text:
Essay:Evolution Is More Vulnerable than Ever
|This Is An Original Work.
Contributors should add their signatures to the end section. If published, a notice will be posted and, if desired, contributors will be recognized.
This essay is an original work by TerryH. Please comment only on the talk page.
Evolutionism is More Vulnerable than Ever
The recent (April 18, 2008) release of Ben Stein's new documentary, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, has brought the evolution/creation debate to a fever pitch—possibly the highest fever pitch since Tennessee vs. John Scopes. Indeed, the recent move of the Institute for Creation Research and its graduate school from California to Texas has actually prompted the higher-education authorities in that State to take the unusual step of inviting public comment on an application for accreditation—almost a "Scopes Trial in reverse."
All this extra attention can mean only one thing: the evolutionary paradigm is more vulnerable to abandonment than it has been since Charles Darwin first proposed it.
By "the evolutionary paradigm" I mean more than the theory of evolution. After all, evolution, properly understood, means change over time. And such change does occur, even to the development of new species. Creation biology takes the position (which I share) that the ancestors of life were not one, but many—at least one species per taxonomic family and possibly one species per taxonomic genus. But the evolutionary paradigm insists that natural selection and speciation are all that was required to create the astounding diversity of life from one common ancestor, a doctrine known as "common descent."
Now to assert, as Charles Darwin did, that all of life derives from a single ancestor, necessarily requires a great deal of time—deep time, to be specific. Enter Sir Charles Lyell, a geologist and a lawyer who used his considerable skill as a rhetorician, more than any true scientific insight, to argue that the same processes in operation today for the formation and laying down of rock have always operated for all eternity. This is the classic position of uniformitarianism. Technically, uniformitarianism is a concept unique to geology. But astronomy largely copied Lyell's ideas and came up with uniformitarian ideas of their own.
Near the beginning of the twentieth century, the notion that the earth and the universe were infinitely old became untenable. So uniformitarianism no longer holds to that idea. But it does hold to the basic idea of deep time, in space and on the earth, with ages for the universe and the earth measured in the billions of years. Astronomers invented a new cosmology called the Big Bang to explain the universe, and the nebula hypothesis to explain the sun, the earth, the moon, and all the planets (to paraphrase Harry Truman). But in fact, the only reason why astronomers date the solar system at 4.6 billion years old is that the geologists date the earth at 4.5 billion years old.
Finally, neither Darwin nor any of his contemporaries bothered to assert how life began to begin with. But modern proponents of the paradigm now boldly assert that life began from non-life, a principle that they call abiogenesis. (Others have flirted briefly with concepts like panspermia and even directed panspermia, but they are in the minority, and many of them, like Francis Crick, have since abandoned such ideas as untenable, or perhaps unsaleable.)
Thus the evolutionary paradigm rests on three legs, the removal of any one of which would cause it to fall:
- Uniformitarianism
- Abiogenesis
- Common descent
Why does it matter?
Consistent biblical creationists have always taken the position (which, again, I share) that the acceptance of any one of the three legs of the evolutionary paradigm would fatally compromise the Bible. Uniformitarianism, with its concept of deep time, violates three prime tenets of Scripture:
- The absence of physical death before the fall of man
- The clear genealogical record from Jesus Christ back to Adam, that virtually determines the date of creation to be no earlier than 4219 BC or much later than 4004 BC.[1]
- The specific historicity not only of a six-day creation but also of the Great Flood, to which Jesus Christ Himself specifically attested on more than one occasion.
Abiogenesis contradicts Scripture by implying that any form of life could now, or could ever have, generated itself with no intelligent input. Common descent contradicts the repeated references to created kinds of life, found in the Creation and Great Flood accounts.
Current status
Abiogenesis has never been very secure. No scientist has yet demonstrated abiogenesis even in the laboratory, much less in the wild. The best that any proponent of the paradigm has been able to claim thus far is:
- Self-replicating molecules, which still have none of the tremendous information that a single DNA strand contains, and which did not come together by themselves, and have never been observed in the wild.
- The Miller-Urey lightning-in-reducing-atmosphere experiment. Here, Drs. Miller and Urey created conditions that turned out to be most conducive to the synthesis and harvesting of amino acids. But they had to harvest the acids rapidly in order to preserve them. More to the point, they presented no evidence that the conditions they produced in their experimental apparatus even approximated conditions that have ever existed on earth.
The usual rejoinder of any evolutionist (I use this term strictly to describe a proponent of the full three-legged evolutionary paradigm), when challenged to produce an example of abiogenesis, is, "Wait and see, and stop praying for ignorance." Now any creationist could observe, and quite reasonably, that the scientific community has been "waiting and seeing" for centuries, without result. This, in fact, is what Michael Behe asserted in Darwin's Black Box. But in fact, the idea of spontaneous generation of life is as old as Aristotle, and has been suffering disproof by one counterexample after another ever since. Francisco Redi, Anton van Leeuwenhoek, and finally Louis Pasteur delivered three devastating critiques of the idea of spontaneous generation, so that no serious scientist looks for such a thing in the wild today. Instead they assert that any such organism that did form in the wild would be rapidly consumed by "modern" bacteria.
Francis Crick, as previously mentioned, at first abandoned abiogenesis after he realized how much information a single strand of DNA contained. He then proposed that an advanced civilization, perhaps in another galaxy, fired a brace of missiles, each laden with payloads of bacteria and blue-green algae, in all directions. One such missile crash-landed on earth, and we are its by-product.[2] He does not believe in directed panspermia today, primarily because that idea has even more logical problems with it than does abiogenesis.
Common descent
Common descent has always rested on the shaky assumption of "missing links"—hypothetical transitional forms that are supposed to show that all of life has a single taxonomic tree with multiple branches, and not an "orchard" with each tree representing a particular created kind. The problem: that transitional forms still have the sobriquet "missing links" implies that they are still missing. Many have claimed to have found transitional forms; most of those claims have since been abandoned as frankly fraudulent. Two prominent exceptions remain:
- Archaeopteryx, a fossilized bird repeatedly said to be a transitional form between dinosaur and bird.
- Tiktaalik, an alleged not-quite-amphibian having four legs. Evolutionists make much of its discovery in the very geologic stratum where they predicted that they would find it.
Two species, out of the myriads that exist, cannot be said to carry the load for defending common descent without additional evidence. Archaeopteryx is probably a true bird, not a dinosaur-bird transitional form. (The similar "find" called Archaeoraptor is a deliberate fraud, and almost no evolutionists defend it today.) Similarly, tiktaalik is simply a fish with slightly better-than-usually-developed pectoral and pelvic fins.
Of the three pillars of the evolutionary paradigm, uniformitarianism is the most vulnerable of all. Uniformitarianism has come under attack from at least three directions.
The least-well-known attack against uniformitarianism has come from archaeology. The specific attack takes the form of out-of-place artifacts, that include examples of modern technology found in ancient ruins, or even found "buried in deep time." For a full discussion of this point, see Essay: Out-of-place Artifacts, ET's, and the Great Flood.
Out-of-place artifacts found "buried in deep time" are also a problem for uniformitarian geology. But geologists have at least three major problems with the so-called "fossil column":
- Polystrate fossils, or fossils that bridge more than one geologic stratum and hence more than one "era."
- Out-of-place strata, or even regions where fossils are found at random without regard to their "era." This latter most likely came from the formation of whirlpools in the flood waters.
- Recent formations of stratified canyons within days, always in association with a volcanic event. Mount Saint Helens produced one such canyon.
Since the development of nuclear physics, geologists have relied upon radiometric dating to defend the proposition that layered rocks show an age in millions or billions of years. But this type of dating suffers from several key flaws:[3]
- Uniformitarian-minded geologists routinely report only the radiometric dates that agree with the overarching model, and discard the rest.
- Dating of objects found in the same region is often inconsistent, often by hundreds of thousands or even millions of years.
- Historically dated igneous rock has been dated as hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of years old when submitted "blindly" to a dating laboratory.[4]
- The "youngest" rocks in the records of the United States Geological Survey have an apparent age of 700,000 years. Geologists therefore would not be able to date the eruption of, say, Mount Vesuvius did not ample historical evidence exist to date it independently.
More to the point, the RATE (Radioisotopes and the Age of The Earth) group at the Institute for Creation Research has developed an ever-growing body of evidence that the earth is in fact much younger than uniformitarianism insists it to be.
Astronomers did not accept uniformitarian ideas until Sir Charles Lyell made his case for uniformitarianism in geology. The equivalent to uniformitarianism in astronomy states that physical processes presently observable in the universe have always been observed. In addition, astronomers have accepted the miscalled Copernican principle that an observer will always observe the same distribution of galaxies, and the same apparent motion of same relative to himself, wherever he sits, be it on earth or on some extrasolar planet in an extragalactic system. Yet the experience of astronomy with uniformitarianism has been frought with the greatest perils of all.
Evidence, in the form of quantized redshift of far-flung objects, strongly implies that the universe has a definite center, and that our own galaxy is at that center.[5] No less an authority than Edwin Hubble developed that evidence himself, in 1937. But the implication of human exceptionalism (the anthropic principle) was something he refused to accept, on purely philosophical grounds. He therefore made an a priori assumption that the universe was curved, and was in fact a hypersphere, the only question being whether it would continue to expand forever, or stop expanding, or collapse.[5]
To explain this expansion, astronomers invented the Big Bang model of spatial explosion and expansion. On the surface (pardon the pun), this model might explain why any observer might think himself at the center of a universe that in fact has no center. But the Big Bang theory has two problems of its own: the observed mass and energy of the universe are not sufficient to account for the observed putative gravitational and/or acceleratory effects. To solve this problem, astronomers invented the concepts of dark matter to explain the extra gravity, and dark energy to explain the universe' continued acceleration.
Invocation of dark matter is nothing new. In the latter days of the nineteenth century, astronomers invoked a form of dark matter to explain why the planet Mercury precesses 43 arc-seconds per century further than it should according to Newtonian gravitation alone. They suggested interplanetary dust, an inner asteroid belt, and even a planet, which they named Vulcan, inside the orbit of Mercury but somehow remaining out of sight of Earth-bound observers for the millennia of recorded history.
Albert Einstein proposed a new physics and made a second-order correction that exactly explained the orbit of Mercury without the need for any interplanetary dust, inner asteroids, or zeroth planet. Similarly, John Hartnett has recently proposed a new cosmology that eliminates the need to invoke dark matter or dark energy in the universe as a whole. Called Cosmological relativity, it treats the spatial continuum as one that includes not only three-dimensional space and one-dimensional time but also includes one-dimensional velocity, and specifically the velocity of apparent far-object recession. Neither dark matter nor dark energy are required.
Furthermore, the last objection of uniformitarian astronomers to the creation model is about to fall. Specifically, uniformitarians insist that Adam could not have seen the stars in the sky 6100 years ago, because the light from the most-distant objects in the sky could not have reached the earth even in 6100 years, much less in the two days between the creation of the stars and the creation of Adam. But according to cosmological relativity, clocks on earth ran more slowly, by many orders of magnitude, than did clocks at the edge of the cosmos. Specifically, they ran slowly enough for the light from the distant objects to reach the earth at the recorded time, regardless of their distance. This model requires the cosmos to have physically stretched after its creation—but God in fact said that this was done.[6]
The increasing weight of contrary evidence continues to assail all three pillars of the evolutionary paradigm. This might explain the raft of adverse attention that the evolutionists are paying to projects like Ben Stein's documentary, and to a specialized graduate school seeking to relocate to, and win accreditation in, another State within the United States.
It also explains the continued funding of various projects seeking to gather evidence in support of the evolutionary paradigm. Some of these projects, like Project SETI, are complete wastes of time. Others, like the Hadron Supercollider, stand a remote chance of finding something useful, but are not likely to find anything that is, as lawyers like to say, dispositive. Happily, some other projects, like NASA's ongoing program of robotic deep-space exploration, hold great promise to yield a wealth of data—but these data are likely to militate for creation and not for the evolutionary paradigm.
About five minutes ago, a certain user, who shall remain nameless, read an earlier version of this essay in which I suggested the following concerning Tiktaalik:
|It [might] actually [be] an antediluvian laboratory chimera and hence an out-of-place artifact of a society already known to have been inordinately cruel.
After perusing some of the actual, as opposed to the widely touted, evidence about Tiktaalik, I abandoned that interpretation in favor of the simpler one that Tiktaalik is still a fish, with lobate pectoral and pelvic fins. But evidently this other user couldn't wait to make a snarky remark, in which he called me
|the only human being on earth more willing to believe a transitional form is genetically engineered by an unrecorded era of human history, than the scientific evidence at his fingertips.
And as though that weren't sarcastic enough, he went on to say:
|But don't stop now, kids, he's about to tell you about the miraculously spinning 1,000,000 year old batteries that... curiously... no real scientist has ever seen!
I suppose that a "real scientist" is an acceptor of the evolutionary paradigm. Well, don't you stop now, script kiddies, because this user, had he not gotten himself blocked, was probably about to tell you about the 74% of the mass of the universe being composed of dark matter. I ask you: who is the better scientist? Me? Or someone who propounds such an obvious fudge?
It gets better:
|But wait! He has a source! ...the National Enquirer.
Oh, I have sources, all right--and I invite anyone to read the article and consult them. You will find that The National Enquirer is not one of them.
All of which goes to prove my point: the evolutionary paradigm is more vulnerable than ever, and that is why its supporters now stoop to such gutter tactics as I have just documented above.--TerryHTalk 19:02, 18 April 2008 (EDT)
- ↑ I happen to believe that the Julian calendar year of creation was 4159 BC.
- ↑ Crick, F. H. C., and Orgel, L. E. "Directed Panspermia," Icarus, 19, 341 (1973).
- ↑ Wieland, Carl. Stones and Bones: Powerful Evidence Against Evolution, 3rd ed. Queensland, New South Wales, Australia: Creation Ministries International, 2006.
- ↑ When challenged on this, geologists sometimes assert that the submitters asked for an inappropriate dating method. But this defense begs the question of why the laboratories involved reported tremendous geological ages instead of merely reporting that the age was too soon to resolve.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Hartnett, John G. Starlight, Time and the New Physics. Queensland, New South Wales, Australia: Creation Ministries International, 2007, pp. 74-89.
- ↑ Genesis 1


