple of years has to be a high most of us never could experience. Fighting off the inevitable letdown of such a win has to be tough though. That was what Liddell faced in his first post-Ortiz fight against the always tough Vernon White, who helped motivate his foe with plenty of pre-fight trash talk. What resulted was four minutes and five seconds of war, with Liddell showing not only his punching power (which resulted in a KO victory), but a solid beard, which allowed him to take White's bombs and continue firing. The only thing left was to get that title belt.
Jeremy Horn II – August 20, 2005 – UFC 54
Result – Liddell TKO 4
Most fighters will tell you that it's harder to keep the title than to win it. Well, Liddell got no easy mark in his first 205-pound title defense when he faced the first man to beat him, Jeremy Horn. But despite their history and Horn's pedigree, the fight wasn't even close as Liddell slowly and methodically broke down Horn's defenses and stuffed any semblance of offense from the over 100-fight veteran.
Rough Nights with "Rampage" Jackson
November 9, 2003 – PRIDE Final Conflict
Result – Jackson TKO 2
Sent to Japan's PRIDE organization to compete in their Grand Prix tournament with the ultimate goal being a bout with Wanderlei Silva, Liddell instead ran into a brick wall with fellow American Quinton Jackson, who took some of Liddell's best punches flush on the jaw and kept coming, eventually putting Liddell on his back in the second round and finishing him off. It was Liddell's second loss in two fights, but he would go on to win seven in a row and become the most dominant 205-pounder in the game.
May 26, 2007 – UFC 71
Result – Jackson TKO 1
The rematch with Jackson was one of the most anticipated in recent history, and it came at a time when Liddell was bigger than ever, with an ESPN magazine cover and an appearance on HBO's Entourage series. But a right to the jaw by Jackson in the first round stopped Liddell's roll in emphatic fashion and moved him from champion to contender in just 1:53. It was a huge upset in the mind of the mainstream, but not to the hardcore, who now just assumed that the talented Jackson had Liddell's number, just like Liddell had Ortiz'.
Wanderlei Silva – December 29, 2007 – UFC 79
Result – Liddell W3
After Liddell's second loss to Jackson, he would suffer a second straight defeat, this time via decision to Keith Jardine at UFC 76 in September of 2007. Many were starting to write 'The Iceman' off, but when he met Wanderlei Silva in a superfight fans had waited to see for years, he was back to his fearsome form as he and 'The Axe Murderer' put on one of the best fights of the year. What may have been more impressive to fans of Liddell was that he actually went for and scored a takedown and threw in some more techniques that had been out of his repertoire for a long time. It showed that there were still some tricks in 'The Iceman's bag when properly motivated, and you can guarantee that June 12th will be another one of those nights.
UFC Performance Institute
Dana White On The Opening Of UFC PI Mexico


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I am probably guilty of idle talk now, but do you ever have "buddhist" dreams? Dreams that encouraged your practise?
I remember several, the most recent: I crossed some unknown sunny courtyard and stopped in front of a wide canteen where lots of very young men, apparently monks, where sitting at tables. Someone said aloud (in German of course):
Zen is the freedom to be what you are.
Quite a platitude. But in the dream the words had an unexpected profoundness and freshness and they triggered a distinct sense of relief. Once more I felt
- how convinced I was that there is absolutely nothing to achieve in life other than to recognize yourself.
- how much I longed to end that aimless struggle that my life mostly is,
- how increasingly bored I was with any ideas and judgments about "myself".
I repeated the words over and over while waking up. Then I scratched my head: How do you become what you already are? Obvious: just (and only) be ...
Bother to share a dream?


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Yes. You will still need to submit all your paperwork for re-certification and you will have to continue to abide to the "Statement of Homebuyer's Obligations" that you sign prior to purchasing a home.
Show All Answers
The Housing Choice Voucher Home Ownership Program allows the voucher subsidy to be used to help a first-time home owner meet monthly mortgage expenses.
