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Having already completed my annual weekend training run around the UTMB course, I decided on something completely new for my final weekend of training before tapering starts. The Tour du Monte Rosa (TMR) has been on radar for quite some time now, ever since I stumbled across it's signage on the Europaweg trail whilst fast packing the Chamonix to Zermatt Walker's Haute Route a few summer's back. The Europaweg is pretty mind blowing in itself; a dramatic section of high level contouring trail that defies logic given it's perilous position. From this I had a strong sense the TMR would be a great route to run and it certainly didn't disappoint.
The TMR is much more low key when compared to the Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB), and consequently the information available on the route as a whole is fairly sparse. I got hold of the Cicerone guide book and a route map from the map shop in Chamonix, but there are several route variations between the two. I decided to stick with the mapped route (a) because it seemed relatively 'official' and up to date, and (b) I didn't want to carry the guide book.
The overall distance and elevation gain involved wasn't 100% clear, but seemed to be around 100miles with 10,000m of ascent / descent. It was however noticeable that a lot of the running would be above 2,000m, and there were numerous passes over 2,800m as well as climbs of 1,500m vertical ascent or more. A challenging route for sure. The plan was to tackle the whole thing in 3 days starting and finishing in Saas Fee and with overnight stops in Zermatt and Alagna. Easy hey.
It didn't prove too difficult selling the idea to US team mate Mike a Foote who is over in Europe training for UTMB. He was as excited as I was about using the route as an excuse to explore new trails and escape the Chamonix hubbub. We met in Martigny late on Thursday evening, stayed overnight in Brig before setting off from Saas Fee on Friday morning after a relatively leisurely start.
I haven't been to Saas Fee before, but it's another one of the Zermatt style car free towns where you have to park up on the outskirts and transfer in. Even the views from the sides of the multi-story car park were pretty mind blowing and immediately raised the excitement levels.
Saas Fee to Grachen was the first leg, running the high-level balcony path known as Hohenweg. It's a very well established section of trail averaging about 2,100m in height and offering plenty of exposure. There are all sorts of impressive bits of Swiss trail engineering to negotiate the glacial outflows, rocky outcrops and steep valley sides the route traverses. It feels safe because it is clearly is so well established, but you wouldn't want to take your eye off the trail too long…
|Playing around on the Hohenweg
|Foote on a northern section of the Hohenweg
|Me on the Hohenweg
Hohenweg provided a great overview of the Saastal valley before we turned to enter the Mattertal valley, which then leads into Europaweg. Grachen was our first taste of civilization, and being a Swiss village, of course it really is. The only negative being it was lunchtime and the shops were shut. It was naive of me to walk into the local patisserie, the only food option to be found open, and enquire about gluten free options. Cue puzzled look from the assistant; that'd be a 'no' then.
From Grachen it's good pull to get up on to the Europaweg trail, and it tops out at over 2,600m, but plentiful visual distractions make the leg work more than worthwhile. There is even a EU flag to mark the start! That confused me a little being in Switzerland but I shall avoid any politics. The Mattertal valley below seemed a very, very long way down - which it is - but there are numerous 4,000m summits all around to feast your eyes on and keep you looking up. The trail is also somewhat precipitous in places, traversing live boulder fields and scree slopes. From afar these sections frequently look impassable, but aren't quite so bad on closer inspection and provide a bit of fun when conditions are dry, as they were. The red and white painted markers to guide you across are excellent, but almost certainly the boulder fields would be a different proposition in poor visibility. It was never fast going, the trails often being technical and bouldery, but that made it all feel a lot more natural than TMB.
|Foote on Europaweg
|Foote and I on the Europaweg
|Awesome Swiss engineering!
Our opening 'easy' day, wasn't all that easy, so it was good to finally arrive in Zermatt at the head of the valley, and the foot of the famous Matterhorn, unfortunately concealed by a blanket of cloud. Refueling was high on the agenda, as was a good night's sleep in preparation for a long middle day that would take us through to Alagna in Italy.
The mixed forecast had been an ongoing cause for concern leading into the trip, particularly given the minimal kit and clothing we were carrying for the 3 days – basically our UTMB compulsory kit. Day two would start with a 1,700m climb over the glaciated Theodulo Pass topping out at 3,317m. Heavy rain at any point would almost certainly necessitate a wait-out at a refuge, and probably a high degree of cold and suffering! It rained heavily overnight, but eased for our departure from Zermatt, although it was still damp and grey at 7am when we made our way out of town and back on to the trail. Wouldn't a lie-in and a leisurely breakfast be a little more sensible?
|Foote on the climb out of Zermatt
|Leaving the rain behind in Zermatt
It was still chilly up high, particularly after an early soaking, but moving across the glaciated pass somewhat swiftly kept us warm enough, and the novelty of running uphill on snow became a welcome distraction. We eventually reached the Refugio del Theodulo perched right on the pass, straddling the Switzerland / Italy border, before descending an un-glaciated south facing snow slope to reach the grey moraine filled bowl of the upper Cervinia ski resort. Foote was a happy man to have crossed into Italy; the thought of pizza, espresso and warmer restaurant service was a real motivation.
|Upper Cervinia ski area
|The polenta feast at Refuge Ferraro, Resy
|Col d'Olen - great cloud display
The whole the of the final descent was in the cloud, possibly not a bad thing, concealing the 1,700 metres of downhill running before we were done for the night. We seemed to go a little astray in our route choice into Alagna, but it took us down in a fairly direct manner, so mattered little. In the end even singletrack connoisseur Foote was happy to cruise down a vehicle track despite it being boring and gently graded. Running hard downhill for over an hour was certainly ideal preparation for UTMB. The rustic village of Alagna was our overnight stop for the night, and offered excellent local Italian cuisine and lodging – certainly a place to go on the list for a return visit.
|We had company in the mist descending to Alagna
|Leaving Alagna behind on the climb up Colle del Turlo
There were quite a few lingering snow patches on the north facing upper part of the descent, but they soon disappeared and I could settle into around 1,500m of descent and a section along the Valle Quarazza took me to the popular tourist village of Macugnaga. The local shop there offered plenty of options for a late breakfast and a good refuel which I knew would be required to get me over the final pass. I got some strange looks as I wolfed down a tin of peaches and a pot of yoghurt whilst sat in the village square watching the Sunday morning world go by.
And then straight back up 1,700m to the final pass of Monte Moropass (2,868m) and back into Switzerland at last. No less impressive, this pass is complete with a gold Madonna statue and various bits of handrails and walk ways to help the traverse of big slabs of rock that form the pass itself.
Time was certainly getting on by now, so I had to
keep moving quickly on the descent to Mattertal Lake and then round the valley
corner back to Saas Fee. I managed to move well despite another 10 hour day,
and was relieved to have made an early start. Around the lake there were
tourists abound, getting bus transfers up from the Saastal Valley. It soon hit
home how much solitude and great alpine running I had enjoyed along the way,
despite several sections through unsightly ski resorts.
|The golden Madonna statue on Monte Moro at 2,868m!
The views of the many surrounding 4,000m+ peaks unfortunately hadn't been very frequent due to the cloud, but somehow the constantly changing skies had really added to the atmosphere of being high up in the mountains. It's a route that must be respected when travelling fast and light, and I would generally advise on allotting a little more time. But despite it's fast-pace, it was certainly a weekend to remember and ideal preparation for UTMB.

subset: commoncrawl


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- Knut Wolfgang Maron is an artist.
SUBJECT AND OBJECT: PHOTO RHINE RUHR (group)
EXHIBITION SYNOPSISAbout SUBJECT and OBJECT: PHOTO RHINE RUHR
For the first time, the exhibition SUBJECT and OBJECT: PHOTO RHINE RUHR will examine the relationships between the different photographic positions that have developed in the cities of the Rhineland as well as the Ruhr and at the regions' art academies since the 1960s. This unique approach is due to the fact that such a rich photography scene was able to develop in western Germany, which has repeatedly produced new and innovative artistic positions with sometimes very different photographic approaches over the past 70 years. According to the thesis, on the one hand this is due to the density of art academies and trade schools that developed in the Rhine and Ruhr regions after the Second World War. On the other hand, it is also a result of artistic socialization through an intensive art-historical discourse, parallel artistic developments within the visual arts, and the engagement with positions of international art that were shown at the major institutions in Düsseldorf, Essen, Cologne, Krefeld, and Mönchengladbach.
An independent photo class was established in the 1970s at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf with Bernd and Hilla Becher. At what is now the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, where a photo class led by Max Burchartz existed as early as the 1920s (parallel to the developments at the Bauhaus in Dessau), photography was once again taught as an independent specialization starting in 1959, initially under Otto Steinert. Thus, two of the most internationally influential schools of photography emerged in close proximity to each other in Germany. In the vicinity of these two cities, there are further influential institutions with earlier art schools in Krefeld and Cologne in the 1960s and 1970s, where Arno Jansen served as head of the art and photography departments. In addition to the Folkwangschule in Essen and the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, the Kunsthochschule für Medien, which was founded in the 1990s, is another important site for photography in Cologne, where Beate Gütschow has been teaching artistic photography since 2011, following Jürgen Klauke and Tobias Zielony.
The teachers' works exhibit different perspectives on the medium of photography, especially in the artistic context. In Essen there was Otto Steinert with his approach of "subjective photography." In Düsseldorf, Bernd and Hilla Becher, who followed a conceptual approach out of which a photographic practice developed that can also be seen in the tradition of the New Objectivity of the 1920s. In Cologne, in addition to Alfred Will, who was strongly oriented toward the ideas of the German Werkbund and initially trained as a graphic designer, there was Arno Jansen, who dealt with new artistic possibilities of the medium of photography in addition to the traditional genres such as portraits and still lifes. In Krefeld there was Detlef Orlopp, whose work explored abstraction and the process of recognition through the gaze in hyper-precise photographs.The extent to which teachers in the Rhineland and the Ruhr proclaimed their own artistic work and the subjective or objective photographic approach and thus shaped several generations of young photographers to this day will be discussed and highlighted in the exhibition.
The Bechers' legendary class with now internationally celebrated "students" such as Andreas Gursky, Candida Höfer, Thomas Ruff, and Thomas Struth as the Düsseldorf School of Photography is one of the most successful movements in the history of photography. Graduates from Essen with Timm Rautert, Michael Schmidt, and Joachim Brohm are known and respected around the world for their documentary and artistic approaches. Jürgen Klauke, Astrid Klein, and Rudolf Bonvie developed independent artistic approaches in Cologne which dealt with issues of identity and gender beginning in the late 1960s. At the same time, Katharina Sieverding created her feminist-influenced art in Düsseldorf.
Central positions from all three generations as well as similarities and differences between the artistic approaches will be presented, but above all also positions that have received less attention will be featured and discussed in this context.
The Kunsthalle Düsseldorf hosted an exhibition by Bernd and Hilla Becher in 1969 under the title Anonymous Sculptures as well as a major solo exhibition with works by Andreas Gursky in 1998. Following in this tradition, and with a clear focus on artistic photography, SUBJECT and OBJECT: PHOTO RHINE RUHR explores the different fields of experimentation in the medium between subject and object.
Since the 1920s, not only in Germany, a visually striking spirit of capturing reality through photography has emerged, in which the elementary questions about the significance and meaning of the supposedly real image continue to be asked—especially with regard to the emergence of digital photography and its possibilities for manipulating the real.
The exhibition SUBJECT and OBJECT: PHOTO RHINE RUHR undertakes a methodological and chronological examination for the first time and is curated by Ralph Goertz with Gregor Jansen and Dana Bergmann.
A catalog in German and English will be published alongside the exhibition.
The Standard Los Angeles I 2000(Series: works with no series), 2000
ARTIST: Hofer Candida
Herr Otto Koniezny, 39 Jahre, Bundesbahnschaffner(Series: works with no series)
ARTIST: Timm Rautert
L'Empereur_06(Series: works with no series), 1982
photography, C-Print, 101x147mm|310x410mm
ARTIST: Thomas Ruff