text:
Neoadjuvant Ipilimumab in Prostate Cancer
|The safety and scientific validity of this study is the responsibility of the study sponsor and investigators. Listing a study does not mean it has been evaluated by the U.S. Federal Government. Read our disclaimer for details.
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01194271
Recruitment Status : Completed
First Posted : September 2, 2010
Last Update Posted : August 22, 2016
- Study Details
- Tabular View
- Results Submitted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
|Condition or disease
|Prostate Cancer
|Drug: Leuprolide Acetate Drug: Ipilimumab Procedure: Radical Prostatectomy
|Phase 2
|Study Type :
|Interventional (Clinical Trial)
|Actual Enrollment :
|19 participants
|Intervention Model:
|Single Group Assignment
|None (Open Label)
|Primary Purpose:
|Official Title:
|A Neoadjuvant Phase IIa Study of Ipilimumab {Formerly Known as MDX-010 (BMS-734016)} Plus Hormone Ablation in Men With Prostate Cancer Followed by Radical Prostatectomy.
|Study Start Date :
|September 2010
|Actual Primary Completion Date :
|October 2015
|Actual Study Completion Date :
|October 2015
Experimental: Neoadjuvant Ipilimumab
Leuprolide Acetate 22.5 mg administered as a single intramuscular 3 month depot + Ipilimumab 10 mg/kg by vein administered as 2 single doses, 3 weeks apart after hormone therapy + Radical Prostatectomy Surgery to remove prostate gland approximately 4 weeks after the second dose of Ipilimumab.
Drug: Leuprolide Acetate
22.5 mg administered as a single intramuscular 3 month depot.
Other Name: Lupron Depot
Drug: Ipilimumab
10 mg/kg by vein administered as 2 single doses, 3 weeks apart after hormone therapy.
Other Names:
Procedure: Radical Prostatectomy
Surgery to remove prostate gland approximately 4 weeks after the second dose of Ipilimumab.
- Longitudinal Peripheral Blood Values [ Time Frame: Weekly for 8 weeks ]Five immunological variables measured on peripheral blood (pb) samples and tumor tissue samples: (i) effector to regulatory T cell ratio (measured in blood and tumor), (ii) CD4+ICOS+ T cells (measured in blood and tumor), (iii) CD8+ICOS+ T cells (measured in blood and tumor), (iv) NY-ESO-1 antibodies (measured only in blood, not tumor), and (v) absolute lymphocyte count (measured only in blood, not tumor). Measurements based on pb samples weeks 0, 1, 4, 7, and measurements from tumor tissue at week 8.
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contacts provided below. For general information, Learn About Clinical Studies.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|18 Years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Inclusion Criteria:
- Willing and able to give written informed consent;
- Histologic Documentation: Histologic documentation of prostatic adenocarcinoma. Patients with small cell, neuroendocrine, or transitional cell carcinomas are not eligible. All eligible patients must have a known Gleason sum based on biopsy or TURP at the time of registration.
- Locally Resectable Disease: Patients must have disease (localized or locally advanced) which is deemed by the surgeon to be resectable. Lymph node metastasis or lymph nodes suspicious of harboring metastasis should be deemed surgically resectable by the surgeon.
- Determination of high-risk status: Patients must have either: 1) a Prostate biopsy Gleason sum >/= 8 OR 2) PSA >/= 20.
- Prior Treatment: No prior treatment for prostate cancer including prior surgery (excluding TURP), pelvic lymph node dissection, radiation therapy, or chemotherapy. Patients who have initiated leuprolide acetate within 1 week of signing consent will be eligible.
- Patients must be appropriate candidates for radical prostatectomy. Evidence of underlying cardiac disease should be evaluated prior to enrollment to ensure that patients are not at high risk of cardiac complications.
- ECOG performance status of 0 or 1;
- Required values for initial laboratory tests: a) WBC >/= 3000/uL; b) ANC >/= 1500/uL, c) Platelets >/= 100 x 10^3/uL; d) Hemoglobin >/= 9 g/dL; e) Creatinine </= 2.0 x ULN; f) AST </= 2.5 x ULN; g) Bilirubin 0 - 1.0 mg/dL, except patients with Gilbert's Syndrome, who must have a total bilirubin less than 3.0 mg/mL;
- Men >/= 18 years of age
- Patients must agree to practice barrier birth control methods while on therapy, prior to surgery.
Exclusion Criteria:
- Any other malignancy from which the patient has been disease-free for less than 5 years, with the exception of adequately treated and cured basal or squamous cell skin cancer.
- Autoimmune disease: Patients with a history of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis) are excluded from this study as are patients with a history of autoimmune disease (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis, systemic progressive sclerosis [scleroderma], Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, autoimmune vasculitis [e.g., Wegener's Granulomatosis]).
- Known HIV or chronic hepatitis.
- Any underlying medical condition, which in the opinion of the Investigator, will make the administration of study drug hazardous or obscure the interpretation of adverse events, such as a condition associated with frequent diarrhea.
- Patients who have had a history of acute diverticulitis, intra-abdominal abscess, GI obstruction, abdominal carcinomatosis which are known risks factors for bowel perforation, should be excluded from the study.
- Any non-oncology vaccine therapy used for prevention of infectious diseases (for up to one month prior to or after any dose of ipilimumab.
- Concomitant therapy with any of the following: IL-2, interferon or other non-study immunotherapy regimens; cytotoxic chemotherapy; immunosuppressive agents; other investigation therapies; or chronic use of systemic corticosteroids (used in the management of cancer or non-cancer-related illnesses);
- Previous treatment with other investigational products within 30 days;
- Previous enrollment in another MDX-010 (BMS-734016) clinical trial or prior treatment with a CD137 agonist or CTLA-4 inhibitor or agonist
- Concurrent use of 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors (finasteride, dutasteride).
- Prisoners or patients who are compulsorily detained (involuntarily incarcerated) for treatment of either a psychiatric or physical (e.g., infectious disease) illness must not be enrolled in this study.
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT01194271
|United States, Texas
|University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
|Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
|Principal Investigator:
|Padmanee Sharma, MD, PHD
|M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
|Responsible Party:
|M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|Other Study ID Numbers:
NCI-2010-01974 ( Registry Identifier: NCI CTRP )
|First Posted:
|September 2, 2010 Key Record Dates
|Last Update Posted:
|August 22, 2016
|Last Verified:
|August 2016
Hormone Ablation
Prostate adenocarcinoma
Radical prostatectomy
Leuprolide Acetate
Lupron Depot
Prostatic Neoplasms
Genital Neoplasms, Male
Urogenital Neoplasms
Neoplasms by Site
Genital Diseases, Male
Prostatic Diseases
Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological
Antineoplastic Agents
Fertility Agents, Female
Fertility Agents
Reproductive Control Agents
Physiological Effects of Drugs
Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Published on Dec 2, 2018
Published on Dec 2, 2018
Bryce, WRONGFULLY-CONVICTED at Age 15
#torture, #public corruption, #chemical weapons, #Terrorism, #private property rights,
The world's most viewed site on global warming and climate change
The search for truth in human action
Just another WordPress.com weblog
Watching our environment ... our health ... and corporations ... exposing lies and corruption
"Weaving should be fun!"
~Let the healing begin~
Pleasant Musings on Sociology, McMansions and Housing, Suburbs and Cities, and Miscellaneous Errata.
Musings, Memories, and Magic
The Good of Humanity
US Breaking News Headlines - Online Feed - Today, Now Current
For the adults in the room!
#torture, #public corruption, #chemical weapons, #Terrorism, #private property rights,
Traveling Our Path Together
The Online Information Source for Iowa's Progressive Community
Reflections on life and other things we like to think about
Get Informed.
War Criminals
A Journal of Democracy and Public Affairs
Watching Over Liberty and American Values
This is Don Mashak's Hennepin County Minnesota Free Press Blog to Provide Hennepin County Residents with Full and Fair Citizen Reporting of Local, National and World Events. [Bloomington, Brooklyn, Center, Park, Champlin, Corcoran, Crystal, Dayton, Eden Prairie, Edina, Excelsior, Golden Valley, Hamel, Hopkins, Long Lake, Maple Grove, Maple Plain, Medicine Lake, Medina, Minneapolis, Minnetonka, Mound, New Hope, Osseo, Plymouth, Richfield, Rogers, Saint Louis Park, Shorewood, Wayzata, city ]
contemporary spiritual, political, economic, cultural, political, educational, scientific and technological issues impacting humanity
Long trails, foraging, and fun
#Permaculture #Videos #News #Views #Soil #Carbon #Regenerative #Agriculture #Farming and #Gardening
Biblical Teachings, News in American, World News, Misc. News, Teachings, Israel News, Genealogy News, Earth News, Petition News, Archaeology News, Lost 10 Tribes of Israel News, Health News, Religion News, Jihad News, Prophecy News, Syria, Russia, Palestine, Israel, Africa, England, U.K., Spain, Germany, Italy
A Blog on Trespass, Encroachment, Property Lines, Nuisances ... and Getting Along
Constitutional Law for the People
A rural perspective with a blue tint by Ele Ludemann
Blame is the name of the game.
Dedicated to freedom in our lifetimes
The Latest News and Commentary from The Goldwater Institute
Conservatarian Commentary Since 2016
We Declare that politicians must obey written laws as written. No "interpretation," no ifs, ands or buts. This is the official blog of Andy Horning.
"No power on earth has a right to take our property from us without our consent." John Jay
When Judges are chosen politically, the Judges will become politicians.
"It is the duty of the patriot to protect his country from his government." - Thomas Paine
Narcissistic Abuse, Complex PTSD = Dead Woman Walking, Talking and Writing.
A blog to share and help others understand why their relationship is so hard
Fighting police abuse, brutality and corruption
News And Views On Corruption!