In order to be eligible for the Garland Housing Agency's (GHA) home ownership program, a family must meet the following criteria:
Owning a home is a big responsibility. It's important that you understand those responsibilities before you look at being a first time home buyer. It is mandatory that you take an approved home ownership counseling course prior to being issued a home ownership voucher. It is also wise to first clear up any credit problems and save enough money so you can make a down payment.
Homes eligible for this program are new construction, manufactured housing, and pre-owned. All homes must be attached to a permanent foundation. On a new home purchase, ground must be broken (slab/basement foundation) before the date that you put a sales contract on the home.
No. It is the family's responsibility to find a home that is eligible for the voucher home ownership assistance. If the family is already a rental voucher participant and is determined to be eligible, the GHA will authorize the family to search for a home to purchase without the interruption of their rental assistance.
An eligible family will have 120 days from the time the voucher is issued to close on a home. Families participating in this program may select an eligible unit anywhere within the GHA's jurisdiction. Families may purchase a unit out of the GHA's jurisdiction under the portability procedures of the voucher program, but only if the receiving housing authority is administering a home ownership program and accepting applicants.
Yes. There will be two types of inspection that will be needed. The first inspection is a Housing Quality Standards (HQS) Inspection, performed free of cost, by the Garland Housing Agency (GHA). The HQS inspection is used to determine if the current condition of the unit is decent, safe and sanitary. The GHA may, but is not required, to conduct annual housing quality standard inspections.
The second type of inspection is by an independent professional home inspector that you will hire. The purpose of this inspection is to identify home defects and assess the adequacy and life span of major systems, appliances and other structural components.
The participating family ultimately is responsible for securing its own financing. The Garland Housing Agency may develop partnerships with lenders to assist the family in obtaining financing, but can not require the use of certain lenders. A family may choose any lender it wishes.
Voucher funds can not be used to assist with financing costs, such as down payment or closing costs. If you do receive down payment assistance through another funding resource, make sure you understand all of their requirements and the impact they may have on any home ownership and financial decisions you may make in the future.
In most cases, your family can help you purchase a home. Assisting with a down payment or other expenses or co-signing or co-borrower on the loan may be helpful. However, it is important to understand that under the Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) regulations, a non-occupying co-borrower can not own an interest in the house.
The amount you are able to pay is dependent on your total income and resources. The mortgage lender will consider your income, housing assistance payment and any other additional assistance that you may be receiving from an outside source or agency. The lender will pre-qualify you based on income and other financial information. It is important to have this pre-qualifying letter before you begin shopping for a home. In this way, you can know how much home you can afford based on your financial standing.
The Garland Housing Agency (GHA) will make the monthly home ownership housing assistance payment (HAP) directly to the family, unless other arrangements are made by the family and lender and approved by the GHA. Housing Assistance Payments are processed on the first business day of each month and are deposited within 3-5 business day thereafter.
You will need to combine the GHA's payment along with your payment and forward one check along to the lending institution. Once again, make sure you pay special attention to the rules the lender has for payment. In addition, always keep any records or documentation the lender sends to you.
The family is responsible for all home owner expenses not covered by the housing assistance program payment. Such costs to consider are: home inspection and appraisal fees, down payment and closing costs. In addition, the family will be responsible for maintenance, repair and utility costs (if applicable), as well as any home owner's association dues.
Yes. In order to receive continued housing assistance payment home ownership payments, the family must continue to live in the home. If the family moves out, the Garland Housing Agency (GHA) will not continue the assistance after the month when the family moves out. Neither the family nor the lender is required to refund to the GHA the home ownership assistance for the month when the family moves out.
The family must comply with the terms of the mortgage in order to qualify for continued assistance from the GHA. In addition, the family must remain eligible according to Housing and Urban Development rules and regulations as stated in the GHA Administrative Plan.
