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Professor: Before we begin the examination are there any question?
Student: What's the name of this course?
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2011年4月29日星期五
John Ford
John Ford (1894-1973), American motion-picture director, winner of six Academy Awards, who in his 50-year career achieved renown with his portrayals of the American frontier and of the Irish immigrant experience. Born John Martin Feeney in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, he briefly attended the University of Maine before moving to California. With the professional alias of Jack Ford, he entered the motion-picture industry as a prop man in 1914, soon securing other assignments and directing his first films in 1917. In Ford’s early days in cinema, many of his films were Westerns,rift gold and he worked often with such well-known cowboy stars as Hoot Gibson, Tom Mix, and Harry Carey (see Cowboys). The Iron Horse (1924), about the American transcontinental railroad, marked his emergence as a director of importance, already using the name John Ford. Also notable are Three Bad Men (1926), Four Sons (1928), and his work with actor Will Rogers in such films as Judge Priest (1934) and Steamboat ‘Round the Bend (1935).
A brilliant storyteller, Ford soon developed a distinctive style as a director, displaying not only a consistent point of view but also thematic continuity over time. His work is characterized by a mythicizing of the American past, by superb composition and fluid movement of large forces on-screen, by a devotion to certain locales (he filmed so frequently in the Monument Valley region of Arizona and Utah that other filmmakers dubbed it “Ford Country”), and by story lines that address the tension between the individual and society.
In 1935 Ford won his first Academy Award for best director with The Informer. In 1939 three important Ford motion pictures inaugurated a remarkable succession of films that would carry him, with a brief wartime interruption, on an unprecedented wave of popular success into the late 1950s: Drums Along the Mohawk, set during the American Revolution (1775-1783); the historical biography Young Mr. Lincoln (with Henry Fonda); and Stagecoach, which single-handedly rehabilitated the largely discredited Western genre. Ford’s powerful film The Grapes of Wrath (1940),rift gold adapted from the novel by American writer John Steinbeck, and his moving portrait of a Welsh coal-mining family, How Green Was My Valley (1941), won him the Academy Award for best director two years in a row. From 1942 to 1955 Ford served as chief of the Field Photographic Branch of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), making documentaries of military action, sometimes in battle conditions.
After World War II ended in 1945, Ford directed such films as They Were Expendable (1945), a motion picture about the war; My Darling Clementine (1946); the “Cavalry trilogy” comprising Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), and Río Grande (1950); the comedy The Quiet Man (1952), which earned Ford a fourth Academy Award; and The Searchers (1956), considered by many critics to be his greatest film. His later work included Mogambo (1953), The Last Hurrah (1958), The Horse Soldiers (1959), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), How the West Was Won (1963; one segment of three), and Seven Women (1966).
A brilliant storyteller, Ford soon developed a distinctive style as a director, displaying not only a consistent point of view but also thematic continuity over time. His work is characterized by a mythicizing of the American past, by superb composition and fluid movement of large forces on-screen, by a devotion to certain locales (he filmed so frequently in the Monument Valley region of Arizona and Utah that other filmmakers dubbed it “Ford Country”), and by story lines that address the tension between the individual and society.
In 1935 Ford won his first Academy Award for best director with The Informer. In 1939 three important Ford motion pictures inaugurated a remarkable succession of films that would carry him, with a brief wartime interruption, on an unprecedented wave of popular success into the late 1950s: Drums Along the Mohawk, set during the American Revolution (1775-1783); the historical biography Young Mr. Lincoln (with Henry Fonda); and Stagecoach, which single-handedly rehabilitated the largely discredited Western genre. Ford’s powerful film The Grapes of Wrath (1940),rift gold adapted from the novel by American writer John Steinbeck, and his moving portrait of a Welsh coal-mining family, How Green Was My Valley (1941), won him the Academy Award for best director two years in a row. From 1942 to 1955 Ford served as chief of the Field Photographic Branch of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), making documentaries of military action, sometimes in battle conditions.
After World War II ended in 1945, Ford directed such films as They Were Expendable (1945), a motion picture about the war; My Darling Clementine (1946); the “Cavalry trilogy” comprising Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), and Río Grande (1950); the comedy The Quiet Man (1952), which earned Ford a fourth Academy Award; and The Searchers (1956), considered by many critics to be his greatest film. His later work included Mogambo (1953), The Last Hurrah (1958), The Horse Soldiers (1959), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), How the West Was Won (1963; one segment of three), and Seven Women (1966).
Go Barefoot
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In secondary school, I was always self-conscious about my height.
Once I was asked out by a life-guard. I had never really stood next to him and didn't know how tall he was, so the night of the date I took out two pairs of shoes-one with heels, one flat. I arranged with my brother to answer the door, compare his height with my date's and run upstairs to let me know which shoes to wear.
When doorbell rang I waited. Then my brother showed up and told me what I didn't want to hear: Go barefoot.
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In secondary school, I was always self-conscious about my height.
Once I was asked out by a life-guard. I had never really stood next to him and didn't know how tall he was, so the night of the date I took out two pairs of shoes-one with heels, one flat. I arranged with my brother to answer the door, compare his height with my date's and run upstairs to let me know which shoes to wear.
When doorbell rang I waited. Then my brother showed up and told me what I didn't want to hear: Go barefoot.
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Sydney Pollack
American motion-picture producer, director, and actor, born in Lafayette, Indiana. After graduating from high school, Pollack went to New York City to seek a career in theater. From 1954 to 1960 he studied and taught acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse and appeared in several Broadway plays. From 1960 to 1965 he directed more than 80 television shows,rift gold winning Emmy Awards and directing Emmy Award-winning performances by various actors.
After a fitful start as a film director, Pollack was nominated for an Academy Award in 1969 as best director for They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, which earned 11 nominations and won honors at the Cannes, Brussels, and Belgrade film festivals. He made various films starring Robert Redford, including Jeremiah Johnson (1972), which received a great deal of critical recognition, as did the popular success The Way We Were (1973). Also successful were the films Three Days of the Condor (1975) and The Electric Horseman (1979). Pollack’s credits in the 1980s include Absence of Malice (1981), with Paul Newman; Tootsie (1982), with Dustin Hoffman; and Out of Africa (1985),rift gold with Robert Redford and Meryl Streep, which won Pollack an Academy Award for best director. In the 1990s Pollack’s film work included memorable performances in Husbands and Wives (1992) and Death Becomes Her (1992), but he turned increasingly to producing. Among his credits as producer or executive producer are The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989), Presumed Innocent (1990), Dead Again (1991), Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993), and The Firm (1993), the latter of which he also directed.
After a fitful start as a film director, Pollack was nominated for an Academy Award in 1969 as best director for They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, which earned 11 nominations and won honors at the Cannes, Brussels, and Belgrade film festivals. He made various films starring Robert Redford, including Jeremiah Johnson (1972), which received a great deal of critical recognition, as did the popular success The Way We Were (1973). Also successful were the films Three Days of the Condor (1975) and The Electric Horseman (1979). Pollack’s credits in the 1980s include Absence of Malice (1981), with Paul Newman; Tootsie (1982), with Dustin Hoffman; and Out of Africa (1985),rift gold with Robert Redford and Meryl Streep, which won Pollack an Academy Award for best director. In the 1990s Pollack’s film work included memorable performances in Husbands and Wives (1992) and Death Becomes Her (1992), but he turned increasingly to producing. Among his credits as producer or executive producer are The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989), Presumed Innocent (1990), Dead Again (1991), Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993), and The Firm (1993), the latter of which he also directed.
Be Much Worse
James Dean (Byron James)
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Andy Warhol called him “the damaged but beautiful soul of our time” (McCann 1993:125). Three starring roles—two in movies released after his death in a car crash— seared Dean in American and global consciousness as the consummate teenage rebel (East of Eden, 1955; Rebel without a Cause, 1955; Giant, 1955). Dean embodied the anxieties of teenagers in his life and screen presence, which have made him an enduring legend for subsequent generations and highlighted the dark side of family values and Hollywood success.
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Andy Warhol called him “the damaged but beautiful soul of our time” (McCann 1993:125). Three starring roles—two in movies released after his death in a car crash— seared Dean in American and global consciousness as the consummate teenage rebel (East of Eden, 1955; Rebel without a Cause, 1955; Giant, 1955). Dean embodied the anxieties of teenagers in his life and screen presence, which have made him an enduring legend for subsequent generations and highlighted the dark side of family values and Hollywood success.
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2011年4月28日星期四
The MMA Hour With Anderson Silva in Studio, Chuck Liddell, BJ Penn
Three of the best fighters in the history of mixed martial arts will be stopping by The MMA Hour on Monday.
* Anderson Silva, along with manager Ed Soares, will be in studio. rift gold The UFC middleweight champion will discuss his upcoming title fight against Yushin Okami at UFC 134 and his documentary, "Like Water," which is featured at the Tribeca Film Festival. Also stopping by will be the documentary's producer, Jared Freedman.
* Chuck Liddell, RIFT Platinum the UFC's vice president of business development, will discuss life after fighting and his appearance at the UFC Fan Expo.
* BJ Penn will talk about his health status and what's on deck for "The Prodigy."
* Matt Mitrione will grace us with his presence for his popular TERA Gold "Mitrione Minute" segment and we will preview Saturday's UFC 129 event.
And of course, we'll be taking your calls. Rift Gold Give us a shout at: 212-254-0193 or 212-254-0237.
Watch the show live below beginning at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT. RIFT Platinum Download previous episodes of The MMA Hour on iTunes: audio feed here; video feed here.
* Anderson Silva, along with manager Ed Soares, will be in studio. rift gold The UFC middleweight champion will discuss his upcoming title fight against Yushin Okami at UFC 134 and his documentary, "Like Water," which is featured at the Tribeca Film Festival. Also stopping by will be the documentary's producer, Jared Freedman.
* Chuck Liddell, RIFT Platinum the UFC's vice president of business development, will discuss life after fighting and his appearance at the UFC Fan Expo.
* BJ Penn will talk about his health status and what's on deck for "The Prodigy."
* Matt Mitrione will grace us with his presence for his popular TERA Gold "Mitrione Minute" segment and we will preview Saturday's UFC 129 event.
And of course, we'll be taking your calls. Rift Gold Give us a shout at: 212-254-0193 or 212-254-0237.
Watch the show live below beginning at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT. RIFT Platinum Download previous episodes of The MMA Hour on iTunes: audio feed here; video feed here.
What Is the USDA Total Intake for Carbohydrates Per Day?
Overview
The USDA's "Dietary Guidelines for Americans" were first released in 1980 and have been updated every 5 years since. These guidelines, based on Institute of Medicine research, are the basis of numerous government and nutrition education programs and also represent the foundation of MyPyramid, USDA's food guidance system for consumers. Rift Gold The recommendations is that approximately half of one's daily calories come from carbohydrates, which are abundant in the grains, fruit and vegetable and milk food groups.
Carbohydrate Foods
Carbohydrates are compounds found in starches, sugars and fibers that are used as a source of fuel by the body. This nutrient is present in many foods commonly consumed by Americans at each meal. For example, typical high-carbohydrate breakfast foods include breakfast cereals, oatmeal, bread, milk, yogurt, banana and orange juice. At lunch, sandwich, crackers, yogurt, fruits and granola bars provide carbohydrates, while dinner may include carbohydrate-rich potatoes, rice, pasta, soft drinks and desserts. Even most of our snacks tend to be based on carbohydrates, whether it is a granola bar, a piece of fruit, yogurt, chips or chocolate bars.
5 Foods you must not eat: Cut down a bit of stomach fat every day by never eating these 5 foods. Naviibk.com
Sponsored Links
Total Carbohydrate
The amount of total carbohydrate listed on food labels and in food composition tables reflects the total amount of starch, sugar and dietary fiber found in a serving of food. Carbohydrates should provide between 45 percent and 65 percent of a person's total daily calories, according to the Report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010. This recommendation represents a daily carbohydrate intake ranging between 225 and 325 g a day based on a 2,000-calorie diet; between 169 and 244 g based on a 1,500-calorie diet; and between 281 and 406 g based on a 2,500-calorie diet. No tolerable upper intake has been set by the USDA.
Carbohydrates are mainly found in the food groups grains, fruits and milk. MyPyramid translates the USDA recommendations for the general public by advising that adults consume the equivalent of 5 to 8 oz. of grains, 1.5 to 2 cups of fruits a day and 3 cups of milk and yogurt a day.
Sugar
The amount of sugar contained in a serving of food is always listed on the Nutrition Facts label on packaged foods. However, RIFT Platinum this figure does not distinguish between naturally occurring sugar in a food and added sugar. Fruits, fruit juices, sweet potatoes, milk and yogurt are example of foods that contain intrinsic sugar, while baked goods, candies, soft drinks, breakfast cereals, granola bars, sweets and desserts often contain large amounts of added sugar.
The USDA "Dietary Guidelines for Americans" recommend that no more than 25 percent of your total daily calorie intake be provided by added sugar, which corresponds to between 94 and 156 g of sugar a day for diets providing between 1,500 and 2,500 calories a day. rift gold MyPyramid translates these recommendations into an amount of discretionary calories, which can be used for any food groups or for treats containing extra fat or sugar. The recommended amount of discretionary calories is between 195 to 510 calories a day for adults, depending on a person's physical activity level.
Fiber Intake
Fiber is part of the total amount of carbohydrate provided by a food, but fiber is not metabolized the same way as other components of carbohydrate provided by starches and sugars. RIFT Platinum Fiber is not digested, and therefore passes through the body whole, preventing constipation and contributing to satiety. High-fiber diets have also been associated with lower rates of cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, obesity and colon cancer.
The recommended intake of fiber is 14 g per 1,000 calories, which represents 21 g of fiber a day based on a 1,500-calorie diet, 28 g a day based on a 2,000-calorie diet, and 35 g a day based on a 2,500-calorie diet. TERA Gold The percent daily value appearing on Nutrition Facts labels is based on a recommended fiber intake of 25 g a day. The USDA's MyPyramid food guidance system for consumers recommends getting your fiber by making at least half of the grains in your diet whole grains and by including 2 to 3 cups of vegetables and 1.5 to 2 cups of fruits a day.
The USDA's "Dietary Guidelines for Americans" were first released in 1980 and have been updated every 5 years since. These guidelines, based on Institute of Medicine research, are the basis of numerous government and nutrition education programs and also represent the foundation of MyPyramid, USDA's food guidance system for consumers. Rift Gold The recommendations is that approximately half of one's daily calories come from carbohydrates, which are abundant in the grains, fruit and vegetable and milk food groups.
Carbohydrate Foods
Carbohydrates are compounds found in starches, sugars and fibers that are used as a source of fuel by the body. This nutrient is present in many foods commonly consumed by Americans at each meal. For example, typical high-carbohydrate breakfast foods include breakfast cereals, oatmeal, bread, milk, yogurt, banana and orange juice. At lunch, sandwich, crackers, yogurt, fruits and granola bars provide carbohydrates, while dinner may include carbohydrate-rich potatoes, rice, pasta, soft drinks and desserts. Even most of our snacks tend to be based on carbohydrates, whether it is a granola bar, a piece of fruit, yogurt, chips or chocolate bars.
5 Foods you must not eat: Cut down a bit of stomach fat every day by never eating these 5 foods. Naviibk.com
Sponsored Links
Total Carbohydrate
The amount of total carbohydrate listed on food labels and in food composition tables reflects the total amount of starch, sugar and dietary fiber found in a serving of food. Carbohydrates should provide between 45 percent and 65 percent of a person's total daily calories, according to the Report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010. This recommendation represents a daily carbohydrate intake ranging between 225 and 325 g a day based on a 2,000-calorie diet; between 169 and 244 g based on a 1,500-calorie diet; and between 281 and 406 g based on a 2,500-calorie diet. No tolerable upper intake has been set by the USDA.
Carbohydrates are mainly found in the food groups grains, fruits and milk. MyPyramid translates the USDA recommendations for the general public by advising that adults consume the equivalent of 5 to 8 oz. of grains, 1.5 to 2 cups of fruits a day and 3 cups of milk and yogurt a day.
Sugar
The amount of sugar contained in a serving of food is always listed on the Nutrition Facts label on packaged foods. However, RIFT Platinum this figure does not distinguish between naturally occurring sugar in a food and added sugar. Fruits, fruit juices, sweet potatoes, milk and yogurt are example of foods that contain intrinsic sugar, while baked goods, candies, soft drinks, breakfast cereals, granola bars, sweets and desserts often contain large amounts of added sugar.
The USDA "Dietary Guidelines for Americans" recommend that no more than 25 percent of your total daily calorie intake be provided by added sugar, which corresponds to between 94 and 156 g of sugar a day for diets providing between 1,500 and 2,500 calories a day. rift gold MyPyramid translates these recommendations into an amount of discretionary calories, which can be used for any food groups or for treats containing extra fat or sugar. The recommended amount of discretionary calories is between 195 to 510 calories a day for adults, depending on a person's physical activity level.
Fiber Intake
Fiber is part of the total amount of carbohydrate provided by a food, but fiber is not metabolized the same way as other components of carbohydrate provided by starches and sugars. RIFT Platinum Fiber is not digested, and therefore passes through the body whole, preventing constipation and contributing to satiety. High-fiber diets have also been associated with lower rates of cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, obesity and colon cancer.
The recommended intake of fiber is 14 g per 1,000 calories, which represents 21 g of fiber a day based on a 1,500-calorie diet, 28 g a day based on a 2,000-calorie diet, and 35 g a day based on a 2,500-calorie diet. TERA Gold The percent daily value appearing on Nutrition Facts labels is based on a recommended fiber intake of 25 g a day. The USDA's MyPyramid food guidance system for consumers recommends getting your fiber by making at least half of the grains in your diet whole grains and by including 2 to 3 cups of vegetables and 1.5 to 2 cups of fruits a day.
Britney Spears Announces Special 'GMA' Performance
Britney's back! Britney Spears announced she'll perform a special concert on 'Good Morning America' on March 29 -- the same day her new album, Rift Gold 'Femme Fatale,' is released, according to ABC News.
Spears appeared in a taped announcement during Monday's live show, rift gold where she announced that she'll perform in San Francisco's historic Castro District.
"I promise you it'll be a morning to remember," RIFT Platinum the singer said in the clip.
Watch Spears' announcement inside!