text:
Downplaying the absence of Tiger Woods from this week's World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational would be foolhardy.
Downplaying the absence of Tiger Woods from this week's World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational would be foolhardy.
One of the most decorated golfers in the game's history, Woods won six titles in the event's first nine years, including 2007 when he was the only player in the field to break par.
That came on the heels of memorable feats such as his course record-tying 61 in the third round in 2000, his seven-hole playoff victory over Jim Furyk in 2001, his recovery from the trees on No. 18 in his one-shot win over Chris DiMarco in 2005 and his four-hole playoff win over Stewart Cink in 2006.
ACL surgery two days after winning the U.S. Open in June will sideline Woods the rest of the season. Firestone Country Club probably won't feel the same when the practice rounds get under way Tuesday.
Still, this year's Bridgestone Invitational has the potential for some interesting storylines.
The other 2008 majors winners -- British Open champion Padraig Harrington and Masters winner Trevor Immelman -- are part of the field. Harrington rose 11 places to a career-high No. 3 in the world golf rankings after defending his British Open title at Royal Birkdale. In addition to his Masters win, Immelman also was runner-up at the Stanford St. Jude Championship.
Kenny Perry, No. 16 in the world rankings, will try to win his fourth title this year. At 47 years, 11 months and 3 days, Perry became the oldest player in PGA Tour history to win three in a season with his victory at the John Deere Classic. He also won The Memorial Tournament in Dublin and the Buick Open.
Geoff Ogilvy has a chance to join Woods as the only player to win all three WGC tournaments. The 30-year-old Australian was the winner at this year's CA Championship and the 2006 Accenture Match Play Championship.
The Bridgestone Invitational has been a bigger hurdle for Ogilvy. In three previous trips to Firestone, his best finish was a tie for 36th in 2006.
Furyk has five top-10 finishes at Firestone, more than anyone in the field, but the 38-year-old American has yet to win a Bridgestone title. His best finish came in 2001 when he was runner-up to Woods after their marathon playoff.
Justin Leonard has nine top-10 finishes in his last 24 events while missing the cut only once. He has risen from 158th to No. 27 in the world rankings.
Other than Woods, Stewart Cink, Darren Clarke and Craig Parry are the only players to win the Bridgestone Invitational. Cink, the 2004 champion, ranks No. 8 in the world and has seven top-10 finishes this season.
German Martin Kaymer was the European PGA Tour's rookie of the year in 2007. This year he won the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship and BMW International Open while finishing second behind Woods at the Dubai Desert Classic.
Reach Repository sports writer Mike Popovich at (330) 580-8341 or e-mail email@example.com


text:
South Central China and Tibet: Hotspot of Diversity
Selected Plants from Rock's Expeditions Growing at the Arnold Arboretum
View a map of the locations of these plants.
Buddleja syn. Buddleia
Buddleia alternifolia Maximowicz
Alternate-leaf butterfly bush
Family: Loganiaceae
Hardiness zones: 5-9
This buddleia is a large deciduous shrub with long, slender, arching branches that bear flowers on the previous year's growth. Flowering begins in early summer; the dense, rounded clusters are fragrant and lilac-colored. The leaves are alternate, slender, and gray-green in color. With an annual growth of more than 18 inches, this shrub can reach its mature, rounded form with a height and spread of 15 feet relatively quickly.
Cotoneaster acutifolius Turczaninow
Peking cotoneaster
Family: Rosaceae
Hardiness zones: 4-7
This cotoneaster is a dense, upright, and spreading deciduous shrub with arching branches. Its pinkish-white flowers are borne in summer and are followed by brilliant red, or occasionally black, fruit. The leaves are round and a dark green during the growing season, but turn orange-red in the fall.
Its annual growth rate is from 12 to 18 inches, and its rounded form reaches 6 to 8 feet in height and spread.
Cotoneaster horizontalis Decaisne
Rock or rockspray cotoneaster
Family: Rosaceae
Hardiness zones: 5-7
This species' flat, layered, herringbone-branching habit makes it one of the most widely grown
of all prostrate cotoneasters. Deciduous in New England, it is semi-evergreen farther south.
By mid June small, pink flowers appear singly or in pairs. In fall, the foliage turns from a
lustrous, dark green to bright red, as do the fruits. It will reach a height of
2 to 5 feet and a spread that exceeds 10 feet.
Cotoneaster taoensis G. Klotz
Creeping cotoneaster
Family: Rosaceae
Hardiness zones: 4b-7
A prostrate, deciduous cotoneaster, this species has short, rigid branches and a dense, spreading habit. Its small, pink-tinged, white flowers appear singly or in pairs in late spring and are followed by spherical, bright-red fruit. Although not as vigorous as C. horizontalis, it is a good groundcover with a height of one foot and an annual growth rate of 12 to 18 inches.
Euonymus phellomana Loesener
Family: Celastraceae
Hardiness zone: 5
Although this medium-to-large euonymus has attractive cork-like, winged stems and excellent autumn color, unfortunately it is seldom, if ever, grown for its ornamental qualities.
Picea asperata Masters
Dragon spruce
Family: Pinaceae
Hardiness zones: 6-8
A slow growing, columnar conifer with a spread that can reach 20 feet, this spruce has horizontal branches that can become pendulous with age. Its stiff, prickly needles are thick, curved and a bluish green and become a darker green as they remain on the tree for as long as seven years. Reaching 75 to 80 feet in height, the dragon spruce has scaly, dark, purplish brown bark and light brown, 3 to 5-inch long cones.


