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(Pocket-lint) - I feel dirty: like I need a shower. You see, I've been unfaithful. Worse than that, I've enjoyed myself too. Let me explain: I'm a Canon man. Every camera I've ever owned has been a Canon (apart from a brief and misguided dalliance with a sexy little number from Olympus). So I was ready to pour scorn on this shiny little upstart from Pentax when it landed on my desk. But there was something about it from the start...
The camera itself is small - not the smallest on the market by any stretch, but unless you've got fingers like a hobbit that's no bad thing. In fact, this aluminium-bodied little minx strikes a good balance between weighty substance, compact portability and ease of handling.
If, like me, the first thing you do with any digital camera is to turn off the digital zoom, then, like me, you'll be intrigued to hear that the SVi has a 5x optical zoom. This it an equivalent to 35mm range of 36-180mm - and 2x more than enough for your average snapper.
In testing, the lens delivers good results at both ends of its focal length. Combine this (at your peril) with the 4x digital zoom and you're almost in paparazzi territory.
The SVi's versatility doesn't stop there; the range of functions on offer was something I only expected to see in far more sophisticated outfits. On top of the usual white balance, sensitivity (Pentax-speak for film speed), file size and quality settings, here you have the option to bracket your shots. This choice isn't restricted to just the overall exposure. Contrast, saturation, hue and white balance are all bracketable. So if you're not sure about your setup you can review three shots of the same composition and choose the final image you prefer. It can take a while to figure out all the variables, but the results add total flexibility in all shooting conditions.
Another neat little feature was the digital filters. These are preset effects that you can add to an image after capture. So if you think something might look better in sepia, just add the filter. Other cameras let you take sepia pictures, but the Pentax idea means you don't have to commit your chosen composition to just one effect.
But now to the acid test, so to speak: does it take good pictures?
The autofocus is just a little bit too slow for my liking. I found with moving subjects that the delay between composition and focus acquisition just too long, very often resulting in off-centre images. This I know is a problem with many digital compacts, but it still irks. Shutter lag however wasn't as bad as I'd anticipated.
Something that always takes a little getting used to for the novice digital photographer is camera shake. When using a screen to compose your pictures, as you would nearly always do with this Pentax, most snappers will hold the camera at arms' length. Without the body to brace your arms against, as with a traditional shooting position, you'll find your hand wobbling a bit and the resulting blurred images a disappointment. This is a problem I found gets worse as the camera's size decreases, but with a little practice you can steady yourself and soon be producing pin-sharp photos.
With 5.2 megapixels to call upon, the actual quality of the captured images wasn't a problem - although these days I think anything below this mark is starting to look a little outmoded. Also, I would advise keeping the settings set to maximum at all times. With high-capacity SD cards readily and affordably available, it seems silly to sacrifice image quality simply for disk space. If you don't agree, let's face it: file sizes are easily adjusted within most photo-editing software packages.
Talking of software, I felt that the suite that came in the box was probably best left there. The image preview in the ACDSee suite was awful and to be honest, if you buy a card reader you might as well bypass the whole thing and let your operating system import the pictures. As for the editing software, it was just too basic. With so many others to choose from (many available for free), I think it's an area Pentax need to look at.
Back to the camera itself: on the full auto settings, which I'm sure a lot of users will spend much of their time using, the resulting images tended to have a slightly cool appearance (a blueish colour cast was very noticeable). This means almost immediately you're into territory where changing the settings becomes obligatory. With a custom white balance function and the usual selection of preset colour temperatures correcting the problem was easy. Thankfully, the SVi also has a lovely little feature tucked away in its menus that allows all your settings to be kept whenever you turn the camera off.
So with colour corrected, what of the overall exposure? In optimum conditions, it performed very well and with three different auto-exposure settings (whole frame, centre-weighted and spot) it proved flexible in more challenging environments. The built-in flash was adequate at short range but struggled with subjects further afield, but this wasn't too much of a surprise in such a compact unit.
One area where this little camera excels is in its variety of shooting modes. With the camera set to manual, you can choose aperture priority, shutter priority or full manual. This is where you can let your creativity run riot with long slow exposures or lightning quick shutters speeds.
However, like many manufacturers, Pentax have tried to make creativity easy with preset modes that you can select depending on what you want to do: Night Mode; Landscape Mode; Macro and Super Macro settings (the last of these allowing focusing at as little as 3cm). These modes I found easy to use and produced results that although nothing special were perfectly acceptable. A notable exception was the sports setting which with the slow autofocus I just found frustrating.
Viewing your stored images is straightforward and you can add a commentary to your masterpieces at the touch of a button. Scrolling through the images was a little sluggish but this is true of most compact cameras I've seen.
There's the usual movie capture mode, which is fine for short, fun clips, but obviously is no match for a camcorder, but that's not why anybody would really buy this camera.
For the money (£200ish) this little box of tricks is a very good buy - especially for somebody new to digital photography. All my grumbles come from having been spoilt by handling more sophisticated (and grossly more expensive) hardware.
So for me, the Pentax SVI was a fun little fling - a dirty weekend perhaps? For many people, this could be the only digital camera they would need to buy. It packs into a very small frame, all the features and functions that digital photography can offer and it looks good too.


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P.O. Box 12068, State Capitol
Austin, Texas 78711
Tel. (512) 463-0112
April 3, 2004
AUSTIN -- Thousands of visitors converged on the Texas State Capitol today to watch Senator Jane Nelson, R-Lewisville, take the oath of office as Governor For A Day, a tradition dating back more than 40 years to honor the President Pro Tem of the Texas Senate.
The inaugural ceremonies, which included entertainment from local high schools and a Texas barbecue, took place nearly 27 years after the first and only other Republican female to serve as Governor For A Day -- the late Senator Betty Andujar of Fort Worth -- celebrated her inauguration on May 7, 1977.
"This tradition of Governor for a Day is not just an honor for the individual senator, but for the people of her, or his, district," Governor Nelson said in her inaugural address, which stressed the themes of education, health and public safety. "This chamber where we are gathered is the place where 31 individuals representing 31 diverse districts come together to find solutions to the challenges facing our state. It is an honor to have Senators representing every region of our state here today."
The Oath of Office was delivered by Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht. Senator John Whitmire, Dean of the Texas Senate, served as master of ceremonies with personal comments delivered by Congressman Michael Burgess, Senator Florence Shapiro and community business leader Bernie Francis.
Governor Nelson's first official act was to name a replacement Senator for the day, an honor she bestowed upon her husband of 28 years, J. Michael Nelson. She granted one pardon -- to her brother Walter Gray for years of teasing during childhood. She also thanked her five children and her 88-year-old father, Robert Gray.
A former teacher, Governor Nelson invited every school district in Senate District 12, which includes communities in Tarrant and Denton counties, to participate. The Capitol showcased visual art from elementary school students, poetry from middle school students, and entertainment from local high schools, as well as scholarships for future teachers.