Yes. Housing Choice Voucher home ownership assistance may only be paid for a maximum period of 15 years if the initial mortgage incurred to finance purchase of the home has a term that is 20 years or longer. In all other cases, the maximum term of home ownership assistance is 10 years. There is no time limit on home ownership assistance for elderly and disabled families.
However, if anytime during this time limit the family's income is able to support the full home ownership expense, the Garland Housing Agency will no longer be able to assist the family and the family will be totally responsible for the full mortgage payment. In addition, such factors as continued approval by Congress to fund the home ownership program and continued eligibility requirements may effect the amount of time that you receive assistance. It is important to understand that you are responsible for the full mortgage payment if your housing assistance payment is terminated for any reason.
Yes. The participating family may sell its home to purchase another home under the home ownership program. All sales must be approved by the Garland Housing Agency. However, the total amount of time the family receives assistance on both homes is counted towards the time limit.
The Garland Housing Agency will not commence voucher assistance (either rental or home ownership) for occupancy of another unit so long as any family member owns any title or interest in the prior home.
No. A home, as well as a car, is an exempt asset according to Social Security and other federal agencies. These types of assets do not count toward a person receiving other supports.
You may be required to attend post-purchase home ownership counseling. In your community, there are experienced home ownership counselors who can assist you in such areas as saving towards repairs and the general maintenance of your home. In addition, they can provide financial advice and strategies that can help you avoid defaulting on your mortgage. It is important to understand that you are responsible for any debt incurred to purchase the home.
Among those reasons that the Garland Housing Agency (GHA) may deny or terminate home ownership assistance are:
The GHA must terminate voucher home ownership assistance for the family if the family is dispossessed from the home pursuant to a judgment or order of foreclosure on any mortgage-securing debt incurred to purchase the home.
The GHA may permit a family subject to a foreclosure action to move to a new unit with voucher rental assistance. However, the GHA must deny such permission and terminate the family's participation in the housing choice voucher program if the family defaulted on an Federal Housing Authority-insured mortgage and the family fails to demonstrate that it has:


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NEW YORK – With the simplest of sentences, NBA veteran Jason Collins set aside years of worry and silence to become the first active player in one of four major U.S. professional sports leagues to come out as gay.
In a first-person article posted Monday on Sports Illustrated's website, Collins begins: "I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay."
Collins has played for six teams in 12 seasons, most recently as a reserve with the Washington Wizards after a midseason trade from the Boston Celtics. He is now a free agent and wants to keep playing in the NBA.
"I didn't set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I'm happy to start the conversation. I wish I wasn't the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, 'I'm different,"' Collins writes. "If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I'm raising my hand."
Saying he had "endured years of misery and gone to enormous lengths to live a lie," Collins immediately drew support for his announcement from the White House -- President Barack Obama called him -- along with former President Bill Clinton, the NBA, current and former teammates, a sponsor, and athletes in other sports.
Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant tweeted that he was proud of Collins, writing: "Don't suffocate who u r because of the ignorance of others," followed by the words "courage" and "support."
"We've got to get rid of the shame. That's the main thing. And Jason's going to help that. He's going to help give people courage to come out," said Billie Jean King, a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame who confirmed she was gay after being outed in the early 1980s.
"I guarantee you he's going to feel much lighter, much freer. The truth does set you free, there's no question. It doesn't mean it's easy. But it sets you free," King said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.
The Wizards, whose season ended April 17, issued a statement from President Ernie Grunfeld: "We are extremely proud of Jason and support his decision to live his life proudly and openly. He has been a leader on and off the court and an outstanding teammate throughout his NBA career. Those qualities will continue to serve him both as a player and as a positive role model for others of all sexual orientation."
Collins' coach with the Celtics, Doc Rivers, drew a comparison between Monday's announcement and Jackie Robinson's role when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball.
"I am extremely happy and proud of Jason Collins. He's a pro's pro. He is the consummate professional and he is one of my favorite `team' players I have ever coached," Rivers said. "If you have learned anything from Jackie Robinson, it is that teammates are always the first to accept. It will be society who has to learn tolerance."
