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Several years ago, I played bocce ball at a family reunion. I had never played it before and thought it was really fun. So, it is totally understandable to know just how popular the San Diego Self Storage (SDSS) bocce ball tournament is.
San Diego Self Storage (SDSS) is sponsoring their 18th annual Del Mar-Solana Beach Sunrise Rotary Turf Bocce Ball Family Day and Tournament. It will be held on March 23, 2014 at the Del Mar Horse Park and will start at 9:00 a.m. Those interested in participating in the tournament can get a team together and apply to compete.
The tournament is a fundraiser and the proceeds from the tournament will go to two non-profit organizations: Just in Time for Foster Youth (JIT) and Reality Changers.
According to Managing Member J. Terry Aston, "We're honored to be a VIP Sponsor of this event once again this year to provide critically-needed support to the two beneficiaries. SDSS is a catalyst for humanitarian causes in San Diego and we're tremendously grateful to the Rotary Club of Del Mar-Solana Beach for organizing this event and engaging us in a worthy endeavor."
Just In Time for Foster Youth helps youth who are in the foster program to transition from being in foster care into becoming self-sufficient individuals. JIT provides personal guidance at critical stages as they develop into individuals capable of independent living.
Reality Changers is a non-profit social services agency that provides disadvantaged youth with academic support, financial assistance, and leadership training. Their goal is to help the youth to be prepared and qualified to attend college. (Many times they are the first generation in their families to go to college.)
The event is very family oriented. There are activities throughout the day that are family-friendly. Usually, there are things such as face painting, a silent auction, and a luncheon. Families are encouraged to attend to watch the tournament and to participate in the activities.
San Diego Self Storage is a supportive sponsor of the event. Founded in 1972, it is one of the largest self storage providers in the county. They have 18 facilities in San Diego and additional facilities in the Los Angeles and Orange counties.
SDSS also supports active military personnel by giving them and their families a discount on any storage units that they rent. SDSS also offers a discount to senior citizens.
Sources Used:
"San Diego Self Storage Sponsors Fundraising Bocce Tournament." Online PR Media; 10 February 2014.


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Ni no Kuni (PS3) - ReviewKarl Koebke, posted on 09 February 2013 / 6,111 Views
After many months of waiting and even more hoping for a localization announcement, Ni no Kuni is finally in the hands of JRPG fans in the West. A collaborative effort between Level 5 and Studio Ghibli seemed too good to be true, and in some ways it was. But where the storyline may have been less impactful than one may have hoped after seeing the first tearful scenes in previews, the gameplay is surprisingly interesting thanks to a White Knight Chronicles-esque real-time battle system. But does Ni no Kuni live up to months and months of hype?
Ni no Kuni is the story of Oliver, a boy who has recently lost his mother to a tragic accident. Crying in the midst of an inconsolable depression, the boy's tears happen to fall on a doll his mother had given him many years ago and out pops Drippy, the self-proclaimed King of the Fairies. He snaps Oliver from his doldrums and tells him of a magical world inhabited by the soulmates of his own world's inhabitants, and that helping his mother's soulmate in that world could allow him to bring her back in his own. So Oliver and company set out on an adventure between two worlds to try and save both the other world and his mother.
A sucker for a sad story, I expected that, with a beginning saturated in tragedy like this, the rest of the story would be sure to scratch an itch of mine, but I was sorely mistaken. There are a handful of emotional moments but for the most part the story is pretty standard fare. Much of it revolves around Oliver's budding abilities as a wizard and particularly his ability to take pieces of hearts from healthy individuals and give them to someone suffering from a deficiency in a particular emotion. So if you find a character with no drive to do anything anymore you can search for someone else with a glut of enthusiasm, borrow a little bit, and transfer it over. This is handled well in the main storyline, but makes for some tiresome and overly obvious sidequesting. It could, for example, have been made more interesting by forcing you to try and figure out what each distraught person is missing, but alas Drippy assumes you're incompetent and blurts it out every time.
The storyline is enjoyable, though it may not meet your initial expectations. Oliver's transformation from a wishy washy little kid into a real hero with his own ideals is enjoyable and much of the voice acting and dialogue is pitch perfect. Drippy's accent is a delight to try and muddle through interpreting and some of the game's puns are perfect homages to Studio Ghibli fans (like fighting a pig tank called "Porco Grosso"), though I did get a bit tired of the animal based puns; hanging out with a cat king constantly addressed as "your meowjesty" and a cow queen as "your moojesty" is a bit much.
Some superb animated cutscenes from Studio Ghibli may be expected, but I don't think anyone could have expected Level 5 to match the feel of those cutscenes so perfectly with the actual gameplay. Little touches like how Oliver's gait changes as he traverses stairs shows that a lot of love went into this game. There is a small amount of disconnect between the animated characters and the still backgrounds they inhabit but I think it's an acceptable misstep in an otherwise impressive visual performance. Audio design fares well, too, with an epic and memorable soundtrack, and although much of the voice acting is excellent (especially from Drippy), minor characters occasionally sound off and the game certainly could have benefited from more voice acted scenes in general.
Ni no Kuni's strength actually lies in its setting, which is tied together by The Wizard's Companion, a magical textbook of sorts given to Oliver when he begins his walk into the wonderful world of wizardry. Sadly, not every copy of Ni no Kuni comes with a physical copy of this book, but even in digital form it's a joy, conjuring up nostalgia for the good old fashioned game manuals of previous generations. Full bestiary, spell, equipment, and alchemy lists are just the practical side of what the tome offers. Riddles that require careful perusing of the pages to solve, legends which give backstory to events you didn't even know were important beforehand, and maps that act as more than just a general guide bring the book to life. It's just a shame there weren't more physical copies of it to go around.
Gameplay previews for Ni no Kuni had raised some concerns for me; the battle system seemed disturbingly like the dull, plodding fights found in White Knight Chronicles, which made that game such a chore to play through. Luckily this turns out not to be the case. While the general set-up may feel similar, the tempo has been sped up considerably, and fast reactions are often the difference between victory and defeat. Quickly switching from attacking to defending changes a devastating attack into a manageable affair, although this only applies to player controlled characters.
While you do acquire the ability to instruct your party members to attack or defend, your party members are almost never fast enough at following these orders for them to make a difference. I would often use Oliver's Familiar as an evasion tank while doing my best to time his defensive skills for any large damage attacks during boss fights, but it seemed like no matter how much warning time I gave the other party members they could never replicate this tactic. Getting them to actually follow instructions in the first place takes a bit of work. For example, they would often ignore my "keep us healed" tactical command and spam spells until they ran out of MP, which forced me to withhold abilities from them in order to ensure they followed my commands. It's also irritating how Familiars run towards their targets without concern for avoiding obstacles like other enemies, so sometimes they'll get stuck running into one enemy and will do no damage while at the same time getting walloped. You can cancel the attack and readjust their position, but you're punished with a wait time until the Familiar can be set to attack again. None of these things kills the fun of the game, but they definitely added unnecessary frustration.