subset: commoncrawl


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This Article From Issue
January-February 2013
Volume 101, Number 1
Page 63
MARIE CURIE AND HER DAUGHTERS: The Private Lives of Science's First Family. Shelley Emling. xx + 219 pp. Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. $26.
Celebrities in the United States have included sports heroes, singers and movie stars. These days we also count supermodels, YouTube sensations and, occasionally, people who are simply badly behaved enough to make the news. Shelley Emling's Marie Curie and Her Daughters is a reminder that, once upon a time, scientists were commonly celebrities too. This biography, based in large part on letters released to the author by Marie Curie's granddaughter, the nuclear physicist Hélène Langevin-Joliot, and focusing on the period of Curie's life after the death of her husband, Pierre, in 1906, gives a fascinating glimpse into the family's story, and their relationship with the American public, amid the upheaval of both World Wars. The book's first chapter is written in a dramatic style that some readers may find distasteful, but the remainder of the book, especially the later chapters, is worth holding out for.
The book's beginning details Marie Curie's affair with fellow scientist Paul Langevin. (Hélène married Paul Langevin's grandson, Michel.) Langevin's wife finds letters from the couple and threatens to publish them, exposing the affair. Other scientists denounce Curie and suggest she return from France, her adopted country, to her birthplace of Poland—even as she is awarded her second Nobel prize. The story is a complex one, and I found the narration a bit confusing. Emling quotes Curie's love letters to Langevin but then refers to the letters the French press acquires as "intimate letters—or forgeries based on them." Curie calls the newspaper's words "libel and slander" and Langevin says the letters were altered, but Emling does not share what the papers published. She later refers to Curie's "alleged actions," even though she has told us that Curie was having an affair. She dismisses Langevin's wife as abusive and tells us that "eventually he always returned [to her] for the sake of the children." Perhaps the author's relationship with Curie's granddaughter made it tricky to write about these incidents. Whatever the case, I wished Emling had placed greater emphasis on what seems to me to be the crux of the matter—that, as she writes, "none of this would have happened if Marie were a man."
The affair and its attendant drama thankfully disappear with the beginning of World War I, in chapter 2. Curie and her daughter Irene crisscross the country, setting up x-ray stations for army doctors. After the war, Curie's attention turns back to opening research institutes, but she has little funding and only one gram of radium. She and Pierre had spent years sifting through tons of ore to isolate it. The Curies had refused to patent their process because they believed that "pure research should be carried out for its own sake and must not become tangled up with industry's profit motives. Researchers . . . should selflessly make their findings available to anyone and everyone." In 1920, to purchase another gram would cost between $100,000 and $120,000.
In a fortuitous coincidence, shy Curie meets an American journalist, Marie Mattingly Meloney (known by her nickname, "Missy"), who convinces her to travel to America on a fundraising campaign. Meloney arranges the trip, marketing Curie in slightly dishonest ways to increase her appeal to American women: "She told her readers that it had pained Marie enormously to spend so much time away from her daughters when, in fact, Marie had made her work a priority and didn't seem to feel conflicted by her choice," writes Emling. Meloney also presents Marie as poor and writes that Marie will be using the radium to find a cure for cancer, although Curie has made it clear that she'll be using the radium for scientific purposes. The Marie Curie Radium Campaign quickly gathers over $150,000 in small donations, enough to buy the radium, which is symbolically presented to Curie by President Warren G. Harding in a White House ceremony. In spite of her failing health and aversion to signing autographs, to Americans in 1921, Marie Curie is a superstar.
Back in Paris, Curie and Irene get to work, even as the dangers of radiation begin to become evident. (The U. S. Radium Corporation refuses to admit any link between radium and the deaths of workers painting with radium powder, who lick their paintbrushes to keep them pointy.) Marie takes a second fundraising trip and provides an outsider's view of science in the United States: "Marie spoke out in favor of pure science as the source of true progress and civilization, especially after witnessing how much America's burgeoning scientific environment was intermingled with trade, politics, and even war debts," Emling writes. Irene marries scientist Frédéric Joliot, and the two become a research team reminiscent of Marie and Pierre. After narrowly missing their chance to be the first to discover the neutron and the positron, Irene and Frédéric discover artificial radioactivity, radioactive isotopes created from normally stable elements.
The family's work and travel is catalogued with enough personal detail to keep things interesting. The first half of the book retains an awkwardness, however, that might stem from Emling's heavy reliance on family letters in telling the story. She includes details I found pointless, such as that in 1929, Meloney sent Curie "a gorgeous address book as a Christmas present, bound in leather and embossed with Marie's initials." Charming, perhaps, but I would have preferred to hear more about Curie and Irene's science.
After Irene and Frédéric's success in the lab, Marie's perpetually fragile health deteriorates. She travels to the mountains, where she often went to recover from bouts of illness in the past, and is joined by her younger daughter Eve, who is more artist than scientist. At the age of 67, Marie passes away from anemia; her radium-damaged bone marrow cannot save her.
With Marie's death, Emling's prose becomes more free. She details Irene and Frédéric's views as the Nazis rise to power and as their artificial radiation (for which they win a Nobel prize) and subsequent research on atomic fission gain the interest of governments who would use their research to make bombs. As World War II nears, Emling shares other stories of the scientific community, such as that of Lise Meitner, an Austrian Jew whose exile to Sweden saves her life but also costs her the honors of publishing with her research colleagues, winning a Nobel prize and being remembered by history books. The Curies play many interesting roles during the war. In a scene reminiscent of The Sound of Music, Irene hikes across the Alps with her children to escape occupied France. Ultimately, Frédéric and Irene feel betrayed when they learn that an atomic bomb has been dropped on Japan. Emling notes that Irene frequently said "she was glad her mother had not lived to see the day."
The real treat comes near the end of the book. Eve, who has lived on the sidelines of her scientific family, writes an award-winning biography of her mother that quickly becomes a bestseller and spurs an Oscar-nominated movie. (Casablanca beat Madame Curie for the Academy Awards' 1943 Best Picture award.) Eve poses for Vogue, dines at the White House, and uses her fame to encourage America to join the war. She becomes a war correspondent, flying around the world to interview the likes of Chiang Kai-shek and Mahatma Gandhi. She marries an American diplomat and continues her travel and advocacy.
In 2011, celebrations marked the hundredth anniversary of Marie Curie's Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Although Curie's legacy is evident both in scientific progress and in the increased success and recognition of female scientists, the sobering words of her biophysicist grandson, Pierre Joliot, stand out at the end of the book: "I think Pierre Curie wouldn't have been successful if he had worked now. There is no time for long-term research, everyone wants quick results." Perhaps Joliot mentioned Marie Curie elsewhere in the speech from which the quotation is excerpted. Nonetheless, the quote stands out both for the point Joliot makes about the present state of scientific research—and for the fact that Emling chose to end the book with Joliot's recognition of his grandfather, but not his grandmother.
Emily Buehler is a writer based in Hillsborough, North Carolina. She received her Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2001. She worked for years as a professional baker, and is the author of Bread Science: The Chemistry and Craft of Making Bread (Two Blue Books, 2006). She continues to teach classes and workshops on baking at locations including the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina.


text:
Featured Amenities
Featured Amenities
Featured Amenities
Road Trip Essentials
Enjoy perks like free breakfast and free WiFi
There is plenty of free parking for your RV, truck, or bus. Stay connected while staying at our pet friendly hotel with our free WiFi. After a restful sleep, wake up to a free 8-item SuperStart breakfast before getting back on the road. Accessible rooms are available at our non-smoking hotel.
While You're Here
Fish for largemouth bass, shop flea markets, or play a round of golf
In summer, fish for largemouth bass or lounge on the beach at Shawano Lake, just up the road from our hotel. For shopping, try the flea markets at Shawano County Fair just around the corner. If you brought your clubs, golf at Shawano Lake Golf Course. Catch half-mile oval track races at Shawano Speedway. In winter, ice fish on the lake or snowmobile around the grounds. Scratch your gaming itch at Menominee Casino Resort in nearby Keshena.
Hotel Amenities
Accessible Amenities
Plan Your Group Travel With Us
Book your wedding party, sports team, or other group travel at our hotel. Submit your request for information about special rates on blocks of rooms.


text:
From Fedora Project Wiki
|About Fedora
|Vision statement: Our vision.
|Foundations: Our core values.
|Overview: Our mission.
|Objectives: Our specific objectives.
|User base: Our users.
Template documentation [edit]
- This documentation is transcluded from Template:About/doc. It will not be transcluded on pages that use this template.
Template:About is used for a small set of pages that represent the Fedora Project's broadest information, such as its mission and core values. Any pages that are added to Category:About Fedora should appear in this template as well.


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AZ Elite Spring Classic Schedule
Good morning!
I hope that everyone is arriving to Phoenix safely! We wanted to let you know that the Phoenix Mercury will bring a player to our tournament on Saturday around 2pm. Feel free to ask her questions or have your team interact with her.
In addition, the Arizona Diamondbacks have home games this weekend: May 17, 6.40pm. May 18, 7.10pm. May 19, 1.10pm. Chase Field is located right next to the Convention Center.
See you all soon!
Hello! We're excited to welcome you to downtown Phoenix next week!
Here's a bit of information that should get you off to a great start in Phoenix.
Team check-in will be held from 4pm-8pm on Thursday, May 16th in the lobby of the South Hall of the Phoenix Convention Center. Players do not need to come to check-in but ALL coaches listed on the roster need to be present for check-in. Coaches must bring an ID and all coaches must be present to receive a wristband that will allow you to sit on your team's bench. No replacement bands will be given. If lost, you will have to pay the daily entry fee.
There is a 10-minute loading zone outside of the South Hall where you can park for check-in.
Additional check-in will be held on Friday for teams arriving after 8pm on Thursday night. Please allow at least an hour before your game for check-in. Those with 8am games should check-in Thursday night as doors open at 7:30am. There will be no check-in desk Saturday or Sunday.
The main parking for the tournament is the East Garage. There are no in and out privileges so we did our best to schedule your games in close succession with an adequate amount of rest as well.
Tournament admissions is $17/day. You will have the option to buy all 3 days of wristbands at once. Keep in mind that the Convention Center will not replace wristbands if lost.
The team and coach entrance will be labeled and manned by security. There will be a separate entrance for parents and fans. Please stay away from the college coach entrance.
There will be concessions and a coffee shop open in the Hall.
BallerTV will be filming all games.
Stay tuned for more information about entertainment in the area such as attending a Phoenix Mercury practice or going to an Arizona Diamondbacks game.
Please forward this information to anyone you see fit!
Thank you,
Kayla Pedersen
The preliminary schedule is out. Please check back again as we get closer to the event in case your games have changed.
Click HERE for the link.
We still have about 40 teams that have not opted into our event. Please do so by Sunday evening to assure your place in the Coaches Book. Please make sure that your team name matches the name listed in our event and all coaches and players have approval. We look forward to seeing you soon. Thank You.
Please make sure you have opted into the Arizona Elite Spring Classic on the BBCS site. The majority of teams have not. Also, check to make sure all rosters are correct with no justification errors and all coaches have been approved. Thank you.
Dear Coaches,
This is a reminder to get your payment for the AZ Elite Spring Classic in by April 30. For those teams that have already submitted payment, thank you.
We look forward to seeing all of you in the Valley of the Sun in 4 weeks!
Gary Pedersen
Hello Arizona Elite Spring Classic Teams!
Thank you for registering for our tournament. We're looking forward to welcoming you to Phoenix!
If your team is in need of hotel rooms, there are a handful of hotels offering low rates. Just follow this link:AZ Elite Spring Classic Hotels.
Kayla Pedersen
Arizona Elite Girls Basketball Club, Inc.
Director of Basketball Operations
Click on a division below or search for a team to view the schedule.
All event related questions should be directed to Gary Pedersen at firstname.lastname@example.com or call 480-332-9848.