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NAB urged to forge on with UK sale
Eric Johnston Sydney Morning Herald 23 January 2013
ANALYSTS have urged National Australia Bank to push ahead with a sale of its troubled British business even as Spanish banking group Santander has knocked back reports it is contemplating a bid for the Australian bank's Clydesdale and Yorkshire business.
A spokeswoman for Santander told BusinessDay that it would not comment or make a statement on the news reports, but she confirmed that Santander UK had denied it was in talks to buy NAB's underperforming British banks. Following a rally in NAB shares on talk of a possible sale, they ended nearly 1 per cent lower on Tuesday at $26.59.
On Monday, Ana Patricia Botin, the chief executive of Santander UK, declined to comment on the bank's rumoured interest in Clydesdale and Yorkshire, but did say the bank was focused on organic growth.
While NAB has declined to comment on the reports, chief executive Came
Nomura banking analyst Victor German said regardless of whether the assets are sold, there remained a ''fundamental value'' in NAB.
He said that as the British assets were non-core for NAB, selling them would be appropriate for the Australian bank if there was a reasonable price offered.
''I think the amount of time that management has to divert into [the UK assets] and also the resources that have to go into managing this business are probably not worth the upside,'' Mr German said.
''I think if they're able to sell it at a reasonable price, it's the right thing to do, even though from a longer term perspective, maybe there is some value in the franchise.''
A report in London's Sunday Times triggered speculation that Santander wanted to bolster its British business before a planned listing in London, estimated at about £10 billion ($15 billion).
On Sunday, it was reported that Santander was considering a £2 billion bid for NAB's banks, which mostly operate in northern England and Scotland.
The speculation had been greeted with scepticism by analysts. But they added that any deal would have been positive for NAB.
Citigroup analyst Craig Williams said a sale at 0.9 times Clydesdale's book value would have seen as much as $1.2 billion returned to shareholder. However, any transaction would be a ''sentiment booster'' while group earnings will be barely unchanged.
''Shareholders would welcome the absence of management distraction and the ongoing dilution to group returns that the UK retail business represents,'' Mr Williams said.
Last year, NAB was plagued by falling earnings, a weak share price and millions of dollars in losses from its under-pressure British business.
With ERIC JOHNSTON


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Updated: Lenovo has since told CNET that the Helix will start shipping in early March.
Anyone looking to pick up Lenovo's new Helix convertible laptop-tablet may have to wait another month or two.
Unveiled at CES last month, the ThinkPad Helix was slated to reach consumers late this month. But a post on Lenovo's Facebook page indicates a possible monkey wrench in those plans.
An anxious customer posed the simple question: "It's February. Where is the Helix?" In response, an apparent Lenovo rep with the initials CB broke the news that "unfortunately we received word that it will be delayed till March or April. More details will be announced soon."
And the latest details do paint a more promising picture. A Lenovo spokesman told CNET on February 6 that the Helix will start shipping in early March.
The Helix is the latest in a growing lineup of convertible laptops that can double as tablets. Equipped with Windows 8, the Helix uses a clamshell design in which the screen can pop off the keyboard and function as a standalone tablet. When attached, the screen can also face out from the back of the device.
The 11.6-inch IPS display offers a resolution of 1,920x1,080 pixels and allows for pen input. The Helix can be powered by a processor as beefy as Intel's current third-generation Core i7 chip. Buyers will be able to order the unit with up to 8GB of memory and a 256GB solid-state drive. The battery is rated to last 10 hours on a single charge. The hybrid starts at $1,499.
Updated 2/6 9:15 a.m. PT with update from Lenovo.


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The 1998 volume of the Utah Statistics of Income series summarizes and analyzes tax return data available from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) through the federal-state exchange program. The data are based on those federal income tax returns which list a Utah address and were processed by the IRS as of late August 1999.
Two different data tapes are available from the IRS. The first, called the master file, contains very basic information from the 1040 form, such as federal taxes, adjusted gross income (AGI), deductions and the number of exemptions claimed. The second source contains most of the individual tax form lines, such as detail on deductions and sources of income. The detailed source is not updated to reflect amendments and is not as thoroughly edited for errors as the first source. Thus, the data are not 100 percent correct, but in most cases are reliable for general orders of magnitude and averages. Since the two sources are not at the same phase in processing when the state tapes are made, totals from the two sources are generally not identical, although usually very close. Either differences in IRS processing speed or the timeliness of taxpayers in filing returns will cause discrepancies. This may result in slight differences on some tables in items such as AGI, deductions, or the number of taxpayers.
The IRS's tax data always contain information from prior-year returns that are filed late. We generally include prior-year returns since their omission would result in a serious under-reporting of the various income and tax magnitudes. In a sense, 1998 prior-year (1997) data is a proxy for returns for 1998 that will be filed late. Prior-year returns are included as a separate "county" in the county tables and are not included in either the city or ZIP Code data, since we believe the inclusion of the data at the state level is reliable, but that its allocation to lower level geographic units is questionable.
In addition to state, county, city, and ZIP Code data on adjusted gross income, federal taxes, exemptions, and returns by income level, this volume reports statewide data on itemized deductions, adjustments to income, sources of income, and other important magnitudes from federal tax schedules C through F. New this year, we have data on the new child credits and hope learning credits. They are reported on the credits page. For technical reasons we do not have federal estimated payments or .........
Users frequently ask for current data on AUtahns= income@ but the only data we have is AGI, which is not the same concept as either the census definition or Apersonal income@. AGI includes capital gains, which most definitions do not include, and only includes a portion of social security income and pension income. In addition a list of adjustments, such as IRA and Keogh plans, self employed health insurance, moving expenses, alimony paid, etc. are subtracted to arrive at AGI. AGI excludes the imputed income included in personal income measures.
We are subject to the way taxpayers fill out their forms as far as addresses are concerned. If they use a wrong ZIP Code, we are forced to live with it. Probably the most important error of this type is in the "city" taxpayers claim. Some residents of the smaller communities, for example, may list Salt Lake City as a city rather than Sandy, or Murray, for example. This also happens for residents of unincorporated areas. Some taxpayers will also use their professional address or post office box rather than their actual residence.
To understand what is included in Afederal taxes,@ the reader should consult the attached form 1040. This figure is what is reported on the total tax line, but self-employment taxes are not included, while alternative minimum taxes are included as well as some other small items. Credits have been subtracted, except the earned income tax, which is considered a payment by the IRS.
In addition, average values are only averages for taxpayers using a particular form or line. For example, for taxpayers with incomes between $40,000 and $45,000, total contributions divided by the number of taxpayers who itemize is $2,703; but our table reports a higher $2,751 which is the average for those actually making contributions.
Summary state data is reported in two places. In the section of state data in section 2, we report data for all taxpayers, including part-year and non-residents. This data can give a distorted picture since it includes all the income but only part of the taxes of other than full-year residents. In section 6, at the back, we have similar tables for the state and counties that only includes full-year residents. In the past year, we have produced a more detailed volume focusing on data from the state return.
The data as we receive it from the IRS and state returns is based on returns, but some analysts prefer to think of household income and taxes. We have been publishing for several years an attempt to group returns into households, generally putting children with their parents. Our methods are far from foolproof and are detailed in our annual Family Based Statistics of Income. We have included one summary page in the state section of this volume. It looks identical to the regular pages, but it bears the title "household" income in the title line.
Some of the data in this report, as well as data from a growing selection of other Tax Commission reports can be accessed on the Internet using:


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Recap: Top Chef All-Stars, Episode 15, Last Supper
This post is brought to you by Buitoni. Delicious BUITONI® pastas and sauces combine freshly made pasta with simple ingredients to create authentic, extraordinary Italian meals.
It's Semi-Finals week on Top Chef! The final 3 competed in a challenging quickfire, and cooked last suppers that brought Wolfgang Puck, Michelle Bernstein, and Masaharu Morimoto back to their childhoods.
[Warning: Spoilers ahead!]
Confession: I thought this week was the finale episode. Nope! Still another whole week to go! Bravo's really stretching out this season, aren't they? It feels like it's been on since the Reagan administration.
The Quickfire
Wolfgang Puck joined Padma in the kitchen as guest judge for this week's Quickfire. Mike Isabella was really excited, and said Puck was "the only chef he knew" as a little kid. In your face, Chef Boyardee! Now please pack your knives and go.
The chefs assigned memorable quickfire challenges to their fellow chefs. Mike won the last challenge, so he picked first. He gave "canned foods" to Antonia, Antonia gave "hot dogs" to Richard, and Richard gave "one pot" to Mike.
The challenge seemed really easy... almost too easy. Shh... what's that noise? That's right! It's the sound of another totally predictable Top Chef plot twist! The horror!
Padma showed up half way through the challenge with eliminated contestant Carla Hall and introduced a new twist: each chef would have to finish the quickfire with a limitation. Richard had Mike Isabella cook without any utensils, Antonia had Richard cook with only one hand, and Antonia had to finish the challenge tied to a single apron with Carla.
Ten minutes, lots of swearing, and a shot of Mike Isabella taking his frustration out on a kitchen rack later, and the quickfire was over! Richard made hot dogs and homemade bread, but Wolfgang said it was "too ketchup-y" but his "kids would like it." Sorry, Richard. Too bad this wasn't a "Create A Dollar Menu At Chuck E. Cheese" challenge, because then you might have won. Now run along to the back room and complain about how awful life is.
Antonia made a curry coconut soup with shrimp, sausage, peanuts, and fish sauce. Wolfgang liked it and said she did a great job considering she only had canned ingredients to work with, but ultimately it was too concentrated for him.
Mike Isabella won the quickfire, with his braised pork shoulder dish. He managed to pull the whole thing together in 45 minutes, and Wolfgang said it was perfectly balanced. Mike won another $5,000 and even more momentum going into the elimination challenge.
Elimination Challenge
Mike won the quickfire, so he picked first. He chose Michelle Bernstein, who asked him to make fried chicken and biscuits. He then assigned Morimoto to Antonia, and Puck to Richard. Morimoto asked Antonia to make miso soup with sashimi, and Wolfgang asked Richard to make goulash with apple strudel and spaetzle.
Things went fine in the kitchen except for a few minor hiccups. Blais couldn't get his pressure cooker open, and Antonia's hamachi smelled completely rancid so she couldn't use it. Antonia opted for tuna instead, and called it a day.
Judges' Table
Antonia's dish was up first. She made a tuna sashimi bento box, with pickled daikon, mushrooms, and eggplant along with miso soup and rice. Morimoto complained that the soup was too salty, while Gail Simmons coughed and said the "tuna blew out her mouth." I'm sure there's a joke to be made there, but I'm not touching it with a 10 foot pole.
Mike Isabella made fried chicken with pea puree, and egg yolk empanadas with mustard gravy. Morimoto said his white meat was dry and the batter wasn't crispy. Michelle Bernstein lamented the chicken wasn't juicy.
Golden child Blais made beef goulash, spaetzle with liquid nitrogen-blasted sour cream, and apple strudel. The onions were undercooked, the dish was not hot enough, and the spaetzle was tough.
After about 5 minutes of anticlimactic deliberation, the judges declared Richard Blais the winner of the challenge.
Padma held up a super-secret envelope, and explained there was going to be one more challenge to determine who would get the last spot. Really? ANOTHER FREAKING CHALLENGE? I don't want to get off on a rant here, but what the heck was the point of the last 30 minutes of the show? The judges couldn't base their decision on that? Blasphemy!
The final, final challenge was a "one bite" competition. Mike and Antonia had 45 minutes to create a bite-sized dish for each of the judges.
Antonia went with a seared grouper in coconut lobster broth. The judges said it was bright and local, but very powerfully flavored. Isabella made surf and turf with caramelized olives and chimichurri sauce. The judges had a hard time and it came down to a 4/3 split, and in the end, they sent Antonia home because her curry was "too overspiced." I admit I was sad to see her go. I really wanted to see her whip those big-headed egotistical guys in the finale, but no such luck.
So there you have it! Next week really is the finale (I promise!) and it will feature Richard Blais and Mike Isabella creating their dream restaurants and competing for the title of Top Chef All Star. I'm team Isabella. Where do you stand?
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text: funjumper101 7 #1 August 3, 2015 Waterboarding IS torture. Ronny Raygun and his administration took action against those that committed that crime. When will the current DOJ hold accountable those that have committed these crimes since 2001? Begin quoted text >>> Reagan's DOJ Prosecuted Texas Sheriff... For Waterboarding Prisoners Written by Jason Leopold April 21, 2009 George W. Bush's Justice Department said subjecting a person to the near-drowning of waterboarding was not a crime and didn't even cause pain, but Ronald Reagan's Justice Department thought otherwise, prosecuting a Texas sheriff and three deputies for using the practice to get confessions. Federal prosecutors secured a 10-year sentence against the sheriff and four years in prison for the deputies. But that 1983 case – which would seem to be directly on point for a legal analysis on waterboarding two decades later – was never mentioned in the four Bush administration opinions released last week. The failure to cite the earlier waterboarding case and a half-dozen other precedents that dealt with torture is reportedly one of the critical findings of a Justice Department watchdog report that legal sources say faults former Bush administration lawyers – Jay Bybee, John Yoo and Steven Bradbury – for violating "professional standards." Bybee, Yoo and Bradbury also shocked many who have read their memos in the last week by their use of clinical and legalistic jargon that sometimes took on an otherworldly or Orwellian quality. Bybee's Aug. 1, 2002, legal memo – drafted by Yoo – argued that waterboarding could not be torture because it does not "inflict physical pain." During the procedure, a subject is strapped down to a bench with his head lower than his feet and his face covered by a cloth that is then saturated with water, cutting off his breathing and inducing the panic reflex that a person feels while drowning."You have informed us that this procedure does not inflict actual physical harm," Bybee wrote. "Thus, although the subject may experience the fear or panic associated with the feeling of drowning, the waterboard does not inflict physical pain. ... The waterboard is simply a controlled acute episode, lacking the connotation of a protracted period of time generally given to suffering." Bush administration officials approved CIA waterboarding for three "high-value" detainees, including Abu Zubaydah (believed to be an al-Qaeda logistics operative) and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (known as KSM, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks). Zubaydah was waterboarded at least 83 times and KSM at least 183 times, according to one Justice Department memo. Bybee, whose memo gave legal cover for the initial use of waterboarding and nine other brutal interrogation methods, said his opinion – as assistant attorney general in charge of the Office of Legal Counsel, which advises Presidents on the limits of their legal powers – represented "our best reading of the law." He cited scant history for the Convention Against Torture, which took effect in 1987. "However, you should be aware that there are no cases construing this statute, just as there have been no prosecutions brought under it," Bybee wrote. The Convention Against Torture makes it a crime for any "person acting under the color of law" to "inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering (other than pain or suffering incidental to lawful sanctions) upon another person within his custody or physical control." Texas Case That law was not in existence when the Texas sheriff, James Parker, and his deputies were prosecuted and sentenced in the 1980s. But Bybee, Bradbury and Yoo had a duty to their legal profession to cite the case as it would have changed the substance of their legal opinions, said Scott Horton, a human rights attorney and constitutional expert. "Any competent legal adviser would, among other things, have looked at the techniques themselves and checked to see how they have been treated in prior cases," Horton said in an e-mail. "Obviously the Anti-Torture Statute itself is a very recent invention and it has no enforcement history, so saying that and then suggesting on this basis that the situation is tabula rasa is highly disingenuous." Horton suspects that Bybee, Yoo and Bradbury were well aware of the case law but simply chose to ignore it in order to give the Bush administration what it had asked for. "To take one example, there was a court-martial addressing the practice of waterboarding from 1903, a state court case from the Twenties, a series of prosecutions at the [post-World War II] Tokyo Tribunal (in many of which the death penalty was sought) and another court-martial in 1968," Horton said. "These precedents could have been revealed in just a few minutes of computerized research using the right search engines. It's hard to imagine that Yoo and Bybee didn't know them. "So why are none of these precedents mentioned? Obviously because each of them contradicts the memo's conclusions and would have to be distinguished away. Professional rules would have required that these precedents be cited, failing to do so reflects incompetent analysis." In fact, the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility investigated whether the three lawyers purposely twisted their legal advice to satisfy the White House and knowingly avoided citing existing case law in order to reach conclusions the White House wanted. It's unknown what OPR has concluded about that point in its report, which is now being revised. Beyond ignoring the case law on torture, Yoo, as a deputy assistant attorney general, pushed the theory that President Bush could not be bound by laws outlawing torture because of his constitutional authority to use military force at a time of war. "As Commander in Chief, the President has the constitutional authority to order interrogations of enemy combatants to gain intelligence information concerning the military plans of the enemy," said Yoo in another memo dated Aug. 1, 2002, and entitled "Standards of Conduct for Interrogation." In that opinion, Yoo failed to cite the key precedent relating to a President's war powers, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, a 1952 Supreme Court case that addressed President Harry Truman's order to seize steel mills that had been shut down in a labor dispute during the Korean War. Truman said the strike threatened national defense and thus justified his actions under his Article II powers in the Constitution. But the Supreme Court overturned Truman's order, saying, "the President's power, if any, to issue the order must stem either from an act of Congress or from the Constitution itself." Since Congress hadn't delegated such authority to Truman, the Supreme Court ruled that Truman's actions were unconstitutional, with an influential concurring opinion written by Justice Robert Jackson. Yoo's Explanation In his 2006 book, War by Other Means, Yoo offered up a defense of his failure to cite Youngstown. "We didn't cite Jackson's individual views in Youngstown because earlier [Office of Legal Counsel] opinions, reaching across several administrations, had concluded that it had no application to the President's conduct of foreign affairs and national security." Yoo added, "Youngstown reached the outcome it did because the Constitution clearly gives Congress, not the President, the exclusive power to make law concerning labor disputes. It does not address the scope of Commander-in-Chief power involving military strategy or intelligence tactics in war. … "Detention and interrogation policy are at the heart of the President's Commander-in-Chief power to wage war, and long constitutional history supports the President's leading role on such matters." But Horton disagrees. "The Youngstown case is considered the lodestar precedent addressing the President's invocation of Commander-in-Chief powers away from a battlefield," Horton told me via e-mail. "Justice Jackson's opinion is the most persuasive of the opinions justifying the decision," Horton said. "If you examine any treatise on national security law, you'll find them at the core. Moreover, the Supreme Court itself in subsequent opinions has highlighted their importance. "It's obvious that Yoo failed to cite them not because he believed they were off point (as he rather lamely suggests), but because they strongly contradicted the premise he was articulating. "But a lawyer crafting an opinion has a duty of candor that requires that he identify and distinguish adverse precedent that a court might consider controlling. In essence, Yoo was free to articulate whatever cockeyed theories he wanted. He was not free to suppress the existence of Supreme Court authority that went in the opposite direction. But that's exactly what he did." The four legal opinions released last week attempt to make the case that the "enhanced interrogations" of suspected terrorists needed to be done in order to save American lives and foil other plans to attack the United States. In defending the Bush administration's torture program, Republicans have likened the "high-value" detainees to mass murderers who don't deserve to be treated humanely. Texas Trial At the trial of the Texas sheriff, Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Woodward said the prisoners who were subjected to waterboarding were not "model citizens" but they were still "victims" of torture. "We make no bones about it. The victims of these crimes are criminals," Woodward said, according to a copy of the trial transcript. One of the "victims" was Vernell Harkless, who was convicted of burglary in 1977. Gregg Magee, a deputy sheriff who testified against Sheriff Parker and three of the deputies said he witnessed Harkless being handcuffed to a chair by Parker and then getting "the water treatment." "A towel was draped over his head," Magee said, according to court documents. "He was pulled back in the chair and water was poured over the towel." Harkless said he thought he was "going to be strangled to death," adding: "I couldn't breathe." One of the defendants, Deputy Floyd Allen Baker, said during the trial that he thought torture to be an immoral act but he was unaware that it was illegal. His attorneys cited the "Nuremberg defense," that Baker was acting on orders from his superiors when he subjected prisoners to waterboarding. That line of defense has come up in the current debate about whether CIA interrogators should be prosecuted for their roles in the torture of detainees. President Obama, CIA Director Leon Panetta and Attorney General Eric Holder have ruled out prosecuting CIA interrogators who acted on Justice Department legal advice. Some other legal analysts have suggested that the ambiguity of the Bush administration's decision process – in which CIA interrogators suggested the harsh tactics, national security officials, including Condoleezza Rice, concurred, and Justice Department lawyers gave their approval – would make getting 12 jurors to agree on a conviction difficult.But the jury in the Baker's case didn't buy the "didn't know it was illegal" defense, convicting the deputy on three counts of civil rights and constitutional violations related to the waterboarding. Bybee is now a federal judge on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. Yoo is a constitutional law professor at the University of California, Berkeley and a visiting professor at Chapman University in Orange, California. Bradbury, who was acting head of the Office of Legal Counsel for most of Bush's second term, reportedly has been looking for a job since Bush left office on Jan. 20, 2009 <<< End quoted text Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