Fans are anxiously awaiting the release of 'Femme Fatale,' Spears' seventh studio record. TERA Gold She has released her first single, 'Hold It Against Me,' and a second single is expected before the March release.
Spears appeared in a taped announcement during Monday's live show, rift gold where she announced that she'll perform in San Francisco's historic Castro District.
"I promise you it'll be a morning to remember," RIFT Platinum the singer said in the clip.
Watch Spears' announcement inside!
Fans are anxiously awaiting the release of 'Femme Fatale,' Spears' seventh studio record. TERA Gold She has released her first single, 'Hold It Against Me,' and a second single is expected before the March release.
UFC Returning to England in October
The UFC will make its long awaited return to England in October.
According to sources close to the promotion, the organization is targeting an Oct. 15 date RIFT Platinum at Liverpool's Echo Arena for its next UK show.
The UFC has previously held 10 shows in the United Kingdom but this would mark the rift gold first one to take place in the hometown of "The Beatles."
Echo Arena opened in 2008 and can TERA Gold hold approximately 11,000 fans.
No fights have been RIFT Platinum announced for the event just yet.
The last time Rift Gold the UFC visited England was for UFC 120 in October 2010.
According to sources close to the promotion, the organization is targeting an Oct. 15 date RIFT Platinum at Liverpool's Echo Arena for its next UK show.
The UFC has previously held 10 shows in the United Kingdom but this would mark the rift gold first one to take place in the hometown of "The Beatles."
Echo Arena opened in 2008 and can TERA Gold hold approximately 11,000 fans.
No fights have been RIFT Platinum announced for the event just yet.
The last time Rift Gold the UFC visited England was for UFC 120 in October 2010.
2011年4月27日星期三
Classical music fanatic
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After inflating the playground balls, our school custodian, a classical music fanatic, had an odd habit of writing the names of famous composers on them. No one seemed particularly bothered by this behavior except for one parent volunteer.
"Can you believe this?" she said, thrusting a basketball under my nose. "Some kid wrote his name on all the balls!"
"Who was it?" I asked.
"Aaron Copland."
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After inflating the playground balls, our school custodian, a classical music fanatic, had an odd habit of writing the names of famous composers on them. No one seemed particularly bothered by this behavior except for one parent volunteer.
"Can you believe this?" she said, thrusting a basketball under my nose. "Some kid wrote his name on all the balls!"
"Who was it?" I asked.
"Aaron Copland."
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Equal-opportunity
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One Friday everyone in our office was in high spirits, and Marshall, a sales rep, was making the rounds, joking and teasing us all. When he stopped in front of a new employee's desk, she braced herself. "I hoped I might be spared," she said.
"Oh, you can't escape Marshall," our boss cautioned her. "He's an equal-opportunity annoyer."
rift gold
One Friday everyone in our office was in high spirits, and Marshall, a sales rep, was making the rounds, joking and teasing us all. When he stopped in front of a new employee's desk, she braced herself. "I hoped I might be spared," she said.
"Oh, you can't escape Marshall," our boss cautioned her. "He's an equal-opportunity annoyer."
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Essence of things
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Wondering why my niece, Charlotte, was returning to college to get a master's in philosophy, I asked, "What can you do with a degree like that?"
"Well," she explained, "it will qualify me to deal with questions like, 'What is existence?' 'What is the essence of things?' and 'Do you want fries with that?' "
rift gold
Wondering why my niece, Charlotte, was returning to college to get a master's in philosophy, I asked, "What can you do with a degree like that?"
"Well," she explained, "it will qualify me to deal with questions like, 'What is existence?' 'What is the essence of things?' and 'Do you want fries with that?' "
rift gold
2011年4月26日星期二
Series Preview #5: Talking Nationals With Federal Baseball
Earlier this week Patrick Reddington of Federal Baseball was kind enough to share a few moments of his time and his thoughts on this weekend's series:
KL: I know Ryan Zimmerman was placed on the DL this week with an abdominal strain. How bad is the injury, and what are the Nationals plans for third base while he's out?
PR: Zimmerman first suffered the injury during Spring Training, but at that point it was something "he'd play through if it was the regular season" and they were just being overprotective. When he said recently that it had gotten bad enough for him to stay out of the lineup it started to seem more serious and when he was actually placed on the DL everyone started adding up the unrelated rib muscle issue that ended his 2010 campaign, the ab strain and the groin issue he had this spring to the reappearance of the ab injury and wondering just how long he was going to be out. While he is out the Nats are expected to be going with Jerry Hairston, Alex Cora or possibly Michael Morse at third. So everyone's hoping Zimmerman's back as soon as possible.
Follow the jump for the rest!
KL: The sample size is still relatively small, but at this point Livan Hernandez (scheduled to start Sunday) still looks like one of the Nats' better starting pitchers. Any insight on how he continues to be productive long after the Mets left him for dead in 2009?
PR: Livan's control, patience, his willingness to throw as many pitches as necessary to avoid giving batters anything hittable, his brutally slow offspeed pitches, a streak of good luck (.344 BABIP in '08, .326 in '09 and .287 in 2010) and less fly balls leaving the yard 10.7 HR/FB% in '08, 8.4% in '09 and 5.8% in 2010, his ability to avoid the barrel of the bat...What Livan's done the last year-plus has defied projections. He's a smart pitcher with great control on a run of good luck everyone expects will end at any moment. I've followed Livan since the Expos acquired him in 2003, however he's doing it, it's great to watch eight years later.
KL: Despite spending a fair amount of money this offseason, the Nats still have to be considered long shots to win the NL East. How do you define a successful season for this team in 2011?
PR: The continued improvement of the Nationals' young core of players and prospects is what anyone who agrees that the team isn't going to compete this year is hoping for in terms of 2011 being a successful season. Watching Ian Desmond and Danny Espinosa develop further, seeing if Wilson Ramos can handle an everyday role, seeing if Jordan Zimmermann's stuff comes back as good or better than it was before he had Tommy John surgery.
Everyone will be watching Strasburg's recovery and following along to see how far Bryce Harper moves up during his first season. I'd like to see the Nats sort out their outfield this season. They decided Nyjer Morgan wasn't part of the future. Now they have to find out if Michael Morse and Roger Bernadina will be part of the teams that compete in the next few years or if they need to get an outfielder to play alongside Jayson Werth and eventually (everyone's assuming) Bryce Harper in outfield. If Jordan Zimmermann's healthy and Strasburg's back late in the year or just ready for Spring Training that'll be the sort of thing I'll think of as making it a successful season.
KL: Sunday's likely starter for the Brewers is Marco Estrada, who pitched briefly for the Nationals in 2008 and 2009. Do you have any memories of Estrada to share, or any other former Nationals the Brewers can borrow to fill in some starts until Zack Greinke returns?
PR: Why would the Brewers want more former Nats' starters? After Tomo Ohka and Claudio Vargas...
I remember Marco Estrada, but nothing too specific, mostly as one in a long line of average arms the Nationals threw up on the mound throughout the last few years in order to fill in the innings they needed. rift gold
RIFT Platinum Walking 4.0+BB/9 though, Estrada made just one start and 15 unremarkable appearances with the Nats before he was claimed off waivers by Milwaukee. If the Brewers need more of the same, Luis Atilano, J.D. Martin, Craig Stammen, any of those guys could be available, but I recommend waiting til the trading deadline and acquiring Jason Marquis.
KL: The Nats have three former Brewers (Laynce Nix, Matt Stairs and Todd Coffey) and a Wisconsin native (Jordan Zimmermann) on their roster. rift gold Any chance we could convince you to take a couple more (Yuniesky Betancourt and/or Mark Kotsay) to complete the set?
PR: Jordan Zimmermann's the only keeper of that lot. Laynce Nix is keeping fan favorite fourth outfielder Roger Bernadina out of the majors, RIFT Platinum a one-dimensionsal player like Matt Stairs makes little sense on a team like the Nationals, though he's filled in at first recently with Adam LaRoche injured...Todd Coffey's getting it together after a shaky start to his time with the Nationals. The sad thing is that the likes of Laynce Nix and Kotsay end up winning spots on the Nats' roster because they still don't have the depth of talent in the organization to challenge for spots on the major league roster. Rift Gold While it's not likely that the Nationals are going to compete, I'd rather see prospects developing at the major league level rather than watching veterans like those mentioned above.
Thanks to Patrick for taking the time, and don't forget to check out Federal Baseball for more on the Nationals.
KL: I know Ryan Zimmerman was placed on the DL this week with an abdominal strain. How bad is the injury, and what are the Nationals plans for third base while he's out?
PR: Zimmerman first suffered the injury during Spring Training, but at that point it was something "he'd play through if it was the regular season" and they were just being overprotective. When he said recently that it had gotten bad enough for him to stay out of the lineup it started to seem more serious and when he was actually placed on the DL everyone started adding up the unrelated rib muscle issue that ended his 2010 campaign, the ab strain and the groin issue he had this spring to the reappearance of the ab injury and wondering just how long he was going to be out. While he is out the Nats are expected to be going with Jerry Hairston, Alex Cora or possibly Michael Morse at third. So everyone's hoping Zimmerman's back as soon as possible.
Follow the jump for the rest!
KL: The sample size is still relatively small, but at this point Livan Hernandez (scheduled to start Sunday) still looks like one of the Nats' better starting pitchers. Any insight on how he continues to be productive long after the Mets left him for dead in 2009?
PR: Livan's control, patience, his willingness to throw as many pitches as necessary to avoid giving batters anything hittable, his brutally slow offspeed pitches, a streak of good luck (.344 BABIP in '08, .326 in '09 and .287 in 2010) and less fly balls leaving the yard 10.7 HR/FB% in '08, 8.4% in '09 and 5.8% in 2010, his ability to avoid the barrel of the bat...What Livan's done the last year-plus has defied projections. He's a smart pitcher with great control on a run of good luck everyone expects will end at any moment. I've followed Livan since the Expos acquired him in 2003, however he's doing it, it's great to watch eight years later.
KL: Despite spending a fair amount of money this offseason, the Nats still have to be considered long shots to win the NL East. How do you define a successful season for this team in 2011?
PR: The continued improvement of the Nationals' young core of players and prospects is what anyone who agrees that the team isn't going to compete this year is hoping for in terms of 2011 being a successful season. Watching Ian Desmond and Danny Espinosa develop further, seeing if Wilson Ramos can handle an everyday role, seeing if Jordan Zimmermann's stuff comes back as good or better than it was before he had Tommy John surgery.
Everyone will be watching Strasburg's recovery and following along to see how far Bryce Harper moves up during his first season. I'd like to see the Nats sort out their outfield this season. They decided Nyjer Morgan wasn't part of the future. Now they have to find out if Michael Morse and Roger Bernadina will be part of the teams that compete in the next few years or if they need to get an outfielder to play alongside Jayson Werth and eventually (everyone's assuming) Bryce Harper in outfield. If Jordan Zimmermann's healthy and Strasburg's back late in the year or just ready for Spring Training that'll be the sort of thing I'll think of as making it a successful season.
KL: Sunday's likely starter for the Brewers is Marco Estrada, who pitched briefly for the Nationals in 2008 and 2009. Do you have any memories of Estrada to share, or any other former Nationals the Brewers can borrow to fill in some starts until Zack Greinke returns?
PR: Why would the Brewers want more former Nats' starters? After Tomo Ohka and Claudio Vargas...
I remember Marco Estrada, but nothing too specific, mostly as one in a long line of average arms the Nationals threw up on the mound throughout the last few years in order to fill in the innings they needed. rift gold
RIFT Platinum Walking 4.0+BB/9 though, Estrada made just one start and 15 unremarkable appearances with the Nats before he was claimed off waivers by Milwaukee. If the Brewers need more of the same, Luis Atilano, J.D. Martin, Craig Stammen, any of those guys could be available, but I recommend waiting til the trading deadline and acquiring Jason Marquis.
KL: The Nats have three former Brewers (Laynce Nix, Matt Stairs and Todd Coffey) and a Wisconsin native (Jordan Zimmermann) on their roster. rift gold Any chance we could convince you to take a couple more (Yuniesky Betancourt and/or Mark Kotsay) to complete the set?
PR: Jordan Zimmermann's the only keeper of that lot. Laynce Nix is keeping fan favorite fourth outfielder Roger Bernadina out of the majors, RIFT Platinum a one-dimensionsal player like Matt Stairs makes little sense on a team like the Nationals, though he's filled in at first recently with Adam LaRoche injured...Todd Coffey's getting it together after a shaky start to his time with the Nationals. The sad thing is that the likes of Laynce Nix and Kotsay end up winning spots on the Nats' roster because they still don't have the depth of talent in the organization to challenge for spots on the major league roster. Rift Gold While it's not likely that the Nationals are going to compete, I'd rather see prospects developing at the major league level rather than watching veterans like those mentioned above.
Thanks to Patrick for taking the time, and don't forget to check out Federal Baseball for more on the Nationals.
How to File Child Custody Judgment of Dismissal Forms
Overview
Child custody proceedings represent emotionally challenging and legally complex matters. Rift Gold Although you have the right to seek a full-blown hearing on your custody claims, family law statutes express a preference for parents to resolve these issues through negotiation rather than litigation, according to "The Complete Divorce Handbook: A Practical Guide" by Brette McWhorter Sember. If you and the other parent manage a settlement of child custody issues, you need to understand how to file a judgment of dismissal with the court.
Step 1
Obtain a judgment of dismissal form from the clerk of the court where the child custody matter was filed.RIFT Platinum Court clerks usually maintain a set of standard forms necessary to start, pursue and even stop a child custody proceeding.
Step 2
Complete the judgment of dismissal form, using the guidelines provided to you by the court clerk.
Ask a Lawyer Online Now 12 Lawyers Are Online! Current Wait Time: 14 Minutes. Law.JustAnswer.com
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Step 3
Set forth the specific reason the child custody proceeding can be dismissed. rift gold For example, state that the issues were settled through negotiation between the parents.
Step 4
Attach a copy of the settlement agreement as an exhibit to the judgment of dismissal form.
Step 5
Sign the judgment of dismissal. Both you and the other parent must sign the document.
Step 6
Deliver the completed judgment of dismissal form to the judge's chambers. RIFT Platinum The judge approves and signs the dismissal document, after which it is filed with the clerk of the court. The judge's administrative assistant typically conveys the signed judgment of dismissal to the clerk.
Child custody proceedings represent emotionally challenging and legally complex matters. Rift Gold Although you have the right to seek a full-blown hearing on your custody claims, family law statutes express a preference for parents to resolve these issues through negotiation rather than litigation, according to "The Complete Divorce Handbook: A Practical Guide" by Brette McWhorter Sember. If you and the other parent manage a settlement of child custody issues, you need to understand how to file a judgment of dismissal with the court.
Step 1
Obtain a judgment of dismissal form from the clerk of the court where the child custody matter was filed.RIFT Platinum Court clerks usually maintain a set of standard forms necessary to start, pursue and even stop a child custody proceeding.
Step 2
Complete the judgment of dismissal form, using the guidelines provided to you by the court clerk.
Ask a Lawyer Online Now 12 Lawyers Are Online! Current Wait Time: 14 Minutes. Law.JustAnswer.com
Sponsored Links
Step 3
Set forth the specific reason the child custody proceeding can be dismissed. rift gold For example, state that the issues were settled through negotiation between the parents.
Step 4
Attach a copy of the settlement agreement as an exhibit to the judgment of dismissal form.
Step 5
Sign the judgment of dismissal. Both you and the other parent must sign the document.
Step 6
Deliver the completed judgment of dismissal form to the judge's chambers. RIFT Platinum The judge approves and signs the dismissal document, after which it is filed with the clerk of the court. The judge's administrative assistant typically conveys the signed judgment of dismissal to the clerk.
2011年4月25日星期一
Divorce Settlement & Separation Agreements
Overview
The laws of each of the 50 states establish the parameters for reaching a divorce settlement and drafting a separation agreement. Rift Gold A separation agreement often is referred to as a settlement agreement or property settlement agreement. Despite some minor variations in the law from one jurisdiction to the next, the overall requirements associated with settling a divorce case and preparing a separation agreement largely are the same, according to "The Complete Divorce Handbook: A Practical Guide" by Brette McWhorter Sember.
Considerations
Although many divorces end up being emotionally and legally challenging, the reality is that family statutes and companion court rules prefer that spouses at least attempt to resolve issues between themselves. RIFT Platinum Divorce laws and procedures are developed in such a manner as to encourage a couple to attempt to negotiate a settlement of financial matters, custody issues and other disputes before resorting to a divorce trial before the court, according to "Nolo's Essential Guide to Divorce" by Emily Doskow.
Ask a Lawyer Online Now 12 Lawyers Are Online! Current Wait Time: 14 Minutes. Law.JustAnswer.com
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Features
The features of divorce negotiations and the resulting separation or settlement agreement include provisions outlining the division of assets and debts accumulated by the couple during the lifetime of the marriage, according to Cornell University Law School. Additionally, the separation agreement establishes the custody and visitation or parenting time plan for any children born of the marriage. Other matters like alimony are included in the agreement as well.
Mediation
Sometimes the parties to a divorce require added assistance to reach a settlement. With increasing frequency, divorcing men and women turn to mediators to assist in resolving issues, according to the American Bar Association Section of Family Law. Indeed,
some jurisdictions now require divorcing couples to participate in mediation, particularly to attempt to resolve issues pertaining to children. rift gold A trained mediator does not make decisions for a couple in the manner of a judge. Rather, she guides a couple toward reaching decisions on their own.
Misconceptions
One of the common misconceptions associated with divorce settlement and a separation agreement is that such a contract does not carry the same weight as a court order. In fact, once a settlement agreement is drafted and signed by the spouses, the document is presented to the judge for review. Provided the document generally is fair and meets the legal requirements for a contract, the judge approves the separation agreement and incorporates it into the divorce decree, as discussed in "The Complete Divorce Handbook: A Practical Guide." The net effect is that the separation agreement becomes the order of the court.
Expert Assistance
In addition to considering the use of a mediator as an aid to settling a divorce case, RIFT Platinum retaining a lawyer may also be a wise decision. Although an attorney costs money, knowing that she has the capability to protect your rights and interests in settlement negotiations renders the fee expenditure a worthwhile investment.