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< Features
Fedora 14 Boost 1.44 Uplift
That feature brings version 1.44.0 of Boost to Fedora 14.
- Name: Denis Arnaud
- Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Current status
- Targeted release: Fedora 14
- Last updated: 2010-06-24
- Percentage of completion: 0%
Detailed Description
That feature aims at synchronising the top of the Fedora tree with the current Boost upstream release. The current Fedora release is boost-1.41.0, folded into devel 2009-11-17.
As of Fedora 13, the canonical sources used for the package switched from the official Boost release (with BJam build) to an alternate repository (with CMake build, for boost-1.41.0). That alternate repository seems to be no longer actively maintained.
The challenge is therefore to go on packaging with CMake. If that fails, Fedora packaging will have to switch back to BJam build. In case it is successful, however, Fedora 14 should ship with Boost 1.44.
Some background:
- Boost package in Fedora
- Fedora 13 Boost-1.41 Feature
- Boost ships with an ad-hoc build system named BJam. The Boost development community is exploring alternate build and source code control approaches, including the use of more standard build and release management tools like git and CMake. Which, frankly, the Fedora boost maintainers wish to support. Fortunately for us, a team of developers had worked for over a year on a more standard way to build Boost, thanks to the CMake tool, namely Boost-CMake. However, the activity of that group has stalled since December 2009. Some members of the group would help any initiative, but nobody has taken the lead yet.
Technical details are available in a Bugzilla-filed enhancement request.
Benefit to Fedora
Syncing with upstream keeps Fedora current. This is part of regular package maintenance.
Upstream sources for Boost releases are evaluated, along with alternate repositories. One is selected, packaged according to Fedora package conventions and cognizant of existing package practices, tested, evaluated, and then built in Koji. This is then pushed to fedora devel. Dependencies are rebuilt. The unicorns are once again happy, and can go back to drinking champagne and complaining about slow build times.
How To Test
- No special hardware is needed.
- Testing of the Boost packages themselves requires the host system to have the boost-test package installed. Testing can then be enabled at package build time by passing --with tests. Note that that testing phase should be done only once per type of architecture and distribution version.
- Once the Boost packages have been built and checked according to the previous step, testing simply consists in installing them on Fedora 13 and checking that it does not break any other package dependency.
- Expected results: all the packages depending on Boost (for instance, gnash, pingus, kdeedu or k3d) should work properly on Fedora 13.
Note: for more adventurous developers, the new Boost packages can also be built and installed on other versions of Fedora (beginning with Fedora 12), enabling the soname patch within the specification file according to the Fedora version (for instance, the soname should be 5 on F12 and 4 on F11). But that testing is not required for that feature to be completed: it is just extra sugar.
User Experience
Expected to remain largely the same. New users of boost-mpi, welcome!
There are a large number of dependencies for the boost package in fedora. Here is a non-exhaustive list.
openvrml pingus hugin conexus player mapnik aqsis qpidc deluge rcsslogplayer Miro asc glob2 vegastrike gnash chess pyexiv2 k3d kdeedu python-tag linkage barry rcssserver QuantLib wesnoth mkvtoolnix rb_libtorrent bmpx xmms2 wp_tray fuse-encfs referencer source-highlight HippoDraw rcsserver3d
Contingency Plan
Non-completion will result in the F12 boost version, 1.39.0, being used in F13.
- Boost: http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_41_0
- Boost-CMake: https://svn.boost.org/trac/boost/wiki/CMake
Release Notes
- Boost 1.40.0 Release Notes
- Boost 1.41.0 Release Notes


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"Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" 2 Corinthians 13:5
Suggested Further Reading: 1 Corinthians 11:23-32
"Examine:" that is a scholastic idea. A boy has been to school a certain time, and his master puts him through his paces—questions him, to see whether he has made any progress,—whether he knows anything. Christian, catechise your heart; question it, to see whether it has been growing in grace; question it, to see if it knows anything of vital godliness or not. Examine it: pass your heart through a stern examination as to what it does know and what it does not know, by the teaching of the Holy Spirit. Again: it is a military idea. "Examine yourselves," or renew yourselves. Go through the rank and file of your actions, and examine all your motives. Just as the captain on review-day is not content with merely surveying the men from a distance, but must look at all their equipment, so look well to yourselves; examine yourselves with the most scrupulous care. And once again, this is a legal idea. "Examine yourselves." You have seen the witness in the box, when the lawyer has been examining him, or, as we have it, cross-examining him. Now, mark: never was there a rogue less trustworthy or more deceitful than your own heart, and as when you are cross-examining a dishonest person—you set traps for him to try and find him out in a lie, so do with your own heart. Question it backward and forward, this way and that way; for if there be a loophole for escape, if there be any pretence for self-deception, rest assured your treacherous heart will be ready enough to avail itself of it. And yet once more: this is a traveller's idea. I find in the original Greek, it has this meaning: "Go right through yourselves."
For meditation: Is self-examination a foreign concept to you? It should be done as least as regularly as we observe the Lord's Supper (1 Corinthians 11:28); God is able to assist us in our self-examination (Psalm 26:2; 139:23,24).
Sermon no. 218
10 October (1858)365 Days with C.H. Spurgeon, Vol. 1: A Unique Collection of 365 Daily Readings from Sermons Preached by Charles Haddon Spurgeon from His New Park Street Pulpit (365 Days With Series); edited by Terence Peter Crosby; (c) Day One Publications, 1998.


