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MLS Regular Season
With a 3-1 victory over the Montreal Impact on Saturday evening, the Chicago Fire moved into second place in the Eastern Conference. After falling behind in the 20th minute, the Fire's trio of midseason acquisitions Sherjill MacDonald, Alex (whose goal is up for MLS Goal of the Week) and Alvaro Fernandez lead the charge as the Men in Red scored three unanswered goals. Catch all of the highlights here.
MacDonald, who hadn't found the back of the net in nearly a month, said that a chat with Head Coach Frank Klopas helped him relax and alleviate the pressure that he put on himself, leading to his goal Saturday night.
With six game remaining in the MLS Regular Season, the Fire are within reach of a 'ridiculous' goal of 60 points that they set during preseason. "We're going for it," said midfielder Patrick Nyarko.
As the Fire continue to gain points, folks are taking note of the Fire's recent run of good form. In his most recent MLS Power Rankings for ESPN, Jeff Carlisle had the Fire in second place, up three spots from last week.
ESPN wasn't the only one taking notice as the Fire were named Soccer by Ives' Team of the Week.
The Fire's run of form could be attributed to the current depth of the squad as the Fire continued to make moves prior to the MLS Roster Freeze on Friday. On Monday, Sept. 10 the Fire acquired midfielder Wells Thompson from the Colorado Rapids and on Friday, Sept. 14 the Men in Red added two-time World Cup veteran and Mexican international Guillermo Franco.
Sporting KC just barely rescued first place at the top of the East while the Fire, Red Bulls and United all tightened up the race… An updated breakdown of the week and month and a half a head in this edition of Playoff Math…
1) Sporting KC
Current Points: 51
Games Remaining: 6 (2 home, 4 away)
Maximum Possible Points: 69
Average Opponents Points: 42.6
Remaining Schedule: at New York (9/19), at Montreal (9/22), vs. Chicago (9/28), at Columbus (10/7), at New York (10/20), vs. Philadelphia (10/24).
The Rundown: By virtue of C.J. Sapong's late header to equalize with Houston on Friday night, Sporting KC still controls their own destiny for first in the East , if only just barely. The team enters this week with two big away matches, facing third-place Red Bull at midweek and Montreal on Saturday.
Neither game will be easy. With their 3-1 win over Columbus Saturday night, New York moved to 10-0-3 overall at home and a perfect 8-0-0 vs. the Eastern Conference at Red Bull Arena. While those stats are daunting, if Sporting are going to finish first in the East, they'll likely have to find a way to take four points from this game and their next visit to New York on October 20. If New York stays consistent and beats another East team at home, they will at least momentarily move to first in the East.
Sporting will then head to a somewhat down-trodden Montreal side whose playoff hopes seem only mathematical at this point. Despite that, the Impact's home form combined with KC playing on just three days rest, will make this a very difficult game for Sporting.
This could be a week where Sporting puts a stamp on the Eastern Conference lead or gives it up completely…
2) Chicago Fire
Current Points: 50
Games Remaining: 6 (3 home, 3 away)
Maximum Possible Points: 68
Average Opponents Points: 40.1
Remaining Schedule: vs. Columbus (9/22), at Sporting KC (9/28), vs. Philadelphia (10/3), at New York (10/6), at New England (10/20), vs. D.C. United (10/27)
The Rundown: The Fire had a huge week, taking six points at Toronto FC and at home to Montreal Saturday night. In neither match did the team play a complete game but Fire fans should feel confident in the fact that the team is 1) capable of coming back from a deficit to win and 2) can have a bad day and still earn three points and 3) with six wins from their last seven, are the hottest team in Major League Soccer.
With KC drawing the night before and both New York and D.C. winning earlier Saturday, the pressure was certainly on the Fire to get the three points in order to maintain second place in the east. With KC playing New York as well as D.C. playing Philadelphia at midweek, there's chance the Fire could momentarily fall from that spot and it seems almost certain things will tighter heading into the weekend.
That all matters very little as long as the Fire continue to hold serve at home and defeat a Columbus team on short rest Saturday night to set up a humongous match at Sporting KC the following Friday.
3) New York Red Bulls
Current Points: 49
Games Remaining: 6 (4 home, 2 away)
Maximum Possible Points: 67
Average Opponents Points: 38.1
Remaining Schedule: vs. Sporting KC (9/19), at New England (9/22), vs. Toronto FC (9/29), vs. Chicago (10/6), vs. Sporting KC (10/20), at Philadelphia (10/27)
The Rundown: This is also the week in which New York can really make their claim for first in the East. If they can take advantage of their perfect home record vs. the Conference and earn three points on Wednesday vs. KC before doing what's expected at eighth place New England on the weekend, they'll find themselves on top.
Taking care of business this week would also be huge as Red Bull will have four matches remaining, three at home and two of those against direct top of the East competitors Chicago and Kansas City in October. It's also worth nothing that of the top three, Hans Backe's side has easiest schedules to finish the season as their opponent's point average equals out to 38.1
4) Houston Dynamo
Current Points: 46
Games Remaining: 5 (3 home, 2 away)
Maximum Possible Points: 61
Average Opponents Points: 30
Remaining Schedule: at Philadelphia (9/23), vs. New England (9/29), vs. Montreal (10/6), vs. Philadelphia (10/20), at Colorado (10/27)
The Rundown: Houston nearly took three points from Kansas City Friday night in a match that many didn't expect them to take any. While they'll be disappointed in giving up a late equalizer, the Dynamo by far have the easiest schedule of anyone in the East from here on out, with their five games coming against teams outside of their Conference's Top five and three games remaining at BBVA Compass Stadium.
It would be a reasonable expectation for the Dynamo to take 12-15 points and really keep themselves in the conversation for a Top 3 spot as the Fire, New York and Kansas City all have matches remaining against each other.
5) DC United
Current Points: 44
Games Remaining: 6 (2 home, 4 away)
Maximum Possible Points: 62
Average Opponents Points: 32.8
Remaining Schedule: at Philadelphia (9/20), vs. Chivas USA (9/23), at Portland (9/29), at Toronto FC (10/6), vs. Columbus (10/20), at Chicago (10/27)
The Rundown: No DeRo, no problem. D.C. United found a way to be victorious without their captain in Saturday night's 2-1 victory over New England, effectively leaping over Columbus and into the final playoff spot in the East. Much like Houston, United have a very easy upcoming schedule to make things even tighter in the East as they face the literal bottom four teams in Major League Soccer over their next four games.
The only problem is that three of those four come on the road where United hasn't been great this season (3-9-0). Nonetheless, if D.C. can take maximum points from the next four, they'll put themselves not only in a good position to qualify for the playoffs but a chance to finish a bit higher than fifth.
6) Columbus Crew
Current Points: 42
Games Remaining: 6 (4 home, 2 away)
Maximum Possible Points: 60
Average Opponents Points: 37
Remaining Schedule: vs. Chivas USA (9/19), at Chicago (9/22), vs. Philadelphia (9/29), vs. Sporting KC (10/7), at D.C. United (10/20), vs. Toronto FC (10/28).
The Rundown: In a previous edition of Playoff Math, I said that I wasn't yet convinced of the Crew's run up the table because during their four-game winning streak, they'd played three of the worst teams in the East.
A trip to Gillette Stadium caused a somewhat surprising 2-0 loss before the international break and then Saturday night's visit to Red Bull Arenas saw a less surprising 3-1 defeat for the Crew. The two losses have Columbus now back on the outside looking in. Though they have two matches over the next seven days just like KC, New York and D.C., it's safe to say the week ahead could be very telling for the Crew's playoff chances.
The Crew should expect to defeat Western Conference bottom dwellers Chivas USA at home on Wednesday but their visit to Chicago, will be very difficult as the Fire haven't fallen to an Eastern Conference team at home since October 12, 2010, going 12-0-5 in that time.
7) Montreal Impact
Current Points: 39
Games Remaining: 4 (2 home, 2 away)
Maximum Possible Points: 51
Average Opponents Points: 36.7
Remaining Schedule: vs. Sporting KC (9/22), at Houston (10/6), at Toronto FC (10/20), vs. New England (10/27)
The Rundown: Montreal's really just run out of game but it doesn't mean they can't affect the Eastern Conference playoff race (which they still sort of remain in). The Impact's home form has had me mark this Saturday's game vs. Sporting KC as one that really have implications on the top of the East while a point at Houston isn't completely out of the cards either.
After October 6, Montreal could mathematically be out as they face two other teams that are already that way.
I'm not a huge fan of predictions but I got all the East's playoff related results correct this weekend so, I'll go with three midweek predictions…
Midweek Predictions:
New York 2, Sporting KC 1
Columbus 1, Chivas USA 0
D.C. United 2, Philadelphia 1
Sega 200. No that isn't a new gaming console.
Seeing as Gonzalo Segares has only missed three regular season matches the past two seasons, it seems a good bet that the eight-year Fire veteran will record his 200th competitive appearance for the Men in Red when the side welcomes the Montreal Impact to Toyota Park Saturday night.
The Costa Rican international enters the match having racked up 172 regular season, 12 MLS Cup playoff, 12 U.S. Open Cup and three SuperLiga appearances since his rookie year of 2005.
Not a bad haul for a guy that saw 34 other names called before his in that year's MLS SuperDraft.
Sega Plays All Parts in the 2011 Capital Comeback
"I'm very excited," Segares told Chicago-Fire.com Friday afternoon. "In this day and age it's definitely not an easy thing to play 200 games with the same team. It's something I'm really proud of."
If not for an injury riddled 2009 campaign and his short stint in Europe during the first half of 2010, Segares would have easily hit the mark earlier. It's still worth noting the veteran really has no equal in terms of consistency at the position over the course of the club's 15 seasons.
"I'm always thankful for the Fire to have given me the opportunity. Since 2005, it's been a long road -- I have memories of very good moments and some tougher ones but it's been a very positive experience."
Of those moments, Segares pointed to his first game as a professional (a 2-1 win over Colorado on May 21, 2005), his first goal less than a month later (4-3 loss at D.C. United on June 15). A less fond memory is his stoppage time equalizer that was disallowed in that year's Eastern Conference final at New England.
More recently, Segares counts playing in front of a sold-out Soldier Field against Manchester United last July and his role in providing two assists in the stunning 2-1 stoppage time "Capital Comeback" last season at D.C as happy memories.
Nothing beats the time he hoisted the 2006 U.S. Open Cup in front of the Fire faithful at Toyota Park.
"That was my first championship as a professional. You can't replicate a memory like that, especially at home."
The second longest tenured member of the current squad, Segares recently stated on the All-In Podcast that he wouldn't mind ending his career as a member of the Fire.
"It's place where I was given my first chance to become a professional. If I get the opportunity I would love to stay here."
After beating Toronto 2-1 on Wednesday night, the Fire face Canadian opposition again on Saturday, hosting for the first time Montreal at Toyota Park (LIVE 7:30pm CT on CSN Chicago). Winning games that you don't play well in is the sign of a good team and the Fire certainly showed that against TFC.
Montreal is still fighting to sneak into the MLS Cup Playoffs but the Fire haven't lost to an Eastern Conference foe at home for over two years. Here are some things to look out for in Saturday night's game:
Montreal's formation: back 3 or back 4?
Montreal manager Jesse Marsch has experimented with both a back three and back four this season. When fit, Nelson Rivas, Alessandro Nesta and Matteo Ferrari serve as the first choice defenders and you would be hard pressed to find a more experienced trio in all of MLS. The trio has hundreds of Serie A matches under their belt.
In Montreal's last game they played a back four system away against Columbus and I think we will see the same on Saturday night as the Fire's attacking ability and willingness to push the outside defenders up in support of the wingers would cause big problems for a three back setup.
Experienced defenders = lack of pace
Whenever an opposing team is asked about the Fire, the first aspect of the team's game that every coach and player talks about is "pace." Montreal's defenders may have all the experience in the world but with the Fire they come up against a team that has the ability to beat them with speed.
In his last two games, Patrick Nyarko has used his pace to devastating effect, blowing by the Houston defense to score after less than a minute and forcing the Toronto back line into making mistakes by applying pressure high up the field. Nyarko was also very dangerous on the break, especially after Toronto set pieces.
Patrick played very high up the field against TFC on Wednesday, almost as a third striker, and I think that will continue against the Impact.
Felipe - the often overlooked danger man
In attack, Montreal have two excellent wingers in Davy Arnaud and Justin Mapp. For the past decade, both players have consistently helped their teams by scoring goals but more importantly netting assists.
For the Impact, both play in the wide positions and distract from Felipe who is more central. He can fade in and out of games but he is very capable of providing a killer assist. Philadelphia were so concerned about his attacking threat that they man marked him for the entire match. I don't think the Fire will follow suit, but they cannot solely focus on the wide men and neglect Filipe.
Fire offense: finish your chances
In the game against TFC on Wednesday night, the Men in Red were once again guilty of missing too many excellent goal scoring opportunities. Those misses made the game a lot closer than it should have been, especially after TFC pulled it back to 2-1 in the second half.
Pavel Pardo and Sherjill MacDonald were both guilty of missing after going 1v1 against TFC 'keeper, Milos Kocic. Obviously not every chance will result in a goal but I would expect that coach Frank Klopas was stressing the importance of taking your chances to the players this week.
With the playoff race in the Eastern Conference so tight, a goal or two here and there could be the difference between coming 1st and 3rd in the final standings.
Prediction: 2-0 Fire. Frank Klopas' side take their sixth win in seven matches with goals from MacDonald and Nyarko.
Despite a plethora of chances, the Fire didn't make things easy on themselves Wednesday night in Toronto. Going up 2-0 with goals from Alvaro Fernandez and Chris Rolfe before halftime, the Fire had plenty of chances but couldn't put Toronto out of its misery with a third goal.
Eric Hassli's 79th minute strike and Toronto's constant pressure late kept things interesting but Frank Klopas' side found away to lock things down at the back and grind out another important three points on the road.
Ugly as it may have been at times, at the end of the day, Frank Klopas' side still came away with a valuable away win and catapulted itself into second place in the East. The team now sits even on games played (27) and one point ahead (47) of the New York Red Bulls (46).
Heading into Saturday's game vs. Montreal, there's a chance the Fire could sit atop the East by the end of the weekend.
Sporting KC vs. Houston Dynamo – 7:30pm CT (NBC Sports Network)
New York Red Bulls vs. Columbus Crew – 6:00pm CT (MLS Live, Direct Kick)
D.C. United vs. New England – 6:30pm CT (MLS Live, Direct Kick)
Chicago Fire vs. Montreal Impact – 7:30pm CT (CSN Chicago)
Let's put things in perspective…
WATCH: Sporting KC 0, Houston 0 (7/7/2012)
One of two huge matches in the East this weekend is Friday's nights encounter between first-place Sporting KC and fourth-place Houston at LiveSTRONG Sporting Park.
If Kansas City, who are just a surprising 4-3-3 at home vs. East teams loses, it sets the Fire up for a move to first on Saturday night. If that happened, the Dynamo could also potentially jump all the way into second place (at least momentarily) as well.
Lucky for the home side, Houston's away form against the Conference has been quite poor (1-5-4), though one of those four draws did come at Sporting on July 7 (0-0).
The obvious hope for the Fire is to see the Dynamo earn their second away win against the East Friday night but I think anything more than a point for Houston is unrealistic.
PREDICTION: Sporting KC 1, Houston Dynamo 1
- Further East on Saturday, third-place New York welcomes the Columbus Crew to Red Bull Arena. I wrote recently that I wasn't yet convinced about the Crew's surge up the East table because of the level of opponents they'd played during their run and in their last match, they fell 2-0 at New England.
In Saturday's game, they travel to play a New York side that is unbeaten at home this season (9-0-3) and hasn't even drawn against an East opponent at Red Bull Arena (7-0-0). Interestingly enough, at 4-6-4, Columbus has a much better away record than Houston and has gone 3-5-2 away in the conference, including a victory over Sporting KC.
Even with all that, it's hard to go against New York's home dominance this season. As it relates to the Fire, a draw would be a fantastic result for a few reasons but I have to think Red Bull comes away victorious this weekend.
PREDICTION: New York Red Bulls 2, Columbus Crew 1
WATCH: New York 4, Columbus 1 (4/7/2012)
- Sixth place D.C. United hosts New England Saturday night at RFK Stadium in a match where all three points will be quite necessary for the home side.
Most of MLS was in shock Thursday morning with the club's announcement that captain Dwayne DeRosario had suffered an MCL sprain that will keep him out 10-12 weeks, effectively ending his season.
Even still, United (41) sit one point back of the final playoff spot, even without DeRo are better than New England and much like Red Bull, have fantastic form at RFK this season, going 9-1-4 overall and 7-1-3 against Eastern opponents.
While New England bounced back with a home win against Columbus before the international break, their away record is abysmal (1-10-2; 0-7-2 in the East) and I suspect their skid down the East table continues Saturday night.
PREDICTION: D.C. United 2, New England Revolution 0
- In the last Eastern match of the night, the Fire will know exactly what they have to do to move into first place or retain second place by halftime against Montreal.
If all the predicted results above hold and the Fire win oer the Impact, they'd stay in second place but sit just one point back of East-leading KC.
The Fire's home form this season (9-2-2; 7-0-1 vs. East) combined with Montreal's away record (2-11-1; 2-6-1 vs. East) certainly favor the Men in Red in this match, though Klopas' side will be coming off just three days rest while the Impact will not have played in two weeks.
Also remember that while the first-year MLS side is just three points out of the final playoff spot, they only have five games remaining while almost everyone above has seven.
A loss for Montreal on Saturday would come as close as could be to effectively end the Impact's bid for a playoff place in their first MLS season.
PREDICTION: Saturday night will certainly be a battle but I think the Fire take their 10th home win of the season and move within one point of first in the East with a 2-1 victory (what other score line is there?) over Montreal.
Over the summer, we presented 15 memorable games and goals from the club's first 15 seasons. We also asked you the fans who the top 15 players in club history were.
The tallies are in and with October 8 looming now less than a month away, we're set to begin unveiling the "#Fire15" in a new five-segment video series presented by TrueCar.