The laws of each of the 50 states establish the parameters for reaching a divorce settlement and drafting a separation agreement. Rift Gold A separation agreement often is referred to as a settlement agreement or property settlement agreement. Despite some minor variations in the law from one jurisdiction to the next, the overall requirements associated with settling a divorce case and preparing a separation agreement largely are the same, according to "The Complete Divorce Handbook: A Practical Guide" by Brette McWhorter Sember.
Considerations
Although many divorces end up being emotionally and legally challenging, the reality is that family statutes and companion court rules prefer that spouses at least attempt to resolve issues between themselves. RIFT Platinum Divorce laws and procedures are developed in such a manner as to encourage a couple to attempt to negotiate a settlement of financial matters, custody issues and other disputes before resorting to a divorce trial before the court, according to "Nolo's Essential Guide to Divorce" by Emily Doskow.
Ask a Lawyer Online Now 12 Lawyers Are Online! Current Wait Time: 14 Minutes. Law.JustAnswer.com
Sponsored Links
Features
The features of divorce negotiations and the resulting separation or settlement agreement include provisions outlining the division of assets and debts accumulated by the couple during the lifetime of the marriage, according to Cornell University Law School. Additionally, the separation agreement establishes the custody and visitation or parenting time plan for any children born of the marriage. Other matters like alimony are included in the agreement as well.
Mediation
Sometimes the parties to a divorce require added assistance to reach a settlement. With increasing frequency, divorcing men and women turn to mediators to assist in resolving issues, according to the American Bar Association Section of Family Law. Indeed,
some jurisdictions now require divorcing couples to participate in mediation, particularly to attempt to resolve issues pertaining to children. rift gold A trained mediator does not make decisions for a couple in the manner of a judge. Rather, she guides a couple toward reaching decisions on their own.
Misconceptions
One of the common misconceptions associated with divorce settlement and a separation agreement is that such a contract does not carry the same weight as a court order. In fact, once a settlement agreement is drafted and signed by the spouses, the document is presented to the judge for review. Provided the document generally is fair and meets the legal requirements for a contract, the judge approves the separation agreement and incorporates it into the divorce decree, as discussed in "The Complete Divorce Handbook: A Practical Guide." The net effect is that the separation agreement becomes the order of the court.
Expert Assistance
In addition to considering the use of a mediator as an aid to settling a divorce case, RIFT Platinum retaining a lawyer may also be a wise decision. Although an attorney costs money, knowing that she has the capability to protect your rights and interests in settlement negotiations renders the fee expenditure a worthwhile investment.
Won Sik Park: Fighting at Home and Away
The bombardment of South Korean island Yeonpyeong in November of this year along with nuclear tests in 2009 by North Korean forces has lead to the highest threat of war in the area since the Korean war ended in 1953. RIFT Platinum During this time of crisis, South Korea's best lightweight prospect Won Sik Park, continues to fight at home and away.
"Parky" started his compulsory two-year military service in March of this year and has already fought three times: picking up two wins and scoring a knock-out over Ryuki Ueyama at Deep 48 but having the fight being ruled a no contest due to a rules dispute. On December 30 at Sengoku: Soul of Fight (ironically Sengoku literally means "warring states" and is a reference civil war in Japan), Park will face the toughest test of his career as he uses the last of his annual vacation to face Japan's best lightweight prospect, Maximo Blanco.
Although his record is so far unscathed by the lack of training due to his military service, Park has been forced to turn down fights: most notably a highly anticipated title bout with Deep lightweight champion Katsunori Kikuno at Deep 50.
"We have to take compulsory education courses two times a year and I was busy with these courses when I was offered the Kikuno fight. Of course, I was depressed that I just missed a once-in-life-time chance but I had no choice. It's ok. I really shouldn't complain. I'm in the army now, so I think that I want to do my best here. It's important for Korea."
Due to the long history of war in the region, military service is taken extremely seriously. K-1 and DREAM super-heavyweight and one-time Fedor Emelianenko victim Hong Man Choi dramatically fell out of favor with the Korean public as the general consus there is that he avoided his compulsory service.
Choi failed his military medicals in April 2008 due to pituitary gigantism (the same reason he failed his medicals in California when he was set to face Brock Lesnar in his MMA debut) but had the benign tumor removed when he was cleared of his service obligations. In September 2008, Choi was back in the ring but has not since been the ratings draw he once was.
Former DEEP champion and Sengoku veteran Seung Hwan Bang also recently started his compulsory service and as a result announced his retirement. Military obligations are the sole focus for most Korean men during those two years and it is not uncommon for couples to break up as there is simply no time to even stay in contact.
Seung Hwan Bang will be 31 years old when he finishes his service but Park, who just celebrated his 25th birthday, will only just be turning 27. rift gold One may wonder why he does not simply take two years off instead of trying to do one of the most mentally and physically demanding jobs in the world while competing in one of the most physically demanding sports in the world. Another major factor in this consideration is the fact that Park cannot be paid for his MMA bouts due to Korean law.
"If I don't fight and don't train for these two years, I probably can't go back to being a fighter. RIFT Platinum The lack of money is not an issue for me although it is difficult to keep training without money. But for now, I just want keep improving. That is what's most important to me."
Luckily Park, whose only legitimate loss in his 13 fight career came in his debut, has been giving the blessing of his superiors to continue his MMA training as he is seen as a motivational figure for the Army.
"Right now the situation in Korea is very, very bad. We are on high alert but I'm not a combat troop, I serve my duties behind the lines. I have to work from 9:00am to 5:00pm and then I'm allowed to train from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm. It's really hard to do two things at once. I know that Maxi is one of the rising stars in Sengoku and he always puts on an amazing performance. Rift Gold That's why I'm interested in fighting him. I do wish I wasn't in the army right now as I would be better prepared to fight him, but I'm pretty sure I can do my best and I think I can put up a good fight."
"Parky" started his compulsory two-year military service in March of this year and has already fought three times: picking up two wins and scoring a knock-out over Ryuki Ueyama at Deep 48 but having the fight being ruled a no contest due to a rules dispute. On December 30 at Sengoku: Soul of Fight (ironically Sengoku literally means "warring states" and is a reference civil war in Japan), Park will face the toughest test of his career as he uses the last of his annual vacation to face Japan's best lightweight prospect, Maximo Blanco.
Although his record is so far unscathed by the lack of training due to his military service, Park has been forced to turn down fights: most notably a highly anticipated title bout with Deep lightweight champion Katsunori Kikuno at Deep 50.
"We have to take compulsory education courses two times a year and I was busy with these courses when I was offered the Kikuno fight. Of course, I was depressed that I just missed a once-in-life-time chance but I had no choice. It's ok. I really shouldn't complain. I'm in the army now, so I think that I want to do my best here. It's important for Korea."
Due to the long history of war in the region, military service is taken extremely seriously. K-1 and DREAM super-heavyweight and one-time Fedor Emelianenko victim Hong Man Choi dramatically fell out of favor with the Korean public as the general consus there is that he avoided his compulsory service.
Choi failed his military medicals in April 2008 due to pituitary gigantism (the same reason he failed his medicals in California when he was set to face Brock Lesnar in his MMA debut) but had the benign tumor removed when he was cleared of his service obligations. In September 2008, Choi was back in the ring but has not since been the ratings draw he once was.
Former DEEP champion and Sengoku veteran Seung Hwan Bang also recently started his compulsory service and as a result announced his retirement. Military obligations are the sole focus for most Korean men during those two years and it is not uncommon for couples to break up as there is simply no time to even stay in contact.
Seung Hwan Bang will be 31 years old when he finishes his service but Park, who just celebrated his 25th birthday, will only just be turning 27. rift gold One may wonder why he does not simply take two years off instead of trying to do one of the most mentally and physically demanding jobs in the world while competing in one of the most physically demanding sports in the world. Another major factor in this consideration is the fact that Park cannot be paid for his MMA bouts due to Korean law.
"If I don't fight and don't train for these two years, I probably can't go back to being a fighter. RIFT Platinum The lack of money is not an issue for me although it is difficult to keep training without money. But for now, I just want keep improving. That is what's most important to me."
Luckily Park, whose only legitimate loss in his 13 fight career came in his debut, has been giving the blessing of his superiors to continue his MMA training as he is seen as a motivational figure for the Army.
"Right now the situation in Korea is very, very bad. We are on high alert but I'm not a combat troop, I serve my duties behind the lines. I have to work from 9:00am to 5:00pm and then I'm allowed to train from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm. It's really hard to do two things at once. I know that Maxi is one of the rising stars in Sengoku and he always puts on an amazing performance. Rift Gold That's why I'm interested in fighting him. I do wish I wasn't in the army right now as I would be better prepared to fight him, but I'm pretty sure I can do my best and I think I can put up a good fight."
History of Alcohol Consumption in America
During colonial times Americans became hearty drinkers, consuming considerable rum and hard apple cider. They also drank a lesser amount of low alcohol beer that housewives brewed. Colonists brought a cultural predisposition to drink from Europe. Europeans had been using beer and wine for thousands of years and hard liquor since they borrowed distillation of alcohol from the Arabs at the end of the Middle Ages. In contrast, American Indians prior to white contact used alcohol sparingly, usually in the form of mildly alcoholic beer for ritual purposes. However,rift gold native inhabitants proved eager to trade furs and other valuable items for the white man’s “firewater.” Slaves in America took little alcohol; they came from African societies that had only beer.
By the 1750s Americans were drinking heavily. Much of the rum was imported, and the rest was distilled in the seaports from molasses brought from the West Indies. Although available data is rough, by 1750 the colonists may have consumed more than 6 gallons of alcohol per adult per year, nearly triple the 2.2 gallons drunk in 1998. During the American Revolution, consumption temporarily dropped as the British cut off rum and molasses imports. As a substitute, Scots-Irish immigrants imported distilling technology to turn corn into whiskey.
In those days much drinking took place in taverns, which served as community meeting places for entertainment and politics. In 1776 the Declaration of Independence was drafted in a Philadelphia tavern and Revolutionary War soldiers and sailors were recruited in drinking houses. A hangover might bring awareness that one had enlisted while drunk. Soldiers in the Continental Army, like their British opponents, received two ounces of distilled spirits twice daily. Alcohol was considered to be a preserver of good health, a cure for colds or fevers, a pain reliever, and a way to endure hot and cold weather. The main limit on consumption was availability.
From the 1790s through the 1820s, whiskey use soared. Heralded as the national beverage, whiskey made getting drunk a patriotic gesture and an act of American pride. In 1790, when Congress, at the request of Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, imposed duties on imported molasses and rum, rum distillers complained that they could not compete with untaxed whiskey. The next year the federal government began to tax all distilled spirits. Many frontier whiskey distillers lacked the means to pay or refused to do so, and in 1794 the federal government crushed the Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania. Illegal distilling, however, continued, especially in frontier areas such as Kentucky, and in 1802 Thomas Jefferson repealed the tax on domestic distilled liquor. Alcohol remained untaxed until the Civil War.
Around 1800 settlement of the Middle West began, and that region’s hot summers and excellent soil produced bumper corn crops. The result was a corn glut, which increased when Europe stopped buying American grain after the Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815. Desperate western farmers turned their corn into whiskey in order to afford the shipping costs of sending it to the East for sale. Whiskey became both cheaper and more plentiful. By the 1820s whiskey was five cents a fifth, cheaper than rum, wine, beer, milk, tea, or coffee. It was often safer to drink than water, too. At the consumption peak, around 1830, Americans drank about seven gallons of alcohol per adult per year. This rate of use is among the highest ever recorded in any society and is close to the human body’s physiological maximum capacity for intake of alcohol.
While cider continued to be taken in rural applegrowing areas, three-fifths of the alcohol that Americans drank was in the form of whiskey. Beer and wine together accounted for less than 5 percent of the alcohol consumed. Beer neither shipped nor stored well, and it was hard to handle in a largely rural country. With low population density, beer dealers often sold so little that a tapped keg went bad before it was empty. Wine was imported and expensive, and attempts to plant vineyards failed.
Adult white men drank the most, consuming perhaps as much as five-sixths of the liquor at an average rate of a half pint a day,rift gold but women also drank, often at home and sometimes for real or imagined health problems. Many patent medicines contained alcohol; laudanum, opium dissolved in alcohol, was popular to induce sleep or quiet children. It was effective and addictive. Slaves were barred by law from drinking, and most had much less access to alcohol than did whites, but masters often provided slaves with whiskey for a drunken binge after Christmas. Small children tended to sip tiny amounts, such as finishing off a parent’s glass. To pretend to be adults, twelve-year-old boys swaggered into taverns and ordered drinks. Masters or journeymen sent teenage craft apprentices to the store to get liquor in a pail and bring it back to workshops. When an apprentice finished his term of service at age twentyone, he was expected to treat the shop.
Whiskey, usually mixed with water, was taken on rising in the morning, with breakfast, at the “elevens” (the predecessor of the coffee break), with midday dinner, in mid-afternoon, with supper, and upon retiring. The American diet ran heavily to salt pork and corn flour johnnycakes fried in pork lard. The same food appeared at all three meals. Whiskey helped wash down this greasy, salty fare. In the early Republic, Americans did not often get drunk in binges; rather, they stayed mildly high all day long. All social classes drank, from teamsters who allowed the horses to find their own way home to judges who passed a jug or bottle around the courtroom. To keep workers from quitting, farm owners had to provide diluted liquor in the fields. Americans drank on many occasions. Businessmen sealed deals with drinks, political candidates treated voters, and militia musters ended with drunken militiamen covering the ground.
Alcohol did have critics. In the colonial period, Quakers and Methodists opposed drinking, and especially public drunkenness, as socially disruptive, personally irresponsible, and sinful. After the Revolutionary War, Dr. Benjamin Rush, who had been physician to the Continental Army, published An Inquiry into the Effects of Spirituous Liquors (1784). This key pamphlet blamed the overuse of distilled spirits for disease, urged restraint in the intake of alcohol, and recommended beer or wine instead of spirits. Although consumption did not fall immediately, Rush influenced doctors and Protestant clergy, who blamed alcohol for wife beating, family abandonment, high illegitimacy, job instability, poverty, crime, and violence.
The early Republic was a time of social turmoil, and taverns, especially in seaports, were associated with rising public drunkenness, prostitution, and gambling. As early as 1810 New England ministers campaigned in The Panoplist, a religious magazine, for moderate use of alcohol, which they called “temperance.” Stressing health and social problems, this early campaign had little appeal, even after the founding of the first temperance society, the Massachusetts Society for the Suppression of Intemperance, in 1812. The public appeared to prefer alcohol to protecting health or changing society. During the 1820s northeastern evangelical ministers, often Congregationalists or Presbyterians, turned alcohol into a moral issue. At first they urged moderation, but after 1830 these preachers increasingly opposed any drinking. They called liquor the Demon Rum and suggested it came from the devil. The renunciation of alcohol gradually became one way in which Evangelicals, including many Methodists and Baptists, demonstrated the sincerity of conversion experiences during the Second Great Awakening, which lasted from the late 1790s through the 1830s. Ministers found that abstainers who were reborn in the spiritual revival were more likely to join a church than were drinkers, who found nonreligious fellowship in taverns. Although churches began to require members to abstain, Catholics, Episcopalians, and many Lutherans never accepted this practice. At communion, Evangelicals served grape juice, which they declared was the pure wine of the Bible.
Temperance leaders found it hard to defend limited use because no one agreed how much alcohol was safe. They also found that attacking whiskey while exempting wine did not work, because the poor would not give up cheap whiskey while the wealthy continued to drink expensive wine. Some temperance leaders, notably Sylvester Graham of cracker fame, also embraced vegetarianism on the grounds that meat eaters became animalistic. Temperance gradually spread to the Midwest and the South, but southerners were slow to embrace the idea, in part because those who opposed alcohol often also opposed slavery.
By 1834 the American Temperance Society (1826), which claimed 1.25 million members in 7,000 local organizations, urged “teetotalism,” or abstinence from all alcohol. This idea was popular in rural areas and small towns. Some farmers even cut down cider-producing apple trees. Many city residents never accepted teetotalism. At the same time, heavy-drinking Irish and German immigrants arrived in large numbers.
By the 1850s, alcohol consumption had dropped by two-thirds or more as Evangelicals stopped drinking altogether. To be northern and middle class in 1850 was, by definition, to abstain. The country, however, was divided about drinking by region, by class, by rural or urban residence, by type of religion, and by ethnicity.
By the 1750s Americans were drinking heavily. Much of the rum was imported, and the rest was distilled in the seaports from molasses brought from the West Indies. Although available data is rough, by 1750 the colonists may have consumed more than 6 gallons of alcohol per adult per year, nearly triple the 2.2 gallons drunk in 1998. During the American Revolution, consumption temporarily dropped as the British cut off rum and molasses imports. As a substitute, Scots-Irish immigrants imported distilling technology to turn corn into whiskey.
In those days much drinking took place in taverns, which served as community meeting places for entertainment and politics. In 1776 the Declaration of Independence was drafted in a Philadelphia tavern and Revolutionary War soldiers and sailors were recruited in drinking houses. A hangover might bring awareness that one had enlisted while drunk. Soldiers in the Continental Army, like their British opponents, received two ounces of distilled spirits twice daily. Alcohol was considered to be a preserver of good health, a cure for colds or fevers, a pain reliever, and a way to endure hot and cold weather. The main limit on consumption was availability.
From the 1790s through the 1820s, whiskey use soared. Heralded as the national beverage, whiskey made getting drunk a patriotic gesture and an act of American pride. In 1790, when Congress, at the request of Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, imposed duties on imported molasses and rum, rum distillers complained that they could not compete with untaxed whiskey. The next year the federal government began to tax all distilled spirits. Many frontier whiskey distillers lacked the means to pay or refused to do so, and in 1794 the federal government crushed the Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania. Illegal distilling, however, continued, especially in frontier areas such as Kentucky, and in 1802 Thomas Jefferson repealed the tax on domestic distilled liquor. Alcohol remained untaxed until the Civil War.
Around 1800 settlement of the Middle West began, and that region’s hot summers and excellent soil produced bumper corn crops. The result was a corn glut, which increased when Europe stopped buying American grain after the Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815. Desperate western farmers turned their corn into whiskey in order to afford the shipping costs of sending it to the East for sale. Whiskey became both cheaper and more plentiful. By the 1820s whiskey was five cents a fifth, cheaper than rum, wine, beer, milk, tea, or coffee. It was often safer to drink than water, too. At the consumption peak, around 1830, Americans drank about seven gallons of alcohol per adult per year. This rate of use is among the highest ever recorded in any society and is close to the human body’s physiological maximum capacity for intake of alcohol.