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EDITORIAL: 26 reasons to act: James Mattioli
James Mattioli loved to sing - in the shower, loudly around the house, quietly to himself as he fell asleep. He asked his parents how old he had to be to sing on a stage.
He spiked his hair with gel and was most often seen in shorts and a T-shirt, regardless of the weather.
"J" loved food and was always asking his parents when he'd be old enough to order a "foot-long" sandwich at Subway.
James Mattioli did not make it past 6 years old and the first grade.
Each one of us owes something to the parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents and friends of James Mattioli and the other 19 children and six adults killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School Dec. 14.
What will we do to change a culture that accepts widespread gun violence and easy access to weapons of mass murder?


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1As Low As 2.99% APR for 36 months Offer available on approved purchases of new 2017-2020 Yamaha Motorcycles, Scooters, ATVs and Side-by-Sides made on the Yamaha Credit Card issued by WebBank, member FDIC. Subject to credit approval as determined by WebBank. Offer valid 1/1/20 through 6/30/20. Available to cardholders of the WebBank Yamaha Card. Account must be open and current to be eligible for this offer. Promotional 2.99%, 5.99%, 9.99% or 16.99% APR with Minimum Payments of 2.92%, 3.05%, 3.24% or 3.57% respectively of the purchase price balance, based on your creditworthiness, are effective until the purchase is paid in full. Minimum Interest Charge $2 per month. Standard APR 15.99%-23.99%.
2As Low As 0% APR For 60 Months Available for well qualified tier A1 credit customers who finance through Yamaha Financial Services. 0% APR financing for 60 months at $16.67 per month per $1,000 financed regardless of down payment. Offer valid between 2/28/20 and 12/31/20 on purchases of new 2018 Star Venture & Eluder models. Available on approved credit through Yamaha Financial Services. Not all buyers will qualify. Higher financing rates apply for buyers with lower credit ratings. See dealer for qualifications and complete details. CANNOT BE COMBINED WITH CUSTOMER CASH OFFER.
†Customer Cash - MotorcycleCustomer cash offer good on select models 5/1/2020 through 5/31/2020. See dealer for additional customer cash available on prior year models.


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Tim Hortons announces electric vehicle charging station pilot in Canada Français
Feb 13, 2013, 06:00 ET
Partners with Oakville Hydro, Town of Oakville
OAKVILLE, ON, Feb. 13, 2013 /CNW/ - Electric vehicle owners in Oakville, ON are now able to charge their cars while enjoying a Tim Hortons coffee. Canada's largest restaurant chain installed its first electric vehicle charging stations as part of a new pilot project.
Charging stations are now available for guest use, free of charge, at Tim Hortons located at 228 Wyecroft Road in Oakville and for use by corporate employees at head office, in an effort to study the technology, its usage and opportunities.
"The electric vehicle infrastructure is in its infancy and we see a potential opportunity for Tim Hortons to help make a true difference by expanding that infrastructure in Canada," said Paulo Ferreira, Senior Director, International Design and Building Standards, Tim Hortons. "At this stage, the goal for us is to explore and understand the technology, to see how it can work at our restaurants and how we can, in turn, support our guests who choose to go electric."
Tim Hortons partnered with Oakville Hydro and Town of Oakville to launch the pilot project.
"There is no better place than Oakville for Tim Hortons to launch its electric vehicle charging station pilot project," said Oakville Mayor Rob Burton. "Tim Hortons continues to help us make Oakville cleaner and greener, towards realizing our vision of creating Canada's most livable town."
"Electric vehicles can potentially have an impact on distribution systems across Ontario," said Rob Lister, President and CEO of Oakville Hydro Corporation. "As part of our Smart Grid initiatives, this pilot project will allow us to gain insight into how our distribution system responds and reacts to the addition of electric vehicles. We are very proud to be part of this project with other Oakville businesses."
Tim Hortons continues discussions with additional municipalities in an attempt to expand the pilot before deciding on the future possibility of EV charging stations across the company's more than 3,300 restaurants across Canada.
The company will also make provisions to run electrical wires to future charging stations through conduits in parking lots at all newly-built Canadian restaurants going forward, to simplify the installation process.
Ford Motor Company of Canada provided Tim Hortons with the C-MAX Energi Plug-in Hybrid for testing purposes.
About Tim Hortons Inc.
Tim Hortons is one of the largest publicly-traded restaurant chains in North America based on market capitalization, and the largest in Canada. Operating in the quick service segment of the restaurant industry, Tim Hortons appeals to a broad range of consumer tastes, with a menu that includes premium coffee, espresso-based hot and cold specialty drinks including lattes, cappuccinos and espresso shots, specialty teas, fruit smoothies, home-style soups, fresh Panini and classic sandwiches, wraps, hot breakfast sandwiches and fresh baked goods, including our trademark donuts. As of September 30th, 2012, Tim Hortons had 4,138 system-wide restaurants, including 3,365 in Canada, 755 in the United States and 18 in the Gulf Cooperation Council. More information about the Company is available at www.timhortons.com. Follow Tim Hortons on Twitter: www.twitter.com/timhortons.
Image with caption: "In this photo, dated February 11th, a Ford C-MAX Energi Plug-in Hybrid charges at Tim Hortons in Oakville, Ontario after Tim Hortons launched its new electric vehicle charging station pilot. (CNW Group/Tim Hortons Inc.)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20130213_C5169_PHOTO_EN_23679.jpg
SOURCE: Tim Hortons Inc.
For further information:
For further information or to arrange an interview, please contact:
Hailey DeDominicis
[email protected]
Alexandra Cygal
[email protected]


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Seems like the nude pictures really did his pulling power no harm: Prince Harry has been crowned Town & Country magazine's top bachelor in the world, beating out 39 other handsome, wealthy, and perpetually single men for the top spot.
The magazine describes the list, which features 40 fabulous gents, as "a highly subjective, thoroughly opinionated survey of the princes, politicians, scions, DJs, and billionaires-to-be we consider the most eligible men in the universe."
It credits Harry's skills when it comes to both flirting and flying for his desirability, saying: "Prince William's baby brother flirts and flies Apache helicopters with equal aplomb."It says he likes "Bardot blondes; polo ponies and goofing off" and describes his 'natural habitat as either Mayfair nightclubs or "the caves of Tora Bora".
The list also features Jack Nicholson, Charlie Rose, George Hamilton Patrick Schwarzenegger and his cousin Conor Kennedy.


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Cigna Corp. saw its shares take a healthy bump as the Connecticut insurance firm released strong fourth quarter earnings and announced an attractive reinsurance deal, according to media reports. The company's shares started February trading at $58.13 and have risen steadily, to as much as $62 in midday trading on Feb. 8.
Cigna reported a 49 percent gain in earnings in the fourth quarter of 2012, fueled in part by earnings from its acquisitions last year, buying Medicare insurer HealthSpring Inc. and American Financial Group Medicare supplement and critical-illness businesses last year.
On Feb. 4, Cigna announced a deal worth as much as $4 billion, to sell its variable annuity death benefit business to Berkshire Hathaway Life Insurance. Berkshire Hathaway will assume 100 percent of the businesses' future exposure and will take over Cigna's guaranteed minimum benefits, worth up to $4 billion. Berkshire will receive $100 million in cash, $1.8 billion in assets, and $300 million in tax benefits, according to a report.
In a statement, Cigna's president and chief executive officer David M. Cordani said the deal is a "definitive strategic step to further reduce risk and continue to improve our financial flexibility." Cigna discontinued the variable annuity death benefit business, which was part of its reinsurance unit, in 2000. Cigna will take an after-tax charge of $500 million in its first-quarter earnings to cover the gap between the payment to Berkshire and its recorded reserves.
Cigna cited higher membership gains due to its acquisition of the two health care businesses and "favorable medical costs for its strong performance.
Cigna reported a fourth-quarter profit of $406 million, or $1.41 a share, up from $273 million, or 98 cents a share, in the same quarter a year earlier. Excluding items such as litigation, realignment and acquisition costs, adjusted per-share earnings rose to $1.57 from $1.05. Revenue rose an impressive 38 percent to $7.62 billion.
2013 is expected to be something of a transition year for health insurers as they prepare for major changes under President Obama's health care overhaul law, which will create a mix of new costs and market opportunities, the Wall Street Journal reported. State-based exchanges – essentially shopping marts for health care plans — and a broadened Medicaid program are expected to expand health coverage to millions more Americans starting next year.
Berkshire Hathaway Life Insurance is a subsidiary of Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., which owns several insurance and reinsurance firms.
© Entire contents copyright 2013 by InsuranceNewsNet.com, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reprinted without the expressed written consent from InsuranceNewsNet.com. Please contact the editor at firstname.lastname@example.com with any comments or questions.