To be clear, you won't see numbers ranking the players. That's because this isn't a countdown but rather a series to honor 15 great players in Fire history.
Our first three honorees are Jesse Marsch, Logan Pause and Chris Rolfe.
Jesse Marsch – While never flashy, Marsch was a near constant cleaning up messes in the Fire midfield from 1998-2005. Coming to the club after spending his first two MLS seasons with reigning champions D.C. United, Marsch would go on to appear in 259 competitive matches (fifth all-time) while tallying 23 goals and 32 assists in his eight seasons with the Fire.
As Tom Soehn points out in the video, Jesse's lasting legacy with the Men in Red stem from the five domestic titles he won during his time in Chicago.
Logan Pause – Now into his 10th season as a member of the Chicago Fire, Logan Pause has long credited the likes of Marsch and Chris Armas as players he modeled his game after. The current Fire captain is the second longest tenured member of the club behind C.J. Brown and with 295 career appearances sits behind only the 13-year veteran (372) in games played for the club.
Not that he needed to prove he belonged on such a list but the captain's ability to play through two broken ribs and a collapsed lungs at Philadelphia on August 12 was heroic. It was only bested by the fact that he returned to the field to help the Fire win 3-1 over Houston exactly three weeks later.
No more explanation necessary here…
Chris Rolfe – Perhaps the closest thing the Fire have had as an answer to Ante Razov, Chris Rolfe stands behind the former U.S. international at second on the club's all-time scoring list with 45 goals across all competitions.
Rolfe would definitely have more in a Fire shirt if not for often being played on the wing during his first tenure in Chicago. There was also the two and a half years he spent away in Denmark that have his goal tally a bit lower than you would think.
However, Rolfe's return to the club back in April was one of the most welcome acquisitions the club has made in recent years and now a few years older, the striker will look to continue to chip away at Razov's goal record.
Stay tuned to Chicago-Fire.com as we name the rest of the #Fire15 players in the month leading up to the club's Anniversary match on Wednesday, October 3 vs. Philadelphia (TICKETS) and 15th Anniversary Party to be held Monday, October 8 at the Chicago History Museum. (TICKETS).
After a massive home win against Houston and a morale boosting come-from-behind draw against Santos Laguna in an exhibition match, the Fire travel to Toronto full of confidence for Wednesday night's game at BMO Field. In contrast, Toronto are missing some key players through a combination of injury, suspension and international call-ups. Here are a few things to look out for in Wednesday night's match:
Terry Dunfield - how to replace a missing captain
The Fire lost captain fantastic Logan Pause due to lung and rib injuries against Philadelphia on August 12. Fortunately, the Fire had strength in depth with Alvaro Fernandez and Daniel Paladini filling the central role in Logan's absence. Toronto do not have the luxury of a Paladini or Fernandez to replace their missing captain Terry Dunfield who, like Pause, is the heart and soul of the team.
Dunfield, like Pavel Pardo covers a lot of ground in the center of midfield and is essential to breaking up opponents attacks but also starting them for TFC. He has also scored some big goals this season including one in a recent away draw with Houston. Dunfield's absence is good news for Chris Rolfe who will look to exploit the more inexperienced potential replacements for Dunfield, namely Aaron Maund and Matt Stinson.
Long balls - TFC's bread and butter
Toronto have found some success in the long ball tactic, often bypassing the midfield altogether and looking for a flick on or knock down from Ryan Johnson and co. Johnson will be missing on Wednesday night but this will not stop TFC looking to kick it long at every possible opportunity.
The Fire back line will need to keep a close eye on TFC striker Eric Hassli who is always on the shoulder of the last defender looking for a ball over the top or a flick on. The long ball tactic also put a heavy emphasis on winning second balls. Stopping TFC from getting scoring chances from second balls is essential.
Possession - looking for more of the ball vs. TFC
In the Fire's last game against Houston, their opponents had more than double the amount of possession. Though the Fire set up to play that way, I think we will see a much different game plan Wednesday night. The Fire will look to possess the ball for long stretches, looking do draw out TFC and create space for the attacking players to move into.
Kansas City held over 70% of the possession against TFC on September 1 and eventually broke them down, coming behind to win 2-1. The Fire will need to be patient, but their constant pressure should lead to goals.
When broken into 15 minute intervals, TFC have allowed the most goals this season from the 75th to 90th minute - another reason for the Fire to stay patient on Wednesday night.
Darren O'Dea - potential weak link in the back
In an interview on Monday night, TFC center back Darren O'Dea looked exhausted, and who could blame him? O'Dea had just returned from Kazakhstan where he played the full 90 minutes for the Republic of Ireland in their 2-1 victory on Friday. O'Dea also admitted that he was battling a cold but said he would be ready for Wednesday night.
Though very good in the air, O'Dea lacks pace and his partnership with Richard Eckersley is in its infancy. The Fire should be looking to get in 1v1 situations with O'Dea as often as possible bearing in mind his transatlantic excursions and illness. The Fire have managed to do this in the recent past, most notably when Sherjill MacDonald was able to turn Bakary Soumare and set up Chris Rolfe for an easy finish against Philadelphia.
The TFC coaching staff have been singing the praises of O'Dea since he joined the team but Wednesday's match is a potential banana skin for the Irishman .
Prediction: If the Fire stay patient, the goals will inevitably come. 2-0 Fire with goals from Chris Rolfe and Austin Berry.
In this edition of Burning Questions we sat down with midfielder Patrick Nyarko. Now in his fifth season with the Fire, Patrick has scored three goals and leads the team with six assists. A native of Kumasi, Ghana, Patrick was a standout at Virginia Tech before he was drafted in the first round (7th overall) of the 2008 MLS SuperDraft. Patrick took the time to answer our Burning Questions about his table tennis prowess, his sneaker collection and what a typical day entails for him.
Always on the Inside: You're often regarded as one of the best table tennis players on the team. How did you get to be so good?
Patrick Nyarko: I put in the work while I was growing up. It was such that if you played a game, it was a commercial table tennis table, so you had to pay if you lost; you didn't want to waste your lunch money. So you had to win by all means. If you didn't get good you were going to lose all of your money.
WATCH: Nyarko Scores in the 1st minute vs. HOU
AOTI: Your bio in the media guide says your favorite thing to eat is soup. What kind of soup and where's the best place to find it in Chicago?
PN: Peanut Butter soup. I've not found the best in Chicago. For really authentic soup you have to go back to Ghana so I haven't really found anything close. I don't really eat it. I don't want to offend my mom.
AOTI: One of your strengths as a player is your speed. Are you fast in other aspects of life?
PN: I do eat pretty quickly. I've been in cars with some pretty crazy drivers like Dominic [Oduro], and I don't think I drive as fast as him but I don't like to drive slow.
I like to get things done quickly, if I have to. If you go in my apartment it's really not clean because I don't have to because I live alone, but if I actually have to I'll get it done quickly.
AOTI: As a professional athlete you have a bit of a non-traditional schedule. What's a typical day like for you after you leave Toyota Park?
PN: Once I go sit on my couch I'm stuck for the rest of the day. If I have to run errands and stuff I do it all before I go home. Even if it takes six hours, I'd like to get it done before I sit on the couch. I don't know what's wrong with the couch or where it came from, but I just cannot get off of it.
I usually watch a little TV, catch up on shows and world news. I like Tyler Perry shows like "Meet the Browns" and "House of Payne." And I love "Two and a Half Men." I've started watching every season.
AOTI: Are there other soccer teams or leagues that you follow?
PN: I'm a huge fan of Manchester United. I don't miss an EPL game if I don't have to. I'm really not huge into other leagues. I'll watch Barcelona and I'll watch Real Madrid play but I don't watch the Italian league or Bundesliga. It's very limited. I love the EPL.
AOTI: You're a bit of a sneaker head. What got you interested in shoes and what's your favorite pair that you own?
PN: As a kid I always loved sneakers but growing up in Africa we weren't that well-off to get enough sneakers. I had one pair per year. When I came to the States for school and I got two pairs in college, it was like Christmas for me. I signed with adidas and I started getting all these sneakers. The love of sneakers grew after I signed with them. They make some great shoes.
The best pair I have are from adidas; they're called Ransoms.
AOTI: You currently have three goals on the season. This is only your second multi-goal season after 2009 in which you scored four goals. To what do you attribute your offensive output this season?
PN: I think I've always had adequate offensive production, not in terms of goals but I led the team in assists for the last couple of years. I think this year I'm more comfortable. I've been working a lot with the coaching staff in terms of confidence in front of the goal and stuff like that. I know I still have a ways to go but I'm happy it's imporving and hopefully by the end of the year I can have a couple more goals.
AOTI: Do you have any pre-game rituals?
PN: Not really. I just show up and I'm good to go.
AOTI: What is the best advice you have ever received?
PN: Always persevere. If you try once and you don't succeed that doesn't mean it's the end. Just keep persisting. I'm very persistent in more ways than one.
It didn't seem a likely result but the Fire and a few other teams in the East got playoff help as the low-lying New England Revolution knocked off the high-flying Columbus Crew 2-0 Wednesday night at Gillette Stadium.
Riding a four-match winning streak, popular wisdom had the Crew continuing their run, but in this match, they looked nothing like the Columbus team we've come to know over the past month. The visitors rarely threatened the New England goal and the home side which has seemed down and out for a while, rattled off a rather dominant performance.
The Revs took a 1-0 lead through Dimitry Imbongo's "clean up" effort in the 53rd minute and looked to have a second goal seven minutes later, but Stephen McCarthy's header was negated by an offside call. With the Crew only down 1-0, the most curious case moment of the night came when Columbus defender Chad Marshall (pictured above) headed a ball over 'keeper Andy Greunebaum and into his own net to give the Revs a 2-0 lead. The goal was puzzling as Marshall seemed to give up on the ball when it looked as though he could have saved off the line.
Unfortunately for Robert Warzycha's side, their best efforts didn't come until the 87th minute when a two-shot sequence was thwarted by by Revs 'keeper Matt Reis, to complete the New England victory.
The result means the Crew have missed out on what would have been regarded an easy three points and an opportunity to move all the way to third in the Eastern Conference standings. Long story short, everything in the East playoff race stayed the same Wednesday night but Thursday night, the Houston Dynamo will make their bid for a return to third in the East as they host Real Salt Lake at BBVA Compass Stadium.
HIGHLIGHTS: Revolution 2, Crew 0
It's been a few weeks since my last blog on this subject and while not much has become easier to predict, at least one thing has become clearer.
Last time, there was a question about Columbus' ability to make a run towards the playoffs. With that blog written just two days before the Crew began their current four-game winning streak, the question has been answered and their form currently has D.C. United as the current Eastern Conference outsiders. Still, I'm not yet convinced of the Crew's playoff credentials and I break down everyone's playoff hopes below...
1) Sporting KC
Current Points: 50
Games Remaining: 7 (3 home, 4 away)
Maximum Possible Points: 71
Average Opponents Points: 40.7
Remaining Schedule: vs. Houston (9/14), at New York (9/19), at Montreal (9/22), vs. Chicago (9/28), at Columbus (10/7), at New York (10/20), vs. Philadelphia (10/24).
The Rundown: It goes without saying that Sporting KC controls its own destiny for the top spot in the East but two games away to second place New York (the Red Bulls are 9-0-3 at home) combined with a home date against the Fire (who've beaten Sporting both games this season) and trips to Montreal (10-3-2 at home) and Columbus (8-3-2 at home) will make finishing top of the East difficult for KC.
Lucky for Peter Vermes' team, they've been the best MLS side on the road this season, going 7-4-2 away from LiveSTRONG Sporting Park. They're definitely going to be in the playoffs but even with a four point advantage at the top of the East, they could finish as low as third.
2) New York Red Bulls
Current Points: 46
Games Remaining: 7 (5 home, 2 away)
Maximum Possible Points: 67
Average Opponents Points: 36.8
Remaining Schedule: vs. Columbus (9/15), vs. Sporting KC (9/19), at New England (9/22), vs. Toronto FC (9/29), vs. Chicago (10/6), vs. Sporting KC (10/20), at Philadelphia (10/27)
The Rundown: If they keep their home form, New York is my favorite to finish top of the East. They're not only undefeated at home this season (9-0-3) but haven't even drawn with an Eastern Conference foe at Red Bull Arena (7-0-0 this year). Consider that their two remaining away matches are at New England and Philadelphia, you could make a strong case that New York might not lose another game this season.
Of course playoff implications often turn things on paper upside down and New York does face their two closest competitors in three of their remaining home matches. Basically I'm saying, first in the East is really New York's for the taking if they want it.
3) Chicago Fire
Current Points: 44
Games Remaining: 8 (4 home, 4 away)
Maximum Possible Points: 68
Average Opponents Points: 36.2
Remaining Schedule: at Toronto FC (9/12), vs. Montreal (9/15), vs. Columbus (9/22), at Sporting KC (9/28), vs. Philadelphia (10/3), at New York (10/6), at New England (10/20), vs. D.C. United (10/27)
The Rundown: As evidenced by the fact that the team jumped from sixth to third with one win Sunday night, the difference from third to six in the East is just three points and the victory over Houston gave the Fire the best odds of teams three through six to make a bid for a top two finish.
Like New York, Frank Klopas' side has been rather spectacular at home this season, going 9-2-2 overall and 7-0-1 against Eastern Conference opponents. With that current form, it's a decent expectation that the Fire should at least take points from all of their remaining four games at Toyota Park.
If the team takes four wins from their final eight, they're definitely in the playoffs. The rub here comes when you consider the remaining road games, which have the Fire visiting Eastern Conference cellar dwellers Toronto and New England.
Save the road games in Kansas City and New York, higher expectations will have the Fire winning six of their remaining eight matches. If they do that, they'll be in serious contention for a top two spot in the East but that will rest on how the team does in those two six-pointers.
4) Houston Dynamo
Current Points: 42
Games Remaining: 7 (4 home, 3 away)
Maximum Possible Points: 63
Average Opponents Points: 34
Remaining Schedule: vs. Real Salt Lake (9/6), at Sporting KC (9/14), at Philadelphia (9/23), vs. New England (9/29), vs. Montreal (10/6), vs. Philadelphia (10/20), at Colorado (10/27)
The Rundown: Of the seven teams still in the playoff picture, Houston definitely has one of the easiest schedules. If they can take points from their next two games vs. RSL and at Sporting, all five of their remaining matches are winnable.
The biggest question mark for Houston is how they balance their remaining two CONCACAF Champions League group games (9/20 vs. CD FAS, 10/23 vs. Olimpia) while staying in the playoff race. Dominic Kinnear has done a pretty good job of getting result when his team is coming off a competitive game played four days or less before, going 4-3-6 this season.
The fact that the team got four points from their two visits to Central America earlier this month should give them a little ease but having a crowded fixture list across two different competitions will be difficult. The Dynamo's saving grace will be their unbeaten home form at BBVA Compass Stadium where they've gone 8-0-5 since opening in May.
Like the Fire, four wins from their final seven should do the trick but picking up a point or two extra will get them in for sure.
5) Columbus Crew
Current Points: 42
Games Remaining: 8 (4 home, 4 away)
Maximum Possible Points: 66
Average Opponents Points: 35.1
Remaining Schedule: at New England (9/5), at New York (9/15), vs. Chivas USA (9/19), at Chicago (9/22), vs. Philadelphia (9/29), vs. Sporting KC (10/7), at D.C. United (10/20), vs. Toronto FC (10/28).
The Rundown: Riding a six match unbeaten streak of which the last four have all been victories, Columbus is certainly the hottest team in MLS and have pushed their way from potential spoiler right into the thick of the Eastern Conference race.
While the four straight wins are nice, consider that all four were against the bottom four in the East and three were at home. Furthermore the victories against New England and Montreal on the weekend came with stoppage time goals. I'm not saying they're not a legitimate contender and summer acquisitions Federico Higuain and Jairo Arrieta are reason for concern for any of the Crew's upcoming opponents but I do think remaining games at New York, Chicago and vs. Sporting KC could prove a blow to their chances.
Basically, if the Crew beat someone above them, everyone in the East has more cause for concern.
6) D.C. United
Current Points: 41
Games Remaining: 7 (3 home, 4 away)
Maximum Possible Points: 62
Average Opponents Points: 30.4
Remaining Schedule: vs. New England (9/15), at Philadelphia (9/20), vs. Chivas USA (9/23), at Portland (9/29), at Toronto FC (10/6), vs. Columbus (10/20), at Chicago (10/27)
The Rundown: D.C. are the team that find themselves currently just outside the playoff bubble by one point but of the seven teams still in the race, have the easiest schedule with their opponents average point total sitting at 30. Their next five matches all come against sides that are pretty well out of their respective playoff races but one thing to note is that D.C. hasn't traveled well to the west coast this season, going 0-3-1, making their September 29 trip to Portland an interesting one.
If D.C. does the business in those five matches, they should be in a good spot to play for positioning in their final two games against Columbus and the Fire to close out the season.
7) Montreal Impact
Current Points: 39
Games Remaining: 5 (2 home, 3 away)
Maximum Possible Points: 54
Average Opponents Points: 36.4
Remaining Schedule: at Chicago (9/15), vs. Sporting KC (9/22), at Houston (10/6), at Toronto FC (10/20), vs. New England (10/27)
The Rundown: Simply put, Montreal are still in the race but with only five matches remaining, it doesn't seem likely they'll be in the top five come season's end. That doesn't mean the first-year MLS side can't muck things up for other playoff contenders.
The team's road form this season (2-12-1) is likely what will keep Jesse Marsch's side out of the postseason but their play at Stade Olimpique and Stade Saputo (10-3-2) is what has them in this position. All teams contending for a playoff spot should put a lot of emphasis on the team's home match vs. Sporting KC on September 22 – I've got it marked as one of my top games where teams can make up points on the current Conference leaders.
Even considering Montreal has only taken points in three road matches this season, they'll still look to finish their first MLS campaign strong and so the Fire and Dynamo would be wise to take them seriously as they make their own playoff push.