Collins says he quietly made a statement for gay rights even while keeping his sexual orientation a secret. He wore No. 98 with the Celtics and Wizards -- 1998 was year that Matthew Shepard, a gay college student in Wyoming, was killed, and the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention organization, was founded.
According to the General Social Survey, the public has grown increasingly accepting of gay relationships since the late 1980s. That survey found in 1987 that 76 percent of Americans thought sexual relations between adults of the same sex was morally wrong. That fell to 43 percent by 2012.
"I'm glad I'm coming out in 2013 rather than 2003. The climate has shifted; public opinion has shifted," Collins writes. "And yet we still have so much farther to go. Everyone is terrified of the unknown, but most of us don't want to return to a time when minorities were openly discriminated against."
While some gay athletes have talked in the past about concerns that coming out would hurt their earning potential, 12-time Grand Slam singles champion King said she thinks Collins' openness could have the opposite effect.
"I have a feeling he's got a whole new career," King said. "I have a feeling he's going to make more in endorsements than he's ever made in his life."
Sports equipment maker Nike released a statement Monday saying: "We admire Jason's courage and are proud that he is a Nike athlete. Nike believes in a level playing field where an athlete's sexual orientation is not a consideration."
On Monday evening, hours after his story appeared on the web, Collins wrote on Twitter: "All the support I have received today is truly inspirational. I knew that I was choosing the road less traveled but I'm not walking it alone."
Momentum has been building toward this sort of announcement from a pro athlete in a top league in the United States. NFL players Brendan Ayanbadejo and Chris Kluwe were outspoken in support of state gay-marriage amendments during last year's elections. Obama spoke about his support for gay marriage during his re-election campaign.
The topic made waves during Super Bowl week when one player, San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver, said he wouldn't welcome a gay member of his team. At the time, Ayanbadejo estimated that at least half of the NFL's players would agree with what Culliver said, at least privately.
Scott Fujita, who recently retired after an 11-year NFL career, said: "I'm pleased to see such an overwhelmingly positive reaction to this news, because it just shows that we're becoming more accepting every day. But more than anything else, I'm happy for Jason. I'm not a gay, closeted athlete, so I can't pretend to know what that must have felt like for him. But I imagine this is freeing for him, and hopefully he's encouraged by the millions of people who are voicing their support. ... It's not a reaction to some rumor and it's not some unwanted outing. It's his message, and it was delivered under his control and on his terms."
On Monday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell sent a memo to teams reiterating the league's anti-discrimination policy about sexuality. It includes a section on questions teams cannot ask prospective draft picks and free agents. After the NFL combine in February, three players said officials posed questions about sexual orientation.
Earlier this month, the NHL and its players' union partnered with an advocacy organization fighting homophobia in sports, and Commissioner Gary Bettman said the You Can Play Project underlines that "the official policy of the NHL is one of inclusion on the ice, in our locker rooms and in the stands."
"I would say the NHL has been a force to kind of obviously embrace and encourage. ... What (Collins) did, I think it's definitely (good) for basketball, and the same for hockey, too. It's going to be encouraging for more guys to step up and just be open about themselves," Washington Capitals forward Joel Ward said.
Living in the nation's capital last month while the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments about same-sex marriage had an effect on Collins, who says "the strain of hiding my sexuality became almost unbearable" at that time.
"Less than three miles from my apartment, nine jurists argued about my happiness and my future. Here was my chance to be heard, and I couldn't say a thing," he writes. "I didn't want to answer questions and draw attention to myself."
After being a first-round draft pick in 2001, Collins has averaged 3.6 points and 3.8 rebounds for the New Jersey Nets, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks, Celtics and Wizards.
In his SI piece, he jokes self-effacingly about his journeyman career and a parlor game known as "Three Degrees of Jason Collins."
"If you're in the league, and I haven't been your teammate, I surely have been one of your teammates' teammates. Or one of your teammates' teammates' teammates," he writes.