I mentioned Familiars before, and this is a term you'll become well acquainted with before Ni no Kuni concludes. They're a lot like pokemon; monsters that fight on behalf of your characters that can be captured and trained accordingly. But while pokemon have their own healthbars, Familiars share the healthbar of their 'owner', so in battle they act more like different forms of the human character than autonomous helpers. Each creature has two possible evolutions, and a choice between two different forms with the second change. They also come with adorable names, like my pirating feline tank called "Puss in Boats". It isn't as involved or strategic as Pokemon - I fought through quite a few boss battles with precisely the wrong elemental affiliations - but it's a fun system nonetheless.
The star of the show for most long-time JRPG fans will be the return of a large world map with many nooks and crannies to explore and even progressively better methods of transportation around said map. Even after beating the final boss (by which point I had played for a total of 42 hours) there were still parts of the map I had yet to see, and plenty of caves left unexplored. It's not the most value packed JRPG on the market, but I can definitely see myself coming back to Ni no Kuni for the simple joy of completing a few more mindless sidequests in this fascinating world.
Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind is probably my favorite movie of all time, and while it wasn't made by Studio Ghibli as it exists today I've maintained a consistent love of Studio Ghibli's work throughout my life. Movies like Spirited Away and Porco Rosso don't have the most thought provoking narratives in cinema but there's something about the animation style, wondrous settings, and attention to detail that makes even a "by the numbers" storyline like Arriety a great experience. Studio Ghilbli may have only collaborated with Level 5 on the development of Ni no Kuni, but I found myself feeling the same way playing Ni no Kuni as I do while watching a Studio Ghibli movie. Beautiful visuals and surprisingly enjoyable gameplay make up for a storyline that is, truth be told, rarely enthralling; if you're a JRPG and anime fan (I find that the two are usually correlated) then you owe it to yourself to at least give this game a shot. You won't be contemplating moral conundrums for months, but you'll enjoy every minute.
This review is based on a review copy of Ni no Kuni, provided by the publisher.
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Public Transportation
MSC Divina
By DowntownMiami.com | Published: March 16 2014
MSC Divina Completes Maiden Voyage to Miami in True Diva Style at PortMiami
The dazzling MSC Divina made cruise history, when it was escorted into the PortMiami channel by four cutting-edge, metallic red FIAT watercrafts.This marks MSC Divina's debut in North America as the first MSC Cruises ship to sail year-round from the continent.
MSC Divina guests will experience several new, exciting features. Two entirely unique dining venues created in partnership with Italian restaurant emporium Eataly in Manhattan, New York will include the upscale Ristorante Italia and spectacular regional steakhouse, Eataly Steakhouse, fashioned after the famed restaurant in Eataly's Manhattan location. Eataly was founded by Oscar Farinetti in 2007 and launched in the U.S. in partnership with celebrity chefs Mario Batali and Lidia and Joe Bastianich
MSC Divina will also be the first ship to offer Aqua Cycling at sea. Reported as this summer's latest fitness craze by Extra TV and highlighted on Good Morning America, New York Times and Time Magazine, among other media, Aqua Cycling will allow MSC Divina guests to take spinning to new heights while cruising the Caribbean.
Unlike any other luxury onboard experience, MSC Divina will also feature the MSC Yacht Club for the first time in North America. Our unique "ship-within-a-ship" will now be available in the Caribbean for guests looking for unparalleled indulgence, luxury and comfort. From personal butler, 24-hour concierge service and complimentary select wines and spirits available any time of the day, guests booked in the MSC Yacht Club Suites are pampered throughout the MSC Yacht Club's exclusive lounges and pool area. This oasis of premium tranquility provides several private venues, including Le Muse panoramic restaurant, Top Sail Lounge, pool and relaxation area as well as private access to the MSC Aurea Spa.


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|Burrell, Anderson win 2-Lady Scramble
|Written by Wauneta Breeze
|Thursday, 14 July 2011 20:41
Tish Burrell and Nancy Anderson teamed up to win the 2-Lady Scramble held at the Enders Lake Golf Course on Saturday, July 9. There were 14 teams at play.
The twosome scored a 72 for the day. Three strokes back at 75 in a tie for second place were the teams of Evonne Poppe and Amanda Johnson and Candy Druse and Roxane Miller.
Results of the tournament are as follows:
Championship Flight
1. Tish Burrell and Nancy Anderson, 40-32=72; 2-3. (tie) Evonne Poppe and Amanda Johnson, 37-38=75; Candy Druse and Roxane Miller, 38-37=75.
First Flight
1. Smith and Gordon, 42-38=80; 2. Lowery, Lowery, 41-41=82; 3. Nordhausen, Kasselman, 41-42=83.
Second Flight
1-2. (tie) Kramer and Teply, 43-41=84; Geis and Carlson, 44-40=84.
Flag Prizes:
#1. Longest drive in fairway, Cate Weiss.
#2. Closest to pin on drive, Tish Burrell.
#3. Longest putt on green, Kelly Lowery.
#4. Closest to pin with chip (no putters), Mandi Kramer.
#5. Longest putt on green, Paddy Lowery.
#6. Longest putt on green, Pat Carlson.
#7. Longest putt on green, Pat Carlson.
#8. Closest to pin on drive, Toni Brophy.
#9. Closest to red flag in fairway, Elaine Nelson.


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Skip navigation.
Troop 15 is one of Oklahoma City's oldest and most exciting Boy Scout Troops. It is part of the Baden Powell District and the Last Frontier Council. The scouts meet each Monday night at 7:00pm, in the basement of the beautiful Oklahoma City First Presbyterian Church (map). Any parent and/or boy who wishes to find out more about Troop 15 and The Boy Scouts of America are welcome to contact the troop and come for a visit.
For over 75 years, hundreds of boys have come through Troop 15. Many of these scouts achieved the top rank of Eagle Scout and have become respectable leaders in the community. The goal of Troop 15's Scoutmasters is to teach young boys leadership skills, citizenship, confidence, values and morals through exciting activities and monthly campouts.
Troop 15 has a unique and highly effective leadership team. Brent Wheelbarger and James Sweatt are Co-Scoutmasters who have a true commitment to helping the scouts of Troop 15 succeed. Brent and James both achieved the rank of Eagle Scout as young men while in Troop 15. Today, both are family and businessmen who are committed to help boys become men of character. Brent and James are known for their challenging and innovative ideas. They are recognized for helping Troop 15 scouts earn their badges and advance in ranks, while utilizing creative, challenging and FUN ideas. Because of this, Brent and James were awarded the 2009 Baden Powell District "Scoutmasters of the Year"!
Troop 15 is a "Boy-Run" troop. A Boy-Run troop is an exciting concept that allows scouts to manage their own activities and actions within a troop, while under the supervision of the adult leaders. The adults guide the direction of the troop, while the boys learn valuable life skills, through implementation and management. The troop's agenda is set by boy leaders who are elected by troop members. Experienced scouts guide the newer scouts and work out any issues that may arise. Adult leaders teach the boys how to plan activities/meetings and how to make their plans in a thoughtful and logical manner. Although the adult leaders take a "back seat", they do supervise the scouts' plans to ensure the boys are safe and acting within BSA policy. A Boy-Run troop allows scouts to see and experience the results of their decisions. It also creates an atmosphere which fosters learning and growth. The young men of Troop 15 benefit as they learn from their mistakes, and from their many successes, while in a safe environment.