text:
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|Star Trek - Original Series The one that started it all...
|Thread Tools
|May 27 2013, 10:31 AM
Location: USS Berlin
Re: The naked time
Unless your time machine is a spaceship, too (apparently the screenplay writer of "The Alternative Factor" understood the problem!), your time travelling would be limited to exact and full solar years.
"The first duty of every Starfleet officer is to the truth" Jean-Luc Picard
"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." Albert Einstein
|May 27 2013, 11:39 AM
Fleet Captain
Re: The naked time
The follow-up point I wanted to make is that the Earth moves around the Sun, the Sun around the galaxy, the galaxy around its cluster, etc. So while the "limited to one Solar year" argument ignores the inertia of the Earth, it obviously mandates the inertia of everything from the Solar level up.
So which is it: No inertia at all, or Time And Relative Dimensions In Space?
"No, I better not look. I just might be in there."
Foghorn Leghorn, Little Boy Boo
|May 30 2013, 01:09 AM
Fleet Captain
Location: Marsden is Not Celebrating Spocktoberfest
Re: The naked time
My personal opinion is that with a time warp drive being the Federation's primary engine of transportation, time trouble really wouldn't be as rare as we might think. My understanding of the warp drive is it allows a ship to be in a warp "bubble" in which time functions differently, therefore letting the ship get somewhere faster than light speed without arriving 80 years later to everyone else's point of view.
I fail to comprehend your indignation, sir. I have simply Murdered you.
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Pacific NorthWest LNG Ltd. has awarded the front-end engineering and design contract for the 12-million tonne/year project to three contractors: Bechtel, KBR/JGC joint venture, and Technip/Samsung Engineering/China Huanqiu joint venture.
Pacific NorthWest LNG is a unit of Malaysia's state-owned Petronas and Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. Ltd. The two-train export plant is planned for Lelu Island near Prince Rupert, BC (OGJ, Mar. 11, 2013, Newsletter).
Pacific NorthWest LNG expects the FEED and engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning bid to be complete by August 2014. At yearend 2014, Pacific NorthWest LNG plans to reach the project's final investment decision.
The proposed plant will export natural gas produced by Progress Energy Canada in northeastern British Columbia.