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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Dec. 2, 2013) – The current U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team Weekly update released on Dec. 2 includes briefs on U.S. players.
- Follow USAV on Twitter
- Contact: Bill Kauffman
FIVB WORLD GRAND PRIX EXPANDS: The FIVB World Grand Prix, the premier annual women's volleyball tournament, has expanded to a record 28 countries for the 2014 edition. The decision was finalized during the FIVB World Grand Prix Council held Dec. 2 in Lausanne, Switzerland. The 28 countries have been split across 19 pools with 12 - defending champions and world No. 1 Brazil, USA, Japan, China, Russia, Serbia, the Dominican Republic, Germany, Korea, Turkey and Thailand – playing in Pools A to I while eight - Poland, Peru, Puerto Rico, the Netherlands, Argentina, Canada, Cuba and Belgium - are in Pools J to O. Pools P to S also includes eight teams: Kenya, Algeria, Kazakhstan, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Bulgaria and Australia. In addition to the expanded to the expanded tournament field, the U.S. learned its opponents for the 2014 event. Team USA will face No. 3 Japan, No. 6 Russia and No. 11 Turkey in the opening week held Aug. 1-3 at a site to be announced. The Americans travel to Brazil for matches against No. 1 Brazil, No. 6 Russia and No. 10 Korea held Aug. 8-10. In the final preliminary round stop held Aug. 15-17 in Thailand, the U.S. will face No. 1 Brazil, No. 8 Dominican Republic,and No. 12 Thailand. The top four teams from the preliminary round plus the winner of Pools J to O advance to the Final Round held Aug. 20-24 along with the host that is yet to be confirmed. The pool distribution was based on world ranking with the exceptions Belgium and Cuba, who had qualified via continental qualification tournaments, and Australia who participate as part of the Oceania development program. A draw was conducted during the meeting to determine which positions each country fills in the pool distribution. For the full FIVB press release on pool distribution and schedule, click here.
LICHTMAN TALKS BULLYING: Cassidy Lichtman (Poway, Calif.), an outside hitter with the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team, continues to give back to the community in a way that make lives around her better. Her latest venture is a from-the-heart blog on bullying. Here is an excerpt from her blog: "Bullying never makes you cool; it just makes you a jerk. Do you have any idea the power that you have? Every day when you get up in the morning, you have the ability to make other people's lives better. With one word, one smile, you can brighten someone's day and make the world a happier place. But every time you make someone feel bad about themselves, every time you judge someone for being different from you, every time you make someone feel like they are alone in this world all you do is make the world a little bit darker. So what do you want to do? Do you want to go to bed at night knowing that you're responsible for a little more love and light in the world or for a little more pain? That's the choice that you have every day and you will be remembered for that choice." Later she discusses how passion shapes the world, but is often times misinterpreted as being different in a negative way leading to bullying. To read the full blog on bullying, click here. Earlier this year she initiated her own series of clinics called "Play With a Purpose" with all money going to benefit the Ronald McDonald House.
SWEET TWEETS: Have you ever wondered what it is like for the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team to compete overseas in the club season where they may be the only American on the team and away from family and friends for months at a time? You can get that inside peek into the players' lives by clicking here for the USA Volleyball's social media page. Below are some sweet tweets from the week.
- @Napela (Dec. 2): Nothing has ever come easy for me…so why expect it to be that way now #motivated #going2makeitwork #cuore
- @nicolemdavis6 (Dec. 2): New country to my list of many: Off to #Belgium for next #championsleague match on Wednesday #ilovetotravel
- @RADAMSS (Dec. 2): New blog post: Starting December off with a 3-0 win and seeing so many familiar and missed faces is always welcomed http://t.co/bVQyYYlqzY
- @C_jaxon13 (Dec. 2): So proud of @ArizonaVBall!!!!!!!!!
- @ChristaHarmotto (Dec. 1): Congrats @PennStateVBALL on their Big Ten Title! All the best in NCAA tournament!
- @LaurenPaolini1 (Dec. 1): First weekend of the V-league and we're off to a 2-0 start! Love the fight this team has!! 💪💪👏💜 #Hitachi #vleague
- @DScottArruda (Dec. 1): December 1! Lots of great things still to come this year 2013 although time is flying. Make this month your best this year.
- @KaylaBanwarth2 (Dec. 1): Ooo ooo selection Sunday today! I'm excited to see the brackets AND for LNK to host its first ever regional (hopefully the first of many)!
- @krishildebrand1 (Nov. 29): Look who I found in Brazil! #sohappy #favoritefancyfriend #dinnerdate 💛💛@itskimglass http://t.co/BYmIIZIMyl
- @jfaucette (Nov. 29): Super excited to announce the launch of my website!! 💃😁😋😆🎉🎊 It's taken a lot of time, energy and care… http://instagram.com/p/hUrIJ-LWM7/
- @destineehooker (Nov. 28): Happy Thanksgiving Everyone. #Thankful to see another Thanksgiving, being blessed continuously, having an AMAZING family, and AWESOME fans!
- @CassidyLichtman (Nov. 28): The whole family at home for a holiday? What?! Happy Thanksgiving everyone! pic.twitter.com/t40rxLqIkY
- @KellyMurph12 (Nov. 27): It may be freezing cold here but the sunset sure looks nice from in the warm car pic.twitter.com/3yUvjCZ2US
INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS CLIMB TO 180 U.S. FEMALES: USA Volleyball has processed 180 international transfers allowing U.S. female citizens to compete in foreign professional volleyball leagues for the 2013-2014 season, as of Dec. 2. Additional transfers are expected to be processed over the course of the next few months as professional leagues begin. A total of 25 transfers have been processed for U.S. female athletes to play in both Germany and Switzerland, while another 20 transfers have been processed for athletes heading to compete in France. USA Volleyball has also processed 14 transfers for players going to play in Azerbaijan and 11 in Sweden this season. As of Dec. 2, USA Volley has processed transfers for female athletes to 30 different countries. For the listing showing which clubs and countries U.S. athletes are playing for in 2013-2014, click here.
HODGE, FAUCETTE WITH EVERGRANDE IN CHINA: Megan Hodge (Durham, N.C.), a 2012 Olympic silver medalist, and Juliann Faucette (San Diego) are playing in China this winter with Guangdong Evergrande, which is under the direction of 2008 U.S. Olympic head coach "Jenny" Lang Ping. Evergrande opened the Chinese League with a 25-14, 25-19, 25-19 victory over Henan on Nov. 30. Hodge turned in a team-high 20 points with 18 kills on 35 attacks and two blocks. Faucette added eight points with seven kills on 17 attacks and an ace.
BOWN, SPICER WITH SHANGHAI IN CHINA: Heather Bown (Yorba Linda, Calif.), a three-time U.S. Olympic Volleyball Team selection and silver medalist in 2008, and former U.S. National Team member Nellie Spicer are competing for Shanghai in the Chinese League this winter. Bown scored 14 points with six kills on 12 attacks, seven blocks and an ace in helping Shanghai to a 25-18, 18-25, 25-22, 22-25, 15-10 victory over Jiangsu on Nov. 30. Spicer chipped in 23 effective sets on 42 chances, one block and one ace while playing the first three sets. To hear a video interview with Bown and Spicer as they begin their first season in China, click here.
PAOLINI WITH HITACHI IN JAPAN: Lauren Paolini (Ann Arbor, Mich.), a middle blocker with the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team, is playing for Hitachi Rivale in the Japanese V-League top division. In the team's season-opener, Hitachi Rivale defeated Pioneer Red Wings 28-26, 25-23, 25-15 on Nov. 30 in Okayama. Paolini tallied 14 kills, one block and one ace for 16 points. Hitachi rallied to win its second match with a 22-25, 25-17, 25-20, 25-23 victory over NEC. Paolini recorded 13 kills on 23 attacks with just one error and four blocks for 17 points. Hitachi resumes action in Nishio City on Dec. 7 and Dec. 8 versus Toyota and JT, respectively.
LARSON-BURBACH WITH DINAMO KAZAN IN RUSSIA: Jordan Larson-Burbach (Hooper, Neb.), an outside hitter with the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team, is competing once again for Dinamo Kazan in the Russia Super League. In CEV Champions League, Kazan (3-0) remained undefeated with a 25-16, 25-18, 25-16 victory over Romania's Stiinta Bacau in Russia. Larson-Burbach contributed 11 points with 10 kills on 18 attacks and a block. She added a team-leading 25 reception attempts. Kazan and Bacau meet again on Dec. 5 during the fifth leg of Pool F. Kazan improved to 7-0 in the Russia Super League with a 27-25, 26-24, 21-25, 22-25, 17-5 victory over league rival Dinamo Moscow on Nov. 30. Larson-Burbach, who charted 18 points in the victory, posted on her Facebook page "Big team win last night!...So proud of my team for finding a way!" To view a gallery of images from the match, click here. Kazan challenges Hara Maureen on Dec. 20 in its next Russia Super League match.
HOOD WITH ILBANK IN TURKEY: Outside hitter Regan Hood (Dallas) is playing for Ilbank of the Turkish League this winter. Ilbank battled past Besiktas 25-23, 21-25, 25-13, 32-34, 15-11 on Dec. 1 to improve to 5-4 in the league. Rood pocketed a match-high 27 points with 22 kills on 53 attacks, four blocks and an ace. She contributed a 71 positive reception percent on 34 reception chances. Ilbank, which is in fifth place, resumes action on Dec. 7 versus seventh-place Bursa BLD B Sehir (3-6).
ALISHA GLASS WITH FENERBAHCE IN TURKEY: Setter Alisha Glass (Leland, Mich.) is competing this winter with Fenerbahce in Turkey. In the Turkish League, Fenerbahce defeated Galatasaray 25-21, 25-17 in the first two sets before the match was suspended in the third set with Fenerbahce leading 23-13. Glass did not play in the match. In CEV Cup action, Fenerbahce has advanced to the 8th Final Round and will play Orbita-ZTMC-ZNU ZAPOROZHYE in a home-and-home series with matches on Dec. 5 and Dec. 11.
HARMOTTO WITH ECZACIBASI IN TURKEY: Middle blocker Christa Harmotto (Hopewell Township, Pa.), a 2012 Olympic Games silver medalist, is competing for Eczacibasi VitrA Istanbul in the Turkish professional league. In CEV Champions League action, Eczacibasi disposed of RC Cannes 26-24, 25-21, 25-23 on Nov. 28. Harmotto was a sub in the third set after several matches over the last month. The two teams meet again on Dec. 5 in France during the fourth leg of Pool D. Eczacibasi blanked BDL Canakkale 25-13, 25-21, 25-20 on Nov. 30 in Turkish League action. Eczacibasi (8-1), one of three times with just one loss in the Turkish League trailing undefeated VakifBank (9-0), plays third-place Galatasaray (7-1) on Dec. 8 its next match.
THOMPSON WITH VOLERO ZURICH IN SWITZERLAND: Courtney Thompson (Kent, Wash.), a silver medal-winning setter on the 2012 U.S. Olympic Women's Volleyball Team, arrived in mid-November to play for Volero Zurich in the Swiss League. The CEV Champions League resumed last week and Volero Zurich came out with a 25-12, 16-25, 25-15, 25-18 victory over Tauron MKS Dawbrowa Gornicza during the third leg of Pool F. Thompson stated the first two sets, which included leading Volero to a 50 kill percent in the first set. The teams meet again in the fourth leg on Dec. 4 in Poland. In the Swiss League, Thompson helped Volero Zurich to a 25-17, 25-22, 25-18 victory over second-place Volley Koniz on Nov. 30. Volero Zurich takes on third-place VC Kanti Schaffhausen on Dec. 7 in its next match. Thompson is the subject of a volleyball documentary entitled "Court & Spark", which will debut during the week of the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship held in Seattle Dec. 19-21. The documentary explores who Courtney Thompson is, how it is to live a life as a professional American Volleyball star overseas, how she has overcome staggering odds and mixed in with experts of the game speaking about her. The one-hour documentary is aimed at players, parents, coaches, fans, media and policymakers who can support the creation and maintenance of sports facilities and opportunities for our youth. To view the documentary preview, click here.
DONAHUE WITH SM'AESCH PFEFFINGEN IN SWITZERLAND: Caitlyn Donahue (Kansas City, Kan.), who trained with the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team this past summer, is playing for Sm'Aesch Pfeffingen I in the first division of the Swiss League. Sm'Aesch Pfeffingen was edged 25-17, 23-25, 25-23, 22-25, 15-9 by Sagres NUC on Nov. 30. Donahue was named her team's most valuable player of the match after contributed three kills on 13 attacks, two blocks and an ace for six points. She added 33 assists in leding her team to a 33 kill percent for the match. Sm'Aesch Pfeffingen, currently eighth in the top Swiss League with a 2-5 record with three of its matches going five sets, resumes action on Dec. 7 against sixth-place Dudingen (2-5).
HILL WITH ATOM TREFL SOPOT IN POLAND: Kim Hill (Portland, Ore.), an outside hitter with the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team, is competing this winter with Atom Trefl Sopot in the Polish Oren Liga. In CEV Champions League, Sopot lost a 19-25, 25-14, 25-19, 25-18 match to Turkey's VakifBank Istanbul on Nov. 26. Hill started the fourth set after being a sub in the second and third sets. She compiled four kills and an ace for five points in the loss. VakifBank, which has now won 63 consecutive matches, will host Sopt on Dec. 4 in the fourth round of Pool C. In the Polish Orlen League, Sopot handled eighth-place Siodemka SK Bank Legionovia (2-7) 19-25, 25-15, 25-15, 25-17 on Nov. 29. Hill subbed into the match during the first set and started the rest of the match. She provided 15 points via 14 kills on 27 attacks with just one error to go with one ace. Hill added a 50 positive reception percent. Sopot, now 7-2 and in second place in the Orlen League standings with 21 points, returns to regular season action on Dec. 8 against league-leader KPS Chemik Police (9-0, 26 points).
ADAMS WITH TAURON MKS DABROWA IN POLAND: Rachael Adams (Cincinnati, Ohio), a middle blocker on the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team, is playing in Poland this winter with Tauron MKS Dabrowa Gornicza. In CEV Champions League action, Tauron MKS Dabrowa (1-2) dropped a 25-12, 16-25, 25-15, 25-18 match to Switzerland's Volero Zurich on Nov. 28. Adams racked up 10 points with nine kills on 19 attacks and an ace. The two teams meet again in the fourth leg of Pool F on Dec. 4 in Poland. In the Polish Orlen League, Tauron topped ninth-place KS Palac Bydgoszcz (1-8, 3 points) 25-19, 25-20, 25-21 on Dec. 1. In a starting role, Adams contributed eight kills on 11 attacks, three blocks and an ace for 12 points. Tauron, now 4-5 with 10 points for seventh place, takes on eighth-place Siodemka SK Bank Legionovia (2-7, 9 points) on Dec. 7 in its next league match. Adams is maintaining a blog during her travels, and is open to the public at rachadams.com.
HAGGLUND, MIYASHIRO WITH VILSBIBURG IN GERMANY: Libero Tamari Miyashiro (Kaneohe, Hawaii), a libero on the 2012 U.S. Olympic silver-medal team, and setter Jenna Hagglund (West Chester, Ohio) are playing for Rote Raben Vilsbiburg in the German league this winter. In addition, Americans Dominique Lamb and Michelle Bartsch are competing on the squad. Vilsbiburg (17-11 in sets, 15 points) was idle in the German league this past week and resumes action on Dec. 7 against VC Wiesbaden. In CEV Cup action, Vilsbiburg will challenge LP Salo in the 8th Final Round home-and-home series with matches on Dec. 4 and Dec. 11.
LLOYD WITH CONEGLIANO IN ITALY: Setter Carli Lloyd (Bonsall, Calif.) is competing for Imoco Volley Conegliano in the Italian Serie A league for this winter season. In the Italian Serie A1 regular season, In CEV Champions League action Conegliano improved to 3-0 by edging Azeryol Baku 23-25, 25-19, 22-25, 25-15, 15-10 in a home match on Nov. 28. Lloyd set Conegliano to a 43 kill percent of the match while adding two individual kills on four errorless attacks and two blocks for four points. On the other side of the net, American Jessy Jones tallied 10 points including a match-high eight blocks in a starting role for Azeryol. The teams meet again on Dec. 3 in the fourth leg of Pool E. In Italian Serie A1 action, Conegliano handed its first loss of the season by Liu Jo Modena 25-23, 25-15, 25-23 on Nov. 30. Lloyd set Conegliano to a 38 kill percent for the match, while adding a kill and ace for two individual points. Conegliano (3-1, 9 points), which is in second place, moves into the Italian Serie A1 Sixth Round on Dec. 8 as it faces 11th-place Banca di Forli (0-5, 0 points).
HILDEBRAND WITH AMIL IN BRAZIL: Kristin Hildebrand (Orem, Utah), an outside hitter with the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team, is playing this winter with Volei Amil in the Brazil Super League. Amil defeated Banana Boat/Praia Clube 19-21, 21-16, 14-21, 21-18, 15-9 on Nov. 29. Hildebrand turned in six points on three kills and three blocks as Amil's offense centered on Tandara Caixeta and her match-leading 37 points. Amil travels to Sao Paulo on Dec. 3 to face Sesi-Sao Paulo.
KIM GLASS WITH BANANA BOAT/PRAIA CLUBE IN BRAZIL: Kim Glass (Lancaster, Pa.), a 2008 U.S. Olympic silver medalist, is playing in the Brazilian Super League this winter with Banana Boat/Praia Clube. Banana Boat/Praia Clube lost a heart-breaking 19-21, 21-16, 14-21, 21-18, 15-9 match to Volei Amil on Nov. 29 as the Brazilian Super League resume action after a break for the FIVB World Grand Champions Cup. Glass contributed a team-high 15 points with 12 kills on 28 attacks and three aces. She added 17 digs in the match. Banana Boat resumes action on Dec. 3 versus Molico/Nestle. To follow her blog, click here.
SCOTT WITH BRASILIA IN BRAZIL: Danielle Scott (Baton Rouge, La.), a five-time U.S. Olympian playing middle blocker and two-time Olympic silver medalist, is competing in Brazil this club season with Brasilia Volei. Brasilia has been idle since a Nov. 1 victory and will not resume Brazil Super League action until facing Minas on Dec. 3.
BERGSMA WITH MINAS IN BRAZIL: Alaina Bergsma (Chandler, Ariz.), who trained with the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team in the summer of 2013 after winning the 2012 AVCA Division I National Player of the Year, is playing for Minas Tenis Clube in Brazil this season. After a Brazil Super League hiatus due to the FIVB Grand Champions Cup in Japan, Minas resumed league action on Nov. 29 with a 22-20, 21-16, 21-13 loss to Unilever. Bergsma compiled seven points with six kills on 26 attacks and a block. Minas takes on Brasilia on Dec. 3 in its next league match.
AKINRADEWO, BANWARTH, JACKSON WITH RABITA IN AZERBAIJAN: Middle blocker Foluke Akinradewo (Plantation, Fla.), a 2012 U.S. Olympic silver medalist, libero Kayla Banwarth (Dubuque, Iowa), Cursty Jackson (Los Angeles) and Brittnee Cooper are part of Rabita Baku for the 2013-14 club season. Rabita Baku swept Dresdner SC 25-19, 25-23, 25-20 on Nov. 27 to improve to 3-0 in the CEV Champions League. Jackson started the match and provided three kills and two blocks in the victory as Banwarth and Cooper did not play. On the other side of the net, American Becky Perry led Dresdner with 17 points in the loss. In the fourth round of Pool A, Rabita Baku returns home in a re-match with Dresdner SC on Dec. 5.
WILLOUGHBY WITH IGTISADCHI IN AZERBAIJAN: Kim Willoughby (Napoleonville, La.), a 2008 U.S. Olympic Games silver medalist, is competing for Igtisadchi of the Azerbaijan Super League in 2013-14. In CEV Champions League action, Igtisadchi lost to Italy's Rebecchi Meccanica Piacenza 25-16, 25-18, 21-25, 25-20 on Nov. 27. Willoughby came off the bench in the first two sets and started the final two sets in contributing seven kills on 15 attacks with just one error. Wilson did not play in the match. The two teams meet again in the fourth leg of Pool B on Dec. 5 in Italy.
GIBBEMEYER, CRIMES AND DOSTY WITH LOKOMOTIV BAKU: Middle blocker Lauren Gibbemeyer (St. Paul, Minn.) is playing for Lokomotiv Baku in the Azerbaijan Super League. In addition, former National Team middle blocker Alexis Crimes (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) and American Whitney Dosty are playing for Lokomotiv. Lokomotiv topped Azerreyl 25-23, 25-21, 25-21 on Nov. 30 in the third round of the Azerbaijan Super League to improve to 5-6 in sets played with four points. In CEV Cup action, Lokomotiv Baku faces Hapoel KFAR SABA in the 8th Final Round home-and-home series with matches on Dec. 5 and Dec, 11. To follow her blog throughout the year, visit laurengibby.blogspot.com.
DAVIS WITH DINAMO ROMPREST IN ROMANIA: Libero Nicole Davis (Stockton, Calif.), a two-time Olympic Games silver medalist with the U.S., is playing for Dinamo Romprest Bucharest in Romania this winter. After a break in the CEV Champions League, Dinamo Romprest defeated GENT Dames 25-20, 25-17, 25-15 on Nov. 27 for its first victory in the league in three matches. Davis was credited with a 78 positive reception percent (56 excellent percent) on nine chances to help Dinamo Romprest to a 56 kill percent as a team. Dinamo Romprest (1-2) challenges GENT Dames in a rematch on Dec. 4 in Belgium. Dinamo Romprest lost its first league match of the season, a 25-23, 25-21, 25-21 match to Stiinta Bacua on Nov. 30. Dinamo Romprest will look to regroup on Dec. 7 against CSM Bucuresti.
OPEN TRYOUTS: The U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team will hold its annual open tryout Feb. 21-23, 2014, at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (OTC) in Colorado Springs, Colo. The tryout process will be used primarily to identify prospective athletes for the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team. Athletes not invited to participate with the National Team may be invited to attend a second tryout as part of the U.S. Collegiate National Teams program (formerly U.S. Women's Senior A2 Teams). To be eligible for the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team through this tryout, athletes must have concluded their collegiate eligibility. This program could begin as early as the spring of 2014, or when the athlete's academic year or professional club season has concluded. Athletes with remaining collegiate eligibility will be eligible for the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team, as well as the U.S. Collegiate National Teams program, which consists of two different options if selected. For the complete press release, visit click here.