To see our full Calendar click here....
Wiley Post Airport, in Bethany, OK was the location of the latest high flying adventure for 35 members of Troop 15 while working on Aviation merit badge. Earning Aviation mb takes on new meaning when T15 sets their sights on the horizon from 2500' with the help of a four seat, single engine, high wing Cessna aircraft. Hanger 2, at PWA, was the location for the 1 night - 2 day camp in.
September 21st, 2014 September has always been the best month of the year for camping with our Troop Family. This year's Troop 15 family camp began on Friday, September 19th, with an adventure to the Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge, near Jet, Oklahoma to dig for selenite crystals. With over 51 participants, including Scouts, Webelos, and scouting parents...this year's family camp brought on 'summer camp' style logistics and planning.
The first day of our Tour of National Treasures trip started at 6 am, when it was time to load our personal gear into the van. We then headed to the OKC airport and gave our PG to the worker in the departure terminal, got our tickets, and waited there until we boarded the plane. The flight was 3 or 4 hours long and they served us drinks. When we landed we got our stuff and took a bus to the hotel where we were staying.
At the beginning of the day we went to the visitors center for Colonial Williamsburg where we got our tickets. First we got on a bus and went to the city of Colonial Williamsburg itself. There we took a tour of the Capitol building where we got to pretend we were representatives of the people and we declared independence.
Find all our Blog Post here....
©2010 Troop 15 YEA!, All Rights Reserved.
Meets Monday evenings from 7:00pm to 8:30pm at Oklahoma City First Presbyterian Church, 1001 NW 25 Street.
Site provided by Element Fusion Web Design. For questions about this website please contact Lynn Bloomer


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Rose Petal, Lavender & Mint Liqueur
Makes 4 cups (1 L)
Rose petals and sprigs of fresh lavender combine to make a romantic concoction. This recipe uses vodka as its base, but you may want to vary it with a dry white wine, such as a Sauvignon Blanc. Keep the empty vodka bottle to use when mixture is ready to be strained and stored.
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) unsprayed rose petals
1/2 cup (125 mL) fresh lavender sprigs
1/2 cup (125 mL) fresh mint leaves
4 cups (1 L) vodka
1 cup (250 mL) granulated sugar
Sparkling water or club soda to serve
Fresh mint sprigs for garnish (optional)
1. Place flowers and mint leaves in a large jar; bruise them lightly with a wooden spoon.
2. Add vodka, stirring once or twice; seal jar and set in a cool, dark place. Allow mixture to steep for two days.
3. Add sugar, stirring well; let stand for two weeks, shaking jar thoroughly once or twice a day to ensure sugar dissolves.
4. Strain mixture through a fine sieve; pour into a clean bottle. Serve over ice with a splash of sparkling water or club soda. Garnish with mint sprigs if desired.
-Kathleen Sloan-McIntosh
Read more in Food & Entertaining and Garden to Table
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Google dumps Voice App for BlackBerry
Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) is sunsetting its native Voice App for BlackBerry (NASDAQ:BBRY), stating it will terminate support for the calling and messaging service next week.
Google said it will discontinue its Voice App for BlackBerry.
"For BlackBerry users who want to continue using Google Voice, we recommend they use our HTML5 app, which is more secure and easier for us to keep up to date," writes Google SVP of Technical Infrastructure Urs Hölzle. "Our HTML5 site is compatible with users with BlackBerry version 6 and newer."
The Internet-based Google Voice promises free domestic calls, cheap rates for international calls, free text messaging to U.S. numbers and voicemail transcription. The app also includes push notifications to alert users of new voicemail or text messages. Google will continue supporting native Voice apps for its own Android mobile operating system as well as Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) rival iOS.
Google's decision represents another setback for the struggling BlackBerry platform. BlackBerry (formerly Research In Motion) unveiled its overhauled BlackBerry 10 OS in late January, and while high-profile partners including Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), LinkedIn, Skype, Twitter, foursquare, WhatsApp, Evernote, The Weather Channel, DropBox and Electronic Arts have officially pledged their support for the new platform, brands like Netflix have said "We have no current plans for a BlackBerry app."
At the same time, photo-sharing app Instagram reportedly has opted against building a native BB10 app but may port its Android app. The BlackBerry 10 SDK includes the BlackBerry Runtime for Android, enabling developers to repackage applications originally written for the Google OS. Insiders indicate that roughly 40 percent of all 70,000 third-party BB10 apps are adapted from native Android releases.
The absence of popular apps like Google Voice, Netflix and Instagram could further diminish BlackBerry's waning consumer appeal. As of January, BlackBerry commands just 5.9 percent of the U.S. smartphone market, down 1.9 percentage points since October 2012, according to research firm comScore. Android leads at 52.3 percent, followed by iOS at 37.8 percent.
For more:
- read this Google Official Blog entry
Related articles:
Google+ social circles expand to Google Voice
Google Voice returns to Apple's App Store after bug fix
Google Voice adds MMS support for Sprint subscribers
Sprint integrates with Google Voice
Apple's App Store finally approves Google Voice
Google Voice for iPhone finally released--as a Web app


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A food truck in Grand Rapids.
The latest post on the Economics of Place blog by Michigan Municipal League CEO Dan Gilmartin focuses on the importance of food trucks in driving local economies. Here's an exerpt of the blog which borrows from Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown on CNN. Food trucks allow creative chefs without a lot of money to start creating and selling their stuff, introducing themselves to the world without having to gather up $1 million or credulous partners. And they're affordable. They're democratic. And they are faster, better and infinitely preferable to fast food like the king and the clown and the colonel.The Michigan Municipal League will showcase Detroit-area food trucks during its 2013 Convention in Detroit next month (Sept. 17-20) with a food truck rally at William G. Milliken State Park and Harbor and a "food truck-ology" education session. Check out the League's Convention agenda to learn more about the rally and food truck-ology session.Matt Bach is director of media relations for the Michigan Municipal League. He can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com and (734) 669-6317.
A message to League members from League CEO and Executive Director Dan Gilmartin:
The Detroit bankruptcy is news of huge concern to all our members—creating statewide questions regarding what it could mean for other Michigan communities. In light of the importance of this matter, we are scheduling a special panel discussion on the topic during the Sept. 20th closing session of the League's 2013 Convention in Detroit.A panel of the state's top municipal finance experts will discuss what the bankruptcy means not just for Detroit but for communities across the state. They will also discuss the impact on the state itself, any long-term financial and governmental ramifications that might result, and if this could be the start of a serious discussion to fix a broken municipal finance system. I strongly urge every one of you to attend this panel discussion on what is, without a doubt, an unprecedented event in Michigan's municipal history. Information on the Convention itself and registration is available here.