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Discover for free which first names would suit you or your baby !
Meaning of name Mikoláš
Etymology : Czech form of NICHOLAS
Saint :
Origin : Czech
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Gender : boy
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Who are they?
Internalized and rather introverted, Mikoláš and Euthymios are discreet and reserved. Such characteristics can easily make them come across as phlegmatic and even mysterious creatures. In reality, they are shy and wary, anxious and prudent - which means that they don´t commit to anything easily. Inclined to introspection, they like to weigh up everything before making a decision; however once they have made up their mind they are quite unstoppable... While they are nervous and intense, they are equally combative and active. Courageous, determined and decidedly magnetic, they need regular physical exercise to work off their excess energy. The world of business and finance doesn´t leave them indifferent. They are loyal and upright, honest and energetic; and their views are perhaps even a little too Manichean. Neither flexible nor particularly adaptable, they are not the most tolerant of characters. Strict and authoritarian, they loathe flattery. They tend to repress their sensitivity and use criticism and irony as a shield. As children, they are discreet and composed, but you know what they say about the quiet ones! Indeed, they are quite capable of outbursts of anger or aggression if they feel offended or humiliated. Their pride is extremely sensitive and they can be quite touchy. A real combination of action and concentration, they could be working on their computer one moment, tinkering with their bikes the next; then heading down to the garden to dig up some weeds before spending the evening on the edge of the sofa in front of a rugby match...
What do they like?
Mikoláš and Euthymios dream of being in charge, calling the shots and being the best. In order to achieve their ends they are capable of tremendous energy and determination - qualities in which they are in no way lacking, and a considerable capacity for work. They are nonetheless rather self-involved, egocentric even; and seek autonomy and independence. In matters of the heart, they lack spontaneity and are not particularly demonstrative. They have a few communication problems and are extremely modest. Less than diplomatic, they haven´t got a clue about the workings of a woman´s mind. They are possessive, so jealousy can sometimes rear its ugly head and they certainly don´t forgive easily, But isn´t there a difference between forgiving and forgetting? On the other hand, Mikoláš and Euthymios are men who can truly be counted on...
Get your free Personality test card now !!
What do they do?
Mikoláš and Euthymios are industrious men who possess a solid professional conscience. They loathe the concept of hierarchy, and if life allows it, they will choose an independent profession. Their interests nudge them towards the liberal professions, occupations in connection with the worlds of business (management, finance, banking, accounting...), industry, mechanics or in connection with the exercise of power (police, politics), modern technology (information technology) or possibly in relation to mysticism.
Discover others boys first names : Miasmin Mic Micah
*To note: :
It sometimes happens that two different first names have the same meaning. This has nothing surprising: both first names have the same figures of numerology. It is as in astrology: two persons belonging to the same sign present the same characteristic...
Names compatibility
Test the compatibility of your names to know if your love relation is lucky to succeed. Friendship, love or passion?
Discover fast what waits for you...
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Your Name Horoscope !
Thanks to the numerology, we propose you daily a horoscope personalized for your first name. Love, money , Shape: discover what waits for you for today. In Bonus every day find your daily lucky figure .. Horoscope of the first names
Love :Couples: The complicity between the two of you will be reinforced. Singles: An admirer will make themselves known.
Money :You are trying to decide whether or not to make a property investment. Take your time.
Health:You won't see any results without some effort Mikoláš .
Your Lucky number : 80


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Disability NEWS - March 7, 2014
March 7, 2014
Pacific NW Regional Brain Injury Conference is in Portland on March 13-15
March 2014 Portland Commission on Disability meetings schedule
FACT's Transition from Early Childhood Special Education to Kindergarten is March 17
Empowerment Conference is March 27th to help job seekers with disabilities
Multnomah County Commission Candidates Forums dates are April 1 and 14
HUD announces $120 million in rental assistance to help people with disabilities
PHAME's first-ever ART SHOW is April 8-12 at Place Gallery in Pioneer Place Mall
FHCO offers free help about housing discrimination and denials
Visit the City's and PCOD's Facebook pages for current postings and news
Pacific NW Regional Brain Injury Conference is March 13 through 15
"Living with Brain Injury-Creating Partnerships" is the theme of the 12th Annual Pacific Northwest Brain Injury Conference 2014 being held March 13-15 at the Sheraton Portland Airport Hotel. This conference is sponsored by the Brain Injury Alliance of Oregon and the Brain Injury Association of Washington.
A special event will be the 31th Annual BIAOR Conference celebration at a dinner Friday, March 14, at the Sheraton Portland Airport Hotel. Friday evening will feature a reception from 5:30 - 6:30pm. Dinner begins at 6:45 pm, followed by an evening opening of music with highlights by individuals from Highland Heights, Shaun's Place and Homeward Bound singing for attendees.
The conference will feature presentations on: Legal Issues, Medical Issues including treatments and strategies for brain issues; Medical Highlights: Post Traumatic Headaches, Brain Injury and Mental Illness, Understanding and Working with Behavior Issues; Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries Associated With Sports and Other Traumatic Injuries; Cognitive rehabilitation: Using research evidence and careful documentation to strengthen the case for insurance funding; Medical Issues Facing Brain Injury Survivors; Successful Return to Work After a Brain Injury; Co-Occurring Disorders: Art and Physical Therapy and Brain Injury; and Improving school services for students with TBI. More information and how to register is available at the BIAOR website.
March 2014 Portland Commission on Disability (PCOD) Meetings
PCoD Public Safety Subcommittee
Friday, March 7, 1 to 3 p.m.
Bridge Room, Office of Equity & Human Rights
Commonwealth Building, 421 SW 6th Ave, Suite 500
PCoD Accessibility in the Built Environment Subcommittee
Monday, March 10, 10 am to Noon
1900 Building, 1900 SW Fourth Ave, Room 4A
PCoD Public Outreach and Awareness Subcommittee
Tuesday, March 18, 3 to 5 p.m.
Broadway Room, Office of Equity & Human Rights
Commonwealth Building, 421 SW 6th Ave, Suite 500
PCoD Employment Subcommittee
Friday, March 28, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Broadway Room, Office of Equity & Human Rights
Commonwealth Building, 421 SW 6th Ave, Suite 500
PCoD Livability & Wellness Subcommittee
Friday, March 28, 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.
Bridge Room, Office of Equity & Human Rights
Commonwealth Building, 421 SW 6th Ave, Suite 500
PLEASE NOTE: All Portland Commission on Disability
meetings and events are open to the public.
FACT's Early Childhood Special Ed to Kindergarten workshop is March 17
FACT is conducting a Transitioning from Early Childhood Special Education to Kindergarten workshop on Monday, March 17, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Providence Cancer Center Amphitheater. The location is at 4805 NE Glisan in Portland. Parents may learn what the transition process is like, what an Individualized Education Program (IEP) is and how it differs from the child's Individual Family Service Plan.
The training will examine the differences between an IFSP and IEP, explain the transition process, provide a comprehensive discussion about a parent's critical role in your child's IEP team, and conclude with a step-by-step look at the development of an IEP. To register, please click this link to the FACT website.
March 27 Empowerment Conference to help job seekers with disabilities
Incight and Oregon Vocational Rehabilitation Services is presenting the Empowerment Conference on Thursday, March 27, to help job seekers, veterans and students with disabilities learn the soft skills of a job search. The one-day conference with six workshops is from 9 am to 5 pm at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Portland at 1000 NE Multnomah Street.
The conference is perfect for those who have been struggling with self-esteem issues, need to spend some time on the basics, are just getting back out there or just need a little extra support. During the all-day conference, participants will attend two empowerment workshops, have the opportunity to interact with HR professionals on the HR panel and choose between six different workshops depending on their needs and where they are in their job search.
Visit the Empowerment Conference website to meet the presenters, preview sessions, to register and more. Please note that there are only 150 spots available.
Multnomah County Commission Candidates Forums to be April 1 and 14
March 1st and 14th are the dates for two upcoming forums to hear from the candidates for Multnomah County Chair and Commissioners for Districts 1 and 2. These are important opportunities for the public to learn where candidates stand on housing and homeless issues and the County's role in addressing the housing needs in our community.
Here are the details for the dates, locations and times regarding the two candidate forums:
- April 1, 2014 - County Chair candidates forum: Noon-1:30pm at the Eliot Chapel, First Unitarian Church, 1011 SW 12th Ave., Portland.
- April 16, 2014 - Districts 1 and 2 candidates forum: 6:30-8:30 pm at Kaiser Permanente's Town Hall, 3704 N Interstate Ave Portland, OR 97227
As always, these informative events are free and open to the public. These forums are co-sponsored by Oregon ON, JOIN, Street Roots, and the Community Alliance of Tenants. More info about the May 20, 2014 election and candidates can be found at the Multnomah County elections website.
HUD announces $120 million in funding to help people with disabilities
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will provide $120 million in rental assistance to prevent thousands of people with disabilities from becoming homeless or having to live in institutions instead of integrated settings in their own communities. The funding will go to state housing agencies to develop long-term rental assistance programs for extremely low-income people with disabilities. The deadline for housing agencies to apply for this funding is May 5, 2014. Learn more about HUD's rental assistance programs and find housing help in your state.
In the last round of funding, 13 states were awarded funds to create approximately 3500 housing units for this vulnerable population.
This announcement reinforces the guiding principles of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the landmark 1999 Supreme Court ruling in Olmstead v. L.C., which require state and local governments to provide services in the most integrated settings appropriate to meet the needs of individuals with disabilities.
PHAME holds its first-ever ART SHOW at Place Gallery on April 8-12
PHAME's next show of its PHAME@30 shows this year is a first-ever Art Show that opens Tuesday, April 8, and continues through Saturday, April 12. The show will be in the Place Gallery at Pioneer Place Mall in downtown Portland. The gallery is open from noon to 6 pm daily and the show is free. Featuring paintings, drawings and 3D work by over two dozen PHAME artists, this ART SHOW will explode with color and possibility.
The Art Show follows the February 1 kickoff of PHAME's 30th Anniversary Season of an afternoon of new play readings by local professional actors in the Atrium of the Portland Center Stage Armory. The wonderful afternoon showcased the talent and heart of PHAME's student playwrights and was a total hit.
FHCO offers free help about housing discrimination and denials
Housing discrimination happens every day and much of it is never reported. To stand up for people's rights when they feel they were denied fair housing, the Fair Housing Council of Oregon (FHCO) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization committed to ensuring everyone's right to live free from housing discrimination. FHCO's services are free and confidential for people who have questions or need assistance.
The organization wants the public to know that the Fair Housing Act gives people the legal right to file a complaint and that it is illegal to be threatened with eviction or to be harassed for filing a fair housing complaint. Anyone who is not sure if they have been discriminated against, but think something is wrong, may give the FHCO HOTLINE a call at 800-424-3247, extension 2. FHCO's services may also be accessed online at www.fhco.org. If the problem is not illegal housing discrimination, but something different, referrals may be provided to other resources.
Visit Disability Program Facebook page for news, event postings
The Office of Neighborhood Involvement Disability Program Facebook page features daily postings of news, videos, events and issues of interest to people with disabilities. Visit the program's Facebook page to read these postings and other information posted daily on disability issues, news and concerns.
Get more news/information at the Commission's website
You can access more information on resources, events and the Portland Commission on Disability (PCOD) at the program's website:
The Commission has its own website, which is found at www.PortlandDisability.com. There are links for meeting calendars, the Commission's Facebook page, commissioner profiles and other information. Please visit and follow the Commission's development. PCOD's Facebook page recently provided news about accessibility being sound business sense, RJ Mitte (Flynn from Breaking Bad) lecturing on overcoming adversity, study that soccer players experience traumatic brain injury when heading a ball, poor and inconsistent television captions, a photo of the Portland Commission on Disability members, and more.
To update your contact information, if you know someone who would like to receive the newsletter or if you wish to submit information for the newsletter, please call 503-823-4432 by phone or email email@example.com.
Please note: This information may also provided in Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF formats. Please use the contact information above to make your request for an alternative format.
The Disability NEWS is created and distributed by the City of Portland's Office of Equity and Human Rights and its Office of Neighborhood Involvement's Disability Program.