Never a star, he acknowledges, "I take charges and I foul -- that's been my forte. ... I set picks with my 7-foot, 255-pound body to get guys like Jason Kidd, John Wall and Paul Pierce open. I sacrifice myself for other players."
He continues: "I go against the gay stereotype, which is why I think a lot of players will be shocked: That guy is gay? But I've always been an aggressive player, even in high school. Am I so physical to prove that being gay doesn't make you soft? Who knows? That's something for a psychologist to unravel."
As for what response other NBA players will have to his revelation, Collins writes: "The simple answer is, I have no idea."
"Openness may not completely disarm prejudice, but it's a good place to start. It all comes down to education. I'll sit down with any player who's uneasy about my coming out," he says in his account, adding: "Still, if I'm up against an intolerant player, I'll set a pretty hard pick on him. And then move on."
On Monday, there was an outpouring of positive sentiments.
In texts to the AP, Wizards guard Garrett Temple wrote, "I was surprised. I didn't know and I was right next to him in the locker room. It definitely took a lot of courage for him to come out. He was a great teammate," and rookie Bradley Beal said: "I didn't know about it! I don't think anyone did! I am proud of his decision to come out and express the way he feels and I'm supportive of that!!"
Former teammate Jerry Stackhouse, now with the Brooklyn Nets, wrote in a text: "I hope Jason is received well by our NBA family. Jason is a friend and a former teammate that I've enjoyed many laughs and conversations with and his sexual orientation won't change that with me. I've already reached out to him personally to show support and will encourage more guys to do the same."
NBA Commissioner David Stern said in a statement: "Jason has been a widely respected player and teammate throughout his career and we are proud he has assumed the leadership mantle on this very important issue."
While Collins is the first male athlete in a major North American professional league to come out while intending to keep playing, several have previously spoken after they retired about being gay, including the NBA's John Amaechi, the NFL's Esera Tuaolo and Major League Baseball's Billy Bean.
"I think he is immensely brave. I think it's a shame in this day and age he has to be immensely brave, but he is," Amaechi told the AP. "He's going to be a remarkable and eloquent spokesperson for what it is to be a decent, authentic human being -- never mind just for gay people."
Rick Welts, president and chief operating officer of the NBA's Golden State Warriors, is openly gay.
"He probably knows what he signed up for. There'll be a whole bunch more television reporters and cameras than he's probably had in the past. ... There had been a long of speculation about when, who, how. I think that speculation has been put to rest now," Welts said, "and we'll always remember that Jason Collins was the first man to do this."
Collins says that if he remains in the NBA, he could face uncomfortable reactions from spectators.
"I don't mind if they heckle me. I've been booed before. There have been times when I've wanted to boo myself. But a lot of ill feelings can be cured by winning," he writes.
He adds: "I hope fans will respect me for raising my hand. And I hope teammates will remember that I've never been an in-your-face kind of guy. All you need to know is that I'm single. I see no need to delve into specifics."
In February, former U.S. soccer national team player Robbie Rogers said he was gay -- and retired at the same time. Rogers is just 25, and others have urged him to resume his career.
"I feel a movement coming," he tweeted after word of Collins' news broke.
Female athletes have found more acceptance in coming out; Brittney Griner, a top college basketball player now headed to the WNBA, caused few ripples when she said this month she is a lesbian. Tennis great Martina Navratilova, who came out decades ago, tweeted Monday that Collins is "a brave man."
"1981 was the year for me -- 2013 is the year for you," her post added.
Sports leagues in Britain and elsewhere in Europe have been trying to combat anti-gay bias. But the taboo remains particularly strong in soccer, where there are no openly gay players in Europe's top leagues. Homophobic chants are still heard at some games.
Soccer "is not going to change," said Amaechi, who is English and now lives in Manchester. "If it wanted to change, it would change. It has the resources to do so. It doesn't want to change."