Daniel P. GilmartinExecutive Director & CEO
The man known as the "founder of New Urbanism" will speak at the League's 2013 Convention, to be held Sept. 17-20 in Detroit.
Andres Duany has been at the forefront of this international movement that seeks to end surburban sprawl and urban disinvestment. His firm Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company (DPZ) first gained fame for the design of Seaside, Florida, followed by the design and building of hundreds of new and retrofit communities and downtown revitalizations. His work has had a profound influence on urban planning in the US, including the placemaking initiative that is guiding progressive local policies here in Michigan. He and wife and business partner Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk have co-authored such books as "The Smart Growth Manual."
The League's Colleen Layton and Arnold Weinfeld recently got a chance to meet Duany at the 2013 Congress for the New Urbanism Conference in Salt Lake City. Read about the experience on the League's Placemaking blog.
During the League Convention, Duany will speak on "Lean Urbanism for Local Governments" at 3:00 pm Thursday, September 19. He will outline promising techniques for building resilient communities through such strategies as code-free zones and tactical urbanism. This is a can't-miss-it session for municipal leaders, planners and others who are seeking a path toward a socially, economically and environmentally sustainable future for their community.
Why does Detroit matter to Michigan's future? Read this article from the March/April issue of The Review magazine. Once you do, you'll understand why the future of every Michigan community is connected to the fate of our largest metropolitan center…and you'll see why the League's 2013 Convention is taking place on this important urban stage.
Detroit's "future history" is also the focus of Bridge Magazine correspondent Rick Haglund's latest insightful piece on why a vibrant urban core is so critical to luring young talent. The struggles Detroit has faced in the past few decades, and the challenges it faces in the years to come, are compared to Milwaukee's journey to reinvent itself from a blue collar manufacturing hub to the kind of city where young college grads are flocking.
You'll get to explore these issues firsthand and see what Detroiters are doing to reinvent the city at the League's 2013 Convention at the Marriott Renaissance Center in Detroit, September 17-10, 2013. Registration opens June 1!
The Michigan Municipal League's 2013 Convention takes place Sept. 18-20 at the Marriott Renaissance Center in Detroit, but the action starts with a series of pre-convention workshops on Tuesday, September 17:
Finding Funding: Preparing Your Municipality for the Next Decade will provide resources and ideas to help elected officials, council members, city managers, and staff develop creative strategies to meet their community's financial challenges in the years ahead.
Crisis Communication is a must-attend session for department heads and elected officials who must communicate with the public and news media in times of emergency or other situations that could be a public relations challenge. How would you communicate to your residents during a massive power outage? If something terrible happened, would you just hope for the best or are you prepared for the worst?
Most Common OMA & FOIA Mistakes & How to Avoid Them is a comprehensive guideto the two laws that every public official needs to understand and follow in order to avoid missteps ranging from bad publicity to costly and lawsuits.
So if you plan to attend Convention, why not plan to arrive early enough to sign up for one of these informative workshops? It's the kind of return-on-investment that pays off in the kind of valuable skills and knowledge that every elected official and municipal staffer needs. Convention registration opens June 1 and pre-con registration links will be posted too as soon as they're available.
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Although it has only been a matter of days since Tim Sherwood shuffled out of the managerial hotseat at Tottenham Hotspur, trailing behind him his much-vaunted Premier League win percentage and beloved gilet, it seems like the discussion over who will replace him at Spurs has been going on for far longer.
Since Andre Villas-Boas was dismissed in December and Spurs took the short-term step of installing Sherwood until the end of the season, managers from all over Europe have been linked with White Hart Lane.
From this, two men have emerged. Frank de Boer and Mauricio Pochettino seem set to battle it out for Daniel Levy's fickle favour and the Southampton boss is apparently ahead of his Dutch rival for the job.
The Argentine has won many admirers through the work he has done at St Mary's over the past 18 months, lifting them from 14th last season to eighth this time around, all the while promoting the kind of attacking football that is so desperately hankered for at Spurs.
There are three players who undertake the bulk of Southampton's attacking work in Pochettino's system. The most advanced is a central striker, powerful enough to occupy the defence by themselves but also skilled on the ball, a role Dani Osvaldo and Rickie Lambert both played at times this season.
Next there is a wide forward, given freedom to rove across the line and play as a genuine second striker at times, a position that Jay Rodriguez filled with such aplomb he looked set to make England's squad for Brazil before injury ruled him out.
The third, and perhaps most important player, is the creative forward given a free role in Southampton's attack. Adam Lallana has been linked with a £25m move to Liverpool on the back of his season in this role for the Saints, his likely departure perhaps one reason Pochettino is ready to leave St Mary's.
In addition to this trio, an advanced central midfielder is also an important cog in Pochettino's attacking play, Steven Davis the man most regularly entrusted to provide backup to the front three at Southampton.
If the Southampton manager did leave for Spurs, and wished to replicate this system, he would find no shortage of options given the considerable outlay the Lilywhites undertook last summer, but who would be the best bets to make Pochettino's attack?
After a superb second half of the season that saw him claim Spurs' Player of the Year award, Christian Eriksen is the clear choice to take up Lallana's free role. The Dane operated from a notional left-wing position under Sherwood but frequently drifted inside, as was most recently the case during Spurs' final day win over Aston Villa.
Under Pochettino, Lallana started on the right but would pop up almost anywhere in the attack, and giving Eriksen this freedom, while also cutting his defensive responsibilities, should see the Dane become an even more impressive player next year.
In terms of key stats, Eriksen scored seven goals to Lallana's nine last season, setting up eight to the Southampton man's five. Despite having played thirteen fewer games, Eriksen created the same amount of chances as Lallana with 68. Although he is not as effective a dribbler as Lallana, in terms of per 90 key stats, Eriksen looks like he could prove an upgrade on the England international.
On paper, Rodriguez looks a harder nut for Spurs to crack, assuming they don't build on rumoured interest in the injured forward by making a bid this summer. However, one reason Pochettino might be fancied by the Spurs board is the chance he will be able to extract the best from compatriot and club record signing Erik Lamela.
Injured for much of the season, and looking short of confidence when he did make it onto the pitch, Lamela will need a big second year to repay the faith shown in him by Spurs' £30m outlay.
On paper, the Rodriguez role looks tailor-made for him. At Roma, Lamela notched 15 times from a wide right position, matching Rodriguez Premier League output from the left this term. Like the Saints man, Lamela is happy to cut in off his flank and play behind a central striker at times and an accomplished dribbler, averaging 2.45 successful take-ons per game even in his miserable debut season at Spurs.
If he were to replicate his Roma form, he provides the added bonus of being more creative than Rodriguez, laying on 56 chances for his teammates in Serie A 2012-13 compared to the England player's 20 this season.
Major doubts remain about Lamela's future at Spurs, but he looks to have a natural place in Pochettino's attack, and the Southampton's manager's arrival at Spurs could prove key to his renaissance.
Southampton had similar problems with strikers to Spurs this season, with expensive signing Osvaldo mirroring Roberto Soldado's struggles to make an impact on the Premier League. Emmanuel Adebayor played the Lambert role at Spurs, coming into the side after Villas-Boas departed to notch 11 times in 21 league games.