text:
Movie review: Johnson flexes muscle in bloody 'Hercules'
Director Brett Ratner's "Hercules" may be as pure an example of "what you see is what you get" in movie history.
It's Dwayne Johnson, the artist formerly known as "The Rock," playing Hercules, the strongman demigod of Greek legend. Movies don't come any more basic, and straight-forward, than that.
Actually, the movie does try to complicate things a bit, as Ratner ("Rush Hour") and screenwriters Ryan J. Condal and Evan Spiliotopoulos adapts the late Steve Moore's comic book "Hercules: The Thracian Wars." The results are a grab-bag of grandiose speechmaking and solid visual effects though none more eye-popping than the oiled-up Johnson looking fierce.
Ratner introduces Hercules the way the ancient Greeks encounter him with his reputation preceding him. It's Hercules' nephew and scribe, Iolaus (Reece Ritchie) who tells of Hercules' exploits, as the son of Zeus and the human woman Alcmene, who slew the Hydra and the Nemean Lion among his 12 labors. This litany is meant to scare prospective enemies before Hercules even starts knocking down enemies.
Establishing Hercules' fearsome reputation is a group effort, as he's aided by the warrior Autolycus (Rufus Sewell), the seer Amphiaraus (Ian McShane), the Amazon archer Atalanta (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal) and the mute brute Tydeus (Aksel Hennie) powerful fighters who are The Pips to Herc's Gladys Knight.
Hercules' crew are mercenaries, selling their talents for gold, which is what the besieged Lord Cotys (John Hurt) offers for Hercules & Co. to rescue Thrace from what he says is the invading armies of Rhesus (Tobias Santelmann). Hercules agrees, swayed by Cotys' caring daughter Ergenia (Rebecca Ferguson), and works to train Cotys' ragtag army into a strong fighting force.
As the battles commence, Hercules eventually realizes there's more going on in Thrace than Cotys is telling and that it's linked to Hercules' dark past, when his family was slaughtered under the orders of the Athenian king, Eurystheus (Joseph Fiennes).
The story produces some puckish humor from McShane, and an interesting discourse about the line between truth and legend. But Johnson's verbal skills aren't what pay the bills, so the story soon becomes secondary to the action.
The battle sequences are fierce, tight and exciting. They're also ferociously bloody for a PG-13 rating, and turn "Hercules" from a fun action endeavor to something more disturbing.
Twitter: @moviecricket
Dwayne Johnson is charismatic as the Greek legend, but the movie's violence is tough to stomach.
Where • Theaters everywhere.
When • Now open.
Rating • PG-13 for epic battle sequences, violence, suggestive comments, brief strong language and partial nudity.
Running time • 98 minutes.
See more about comments here.