While cider continued to be taken in rural applegrowing areas, three-fifths of the alcohol that Americans drank was in the form of whiskey. Beer and wine together accounted for less than 5 percent of the alcohol consumed. Beer neither shipped nor stored well, and it was hard to handle in a largely rural country. With low population density, beer dealers often sold so little that a tapped keg went bad before it was empty. Wine was imported and expensive, and attempts to plant vineyards failed.
Adult white men drank the most, consuming perhaps as much as five-sixths of the liquor at an average rate of a half pint a day,rift gold but women also drank, often at home and sometimes for real or imagined health problems. Many patent medicines contained alcohol; laudanum, opium dissolved in alcohol, was popular to induce sleep or quiet children. It was effective and addictive. Slaves were barred by law from drinking, and most had much less access to alcohol than did whites, but masters often provided slaves with whiskey for a drunken binge after Christmas. Small children tended to sip tiny amounts, such as finishing off a parent’s glass. To pretend to be adults, twelve-year-old boys swaggered into taverns and ordered drinks. Masters or journeymen sent teenage craft apprentices to the store to get liquor in a pail and bring it back to workshops. When an apprentice finished his term of service at age twentyone, he was expected to treat the shop.
Whiskey, usually mixed with water, was taken on rising in the morning, with breakfast, at the “elevens” (the predecessor of the coffee break), with midday dinner, in mid-afternoon, with supper, and upon retiring. The American diet ran heavily to salt pork and corn flour johnnycakes fried in pork lard. The same food appeared at all three meals. Whiskey helped wash down this greasy, salty fare. In the early Republic, Americans did not often get drunk in binges; rather, they stayed mildly high all day long. All social classes drank, from teamsters who allowed the horses to find their own way home to judges who passed a jug or bottle around the courtroom. To keep workers from quitting, farm owners had to provide diluted liquor in the fields. Americans drank on many occasions. Businessmen sealed deals with drinks, political candidates treated voters, and militia musters ended with drunken militiamen covering the ground.
Alcohol did have critics. In the colonial period, Quakers and Methodists opposed drinking, and especially public drunkenness, as socially disruptive, personally irresponsible, and sinful. After the Revolutionary War, Dr. Benjamin Rush, who had been physician to the Continental Army, published An Inquiry into the Effects of Spirituous Liquors (1784). This key pamphlet blamed the overuse of distilled spirits for disease, urged restraint in the intake of alcohol, and recommended beer or wine instead of spirits. Although consumption did not fall immediately, Rush influenced doctors and Protestant clergy, who blamed alcohol for wife beating, family abandonment, high illegitimacy, job instability, poverty, crime, and violence.
The early Republic was a time of social turmoil, and taverns, especially in seaports, were associated with rising public drunkenness, prostitution, and gambling. As early as 1810 New England ministers campaigned in The Panoplist, a religious magazine, for moderate use of alcohol, which they called “temperance.” Stressing health and social problems, this early campaign had little appeal, even after the founding of the first temperance society, the Massachusetts Society for the Suppression of Intemperance, in 1812. The public appeared to prefer alcohol to protecting health or changing society. During the 1820s northeastern evangelical ministers, often Congregationalists or Presbyterians, turned alcohol into a moral issue. At first they urged moderation, but after 1830 these preachers increasingly opposed any drinking. They called liquor the Demon Rum and suggested it came from the devil. The renunciation of alcohol gradually became one way in which Evangelicals, including many Methodists and Baptists, demonstrated the sincerity of conversion experiences during the Second Great Awakening, which lasted from the late 1790s through the 1830s. Ministers found that abstainers who were reborn in the spiritual revival were more likely to join a church than were drinkers, who found nonreligious fellowship in taverns. Although churches began to require members to abstain, Catholics, Episcopalians, and many Lutherans never accepted this practice. At communion, Evangelicals served grape juice, which they declared was the pure wine of the Bible.
Temperance leaders found it hard to defend limited use because no one agreed how much alcohol was safe. They also found that attacking whiskey while exempting wine did not work, because the poor would not give up cheap whiskey while the wealthy continued to drink expensive wine. Some temperance leaders, notably Sylvester Graham of cracker fame, also embraced vegetarianism on the grounds that meat eaters became animalistic. Temperance gradually spread to the Midwest and the South, but southerners were slow to embrace the idea, in part because those who opposed alcohol often also opposed slavery.
By 1834 the American Temperance Society (1826), which claimed 1.25 million members in 7,000 local organizations, urged “teetotalism,” or abstinence from all alcohol. This idea was popular in rural areas and small towns. Some farmers even cut down cider-producing apple trees. Many city residents never accepted teetotalism. At the same time, heavy-drinking Irish and German immigrants arrived in large numbers.
By the 1850s, alcohol consumption had dropped by two-thirds or more as Evangelicals stopped drinking altogether. To be northern and middle class in 1850 was, by definition, to abstain. The country, however, was divided about drinking by region, by class, by rural or urban residence, by type of religion, and by ethnicity.
Zimbabwe's Unity Government Partners Agree Elections Not Possible This Year
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party are preparing to roll back on their demand that new elections be organized this year amid growing pressure from within and outside the country, sources close to intra-government talks said Friday.
The Southern African Development Community and its mediator in Harare, South African President Jacob Zuma, have signaled that they won’t bless a snap election unless all signatories to the 2008 Global Political Agreement agree on the proposed date.
Negotiators for the three unity government parties - including ZANU-PF - delivered the final blow to hopes among ZANU-PF hardliners pressing for elections this year. The negotiators concluded that elections can only be held next year at the earliest.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has said it lacks the means to run 2001 elections, noting that its funding is insufficient and its staff needs additional training. The Electoral Commission was reconstituted in 2010, replacing its discredited predecessor whose handling of 2008 election results drew international condemnation.
Asked about the possible election date, Lindiwe Zulu, an adviser to Mr. Zuma, said this will largely be determined by the road map negotiators have sent to their principals.
ZANU-PF Chairman Simon Khaya Moyo referred all questions to the party’s negotiators but hinted that the party is backpedaling from its earlier call for 2011 elections.
Energy Minister Elton Mangoma, a negotiator for the Movement for Democratic Change formation of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, said that he and all of his fellow unity government party negotiators agree that elections are not possible this year.
Edwin Mushoriwa,rift gold a negotiator for the Welshman Ncube-led MDC formation, added that it will suicidal for Mr. Mugabe to call snap elections, as some fear he still may.
Elsewhere, street battles and rock-throwing brought the Bulawayo provincial elections for the Tsvangirai MDC formation to a premature end on Friday.
Dozens of youths backing the rival candidacies of Senator Matson Hlalo and State Enterprises Minister Gorden Moyo, formerly a senior aide to Prime Minister Tsvangirai, escalated their differences into a street fight in the Matabeleland capital pelting each other with stones, smashing cars and fighting each other in the city center, correspondent Thabang Mathebula reported from Bulawayo.
Commenting, political analyst Effie Dlela Ncube said it is time for Mr. Tsvangirai to show leadership and stop the violence rift gold and bitter wrangling within his party which has seen a number of such incidents on its way to a May congress to ready for elections.
The Southern African Development Community and its mediator in Harare, South African President Jacob Zuma, have signaled that they won’t bless a snap election unless all signatories to the 2008 Global Political Agreement agree on the proposed date.
Negotiators for the three unity government parties - including ZANU-PF - delivered the final blow to hopes among ZANU-PF hardliners pressing for elections this year. The negotiators concluded that elections can only be held next year at the earliest.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has said it lacks the means to run 2001 elections, noting that its funding is insufficient and its staff needs additional training. The Electoral Commission was reconstituted in 2010, replacing its discredited predecessor whose handling of 2008 election results drew international condemnation.
Asked about the possible election date, Lindiwe Zulu, an adviser to Mr. Zuma, said this will largely be determined by the road map negotiators have sent to their principals.
ZANU-PF Chairman Simon Khaya Moyo referred all questions to the party’s negotiators but hinted that the party is backpedaling from its earlier call for 2011 elections.
Energy Minister Elton Mangoma, a negotiator for the Movement for Democratic Change formation of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, said that he and all of his fellow unity government party negotiators agree that elections are not possible this year.
Edwin Mushoriwa,rift gold a negotiator for the Welshman Ncube-led MDC formation, added that it will suicidal for Mr. Mugabe to call snap elections, as some fear he still may.
Elsewhere, street battles and rock-throwing brought the Bulawayo provincial elections for the Tsvangirai MDC formation to a premature end on Friday.
Dozens of youths backing the rival candidacies of Senator Matson Hlalo and State Enterprises Minister Gorden Moyo, formerly a senior aide to Prime Minister Tsvangirai, escalated their differences into a street fight in the Matabeleland capital pelting each other with stones, smashing cars and fighting each other in the city center, correspondent Thabang Mathebula reported from Bulawayo.
Commenting, political analyst Effie Dlela Ncube said it is time for Mr. Tsvangirai to show leadership and stop the violence rift gold and bitter wrangling within his party which has seen a number of such incidents on its way to a May congress to ready for elections.
US Works with African Countries to Address Human Rights Crimes
The U.S. ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues, Stephen Rapp, says he is working with a number of African countries to establish domestic justice systems for investigating and prosecuting war crimes.
“[We are] looking at…places in Africa as a way to strengthen judicial systems [and] that is very consistent with [the idea of] complementarity. [That means] the ICC [International Criminal Court in The Hague] gets involved only when there is no will or capacity at the national level [to investigate or try those accused of war crimes],” said Rapp, a former chief prosecutor for the Special Court for Sierra Leone
One way to handle such crimes at the national level is through a “mixed chamber,” a national, civilian judicial institution that prosecutes serious human rights violations with the help of international experts.
Rapp said the Obama administration supports rift gold the ICC in its effort to prosecute individuals or groups of people who have allegedly committed human rights abuses or war crimes.
“The cases that have been taken up so far in Africa cry out for justice, he said, “[for example] where women have been raped and children kidnapped and thousands of innocents targeted intentionally. Those cases require justice and if it is impossible to deliver them at the national level, then you need an international court,” he added.
Rapp said he is working with the U.S. Justice Department and civil society groups to establish a mixed chamber in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
He is also working with Senegalese authorities, he said, to establish an ad hoc court to try former Chadian leader Hissen Habre under the African Union’s mandate.
In another case, six suspects recently appeared before the ICC, accused of masterminding Kenya’s 2007 post-election violence, which left more than 1300 people dead.
“We are very much rift gold for accountability for the crimes committed after Kenyans were brutally murdered and 300 thousand dislocated. Kenyans strongly believe that there need to be justice before the 2012 elections because it could be worse the next time,” said Rapp.
“We had pressed from very early on for a special tribunal in Kenya to do that. We supported the report of Justice Phillip Waki [urging the creation of a tribunal]…. I was meeting the police commissioner this week, saying we are still willing to help in any way that we can. But, there hasn’t been any progress on that,” he added.
“[We are] looking at…places in Africa as a way to strengthen judicial systems [and] that is very consistent with [the idea of] complementarity. [That means] the ICC [International Criminal Court in The Hague] gets involved only when there is no will or capacity at the national level [to investigate or try those accused of war crimes],” said Rapp, a former chief prosecutor for the Special Court for Sierra Leone
One way to handle such crimes at the national level is through a “mixed chamber,” a national, civilian judicial institution that prosecutes serious human rights violations with the help of international experts.
Rapp said the Obama administration supports rift gold the ICC in its effort to prosecute individuals or groups of people who have allegedly committed human rights abuses or war crimes.
“The cases that have been taken up so far in Africa cry out for justice, he said, “[for example] where women have been raped and children kidnapped and thousands of innocents targeted intentionally. Those cases require justice and if it is impossible to deliver them at the national level, then you need an international court,” he added.
Rapp said he is working with the U.S. Justice Department and civil society groups to establish a mixed chamber in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
He is also working with Senegalese authorities, he said, to establish an ad hoc court to try former Chadian leader Hissen Habre under the African Union’s mandate.
In another case, six suspects recently appeared before the ICC, accused of masterminding Kenya’s 2007 post-election violence, which left more than 1300 people dead.
“We are very much rift gold for accountability for the crimes committed after Kenyans were brutally murdered and 300 thousand dislocated. Kenyans strongly believe that there need to be justice before the 2012 elections because it could be worse the next time,” said Rapp.
“We had pressed from very early on for a special tribunal in Kenya to do that. We supported the report of Justice Phillip Waki [urging the creation of a tribunal]…. I was meeting the police commissioner this week, saying we are still willing to help in any way that we can. But, there hasn’t been any progress on that,” he added.
PAINTING
Painting is one of the oldest and most important arts. Since prehistoric times, artists have arranged colors on surfaces in ways that express their ideas about people,rift gold the world, and religion. The paintings that artists create have great value for humanity. They provide people with both pleasure and information.
Sometimes artists paint primarily for their own enjoyment or self-expression, choosing their own subjects. Artists may also paint for a supporter called a patron, who commissions (orders and pays for) a work. A patron may be a private individual or a ruler who wants to decorate a palace or give the painting as a gift. A patron also may be an organization or institution. Religious groups have commissioned works of art to help believers worship and understand their faith. Rulers use art to assert their importance. Governments use painting to teach people about the history and ideals of their country.
Even when artists paint primarily for themselves, they want others to see their work and understand and enjoy it. People enjoy paintings for a number of reasons. Many viewers take pleasure in the artistic qualities of a painting, such as its colors or composition. Some paintings interest viewers because of the way the artists have expressed some emotion, such as fear, grief, happiness, love, hero worship, or faith. Such paintings, in turn, can inspire similar emotions in people looking at them. Other paintings are enjoyable because they skillfully portray nature or illustrate the daily lives of people who lived long ago.
Paintings can also teach. Some paintings reveal what the artists, their patrons, or their society felt about important subjects, including death, love, religion, and social justice. Many paintings tell about the history of the period in which they were created. They provide information about the customs, ideals, and interests of people of past societies. Much of our knowledge about prehistoric and ancient times comes from paintings and other works of art because many early cultures left few or no written records. For example, paintings can tell about such things as the architecture, clothing, recreation, and tools of a particular society or historical period.
What painters paint
It would be very difficult to find a subject that no one has ever tried to paint. Artists paint the things they see around them–people animals,rift gold, nature, and objects. They also paint dreamlike scenes that exist only in the imagination. An artist can reach back into the past and paint a historical event, a religious story, or a myth. Some artists paint pictures that show no recognizable subject matter at all. Instead, they arrange the paint in some way that expresses feelings or ideas that are important to them.
Since prehistoric times, many artists have painted the subjects that were most important to their societies. For example, religion was particularly important in Europe during the Middle Ages, and most of the paintings created then had religious themes. All great paintings, regardless of subject matter, share a common feature. They do more than just reproduce with paint something that exists, existed, or can be imagined. They also express the painter’s special view about a subject.
Sometimes artists paint primarily for their own enjoyment or self-expression, choosing their own subjects. Artists may also paint for a supporter called a patron, who commissions (orders and pays for) a work. A patron may be a private individual or a ruler who wants to decorate a palace or give the painting as a gift. A patron also may be an organization or institution. Religious groups have commissioned works of art to help believers worship and understand their faith. Rulers use art to assert their importance. Governments use painting to teach people about the history and ideals of their country.
Even when artists paint primarily for themselves, they want others to see their work and understand and enjoy it. People enjoy paintings for a number of reasons. Many viewers take pleasure in the artistic qualities of a painting, such as its colors or composition. Some paintings interest viewers because of the way the artists have expressed some emotion, such as fear, grief, happiness, love, hero worship, or faith. Such paintings, in turn, can inspire similar emotions in people looking at them. Other paintings are enjoyable because they skillfully portray nature or illustrate the daily lives of people who lived long ago.
Paintings can also teach. Some paintings reveal what the artists, their patrons, or their society felt about important subjects, including death, love, religion, and social justice. Many paintings tell about the history of the period in which they were created. They provide information about the customs, ideals, and interests of people of past societies. Much of our knowledge about prehistoric and ancient times comes from paintings and other works of art because many early cultures left few or no written records. For example, paintings can tell about such things as the architecture, clothing, recreation, and tools of a particular society or historical period.
What painters paint
It would be very difficult to find a subject that no one has ever tried to paint. Artists paint the things they see around them–people animals,rift gold, nature, and objects. They also paint dreamlike scenes that exist only in the imagination. An artist can reach back into the past and paint a historical event, a religious story, or a myth. Some artists paint pictures that show no recognizable subject matter at all. Instead, they arrange the paint in some way that expresses feelings or ideas that are important to them.
Since prehistoric times, many artists have painted the subjects that were most important to their societies. For example, religion was particularly important in Europe during the Middle Ages, and most of the paintings created then had religious themes. All great paintings, regardless of subject matter, share a common feature. They do more than just reproduce with paint something that exists, existed, or can be imagined. They also express the painter’s special view about a subject.
Egypt's Ex-Prime Minister, Ex-Finance Minister to Face Trial
Egyptian judicial officials say former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and former Finance Minister Youssef Boutros Ghali will face trial on charges of corruption.
Judicial officials alleged Sunday the two men misused public funds and cost the state about $16 million in lost revenue.
Officials have not yet set the trial date. The former prime minister is in detention. Boutros Ghali currently is abroad.
The upcoming trial is part of a sweeping probe into corruption during the rule of ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Pro-democracy activists have stepped up pressure on Egypt's ruling military to try Mubarak and members of his government for corruption and other crimes.
Egypt's official Nile TV reports public prosecutors started interrogating the former president's sons, Alaa and Gamal, on Sunday.
Last week,rift gold prosecutors announced that Mubarak and his sons would be detained for 15 days as part of an investigation into corruption and abuse of power.
The former president was hospitalized with heart problems on Tuesday, interrupting a round of questioning, but state-run media say his health has since improved.
Mubarak says he is innocent of all charges of corruption and abuse of power. He stepped down as president on February 11 after being in power since his predecessor,rift gold, Anwar Sadat, was assassinated by Islamic militants in 1981.
On Saturday, an Egyptian court ordered the dissolution of the former ruling National Democratic Party, with confiscation of its assets.
Judicial officials alleged Sunday the two men misused public funds and cost the state about $16 million in lost revenue.
Officials have not yet set the trial date. The former prime minister is in detention. Boutros Ghali currently is abroad.