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(Photo credit Andrew Williams, via flickr)
The SF Squeecast has won its second and final Hugo*! I don't think I could be more pleased, quite frankly. Thank you, fandom, for justifying the underpinnings required by that dress... not to mention what I went through packing it. ;-)
Worldcon was insanely busy and stressful but also awesome in many ways. Thank you, San Antonio, for chili verde enchiladas and prickly pear margaritas and the blessed shade of the Riverwalk. Congratulations to all the other winners, condolulations to the nominated (there really are no losers here), and remind me never, ever, ever to accept a 9 pm Friday panel at a Worldcon again.
In other news, I'm afraid that publication of One-Eyed Jack is going to be delayed until next year, for reasons beyond the control of Prime Books or me. Further updates as I know what the new timeline is. I'm really sorry for everybody. I know some of you have been waiting for this book for a very long time indeed.
Now I'm at scott_lynch's place in Wisconsin, and we are both about to submerge into a deep dark tunnel of book writing.
*we have recused ourselves from further consideration in the Fancast category.


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HTC had their Shift UMPC on display here at CTIA, which packs Sprint EV-DO, an 800 MHz Celeron processor, 1 GB RAM and a 40 GB SSD into a tidy $1500 package. After getting touchy feely with it for a few minutes, I found it wasn't half bad. I was especially impressed by the proprietary HTC SnapView interface that runs on top of Windows Vista, and provides quick access to weather, calendars and emails (similar to the Windows Mobile 6.1 homescreen that it's based around).
I wouldn't exactly call the Shift a mobile computing powerhouse, but I found that Vista more or less ran smoothly on the UMPC. While running Microsoft Word and Internet Explorer, I loaded a handful of webpages over EV-DO that weren't too resource heavy, but had dynamic content and graphics. The webpages took about 20-30 seconds to load and suffered a bit of choppiness with Word running in the background. But they did format nicely and looked good, which should be expected since its running a full blown OS.
One of the better features was the SnapView interface created by HTC specifically for the EV-DO Shift. The interface is built around a stripped down Windows Mobile 6.1, and made use of the platform's more attractive features to build a quick-launch screen. It looks a lot like the homescreen on the HTC Touch Dual and, as mentioned before, provides access to weather, calendars, emails in a quick and well-designed interface. The Shift has a dedicated button on its front bezel to access Snap View and it transitions between SnapView and Vista with smooth animations and no lag (Vista is put into a sleep mode while running SnapView).
The hardware felt sturdy, and the 7" screen offered plenty of viewing space, but the keyboard was on the small side (it's intended for standard touch typing) and the touchscreen could have been more responsive. And the carrying case/sleeve is permanently affixed to the UMPC, which is kind of lame. Not a bad outing at all from HTC, but it needs just a bit more horsepower.


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- User Name: bluetrain
- Member Since: Tuesday, March 15, 2005, 3:54 AM
- Name: Rohan Thomas
- Studio: amvience studios
- Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Homepage: www.amvience.com
- Last Login: 2018-05-25 03:39:11
- Forum Info: Profile Posts (249)
- Usefulness: 202.3 with
65 opinions
[average 119.5 of 231694 opinions; standard deviation 432.2 ]
- Profile: Welcome to my profile.
My name is Rohan, i've been editing on and off now for about 3 years now. In that time my contribution to the AMV world has been rather limited and probably not worthy of 3 years. But i'm all set to change this.
Expect an overhaul of my profile with many new videos in the coming months.
I have an awesome Job, with interesting hours that leave me with a fairly limited social life but - plenty of time left over to stop procrastinating and finally get some work done. Its time to get some glory back for AMVience, its time for me to perform and step up to the plate. The BlueTrain is coming and its not going to be showing any Mercy.
www.amvience.com is where you will find me, my plans and the rest of the studio - we're hell-bent on revenge after our defeat at the hands of Walkure (an evil studio, slowly engulfing Australia like a deadly parasite).
I use:
Adobe After Effects, CS3, 7.0 and 6.5, Microsoft Photodraw and Adobe Premiere Pro. I'd like to try a bit of vegas tho.
Videos i recomend:
1. Recollections
All of my videos are available through streaming (via google video) on my Myspace: "www.myspace.com/bluetrain36/"
Thank you for reading.


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Royals Minor League report: July 10
Omaha Storm Chasers (42-51)
Omaha 8, Memphis 3
WP: Maikel Cleto (1-1 with Omaha, 3-4 overall)
HR: None
Omaha moved ahead with a four-run eighth inning en route to a rubber game win. Danny Duffy scattered seven hits and three walks over six innings, allowing a run on a first-inning homer. He missed a chance for the win, as the Redbirds plated two in the seventh off of former teammate Maikel Cleto. The righty held Memphis scoreless over the final two innings, picking up his first win for Omaha. Paulo Orlando and Anthony Seratelli had two RBIs apiece. Quintin Berry was 3-for-3 plus a walk.
NW Arkansas Naturals (11-8 2nd half, 36-53 overall)
NW Arkansas 10, Springfield 5
WP: Sam Runion (3-2)
HR: Orlando Calixte (5)
Orlando Calixte's grand slam capped a five-run sixth as the Naturals won game one over Springfield. Rey Navarro scored the go-ahead run on a fielding error. Yem Praded recorded three hits and three runs. Whit Merrifield tripled and drove in three on the night. Starter Andy Ferguson tossed five innings, allowing three runs (two earned), two hits and a walk while striking out six.
Wilmington Blue Rocks (11-8 2nd half, 44-45 overall)
Frederick 6, Wilmington 1
LP: John Lamb (4-7)
HR: None
Wilmington dropped to 2-1 in a four-game series. Frederick scored three in the first off of John Lamb (2 2/3 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO). Tyler Sample worked 4 1/3 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on five htis and two walks.
Lexington Legends (11-7 2nd half, 44-42 overall)
Greensboro 6, Lexington 3
LP: Miguel Almnote (3-7)
HR: None
Lexington dropped to 0-2 in the series with a matinee loss at home. Starter Miguel Almonte allowed four runs, four hits and two walks over three innings. Ali Williams followed with three scoreless frames. Raul Mondesi recorded two hits and a run.
Idaho Falls Chukars (6-14)
Helena 9, Idaho Falls 7
LP: Ashton Goudeau (0-4)
HR: Frank Schwindel (3), Elier Hernandez (1)
Idaho Falls lost a second straight despite scoring in six different frames. Frank Schwindel was 2-for-2 with a double, a home run and three RBIs. He was KC's 18th round pick last month out of St. John's. Elier Hernandez added a two-run homer.
Burlington Royals (11-7)
Bluefield 1, Burlington 0 - Suspended due to rain
Burlington's opener vs. Bluefield was suspended after four innings. The game is scheduled to resume tonight at 5:00 p.m., followed by the regularly scheduled contest. Matt Tenuta limited the Jays to a run on five hits and a walk.
Surprise Royals (6-11)
Arizona Reds 12, Surprise 6
LP: Tripp Davis (1-1)
HR: None
Surprise allowed all 12 runs from the fifth through the seventh. Angel Franco reached five times, going 3-for-3 with two walks, an RBI and one run. He's on a rehab assignment for a hamstring injury. Xavier Fernandez added two hits, two RBIs and a run. He is batting .560 (13-for-25) in six games.


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The other day, while writing my blog post, I had a brilliant idea for a post. Now, I usually make notes right away. My home is littered with post-it notes, writing on the back of envelopes and the covers of magazines. And, there is a good reason.
Because I have no memory. So, the other day, I said to myself, "I will do that right after I finish this post."
It was to be a brilliant post, witty, short, with a broad appeal to all post. I remember thinking I should have thought of it two days ago, when 'something' happened.
Well, it's gone. Lost in the mush that is my brain. All that brilliance wasted!!!