text: Richard Adams The winner of the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Award for Children's Literature, Richard Adams currently lives in Hampshire, England. Become a Fan × BECOME A FAN Get updates about Richard Adams and recommended reads from Simon & Schuster. Plus, get a FREE eBook when you sign up! Email Address Free eBook available to NEW subscribers only. Offer redeemable at Bookshout.com. Code expires 12/31/2015. See full terms and conditions. By clicking SIGN UP, I acknowledge that I have read and agreed to the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Use. Books by this Author Watership Down By Richard Adams By Richard Adams Watership Down Discover—or revisit—the enchanting world of the Sandleford Warren rabbits in this first-ever illustrated edition of a celebrated modern classic. A phenomenal worldwide bestseller for almost forty years, Richard Adams's Watership Down is a timeless classic and one of the most beloved novels of all time. Set in England's Downs, a once idyllic rural landscape, this stirring tale of adventure, courage, and survival follows a band of very special rabbits on their flight from... Read more about this book Read more Get a FREE eBook when you join our mailing list. Plus, receive updates about Richard Adams,recommended reads and more from Simon & Schuster. Email Address Free eBook available to NEW subscribers only. Offer redeemable at Bookshout.com. Code expires 12/31/2015.See full terms and conditions and this month's choices.


text:
A few days ago, youtube user questpact uploaded this stunning footage of Niagara Falls. The waterfall was caught on camera from an aerial perspective, and the resulting video is absolutely amazing.
The Huffington Post informs us that, in order to shoot this video, questpact used a GoPro camera and a DJI Innovations quadcopter.
Now, I'm guessing everybody knows what a camera is. A quadcopter, on the other hand, sounds like something Sigourney Weaver would use to go hunting for aliens.
Rest assured, that is not the case. It is merely a small radio-controlled aircraft. Otherwise put, just think of it as a miniature helicopter.
Despite being relatively new on the web, the video already has well over 170,000 views. Almost everybody agrees it is stunning to say the least, and that it is probably a matter of hours until it goes viral.


text:
42 U.S. Code § 15854 - Sugar Cane Ethanol Program
(a) Definition of program
In this section, the term "program" means the Sugar Cane Ethanol Program established by subsection (b).
(b) Establishment
There is established within the Environmental Protection Agency a program to be known as the "Sugar Cane Ethanol Program".
(c) Project
(1) In general
Subject to the availability of appropriations under subsection (d), in carrying out the program, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall establish a project that is—
(A) carried out in multiple States—
(i) in each of which is produced cane sugar that is eligible for loans under section 7272 of title 7, or a similar subsequent authority; and
(2) Requirements
A project described in paragraph (1) shall—
(A) be limited to sugar producers and the production of ethanol in the States of Florida, Louisiana, Texas, and Hawaii, divided equally among the States, to demonstrate that the process may be applicable to cane sugar, sugarcane, and sugarcane byproducts;
(B) include information on the ways in which the scale of production may be replicated once the sugar cane industry has located sites for, and constructed, ethanol production facilities; and
Source(Pub. L. 109–58, title II, § 208,Aug. 8, 2005, 119 Stat. 656.)
LII has no control over and does not endorse any external Internet site that contains links to or references LII.


text:
Green groups welcomed the appointment of John Kerry
as Secretary of State on Tuesday. The appointment of the former
senator from Massachusetts and one-time Presidential contender has
been hailed as a new era for US climate policy. But can
Mr. Climate really engage the US
on climate change?
The president of the Natural Resource Defense Council
- one of the US's highest-profile green groups - describes Kerry as
a "a champion for action against climate
change", and a host of other environmental groups
echoed his enthusiasm. Across the
Atlantic, the EU's climate change commissioner, Connie
Hedegaard, tweeted her support for the nomination,
as did UK climate change minister Greg Barker.
Kerry the 'climate hawk'
Kerry has been active in supporting climate change
policy over the last two decades. An attendee at the first Earth
Summit in Rio in 1992, he recently wrote
a letter to the previous secretary
of state, Hillary Clinton, to pressure her into agreeing a deal at
the UN's 2011 climate meeting in Durban.
Kerry is no slouch when it comes to domestic climate
politicking either. He co-sponsored a cap-and-trade bill in 2010
that would have required the US to significantly reduce its
greenhouse gas emissions, although it failed to get through the
Senate. And as chair of the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee
since 2009, he argued that climate change is a
national security threat for the
Read more
Science writers are constantly on the hunt for
analogies to help readers situate climate phenomena on their mental
map. But nothing beats seeing something for yourself. And that's
what Chasing Ice - which is still out in cinemas - is designed to
do. With very beautiful footage, it makes subject matter that's dry
on paper compelling.
Melting glaciers are one of the tangible areas where
scientists can see the effects of a warming climate. But reading
reports giving constantly-revised estimates about whether glaciers
around the world are retreating by a few feet more or less a year
loses a bit of impact in the telling. Even though we use trusty
measurements like the length of a football field or the height of a
building as a marker, it's really hard to picture.
By 2030, the world's expected to have 1.3 billion more people.
So where will all that extra energy come from? According to a
recent report from oil giant BP, although renewables' share in the
energy mix will grow a bit, fossil fuels will still dominate, and
emissions from energy use could rise by up to 26 per cent.
At the time BP's Energy Outlook report was launched, media reports
largely headlined on the view of its Group Chief Executive. He said
fears that oil could run out "appear increasingly groundless", and
predicted that shale gas "won't be a game changer". But what else
does BP predict about our energy supplies in 2030? We take a closer
look - and throw in some of the most interesting graphs.
What is the report?
Along with the International Energy Agency's World Energy Outlook,
BP's annual report is one of the best-known analyses of future
energy supplies. In comparison with the IEA's several hundred page
annual doorstop, BP's effort is pretty accessible - with a slimline
summary, a spreadsheet with all the numbers and an infographic
animation featuring oddly cute-looking cartoons of oil wells. Well,
it is BP.
A press release last week appeared to present the results of new
research suggesting earth's climate is not as sensitive to carbon
dioxide as scientists previously thought.
But Carbon Brief has been told that the findings came from
research by a PhD student in Oslo which has not yet been published
or accepted for publication by a scientific journal. The results
cited in the press release may change before publication, we were
The Research Council of Norway last week published a press release
entitled '
Global warming less extreme than feared?'. It suggested it
could be easier to contain global warming at the accepted target of
two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels than "many experts
have feared".
As you might expect with a story like this, the news release
sparked a deal of media interest.
The Express picked up the story, with the headline "More
signs that global warming is just hot air".
In the absence of a link to a published paper, Andrew Revkin at
New York Times blog
Dot Earth surmised the press release referred to an
earlier paper by the Norwegian research group, released at
the end of last year.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC)
has launched its flagship home energy efficiency programme:
Green Deal with it - to quote the
new accompanying ad campaign. No, we're not sure it works either.
But it's trending on Twitter and the media
attention may help reverse a general
lack of public awareness of the
scheme. Here's our roundup.
What is it?
The BBC says: "Under the scheme,
households can use cheap loans to spend on energy-saving
improvements, such as insulation and new boilers, with no upfront
At the Guardian, Leo Hickman is running an
eco audit piece on the deal,
inviting contributions from people working in the area on what the
Green Deal is and what it could mean for UK energy and climate
If you're not into fancy liveblogging, though,
Telegraph and
Guardian both include a good, old-fashioned guides for
anyone wanting to know more.
The world has got warmer and generally wetter since the
beginning of the 20th century, according to new data just released
by the Met Office and a global team of experts. With an extra 50
years worth of observations, the new data tracks how high
temperatures and heavy rainfall extremes are becoming more frequent
due to climate change.
The UK's Met Office has
just published observations from over 6000 temperature and
11,000 precipitation stations around the world, which look
specifically at how extreme events have changed between 1901 and
The new dataset - called HadEX2 - is an update to a previous
one that only covered the second half of the 20th century.
The analysis is published online in the Journal of Geophysical
Research Atmospheres.
Extreme temperature or rainfall events are roughly classed as
anything that falls outside normal fluctuation around a long term
The scientists look at global temperature data to spot extremes,
such as particularly hot days. They also measure cold extremes,
like how the minimum night time temperature has changed over
In all 17 parameters the scientists measure, they find a shift
towards warmer temperatures over the 20th century.
Averaged across the globe, the number of cool nights - when the
temperature dropped a certain amount below the local average -
halved in the last 60 years to 18 days per year. The number of warm
nights increased by 55 per cent - to 20 days per year.
The number of anomalously warm days also increased over the
60-year period, but with more variation according to location.
Beth Rudge
research from universities in the
US, Australia and the UK has tested how different pictures make
people feel about whether climate change is important, and whether
they can do something about it.
Inspired, we have decided to conduct our own
experiment on you, dear readers.
Researchers showed people images used to illustrate
newspaper climate change stories. They mostly split into three
categories: pictures of climate impacts, energy futures - meaning
new energy sources like solar panels, and pictures of celebrities
and politicians.
Images of climate impacts made people feel like
climate change is important, but they also
made them feel like there's not much they can do to
stop it.
It's been a gloomy week for UK climate change policy in Europe.
In the last seven days the carbon price twice crashed to record
lows, the UK prime minister called for a revision of key
environmental regulations, and the European Commission landed the
UK with a large fine over mishandled energy policy.
Carbon price hits record lows
The European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) is reeling
after a large permit auction failed earlier in the week, and the
European Parliament then rejected a measure to bolster the scheme.
The scheme has been struggling after months of low prices.
Companies buy and sell permits to emit carbon dioxide under the EU
ETS. If companies emit less than their permits allow, they can sell
the excess for a profit. The scheme is meant to reward those that
cut their emissions, and it relies on a shortage of permits.
But on Monday prices crashed to below €5 per tonne of carbon
dioxide for the first time following a failed auction in Germany.
Almost four million permits went unsold as bidders failed to meet
the reserve price.
Leaders speak up on climate
The leaders of two of the world's greatest economies
made statements about climate change this week. Barack Obama,
President of the United States, wowed weary environmentalists with
commitment to tackle climate
change in his
inaugural speech. The
New York Timessays the campaign will be
an "aggressive campaign built around the use of his executive
powers to sidestep Congressional opposition" - a point
CNN also notes. According to the
Guardian, Obama said more about climate
change in the speech than he has for a very long time.
Meanwhile, Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, wrote
comment piece for the Telegraph
explaining why the recent snow in the capital meant he was keeping
an open mind on whether the UK was heading for a new ice age.
Carbon Brief asked scientists why
fringe views don't shake mainstream science. The
Guardian and
New Statesman also picked up on
the story.
The government is due to launch its flagship energy
efficiency scheme, the Green Deal, on Monday. At a press conference
yesterday, climate change minister Greg Barker insisted that the
programme will make energy efficiency measures the next big thing
in home improvement. But others seem less than enthusiastic. We
cast an appraising eye over the government's big green
The Green Deal is basically a loan scheme. It will
allow householders to take out a loan from the government to fund
measures to improve the energy efficiency of their
home - these could include double glazing, an upgraded boiler, or
cavity wall insulation. The works will be delivered by registered
suppliers and the householder pays the loan off through a surcharge
on their energy bill.
There appear to be some teething problems the media
has picked up on in recent weeks, and here we take a look at
RT @Revkin: New IPCC chair (pre-vote @CarbonBrief Q/A) "Most important work in climate change" >CO2 price http://t.co/0WaesYpiOg http://t.c…
RT @CatyArevalo: El nuevo presidente #IPCC: partidario de poner precio al carbono y no confía mucho en la geoingeniería v @CarbonBrief http…
RT @LeoHickman: Journo on deadline writing up news of new IPCC chair? This is only in-depth interview with Hoesung Lee http://t.co/MODOUheP…
RT @LeoHickman: Want to know more about new IPCC chair. Read his in-depth interview with @CarbonBrief... http://t.co/MODOUheP0L https://t.c…
Factcheck: Aerosols research misinterpreted to 'alarming extent', says study author | http://t.co/EUIF755nST http://t.co/bEkQcbwM9t
How much energy does the world get from #renewables? We've got 2 charts to illustrate. | http://t.co/54UwtSseuP http://t.co/zyY0TDL0Wm
The world cannot avoid dangerous climate change without moving to "near zero emissions", says IPCC | http://t.co/KKhLBECGZs
Factcheck: How much energy does the world get from renewables? | @DrSimEvans http://t.co/6uL0IFyV2p http://t.co/tSNNqv7pPn
The Conservatives have forgotten the greatest challenge of all: climate change | Comment by @lisanandy http://t.co/ewFjohH0nt
Wind and solar boost cost-competitiveness versus fossil fuels | Ethan Zindler http://t.co/jJqVN4yNNo
Published under a CC
license. You are welcome to reproduce material for
non-commercial use, credited 'Carbon Brief' with a link to the
article. Please contact us for commerical use.
Published by Climate Brief Ltd - Company No. 07222041