The upcoming trial is part of a sweeping probe into corruption during the rule of ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Pro-democracy activists have stepped up pressure on Egypt's ruling military to try Mubarak and members of his government for corruption and other crimes.
Egypt's official Nile TV reports public prosecutors started interrogating the former president's sons, Alaa and Gamal, on Sunday.
Last week,rift gold prosecutors announced that Mubarak and his sons would be detained for 15 days as part of an investigation into corruption and abuse of power.
The former president was hospitalized with heart problems on Tuesday, interrupting a round of questioning, but state-run media say his health has since improved.
Mubarak says he is innocent of all charges of corruption and abuse of power. He stepped down as president on February 11 after being in power since his predecessor,rift gold, Anwar Sadat, was assassinated by Islamic militants in 1981.
On Saturday, an Egyptian court ordered the dissolution of the former ruling National Democratic Party, with confiscation of its assets.
2011年4月24日星期日
Wendy Williams' Thoughtful Anniversary Gift to Bethenny Frankel: Toilet Paper
What do you get a woman who already has several successful TV shows,
Rift Gold a bestselling book and her own fitness business? Well, if that woman is Bethenny Frankel, you could order that guest a basket of toilet paper...with her face on it...and present it on the air.
That's precisely what gregarious host (and 'Dancing With the Stars' contestant) RIFT Platinum Wendy Williams did on the 'Wendy Williams Show' set this week.
In the tradition of anniversary gifts, year one is "Paper," after all. rift gold The customized T.P. was a gift for Frankel's one-year anniversary with her husband, Jason Hoppy. Each roll featured a photo of the happy couple, framed by a heart.
Frankel's spontaneous response had to be bleeped, but it's clear the 'Real Housewives' breakout star has a quick sense of humor, RIFT Platinum as she immediately cracked up at the idea of utilizing the hilarious gift.
Rift Gold a bestselling book and her own fitness business? Well, if that woman is Bethenny Frankel, you could order that guest a basket of toilet paper...with her face on it...and present it on the air.
That's precisely what gregarious host (and 'Dancing With the Stars' contestant) RIFT Platinum Wendy Williams did on the 'Wendy Williams Show' set this week.
In the tradition of anniversary gifts, year one is "Paper," after all. rift gold The customized T.P. was a gift for Frankel's one-year anniversary with her husband, Jason Hoppy. Each roll featured a photo of the happy couple, framed by a heart.
Frankel's spontaneous response had to be bleeped, but it's clear the 'Real Housewives' breakout star has a quick sense of humor, RIFT Platinum as she immediately cracked up at the idea of utilizing the hilarious gift.
Bruce Willis' NYC Bachelor Pad Sells Fast
It didn't take long for Bruce Willis' 3-bedroom, 3-bath New York City condo at Trump Place to go under contract. Given this top-floor unit of a 20-story building was listed in March for $3.995 million when the Die Hard star had paid $4.26 million for it in 2007, RIFT Platinum perhaps it seemed like a steal to the prospective buyer. (See photos.)
"It was on the market for five days and then went under contract," rift gold co-broker David Salvatore of Town Residential told AOL Real Estate in a phone interview on Friday. "It was faster than we thought possible." He says they showed it to one client who made an offer and the offer was accepted. "It couldn't have been more perfect."
As Salvatore told AOL Real Estate earlier this month, the price was a very strategic move for the star who purchased it before he married his wife Emma Heming. "We wanted it listed under $4 million, RIFT Platinum because this is a property Bruce does not want to be showing on the market. He wants to sell it quietly in a reasonable amount of time."
The unit's unique Brazilian-cherry covered floor plan, shared by only three other units at 220 Riverside Blvd, has 11-foot-ceilings and three corner exposures with views of the Hudson River and the George Washington Bridge. Rift Gold There are a total of 17 oversize windows throughout the 2,318 square feet, according to the listing details
"It was on the market for five days and then went under contract," rift gold co-broker David Salvatore of Town Residential told AOL Real Estate in a phone interview on Friday. "It was faster than we thought possible." He says they showed it to one client who made an offer and the offer was accepted. "It couldn't have been more perfect."
As Salvatore told AOL Real Estate earlier this month, the price was a very strategic move for the star who purchased it before he married his wife Emma Heming. "We wanted it listed under $4 million, RIFT Platinum because this is a property Bruce does not want to be showing on the market. He wants to sell it quietly in a reasonable amount of time."
The unit's unique Brazilian-cherry covered floor plan, shared by only three other units at 220 Riverside Blvd, has 11-foot-ceilings and three corner exposures with views of the Hudson River and the George Washington Bridge. Rift Gold There are a total of 17 oversize windows throughout the 2,318 square feet, according to the listing details
2011年4月21日星期四
7 Things You Didn't Know About The Hymen
Ah, yes. The hymen. rift gold That tiny little membrane that supposedly covers our inner lady parts. Let's clear a few things up, shall we?
You might have grown up believing that whole urban legend about the hymen "ripping" or "breaking" during first intercourse, and as a result, RIFT Platinum there was going to be some major pain involved. Turns out that just isn't the case, folks.
There's actually a lot we never knew about the hymen. Psychology Today was kind enough to let us in on a few little-known facts, so take a gander for some eye-opening knowledge about a very misunderstood membrane.
1. No one really knows why female babies are born with hymens. RIFT Platinum All we know is that they are. At birth, the doughnut-shaped membrane is prominent and thick, but that changes pretty rapidly. Judy Blume: Crucial Sex Education For Young Girls
2. Hymenal tissue is usually worn away by adolescence. During the early years, the membrane thins and widens as a result of athletics, self-exploration, cleansing and even activity as simple as walking. A little of the tissue may remain around the vaginal opening, but that's usually it. Which means…
3. The pain experienced by many women during their first time is not because the hymen is breaking. That urban legend you've most likely heard about? It was actually a big ol' myth. Most of the membrane is already worn away when a woman finally has intercourse, and plays little to no role discomfort. Rift Gold Many gals believe their initial sexual experience is going to be unpleasant, because that is what they've been told, so it is. It makes sense when you think about it. When we think something will hurt, we feel anxious and tense which ultimately gives way to pain. So... What My First Time Taught Me About Sex
4. Those "bloody sheets" are not because the hymen is tearing, either. Most young partners are not experienced love-makers. Those first times are usually less skilled and sensual, and more trial and error. Hurried, poorly-lubricated or rough sex can cause sensitive vaginal tissue to bleed, but not hymenal tissue to break. The Smoking-Hot Reason To Avoid First-Date Sex
5. The intact hymenal membrane does not cover the whole vaginal opening. If it did, girls who still had bits of the hymen left at puberty would not be able to menstruate.
6. About one in 200 women have an imperforate hymen. That means around 0.5% of hymens don't wear away normally and have openings too small for tampons or erections to comfortably enter the vagina. These days, in those cases, a fairly simple surgery is required to snip away some of the membrane. Hooray for modern medicine, right?
You might have grown up believing that whole urban legend about the hymen "ripping" or "breaking" during first intercourse, and as a result, RIFT Platinum there was going to be some major pain involved. Turns out that just isn't the case, folks.
There's actually a lot we never knew about the hymen. Psychology Today was kind enough to let us in on a few little-known facts, so take a gander for some eye-opening knowledge about a very misunderstood membrane.
1. No one really knows why female babies are born with hymens. RIFT Platinum All we know is that they are. At birth, the doughnut-shaped membrane is prominent and thick, but that changes pretty rapidly. Judy Blume: Crucial Sex Education For Young Girls
2. Hymenal tissue is usually worn away by adolescence. During the early years, the membrane thins and widens as a result of athletics, self-exploration, cleansing and even activity as simple as walking. A little of the tissue may remain around the vaginal opening, but that's usually it. Which means…
3. The pain experienced by many women during their first time is not because the hymen is breaking. That urban legend you've most likely heard about? It was actually a big ol' myth. Most of the membrane is already worn away when a woman finally has intercourse, and plays little to no role discomfort. Rift Gold Many gals believe their initial sexual experience is going to be unpleasant, because that is what they've been told, so it is. It makes sense when you think about it. When we think something will hurt, we feel anxious and tense which ultimately gives way to pain. So... What My First Time Taught Me About Sex
4. Those "bloody sheets" are not because the hymen is tearing, either. Most young partners are not experienced love-makers. Those first times are usually less skilled and sensual, and more trial and error. Hurried, poorly-lubricated or rough sex can cause sensitive vaginal tissue to bleed, but not hymenal tissue to break. The Smoking-Hot Reason To Avoid First-Date Sex
5. The intact hymenal membrane does not cover the whole vaginal opening. If it did, girls who still had bits of the hymen left at puberty would not be able to menstruate.
6. About one in 200 women have an imperforate hymen. That means around 0.5% of hymens don't wear away normally and have openings too small for tampons or erections to comfortably enter the vagina. These days, in those cases, a fairly simple surgery is required to snip away some of the membrane. Hooray for modern medicine, right?
For Blackhawks, Road Is Daunting Vs. Canucks
Apr 21, 2011 - The Blackhawks face their second straight win-or-go-home game tonight in Vancouver against the Canucks, trailing their first-round playoff series three games to one.
The numbers are not promising for the Hawks. Since 1939 in the NHL playoffs, RIFT Platinum 162 series have resulted in a team leading three games to none.
Of those, 104 resulted in a four-game sweep (which the Blackhawks avoided on Tuesday night).
44 series ended with a four games to one victory (which the Blackhawks hope to avoid giving to the Canucks tonight).
Eight series wound up four games to two, three others four games to three, rift gold and only three times in NHL history in the last 72 years, has a team down three games to none come back and won the series.
Can they win again? Getting Dave Bolland back for Game 4 proved critical, as Bolland did things that the other Hawks centers had not been able to do in stopping Vancouver over the first three games. Also, RIFT Platinum it was clear that Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo suffered some kind of back trouble near the end of the first period on Tuesday and wasn't his normal self in the Hawks' big second period.
We'll see if Luongo is ready to go tonight or if backup Cory Schneider gets the call. Rift Gold The game begins at 9 p.m. CDT and will be televised on CSN Chicago, with national coverage on Versus
The numbers are not promising for the Hawks. Since 1939 in the NHL playoffs, RIFT Platinum 162 series have resulted in a team leading three games to none.
Of those, 104 resulted in a four-game sweep (which the Blackhawks avoided on Tuesday night).
44 series ended with a four games to one victory (which the Blackhawks hope to avoid giving to the Canucks tonight).
Eight series wound up four games to two, three others four games to three, rift gold and only three times in NHL history in the last 72 years, has a team down three games to none come back and won the series.
Can they win again? Getting Dave Bolland back for Game 4 proved critical, as Bolland did things that the other Hawks centers had not been able to do in stopping Vancouver over the first three games. Also, RIFT Platinum it was clear that Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo suffered some kind of back trouble near the end of the first period on Tuesday and wasn't his normal self in the Hawks' big second period.
We'll see if Luongo is ready to go tonight or if backup Cory Schneider gets the call. Rift Gold The game begins at 9 p.m. CDT and will be televised on CSN Chicago, with national coverage on Versus
2011年4月20日星期三
Instructions
1. Carefully slice the peppers lengthwise just enough to remove the seeds. RIFT Platinum Leave the pepper intact and the outer stem in place.
More Recipe RehabSeafood Gumbo
Baja Fish Tacos
Chicken Enchiladas
2. Turn oven broiler on high and place peppers beneath the broiler on a cookie sheet. rift gold Blacken the outer layer of the peppers under the broiler until the skins turn dark. Remove from oven and place into a paper bag. Seal the bag and let steam for 2-3 minutes.
3. While the peppers are cooling, prepare the filling by mixing the crabmeat with onions, egg yolks, RIFT Platinum horseradish and red pepper in a small bowl.
4. Once the peppers have cooled, remove from bag and peel away the blackened skin. Fill peppers by distributing the crab filling evenly among the 8 peppers.
5. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff.
6. Dip each pepper in the egg white mixture and roll in panko bread crumbs.
7. Bake at 350 F for 10-15 minutes or until the outside starts to brown. Serve with enchilada sauce if desired.
Serves: 4
Nutrition Content (per serving)
235 calories, 4 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 31 g carbohydrates, 9 g sugars, 7 g fiber, 19 g protein, 687 mg sodium
Editor's Note: To print only the recipe, view in "print preview" and then print only the page with directions.
Readers, I would love to hear from you! Rift Gold Please send me your favorite fattening recipes that need a recipe rehab! Everything from your mom's meatloaf to your kid's favorite dessert -- let me lighten it up.
Celebrity dietitian and motivational life coach Tanya Zuckerbrot, author of www.ffactordiet.com and founder of www.skinnyandthecity.com and www.theskinnyondietitians.com, has helped thousands of people lose weight and keep it off with her program. Her philosophy? Tanya believes you should never sacrifice taste, even when you're eating healthy foods. Have a recipe in need of rehab? Send us your recipe!
1. Carefully slice the peppers lengthwise just enough to remove the seeds. RIFT Platinum Leave the pepper intact and the outer stem in place.
More Recipe RehabSeafood Gumbo
Baja Fish Tacos
Chicken Enchiladas
2. Turn oven broiler on high and place peppers beneath the broiler on a cookie sheet. rift gold Blacken the outer layer of the peppers under the broiler until the skins turn dark. Remove from oven and place into a paper bag. Seal the bag and let steam for 2-3 minutes.
3. While the peppers are cooling, prepare the filling by mixing the crabmeat with onions, egg yolks, RIFT Platinum horseradish and red pepper in a small bowl.
4. Once the peppers have cooled, remove from bag and peel away the blackened skin. Fill peppers by distributing the crab filling evenly among the 8 peppers.
5. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff.
6. Dip each pepper in the egg white mixture and roll in panko bread crumbs.
7. Bake at 350 F for 10-15 minutes or until the outside starts to brown. Serve with enchilada sauce if desired.
Serves: 4
Nutrition Content (per serving)
235 calories, 4 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 31 g carbohydrates, 9 g sugars, 7 g fiber, 19 g protein, 687 mg sodium
Editor's Note: To print only the recipe, view in "print preview" and then print only the page with directions.
Readers, I would love to hear from you! Rift Gold Please send me your favorite fattening recipes that need a recipe rehab! Everything from your mom's meatloaf to your kid's favorite dessert -- let me lighten it up.
Celebrity dietitian and motivational life coach Tanya Zuckerbrot, author of www.ffactordiet.com and founder of www.skinnyandthecity.com and www.theskinnyondietitians.com, has helped thousands of people lose weight and keep it off with her program. Her philosophy? Tanya believes you should never sacrifice taste, even when you're eating healthy foods. Have a recipe in need of rehab? Send us your recipe!
Joel Roberson was working on a plumbing job in May when a small spider bit him. Within a few days, his leg swelled, and fever set in. The bite caused the Washington man to be infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, according to reports in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Surgery eventually removed the infection. Although Roberson lived, he is no longer able to pay his medical insurance and had to cancel it.
MSRA, which steals most of the headlines in the world of superbugs, is just one bacterium. Rift Gold There are many more microbes that are showing resistance to drugs, yet there are virtually no novel antibiotics coming on the market to fight the new generation of superbugs.
Commercial antibiotics have saved countless lives since their introduction in the 1940s, but today, bacteria that were once killed by effective drugs have grown dangerously resistant to some or all of the prescribed medications. The World Health Organization has identified antimicrobial resistance as one of the top three threats to human health.
There is a small but serious group of drug-resistant bacteria that are showing up in hospitals with greater frequency, according to Dr. Daniel Sexton, professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases at Duke University Medical Center and director of the Duke Infection Control Outreach Network.
The most common infections include Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae, which are all gram-negative bacteria defined by a thinner, two-layer cell wall.
"Every year, there has been a steady increase," says Sexton. "They used to be considered nuisance infections, but now, they're resistant. All of a sudden routine infections take on a whole new infection."
Although the drug-resistant strains make up a relatively small number of microbes, they are some of the most common bacteria that naturally populate the gastrointestinal tract.
The result is that immunocompromised patients that might have once undergone surgery, gotten a urinary tract infection and been treated with antibiotics could now be infected with the same bacteria. However, if it is a drug-resistant strain, it could prove dangerous or even deadly for the patient. Before, a pill might have cured the infection, but now it could take intravenous therapy and drugs that can affect the kidneys, according to Sexton. Once a strain develops even moderate resistance, researchers are finding the strain can morph into being extremely resistant quickly.
Drug resistance is not limited to a few strains of bacteria in the hospital. Just last year, Iranian doctors identified strains of completely drug-resistant tuberculosis. RIFT Platinum Neisseria gonorrhoeae, resistant to penicillin, tetracycline, and multiple other drugs, was detected in Southeast Asia during the 1960s and 1970s and has been an emerging public health issue in the United States. Research from DICON has also shown that Clostridium difficile are surpassing MRSA infections in community hospitals.
The answer to drug resistance is not simple. The overprescription of antibiotics is thought to play a role, as is the high level of antibiotics used in animals in commercial farming.
As bacteria have naturally developed resistance, the pharmaceutical world has not answered back with new drugs. rift gold There has been a paltry number of new antibiotics in the past few decades and not many on the horizon, despite calls from the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the World Health Organization.
Even without new medication to fight the microbes, Sexton says that there is one clear way to reduce infection: hygiene.
"Hand washing every time, every day," he says. "And that's fundamental, because it works."
Many hospitals, including Duke University Medical Center, have seen infection rates drop in recent years with more vigilant hygiene. Patients should demand meticulous hygiene anytime they are in a hospital setting, especially if they are immunocompromised.
Although there are measures that can reduce the spread of infection and therefore the risk, many experts, including Sexton, feel the problem will get worse before it gets better.
"The extent of the problem is expanding," says Sexton. "The geographic range is expanding and the implications are getting bigger. RIFT Platinum The implications of these drug resistant infections will become more commonplace."
MSRA, which steals most of the headlines in the world of superbugs, is just one bacterium. Rift Gold There are many more microbes that are showing resistance to drugs, yet there are virtually no novel antibiotics coming on the market to fight the new generation of superbugs.
Commercial antibiotics have saved countless lives since their introduction in the 1940s, but today, bacteria that were once killed by effective drugs have grown dangerously resistant to some or all of the prescribed medications. The World Health Organization has identified antimicrobial resistance as one of the top three threats to human health.