text:
3kg Sized Plain Satchel 300Wx410L+40Lip mm
Available QTY = 100 Bags, 500 Bags or 3000 Bags.
Multipurpose Plain Courier Satchels
Lightweight and durable these courier satchels are designed to keep your items and contents secure while maximising postage savings.
High Quality.
Welded seams using cutting-edge 'resist bursting' technology allows for maximum tear resistance and stuffing.
Durable polyethylene layer provides complete opacity to assure privacy and confidentiality of contents. Self-sealing technology keeps contents secure and protects them from the elements like water and dirt.
Ease of Use.
Smooth surface makes inserting and removing contents quick and easy. Pen and marker friendly matte window makes addressing the courier satchel quick, easy and reasonably permanent.
Saves Money.
These courier satchels contain no bubble lining or unnecessary layers and offer lots of space inside.
They seal tightly and easily and hold up well even when packed full.
These courier satchels are not suitable for items with sharp edges, which may tear and puncture the material.
Best of all, our courier satchels are made of 100% recyclable material.
If you're selling things on eBay or shipping non-fragile items to customers then give these courier satchels a go they are sturdy and durable yet lightweight to keep your postage low and contents secure.
Sending stuff in regular mailers and boxes will only add to the weight and cost you more in postage. And they take much less space in storage.
If you're looking for less expensive packaging options that still do the job they are required to do then consider our courier satchels.
It's cheaper to ship in these courier satchels!
3kg Sized Plain Satchel 300Wx410L+40Lip mm
- Product Code: SAT3
- Availability: In Stock


text: April Writing Prompts https://www.upstreamlife.net/april-journal-prompt/ Advertisements Share this:FacebookTwitterEmailLinkedInRedditTumblrPinterestPrint Author: Dennis Hickey There are no limits to success to those who are prepared. I want to help you prepare by sharing what I have learned about life skills, and how I am still learning. Not knowing these skills can effect your personal growth. I hope you enjoy and learn from this information. Feel free to connect with me, to comment or e-mail your question and opinions. Sit back, relax and let the learning begin. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com View all posts by Dennis Hickey


text:
|On Amazon
Thoughts on writing, grammar, the moon, and friends--whatever comes up.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Book Reviews Reviewed
20 comments:
- Una Tiers said...
Ellis, I want to thank you for being such a great friend and letting me return to guest blog.
- February 18, 2012 at 7:28 AM
- Ellis Vidler said...
Always glad to have you, Una. Reviews are hard to come by, for sure. I can't wait for your book to come out! I'll review Judge vs Nuts, I promise. :-)
- February 18, 2012 at 9:13 AM
Story sounds intriguing. Good luck.
- February 18, 2012 at 9:31 AM
- Kathleen Delaney said...
Interesting take on reviews. they are, indeed, hard to get, or perhaps that's just that meaningful reviews are hard to get. However, the one you got was a duzy. Should make up for all those you didn't get, and probably wouldn't have wanted. Reading just what Barbara wrote is much more likely to get me to buy than a dozen poorly written ones from people I've never heard of.
- February 18, 2012 at 10:01 AM
- Polly Iyer said...
With all that goes on in Chicago politics, you must have had an excess of material for your book. Your take on reviews is right on. I've had good ones and bad ones, and the bad ones make me wish I had written the book differently. I look at them as a critique that will help me get it right the next time.
Good luck with your book, Una. I look forward to reading it.
- February 18, 2012 at 10:14 AM
- Norma Huss said...
I agree with your take on reviews. What we writers really want is a few words, supposing the reader actually likes the book, enticing others to really want to read your book! Fact is, this blog enticed me.
I've joined the Goodreads group, so I do actually give short reviews of books I've read. And, I like to see the good side of things. I start reading a book with the expectation that it will be good.
- February 18, 2012 at 10:37 AM
As a beginner, I like this analysis. Thank you.
- February 18, 2012 at 10:47 AM
- Una Tiers said...
Thanks Ellis.
Thanks Mike.
Kathleen, you learn a lot when you collect for charity and when you ask for a book review. Barbara D'Amato was very kind to help me.
Hi Polly, A few weeks back I was at a library panel discussion and all four panelists wrote about corruption in Chicago. Still I think we have the same amount as anywhere else, with better press coverage.
- February 18, 2012 at 11:06 AM
- Una Tiers said...
Hi Norma: Do you ask for something short? Maybe the "review" means something more time consuming for readers.
I love your positive outlook, and will likely steal it as I look at the next new author.
Everyone talks about goodreads. Is it about paying forward?
Thanks Olga, if I can help, don't hesitate to write.
Una Tiers
- February 18, 2012 at 12:19 PM
- Marni said...
Una, I've just read an article that showed that Goodreads reviews drive more readers to a book than announcing it on your FB page. On my weekly book review blog (www.auntiemwrites.wordpress.com) I'm trying to steer readers to writers they might not find, so I start reading a new book looking for the positives. It has to be a real clunker for me not to review it showing the positives, in which case I probably won't do the review. What's a clunker for me might be someone else's great read, so I'll let them find that one on their own~
- February 18, 2012 at 1:02 PM
I never look too closely at reviews but now I will to see who writes them. Before I thought they were all from newspapers. Thank you.
- February 18, 2012 at 2:27 PM
- Linda Lovely said...
Una, reviews are tough. The hiders are perhaps the most frustrating because you don't know if they have decided (a) they don't want to read the book, (b) they're swamped and behind schedule or (c) they hate the book and don't want to admit it. It's time for me to ask for blurbs for a book that's coming out in May and I really hate to do it. I feel like I'm puting people on the spot. But the review you received is terrific. Can't wait to read it.
- February 18, 2012 at 3:25 PM
- Unknown said...
Love that, "the hiders". I've had a few reviewers hiding from me too, Una. But you landed a great one in the end. Been eying your book for a while. Haven't got around to it yet, but will. And that's a promise (:
- February 18, 2012 at 5:19 PM
- Una Tiers said...
Hi Marni: You've shamed me into creating another account with Goodreads. As soon as I finish a certain romantic thriller I will post a review. I love your blog and see we are both Grafton fans. Although I do think Henry Pitts was not given equal time in V.
Anon: I used to look at the number of reviews, afraid they would spoil the read by giving too much story information. Now I hold them up to the light to look for "issues."
Una Tiers
- February 18, 2012 at 5:52 PM
- Una Tiers said...
Thank you Linda, we should develop a reviewers checklist and require that they swear not to hide and have it notarized.
Unfortunately asking is the only way I know about since guns aren't allowed here. What do you write?
JP thanks it isn't available on Amazon, have to remind publisher.
Una Tiers
- February 18, 2012 at 7:45 PM
- Sergei said...
Hello, first time here. Reading and learning. I had no experience with reviews yet. What I really like, those book cover blurbs, my favourites, yes.
Sergei Pimenov
- February 19, 2012 at 3:26 AM
- Una Tiers said...
Hi Sergio: Thanks for stopping by. As soon as you get that mystery finished, I will help you with reviews.
Una Tiers
- February 19, 2012 at 3:01 PM
Thank you for giving me more insight into how the book review world works. Look forward to reading the book.
God bless,
Lois Fiorelli
- February 19, 2012 at 4:10 PM
- Una Tiers said...
Hi Lois, thanks for stopping by. How is the writing coming along?
- February 19, 2012 at 4:34 PM
- Una Tiers said...
Many thanks to Ellis Vidler for allowing me to return to the blog. It is nice to see friends and make new ones.
Una Tiers
- February 20, 2012 at 12:59 PM


text:
Product Description
Stainless Steel is the most PoPular choice for today's kitchens due to its clean look and durability. The beautiful brushed satin finish helPs to hide small scratches that may occur over the lifetime of the sink. Our Stainless Steel sinks are made from high quality 18 gauge steel. Most models are made of one Piece construction that ensures the sturdiest kitchen sink you will find. Our sinks are made from 304 grade stainless steel that contains 18% chromium and 8-p10% nickel and are guaranteed not to rust. Each sink is fully insulated and has a sound damPening Pad. Our stainless steel sinks are backed by a limited lifetime warranty. Each sink comes with a cardboard cutout temPlate and mounting hardware.


text:
We often hear that we should talk more openly about mental health.
But few people do it.
In Saturday's column I give kudos to Dwight Howard (yes, I know you don't hear that much from Orlando) for mentioning in a recent LA Times interview that he saw a psychiatrist last season.
It's pretty standard stuff for athletes. But even so, Dwight got that tidbit thrown back in his face with Internet speculation that he was "losing his mind" or going "crazy."
And we wonder why it's so hard for people to talk about.
Robert Carrion can relate.
Robert is 38 and lives in Orlando. He works as a carpenter. And until recently his life was upside down.
He suffered from severe depression and anxiety. His relationships with his friends and family were strained. Things were so bad it was hard for him to hold down a job. And last year he tried to take his own life.
Then, finally, after years of wanting help but not knowing where to look he found the support he needed at the Outlook Clinic, a partnership between the Mental Health Association of Central Florida, Florida Hospital and Orange County government.
Now after months of counseling and finding the right medication, Robert feels like a new man.
He's got a good job and is in what he describes as the "healthiest relationship of my life." He even has a newborn daughter.
"Never have I accomplished or even imagined I could get to the place I am now," he said.
He credits his therapists with helping him get past the anxiety and negativity that used to dominate his life.
He says the media sends a lot of mixed messages about getting treatment for mental health.
"It's cool when Tony Soprano does it, but Dwight Howard just needs to get everything off his chest and everybody says, 'What's wrong with him?'" Carrion said.
He says treatment is worth talking about if it makes a difference for someone else.
"If I can just give hope to one other person, there's no shame in me telling people what I've gone through," he said.


text:
A Houston man was arrested Sunday for kicking a police horse outside of Reliant Park, thereby making Andre Johnson's beatdown of Cortland Finnegan the second most lopsided physical altercation in Texas that day.
The man, 30-year old Jeffrey Paul Siebert, on top of being referred to as an "alleged horse kicker" in news stories about the incident, stands accused of "striking the horse in the hind quarters causing the horse to react." While not as bad as some of the other things we've seen people do to horses, who kicks a horse? Nonetheless, he will have his day in court next week to set the record straight.
Man Kicks Police Horse at Reliant Park [KIAH-TV Houston]


text:
Mocking A Mad Rapper Or Gillie Da Kid Is Mad Son? Calls Meek Mill, Peedi Crakk, Mike Knox,Joey Jihad & Black Deniro All Washed Up & Mad At Djs! This Muthaphucka Work At Walmart Son. F*ck Yall Nikkas Son"
Gillie Da Kid mocking?
Please click the "Report" button below if the video on this page is not working properly.
Comments will only be displayed by verified emails. No Spamming or Racism.


text:
From the Paris Review Interview with Jeffrey Eugenides:
Do you write with a sense of your audience? Or is it more like Gertrude Stein said, that you write for yourself and strangers?
I tell my students that when you write, you should pretend you're writing the best letter you ever wrote to the smartest friend you have. That way, you'll never dumb things down. You won't have to explain things that don't need explaining. You'll assume an intimacy and a natural shorthand, which is good because readers are smart and don't wish to be condescended to.
I think about the reader. I care about the reader. Not "audience." Not "readership." Just the reader. That one person, alone in a room, whose time I'm asking for. I want my books to be worth the reader's time, and that's why I don't publish the books I've written that don't meet this criterion, and why I don't publish the books I do until they're ready. The novels I love are novels I live for. They make me feel smarter, more alive, more tender toward the world. I hope, with my own books, to transmit that same experience, to pass it on as best I can.
[Photo Credit: Land-Sh]


text:
Healer at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries in the Dai Llewellyn Ward. He was interested in Muggle healing techniques, and used stitches on Arthur Weasley when he was admitted to the hospital after he was attacked by Nagini. Presumably, Nagini's venom made Arthur's wounds impossible to heal in this manner, and caused the stitches to dissolve.
The name "Augustus" means "great" or "venerable", derived from Latin augere "to increase". Augustus was the title given to Octavian, the first Roman emperor. He was the adopted son of Julius Caesar who rose to power through a combination of military skill and political prowess. This was also the name of three kings of Poland.
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game) (Mentioned only)
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.