text:
University of Missouri St Louis
1 University Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63121
The University of Missouri-St. Louis is one of four universities in the University of Missouri System. Established in 1962, it is the newest university in the System and is also the largest university in the St. Louis metropolitan area. The Tritons are a member of NCAA Division II's Great Lakes Valley Conference and field 11 teams ranging from soccer and basketball to golf and softball.


text:
San Antonio Silver Stars v Minnesota Lynx
Jia Perkins of the San Antonio Silver Stars looks to pass the... Photo d'actualitéAdulte,Basket-ball,Basket-ball féminin,Faire une passe,Femmes,Jia Perkins,Match - Sport,Minneapolis,Minnesota,Minnesota Lynx,San Antonio Stars - Équipe de basket-ball,Sport,Target Centre,Vertical,WNBA,États-UnisPhotographer David ShermanCollection: National Basketball Association 2013 NBAEMINNEAPOLIS, MN - JUNE 11: Jia Perkins #7 of the San Antonio Silver Stars looks to pass the basketball against the Minnesota Lynx during the WNBA game on June 11, 2013 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2013 NBAE (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)


text:
Mütesarrifs (Lieutenant-governors) of
proclaimed Jerusalem as its capital 13 Dec 1949 (enacted
23 Jan 1950) but the U.S.,
²approximately 341,400 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank (2012); approximately 18,900 Israeli settlers live in the Golan Heights (2012); approximately 196,400 Israeli settlers live in East Jerusalem (2011).
Territorial Disputes: West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further negotiation; Israel continues construction of a "seam line" separation barrier along parts of the Green Line and within the West Bank; Israel withdrew its settlers and military from the Gaza Strip and from four settlements in the West Bank in Aug 2005; Golan Heights is Israeli-occupied (Lebanon claims the Shab'a Farms area of Golan Heights); since 1948, peacekeepers from the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) headquartered in Jerusalem monitor ceasefires, supervise armistice agreements, prevent isolated incidents from escalating, and assist other UN personnel in the region.
Party abbreviations: Avoda = Mifleget
HaAvoda HaYisraelit (Israeli Labor Party,
center-left, social-democratic, est.1968); Kad
= Kadima (Forward, centrist, est.24 Nov 2005 by
splinters of Lik & Avoda); Lik = HaLikud
(The Consolidation, conservative, as a
coalition 1973-1988 led by Herut; properly a party from
© Ben Cahoon


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Joe Elliott recently spoke with JD Lewis of Calgary's CJAY 92 about Def Leppard's show at Stampede Roundup on July 10 with Cheap Trick and Sloan, the Vegas VIVA! Hysteria shows, writing new music, and more! Listen HERE or in the player below
It's always nice to hear Joe excited about upcoming shows and he always has such a positive outlook.....glass half full!
Yes yes yes another great interview with joe. Nice and long!! And I totally agree with joe.....deep fried mars bars are a no-no x
Stay Informed Sign up for the email list