There is a small but serious group of drug-resistant bacteria that are showing up in hospitals with greater frequency, according to Dr. Daniel Sexton, professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases at Duke University Medical Center and director of the Duke Infection Control Outreach Network.
The most common infections include Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae, which are all gram-negative bacteria defined by a thinner, two-layer cell wall.
"Every year, there has been a steady increase," says Sexton. "They used to be considered nuisance infections, but now, they're resistant. All of a sudden routine infections take on a whole new infection."
Although the drug-resistant strains make up a relatively small number of microbes, they are some of the most common bacteria that naturally populate the gastrointestinal tract.
The result is that immunocompromised patients that might have once undergone surgery, gotten a urinary tract infection and been treated with antibiotics could now be infected with the same bacteria. However, if it is a drug-resistant strain, it could prove dangerous or even deadly for the patient. Before, a pill might have cured the infection, but now it could take intravenous therapy and drugs that can affect the kidneys, according to Sexton. Once a strain develops even moderate resistance, researchers are finding the strain can morph into being extremely resistant quickly.
Drug resistance is not limited to a few strains of bacteria in the hospital. Just last year, Iranian doctors identified strains of completely drug-resistant tuberculosis. RIFT Platinum Neisseria gonorrhoeae, resistant to penicillin, tetracycline, and multiple other drugs, was detected in Southeast Asia during the 1960s and 1970s and has been an emerging public health issue in the United States. Research from DICON has also shown that Clostridium difficile are surpassing MRSA infections in community hospitals.
The answer to drug resistance is not simple. The overprescription of antibiotics is thought to play a role, as is the high level of antibiotics used in animals in commercial farming.
As bacteria have naturally developed resistance, the pharmaceutical world has not answered back with new drugs. rift gold There has been a paltry number of new antibiotics in the past few decades and not many on the horizon, despite calls from the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the World Health Organization.
Even without new medication to fight the microbes, Sexton says that there is one clear way to reduce infection: hygiene.
"Hand washing every time, every day," he says. "And that's fundamental, because it works."
Many hospitals, including Duke University Medical Center, have seen infection rates drop in recent years with more vigilant hygiene. Patients should demand meticulous hygiene anytime they are in a hospital setting, especially if they are immunocompromised.
Although there are measures that can reduce the spread of infection and therefore the risk, many experts, including Sexton, feel the problem will get worse before it gets better.
"The extent of the problem is expanding," says Sexton. "The geographic range is expanding and the implications are getting bigger. RIFT Platinum The implications of these drug resistant infections will become more commonplace."
The Serpent's Story
Hush! Hush! Hush! Come closer to me. Look into my eyes!
rift gold
I always was a fascinating creature, tender, sensitive, and grateful. I was wise and I was noble. And I am so flexible in the writhing of my graceful body that it will afford you joy to watch my easy dance. Now I shall coil up into a ring, flash my scales dimly, wind myself around tenderly and clasp my steel body in my gentle, cold embraces. One in many! One in many!
Hush! Hush! Look into my eyes!
You do not like my writhing and my straight, open look? Oh, my head is heavy--therefore I sway about so quietly. Oh, my head is heavy-- therefore I look so straight ahead, as I sway about. Come closer to me. Give me a little warmth; stroke my wise forehead with your fingers; in its fine outlines you will find the form of a cup into which flows wisdom, the dew of the evening-flowers. When I draw the air by my writhing, a trace is left in it--the design of the finest of webs, the web of dream-charms, the enchantment of noiseless movements, the inaudible hiss of gliding lines. I am silent and I sway myself. I look ahead and I sway myself. What strange burden am I carrying on my neck?
I love you.
I always was a fascinating creature, and loved tenderly those I loved. Come closer to me. Do you see my white, sharp, enchanting little teeth? Kissing, I used to bite. Not painfully, no--just a trifle. Caressing tenderly, I used to bite a little, until the first bright little drops appeared, until a cry came forth which sounded like the laugh produced by tickling. That was very pleasant--think not it was unpleasant; otherwise they whom I kissed would not come back for more kisses. It is now that I can kiss only once--how sad-- only once! One kiss for each--how little for a loving heart, for a sensitive soul, striving for a great union! But it is only I, the sad one, who kiss but once, and must seek love again--he knows no other love any more: to him my one, tender, nuptial kiss is inviolable and eternal. I am speaking to you frankly; and when my story is ended--I will kiss you.
I love you.
Look into my eyes. Is it not true that mine is a magnificent, a powerful look? A firm look and a straight look? And it is steadfast, like steel forced against your heart. I look ahead and sway myself, I look and I enchant; in my green eyes I gather your fear, your loving, fatigued, submissive longing. Come closer to me. Now I am a queen and you dare not fail to see my beauty; but there was a strange time--Ah, what a strange time! Ah, what a strange time! At the mere recollection I am agitated--Ah, what a strange time! No one loved me. No one respected me. I was persecuted with cruel ferocity, trampled in the mud and jeered--Ah, what a strange time it was! One in many! One in many!
I say to you: Come closer to me.
Why did they not love me? At that time I was also a fascinating creature, but without malice; I was gentle and I danced wonderfully. But they tortured me. They burnt me with fire. Heavy and coarse beasts trampled upon me with the dull steps of terribly heavy feet; cold tusks of bloody mouths tore my tender body--and in my powerless sorrow I bit the sand, I swallowed the dust of the ground--I was dying of despair. Crushed, I was dying every day. Every day I was dying of despair. Oh, what a terrible time that was! The stupid forest has forgotten everything--it does not remember that time, but you have pity on me. Come closer to me. Have pity on me, on the offended, on the sad one, on the loving one, on the one who dances so beautifully.
I love you.
How could I defend myself? I had only my white, wonderful, sharp little teeth--they were good only for kisses. How could I defend myself? It is only now that I carry on my neck this terrible burden of a head, and my look is commanding and straight, but then my head was light and my eyes gazed meekly. Then I had no poison yet. Oh, my head is so heavy and it is hard for me to hold it up! Oh, I have grown tired of my look--two stones are in my forehead, and these are my eyes. Perhaps the glittering stones are precious--but it is hard to carry them instead of gentle eyes--they oppress my brain. It is so hard for my head! I look ahead and sway myself; I see you in a green mist--you are so far away.
Come closer to me.
You see, even in sorrow I am beautiful, and my look is languid because of my love. Look into my pupil; I will narrow and widen it, and give it a peculiar glitter--the twinkling of a star at night, the playfulness of all precious stones--of diamonds, of green emeralds, of yellowish topaz, of blood-red rubies. Look into my eyes: It is I, the queen--I am crowning myself, and that which is glittering, burning and glowing--that robs you of your reason, your freedom and your life--it is poison. It is a drop of my poison.
How has it happened? I do not know. I did not bear ill-will to the living.
I lived and suffered. I was silent. I languished. I hid myself hurriedly when I could hide myself; I crawled away hastily. But they have never seen me weep--I cannot weep; and my easy dance grew ever faster and ever more beautiful. Alone in the stillness, alone in the thicket, I danced with sorrow in my heart--they despised my swift dance and would have been glad to kill me as I danced. Suddenly my head began to grow heavy--How strange it is!--My head grew heavy. Just as small and beautiful, just as wise and beautiful, it had suddenly grown terribly heavy; it bent my neck to the ground, and caused me pain. Now I am somewhat used to it, but at first it was dreadfully awkward and painful. I thought I was sick.
And suddenly... Come closer to me. Look into my eyes. Hush! Hush! Hush!
And suddenly my look became heavy--it became fixed and strange--I was even frightened! I want to glance and turn away--but cannot. I always look straight ahead, I pierce with my eyes ever more deeply, I am as though petrified. Look into my eyes. It is as though I am petrified, as though everything I look upon is petrified. Look into my eyes.
I love you. Do not laugh at my frank story, or I shall be angry. Every hour I open my sensitive heart, for all my efforts are in vain-- I am alone. My one and last kiss is full of ringing sorrow--and the one I love is not here, and I seek love again, and I tell my tale in vain--my heart cannot bare itself, and the poison torments me and my head grows heavier. Am I not beautiful in my despair? Come closer to me.
I love you.
Once I was bathing in a stagnant swamp in the forest--I love to be clean--it is a sign of noble birth, and I bathe frequently. While bathing, dancing in the water, I saw my reflection, and as always, fell in love with myself. I am so fond of the beautiful and the wise! And suddenly I saw--on my forehead, among my other inborn adornments, a new, strange sign--Was it not this sign that has brought the heaviness, the petrified look, and the sweet taste in my mouth? Here a cross is darkly outlined on my forehead--right here-- look. Come closer to me. Is this not strange? But I did not understand it at that time, and I liked it. Let there be no more adornment. And on the same day, on that same terrible day, when the cross appeared, my first kiss became also my last--my kiss became fatal. One in many! One in many!
Oh!
You love precious stones, but think, my beloved, how far more precious is a little drop of my poison. It is such a little drop.-- Have you ever seen it? Never, never. But you shall find it out. Consider, my beloved, how much suffering, painful humiliation, powerless rage devoured me: I had to experience in order to bring forth this little drop. I am a queen! I am a queen! In one drop, brought forth by myself, I carry death unto the living, and my kingdom is limitless, even as grief is limitless, even as death is limitless. I am queen! My look is inexorable. My dance is terrible! I am beautiful! One in many! One in many!
rift gold
Oh!
Do not fall. My story is not yet ended. Come closer to me.
And then I crawled into the stupid forest, into my green dominion.
Now it is a new way, a terrible way! I was kind like a queen; and like a queen I bowed graciously to the right and to the left. And they--they ran away! Like a queen I bowed benevolently to the right and to the left--and they, queer people--they ran away. What do you think? Why did they run away? What do you think? Look into my eyes. Do you see in them a certain glimmer and a flash? The rays of my crown blind your eyes, you are petrified, you are lost. I shall soon dance my last dance---do not fall. I shall coil into rings, I shall flash my scales dimly, and I shall clasp my steel body in my gentle, cold embraces. Here I am! Accept my only kiss, my nuptial kiss--in it is the deadly grief of all oppressed lives. One in many! One in many!
Bend down to me. I love you.
Die!
rift gold
I always was a fascinating creature, tender, sensitive, and grateful. I was wise and I was noble. And I am so flexible in the writhing of my graceful body that it will afford you joy to watch my easy dance. Now I shall coil up into a ring, flash my scales dimly, wind myself around tenderly and clasp my steel body in my gentle, cold embraces. One in many! One in many!
Hush! Hush! Look into my eyes!
You do not like my writhing and my straight, open look? Oh, my head is heavy--therefore I sway about so quietly. Oh, my head is heavy-- therefore I look so straight ahead, as I sway about. Come closer to me. Give me a little warmth; stroke my wise forehead with your fingers; in its fine outlines you will find the form of a cup into which flows wisdom, the dew of the evening-flowers. When I draw the air by my writhing, a trace is left in it--the design of the finest of webs, the web of dream-charms, the enchantment of noiseless movements, the inaudible hiss of gliding lines. I am silent and I sway myself. I look ahead and I sway myself. What strange burden am I carrying on my neck?
I love you.
I always was a fascinating creature, and loved tenderly those I loved. Come closer to me. Do you see my white, sharp, enchanting little teeth? Kissing, I used to bite. Not painfully, no--just a trifle. Caressing tenderly, I used to bite a little, until the first bright little drops appeared, until a cry came forth which sounded like the laugh produced by tickling. That was very pleasant--think not it was unpleasant; otherwise they whom I kissed would not come back for more kisses. It is now that I can kiss only once--how sad-- only once! One kiss for each--how little for a loving heart, for a sensitive soul, striving for a great union! But it is only I, the sad one, who kiss but once, and must seek love again--he knows no other love any more: to him my one, tender, nuptial kiss is inviolable and eternal. I am speaking to you frankly; and when my story is ended--I will kiss you.
I love you.
Look into my eyes. Is it not true that mine is a magnificent, a powerful look? A firm look and a straight look? And it is steadfast, like steel forced against your heart. I look ahead and sway myself, I look and I enchant; in my green eyes I gather your fear, your loving, fatigued, submissive longing. Come closer to me. Now I am a queen and you dare not fail to see my beauty; but there was a strange time--Ah, what a strange time! Ah, what a strange time! At the mere recollection I am agitated--Ah, what a strange time! No one loved me. No one respected me. I was persecuted with cruel ferocity, trampled in the mud and jeered--Ah, what a strange time it was! One in many! One in many!
I say to you: Come closer to me.
Why did they not love me? At that time I was also a fascinating creature, but without malice; I was gentle and I danced wonderfully. But they tortured me. They burnt me with fire. Heavy and coarse beasts trampled upon me with the dull steps of terribly heavy feet; cold tusks of bloody mouths tore my tender body--and in my powerless sorrow I bit the sand, I swallowed the dust of the ground--I was dying of despair. Crushed, I was dying every day. Every day I was dying of despair. Oh, what a terrible time that was! The stupid forest has forgotten everything--it does not remember that time, but you have pity on me. Come closer to me. Have pity on me, on the offended, on the sad one, on the loving one, on the one who dances so beautifully.
I love you.
How could I defend myself? I had only my white, wonderful, sharp little teeth--they were good only for kisses. How could I defend myself? It is only now that I carry on my neck this terrible burden of a head, and my look is commanding and straight, but then my head was light and my eyes gazed meekly. Then I had no poison yet. Oh, my head is so heavy and it is hard for me to hold it up! Oh, I have grown tired of my look--two stones are in my forehead, and these are my eyes. Perhaps the glittering stones are precious--but it is hard to carry them instead of gentle eyes--they oppress my brain. It is so hard for my head! I look ahead and sway myself; I see you in a green mist--you are so far away.
Come closer to me.
You see, even in sorrow I am beautiful, and my look is languid because of my love. Look into my pupil; I will narrow and widen it, and give it a peculiar glitter--the twinkling of a star at night, the playfulness of all precious stones--of diamonds, of green emeralds, of yellowish topaz, of blood-red rubies. Look into my eyes: It is I, the queen--I am crowning myself, and that which is glittering, burning and glowing--that robs you of your reason, your freedom and your life--it is poison. It is a drop of my poison.
How has it happened? I do not know. I did not bear ill-will to the living.
I lived and suffered. I was silent. I languished. I hid myself hurriedly when I could hide myself; I crawled away hastily. But they have never seen me weep--I cannot weep; and my easy dance grew ever faster and ever more beautiful. Alone in the stillness, alone in the thicket, I danced with sorrow in my heart--they despised my swift dance and would have been glad to kill me as I danced. Suddenly my head began to grow heavy--How strange it is!--My head grew heavy. Just as small and beautiful, just as wise and beautiful, it had suddenly grown terribly heavy; it bent my neck to the ground, and caused me pain. Now I am somewhat used to it, but at first it was dreadfully awkward and painful. I thought I was sick.
And suddenly... Come closer to me. Look into my eyes. Hush! Hush! Hush!
And suddenly my look became heavy--it became fixed and strange--I was even frightened! I want to glance and turn away--but cannot. I always look straight ahead, I pierce with my eyes ever more deeply, I am as though petrified. Look into my eyes. It is as though I am petrified, as though everything I look upon is petrified. Look into my eyes.
I love you. Do not laugh at my frank story, or I shall be angry. Every hour I open my sensitive heart, for all my efforts are in vain-- I am alone. My one and last kiss is full of ringing sorrow--and the one I love is not here, and I seek love again, and I tell my tale in vain--my heart cannot bare itself, and the poison torments me and my head grows heavier. Am I not beautiful in my despair? Come closer to me.
I love you.
Once I was bathing in a stagnant swamp in the forest--I love to be clean--it is a sign of noble birth, and I bathe frequently. While bathing, dancing in the water, I saw my reflection, and as always, fell in love with myself. I am so fond of the beautiful and the wise! And suddenly I saw--on my forehead, among my other inborn adornments, a new, strange sign--Was it not this sign that has brought the heaviness, the petrified look, and the sweet taste in my mouth? Here a cross is darkly outlined on my forehead--right here-- look. Come closer to me. Is this not strange? But I did not understand it at that time, and I liked it. Let there be no more adornment. And on the same day, on that same terrible day, when the cross appeared, my first kiss became also my last--my kiss became fatal. One in many! One in many!
Oh!
You love precious stones, but think, my beloved, how far more precious is a little drop of my poison. It is such a little drop.-- Have you ever seen it? Never, never. But you shall find it out. Consider, my beloved, how much suffering, painful humiliation, powerless rage devoured me: I had to experience in order to bring forth this little drop. I am a queen! I am a queen! In one drop, brought forth by myself, I carry death unto the living, and my kingdom is limitless, even as grief is limitless, even as death is limitless. I am queen! My look is inexorable. My dance is terrible! I am beautiful! One in many! One in many!
rift gold
Oh!
Do not fall. My story is not yet ended. Come closer to me.
And then I crawled into the stupid forest, into my green dominion.
Now it is a new way, a terrible way! I was kind like a queen; and like a queen I bowed graciously to the right and to the left. And they--they ran away! Like a queen I bowed benevolently to the right and to the left--and they, queer people--they ran away. What do you think? Why did they run away? What do you think? Look into my eyes. Do you see in them a certain glimmer and a flash? The rays of my crown blind your eyes, you are petrified, you are lost. I shall soon dance my last dance---do not fall. I shall coil into rings, I shall flash my scales dimly, and I shall clasp my steel body in my gentle, cold embraces. Here I am! Accept my only kiss, my nuptial kiss--in it is the deadly grief of all oppressed lives. One in many! One in many!
Bend down to me. I love you.
Die!
An Interview with Ezra North, Don North's Nephew
I spent all of last week helping Ezra North navigate the Panamanian legal and justice system, as part of his efforts to investigate the disappearance of his uncle,rift gold Don North. Ezra had a flight to catch that afternoon. After eight days of running all over Panama with the detectives from the DIJ, investigators and prosecutors from the Public Ministry, FBI Agents from the US Embassy, and me - he was finally about to return to his home in Texas. The results from the week were mixed. He filed his formal complaint and got the investigation started. The cooperation from the Panamanian authorities was outstanding. We uncovered literally tons of evidence against the Spaniard Javier Martin, and most importantly the suspect himself was captured and arrested by the Panamanian authorities on the very day that we gave the story to the local press. However, the underlying truth to everything we learned and uncovered remains the same - everything seems to indicate that Javier Martin in fact killed Don North, threw his body into the ocean, and stole his boat the Windancer and all of this possessions. So,rift gold we caught the bad guy, but we still have not found Ezra's uncle Don. I wanted to do an interview with Ezra on video to capture his point of view of everything that had happened during the week. Also, I had to break the video up into two clips so it would fit within the YouTube limitations.