text:
lips: collection 2000 cream puff lip cream in fairy cake (review here)
Went to Worcester today to meet a old friend which was nice, Especially with the absolutely gorgeous weather we've had today. I love driving in the sun and listening to my music full blast. Feels so free and easy going. Had a awkward moment when I was singing along to A-Punk at a traffic light and looked across to the side and the man in the car next too me giving me the most dirty look ever! Bought a few bits and bobs and returned alot of things that have been lurking in my room. I have a two week rule, if I don't wear something within two weeks of buying it, Im probably not going to wear it so I have to return it, no matter how much I like it.
Internacionale kindly offered to give me a voucher after seeing that I'd mentioned them in my Look Magazine interview so I thought I'd go ahead and buy one of those light weight blazers most shops have in at the moment. New Look used to do them in loadsa colours, and I totally regretted not getting one at the time! Just paired it with a really old dress-shrunk-to-a-tunic that I've had for years now! Camel and black is one totally one of my favourite colour combinations.


text:
Guide to Managing Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas in a Changing Climate
While the impact of climate change at global level has been widely studied, its form and extent in the Mediterranean remains vague. Climate change is likely to have drastic effects on the habitat of the Mediterranean flora and fauna, but its impacts will vary between Mediterranean regions and between marine protected areas (MPAs) within each region. The IUCN has produced a guide which analyzes the threats and effects of climate change on Mediterranean marine biodiversity and provides MPA managers with tools to monitor and mitigate changes in their own MPAs.
This new IUCN publication provides a clear and synthetic summary of the main effects of climate change observed to date on Mediterranean marine biodiversity, according to existing research. It also outlines the many uncertainties that still exist in understanding ecological responses to climate change. The report was prepared by the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation in collaboration with the Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (RAC/SPA), within the MedPAN North project funded by the European Regional Development Fund, the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development (AECID) and the RAC/SPA biannual programme funded by the Mediterranean Trust Fund of the Barcelona Convention.
The publication intends to give some guidance to MPA managers on how to measure the impact of climate change on the marine biodiversity of protected areas and how to improve the planning for the mitigation of this threat. Managers may choose, within several monitoring plans and indicators, the ones that best fit their particular circumstances and management objectives.
Several impacts of climate change in the Mediterranean are identified in this guide, such as sea warming, sea-level rise and salinity and sea circulation changes. Existing information shows that shallow sea waters have already warmed by almost 1 °C since the 1980s. The observed or potential consequences of these shifts on the marine communities are described in the publication.
According to the report, research shows that native species distribution is already evolving, as some warm-water species have started to colonize areas where they were previously absent. For example, the ornate wrasse Thalassoma pavo increased its population density tenfold within less than 5 yeas of its arrival in the Scandola Marine Reserve (NW Corsica, France).
Sea warming also causes mass mortalities of macrobenthic communities (corals, gorgonians, sponges), in particular in the North-Western Mediterranean, and favors the bloom of opportunistic organisms like the P. noctiluca jellyfish.
As for the increased sea acidification, it can potentially affect the growth, reproduction and activity rates of different species.
"MPAs play a key role in the analysis of the biological consequences of climate change. As they are better shielded from anthropogenic impacts than other areas, they can serve as "sentinel sites" where the effects of climate change can be studied and management strategies can be developped to adapt to such negative effects, and wherever possible counter them", explains Maria del Mar Otero, IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation Marine Programme Officer and coordinator of the publication.
Based on the experience of a selection of MPAs, the guide presents several case studies, each highlighting a stake of the impact of climate change on marine biodiversity : vulnerability risk of sea turtle nesting faced towards sea-level rise, the resilience of the Mediterranean coral Cladocora caespitosa or species shift distributions observed along the Mediterranean through monitoring. The guide outlines different issues and potential monitoring methods, as well as adaptation strategies to protect the local biodiversity.


text:
Kastine Evans hit two free throws with 8.8 seconds left, and No. 9 Kentucky fought back from a 14-point halftime deficit Thursday night to beat No. 14 South Carolina 78-74.
Jennifer O'Neill scored 19 points for the Wildcats (22-3, 10-2 Atlantic Coast Conference).
The loss was the first in 19 games this season for South Carolina (20-5, 8-4) when it led at halftime. Aleighsa Welch and Elem Ibiam led the Gamecocks with 15 points apiece.
South Carolina shot 18 of 32 in the first half, and its efficiency improved early in the second. The Gamecocks made their first five attempts after halftime and did not miss a shot until 11:05 was left.
But the Wildcats answered methodically, limiting their turnovers and maximizing opportunities despite a rebounding disadvantage. A'dia Mathies hit a 3-pointer with 3:50 to play that gave Kentucky its first lead of the second half at 69-68.
South Carolina looked ready to pull away early in the game. It went on a 13-2 run over a four-minute stretch in the first half, silencing the 5,828 fans at Memorial Coliseum. Each time the Wildcats worked their way back into close range in the first half, South Carolina had an answer.
Asia Dozier hit a 3-pointer as time expired in the first half to give the Gamecocks a 44-30 lead at the break, and South Carolina's lead reached its widest margin at 46-30 with 19:41 to play.


text:
Tom Telesco is pals with 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman, with whom he played football at John Carroll University, a small school in suburban Cleveland.
Good for Telesco, good for the Chargers, but before I encourage the rookie general manager to study the 49ers, if not emulate them, I acknowledge that many of us have a Niners fan or two in our life who's a pain in the ear.
My San Diego State dorm housed a large number of these pesky folks. Shouting "Niiiiners" at any hour wasn't beyond them.
It ain't bragging, though, when your team wins as the Niners have. A character-building moment for many Niners fan came this month, when the team finally dropped a Lombardi. That shouldn't deter Telesco, though, from sounding out his fellow Lobo, Roman.
There's got to be something to be learned from a franchise that acquired so much talent in recent years. As if they're smarter than everybody else, the Niners also will have 13-14 picks going into this year's draft.
What, then, might the Chargers glean from the scourge of the NFC? Here, following, are a few basic points.
• Talent trumps experience. *Ex-Chargers quarterback Jim Harbaugh had never overseen an NFL team, or an NFL offense or defense, when the 49ers lured him from Stanford with a five-year contract worth $25 million. Harbaugh was a true head coach and a quarterback sage, two rare attributes in one. In two years under Harbaugh, the Niners have gone to the NFC Championship and then a Super Bowl. Looking for a quarterback with more upside, Harbaugh chose an NFL sophomore, Colin Kaepernick, over veteran Alex Smith (a move I praised at the time). Talent won out.
* -- Harbaugh was a Chargers loyalist from 1999-2000, when he was a quarterback here. One day, when a U-T beat writer wore a 49ers sweatshirt to Chargers Park and asked him a question, Harbaugh refused to answer, citing the offensive apparel.
• Invest in good blockers. In building the NFL's best offensive line, which helped them to rebuilde Smith and nurture his eventual replacement, the 49ers spent first-round picks on two tackles and a guard. John F. Kennedy was Mr. President the last time the Chargers took a guard in the first round (nine-time Pro Bowler Walt Sweeney, second overall, 1963, though he wasn't a guard at Syracuse). Not since they chose USC's James FitzPatrick 13th overall in 1986 have the Chargers taken a tackle in the first round. Draft position isn't destiny, as undrafted guard Kris Dielman showed. But the Chargers appear to have skimped up front; not one of their current blockers was taken before the 65th pick.
• Go back to school. While Roman was on Harbaugh's staff at Stanford, he became intrigued with the pistol formation. He visited its creator, Chris Ault, then Nevada's coach. The two stayed in touch, and after following Harbaugh to the Niners, Roman fit the pistol to the NFL game, with ample help from the former Nevada star Kaepernick. Schematic innovation is rampant in the college game, particularly the mid-levels. If Bill Belichick thought it important to pal around with Chip Kelly and Urban Meyer, the Chargers should think about getting to know college innovators, too. Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin, to name one, is a college coach I'd want to get to know.