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It's official: Universal Studios' new Harry Potter-themed area, Diagon Alley, will open on July 8!
On May 8 and 9, I was lucky enough to be invited to one of the first—if not the first—media events to check out the new additions to Universal Studios, including a preview of Diagon Alley.
I know everyone wants to know about the new rides, but I'll give you a rundown of the weekend from start to finish. I arrived in Orlando on May 8 at the new moderately-priced resort hotel, Cabana Bay, which opened March 31 of this year.
Universal definitely hit the nail on the head with the design of this place. It's got great balance; the design definitely makes you think "throwback," but it's not so overdone that it becomes cheesy. Being in this hotel is like walking into an episode of "The Jetsons." It's got the mid-century modern aesthetic—think pointy chair legs and swooping curves—with all the comforts of the 21st century. The flat-screen television in my room was inlaid into the wall, and it knew my name.
There's a bowling alley, an arcade, a great pool with a diving platform and waterslide, gift shop, a Starbucks (thank you, modern age), a Jack LaLanne fitness center, two bars and a huge cafeteria. The food in the cafeteria is about what you'd expect: not great, but not bad. Totally standard family fare. For breakfast each morning, I could choose between a platter of meats, pancakes, yogurt and granola or a waffle with fruit. I didn't have time to check out the lunch or dinner options, but I suspect you'd find hamburgers and chicken fingers. The bar by the pool, Atomic Tonic, is very cool—check it out after dark. Just trust me.
The price of a stay here is around $140-200 a night in the high season, which is pretty decent compared to Universal's other on-site properties, which may run you over $700. It'd be a great place for families to check out.
On to what you came here for: the park. On May 9, we had to get up bright and early for a VIP tour of both parks, which entailed seeing a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff and jumping to the front of all the lines. (This is a service available to anyone—visit this site for info. I'd say it's worth it if you're not too worried about having an emotional connection with the stories of the rides, which I learned is really affected by all that stuff you see while you're waiting in line. For instance, the new 3-D Transformers ride, while exciting and cool, wasn't as fun without all the build-up.)
For lunch, we got to go into the Navigator's Club, one of those secret places only the most "I" of VIPs get to see. There, we were given a preview of the new foods and entertainment you'll see in Diagon Alley. Of course, as Diagon Alley is a place in London, it's English food.
On the menu were Scotch eggs, shepherd's pie, mint peas (surprisingly good), fisherman's pie, bangers and mash, toad in the hole and plenty more. This food should be available to the public in the Leaky Cauldron. The restaurant will be pub-style service, with a magical candlestick leading your food to your table—I assume this is similar to the technology available in Panera Bread, which tells the server where you are in the restaurant.
We also got to sample ice cream flavors being introduced at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour: chocolate chili, Earl Grey lavender, apple crumble, sticky toffee pudding, clotted cream and raspberry chocolate. I tried three kinds, but wasn't too blown away. Everyone who tried the clotted cream loved it, but of course I didn't choose that one. However, I did try a caramel sticky bun dessert, which was definitely as good as it sounds.
There were also several new beverages to try, including two new beers: Wizard's Brew, a dark beer, and Dragonscale Lager. The beers are brewed by a brewer in Cape Canaveral, but the staff wouldn't say exactly where. Non-alcoholic beverages included Tongue Tying Lemon Squash drink, Otters Fuzzy Orange, and Fishy Green Ale. The first two were tasty, but the Fishy Green Ale was not for me. The recipes are of course guarded secrets, but there's definitely a hint of cinnamon in it, and it has blueberry-flavored "bubbles" in the bottom that burst when you bite into them (think boba tea, but the bubbles aren't tapioca—they're more like soft grapes). The flavors just didn't mesh well to me, but others enjoyed it.
After lunch and a few more rides, we were off to the main attraction: Diagon Alley. Walls were still up around the area when I was there, but they've now come down and guests can see Harry Potter's London.
Grimmauld Place is visible, complete with Harry's magical flat and a house elf peeking out from inside. The Knight Bus is a stationary accessory, but I hear the shrunken head interacts with the driver. A few shops fill out Charing Cross Rd., including a record shop and bookshop that look normal enough—but real fans know that between those is the secret location of Diagon Alley.
Firstly, however, we were led into King's Cross Station, which takes up the corner where the Jaws ride used to sit. The station feels massive, but is actually 1/4 scale. There's a real, working train sign—with those cute flipping sounds!—announcing train arrivals and departures. Guests wait in line to walk through the brick wall portal onto Platform 9-3/4 to board the Hogwarts Express.
The ride is a people-mover, yes—but no ordinary one. The Hogwarts Express, an authentic-looking (real mahogany!) train modeled after 1940s trains in England, is really a ride itself. "Things happen on board," according to my notes, but you'll have to ride it for yourself to find that out. Also, if you get on in "London" to take the train to Hogsmeade, you'll have a different experience than if you do the opposite.
"The whole experience feels like a long journey," says Thierry Coup, senior vice president of Universal Creative, one of our main tour guides through this new section of the park. "We wanted guests to experience the train journey. It's such a big part of the story."
A catch: since the Express runs between Universal Studios to Islands of Adventure, you must have a park-to-park ticket to ride. But if you don't have one, Universal will sell you an upgrade at the station (convenient and good business sense).
We then headed through the camouflaged wall into Diagon Alley.
On your left is the Leaky Cauldron (if you head in, you can sample the fare I talked about earlier, and don't forget to look up to the left into the Inn where Harry once stayed). On your right are a few shops, including Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Most of the shops in the row will be open for business. Don't miss the window displays in any of these shops, as you'll see magical details similar to those already featured in Hogsmeade Village.
Walking past the twisted, leaning shops, including Quality Quidditch Supplies, Spindlewarps Wool Shop, Flourish & Blotts, Madam Malkins, Mullpeppers Apothecary and Sly & Jigger's Apothecary, you can see the door to the Daily Prophet (one of my personal favorites) on the right. Don't miss the view down the infamous Knockturn Alley on your left past the Leaky Cauldron. "It wouldn't be Diagon Alley without Knockturn Alley," says Coup.
The road forks into a T formation. If you head left, there are more shops to discover. On the right, past Wiseacre's, there's a stage area. Here's where Universal will feature new stage shows, built straight from the books with JK Rowling's help. Celestina Warbeck, a minor character mentioned once in the books and often called "The Singing Sorceress," performs live on Diagon Alley. Some of the 1940s-jazz-infused songs she'll be singing are "You Stole My Cauldron, But You Can't Have My Heart," and "Beat Back Those Bludgers, Boys, and Put That Quaffle Here." I'm stoked from just the titles alone.
"She'd be the Shirley Bassey or Bette Middler of the Wizarding World," says Mike Aiello, creative director for Universal Orlando Entertainment. "She's a bigger than life personality, a total wizarding diva. We worked with JK on the music and the lyrics."
The other show will off-set the huge personality of Celestina Warbeck, and is based on the Tales of Beedle the Bard—the Aesop of the Wizarding World. The show, which features "The Tale of the Three Brothers," among other stories, is performed by a troupe of four from the Wizarding Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Towering over the center of the T-shaped streets is Gringotts Bank. This is the main attraction, it's quite obvious. Walking into the Banker's Hall, look up. The giant "crystal" chandeliers are gorgeous, but even with that excellent display, I was not prepared for what I saw next.
The goblins are in the formation you might remember from the movies: each sitting at his own tall desk with the bank manager at the end. They're animatronic, but these are really good animatronics. The goblins are breathtakingly realistic. I had to look a moment longer make sure that they weren't in fact real.
You walk up to the head goblin to "open an account." He gives a little speech about how safe the bank is, and instructs you to head to Bill Weasley's office. He goes back to writing on his parchments, but looks up again to gruffly say "Move along." As you move through the line, you pass animated paintings and newspaper prints, and the offices of such notable goblins as Griphook, Ragnok and Gormuk.
Eventually, "We find ourselves right in the middle of the story," says Coup. Guests learn that Ron, Harry and Hermione (well, she sounds like Hermione—she looks very much like Bellatrix LeStrange) are in the bank. The trio are there to steal a horcrux, naturally. Bill Weasley and Mordak lead the way into an elevator which takes us deep into the cavernous vaults of Gringott's.
Amid glowing stalactites and stalagmites, riders board the Harry Potter and the Escape From Gringotts mine cart to take the 4-minute journey into the heart of the bank. "This ride really takes the bar a notch up. There's nothing quite like it," says Coup. "Guests will find themselves face to face with the Dark Lord and Bellatrix."
I didn't get to ride, as it wasn't yet complete when I visited. But I was told the ride is a combination of 3-D effects and physical effects. Sometimes it stops, sometimes it goes straight down. If you think that sounds similar to other 3-D rides, I thought so too. But we'll have to wait (not much longer now!) and see. If it's half as good as the build-up to it, the ride will be fantastic.
After we left Diagon Alley, the media group was treated to dinner and drinks at one of the new restaurants in Universal's CityWalk, Antojitos. This Mexican restaurant was the second venue to open in the new CityWalk expansion, and it's been open since February.
This mariachi band serenaded us with their modern playlist—they even do Pharrell.
There's actually two restaurants inside the building. We went to Antojitos Up, the more intimate, fancy one, which is on the second level.
There was a parade of liquor coming to us, and I tried each drink. They even poured us tequila shots from their extensive selection, but I only sipped! Now that I'm an expert on Antojitos Up's libations, I'd recommend the Big Apple in Mexico, the Paloma and The Horse You Rode In On.
For an appetizer, you can't go wrong with the tableside-made guacamole. The Esquites Asados is also particularly good: roasted corn, jalapeno mayo, queso fresco and ancho chiles with tortilla chips. For dinner, I chose enchiladas vegetarianas—one of the best veggie enchilada dishes I've ever eaten… perhaps the best. The fresh corn made it for me. The desserts were nothing to write home about, but I don't love Mexican desserts, generally. The flan and churros were decent. There was a cake that tasted like banana bread. I recommend this place wholeheartedly.
I really can't wait to go back and see it all in action. Even though I got the grand tour, there's plenty of secrets that remain unlocked.
Alohomora, perhaps?


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Feds cite Arizona mine for multiple violations
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Federal mining regulators issued 150 citations during
December impact inspections, including a copper mine in Gila County, Ariz.
The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration said Thursday it also issued
nine orders following inspections at eight coal mines and three other mines.
MSHA issued 13 citations and five orders at Dorchester Enterprises Inc.'s No. 4
Mine No. 4 in Wise County, Va. Violations included failing to follow an approved
ventilation plan and accumulation of combustible material.
MSHA also issued 28 citations at the Azarco LLC Ray Mine, a surface copper ore
operation in Arizona. Among the violations were exposing miners to
fall hazards and failing to provide insulating material to prevent electrical
The inspections began in 2010 after a mine explosion in West Virginia that
killed 29 coal miners.


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Press Releases
Iowa participates in 2011 national "Click It or Ticket" campaign May 23 – June 5
- Last Updated on Wednesday, 29 June 2011 11:17
- Published on Monday, 16 May 2011 10:12
Des Moines, IOWA -- Law enforcement agencies in Iowa will join officers and highway safety advocates across the country again this year for the 2011 National Click It or Ticket safety belt enforcement mobilization, May 23-June 5, 2011. During the mobilization, officers will be cracking down on motorists who fail to wear their safety belts – both day and night, as well as all other traffic infractions.
Because nighttime passenger vehicle occupants are among those least likely to buckle up and most likely to die in crashes when unrestrained, nighttime enforcement has become a priority of the Click It or Ticket mobilization. In Iowa, of those who died in nighttime crashes in 2010, nearly two-thirds, or 62%, were not wearing safety belts at the time of their fatal crashes. Additionally, 50% of Iowa's traffic fatalities occur during the daytime when 88% of the motoring public is traveling. The remaining 50% occur at night when only 12% of motorists are on the road.
Iowa law enforcement will be out en masse during the Click it or Ticket mobilization looking for violators. If an officer finds you on the road unbuckled anytime or anywhere, you can expect to get a $127 ticket — not a warning. No excuses and no exceptions. High-visibility enforcement like the Click It or Ticket mobilization is credited with increasing Iowa's belt usage rate from 75% in 1997 to an observed daytime usage rate of 93% in 2010. Belt use saves thousands of lives each year across America. According to the Iowa Department of Transportation's Life Toll program 6,458 lives have been saved wearing seat belts since the Iowa's safety belt law took effect in July, 1986.
Also, as a reminder, May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness month and with the onset of nice weather, there is an increase in motorcycles on our roadways. Please be aware of their presence during this month and throughout the year.


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The resource center library is located in the Student and Volunteer workspace in the Office of Community Service and Civic Engagement. The library has a lot of great books, DVDs and VHS' from a variety of different topics.
Age groups who could take out materials from the library vary from Pre-K students to items geared toward adults. There are books such as "Los Tres Cerditos; The Three Little Pigs," a bilingual childrens book, and there are movies such as "The Pursuit of Happiness;" a movie about a man and his struggles with homelessness. There are workbooks for children, and informative books for teens and adults. Any age group would benefit from checking out the wonderful items in this library!
For more information, stop on down in the Office of Community Engagement and find out how you can contribute or take out a book or movie!