Monetizing Web 2.0 Educational Services
In a recent post on the Web Pedagogy for Educators blog, Carl Eneroth looked at converting "students/employees into customer driven content providers rather than teacher driven content receivers, using Web 2.0 technologies to offer educational services,rift gold financed through Google Adsense, to potential customers world-wide." This is an appealing idea and many who have started blogging over the last couple of years are facing the question of monetising their blogs to earn some money from their work. If people are providing something of value, then they should, in theory, be able to turn that into an economic value.
While welcoming the general thrust of his ideas about educational services on the web, I simply do not see that Adsense can finance this on any great scale. Any worthwhile educational service offered on the web involves a lot of work and I don't see many bloggers or other content providers being able to finance themselves this way and I think many are going to find themselves very disappointed with the results. He quotes the following guidelines from a video about making money from Adsense:
1. Placement of ads on the web-page
2. Using key-words that generates high return
3. Provide a lot of content
4. Keep track of performance
I have watched the video- it's a guide to making a lot of money from Adsense and the person says that he is making thousands of dollars from websites. However, only some of his tips are particularly relevant to a site offering educational services. Placing ads carefully and tracking their performance both make sense. The second point, though, is one that won't work for many sites- this video is about chasing the terms that are bringing in the money- a few months ago ambulance chasers were paying a lot for asbestos-related cancer. Creating educational sites around this concept will almost certainly lead to unnatural and stilted content, almost the opposite of what is intended by the Web 2.0 educationalists- take this example of a sponsored 'lesson'. Most websites try to catch search terms and optimise, but to be natural, it has to be withi the limits of the aims of the site.
Chasing high-paying Adsense terms is not conducive to natural content, and would probably lead to lots of lessons on alopecia and other topics. I certainly don't think it's a strategy that is likely to work very well. The last part about content is right- the person specifically talks about the need for thousands of pages of content and recommends a program that sells lots of html pages with content already written about hot topics to catch advertising revenue, which, again, is not a suitable approach for Web 2.0 educationalists. Therefore, they will have to generate thousands of pages themselves, a daunting task, yet without the content they will not be able in most cases to bring in the numbers of people to generate the click-through.
The Adsense terms of contract do not allow people to discuss click-through ratios so figures are hard to come by, and they will vary from site to site, but I think educational sites providing content and information are less likely to attract clicks on adverts than sites selling things. I am far more likely to hit adverts if I am trying to buy things than if I am getting information or an educational service, etc. A good educational site may well provide the user with little reason to go out of the site, which means that the click-through would be lower. Large sites with thousands of pages and a lot of traffic will make money, but smaller sites will mostly not. Monetising a site is not the same as professionalising it- many will only get their costs paid and maybe some more. Many of the bloggers are running hobby sites and advertising revenues could help cover costs and add an incentive to keep them running, but I really don't think that in the majority of cases of sites with relatively low levels of traffic that it will amount to more than pin money. We use Adsense on our site as a way of paying our costs,rift gold so I am all in favour of it as it has helped us greatly, but a blog with a few thousand visitors a year, or even a month, is unlikely to be fully compensated though Adsense.
While welcoming the general thrust of his ideas about educational services on the web, I simply do not see that Adsense can finance this on any great scale. Any worthwhile educational service offered on the web involves a lot of work and I don't see many bloggers or other content providers being able to finance themselves this way and I think many are going to find themselves very disappointed with the results. He quotes the following guidelines from a video about making money from Adsense:
1. Placement of ads on the web-page
2. Using key-words that generates high return
3. Provide a lot of content
4. Keep track of performance
I have watched the video- it's a guide to making a lot of money from Adsense and the person says that he is making thousands of dollars from websites. However, only some of his tips are particularly relevant to a site offering educational services. Placing ads carefully and tracking their performance both make sense. The second point, though, is one that won't work for many sites- this video is about chasing the terms that are bringing in the money- a few months ago ambulance chasers were paying a lot for asbestos-related cancer. Creating educational sites around this concept will almost certainly lead to unnatural and stilted content, almost the opposite of what is intended by the Web 2.0 educationalists- take this example of a sponsored 'lesson'. Most websites try to catch search terms and optimise, but to be natural, it has to be withi the limits of the aims of the site.
Chasing high-paying Adsense terms is not conducive to natural content, and would probably lead to lots of lessons on alopecia and other topics. I certainly don't think it's a strategy that is likely to work very well. The last part about content is right- the person specifically talks about the need for thousands of pages of content and recommends a program that sells lots of html pages with content already written about hot topics to catch advertising revenue, which, again, is not a suitable approach for Web 2.0 educationalists. Therefore, they will have to generate thousands of pages themselves, a daunting task, yet without the content they will not be able in most cases to bring in the numbers of people to generate the click-through.
The Adsense terms of contract do not allow people to discuss click-through ratios so figures are hard to come by, and they will vary from site to site, but I think educational sites providing content and information are less likely to attract clicks on adverts than sites selling things. I am far more likely to hit adverts if I am trying to buy things than if I am getting information or an educational service, etc. A good educational site may well provide the user with little reason to go out of the site, which means that the click-through would be lower. Large sites with thousands of pages and a lot of traffic will make money, but smaller sites will mostly not. Monetising a site is not the same as professionalising it- many will only get their costs paid and maybe some more. Many of the bloggers are running hobby sites and advertising revenues could help cover costs and add an incentive to keep them running, but I really don't think that in the majority of cases of sites with relatively low levels of traffic that it will amount to more than pin money. We use Adsense on our site as a way of paying our costs,rift gold so I am all in favour of it as it has helped us greatly, but a blog with a few thousand visitors a year, or even a month, is unlikely to be fully compensated though Adsense.
Don North Is Still Missing
rift gold
Don North is still missing. According to statements made by Panama's Auxiliary Prosecutor Dimas Guevara, he does not believe the American is alive. The American-born citizen spent 20 years living on his sailboat, and during the past year he lived in Panamanian waters, and he communicated frequently with his family. It was his nephew Ezra North who made the complaint, pointing to Javier Martin Bermejo as a suspect in the disappearance of his uncle. Javier Martin was captured in the province of the Darién and transferred yesterday (16 Feb 2011) to the offices of the Auxiliary Prosecutor, in order to continue with the investigations.
rift gold
Don North is still missing. According to statements made by Panama's Auxiliary Prosecutor Dimas Guevara, he does not believe the American is alive. The American-born citizen spent 20 years living on his sailboat, and during the past year he lived in Panamanian waters, and he communicated frequently with his family. It was his nephew Ezra North who made the complaint, pointing to Javier Martin Bermejo as a suspect in the disappearance of his uncle. Javier Martin was captured in the province of the Darién and transferred yesterday (16 Feb 2011) to the offices of the Auxiliary Prosecutor, in order to continue with the investigations.
rift gold
Aids
The geography of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) encompasses a number of spatial approaches to understanding the epidemic. More recent geographic studies of AIDS have focused less on the virus and macro diffusion patterns and more on the human geographies of risk and experience of AIDS. One category of investigation focuses on regionally specific contexts of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) vulnerability. In these studies, social, economic, political, and cultural practices at multiple spatial scales are examined for their impact on individuals’ vulnerability to HIV in particular regional locations. These place-specific investigations are critical to understanding micro patterns of transmission given the substantial evidence that factors driving transmission of HIV in one place do not necessarily explain transmission patterns and levels in another place. Clearer understandings of what makes people engage in risky behaviors and become vulnerable to HIV is, in turn, pivotal in implementing more effective prevention and treatment strategies. Examining geographies of everyday life with HIV/AIDS constitutes another important part of a geography of AIDS. How and whether persons living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHAs) are able to access healthcare and other services are critical to providing the best treatment possible.
rift gold
Earlier geographic studies focused on mapping residence patterns with location of clinics and other services, but more recent studies have recognized that access is more complicated and includes, among other things, individuals’ social networks, the degree of flexibility in the workplace, how much stigma individuals face in their lives, income levels, child care responsibilities, and quality of care available. Other work has looked at the ways in which PLWHAs cope with reduced spaces and places in which they live their lives. This can be because stigma works to block access to particular places such as housing, jobs, countries, and individuals’ homes or because deteriorating physical status reduces mobility. The ways in which people experience space and place when coping with AIDS are vital to implementing better outreach programs and services.
rift gold
Earlier geographic studies of AIDS focused on the virus itself, investigating theories of HIV’s origins and transmission patterns. Many scientists and social scientists thought that determining sites of the first HIV cases would assist in understanding where, when, and how HIV subsequently spread to the rest of the world. Much geography of AIDS during the 1980s consequently focused on mapping spatial routes of transmission over time, tracing likely patterns of HIV diffusion across continents using data of first known cases in each region together with travel and migration routes. Although none of these patterns was conclusive, they provided models for illuminating continued transmission of HIV as well as likely points of intervention. Critics of origin theories, however, contended that finding origins does little to understand current patterns of HIV transmission and instead generates negative consequences such as blame for causing a deadly epidemic. Focusing on large-scale geographic patterns also did little to further understanding about the complex network of behaviors and practices underlying transmission of HIV.
rift gold
Earlier geographic studies focused on mapping residence patterns with location of clinics and other services, but more recent studies have recognized that access is more complicated and includes, among other things, individuals’ social networks, the degree of flexibility in the workplace, how much stigma individuals face in their lives, income levels, child care responsibilities, and quality of care available. Other work has looked at the ways in which PLWHAs cope with reduced spaces and places in which they live their lives. This can be because stigma works to block access to particular places such as housing, jobs, countries, and individuals’ homes or because deteriorating physical status reduces mobility. The ways in which people experience space and place when coping with AIDS are vital to implementing better outreach programs and services.
rift gold
Earlier geographic studies of AIDS focused on the virus itself, investigating theories of HIV’s origins and transmission patterns. Many scientists and social scientists thought that determining sites of the first HIV cases would assist in understanding where, when, and how HIV subsequently spread to the rest of the world. Much geography of AIDS during the 1980s consequently focused on mapping spatial routes of transmission over time, tracing likely patterns of HIV diffusion across continents using data of first known cases in each region together with travel and migration routes. Although none of these patterns was conclusive, they provided models for illuminating continued transmission of HIV as well as likely points of intervention. Critics of origin theories, however, contended that finding origins does little to understand current patterns of HIV transmission and instead generates negative consequences such as blame for causing a deadly epidemic. Focusing on large-scale geographic patterns also did little to further understanding about the complex network of behaviors and practices underlying transmission of HIV.
Exclusive Interview With Santa Claus
Over the past two months I have been writing a Christmas story. It is about Santa Claus and the remarkable sequence of events that befell a young girl living on the edge of the rainforest in Palawan, a tropical island where I live.
rift gold
Of course, for such an apparently far fetched story, it was important to check out the facts. That was easy to do here in Palawan, but how could I interview somebody quite so famous as Santa Claus, who lived far away in a land where I would freeze to death as soon as I got off the airplane?
Well, it turned out to be more easy than I thought, and we met, believe it or not, close to a big firework display in Southern England on November 5th 2005. How I got there and how he got there, I am not allowed to say. In fact, I cannot say, simply because I do not know for sure. I can only speculate. My passport shows I was here; my wife tells me I was here; I tell myself I was here. But I was there, and this is what I can report from the notes I took at the interview. There was much more, but I am sworn to secrecy, and Santa Claus has such amazing powers, I would not go against his wishes.
These are the 3 questions, and answers, I am allowed to reveal.
Q1 There is much speculation amongst historians about your origins. Can you tell us, to put this straight once and for all?
(Roars of laughter from Santa) “The last people you should ask are historians. They can only look backwards. What a dumb life they lead; they can never find the truth like that. Life is multi dimensional; time is multi dimensional. What do historians and scientists know about all that? The truth is like a sun with all it’s planets rotating round. If you just look backwards, you miss the whole spectrum, and you miss the sun itself.
“What are my origins? My good man, you’re just a simple soul, like everyone else on the planet, so I know you mean ‘when and where do I come from’. I do have a birthday; in fact, I have many birthdays, and they are all true. But for your narrow little world, I was born in 701 AD."
“But,” I said, “all the historians…….” his glare told me to be quiet about historians. That seemed like a good idea, given that they got it all totally wrong.
Santa was a tolerant and gentle man despite his massive powers. “And, young man” ( I had not been called that for a long time) he said. “You will not believe where I was born. It was not the North Pole, though I go there often. It was not Lapland, where I do now live. It was Central Africa."
I was dumbfounded; he just laughed at me. I moved on quickly.
Q2 I have to ask, Santa, how do you get around the whole world like that, every Christmas, delivering gifts to so many millions of children? In less than 2 days. It’s just not..”
Before I could finish, he had put his hand firmly on my arm to stop me.
“Of course it’s possible. You think it’s not possible because your “scientists” say so, not because of the truth. Only the truth matters. And it is possible, because I do it every year. You say “not possible” because of the way you all look at things; narrow and blinkered. Even my blinkered reindeer know more than your silly scientists; so forget it’s not possible. I do it, and young man”, (I was really beginning to like this guy), he went on, “I just love every moment of it.”
“But……?” I was about to ask, but he stopped me again with a firm hand.
“Ok,” he said gently. “Let me just tell you about something. In the 8th century I was exploring brainwaves; your scientists don’t have an inkling yet about the brain, how it works, the brainwaves and what they mean and how you can use them. I was able to discover great things, things all the scientists have been too narrow minded in the past to seek out, understand and utilize.”
I was in his spell, listening intently to every word. He was about to reveal….
“Have you heard of Quantum Chimney Descent Theory? No, of course not. By 820 AD I had it all worked out; a year later I had discovered Time Corridors. You know time corridors? No, of course not, but I tell you young man, that was what did it, that was what enabled me to deliver gifts at Christmas all over the world.
“I then developed the Time Corridor Interweaving Theory. For the next 30 years I started to put them both into practice, and then bring them together. That my dear friend is how I get around the whole world like that and deliver gifts: by exploiting the Quantum Chimney Descent Theory in unison with Time Corridor Interweaving.
“Do you understand now?” he asked.
Well, who was I to argue, I might sound like a historian or scientist? So, that was it, I had the answers to the greatest Santa Claus question of all. I did not have a clue what he was talking about, but I am sure he anticipated that.
We went on to the final question as the firework display reached its climax.
Q3 What happens to all the mince pies and glasses of sherry that millions of children leave out for you?
Santa roared with laughter again, “oh, all the things people leave out for me; they are so sweet those children. “But you know, their parents should tell them the truth; they should not deceive. It is their parents who drink the sherry and other alcoholic drinks. It’s just their excuse. I don’t drink the stuff, never did.
“But the mince pies, yes I do love a good mince pie. The children are so considerate leaving them for me, and I eat as many as I can in Australia. But over a million? I have to tell you, those mince pies get spread around all sorts of places. The creatures of the oceans and the forests are very much experts on mince pies now. But the year before last.....”
Santa saw my expression change.
“Aaah, we can’t say what happened that year, can we? It’s in your story. We mustn't spoil your story."
rift gold
A moment later I awoke in my bed many thousands of miles away near the Sulu Sea. My wife was next to me; and funnily enough, I was next to her. When I went to my computer room a while later, I found my notebook. And what you have read above is what was written in it.
rift gold
Of course, for such an apparently far fetched story, it was important to check out the facts. That was easy to do here in Palawan, but how could I interview somebody quite so famous as Santa Claus, who lived far away in a land where I would freeze to death as soon as I got off the airplane?
Well, it turned out to be more easy than I thought, and we met, believe it or not, close to a big firework display in Southern England on November 5th 2005. How I got there and how he got there, I am not allowed to say. In fact, I cannot say, simply because I do not know for sure. I can only speculate. My passport shows I was here; my wife tells me I was here; I tell myself I was here. But I was there, and this is what I can report from the notes I took at the interview. There was much more, but I am sworn to secrecy, and Santa Claus has such amazing powers, I would not go against his wishes.
These are the 3 questions, and answers, I am allowed to reveal.
Q1 There is much speculation amongst historians about your origins. Can you tell us, to put this straight once and for all?
(Roars of laughter from Santa) “The last people you should ask are historians. They can only look backwards. What a dumb life they lead; they can never find the truth like that. Life is multi dimensional; time is multi dimensional. What do historians and scientists know about all that? The truth is like a sun with all it’s planets rotating round. If you just look backwards, you miss the whole spectrum, and you miss the sun itself.
“What are my origins? My good man, you’re just a simple soul, like everyone else on the planet, so I know you mean ‘when and where do I come from’. I do have a birthday; in fact, I have many birthdays, and they are all true. But for your narrow little world, I was born in 701 AD."
“But,” I said, “all the historians…….” his glare told me to be quiet about historians. That seemed like a good idea, given that they got it all totally wrong.
Santa was a tolerant and gentle man despite his massive powers. “And, young man” ( I had not been called that for a long time) he said. “You will not believe where I was born. It was not the North Pole, though I go there often. It was not Lapland, where I do now live. It was Central Africa."
I was dumbfounded; he just laughed at me. I moved on quickly.
Q2 I have to ask, Santa, how do you get around the whole world like that, every Christmas, delivering gifts to so many millions of children? In less than 2 days. It’s just not..”
Before I could finish, he had put his hand firmly on my arm to stop me.
“Of course it’s possible. You think it’s not possible because your “scientists” say so, not because of the truth. Only the truth matters. And it is possible, because I do it every year. You say “not possible” because of the way you all look at things; narrow and blinkered. Even my blinkered reindeer know more than your silly scientists; so forget it’s not possible. I do it, and young man”, (I was really beginning to like this guy), he went on, “I just love every moment of it.”
“But……?” I was about to ask, but he stopped me again with a firm hand.
“Ok,” he said gently. “Let me just tell you about something. In the 8th century I was exploring brainwaves; your scientists don’t have an inkling yet about the brain, how it works, the brainwaves and what they mean and how you can use them. I was able to discover great things, things all the scientists have been too narrow minded in the past to seek out, understand and utilize.”
I was in his spell, listening intently to every word. He was about to reveal….