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2011 Big Three Diesel Pickup Shootout:Intro
Who Makes the Best 4x4 3/4-Ton Hauler?
When we were planning our 2011 4x4 of the Year competition last year, we realized that Ford, GM, and Dodge Ram all qualified for the test with new or revised diesel powerplants. But we felt those trucks really deserved their own comparison test, an evaluation tailored to their strengths: hauling stuff to the dirt and playing around in the dirt. We decided to aim our sights at 34-ton models with midlevel trim grades and optionsthe core of the truck marketfiguring they would make better dual-purpose on/off-road machines than the full-dress, high-end, 1-ton dualies.
The manufacturers filled our request with the three trucks you see here: a Ford F-250 Super Duty Lariat equipped with a 6.7L Power Stroke V-8, a GMC Sierra 2500HD SLT with a 6.6L Duramax V-8, and a Ram 2500 SLT powered by a 6.7L Cummins I-6. All three trucks wear a crew-cab/shortbed body, are equipped with their company's tow package, and weigh within about 600 pounds (or less than 10 percent of total vehicle weight) of one another . Plus, we were able to source three identical toy hauler trailers from Carson Trailer to test the trucks' towing capabilities (see the sidebar Hauling the Fun, page 62, for more trailer info). The trailers all weighed within about 100 pounds of one another, so this test is about as apples-to-apples as you're going to get.
Apples-to-apples, and brutal too: During three days we logged more than 1,000 miles, from early morning until well after dark, in weather that hit us with 60- to 70-mph wind gusts and nighttime temps below freezing. We didn't choose just any mountain pass to drive; we headed to the Borrego Badlands to haul our rigs up and down the Montezuma Grade, 10 twisting, winding miles at a 10-percent grade that has claimed more than one hapless RV trying to leave the Anza Borrego State Park. (A 10-percent grade is illegal in this state, so the road is marked at just 8 percent.)
One fuel economy run started at the Salton Sea, 228 feet below sea level, and peaked at nearly 6,000 feet in the Laguna Mountains. That route also took us through the Mountain Springs Grade on Interstate 8, the grueling, steep bane of every long-haul trucker traveling along the CaliforniaMexico border.
Likewise, not just any OHV area would do for our off-road testing. We were granted access to a portion of the secret proving grounds where Ford developed the Raptor, thanks to the help of Pacific Contract Services (PCS), master logisticians who have assisted Ford and many other automakers and OE vendors with their testing programs. The PCS crew kept us on course during our stay and well provisioned too.
We concluded our testing with no clear victor in mind. Each of the trucks was more than up to the task we put it through and was capable on and off the pavement, with or without a trailer. It took our pouring over the judging sheets later and carefully awarding points in 47 categories to tease out a winner. Read on to see who's king of this hill.