Simply put, if Adebayor gets on with Pochettino, he looks a fine fit for the striker role in the Argentine's system. In addition to his goals, Adebayor created 34 chances this season, the third-highest total in Spurs' squad.
If Adebayor struggles with Pochettino's notoriously high-octane training sessions and intense pressing game, there are doubts over whether Soldado can take his place effectively. Apart from his lack of goals, the Spaniard hasn't shown the work rate or power to play as a lone central striker.
That said, Soldado's clever one-touch play around the box could work well if Lamela and Eriksen build an understanding with him and Pochettino's years in La Liga as a player and a manager might give him the nous required to extract some goals from the forward.
Pochettino will have a wealth of options to pick from if he decides to stick with two deep central midfielders at Spurs, and there are also three men likely to fight it out for Davis' role if the Argentine replaces Sherwood.
Gylfi Sigurdsson, Paulinho and Lewis Holtby have all shown flashes of quality this season, the latter mostly while on loan at Fulham, and should they stay at Spurs, each could take up the attacking midfield role under Pochettino.
Sigurdsson and Paulinho are greater goal threats than Holtby, but the German's stats more closely align with Davis', which are based around keeping possession and creating chances, rather than scoring.
Other than a couple of late season flourishes, Paulinho more or less downed tools after Villas-Boas left this season, but has the capacity to be a key player for Spurs. The Brazilian has the energy to drive Pochettino's pressing game high up the pitch and is a genuine goal threat from open play at set pieces.
With the freedom granted by having a manager who isn't allergic to defensive midfielders in the dugout, Paulinho could thrive as the link between midfield and the attack at Spurs.
Despite a poor season at Spurs, the Lilywhites clearly have the players to fill Pochettino's attacking system. If they remain at Spurs and hit their best form, Adebayor, Lamela, Eriksen and Paulinho could prove as deadly a quartet as any in the league, but there's a lot of ifs for Pochettino to overcome, not least whether he wants to move to Spurs himself in the first place.
Topics: Adam Lallana, Christian Eriksen, Emmanuel Adebayor, Erik Lamela, Jay Rodriguez, Mauricio Pochettino, Rickie Lambert, Team Analysis, tim sherwood
Related Teams: Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur


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School of Law News
2014 Law Commencement - Eric Gouvin's Remarks
Posted Saturday, May 10, 2014
Law Commencement
Saturday, May 17, 2014
9:30 a.m.
Symphony Hall – Springfield MA
Dean's Remarks
Eric Gouvin
It is my honor to address the class of 2014.
First, let me say congratulations. This is a major milestone in your life and you deserve to celebrate it.
Second, let me say "Thank You." Thank you for becoming part of Western New England University School of Law. When you decided to attend our school you started investing in this enterprise. You've contributed three or four years of hard work, time and money. You may have thought you were investing those resources in yourself – and you were – but you were also investing in the institution.
It has been my great privilege to teach here for the past 23 years and an even greater honor to serve as your dean for the past year. I'm invested in the place, too. So, thanks. From here on out, we'll always be linked to each other and to this institution. As co-investors, we'll need to work to make our school more and more valuable.
Western New England University is not the bricks and mortar out on Wilbraham Road – it is a group of people: staff, faculty, administrators, of course, but the proof of the pudding is the student body and, ultimately the alumni ranks. I know you've been a great group of students. I have every expectation that you'll become great alums and great lawyers, too.
Our alumni ranks are impressive. Someone recently made a sarcastic comment to me about the job market and working at Taco Bell and I said, yes we do have an alum working at Taco Bell – he's the senior vice president for public affairs at Yum! Brands, which owns Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut.
We've got alums doing all sorts of work. Some quick examples: Dru Lavasseur is national director of Lambda Legal's transgender project. Jodie Roure is a professor at John Jay College. Mike Tucker is the president of Greenfield Cooperative Bank. Gale Candaras is a key member in the Massachusetts State Senate. Msgr. John Bonzagni runs the Tribunal for the Diocese of Springfield. Literally thousands of others play important roles in communities across the country as lawyers, involved citizens, and civic leaders.
So how can you become one of those high-achieving alumni? This is the point in the talk where the Dean gives you life-changing advice.
What I really want to say is "Follow your passion, and do what you love and you'll change the world!"
That's advice everyone loves to hear, because it gives us permission to proceed on the understanding that our own subjective preferences are what really matter most. But you know what? I can't in good conscience offer that as my parting wisdom. I don't think following your passion is necessarily such good advice.
Although today is all about you -- and rightfully so -- the rest of your professional life is not about you and your passions. It's about other people and what you can do for them. Don't believe me? Think about something you're passionate about. The more noble of you are thinking about social justice and human rights, but most of you are thinking about a loved one, a sports team, travel, French cooking. Now ask yourself: Will people pay me for being passionate about this thing? The answer for most of us is "probably not."
If the follow your passion thing made sense we'd have a lot more astronauts and pirates, a lot more dinosaur scientists and fashion designers. No, instead, most people you know are working on Plan B. After flirting with the dream of following our passions, we've activated the back-up plan.
Having started with a childhood dream of being an architect, I somehow ended up graduating from law school and getting a job at a firm where I was going to be a…business lawyer of some kind. My direction at the firm was determined not by passion, but by opportunity.
The firm was just starting the process of establishing a brand-new bank from scratch. I saw an opportunity to become the go-to banking guy and I took it. Was I passionate about banking law? No. Banking law was hard, and often tedious. But the intellectual part of the work was actually pretty interesting.
And it was useful. The bank client had lots of legal issues and I was Johnny on the spot. The more I learned, the more valuable I became. The longer I practiced, the more skillful I became. The more valuable and skillful I became, the more I felt respected and needed, and the more I could see I was making a difference for the firm and the client. The more I threw myself into it, the more I got out of it. These positive signals helped fuel something like a passion for banking law. I didn't start with passion, I grew into it.
And I made a good living, too. I'm not saying it's all about the money. As far as happiness goes, money makes a difference, but only until you get out of poverty. After that, there is no strong correlation between money and happiness. Things like family, control over your life, and a sense of purpose are much more important than money when it comes to happiness. In fact, if you are doing something just for the money you almost certainly will not be happy doing it.
But money does matter. The willingness of people to give you money for some useful thing you can do for them is an indicator of value.
If you want to succeed as a lawyer you should figure out what you bring to the table that is valuable. What is it that you can do that other people cannot do? Believe it or not, there are lots of things that are now second nature to you that other people find extremely difficult. Appreciate that and be proud of it! Your skill in legal problem solving is your competitive advantage – do something with it.
Why am I telling you this? Because I know you are anxious. School is over and you have to get a job. Getting a job is very stressful. It always has been. The hype about how bad the economy is I'm sure weighs heavily on you. You will get a job. It may not be your dream job but by giving you this talk I'm trying to let you know that it's perfectly OK to have a job that is not filled with passion. Work is work, that's why they call it work.