Justin Fashanu is the only significant British soccer player to have come out publicly, doing so in 1990. The former Nottingham Forest and Norwich City striker was found hanged in a London garage in 1998 at age 37. According to an inquest, Fashanu left a note saying that, because he was gay, he feared he wouldn't get a fair trial in the United States on sexual assault charges. Maryland police were seeking him on charges that he sexually assaulted a 17-year-old boy.
Among other athletes outside the U.S. to come out was Gareth Thomas, a Welsh rugby star who attracted widespread media attention in 2009 when he announced he was gay. He continued playing until retirement in 2011.
Orlando Cruz of Puerto Rico came out in October as the first openly gay professional male boxer. Canadian swimmer Mark Tewksbury came out six years after winning a gold medal in the backstroke at the 1992 Barcelona Games. Four-time Olympic diving gold medalist Greg Louganis of the U.S. revealed he was gay in 1994, a year before announcing he was also HIV-positive. Former Olympic skiing gold medalist Anja Paerson of Sweden announced last year, after retiring, that she was in a long-term relationship with a woman.
White House spokesman Jay Carney called Collins' decision courageous and said the administration views it as another example of progress and evolution in the U.S. as Americans grow more accepting of gay rights and same-sex marriage.
Former President Clinton said: "Jason's announcement today is an important moment for professional sports and in the history of the LGBT community. It is also the straightforward statement of a good man who wants no more than what so many of us seek: to be able to be who we are; to do our work; to build families and to contribute to our communities. For so many members of the LGBT community, these simple goals remain elusive."
Collins attended Stanford with Clinton's daughter Chelsea and played in a Final Four while at the school. His twin brother, Jarron, was also a longtime NBA center who last played in the league in the 2010-11 season. Collins says he told his brother he was gay last summer.
"He was downright astounded. He never suspected. So much for twin telepathy," Collins writes in SI. "But by dinner that night, he was full of brotherly love. For the first time in our lives, he wanted to step in and protect me."
Advocacy organization GLAAD released a statement from Aaron McQuade, the head of its sports program.
"Courage' and `inspiration' are words that get thrown around a lot in sports, but Jason Collins has given both ideas a brand new context," he said. "We hope that his future team will welcome him, and that fans of the NBA and sports in general will applaud him. We know that the NBA will proudly support him, and that countless young LGBT athletes now have a new hero."
At Stanford, Collins was a college roommate of Rep. Joe Kennedy III, D-Mass. In his account, Collins writes that he realized he needed to go public when the congressman walked in Boston's gay pride parade last year -- and Collins decided he couldn't join him.
"For as long as I've known Jason Collins he has been defined by three things: his passion for the sport he loves, his unwavering integrity, and the biggest heart you will ever find. Without question or hesitation, he gives everything he's got to those of us lucky enough to be in his life. I'm proud to stand with him today and proud to call him a friend," Kennedy said in a statement.
In Monday's story, Collins writes that the Boston Marathon bombing on April 15 "reinforced the notion that I shouldn't wait for the circumstances of my coming out to be perfect. Things can change in an instant, so why not live truthfully?"
And now, Collins says, he will be in Boston on June 8, marching alongside Kennedy at the city's 2013 gay rights parade.
"Some people insist they've never met a gay person. But Three Degrees of Jason Collins dictates that no NBA player can claim that anymore. Pro basketball is a family. And pretty much every family I know has a brother, sister or cousin who's gay," Collins concludes. "In the brotherhood of the NBA, I just happen to be the one who's out."


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After travelling from Geneva to Montreux, we boarded the famous GoldenPass for a 2 hour journey to Zweisimmen (a place where I have spend many summer/autumn holidays when I was a kid). That panoramic train which links the Vaud Riviera to Lake Lucerne the historic heart of Switzerland is one of the most picturesque in Switzerland.
It is a fantastic tour that begins with a Mediterranean ambiance on the Rivera and then after climbing through the vineyards above Lake Geneva and passing through tunnels, the train continues through fairytale landscapes set in a picturesque setting of alpine forrests, bubbling mountain streams and quaint villages. Mindblowing!