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By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 30 (HealthDay News) -- Fewer women in the United States are dying from breast cancer, but disparities in death rates still exist between whites and blacks, a new report shows.
Deaths from breast cancer have dropped more than 2 percent each year since 1990. And in the past decade that decline in deaths has been shared by black, Hispanic and white women. But black women still have a 40 percent higher death rate from breast cancer than white women, according to the report, Breast Cancer Facts & Figures 2009-2010, released Wednesday by the American Cancer Society.
"The breast cancer death rate continues to decrease since the 1990s in U.S. women because of improved treatments and increased mammography screening rates," said Dr. Ahmedin Jemal, strategic director for cancer surveillance at the American Cancer Society.
The death rate from breast cancer peaked in 1989, Jemal said. "The most recent data from 2006 shows the breast cancer death rates have dropped nearly 30 percent," he said. "That's very good news."
When this data is translated into the number of women with breast cancer who did not die, some 130,000 lives were saved, he noted.
Jemal said the decline in breast cancer deaths could be accelerated with more targeted treatment, more access to mammography, and more treatment for the poor and the uninsured.
Among uninsured women, only 30 percent had a mammogram during the past two years, compared with about 70 percent of insured women, he said.
All women should have regular screening for breast cancer, Jemal said. "If breast cancer is caught early, the five-year survival rate is 98 percent, but if you catch it late the survival rate is only 24 percent," he added.
Another way to lower the risk of death from breast cancer is to promote prevention, Jemal said. This includes maintaining a healthy body weight, keeping fit through exercise, and limiting alcohol consumption, he said.
Dr. Harold J. Burstein, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, said, "We are making real progress against breast cancer."
"Sometimes there is a lot of nihilism. People worry that we are not winning the war on cancer," he said. "In this particular battle, we are clearly winning. It is slow, hard progress, but we are winning."
"We are not winning because we have a new secret weapon," Burstein added. "We are winning because we have a better infrastructure, because we have educated patients and doctors, because we do have new tools becoming available, because we have new insights into the biology of the cancer -- all those things are making a difference."
Other highlights of the report include:
More information
For more on breast cancer, visit the American Cancer Society.
SOURCES: Ahmedin Jemal, D.V.M., Ph.D., strategic director, cancer surveillance, American Cancer Society, Atlanta; Harold J. Burstein, M.D., Ph.D., Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and assistant professor, medicine, Harvard Medical School, both in Boston; Sept. 30, 2009, American Cancer Society report, Breast Cancer Facts & Figures 2009-2010
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Scott Lake Lodge
Species Guided: Northern Pike Lake Trout Arctic Grayling
Saskatchewan Fishing Camps Guides and Lodges
Choose where you prefer to fish from our list. Then choose the species of fishing. Make your selections and then click the "Show Outfitters" button. You will be shown a list of matching fishing camps and lodges.
If you are having trouble selecting a fishing camp, try the Trip Finder, and we will help find one for you.
Outfitters, click to add your listing to our directory.
Select Your Fishing Preferences
|Preferred Province(s):
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|This section includes information and links to fishing camps and fishing lodges providing services in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. If you can't find the fishing adventure your searching for, try the Trip Finder and we'll help find one for you.
The fishing camps and lodges listed on PrairieOutdoors.com can provide you world class adventures for the top fish species in North America. Fish species include Walleye (Pickerel), Northern Pike, Lake Trout, Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout, Brown Trout, Perch, Sturgeon, Whitefish, and Arctic Grayling. PrairieOutdoors.com is your most complete source for information!