If you find yourself in a job for which you lack passion, hang in there. Do that job until you gain a true appreciation for what you're doing and why you are doing it and why it matters (or doesn't). Experience often is the best teacher. The more experience you have, the better your skills and the greater your appreciation of those skills. The more experience you have, the more you can see how your work has helped others. The more experience you have, the more time you've had to develop strong professional, and even personal, relationships with some of your co-workers, clients, and other members of the bar.
In the practice of law, passion is almost always the result of time and effort. It's not usually a prerequisite.
That's not to say it doesn't help.
Today, May 17, marks the 60th anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Thurgood Marshall led the team that won the Brown case. He was a brilliant lawyer. I've got to believe his personal passion for justice was an important part of what made him great.
Today, May 17, also marks the 10th anniversary of same-sex couples being allowed to marry in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The lawyers who brought that about were also brilliant. They, too, had a passion for justice. So, if you've got passion, by all means use it.
One of the toughest days for me this year was January 10 when I attended two memorial services in one day – one for Jay Lamanna and the other for Judge Sid Cooley. Jay was one of those folks who was fueled by passion. It's clear that Jay's passion had an impact on many people and it might have sustained him as he found his way in the world after law school. Sadly, we'll never know, struck down too early, his memorial was heart-warming, but profoundly sad.
Judge Cooley, on the other hand, lived to be 100. His funeral was a fitting tribute to a life well lived. He had contributed to society in so many ways and had helped so many, he had earned the respect and admiration of everyone. Did he have passion? Well, people always commented on how much he loved his wife and how much he loved music. But in his professional life I suspect he was animated much more by a sense of duty than by some internal passion. His life-long effort to leave things better than he found them may have evolved into passion, but may have started as something else, the humble act of being of service.
There is always important work to do. Lawyers have always been crucial in pushing society along, kicking and screaming, into a better, fairer, freer future. It takes people like Jay and Judge Cooley, whether fueled by passion or by duty, but the work must be done. That's your job now, too.
We may take it for granted today, where over half of this graduating class is women, but 140 years ago it was not only illegal for a woman in Illinois to be a lawyer, the Supreme Court of the United States said such a prohibition was constitutional, too. A famous quote from Justice Bradley in the case of Bradwell v. Illinois captures the gist:
The natural and proper timidity and delicacy which belongs to the female sex evidently unfits it for many of the occupations of civil life... The paramount destiny and mission of women are to fulfill the noble and benign offices of wife and mother. This is the law of the Creator.
That was a Supreme Court opinion. In 2014 that reads like a crazy anachronism, but it was a way of thinking that took decades, and lots of passionate lawyers, to change. But sadly, today in Nigeria a couple of hundred young women await their fate, having been abducted by someone who is also sure God is on his side and wants those girls sold into slavery because they had the audacity to try to get an education.
When we look around the world and – even within our own borders – who else is having their rights denied because of societal norms that are outdated and oppressive? Clearly, there is more work to be done. Whether you are motivated by passion or a sense of duty, get to it.
But most of you probably won't be path-breaking civil rights activists. Most of you will be good, solid, reliable legal problem solvers. Helping regular people with regular problems. That's great and honorable, too. Embrace that role and be proud of it.
One of the most touching moments this year for me came at Thanksgiving. A gentleman named Jeff Knight came into the law school to talk to me. His family owns a successful real estate company. He told me his lawyer, Jerry Katz, was very ill and would probably die by the end of the year and, unfortunately, that proved true. Jerry Katz was an alumnus of Western New England and the kind of lawyer's lawyer who everyone respected.
Mr. Knight told me of how much Attorney Katz had meant to the Knight family. How they trusted his judgment, how he helped them avoid problems, how he protected them when they found themselves at risk. Attorney Katz was paid for his services, but the value of what he gave to the Knight family far exceeded the cost of his invoices.
Now, faced with Jerry's inevitable demise, the Knight family wanted to honor their lawyer. To pay tribute to this trusted advisor and family friend, the Knight family set up an endowed scholarship in Jerry's name. Jerry was a business lawyer, not a human rights activist.
I can't tell you how many times I've reminded myself of that story this year. You know people hate lawyers, right? You've heard the hurtful lawyer jokes, right? Yet here was an example of what we should all aspire to: the true craftsman who gave his clients so much of value, they felt like they still owed him something even after all the legal bills were paid.
You don't have to go out and change the world to make a difference. This master lawyer affected the lives of his clients in profound ways. You can too. Be good at your craft. Be a legal problem solver. Grow into the unique professional person that is you. Stay true to your values. Appreciate yourself and the profession we represent. And follow your passions if they help you help others.
But here's the take-away: don't focus on the value your work offers you. Instead, focus on the value you create through your work, how your contributions are valuable to other people, and how you're connected to those people.
When you do, the passion will follow. And one day you'll wake up feeling fulfilled and understanding that you are doing something worthwhile.
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|Click here to view document in portable document format (PDF).
Following are the minutes of the regular Faculty Council meeting of February 19, 2001.
The fifth regular meeting of the Faculty Council for the academic year 2000-2001 was held in Room 212 of the Main Building on Monday, February 19, 2001, at 2:15
Present: Mark I. Alpert, Anthony P. Ambler, Katherine M. Arens, Effraim P. Armendariz, Neal E. Armstrong, Matthew J. Bailey, Joyce L. Banks, Brigitte L. Bauer, Gerard H. Béhague, David G. Bogard, Dean A. Bredeson, Cindy L. Carlson, Michael J. Churgin, Richard L. Cleary, Michael B. Clement, John R. Durbin, Sheldon Ekland-Olson, Dorie J. Gilbert, Lita A. Guerra, Marvin L. Hackert, Barbara J. Harlow, James L. Hill, Martha F. Hilley, Sharon D. Horner, Judith A. Jellison, Arlen W. Johnson, Manuel J. Justiz, Elizabeth L. Keating, Ward W. Keeler, Karrol A. Kitt, Robert C. Koons, Stefan M. Kostka, David A. Laude, Laura E. Luthy, Katheryn Coveley Maguire, David R. Maidment, Glenn Y. Masada, Gregory R. Murphy, Melvin E. L. Oakes, Patricia C. Ohlendorf, Alba A. Ortiz, Thomas G. Palaima, Bruce P. Palka, Theodore E. Pfeifer, William C. Powers, Mary Ann R. Rankin, Elizabeth Richmond-Garza, Daron K. Roberts, Victoria Rodriguez, David J. Saltman, Juan M. Sanchez, Robert N. Schmidt, Cynthia W. Shelmerdine, Mark R. V. Southern, Michael P. Starbird, Laura T. Starks, Salomon A. Stavchansky, Paul Randall (Randy) Thompson, Janice S. Todd, John W. Walthall, James R. Yates, Katy B. Zarolia.