text:
by Pamela Rogow
Last Saturday, April 21, 40 official contestants and their babies (39 inches long or less) converged in Mt. Airy as co-participants in an international effort to beat last year's world record for simultaneous cloth diaper changing. They came from as far away as Lawrenceville, New Jersey, and Secane, Pennsylvania to share the precise moment, 12:30 pm EST, when thousands of competitors, registered at 305 sites in 16 countries, performed their largely pinless cloth enfoldments.
This was not a race but an official moment in time. No brands were favored, but towels were verboten. Results will not be announced for at least a week, as Guinness headquarters confirms and analyzes the data. Still, we sleep better, confident that last year's total of 5,046 changes (at 127 locations in five countries) will be bested, and the world will be a better place for that.
Saturday was also the day before Earth Day, now rightfully claimed for the World Cloth Diaper Change competition, helping to save the planet, one diaper at a time. The babies ranged from two weeks to three years. The Guinness event grew out of the desire of Judy Aagard to organize a family event for Earth Day, in Campbell, California.
Five years ago, Guinness World Records created a competition for cloth diaper changing. Believe it or not (oh wait, that's Ripley's phrase), Guinness took this seriously. And given how young parents are generally happy to have each other's company, proud of their dexterity, alarmed at the impact of disposable diapers and impressed with numerous cloth diaper options, Guinness mobilized an annual event that works from the bottom up.
This year was the first time that Philadelphia officially entered, hosted by baby and kids' gear company, The Nesting House. The Mt. Airy shop set the competition at nearby Summit Church, where the gym floor was scrubbed to proper nursery levels. The Nesting House, home of more than 50 diaper lines (hemp, Velcro tabs, snaps, wool, cotton, rice paper liners, pre-fold with pins, etc.), is a recognized center for non-disposable diapers. It carefully followed rules for judging, witnessing, competing and documentation. Guinness is strict. In fact, last year, 76 host locations were disqualified for not fulfilling all the rules.
Competing was free to participants, being on time was a must, and no siblings could be on site except with another care-giver. An impartial judge ran the event. A photographer documented it. A diaper salute preceded the actual change. "This is not your grandmother's diaper," The Nesting House's co-owner, Meredith Jacoby, said. "People buy cloth diapers for three reasons: To save money, because they are concerned about the environment or for health/allergy reasons such as avoiding exposure to bleach and gels on sensitive baby skins. This event promotes cloth diaper use for ecological reasons especially."
Indeed, at an average rate of six diapers a day, from birth to about age three, one child will use around 5,000 diapers. Disposables create about 2,200 pounds of solid, very slow-to-degrade waste, enough to fill a 100-square-foot bedroom, top to bottom. Disposables are the third largest consumer item in landfills. And the carbon footprint for manufacturing the diapers is high, also.
In Philadelphia, the doors opened at 11:30 am. At the same time around the world, ignoring different time zones, it was a go. In several countries, parents arose in the middle of the night to compete. "Weneededaminimumof25peopleforGuinnesstocountus," saidMeredith., "andtwoofficialwitnesses.We put numbers on the grid we painted on the floor, for each parent. There was a loud signal to indicate when the competition started."
Following are comments from some of the participants at the Mt. Airy site:
•Kristi Conover, mother of Micah, 3, drove in from York, Pennsylvania: "We've gotten into the whole G thing — genuine, good, green."
•Amber Guery of Hainesport, NJ, mother of Joshua, 5 months: "I was in Brazil last year and didn't get to do this. So I'm here today!"
•Amy Guinden of East Norriton, mother of Hunter, 6 months: "I need to check it off my bucket list. Now it's done!"
•Samera Gray of Bensalem, 10-month-old Logan's mom: "To hang out with other cloth diaper people."
•Chris Bujack of Mt. Airy, father of Harry, 17 months: "We like cloth diapers. We think disposables are not as good as you can get with modern cloth."
Following the competition, Mt. Airy musician Chana Rothman led a children's music concert, and platters of healthy food were served, including bananas for the toothless, desserts and coffee from the High Point Café, Weavers Way Co-op and Food For All (gluten free). The Big Blue Marble Bookstore and GSByMe custom embroidery provided raffle prizes.
FormoreinformationaboutTheNestingHouse,606CarpenterLane: www.thenestinghouse.net, 215- 438-1600 or firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
Butler Lampson, an adjunct professor at MIT since 1987 and a technical fellow at Microsoft Research, has as good a claim as anyone to the title of "father of the modern PC." As one of the founders of Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), Lampson helped create the Alto, the first computer to feature a mouse and a graphical user interface (GUI) — the progenitor of both the Apple Macintosh and the Windows operating system. He also led the development of Bravo, the first "what you see is what you get" — or WYSIWYG — word processor, which ran on the Alto.
Lampson turned 70 in December; last week, a group of computer science luminaries gathered at Microsoft Research New England, at the edge of the MIT campus, for a daylong conference celebrating his achievements. On hand were seven winners of the Turing Award, often called the Nobel Prize in computing. Two were PARC alumni, four were MIT professors, and the seventh was Lampson himself, who falls into both categories.
The talks were divided into three segments. In the first, Lampson's PARC colleagues reminisced about their glory days. Two of the speakers were Turing winners: Charles Thacker, who led the design of the Alto's hardware, and Alan Kay, who wrote the first full-fledged object-oriented programming language, smalltalk, a progenitor of modern languages like Java and Python. Two more played major roles in building billion-dollar businesses: Charles Simonyi, who worked with Lampson on Bravo and later led the development of Microsoft's Office suite of applications, and Bob Metcalfe, whose company, 3Com, grew out of PARC research and was acquired by Hewlett-Packard for $2.7 billion in 2009.
Ubiquitous at PARC
Two major themes emerged from the morning sessions. The first was the sheer range of Lampson's technical innovation. Lampson is known for having written the first draft of the Alto's GUI operating system and leading its further development, but Thacker catalogued his contributions to the Alto's hardware design. Simonyi described how Bravo was largely an elaboration of a three-page memo that Lampson drew up in the spring of 1974.
Metcalfe is often described as the inventor of Ethernet, the world's most popular local-area networking technology and, arguably, the basis of Wi-Fi. But as he pointed out, he's one of four people on the Ethernet patent, the others being Thacker, Lampson, and their PARC colleague David Boggs. Metcalfe's company 3Com licensed the Ethernet patent because, as he explained, IBM was the subject of an antitrust suit at the time, and Xerox felt that, to avoid a similar liability, it had to involve a standards body in the commercialization of the technology. "Xerox decided that, to participate in making Ethernet a standard, it needed to license the patents for a nominal $1,000, which my company promptly paid," Metcalfe said.
As the story of PARC is typically told, Xerox invented modern computing in the early 1970s but failed to capitalize on it — its neglect of Ethernet being a case in point. But in fact, another PARC invention, the laser printer, more than paid for the lab's entire research budget, and a commercial Ethernet was the only way to move enough data to make the laser printer viable. As another PARC veteran, Bob Sproull, attested, the laser printer also has Lampson's fingerprints on it. Sproull explained how Lampson helped develop the control system and character generator for the first Xerox laser printer, the 9700.
Strong opinions
The other theme of the morning sessions was just how formidable — and, as Metcalfe put it, "fast" — Lampson is in debate. Sproull mentioned a unit of measure used in computer science circles, which indicates the "speed of delivery of technical information" and is known as the lampson. "Most of us could ourselves only achieve millilampsons," Sproull said.
Metcalfe concluded his talk with a list of seven lessons Lampson taught him. Some were technical: "Do the inner loops first." Some were organizational: "Put the right person in for the right job." But the last one, he said, was a principle he abides by: "I do not agree to change my mind just because you won the argument."
"This I learned with Butler," Metcalfe explained, "because Butler can win any argument, even when he's wrong."
Since coming to MIT, Lampson has been a member of the Cryptography and Information Security (CIS) Group, first at the Laboratory for Computer Science and, since 2003, in the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory; the second session dealt with his security work.
One of Lampson's colleagues at CIS is his fellow Turing Award winner Ron Rivest, who helped develop the principles of public-key cryptography that protect almost all financial transactions on the Internet. (One of the other Turing winners in attendance was Silvio Micali, who together with a fourth CIS professor, Shafi Goldwasser, won the award last year.) Rivest described a system that he and Lampson developed that would enable the "democratization" of public-key cryptography, so that all Internet users could generate their own encryption "certificates."
The system hasn't been widely adopted, but Rivest expressed the hope that it still would be, as new reasons for concern about Internet security seem to appear almost weekly. Rounding out the session were talks by the Microsoft researchers Martin Abadi and Cynthia Dwork, who explained how Lampson had influenced and championed their own work on security.
During the final session, a pair of young researchers took the floor, as a testament to Lampson's enduring legacy. Microsoft researcher Adam Kalai described how Lampson had counseled him on the design of a system that enables programmers to produce code simply by providing examples of inputs and outputs, while Nickolai Zeldovich, an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science at MIT, explained how his work on enabling software applications to run on multicore computers drew on the principles he'd learned as an undergraduate in Lampson's 6.826 (Principles of Computer Systems) class.
The final word on Lampson, however, came at the beginning of the day, in a statement from Eric Schmidt, Google's former CEO and current executive chairman. "Butler is probably the broadest and smartest computer scientist today," Schmidt said, in a statement read by Simonyi. "We all just tried to keep up with him — and almost always fell behind. His contributions made much of our world possible, and I am beyond grateful."


text:
On Wednesday, we shared some comments from Panther coach Ron Rivera about the decision to promote Mike Shula to offensive coordinator with Rob Chudzinski off to Cleveland to coach the Browns.
Rivera said that the move was done to ensure continuity from the second half of the season when quarterback Cam Newton's play took a sharp uptick. One of the guys charged with catching Newton's passes thinks that was the right choice.
Wide receiver Steve Smith said that he thought it was important to hire someone "that doesn't set you back" after finishing seventh and 12th in total offense over the last two seasons. While he knows that things could go a variety of ways next season, Smith believes the Panthers have avoided a setback by hiring Shula.
"It eventually was going to happen, and it did. Now you just take it with a grain of salt. Chud's left and Shula's there," Smith said, via the Charlotte Observer. "You never know what's going to be moving forward. You never know what's in store. You're optimistic and you're high in spirits and you think and assume that a man who has been promoted is going to take it seriously, which I think he is. We're ready to go."
If keeping things intact works out the way Rivera and Smith hope, the Panthers should be able to avoid a slow start that would immediately renew talk about Rivera's employment status. If not, continuity will likely be short-lived in Carolina.


text:
A doctor will ask you questions about your medical history and do a
physical exam to evaluate your symptoms. The information gained from your
medical background and physical exam may provide important clues about your
symptoms. It also can help a doctor recommend specific tests to help diagnose
and treat your condition.
If the doctor thinks you have
bradycardia, he or she may ask:
During a physical exam, the doctor or another health professional
The medical history and physical exam are needed for a doctor to
find out whether you have a slow heart rate. They are also important to help
discover whether you have any underlying conditions or complications.
Normal findings include the following:
Abnormal findings that may suggest a problem from a slow heart
rate include:
If the physical exam and medical history strongly suggest a very
slow or irregular heartbeat, you will have more testing.
It is important to provide your doctor with detailed information
about your symptoms, past medical history, and lifestyle. It may help to write
down some of the symptoms you have recently had. Your doctor might ask you to keep a diary of symptoms.
Before your visit, write down all of the medicines you are
currently taking. Also, write down other details about your medical history. Be sure to include nonprescription medicines, including diet supplements
or herbal remedies. Bring the information to your scheduled appointment.
Complete the medical test information form (PDF)(What is a PDF document?) to help you prepare for this test.
Last Revised:
June 2, 2011
Healthwise Staff
Medical Review:
E. Gregory Thompson, MD - Internal Medicine & Rakesh K. Pai, MD, FACC - Cardiology, Electrophysiology
This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions.
To learn more visit Healthwise.org
© 1995-2012 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated.