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How to Drop?
Complete the drop process either by dropping online on mySJSU account by the posted deadline or filing a Petition for Course Drop Form. Refer to the Winter Calendar to identify which drop method, what signatures are required and whether an academic withdrawal penalty applies. Leaving a course without authorization will result in a WU (F) grade.
For more information see instructions on the Petition for Course Drop Form.


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Yes, it's the last thing you throw on as you run out the door. But as far as we're concerned, outerwear women's jackets, coats & sweaters (and shoes) should never be an afterthought. Besides being the only thing standing between you and that out-of-nowhere summer storm or arctic blast, the right coat puffer jacket or vest jacket can make you look pulled together in a flash. Our signature icon leather jackets trench coat adds instant polish to jeans, while our amazing-fitting denim jackets are the perfect way to top off a flowy, printed style dress. From light, everyday cotton jackets spring jackets to cozy winter peacoats, our women's coats and jackets are made from the very best materials (think world-famous Italian mills) and with attention to what we like to call "inner beauty"–aka those little details (beautiful linings, color-contrast collars and secret pockets) that make all the difference.


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According to the wikipedia article the British lost the siege of Cartagena despite having a numerical advantage of 7-8 to 1.
After the defeat King George II forbade anyone to talk about it in the British empire. Is this downplaying of history true? Why isn't it widely known?
After the news of defeat of the British Armada reached London all the medals were ordered to be removed from circulation, and king George II forbade to talk or write about the defeat.


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Last week, we introduced the Knot of the Week series on Cracker Barrel in an attempt to, ahem,untangle any confusion about square knots. Well, in the second edition of that series, we bring you the District Award of Merit.
The District Award of Merit is presented by councils upon recommendation of the district, sort of like the Silver Beaver is a national award presented upon recommendation of councils. See the resemblance?
Unlike with the training-based awards like the Scouter's Key, councils are restricted in how many District Awards of Merit they can award each year. The ratio is simple: one award per 25 units in a district. Divide the number of units by 25, and voila. If there's a remainder, always round up. In other words, a 26-unit district is bumped up to two awards, a 51-unit district gets three, and so on.
Districts don't have to hand out all of their allotted awards, but read on for the requirements for when they choose to do so.
Nominees must:
be registered Scouters.
have given "noteworthy service to youth," either inside or outside of Scouting—or both.
have gone beyond the duties of their volunteer position.
maintain a positive attitude and work in cooperation with the district and council.
You can't nominate yourself, but if you know anyone who should be considered for this award, click here for the PDF application. A special committee that convenes each year solely to discuss this award will determine the final recipients. Honorees are given the award at a special ceremony. Then it's time to dust off the sewing machine so you can wear the blue and silver knot with pride.
One last interesting bit of trivia: The District Award of Merit is technically referred to as a square knot, but, as you can tell, it's really an overhand knot. Or a pretzel. It all depends on how hungry you are when you look down at your shirt.
Whatever you want to call it, it's one of just three square knots that isn't actually a square knot. Do you know the other two? Answer in the comments section. If you're stuck, check out the January-February 2009 issue of Scouting for the answer.


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The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Book Description
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was written by Washington Irving. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was published by Saalfield Publishing Co.
Book Information
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|Hardcover (259 editions)
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Read the First Chapter of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow for Free
The Creators
Washington Irving (Author) : Washington Irving is a published author and an editor of children's books and young adult books. Some of the published credits of Washington Irving include The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Dramatized), Ri... more
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Reader Comments
Valarie Budayr said: 4 out of Five Stars.
tags: I read
tags: I read
Terry David Johnson said: Just found this recently. This is a great take on a classic.
tags: I recommend
tags: I recommend
Blake Hoena said: (A blurb from Terry Davis, author of Vision Quest) Blake Hoena's retelling brings a smile to my face. His Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a thrill, and it's also a little scary.
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Tracy O'Daniel
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text:
Statement from Primark
A Primark spokesman said: "Despite growing suspicions in relation to the origin of the labels and the considerable time delay since the garments were bought, Primark knows its responsibilities to the workers in its supply chain and has already started detailed investigations."
Primark investigates all allegations of breaches of its Code of Conduct immediately to ensure the well-being of workers in its supply chain.
We are always open to receiving information from any source and have stated that detailed investigations of the 3 cases (2 in the Swansea area and 1 in Northern Ireland) have already begun.
It is clear that these incidents arise from merchandise purchased a number of years ago. Since 2009, Primark has carried out some 10,000 factory audits of its suppliers. All incidents of this kind are treated very seriously and happen rarely. We believe this is largely due to the ongoing work of Primark's dedicated ethical trade team.
We are requesting to collect the three items from the customers and we will then be able to examine in detail the circumstances in which the additional label or information was attached.
We have had two instances of this issue arising in Swansea, raising a number of suspicions for us:
- 1 the labels appear to be of a very similar type, attached to the garments in the same way
- the two garments were on sale around the same time in 2013
- they were made in two different countries many thousands of miles apart
Northern Ireland
With regard to the issue in Northern Ireland involving a pair of ¾ crop trousers, this product line was last ordered by Primark in early 2009 and was last sold in Northern Ireland in October 2009. We find it very strange that this too has come to light so recently, given that the trousers were on sale four years ago.
Nine inspections of the supplier who made the ¾ crop trousers have been carried out by Primark's ethical standards team since 2009. To be clear, no prison or other forced labour of any kind was found during these inspections.
Code of Conduct
Primark's Code of Conduct sets out the core principles that suppliers must follow to ensure products are made in good working conditions and that the people making them are treated decently and are paid a fair wage. Primark is a member of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), and our Code is based on the ETI Base Code. We inspect each factory to ensure it is meeting our Code requirements and support the factory by providing guidance and training if issues are identified. Some 2,058 such inspections were carried out in 2013 alone. Primark has a team of over 45 professionals dedicated to maintaining the standards set out in its Code.
Primark is committed to making working conditions safer for those who manufacture its products. It was the first UK retailer to sign the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh in order to work collaboratively with other brands and stakeholders in the industry to bring about sustainable long term change in the country.


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We are proud to present our graduates and invite everyone to meet and connect with them.
Take a closer look at the admissions process, student life and more.
What the Hertie School is doing to make your return safe and successful.
Find individual courses here or browse the curricula of the MPP, MIA, Executive MPA or PhD programmes.