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Visa Filing Fees to Increase November 23 - (October 5, 2010)
Washington, D.C. - Orchestras engaging international guest artists should take note of an upcoming change to the O and P visa filing process. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has increased the fees for visa petitions filed on or after November 23, 2010.
- The fee for the regular I-129 petition for a nonimmigrant worker will increase from $320 to $325.
- The fee for the I-907 premium processing form will increase from $1000 to $1225.
Petitions mailed, postmarked, or otherwise filed on or after November 23, 2010 must include the new fee. To avoid delays in processing, please note the fee change and plan accordingly. USCIS will likely return any petitions that are filed with the new fee before November 23rd, or with the old fee after November 23rd. See the ArtistsfromAbroad.org site for complete details regarding all fee changes.
USCIS Repeats Promise of Speedy Processing
When the fee increase was proposed earlier this summer, individual arts-related petitioners and the national performing arts community filed comments with USCIS, urging the agency to make much needed improvements to the regular petition process and objecting to the significant increase in the already unaffordable Premium Processing fee. In their September 24 notice regarding the final fees, USCIS reiterated its recent commitment to speed up and improve the quality of regular O and P artist visa processing, with the intent that fewer petitioners would need to resort to the costly Premium Processing Service.
Monitor and Report Your Experience
While USCIS has once again confirmed its intent to process regularly-filed petitions within 14 days, please continue to file arts-related petitions as far in advance of a performance as possible, and closely monitor the level of service you receive:
- If more than 14 days transpire after filing a petition through the regular process, immediately call the National Customer Service Center (NCSC) at 800-375-5283 to initiate an inquiry into the status of your case.
- Please report your experience with the petition process to the League. We will be closely monitoring trends in processing times and the information you provide will help us ensure that USCIS fulfills its promise to improve the efficiency and quality of the artist visa process.
In the wake of promised improvements by USCIS, it is more important than ever that artist visa petitioners do their part to submit complete and timely visa petitions. Visit the artistsfromabroad.org web site for guidance and contact League government affairs for assistance. Above all, remember to file your visa petition as early as possible and compile your best possible petition. We will continue to update the Artists from Abroad web site to reflect any new policy developments.
The League is a member of the Performing Arts Alliance, a coalition of national performing arts service organizations dedicated to advocating for national policies that recognize, enhance, and foster the contributions the performing arts make to America


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We have a front wall covered by ivy. We do like it very much, but keep getting remarks that ivy eventually destroys your wall. My usual response is that you often see ivy on century-old buildings and those seem to have survived all right.
So my question is if there really is potential danger in ivy growing on your (brick) walls and should I remove them, or is it just an urban legend and should we enjoy the beauty of it?
(source: By Ikar.us (Karlsruhe:Alter Friedhof) [CC-BY-2.0-de (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/de/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons)


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From the Blog
A sneak peak of our new commerical…
March 11th, 2014
HUGE Trade Show Display!
February 21st, 2012
SpringDrive provided the design and printing of this 117 x 88″ Vinyl Trade Booth Display. The customer (Webfoot Outdoors) is a licensed Hunting Guide Service that specializes in Waterfowl hunting with the best dogs in the business. They will be exhibiting at a major Outdoor Show this weekend and looked to SpringDrive to help them make a good impression. SpringDrive also provided business cards, mailers, design, layout and large photograph printing.
Customized Oval Photograph
October 7th, 2011


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Editor's Note: An earlier version of this article mistakenly referred to Merck KGaA as Merck -- they are two different companies. The Motley Fool regrets the error.
With the launch of its phase 3 START2 study of tecemotide in non-small cell lung cancer, Merck KGaA (not to be confused with the U.S.-based Merck) is either advancing a valuable asset, or throwing good money after bad, depending on whether you are a believer in a subgroup analysis of its previously failed START trial. In this case, there are some compelling reasons to be a believer.
Merck licensed the drug from Oncothyreon (NASDAQ: ONTY) and tested it in a phase 3 trial of patients with unresectable, locally advanced Stage III NSCLC that had not progressed after initial chemoradiotherapy (CRT). Two-thirds of patients who received tecemotide received concurrent CRT, and one third received sequential CRT. In sequential CRT, patients receive chemotherapy first, and radiation afterward.
That trial missed its primary endpoint of overall survival. Median overall survival was 25.6 months for the tecemotide group, compared to 22.3 months for the placebo group, with a p-value of 0.123, which means the difference of 3.3 months did not meet statistical significance.
However, a subgroup analysis of 806 patients who received concurrent CRT showed a healthy overall survival benefit of 30.8 months compared to 20.6 months for the placebo group with a p value of 0.016, showing statistical significance.
About that subgroup
Subgroup analyses are often viewed with suspicion by investors. Pulling a positive result from a subgroup analysis out of an overall trial failure is not at all the same as having a successful trial, and the validity of such analysis have been questioned strongly in the scientific literature. It is often viewed as a way of finding a fit in the data for a desired result that can not be reproduced in subsequent studies.
However, Oncothyreon's analysis has a couple of things going for it. First, the subgroup was predefined at the start of the trial. It always intended to divide patients into concurrent and sequential CRT groups and compare those groups. That is unlike the sort of questionable post hoc analysis where the researchers select patients after the trial is completed for certain attributes and then only report groups who turn out to have positive results.
Second, Oncothyreon's concurrent CRT subgroup is quite large, representing the majority of the patients tested. The size of the group lends additional validity to the analysis. The significance of concurrent CRT versus sequential CRT is not known, but the size of the benefit measured for the Oncothyreon drug is impressive at over ten months, or nearly a 50% gain in survival. That's the kind of survival benefit makers of cancer drugs drool over.
It is hypothesized that concurrent CRT may lead to a type of cell death response that is different than the immunosuppressive effects of chemo and radiation given separately, and therefore more amenable to an immune-mediating therapy like tecemotide. It is also possible that the split between concurrent and sequential CRT separated the patients who were doing better from those not expected to achieve a cure. Immunotherapy products are thought to work better in patients with healthier immune systems.
NSCLC market is robust and growing
Merck partnered with Oncothyreon in 2001 in a 15-year, $150 million global collaboration. The deal has since been restructured with Merck responsible for all development costs while Oncothyreon is eligible for milestone payments and royalties. Oncothyreon could collect up to an additional $90 million in milestone payments for tecemotid, as well as royalties on worldwide sales.
The NSCLC market is highly competitive, currently led by Avastin (Genentech/Roche) and Tarceva (Astellas Pharma). However, according to a report by GlobalData, new immunotherapy products are expected to eventually outsell those market leaders. It projects 2022 revenues of $688 million and $348 million, respectively, for Boehringer Ingelheim's pipeline drug afatinib and Eli Lilly's necitumumab, and $1.75 billion for Bristol-Myers Squibb's investigational immunotherapy for NSCLC, nivolumab.
The overall NSCLC market is expected to grow at 3.3 percent annually to $7.9 billion in 2022. That means Merck's investment in tecemotide could pay off big time in the long run, if it can get the results it wants from the START2 trial. Although followup trials based on post hoc subgroup analyses have a poor track record generally, the large, predefined group combined with the very large treatment effect differentiate START2 from the sort of sunk cost fallacy situation some companies fall into when they try to massage the data from a clearly failed trial.
Priming the immune system for cancer
Tecemotide is designed to stimulate the immune system to attack cells with a surface antigen called MUC1, which is commonly found in NSCLC and some other cancers. Its strategy is therefore similar to nivolumab's, which is designed to attack cells that express PD-1, another marker commonly found on NSCLC cells.
BMS plans to use nivolumab as a second line therapy, whereas tecemotide is developing as a maintenance treatment. It's not clear yet what effect a concurrent CRT prerequisite will have on the market and sales potential of the drug.
Merck is carrying out the START2 trial under a special protocol assessment with the FDA, which makes approval highly likely if the trial is successful. Merck's progress forward with tecemotide makes Oncothyreon a potential acquisition target, as it would gain back the remaining milestone payments and royalty stream due on the drug. Its follow-on cancer vaccine, ONT-10, also targeted to MUC-1 is an additional asset in Oncothyreon's pipeline that could have future value.
Although Merck's investment in a second phase 3 trial after the unequivocal failure of the first may look like madness, in this case there is clearly method in it, and a good chance of success for the drug.