text:
Scott@NMI necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 100 diseños de 25 diseñadores freelance.
BehaviorAndMotivation.com (a blog created by New Mind Insight, LLC)
I will soon be launching the Behavior and Motivation blog. I'm looking for an iconic logo that reflects our thoughtful and philosophical nature yet one that real people living real lives will instantly feel comfortable with. The purpose of the blog is personal development for common people who are looking for down-to-earth, easy to understand (and apply in real-world situations) tips, information, and ideas that can radically transform their lives starting now. Think sophistication meets practical simplicity.
The tag line of the blog will give you an excellent idea of our agenda and should guide your efforts in logo design.
Tag Line: "Behavior and motivation explained clearly so ordinary people can live extraordinary lives"
My target audience are people from age 30 to 60 who are unsatisfied with their lives (or some specific aspect of it) and are looking for useful ideas that can instantly impact their lives for the better.
These are people who...
>> might be unhappy with their careers
>> may have had failed relationships
>> might be struggling with bad habits they want to change
>> want to get motivated
>> want a plan to successfully lose weight, exercise or eat healthy
>> want to be happier
>> are looking for down-to-earth hope and encouragement
>> don't want to waste time trying things that don't work
>> are not looking for fluffy, airy-fairy soundbites or superficial cheerleaders
>> are jaded by, or not interested in, the typical super-mega, TV and book self-help gurus
>> really want to create lasting change and finally improve their lives
>> are tired of hearing the typical don't-worry-be-happy advice
My audience will be people who may reach a certain age in their lives and say, "I thought I would have been further along by now" or say, "I've got to do something different or nothing's ever going to change..."
I'm mainly looking for an iconic logo that can be used in a branding campaign & upon which I may base design elements in my blog. I'm planning to use the logo in my header.
1) .eps vector graphic preferred
2) If using Photoshop: .jpg and layered .psd (RGB) @ 300 dpi (Smallest side should be 4" min)
1) I will be using sepia-toned values for my blog; similar to this: http://bit.ly/90uAO5
2) I may include one or a couple accent colors outside of the sepia range, so don't limit your colors. Just keep the sepia idea in mind. The logo should look "at-home" on a page w/ sepia tones but shouldn't disappear on the page.
3) My blog will be similar to: http://bit.ly/7LndCt
4) I also like this: http://bit.ly/8v7qja
5) And I like this background too: http://bit.ly/569js8
1) I primarily want a symbol or icon type of logo but would like to see logo w/ text ideas as well.
2) It can integrate "BehaviorAndMotivation.com" or "Behavior and Motivation" text within the logo or next to the logo....I'd like to see both design ideas.
3) I'm leaning toward a logo w/ uniform dimensions, (such as 4"x4", for example) but let your creativity guide you. I'm open to anything.
Please do not use stock images or clip art in the logo.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


text:
Size: 7.5 ounces
Item 7633
As its name implies, Borgonzola accomplishes its blue-green veining with actual Italian Gorgonzola mold that the Borgo family imports from a town outside of Milan. Borgonzola's interior resembles that of a typical blue but this unique cheese is also soft-ripened making Borgonzola the best of two worlds. In every bite, the velvety blue mold paste delivers a gentle zip of sharpness, while the smooth, bloomy rind accounts for Borgonzola's lusciously mild and creamy flavor, reminiscent of Brie.
Very versatile, Borgonzola is a stand-out on the cheese board with crackers, crusty bread, and fruit, but it can also be used in any recipe calling for blue cheese. Borgonzola also makes a delicious pizza or pasta topping, and is a must-try for fans of sweet Gorgonzola, Cambozola, or Blue Castello.


text:
Media release –
Wallabies hop on-board to support the 2011 Census20 July 2011 | CO/28
Australian Rugby Union players, Anthony and Saia Fainga'a, Kurtley Beale, Matt Hodgson and Assistant Coach Jim Williams are encouraging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to self-identify on the Census of Population and Housing on Tuesday, 9 August 2011.
The five Wallabies have become Census advocates ahead of this weekend's Tri Nations test match against South Africa.
Jim Williams, a 14 test veteran says self-identifying on the Census form helps the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) accurately capture the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in Australia on Census night.
"An accurate Census count will help our people get the services that we need," Mr Williams says.
"Sporting facilities, education and health services are all planned using Census information so we need everyone in your household counted."
"If you need some help completing your Census form, the ABS has employed local Aboriginal staff across Australia who can help you fill out your form."
Wallabies playmaker Kurtley Beale says the Census provides important information to decision makers and communities to help plan for the future.
"Make sure you identify your Aboriginal heritage on your Census form."
"Remember, the information you give about yourself and your family is kept completely private and protected by law," Mr Beale says.
Head of the Population Census program, Paul Lowe says the ABS has employed a range of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers throughout Australia to help ensure an accurate count.
"In regional areas Indigenous Engagement Managers have been working with remote communities, while in the urban areas, Indigenous Assistants have formed solid partnerships with city stakeholders," Mr Lowe says.
Mr Lowe adds that the information you give about yourself or your family on the Census form is completely secret.
"No other government agency will see your answers. This includes Centrelink, The Department of Housing, The Department of Community Services and the Tax Office."
More information is available online at www.abs.gov.au/census


text:
Twenty people, mostly friends of [the artist Laura] Ginn or the gallery owner, [Allegra] LaViola, nibbled on goat cheese bruschetta topped with rat leg tenderloin, and rat-pork terrine encircled with beef fat, prepared by a chef after much trial and error with his proteins. The rats were shipped from a United States Department of Agriculture-approved West Coast processor that supplies pet owners with humanely killed, individually flash-frozen rodents, in classifications ranging from "jumbo" to "fuzzy." Seventy five rats were skinned and cooked — and broiled and smoked and grilled — for the dinner, and most guests paid $100 each to attend, signing a liability waiver, some not entirely willingly.It's like a Tony Robbins fire-walking event... for the sophisticated, arty crowd.
"If I see an entire carcass, I might throw up," said Clifford Owens, a performance artist. Mr. Owens, who had an exhibition at MoMA PS1 this spring, invoked the daredevil spirit of the performance artist Marina Abramovic, to get himself through the evening. "This is about risk," he said.
"I don't care about it as art," [said "artist and video editor" Timothy Hutchings.] "I care about it as something that makes me a more interesting human being."So another artist doesn't care about it as art. He cares about it as something that makes him a more interesting human being.
But isn't that what art is all about? Being the artist who is the most interesting human being? I can just imagine what was reeling through the brains of the artists who submitted to Ginn's art performance — and what's still reeling now that there's this drooling write-up in the New York Times. Why her?! Why not me! Look how interesting I am. This is all about me displaying myself as a more interesting human being. It can't be that she played me into her getting the recognition as more interesting.
I don't care about it as art.


text:
Rosa Thistle Large Pendant
Sterling Silver thistle inspired large pendent.
This Sterling Silver pendant is beautifully handcrafted from start to finish on our premises and comes supplied on a 45cm (18") sterling silver chain.
All of our pieces are handmade to order. Generally your item will be dispatched within 5 working days but please allow up to 10 working days for dispatch. If you require an item in time for a specific date or event please contact us and we will endeavour to make sure that your item arrives in time. As we are making all items to order and not simply picking finished stock unfortunately delays can sometimes occur. In this unlikely event we will contact you.
Sterling Silver thistle inspired large pendent.
Measures approximately 30mm long.
This beautifully crafted pendant design is based on the Scottish Thistle, a national emblem of Scotland dating back to the 13th century.
This Sterling Silver pendant is beautifully handcrafted from start to finish on our premises in Glasgow to the highest standard and comes supplied on a 45cm (18") sterling silver chain.
Supplied in a quality Celtic Art presentation box and will suitably become an heirloom to treasure.
Exclusively designed and made by us in our Glasgow workshop.
MADE IN SCOTLAND by Celtic Art Ltd: Established 1945
Shipping & Handling
Standard UK Delivery is free on web orders.
Charges should they apply will be calculated depending on delivery area.
Orders will be sent via Royal mail or courier.
Delivery Schedule
All Celtic Art products are made to order in our Glasgow workshop and delivery times may therefore vary.
Please allow up to 14 days for UK delivery. International delivery may take longer.
If you require your item sooner please advise us of this when you place your order.
As everything is made to order, delivery times depend on the materials used and the delivery destination.
Celtic Art Ltd cannot accept liability for any loss resulting from late delivery or non-delivery of goods.
Back Orders
If your item is not in stock, we will back order for you. You will always be emailed with the option to cancel your order if you would rather not wait.
returns info