Absent: Christopher O. Adejumo, Victor L. Arnold, Joel
W. Barlow, Phillip J. Barrish, Harold W. Billings, Douglas G. Biow,
Lynn E. Blais, Daniel A. Bonevac, Richard A. Cherwitz, Dana L. Cloud
(excused), Patricia L. Clubb, Donald G. Davis, Patrick J. Davis (excused),
Desley A. Deacon, John D. Dollard (excused), Edwin Dorn, Minette E.
Drumwright (excused), Larry R. Faulkner (excused), Shelley F. Fishkin,
G. Charles Franklin, Robert Freeman, Nell H. Gottlieb, Von Matthew (Matt)
Hammond, Thomas M. Hatfield, Sharon H. Justice (excused), Kerry A. Kinney,
Richard W. Lariviere, Steven W. Leslie, William S. Livingston, Margaret
N. Maxey, Robert G. May (excused), Francis L. Miksa, Elmira Popova,
Johnnie D. Ray, Linda E. Reichl, Andrew M. Riggsby, Dolores Sands, Roberta
I. Shaffer, Joel F. Sherzer (excused), Lawrence W. Speck, Ben G. Streetman,
Teresa A. Sullivan, Daniel A. Updegrove, James W. Vick, N. Bruce Walker,
Ellen A. Wartella, Barbara W. White (excused).
Distributed through the Faculty Council web site (www.utexas.edu/faculty/council/)
on March 7, 2001. Copies are available on request from the Office of
the General Faculty, FAC 22, F9500.


text: Shelley Moore-Capito W.Va. Officials Applaud Supreme Court Ruling Against EPA's Mercury/Air Toxics Standards By Glynis Board & Associated Press • Jun 29, 2015 Harry Schaefer, Environmental Protection Agency / wikimedia Commons The Supreme Court has ruled against federal regulators' attempt to limit power plant emissions of mercury and other hazardous air pollutants. The rules began to take effect in April, but the court said by a 5-4 vote this week that the Environmental Protection Agency failed to take their cost into account when the agency first decided to regulate the toxic emissions from coal- and oil-fired plants. Senator Capito Holds Field Hearing in Beckley on Clean Power Plan By Glynis Board • Mar 23, 2015 U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee's Clean Air and Nuclear Safety Subcommittee, held a field hearing this week in Beckley, regarding the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed Clean Power Plan. The carbon pollution standards are the first of their kind and aim is to reduce carbon emissions 30 percent nationwide by reducing carbon pollution from power plants. Senator Capito held a hearing in southern West Virginia where tightening regulations might be felt most acutely. Listen Listening... / 3:21 Proposed Overhaul of Toxic Chemical Act Supported by Manchin, Capito, But Not Everyone Else By Glynis Board • Mar 22, 2015 Cecelia Mason Both of West Virginia's Senators, Democrat Joe Manchin and Republican Shelley Moore Capito, are co-sponsors of a piece of legislation that would rewrite the 40-year-old Toxic Substances Control Act. West Virginia's 2nd Congressional House Seat Remains Red By Jessica Lilly & Liz McCormick • Nov 5, 2014 Liz McCormick / West Virginia Public Broadcasting The seat in the second Congressional Delegation came up for grabs after Shelley Moore Capito decided to run for the United States Senate. The enthusiasm at the Mooney campaign's post-election party in Charles Town was anything but quiet. As soon as the polls closed at 7:30 p.m., supporters showed up in droves. Throughout the evening, the vote tally between Mooney and Casey remained close, but the Republican's supporters never faltered in confidence. Capito: Coal Decline Caused By 'All of the Above' - But Regulations Easiest to Change By Scott Finn • Oct 30, 2014 Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., says that the current decline in coal-related employment is caused by many factors. But she says as a U.S. Senator, she would focus on the one she believes she can influence: environmental regulations. In an interview with West Virginia Public Broadcasting, the candidate for U.S. Senate said the decline in coal jobs was caused by three things: Capito Among Latest to File For 2014 Races By Associated Press • Jan 23, 2014 wikimedia U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito is officially in the race for the U.S. Senate. Capito filed her candidacy papers this morning. The seven-term Republican is seeking to fill the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Jay Rockefeller. Another Republican, Larry Eugene Butcher of Washington in Wood County, also filed today to run for the U.S. Senate. Williamstown Democrat David Walmsley and Parkersburg Republican Matthew Dodrill filed to run for the U.S. Senate last week. W.Va. delegation weighs in on shutdown's effect on miners' safety By Beth Vorhees • Oct 10, 2013 Cecelia Mason West Virginia's congressional delegation is weighing in on the shutdown'seffect on mine safety. Approximately 1,400 of MSHA's 2,355 employees arefurloughed during the government shutdown. Three miners were killedon three consecutive days this past weekend, including one from WestVirginia. In his remarks Thursday from the House floor, Congressman Nick Rahallurged his colleagues to "abandon this ridiculous political showdown thatis undercutting the safety in our mines, our industrial facilities, ourfood chain, and so much more." Federal lawmakers struggle to make good By Glynis Board • Oct 4, 2013 U.S. Senators Joe Manchin and Jay Rockefeller, along with 48 other senators and Congressman Nick Rahall (all D-W.Va.) sent a letter today to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel urging that the National Guard and Reserves, and the civilians who support our troops, receive pay during the government shutdown.


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Take Down missing four times in a row. I'll be glad when Malleus finally learns Double-Edge.
Latios running away like the pussy it is
All the legendaries run off.
Most do not all
Let me rephrase: all the legendaries you have to chase run off.
I caught mine at 45... In Sapphire (which is a better game).
Ok I'm using my lvl 62 Blazenkin while Kyogre is asleep so that I can use uppercut. He was down to like maybe 30 hp. As soon as he wakes up he uses double-edge. That mother-fucking pokemon is stupid as hell.
"I'd rather die than be a prisoner."
Jeez Groundon wasn't this annoying.
missed 4 times on stonedge once
also once faced a king's rock togekiss who just threw off airslashes the whole time
swept through 3 of my pokemon every hit was a flinch and I only moved once when airslash missed
Throw out an Electric type with a decent SpDef and weather it next time.
Using Thunder Wave on a pokemon you know is immune to it.
No idea why I keep trying, it's not like it's suddenly not going to be immune, lol.
But it's really annoying anyway.
When I was training my pichu and found myself in Digletts Cave... I could run away or switch out because of Arena Trap and both ended up using struggle... how annoying and they should change that ... error for the sake of funnes.
This was intended, but when I was a kid me and another guy both had magikarps at low levels so they only knew splash attack. We battled the magikarp and it took forever for the PP to run out, and when our magikarp started using Struggle, the power to my Gameboy ran out so I lost by default. Still was a cool match though. Like when two metapods fight that don't know tackle attack.
Running into a shiny in the first stages of the game when you don't have pokeballs :/
I think that should win (if win is the right word).
I had a hard time netting a Sableye earlier. Red and Paralyzed, but it still ate 9 Poke Balls, 3 Premier Balls and a Great Ball before staying put >_<
Getting critical hits the entire battle and then loosing to a critical hit.
My boyfriend's Jumpluff:
Sleep Powder
Leech Seed
Giga Drain
It's built on speed so it always hits first with Sleep Powder, then leech seeds you and u-turns it out of there. It has horrible defenses but it's so hard to hit.