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Thursday, July 5, 2012
© Copyright 2015 Albany Herald
I, like many Americans, have now decided that I will be dropping out of America's labor force. At least, I intend to drop out from my current position as a small-town lawyer and try to move my life into another direction. In order to accomplish this goal, I, like many millions of Americans also, will need various government assistance in almost all walks of my life. Unfortunately, in my current state, I do not qualify for most of the assistance I need. Therefore, I plan to have a lifestyle change.
First and foremost, I would like to advance my education by attending Harvard Law School. I am not sure that I will presently qualify for admittance to Harvard Law School, as my resume of having graduated in the top 50 percent of my graduating high school class at Terrell Academy, which consisted of two students, may not be sufficient. I need to come from some type of protected minority classification and I have decided to declare, on my resume, that I am part Native American Indian. I obviously have no idea if this is true, but I figure there is at least a 50/50 chance that someone in my ancestral history slipped up and enjoyed a rendezvous with an Indian at some time in the past.
Once I am admitted into Harvard, I feel like my opportunity for bigger and better jobs should greatly increase. But one can never be sure, so I would like to announce immediately that I intend to undergo sex change therapy and will begin receiving female hormone injections. This change will ensure that I will have a protected classification in case anyone tries to discharge me from my new high-paying job and will have the added benefit that my wife and I will now be able to find much more pleasure in shopping at Dillards together.
But, there is a strong possibility that I will not wish to keep such a demanding, high-paying job and would rather collect disability. I should qualify for Social Security disability based on the severe disability I currently have, which is being a baldheaded American male. Now, you may not think that being bald qualifies as disabled. Obviously, you have never stood in 105 degree weather at a funeral without a hat or you might change your mind.
To further pad my potential for government assistance, I assume my resume should include some type activity indicating my deep concern for the earth and its environment. Thus, I'm announcing the foundation of the "Protect the Possum" environmental fund.
As you may have noticed, the possum is being overrun, literally, by cars and, more importantly, by invading hoards of illegal armadillos. These illegal armadillos have been migrating from all sections of the world and, to my knowledge, not a one has been invited or has so much as a visa.
As a boy, I could ride the roads of rural Terrell County and find at least three or four run-over possums on almost any given night. Now, I can ride for days before I see a run-over possum and, instead, the roads are littered with dead armadillos.
In short, this is a national tragedy. If this trend is not reversed, before long the only place my little boy will be able to see a run-over, dead possum will be in the cold, stark confines of a zoo.
To protect the possum, I first contacted the federal government for assistance. Unfortunately, this has now led to a ruling from the Justice Department that all possums qualify for any in-state four-year tuition programs, rent free homes, health care and a cell phone. You may think that you have a problem with teenagers staying up late at night texting on a cell phone, but you ain't seen nothing compared to a possum. Maybe I need to contact Gov. Brewer from Arizona. Please send funds to the "Protect the Possum" environmental cause.
In the meantime, I'll be in my pajamas, on my iPhone, buying lottery tickets.
Contact columnist T. Gamble at firstname.lastname@example.com.
waltspecht 3 years, 3 months ago
Have you ever seriously thought what would happen if we all actually did this? Just said the Heck with it, I can live on what they offer. While there are many needy out there, there are many out there milking the system and making all the systems participants look bad. When there are no contributors to the pot, it soon goes empty. Maybe this needs to be done to cleanse the system. Then our Childrens Grandchildren might stand a chance of achieving the old American dream of benefiting from your own hardwork. Not your hardwork benefiting a whole bunch of folks you don't even know. Plus folks that seem to love to rub it in your face by flaunting how they have figured it out, and can live off what we work for. That would include career Politicians, and every other abuser of the systems set in place to help the needy, but been corrupted to support the lazy.
watchman 3 years, 3 months ago
Wow Waltspecht, you said just what I was thinking, you only did it better.
RedEric 3 years, 3 months ago
A single mother with three children qualifys for SNAP, WIC, welfare, Medicaid, cell phone, housing, energy, earned income tax refund etc. in Georgia those programs have a total value of $68,000 per year. According to government websites. How many working people earn that much? The welfare cheats with 2 or 3 ID's makes good money especially if you get cash SNAP cards and can cash in the total. Official government estimates fraud is 20 percent. Retired government executives have estimated the actual fraud is closer to 50 percent. How can you respect a government that knows you are cheating them. The fights last night on our nations birthday celebration illustrates that disrespect.
watchman 3 years, 3 months ago
A lot of people are bleeding the "system" dry. And this has not just started, it has been going on for quite some time. If one play by the rule, that's all you get, someone that tell you what to do. There's so little integrity among the lot and to say nothing of dignity.
reb_arty1863 3 years, 3 months ago
They wont give bambi food stamps.
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More like this story
- Wolfe should've 'played possum' ( March 31, 2010 )
- Armadillos have become nuisances to many homeowners ( April 18, 2015 )
- Armadillos: Adaptable and troublesome ( July 12, 2014 )
- Armadillos: So many flower beds, so little time ( January 15, 2012 )
- Kids snap up the lessons of life ( March 23, 2011 )


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2010-2011: Did not play due to ACL injury.
2009-10: Became a consistent starter in the doubles lineup... went 8-2 overall with partner Brycki... also earned a singles victory in her lone singles match of the season... Re-tore her ACL at the end of the season.
High School/Juniors: was a stellar tennis and basketball player... ranked eighth in the Canadian Junior rankings before heading to ASU... named Best All-Around Athlete at her high school... graduated from Edge School in Calgary, Alberta
Personal: Projected major is psychology... born May 29, 1991 in Calgary, Canada... daughter of Mike and Jane Smith... sister Ashley played golf at ASU for one season... full name is Nicole Cristol Smith... says most exciting moment in sports was winning zones and cities for basketball and traveling the world for tennis.
Coaching Staff Head Coach Sheila McInerney Coaches with 20+ years experience at ASU Assistant Coach Matt Langley Volunteer Assistant Coach Ford Oliver
Social Media Facebook Twitter
Extras Whiteman Tennis Center Calling All Former Sun Devil Student-Athletes Recruit Questionnaire


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The University of Lincoln welcomes students from India and around the world, and we are delighted that you are considering studying with us.
As one of the UK's leading new universities, the University of Lincoln is proud of the quality of education it offers. We understand that a qualification from a British university is recognised internationally, and we endeavour to deliver high quality teaching and facilities to all our students.
Degree programmes at the University of Lincoln are specially designed to suit the needs of both students and future employers, while purpose-built, modern buildings and resources aid students throughout their studies.
We are here to help and support you in the lead up to starting university, throughout your time studying here and long after graduation.
If you have any questions, the University's International Office will be happy to help. Please contact us via the international enquiries form.
Meet our International Officer in India
Our International Officer, Carol McFarlane visits India several times a year.
For More information on when and where Carol will be visiting please email email@example.com
Contact Indian Students at Lincoln
If you would like to contact a student from India who is currently studying here at the University of Lincoln please email firstname.lastname@example.com. Please include your name, address, country and subject of interest.
Visa Requirements
The UK Border Agency website includes detailed information on how to apply for your visa.
You will need to show details of your acceptance onto a programme, your offer letter and evidence of sufficient funding to support your education and living expenses while you are in the UK.
General Qualification Requirement
English Language Requirements
Undergraduate Entry
60% in Standard XII English from CBSE/ State / Metropolitan Examination Board for courses requiring IELTS or 6.0
IELTS 6.0 (with no less than 5.5 in each band score)
Journalism programmes require IELTS 7.0
The British Council India
The British Council organise fairs and events across india throughout the year. Details of those which we are attending will be added here as they become available.
We have education agents who represent the University in various regions across India.
Agents can liaise with the University on your behalf and assist you in the following areas:
- Making an application
- Studying in the UK
- Applying for a visa
If you would like to apply to the University of Lincoln, please do contact us directly or through one of our agents:
Brits Overseas Consultant
Contact: Sundeep Sareen
Tel: 7830801929
Email: email@example.com
Web: http://www.britsoverseasconsultant.com
Career Plus Services
Contact: Pankaj Jain
Tel: 00911143103850
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Web: http://www.careerpluss.com
Edwise Consultants Private Limited
Contact: Ajay Sukhwani
Tel: 00912240813336
Email: email@example.com
Web: http://www.edwiseinternational.com
GeeBee Education Private Ltd
Contact: Upesh Savla
Email: email@example.com
Web: http://www.geebeeworld.com
Global Opportunities
Contact: Sidharth Gupta
Email: email@example.com
Web: http://www.global-opportunities.net
IMTP Consultancy Services (Chennai) Private Limited
Contact: Gigeo Sakkaryas
Email: email@example.com
Web: http://www.imtpconsultants.com
International Placewell Consultants Private Limited
Contact: Ajay Mittal
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Web: http://www.EducationOverseas.com
N & N Chopra Consultants Pvt Ltd
Contact: Natasha Chopra
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Web: http://www.thechopras.com
SI-UK Bangalore
Tel: 080-4219-8902 & 080-4219-8903
Email: email@example.com
web: www.studyin-uk.in
SI-UK Chennai
Tel: 91-(0)44-4510-8282
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
web: www.studyin-uk.in
SI-UK Delhi
Tel: 91-11-4202-8200
Email: email@example.com
web: www.studyin-uk.in
Study Overseas India Private Limited
Contact: Kamal Kant
Email: email@example.com
Web: http://www.studyoverseasglobal.com/
Trivedi Educational Consultants Private Ltd
Contact: Pankaj Trivedi
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Web: http://www.tceducation.com
For further information, please contact the International Office.
International Enquiries Form
Tel: +44 1522 886040
Fax: +44 1522 886680


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Home > About IUP > Administration > Academic Affairs > International Education > Personnel
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B-25 Delaney Hall920 Grant StreetIndiana, PA firstname.lastname@example.com
Gail was born and raised in Western Pennsylvania, but has lived and traveled to numerous places. She attended Bradford School, where she studied accounting.
In her free time, Gail enjoys spending time with family and friends. Gail also enjoys biking, reading, baking and spending time outdoors.
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