text:
When Amazon's first Kindle Fire tablet made its debut a year ago, the specs and performance couldn't come close to Apple's market-dominating iPad. But that didn't seem to matter much to most consumers. Amazon sold millions of the underpowered little slates, making the Kindle Fire the online retailer's most popular item and the only tablet other than the iPad to have significant sales numbers – due in large part to its $200 price tag.
But the follow-up Fire HD launches amid a very different tablet landscape. We now have Asus and Google's Nexus 7, which came out in May and redefined the 7-inch tablet category. It had so much speed, sophistication and understated style that we compared it to a Porsche and deemed it the absolute best Android tablet on the market at any price. And it, too, sells for just $200.
The Fire HD's 7-inch model feels like the tablet Amazon wanted to build last year but couldn't. It has a beautiful display, sleek and speedy hardware and, yes, the same $200 price. So is it enough to dethrone the Nexus 7 as the king of the 7-inch tablets? Read on to find out.
Display ——-
Both the Nexus 7 and the Fire HD have 10-point multi-touch LCD displays. And both tout the same 1280 x 800 resolution, with image quality nearly as good as Apple's iPad Retina display. Both also do a great job of deflecting glare that distorts images on glossy screens. But there are key differences. The Fire HD's display offers slightly more contrast than the Nexus 7, and it can get brighter, as well. Colors are more vibrant and saturated. Not by much, but enough to be noticeable.
Winner: Kindle Fire HD
Design and ergonomics ———————
At 12 ounces, the Nexus 7 is lighter than the 13.9-ounce Kindle Fire HD. The difference is noticeable, but neither of these featherweights is so heavy that your arms will ache after reading an e-book for a couple of hours.
Both feature 7-inch displays, but the bezels around the two devices are quite different. The Fire HD has a bezel that maintains the same thickness all the way around, which results in a larger tablet – 0.21 inches wider and a substantial 0.7 inches taller than the Nexus 7, which is enough to make the Fire HD more difficult to shove into a jacket pocket.
Also, holding the Fire HD with one hand requires you to have your thumb on the screen to keep it balanced, which necessitates that wider display bezel.
Winner: Nexus 7
Performance and Speed ———————
The Kindle Fire is plenty quick, but it still lags behind the Nexus 7 in terms of pure speed. This probably has more to do with the Nexus 7 using the vanilla flavor Android build of Jelly Bean as opposed to the highly customized version of Android that Amazon put on the Kindle Fire. While the quad-core-versus-dual-core argument could be made here, there's something to be said about going native.
Winner: Nexus 7
Operating System —————-
Amazon and Google are offering two different visions of what a tablet should be.
The Fire HD is all about consumption, especially of content from Amazon. If you have more Kindle e-books than actual books, or if you're an Amazon Prime customer and rely on Amazon for your streaming video, the OS is perfect for submersion into all things Amazonian. It's essentially a direct pipeline into the digital storefront of the largest online retailer in the world. The Fire HD requires almost no setup, and Amazon's books, music, movie and apps stores integrate directly into the operating system. By default, there are ads on the lock screen and across the bottom of the Fire's "carousel" homescreen. In the web browser and on the homescreen, you get "what's trending" and "customers also bought" suggestions. But these ads can be shut off for a one-time $15 fee.
On the Nexus 7, you can still download Amazon's Kindle app for e-books, Amazon's MP3 app for music, and Amazon's Appstore for Android app, if you prefer buying those items from Amazon. But the Nexus 7 also gives you the freedom to tap into Google Play, Barnes & Noble and Kobo, among other choices for books. While both offer Netflix and Hulu apps for streaming video, the Nexus 7 runs an unaltered version of Google's Android operating system – 4.1 Jelly Bean – and receives software updates from Google directly. This means you always have access to the latest version of Android and the latest version of Android apps.
Amazon built its OS over the top of Android and forked it so much that it's difficult to spot Android underneath it all. As such, Amazon's software will always be a bit behind Google's. Case in point: The Fire HD runs a forked version of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, which debuted about a year ago. Last year's Fire tablet runs a customized version of Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and Amazon has promised no update to Ice Cream Sandwich as of yet. There's a real chance that the first Fires will get left behind, which means outdated apps. So who knows where the Fire HD will be in a year? This is a problem Nexus 7 owners will have to worry about.
The Nexus 7 also offers the ability to change your device's wallpaper and add widgets related to apps to a home screen, and comes with the fantastic Google Now voice- and card-search features built-in.
Winner: Nexus 7
Front-facing cameras ——————–
Both the Fire HD and the Nexus 7 ship with a 1.2-megapixel front camera that can shoot up to 720p video. But neither ships with a pre-installed camera app. Yes, users can download apps from the Amazon Appstore or Google Play, but no one should have to hunt down an app to unlock a built-in camera. This is a pretty senseless oversight on the part of both Google and Amazon. It's almost as if they don't want you to use the camera they gave you. It really makes no sense. We'll call it a draw here, but really they both lose.
Winner: Draw
Speakers ——–
No question here; the Fire HD offer better audio, with a dual-speaker setup that crushes the Nexus 7's single mono speaker. But neither can match a good pair of headphones.
Winner: Kindle Fire HD
Browser ——-
A importance of a quick browser can't be overstated. And while Amazon has given Silk a much-needed octane boost, it still like the browser could do with a bit more work. The Chrome browser, on the other hand, is a finished product. It's quick and smooth and launches without any unnecessary latency.
Winner: Nexus 7
Apps and Games ————–
Google Play has far more apps, period. Amazon's walled-garden is nice, but it keeps apps off the Kindle Fire HD that would improve the device's utility. Sure, you can sideload apps to the Fire, but you'd be doing that as a workaround to get the apps that are already available in the Google Play store.
Winner: Nexus 7
Books, Movies and Music ———————–
What Amazon lacks in apps it makes up for in media. There are all the books, Kindle singles, and music and video libraries on par with the iTunes store. Google also sells these things, but we can't remember the last time we bought media from Google Play.
Winner: Kindle Fire HD
And the Winner Is —————–
The best all-around Android tablet is still the Nexus 7. Its polish, speed, software and pocket-friendly size give it an edge over the fantastic Fire HD. But this misses the fact that the Kindle Fire HD isn't trying to be just another Android tablet. Yes, Android runs through its veins, but the Fire HD is geared toward feeding Amazon's super consumers (and creating more of those super consumers). Given that mission, the Fire HD works exactly as it should. Still, we'd rather spend our $200 on the Nexus 7.


text:
Grizzlies try to continue mastery of T'Wolves
(SportsNetwork.com) - The Memphis Grizzlies have a good chance at snapping out of their funk when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves Sunday from FedExForum.
The Grizzlies have won 11 in a row, 14 of 15 and 18 of the past 24 meetings with Minnesota. The Timberwolves have struggled on the road in this series, losing eight straight and 14 of 17 games in Memphis.
Memphis has lost two in a row and seven of its last 10 games overall, including Friday's 104-98 decision at New Orleans. Jon Leuer scored a team- high 19 points off the bench, Mike Conley added 18 points and Zach Randolph ended with 13 and 10 rebounds.
A five-game road winning streak came to an end for the Grizzlies, who shot 50 percent for the game. The Grizz had won 17 in a row when shooting .500 or better from the field.
New Orleans scored 27 of the 38 points in the third quarter.
"We just couldn't score, then they just hit their shots," Randolph said of New Orleans' second-half surge.
Memphis is 5-8 at home this season after setting a franchise record last season with a 32-9 mark.
The Timberwolves had won two in a row until dropping a 117-110 decision Friday at San Antonio in the opener of a three-game road trip. Kevin Love finished with a game-high 42 points with 14 boards, while Nikola Pekovic also recorded a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Love had 19 points in the third quarter and has scored 20 or more points in six of the past eight games.
Ricky Rubio and Kevin Martin scored 15 and 14 points, respectively, in the setback, Minnesota's sixth in the last nine tries. Rubio gave the Wolves their final lead at 108-107, but the Spurs pulled away. San Antonio outscored Minnesota, 62-36, in the paint.
"I thought we played well," said Minnesota head coach Rick Adelman. "If we can play like that and get a little bit better defensively we're going to win ball games."
The T'Wolves fell to 11-7 when scoring 100-plus points and are 4-8 away from the Twin Cities. They will close the trip Monday in Boston.


text:
Our website uses cookies. These are small text files which your web browser stores on your computer. Cookies are used to identify your computer to our server and store your website preferences. Cookies do not contain any personally identifying information.
Content Notice: Every care is taken in compiling the contents online and in print. However Worldwide Destination Guide and the publisher assume no responsibility for consequences resulting from the publication of, or use of, any of the information contained online/in print. While every care is taken in the accuracy of the information compiled, it is strongly advised the visitor/reader double checks all travel advice with the respective tourist boards/embassies/government offices before acting on any information.
If you would like to contact us with any concerns about any of the content on our website, report any inaccuracies or notify us of any copyright issues, please send us an email on email@example.com with the url of the article or page and details of the issue. We will respond to any enquiries within 21 days and endeavour to correct any mistakes as soon as possible.
Worldwide Destination Guide is published by APL Media Limited, Unit 310, Highgate Studios, 53-79 Highgate Road, London NW5 1TL. aplmedia.co.uk
Editorial enquiries t: +44 (0)20 7253 9906 e: firstname.lastname@example.com
Sales enquiries t: +44 (0)20 7253 9909 e: email@example.com
Company no: 3393234 VAT: 701391176. Registered Office: 30 City Road, London EC1Y 2AB Copyright 2012 APL Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.


text:
Commissioner Riggs said, 'We�re going to fight this one.'
TRENTON � Jones County Board of Education is threatening to sue the county if it doesn�t cough up more money to operate the schools.
The Board of Education has made official its appeal to Jones County Board of Commissioners for more money after informal negotiations between the two boards hit a stalemate last week.
�The school board invoked the school budget dispute mechanism which could trigger formal mediation,� Jim Hicks, attorney for Jones County Board of Commissioners, acknowledged Friday.
A hand-delivered letter from Board of Education Chairman Billy Griffin to Board of Commissioners Chairman Frank Emory included the �formal request on behalf of the Board of Education to the Board of commissioners to invoke the statutory dispute mechanism resolution procedure� under state law.
�The Board of Education does not wish to file suit to obtain additional funded for the schools,� Griffin said. �We hope you will work with us in the statutory dispute resolution process to avoid the necessity for litigation.�
Griffin said the county appropriated $1.4 million for current expenses and $50,000 for capital outlay in the budget passed June 18 although the school board requested $1,494,659 for current expense and $100,000 for capital outlay.
The total appropriation is $65,000 greater than the current year but 5.7 percent less for current expense and a 50 percent less for capital outlay than requested.
But Griffin said, �The cut in funds requested will make it difficult to operate and maintain adequate and competitive schools. As you may know, the school system is already anticipating returning $291,188 in funds to the state based on the discretionary reduction projection.�
He said, �the $288,670 shortfall will harm the students of Jones County and require the Board of Education to use close to $300,000 in fund balance which would put the school system�s fund balance below the amount recommended by the state.�
Griffin said the money appropriated by the county �is not sufficient to support a system of free public schools in Jones County.�
He asks for a joint meeting of the two boards be arranged �as soon as possible� to discuss the county�s position on school appropriation.
Commissioner Sondra Ipock Riggs said the county gave the schools more than last year and can not afford more money for the schools.
�We give them enough money, including $300,000 in supplements,� she said.
Commissioners kept the tax rate at 80 cents per hundred dollars valuation and its people can�t afford a higher rate, she said.
�We are operating at 92 percent collection,� Riggs said. �We�re selling over 100 homes for tax foreclosure and 130 more are paying on consignment.�
�This is the kicker,� she said. �They�ve got $935,000 on reserve in the 2012-13 budget and General Assembly told us yesterday they don�t have to have any. I want to know why in the name of God they don�t use that money to spend on the children instead of threatening a lawsuit.
�We�ll be paying their lawyer as well as our own. I�m going to fight this one.�
The Board of Education�s attorney for this matter is Kathleen Tanner Kennedy of Tharington-Smith in Raleigh.
Hicks said the mediation meeting is scheduled for July 11 at a time and place not yet determined but that commissioners will discuss the matter in executive session at its 8:30 a.m. Monday meeting.
Sue Book can be reached at 252-259-7506 or firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow her on Twitter at @SueJBook.