“Have you heard of Quantum Chimney Descent Theory? No, of course not. By 820 AD I had it all worked out; a year later I had discovered Time Corridors. You know time corridors? No, of course not, but I tell you young man, that was what did it, that was what enabled me to deliver gifts at Christmas all over the world.
“I then developed the Time Corridor Interweaving Theory. For the next 30 years I started to put them both into practice, and then bring them together. That my dear friend is how I get around the whole world like that and deliver gifts: by exploiting the Quantum Chimney Descent Theory in unison with Time Corridor Interweaving.
“Do you understand now?” he asked.
Well, who was I to argue, I might sound like a historian or scientist? So, that was it, I had the answers to the greatest Santa Claus question of all. I did not have a clue what he was talking about, but I am sure he anticipated that.
We went on to the final question as the firework display reached its climax.
Q3 What happens to all the mince pies and glasses of sherry that millions of children leave out for you?
Santa roared with laughter again, “oh, all the things people leave out for me; they are so sweet those children. “But you know, their parents should tell them the truth; they should not deceive. It is their parents who drink the sherry and other alcoholic drinks. It’s just their excuse. I don’t drink the stuff, never did.
“But the mince pies, yes I do love a good mince pie. The children are so considerate leaving them for me, and I eat as many as I can in Australia. But over a million? I have to tell you, those mince pies get spread around all sorts of places. The creatures of the oceans and the forests are very much experts on mince pies now. But the year before last.....”
Santa saw my expression change.
“Aaah, we can’t say what happened that year, can we? It’s in your story. We mustn't spoil your story."
rift gold
A moment later I awoke in my bed many thousands of miles away near the Sulu Sea. My wife was next to me; and funnily enough, I was next to her. When I went to my computer room a while later, I found my notebook. And what you have read above is what was written in it.
2011年4月19日星期二
The waiting game is over for Shane Carwin. RIFT Platinum The onetime UFC interim champion finally has an opponent, as UFC president Dana White revealed during a Seattle Times live chat that Carwin would face octagon newcomer Jon Olav Einemo.
MMA Fighting first reported Einemo's signing earlier this month.
The 35-year-old is a member of Team Golden Glory and has a 6-1 record in MMA, Rift Gold though he has not fought over four years.
Einemo made his MMA debut in 2000 and competed once in PRIDE, losing to Strikeforce star Fabricio Werdum. He abruptly quit the sport after a Nov. 2006 win over James Thompson.
The 6-foot-6 Norweigian is the only man ever to beat multiple-time BJJ champion Roger Gracie in the Abu Dhabi Combat Club tournament. rift gold A renowned submission grappler, Einemo captured the 2003 ADCC tournament after defeating Gracie in the semi-finals of the 88-98 kg weight division.
Carwin, meanwhile, is returning from surgery to address neck, back and nerve problems. RIFT Platinum He has not fought since his UFC 116 championship loss to Brock Lesnar.
A source with knowledge of the situation told MMA Fighting that the UFC had expected to pair Carwin with the winner of this Saturday's fight between Mike Russow and Jon Madsen until going to plan B.
UFC 131 takes place on June 11 and emanates from the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia.
MMA Fighting first reported Einemo's signing earlier this month.
The 35-year-old is a member of Team Golden Glory and has a 6-1 record in MMA, Rift Gold though he has not fought over four years.
Einemo made his MMA debut in 2000 and competed once in PRIDE, losing to Strikeforce star Fabricio Werdum. He abruptly quit the sport after a Nov. 2006 win over James Thompson.
The 6-foot-6 Norweigian is the only man ever to beat multiple-time BJJ champion Roger Gracie in the Abu Dhabi Combat Club tournament. rift gold A renowned submission grappler, Einemo captured the 2003 ADCC tournament after defeating Gracie in the semi-finals of the 88-98 kg weight division.
Carwin, meanwhile, is returning from surgery to address neck, back and nerve problems. RIFT Platinum He has not fought since his UFC 116 championship loss to Brock Lesnar.
A source with knowledge of the situation told MMA Fighting that the UFC had expected to pair Carwin with the winner of this Saturday's fight between Mike Russow and Jon Madsen until going to plan B.
UFC 131 takes place on June 11 and emanates from the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia.
To this point, I've been a little bit doom and gloom about the Tigers' system. Knocking on Tiger prospects isn't really my style, but I also try to be realistic. When looking at the Tigers' catching, first base and second base prospects, I have a hard time seeing a lot of guys who we can expect to have big league futures. True, I may get an email from their college roommate who thinks I need to get out and watch the games if I don't think his boy isn't going to play for the Tigers some day. But my job, as I see it, is to take the information available and make honest assessments. I don't feel bad about doing that as long as I don't take cheap shots at others' expense.
I admit, though, that it gets a little old to try to make honest guesses at what level of the minors various players will find is their ceiling. After all, we don't watch prospects in order to be there when they run into harsh reality. We do it in the hopes that they will break through the barrier between the minors and majors and establish themselves as useful big leaguers. For those of us who root for specific teams, we like the thought of knowing a star "back when".
That's why I'm kind of glad to have come to the Tigers' third base prospects. Going over this group, I don't know that the Tigers have a star but it's a lot easier to see that potential. That's especially exciting when you consider there was quite a long spell where the Tigers' most exciting third base prospect was chasing down minor league home run records.
Toledo
The Mud Hens' most common third basemen in 2010 were Jeff Larish and Danny Worth. Both players are out of position at the hot corner and Jeff Larish isn't even in the system anymore. I'm not going to cover Worth in this piece either because when you add in his time with the Tigers, he actually played more shortstop than third base in 2010.
Erie
Audy Ciriaco, .241/.264/.419, 251 PA, 8 BB, 49 K; Ciriaco's season was cut short by a bothersome wrist injury that didn't seem to allow him to stay in the lineup for more than a few weeks at a time. I did a bit of a contrarian piece pointing out a pattern of him playing pretty well for a couple weeks before tailing off and going back on the DL. It could just be a bit of a Rorschach test, though. Ciriaco's .264 on-base percentage was pretty well in line with his career mark of .271. Still, the power was real and though it seems like he's been around forever, he's still just 23. 2011 Outlook: Ciriaco is in an interesting place. He could probably be Erie's starting shortstop, but the Tigers seem to think he'll outgrow the position. Nobody's really blocking him at third in Toledo, but is he ready for Triple A? In a season where he desperately needs to show growth and good health, Ciriaco isn't going to be an easy man to place. My guess is a sink or swim assignment in Toledo.
Bryan Pounds, .281/.359/.438, 210 PA, 21 BB, 52 K; Pounds seemed like he was promoted to Erie more because options were limited than performance. After all, he went on the DL in May, rehabbed for a couple games in the GCL, and then spent just four more games in Lakeland before getting the call up to the Wolves. Interestingly, he hit better in Erie than he had in Lakeland. It was mostly due to a big uptick in power. He also continued to draw walks in one of ten trips to the plate, helping boost production even further and taking off some of the sting of striking out another quarter of the time. 2011 Outlook: At 25, it's hard to argue for Pounds as a prospect but he also seems like too good of a hitter to just let walk. He could give Erie some good at bats, and probably even push for Toledo if the Tigers aren't ready to challenge Ciriaco. I don't envy the Tigers when they have to divvy up the third base assignments next spring.
Francisco Martinez, .271/.330/.353, 374 PA, 28 BB, 71 K; Martinez provided another wonderful example why you shouldn't worry too much about GCL stats. He was dreadful there in 2009, but still drew a Lakeland assignment in 2010 when the Flying Tigers lost Bryan Pounds. At just 19, he held his own at Hi-A, putting up numbers that were right about league average. He wasn't exactly Frank Thomas, but he showed a pretty decent touch with the strike zone and also mixed in some speed. rift gold Baseball America had him as the Tigers' top position prospect behind only Nick Castellanos, and hopefully the push to be the Tigers' next starting third baseman will be a positive for both players. 2011 Outlook: A move to Erie would seem to be very aggressive, but the Tigers did send him to the Arizona Fall League. They seem to view that as somewhere between Lakeland and Erie, and that would clear the way for Gaynor in Lakeland and Castellanos in West Michigan.
West Michigan
Wade Gaynor, .286/.354/.436, 574 PA, 46 BB, 111 K; When the Tigers drafted Gaynor third in the 2009 draft and he fell on his face in Oneonta, I couldn't help but be reminded of Ronnie Bourquin. So it was good to see Gaynor recover nicely in West Michigan in 2010. RIFT Platinum He hit the ball very well, showing average, some power, and willingness to watch ball four. His OBP is a little deceptive considering he was plunked ten times, but I suppose that can be a skill, too, as long as you're catching them in the meat of your back. He also showed good speed, which may have to serve him well - along with a third baseman's arm - if guys like Martinez and Castellanos force him off third and into a corner outfield spot. 2011 Outlook: The natural choice would be to just bump him up to Lakeland, but that may depend on what happens with Martinez. If Martinez is in Lakeland, does Gaynor's time at third end already?
Connecticut
Josh Ashenbrenner, .260/.327/.339, 255 PA, 18 BB, 19 K; Ashenbrenner made a lot of contact in Connecticut but usually didn't get to go past first when it fell in for a hit. That left him as a touch below average in the NY-Penn, but a little better luck with BABIP could make him a serviceable hitter. Rift Gold Ashenbrenner was the Tigers' 18th round pick out of Lewis-Clark State, which may sound familiar if you're a fan of Brent Wyatt. 2011 Outlook: He was called out as a second baseman on draft day, and he might have to try his hand as a utility player if he wants to crack a full season roster in 2010. You may have noticed it will be crowded at third in the system's upper levels and Nick Castellanos would be a good bet to man third in West Michigan.
GCL Tigers
Javier Azcona, .256/.296/.403, 189 PA, 7 BB, 51 K; Azcona is a 19-year-old Dominican who had been a shortstop in the DSL. He was coming to the States at the same time as another shortstop import, Dixon Machado, so I was curious to see who would stay and who would go from the position. Azcona was the one to move, but since he's already 6'1" and 185 pounds, that could just be the Tigers trying to find him a new position before his maturation forces their hand. RIFT Platinum 2011 Outlook: Extended spring training seems like a possibility, but Azcona spent nearly as much time as a middle infielder (when you combine time at short and second) as he did at third. Machado may have moved him off shortstop, but could Azcona team up with his Venezuelan counterpart to form West Michigan's middle infield (even if not to start the season) next year?
Nick Castellanos, .333/.414/.417, 29 PA, 4 BB, 5 K; The numbers are only shown because they exist. The number that is more important when you think of Castellanos is the $3.45 million bonus the Tigers were comfortable giving their first round supplemental pick - a record for that round. rift gold It shows they likely viewed him as one of the top ten players in last year's draft and I'm sure they hope he'll provide some star power that is desperately needed from the system's position players. Thoughts on his defensive aptitude seem to vary, but there seems to be more consensus that he should be a plus hitter with doubles power and a chance to peak somewhere in the 20s in terms of home runs. 2011 Outlook: I've had him penciled in as the Whitecaps' third baseman in 2011 since August 15th.
Positional Outlook
I hope it doesn't seem like I was gushing too much about these players. I don't want to oversell the potential here. The truth is I'm not sure how many people who watch the minors as a whole are thinking much about any of these players besides Castellanos. RIFT Platinum It's hard to deny, though, that there is some potential in guys like Martinez and Gaynor. The scout types even get pretty excited about Ciriaco, and those are all thing you just haven't heard about this position in the past few years. If I'm a little overzealous, it's probably because this position has very quickly gone from being the Tigers' worst source of talent to its most promising.
I admit, though, that it gets a little old to try to make honest guesses at what level of the minors various players will find is their ceiling. After all, we don't watch prospects in order to be there when they run into harsh reality. We do it in the hopes that they will break through the barrier between the minors and majors and establish themselves as useful big leaguers. For those of us who root for specific teams, we like the thought of knowing a star "back when".
That's why I'm kind of glad to have come to the Tigers' third base prospects. Going over this group, I don't know that the Tigers have a star but it's a lot easier to see that potential. That's especially exciting when you consider there was quite a long spell where the Tigers' most exciting third base prospect was chasing down minor league home run records.
Toledo
The Mud Hens' most common third basemen in 2010 were Jeff Larish and Danny Worth. Both players are out of position at the hot corner and Jeff Larish isn't even in the system anymore. I'm not going to cover Worth in this piece either because when you add in his time with the Tigers, he actually played more shortstop than third base in 2010.
Erie
Audy Ciriaco, .241/.264/.419, 251 PA, 8 BB, 49 K; Ciriaco's season was cut short by a bothersome wrist injury that didn't seem to allow him to stay in the lineup for more than a few weeks at a time. I did a bit of a contrarian piece pointing out a pattern of him playing pretty well for a couple weeks before tailing off and going back on the DL. It could just be a bit of a Rorschach test, though. Ciriaco's .264 on-base percentage was pretty well in line with his career mark of .271. Still, the power was real and though it seems like he's been around forever, he's still just 23. 2011 Outlook: Ciriaco is in an interesting place. He could probably be Erie's starting shortstop, but the Tigers seem to think he'll outgrow the position. Nobody's really blocking him at third in Toledo, but is he ready for Triple A? In a season where he desperately needs to show growth and good health, Ciriaco isn't going to be an easy man to place. My guess is a sink or swim assignment in Toledo.
Bryan Pounds, .281/.359/.438, 210 PA, 21 BB, 52 K; Pounds seemed like he was promoted to Erie more because options were limited than performance. After all, he went on the DL in May, rehabbed for a couple games in the GCL, and then spent just four more games in Lakeland before getting the call up to the Wolves. Interestingly, he hit better in Erie than he had in Lakeland. It was mostly due to a big uptick in power. He also continued to draw walks in one of ten trips to the plate, helping boost production even further and taking off some of the sting of striking out another quarter of the time. 2011 Outlook: At 25, it's hard to argue for Pounds as a prospect but he also seems like too good of a hitter to just let walk. He could give Erie some good at bats, and probably even push for Toledo if the Tigers aren't ready to challenge Ciriaco. I don't envy the Tigers when they have to divvy up the third base assignments next spring.
Francisco Martinez, .271/.330/.353, 374 PA, 28 BB, 71 K; Martinez provided another wonderful example why you shouldn't worry too much about GCL stats. He was dreadful there in 2009, but still drew a Lakeland assignment in 2010 when the Flying Tigers lost Bryan Pounds. At just 19, he held his own at Hi-A, putting up numbers that were right about league average. He wasn't exactly Frank Thomas, but he showed a pretty decent touch with the strike zone and also mixed in some speed. rift gold Baseball America had him as the Tigers' top position prospect behind only Nick Castellanos, and hopefully the push to be the Tigers' next starting third baseman will be a positive for both players. 2011 Outlook: A move to Erie would seem to be very aggressive, but the Tigers did send him to the Arizona Fall League. They seem to view that as somewhere between Lakeland and Erie, and that would clear the way for Gaynor in Lakeland and Castellanos in West Michigan.
West Michigan
Wade Gaynor, .286/.354/.436, 574 PA, 46 BB, 111 K; When the Tigers drafted Gaynor third in the 2009 draft and he fell on his face in Oneonta, I couldn't help but be reminded of Ronnie Bourquin. So it was good to see Gaynor recover nicely in West Michigan in 2010. RIFT Platinum He hit the ball very well, showing average, some power, and willingness to watch ball four. His OBP is a little deceptive considering he was plunked ten times, but I suppose that can be a skill, too, as long as you're catching them in the meat of your back. He also showed good speed, which may have to serve him well - along with a third baseman's arm - if guys like Martinez and Castellanos force him off third and into a corner outfield spot. 2011 Outlook: The natural choice would be to just bump him up to Lakeland, but that may depend on what happens with Martinez. If Martinez is in Lakeland, does Gaynor's time at third end already?
Connecticut
Josh Ashenbrenner, .260/.327/.339, 255 PA, 18 BB, 19 K; Ashenbrenner made a lot of contact in Connecticut but usually didn't get to go past first when it fell in for a hit. That left him as a touch below average in the NY-Penn, but a little better luck with BABIP could make him a serviceable hitter. Rift Gold Ashenbrenner was the Tigers' 18th round pick out of Lewis-Clark State, which may sound familiar if you're a fan of Brent Wyatt. 2011 Outlook: He was called out as a second baseman on draft day, and he might have to try his hand as a utility player if he wants to crack a full season roster in 2010. You may have noticed it will be crowded at third in the system's upper levels and Nick Castellanos would be a good bet to man third in West Michigan.
GCL Tigers
Javier Azcona, .256/.296/.403, 189 PA, 7 BB, 51 K; Azcona is a 19-year-old Dominican who had been a shortstop in the DSL. He was coming to the States at the same time as another shortstop import, Dixon Machado, so I was curious to see who would stay and who would go from the position. Azcona was the one to move, but since he's already 6'1" and 185 pounds, that could just be the Tigers trying to find him a new position before his maturation forces their hand. RIFT Platinum 2011 Outlook: Extended spring training seems like a possibility, but Azcona spent nearly as much time as a middle infielder (when you combine time at short and second) as he did at third. Machado may have moved him off shortstop, but could Azcona team up with his Venezuelan counterpart to form West Michigan's middle infield (even if not to start the season) next year?
Nick Castellanos, .333/.414/.417, 29 PA, 4 BB, 5 K; The numbers are only shown because they exist. The number that is more important when you think of Castellanos is the $3.45 million bonus the Tigers were comfortable giving their first round supplemental pick - a record for that round. rift gold It shows they likely viewed him as one of the top ten players in last year's draft and I'm sure they hope he'll provide some star power that is desperately needed from the system's position players. Thoughts on his defensive aptitude seem to vary, but there seems to be more consensus that he should be a plus hitter with doubles power and a chance to peak somewhere in the 20s in terms of home runs. 2011 Outlook: I've had him penciled in as the Whitecaps' third baseman in 2011 since August 15th.
Positional Outlook
I hope it doesn't seem like I was gushing too much about these players. I don't want to oversell the potential here. The truth is I'm not sure how many people who watch the minors as a whole are thinking much about any of these players besides Castellanos. RIFT Platinum It's hard to deny, though, that there is some potential in guys like Martinez and Gaynor. The scout types even get pretty excited about Ciriaco, and those are all thing you just haven't heard about this position in the past few years. If I'm a little overzealous, it's probably because this position has very quickly gone from being the Tigers' worst source of talent to its most promising.
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