As soon as we arrived in Zweisimmen we bought some bread and Bernese dried meat specialities for lunch. Then, we walked a little through the village and up a small road to a church that is situated above the village. There, there is a very peaceful cemetery with a wonderful view over the Simmental Valley. It is situated on the flank of the Rinderberg mountain, next to a pine tree forrest. That is the dreamy place where we ate our midday meal...
Enjoy that first batch of pictures. There's more to come.


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By RACHEL D'ORO, Associated Press
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — An upcoming special episode of Investigation Discovery's "Dark Minds" TV series says it has new information about confessed Alaska serial killer Israel Keyes, including the identity of a potential victim.
Keyes was believed to have killed at least 11 people before committing suicide in his Anchorage jail cell 15 months ago while awaiting a federal trial in the rape and strangulation murder of his last known victim, Samantha Koenig. The 18-year-old Anchorage woman was abducted in February 2012 from the local coffee stand where she worked.
The two-hour, season-opening "Dark Minds" episode scheduled to air April 2 reports what it says are new details about the Koenig case. The episode, which includes dramatizations by actors, also suggests a man who disappeared from Washington's Olympia National Park in 2004 — Gilbert Gilman — was an undisclosed victim of Keyes, who had been in the region to participate in a marathon. And it claims Keyes identified himself as a bisexual and a necrophiliac.
Series creator and host M. William Phelps told The Associated Press that he spent more than a year investigating Keyes, interviewing people including authorities, a serial killer he calls "Raven," a criminal profiler, people who knew Keyes, as well as former Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Warner, who was present during many of Keyes' interviews with the FBI.
"It really exhausted me, emotionally and physically, this case," Phelps said Wednesday. "I was just living it 24/7."
After the Koenig kidnapping, Keyes reportedly sipped wine in a toolshed outside his home, telling his victim there exactly what he planned to do before he sexually assaulted and killed her, leaving her body in the shed before embarking on a cruise the next day. The series also claims Keyes later sewed open the eyes of the dead and frozen victim to make her look alive as he photographed her with a new copy of a local newspaper.
Authorities have already revealed that Keyes wrote a ransom note on the back of the photo, demanding that $30,000 be placed in Koenig's account. He texted a message, directing the family to a dog park where the note could be found. Her family deposited money from a reward fund.
Keyes also said he robbed banks to help pay for his travels to find random victims.
Keyes, the second eldest in a large family, was homeschooled in a cabin without electricity near Colville, Wash., in a mountainous, sparsely populated area. The family moved in the 1990s to Smyrna, Maine, where they were involved in the maple syrup business, according to a neighbor who remembered Keyes as a nice, courteous young man.
After leaving the Army, Keyes worked for the Makah Indian tribe in Washington, then moved to Anchorage in 2007 after his girlfriend found work here. A self-employed carpenter and handyman, he was considered competent, honest and efficient. He had a young daughter who lived with him and his girlfriend in Anchorage.
Keyes was arrested in Lufkin, Texas, about six weeks later after using Koenig's debit card. Three weeks after the arrest, Koenig's dismembered body was found in a frozen lake north of Anchorage.
The FBI and other authorities have been able to link Keyes to the only three victims he named — Koenig and an Essex, Vt., couple, Bill and Lorraine Currier, who disappeared in 2011. In months of interviews with authorities after his arrest last year, Keyes toyed with investigators, doling out snippets and clues about other possible victims across the country as he demanded a promise that he would be executed rather than spend his life in prison.
Keyes never disclosed much information about the other crimes, trying to keep as many details as possible out of the media so his daughter wouldn't be able to find any information up on the Internet or his mother wouldn't have a heart attack reading what he did.
The FBI has publicly released a timeline of travels and crimes by Keyes, hoping to shed light on unsolved killings in the nation. Authorities have been trying to determine whether Keyes was involved in the 2009 disappearance of a New Jersey woman, Debra Feldman, who was last seen at her Hackensack home.