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Most of the heavy-hitters like Dwyane Wade, Manu Ginobili, Joe Johnson, and Jamal Crawford aren't on this list, but at least the heaviest hitter of 'em all still reigns supreme.
5) Jordan Crawford (WAS) - 20.2ppg, 5.4rpg, 5.6apg, 1.0spg, 19.2 EFF
Remember when he claimed he could be better than a certain other Jordan? He still WON'T be able to do that, but at least he's putting up great numbers in the continued absence of John Wall.
4) OJ Mayo (DAL) – 23.4ppg, 6.0rpg, 4.4apg, 1.6spg, 22.4 EFF
Mayo is another guy benefitting from the absence of his team's top player, but, unlike the Wizards, who are languishing at the very bottom of the East, the Mavs are still in the thick of the fight out West. Mark Cuban's crew would love to have Dirk back ASAP, but as long as Mayo puts up these stats, Dallas might just keep its head above water.
3) Klay Thompson (GSW) - 20.0ppg, 4.8rpg, 3.6apg, 1.2spg, 1.0bpg, 23.2 EFF
After a slow start, Klay Thompson is finally showing why this was supposed to be, and is slowly shaping up to be, his breakout season. He's scoring and shooting with the best the league has to offer, and the Warriors, despite their most recent loss to Orlando, are really reaping the rewards.
2) James Harden (HOU) - 28.5ppg, 5.8rpg, 5.5apg, 2.5spg, 27.3 EFF
Harden's production continues to be strong despite the Rockets losing 3 of their last 5. They did, however, win back-to-back games against the Wizards and the Celtics to stop their losing skid. Harden remains to be the top shooting guard outside of California and an All-Star spot should be in the offing. Anything less would be travesty.
|James Harden slams one on the break as the
Rockets beat the visiting Celtics.
(image by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)
1) Kobe Bryant (LAL) - 34.2ppg, 4.8rpg, 4.4apg, 1.8spg, 28.8 EFF
Kobe has really been doing well of late. Too bad the same can't be said of his team. When Kobe puts up these kinds of numbers, the Lakers usually win, but, strangely enough, even with the best center in the world in the lineup, they just can't seem to string up the Ws with any consistency this season. They did win their latest game, but, heck, that was against Washington. WASHINGTON.
Honorable Mention: Monta Ellis (MIL), Rodney Stuckey (DET), Manu Ginobili (SAS)
Game Recaps (courtesy of the Sports Network):
Indiana 95, Philadelphia 85
George Hill registered a triple-double with 15 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds as the Indiana Pacers posted a 95-85 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night. Paul George donated 28 points and six rebounds while Roy Hibbert added 19 points and 14 rebounds for the Pacers, who have won their past two games and four of six overall. Evan Turner had 22 points and 10 rebounds while Spencer Hawes gave 18 points for the Sixers, who have lost five of their last seven games. Thaddeus Young gave 12 points and seven rebounds in the loss. Philadelphia played the game without guard Jrue Holiday, the team's leading scorer at 18.4 points per game, with a sprained left foot.
Orlando 99, Golden State 85
J.J. Redick was one of six Magic players in double-figures, scoring a team-high 16 points as Orlando halted Golden State's five-game winning streak with a 99-85 victory. Redick knocked down 4-of-7 from 3-point range in helping the Magic to their second victory of the season over Golden State. Nikola Vucevic and Jameer Nelson each recorded double-doubles, with Vucevic tallying 12 points and a career-high 17 rebounds. Nelson chipped in with 10 points and 11 assists for Orlando, which snapped a four-game home losing streak. The Warriors have lost just twice in their last 10 games, both to the Magic. Stephen Curry scored 25 and David Lee put forth 24 points and 15 rebounds, but Golden State got little help from the rest of the team.
Toronto 95, Dallas 74
Linas Kleiza drained five 3-pointers en route to a game-high 20 points as the shorthanded Toronto Raptors pounded the Dallas Mavericks, 95-74, on Friday at Air Canada Centre. Kleiza shot 7-of-13 from the floor overall and added five rebounds, while Terrence Ross contributed 18 points for the Raptors, who were without two key contributors in Andrea Bargnani and Kyle Lowry. Bargnani, the team's second leading scorer, is out indefinitely due to a ligament tear in his right elbow and a strained right wrist, while Lowry has a partial tear in his right triceps muscle. Jose Calderon and DeMar DeRozan added 14 points apiece as the Raptors snapped a six-game losing streak. Chris Kaman scored a team-high 15 points, while Brandan Wright went 6-of-6 from the floor for 13 points for Dallas, which has lost two straight since a three-game winning streak. Former Raptor Vince Carter shot just 1-of-8 from the field for four points in the setback. Dallas also shot 0-for-13 from beyond the arc, ending an NBA record streak of 1,108 consecutive games with at least one 3-pointer made dating back to Feb. 27, 1999.
LA Lakers 102, Washington 96
Kobe Bryant racked up 30 points and got some needed support from Jodie Meeks as the Los Angeles Lakers stopped a four-game losing streak with a 102-96 decision over the Washington Wizards at the Verizon Center. Meeks scored a season-high 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting -- including 4-of-7 from 3-point range -- to offset an off-target night from Bryant and help the Lakers avoid their first five-game slide since April of 2011. Bryant finished just 9-of-29 from the field and an ugly 1-of-8 from beyond the arc, but knocked down 11-of-13 free throw attempts to reach the 30- point mark for the 13th time this season. Los Angeles had been 1-11 when Bryant hit that number thus far in 2012-13. Dwight Howard contributed a double-double to the win, amassing 12 points and 14 rebounds. Cartier Martin poured in a season-best 21 points off the bench in the loss, Washington's fourth in five games.
|Kobe Bryant flashes a grin as the Lakers break a 4-game slump by
beating the Washington Wizards.
(image by Ned Dishman/Getty Images)
Brooklyn 107, Detroit 105 (2-OT)
Joe Johnson hit the winning jumper at the buzzer of the second overtime to lift the Brooklyn Nets to a dramatic 107-105 win over the Detroit Pistons. Johnson scored 28 points and a physical Gerald Wallace totaled 25 points and 10 rebounds to help the Nets win on a night they got Brook Lopez back in the lineup. Lopez, who had missed the previous seven games due to a mild sprain of his surgically repaired right foot, had nine points. Deron Williams, who sustained a left quadriceps contusion in the first quarter, returned and had 17 points. Brandon Knight scored 22 for the Pistons, who lost their third in a row.
Milwaukee 90, Cleveland 86
Monta Ellis scored 20 of his season-high 33 points in the second half, as the Milwaukee Bucks held off the Cleveland Cavaliers, 90-86, for their fourth straight victory. Brandon Jennings, who beat the Cavaliers on Nov. 3 with a buzzer-beating 3- pointer, shot just 5- of-20 from the field for 16 points, but had eight assists and three of Milwaukee's 16 steals. The Bucks also blocked seven shots and forced 27 turnovers in beating their Central Division rivals for the ninth straight time. Kyrie Irving paced Cleveland with 26 points, while C.J. Miles added 17 in the setback.
Houston 101, Boston 89
James Harden netted a game-high 21 points to go with five rebounds and five assists as the Houston Rockets knocked off the Boston Celtics, 101-89, on Friday at Toyota Center. Greg Smith drained 8-of-9 from the floor for 20 points to go with six rebounds, while Chandler Parsons added 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for the Rockets, who have won back-to-back games since a three-game slide. Toney Douglas chipped in with 11 points in the victory. Paul Pierce dropped in a team-high 18 points with seven rebounds, while Rajon Rondo added 15 points and 13 assists for the Celtics, who were coming off a double-overtime home win over Dallas on Wednesday. Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry donated 14 and 12 points, respectively, in the setback.
Minnesota 113, New Orleans 102
Nikola Pekovic scored a season-high 31 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves kept the Hornets reeling with a 113-102 victory at New Orleans Arena. Pekovic converted on 14-of-18 from the field to help Minnesota capture its fifth victory in its last six games. Andrei Kirilenko and Luke Ridnour each notched double-doubles, with Kirilenko tallying 21 points and 11 rebounds while Ridnour finished with 15 points and 10 assists in the win. Kevin Love totaled 14 points and nine boards for the T'Wolves, who also received 13 points and eight assists from Alexey Shved. Rookie Austin Rivers had his best game as a pro, scoring a career-high 27 points, but the Hornets suffered their sixth straight setback. Ryan Anderson followed with 20 points and seven boards and Greivis Vasquez totaled a double- double with 15 points and 17 assists.
Oklahoma City 113, Sacramento 103
Kevin Durant poured in 31 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder kept on rolling by posting a 113-103 victory over the Sacramento Kings at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Durant finished a scorching 10- of-14 from the field and 9-of-9 from the foul line to enable Oklahoma City to remain red-hot as well. The win was the Thunder's 10th in a row, the franchise's longest streak since moving to Oklahoma City from Seattle during the 2008-09 season. The result also improved the Thunder to an NBA-best 19-4, a record surpassed only than the 1993-94 SuperSonics' 20-3 mark as the best after 23 games in club history. Kevin Martin and Serge Ibaka each added 18 points for Oklahoma City, with Ibaka pulling down 11 rebounds on the night. Russell Westbrook also registered a double-double, accumulating 13 points and 13 assists. Isaiah Thomas scored a season-high 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting in the loss, Sacramento's third straight following a string of three straight wins. Tyreke Evans hit 8-of-12 shots en route to 21 points for the Kings, who also received 15 points from Jason Thompson.
Phoenix 99, Utah 84
Jared Dudley totaled a season-high 22 points and Marcin Gortat tallied 12 points and 14 rebounds, as the Phoenix Suns pulled away in the final quarter for a 99-84 win over the Utah Jazz. Goran Dragic chipped in 17 points, as the Suns, building off an 82-80 win over Memphis two nights prior, captured back-to-back contests for the first time since Nov. 21-23. Al Jefferson had 14 points and 11 rebounds for Utah, which had a four-game winning streak snapped.
Denver 99, Memphis 94
Andre Miller netted 18 points off the bench, including four big free throws down the stretch, as the Denver Nuggets held off the Memphis Grizzlies, 99-94, on Friday night at Pepsi Center. Andre Iguodala led the Nuggets with 20 points, seven assists and five steals, while Danilo Gallinari chipped in 14 points in the victory, Denver's second in its last three games. Rudy Gay poured in a game-high 21 points, but missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer with under 10 seconds remaining to send the Grizzlies to their third straight loss.
Top 10 Plays of the Night:
Game Highlights:


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Cohoon, Martinez added to Bisons roster
The Buffalo Bisons today announced that OF FERNANDO MARTINEZ and LHP MARK COHOONhave been added to the club's active roster. Martinez was optioned by the New York Mets on Friday while Cohoon has been promoted from Double-A Binghamton.
Cohoon is expected to start for the Bisons on Monday, May 30 against the Charlotte Knights.
Martinez played in nine games with New York and hit .250 (5-20) with a home run and two RBI. He clubbed a pinch-hit home run on May 13 in Houston. The outfielder began the 2011 season with the Bisons and hit .292 (19-65) with three home runs and seven RBI in 19 games.
Cohoon, 23, has spent the entire 2011 season with Binghamton and was 1-3 with a 3.81ERA in nine starts and 52.0 innings of work (59H, 17BB, 44K). The southpaw has worked five or more innings in all but one of his starts and has allowed three of fewer runs in seven of the nine appearances. His 44 strikeouts lead the B-Mets.
Last season, Cohoon made 13 starts at Single-A Savannah and Binghamton. He was a combined 12-5 with a 2.57ERA (161.1IP, 142H, 131K).


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A friendly group of New Zealand Pottery enthusiasts, Crown Lynn, Titian, NZ Studio Pottery, NZ Potters marks and NZ Commercial Pottery.
crownlynn, dinnerware, nzpottery, nzpottersmarks, shapegallery, swans, studiopottery, patternsgallery, history, tableware, patterns, designs, #titian, forum
New Zealand Pottery and Collectables Forum has moved to www. collectiques. co. nz/forum/
crown, lynn, collectables, pottery, porcelain, kiwiana, #titian, zealand, ngakura, wharetana, wharatana, retro, studio, vintage, collectibles, collectors, waka