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Naughty Dog's heavily-anticipated PlayStation 3 exclusive The Last of Us will be getting a demo, Sony has announced.
Additionally, first access to The Last of Us demo will be given to owners of the upcoming God of War: Ascension.
2013 starting out with a Bang!
it already started with a bang (Ni No Kuni)
"why did you insult me ?!"
lol, that really made me laugh for some reason ^_^. But yeah, Ni No Kuni and Last of Us, good times to be living in.
MAN!!!!! This is great news, trailers are just foreplay, but demos are almost intimate. Meaning its good to watch, but its always better to play. TLoU is going to be something special from ND
Not interested in God of war: Ascension but would love a demo of The Last of Us.
'BANG... and the dirt is gone'
On-topic: Sony are seriously on all cylinders this year. I wont be surprised if they end with a BANG; and the PS4 gets announced/released.
I have a feeling this will be a gaming year to remember.
Substitute "Angel Dust" with "The Last of Us" and "smoking" to "playing"
i won't be getting a next gen console until a few years after launch so its great news that sony continue to support the ps3.
Yes yes yes. This would put the naysayers to rest.
This is good news amidst the doom and gloom
Watch the movie The Road people and get pumped
The Last of Us has naysayers?!
Show me where these fools are, I'll deal with them!
Seriously though this year is going to be amazing no matter what you game on. I think I'll remember 2013 quite fondly.
thinking of buying a ps3 for this game
or i might just wait for the 4
in any case this game must be played
PS4 will have a service that when you insert the PS3 game you will be able to stream it from the cloud. There will be a PS3 app on the XMB.
Definitely one of my most anticipated titles this year and that's really saying something seeing that this year is already looking incredible.
It seems like no matter what systems you game on, you have something to look forward to. Fire Emblem, Bioshock Infinite, Rayman Legends, The Wonderful 101, Monster Hunter, Beyond: Two Souls, Ni No Kuni, Sly 4 not mention the possibilities of games like The Last Guardian, Monolithsoft's Wii U game, Retro Studios' new Wii U game, Shin Megami Tensei IV, Monster Hunter IV, Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney being released in this year. And then there is Sony and Microsoft's new consoles.
If you're a gamer, 2013 may very well be one of the greatest years of your life.
OMFG what the hell is wrong with me?!! Dammit too late to edit! Sorry bro, I let ya down. I left out a lot to be honest, there's SO much good stuff coming out this year I don't think one comment could contain them all. Let me make it up to ya
"God of War Ascension: chadboban is An Idiot For Not Mentioning It Edition"
Seriously the game looks amazing, but it is God of War, don't see how we could expect anything less.
"2013 starting out with a Bang!"
For ps3 and nintendo users. Sad thing for xbox..
Pre-ordered God Of War a few days ago. This is a win for me.
I could care less about the GoW game just give me the TLOU demo. ;)
It's funny how long my 360 has been collecting dust in the closet. If I didn't have a PS3 I would feel cheated.
Yea Nintendo definitely did.
Glad Sony could join in.
Then once the demo drops, there will be hundreds of stupid articles such as "5 things I loved about the demo" or "10 things they could have done differently". This stupid repetition of gaming has really gotten crazy. Especially the fanboys on this site. You say anything negative towards PS3, you immediately lose your bubbles but say a good thing, you get praised. I hope this site has something bad happen to it and hope it shuts down. There's alot of people here that I know agree with me but don't wanna support me because they will be shunned.
Could very well become 1 of the most downloaded demo's on ps3. The hype is over 9000.
I love how "over 9000" isn't even funny anymore. It's just a figure of speech that means "a lot" now.
Over 9000 people bought Black Ops 2 on launch day. Not a million people. Over 9000 people. :P.
If that's the case then how much do you think the demo being exclusive to God of War: Ascension for at least a few weeks is going to help sales for GoW:A? I reckon it could add around 100K+ sales for people on the fence, not that it needed this demo to be huge as GoW always has been.
This cross-franchise promotion is a great idea! Sony refuse to show fuck all about the single player in GoW:A which means there isn't much hype, so at least now it can share some of the hype from The Last of Us.
Rated B for BOSS!!!!
Can't wait to finally play my most anticipated game ever !!!! Well at least a small part of it. Either way I'm excited as hell!!!!!
Ever? Really? We don't know THAT much about it for it to be that hyped. However, Naughty dog is awesome and if the demo impresses me, then I'll have to get it too.
In my opinion everything that Naughty Dog has shown has impressed me a lot. From the gameplay, to the plot, to the characters, and to the graphics/mo-cap, this game looks like pure perfection. Plus, it just feels like my type of game. I like games that focus on the characters and the story as well as having intriguing gameplay. Plus like you said it's NAUGHTY DOG. I LOVED the Uncharted series so chances are I'll love this game too. If the rest of the game is just as good as what has been shown than it will truly be one hell of a game.
My PS3 is ready.
Mine too.
Sheep? This game is clearly quite something from the footage we've seen and since ND are the devs behind it, it will no doubt be a spectacular game.
All i see is jealousy, jealousy everywhere !
Same here, and as an owner of both consoles, I feel bad for 360 owners.
Very good news. Not because I need a demo to be convinced to buy it--I know it is going to be an amazing game--but just so I can get a taste of it a little sooner.
I refuse to play it.....since it's a portion of the main game we'll all be playing anyway, why spoil a chapter or so of our main playthrough.
Impossible for it to live up to the hype.
You couldda kept that weak comment to yourself.
You and everyone else are pushing this game like it is the best the PS3 has ever seen. Maybe... but it won't be the number one selling PS3 game or the best score(s) ever. Give it a rest with this love affair for the Last of Us.
Anyone that makes a comment against this thing is banished and any comment for it is repped. What a joke.
Difficult I'll agree, but do I think it'll live up to it,... God Yes!
Colour me hyped!
Why does it always have to be about sales? What if the person is just generally excited for the gampelay?
Be a gamer please...unless it's too difficult to be one.
I finally have a reason to pick up a PS3
You had a thousand reasons to get a PS3.
I have yet to say that for an Xbox360, just saying.
All these dislikes for me picking up a PS3, I THOUGHT YOU PS3 FANBOYS WANT PEOPLE TO GET THE SYSTEM?!?!
The last of "us dollars" in my wallet.
especially stoked because i've been planning to buy god of war: ascension since it was announced. the demo is like the cherry on top.
awesome.. Whoever chose a xbox over ps3 this holiday & doesnt have both will be missing out big time this yr
I'm gonna pass. I don't wanna ruin the final game when I play.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say The Last of Us is probably going to be amazing, but there's always that chance.
The demo usually starts the player off somewhere in the beginning of the game, so if you do spoil anything, it's early in the game. Atleast you'd know whether the game is good or not.
Even if it happens to be a great game, there's also the possibility that this game might not be for you. You might play the demo and realize it's not something you want to play.
I broke down and played the GOW3 demo and I was blown away. I have the same feeling about this game. ND has always come through with the Uncharted franchise (except UN3's multiplayer) so I fully expect them to deliver here. Can't wait, happy gaming!
To the haters.
Cant wait to play the demo multiple times to see how the AI changes based on my actions.
SONY sucks.They always raped my wallet :-b .Oh man Cant wait for The Last Of Them :)
I anticipate many complaints about the demo's linearity.
why? its not linear. :)
Because it's a Naughty Dog game and that the thing that people complain about with their games right?
I never said that it would be linear just that people would complain about it


text:
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Raisin-Sugar Cookies
(Uzumlu-Toz Sekerli Kurabiye)
125 gr unsalted butter, room temperature
4 tablespoon full (a little bit more then 1/3 cup) plain yogurt
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp baking powder
~2 1/2 cups flour
6 tbsp Sultana or Golden raisins
1 egg white, lightly whisked
4-5 tbsp sugar
Mix all the ingredients except raisins, knead. When the dough comes together, add the raisins and knead again. Make chestnut-sized balls with your hands. First dip in egg white, then sugar only on one part of the ball. Place them on parchment paper on an oven tray with the sugar sides on top.
Preheat the oven to 385 F (190 C) and bake for about 25-30 minutes, until the tops take a light pink colour.
Makes 16-17 cookies.


text:
costume, distinctive forms of clothing, including official or ceremonial attire such as ecclesiastical vestments, coronation robes, academic gowns, armor, and theatrical dress. The use of ornament preceded the use of protective garments; its purpose was to emphasize social position by a great display of trophies, charms, and other valuables and to enhance attractiveness. Superstition, caste distinction, and climatic necessity all have been influential in the evolution of dress.
The term costume also includes accessories, such as the shoe , hat , glove , corset , handkerchief , fan , umbrella , cane , and jewelry ; styles of wearing the hair (see hairdressing ) and beard ; and primitive methods of body-marking and attaching ornaments to the body.
Sections in this article:
- Introduction
- Seventeenth-Century Costume
- Twentieth-Century Costume
- Renaissance Costume
- Medieval Costume
- Eighteenth-Century Costume
- Ancient Costume
- Nineteenth-Century Costume
- Bibliography
- National Dress
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Fashion


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I meant anything scripted, like monologues to dialogues, introduction/death animations etc. Obviously 10% of cutscenes is nonsense, although I'm pretty sure BT2004 had way more and I have a feeling that MT does too, as do most of current "successful CRPGs".
Let's just hope they don't "modernize" the dungeon-crawler into interactive movie levels.


text:
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