Anchorage-based Special Agent Kevin Donovan with the FBI said Wednesday he didn't immediately know the status of the New Jersey case. He also said authorities have received information about cases that could be tied to Keyes and are following up on it. But he said he wouldn't characterize any of it as strong leads.
"We are still looking for any additional information from the public or from law enforcement that might help us identify additional victims," he said.
At the end of the upcoming episode, Phelps urges viewers to help solve mysteries that remain about Keyes and his unknown victims.
"I hope the families can have some answers from this," he said. "That's my goal."


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A Christian councillor who voted against supporting same-sex marriage claimed she has been intimated by Green party members over her stance.
Yesterday we revealed how Christina Summers is to be expelled from sitting with her colleagues on Brighton and Hove City Council after voting against supporting the policy in a town hall meeting earlier this year.
The decision was taken after an internal inquiry by Brighton and Hove Green Party ruled she had breached an agreement made before she stood as a candidate to "uphold and advance the values of equality for all people".
When approached by The Argus with the decision, Coun Summers, who represents Hollingdean and Stanmer ward, said she was "crestfallen" by the decision which, if officially ratified by a number of Green councillors, will leave her as the only independent councillor on the local authority.
She said she had received intimidating emails from Green Party members before and after the council meeting for taking the "decision of conscience".
Coun Summers said: "I have been waiting for weeks for my colleagues to make a clear and public decision.
"They have no idea how much I have been wanting to say to them and how many emails, blogs and tweets from the wider party membership I wanted to refute and respond to. But there is a time to speak and a time to be silent.
"In view of the Green Party's own special interpretation of equality, my expulsion from the Green Group of councillors should not, in the end, come as a surprise.
"Nonetheless I can't help but feel crestfallen.
"After at least two intimate years of campaigning and then serving together in administration, my own colleagues, who should know me well by now, have chosen to believe a lie.
"Party policy, however vague, is sovereign."
The vote came after the local authority's councillors were asked if they supported a motion to lobby the Government on changing the law at a meeting in July.
Coun Summers was the only member to vote against the proposal. This is despite the Greens being the first party nationally to supportthe idea of lifting the ban on same-sex marriage taking place through a civil ceremony.
Coun Summers, who is a devout Christian, told The Argus after the vote she did not agree that "disagreeing with same-sex marriage was disagreeing with equality".
She added: "I'm accountable to God above any political party."
The Brighton and Hove Green Party, which does not have a whip for its councillors, maintained the panel's decision announced on Monday was not an issue of free speech or religion but about the candidate agreement.
Coun Summers said yesterday: "Anyone would have signed that agreement.
Who does not believe in promoting equality? I'm quite heartbroken as I'm Green in every other way.
"Whether I remain as a councillor or not remains to be seen.
"I was voted in by the residents of Hollingdean and Stanmer and I refuse to believe they voted me in specifically on equality and particularly as interpreted by the Green Party of Brighton and Hove."
Responding to claims about intimidation from Green members, Rob Shepherd, of the Brighton and Hove Green Party, said: "The party has never said anything negative about Christina.
"Particularly in the early stages there were some people who said things which I would not want to be associated with.
"The issue is that, just as Christina has complete freedom of speech, so do other party members, providing it is within the law."
Colleagues of Coun Summers were quick to give their view on the issue.
Conservative group leader Geoffrey Theobald said: "Rather than wasting all their time on internal squabbling, the Greens should be getting on with running this city, talking to businesses and sorting out the mess that their parking charges have created for example.
"I'm afraid this episode is just a symptom of the wider lack of political direction at the top of the Green Party."
Labour group leader Gill Mitchell said: "This is an internal Green Party matter."
Conservative councillor Dawn Barnett said: "God doesn't pay his debts in money; he pays it in mysterious ways.
"This will come back and haunt the Green group.
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