I hate it when I go against eletric types with my charizard or ho-oh
I completly forget there flying type
What fun


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Gamer Printshop's online map catalog is now active!
You can visit my site through the tag in my sig - click on any of the Online Store or POD links to take you there. You will be required to register an account.
I have all of Anna's Greyhawk maps currently uploaded and available, as well as several of my own products, including the new Battletech maps. I still have to upload over 30 maps from E.N. Publishing War of the Burning Sky campaign maps, as well as a dozen Modern Floorplan maps from 12 to Midnight.
Despite this the cupboards are bare - I will be loading all of my CG posted maps into their various Category/Subcategories, over the next few days.
When Arcana gets back we will solidify all mechanisms to get Guild maps into the Ecommerce site. Rather than creating a Guild Category, I chose to make Cartographers Guild (manufacturer/publisher). Each CG map description will include the name of the actual cartographer.
Check it out!
PS: I will add to this thread as more features, publishers and CG involvement becomes available.


text:
WASHINGTON — From the start, the telephone call did not go well. Dispensing with pleasantries, President Vladimir Putin launched into an edgy and long-winded complaint about the new U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia the day before.
President Obama, on the phone from the Oval Office on Thursday morning, responded that Russia was arming rebels in Ukraine — citing, among other things, the anti-aircraft weapons that the United States believed they had been sent. "This is not something we're making up," Obama said, according to a U.S. official.
Then, more than halfway through the tense, hourlong call, Putin noted, almost in passing, that he had received a report of an aircraft going down in Ukraine.
Putin was vague about the details and the conversation moved on.
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But in that instant, the monthslong proxy war between East and West took a devastating turn, one that would shift the ground geopolitically amid the charred wreckage and broken bodies in a Ukrainian wheat field.
The downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 rippled across continents, from Amsterdam where friends and family had just seen off their loved ones to the distant shores of Asia and Australia that had been waiting for 298 passengers and crew who would never show up. The tragedy reached as far as a college campus in Bloomington, Ind., shocked to find one of its doctoral students among the dead.
It was a day of confusion and anger, of grief and disbelief, of charges and countercharges, of politics and war. It was a day that brought home in vivid relief the consequences of a struggle in a torn society that had seemed far removed for many. And it was a day that was a long time in coming.
The flight took off from Amsterdam and headed east along a flight plan filed before departure. As it crossed over Ukraine, it cruised at an altitude of 33,000 feet, making sure to stay above a new minimum of 32,000 feet set just three days earlier so as to avoid any fighting on the ground or in the air. Some airlines had stopped traversing Ukraine altogether because of its violent insurgency in the east, but most had not.
New missile power
Until that week, pro-Russian separatists fighting in the east had been known to possess shoulder-fired, heat-seeking missiles known as Manpads, weapons that can typically fire to a maximum altitude of 12,000 feet.
But in the days before the doomed Malaysia Airlines flight, combatants had made clear they now had access to a weapon of a different magnitude, a radar-guided SA-11 that can deliver warheads at three times the speed of sound to a target as high as 70,000 feet.
On Monday, such a missile had brought down a Ukrainian Antonov-26 military transport plane flying at 21,000 feet, a feat requiring expertise and training that only a military could provide. U.S. intelligence agencies believe the missile came from the Russian side of the border, which Moscow denied. Separatists said they brought it down themselves.
Either way, Ukraine that same day set the 32,000-foot minimum for civilian airliners. Russia followed suit two days later. But no one banned passenger jets from the area despite the obvious change in the threat.
After the military plane was shot down Monday, fighting escalated. On Tuesday, a missile destroyed a residential building in Snizhne, a town 12 miles from the Russian border controlled by rebels. Ukraine said a Russian plane carried out the attack; the rebels blamed the Ukrainian military.
Whoever was responsible, a new air war was clearly under way. On Wednesday evening, Ukraine said Russia sent a MiG-29 fighter jet across the border to engage with Ukrainian Su-25s. In the ensuing dogfight, one Su-25 was shot down while another was damaged but escaped.
The shock was felt nearly as powerfully in Kuala Lumpur, where the Malaysian government and its people remain deeply traumatized from the mysterious disappearance of a flight en route to China in March. Prime Minister Najib Razak was at his personal residence when he was notified that Flight 17 had apparently gone down. He rushed to the Malaysia Airlines emergency response center at Kuala Lumpur's airport and ordered his defense minister, foreign minister, aviation director and airline executives to meet him there.
"People were incredulous, but people weren't emotional," said a Malaysia official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment on the government's response. "You looked at the faces around the room, and everyone had been battle-scarred from MH370."
Putin was also in the air above Eastern Europe that afternoon, as he was returning from a six-day tour of Latin America aboard his presidential Airbus, referred to as Aircraft #1 by the media. The Russian jet apparently crossed paths near the doomed Malaysian plane, both flying in roughly the same airspace over Warsaw at 33,000 feet about 37 minutes apart, according to an Interfax report.
Flying explanations
As soon as it became clear that the downed plane was not a military craft but a civilian passenger plane, Russian media shifted its explanation from a separatist attack to a variety of other explanations, including the possibility that Ukraine's military shot it down.
Putin then released a statement 40 minutes after midnight blaming Ukraine. "Certainly," he said, "the government over whose territory it occurred is responsible for this terrible tragedy."
Obama was on board his Marine One helicopter heading to Andrews Air Force Base when news broke that Ukraine was blaming a Russian-made missile. Dan Pfeiffer, the president's senior adviser, received an email and told Obama about the allegation.
Once he boarded Air Force One, which was scheduled to take him to Delaware and New York for a policy speech and political fundraisers, Obama was briefed by his national security aide, Brian McKeon. By the time the president landed in Wilmington, it was clear he would need to address the disaster.
Once in New York, he headed to his first fundraiser at an upscale apartment. In a den, where a secure telephone line had been set up, Obama convened a telephone conference call with his staff for an update. He was told most of the dead were from the Netherlands and so arranged to call the Dutch prime minister.
The next morning, back at the White House, he was told that one American had been on board as well as AIDS researchers and activists heading to a conference that he himself had addressed two years earlier. He recognized that he had probably met some of them. "That seemed to kind of rattle him," an aide said.
Crash site horror
As a cloudy morning dawned on Ukraine on Friday, the horror of the crash site was on full display. Small white pieces of cloth dotted the grassy farmland, marking the locations of bodies. The smell of burned flesh hung heavily near a broken hulk of metal on the road. A foot with part of a leg lay nearby.
The scene was strangely empty. There was no yellow tape, no investigators poring over the giant metal carcass. Four local rebels in fatigues and carrying hunting rifles wandered through the ruins, poking around the debris more out of curiosity. On the grass were photographs of a family vacation, a baby announcement postcard and a boarding pass.
One of the men, who had never seen a boarding pass, asked what it was. Another picked up an English-language tour book and flipped through it before throwing it back in the heap.
"I can't read it anyway," he said.