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Da'Shawn Hand sets decision date

Da'Shawn Hand Profile

A promised visit from Michael Jackson, an architectural project, and an eighth grade memory. It's a look into the world of Da'Shawn Hand, ESPN's top defensive end for the 2014 class.

The No. 4-ranked prospect in the country, defensive end Da'Shawn Hand (Woodbridge, Va./Woodbridge) will announce his college decision at his high school on Nov. 14.


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Inside the Dodgers Tour

The long-awaited tour is coming up at the end of the month (June 27)…and at your request, we’ll also arrange for a group section of tickets for those who want to go to the game that night, too.

Plus, we have some great news to share. I spoke with Frank McCourt about your idea of bringing out OldBrooklynFan and he immediately agreed that we have to do it. So, OldBrooklynFan, please email us at and we’ll work out the details. The Dodger organization is thrilled to have you out here!

For the rest of you, here’s what you need to do:

If you’re interested in the group tour at 11:30, please email Dustin at and he’ll take credit card info, etc. to get you set up.

If you want to attend the game that night against the Mariners, please contact Kris at or 323.224.1308.

Hope you can all make it out…

No Comments

WOW! Thank you Josh! Thank you Mr. McCourt!! This is going to be so cool. i am so proud to be a Dodger fan!
Greetings from New Hampshire! I got here Sunday and my luggage was not delivered so I am at work here wearing jeans and sneakers. I had to buy a few things to get me by.
looking forward to meeting you all there! I hope you can make it Brooklyin fan. Even if I already have season ticket, I want to sit with all of you so when I get a chance here, I’ll email you.

red mark. i’ll email about the tour and the ticket when I get a chance. i’ve taken quite a few tours but I want to take it with all of you. i get a tour for two with my season tickets but I give them aways to out of town friends.
The ITD get together day is a day before my bday! I am so looking forward to meeting you all.

I am soooo excited about the tour. I will be ordering my tickets soon.
JOSH thanks so much for everything and specially thanks that OLDBROOKLYN will get his chance to fly down and take a tour. I just hope he can make it! I guess we THANK Frank aswell.
EMMA I was there for yesterdays game. Kids did not get to try the kids corral thing since they had to be with their Little League Team. But of course I went to check it out. The Phillies were out praticing and we were by center field. A fly ball comes our way and some guy jumps to try a catch it but knocks the temporary railing thats put up. Well he tramples over one of the little sister of one of our team mate. Not a Phillies fan, but the Phillie Player (sorry I did not know who he was) he was really nice and walked up to the Little girl and handed her a ball. Little girl is only 3 and will not remember but her parents will. I was mad that the adult men were the ones pushing all the kids up front. Come on let the kids enjoy their moment. Dissappointed that we lost that game. My seats were terrible, all the way on top FACING THE SUN. Sucked, couldn’t really enjoy the game.

Thank-you, Josh. The head of our group will be taking care of securing the tickets for both the tour and the game. And, a special thank-you to the Dodgers Organization for making it possible for Oldbrooklynfan to be with us!

Good morning ITD, Dodgerfaithful,
Thanks for all the work Josh, and thank you to the McCourts and the Dodgers for helping OldBrooklinFan attend this event.
BRING THE RING TO L.A. IN 2009!!!!!!!

dodger4life, crzblue and msrussyethier ~ I’M SO EXCITED!!!!

WHOO HOO !!!!!!

I’m just like a kid going to Disneyland!

I can not wait. Even my husband is excited. We always talk about a tour but always put it off, since it is local for us. But this is going to finally happen! WOOOOHOOOO!

sorry we lost the game. I was at the hotel watching the game and wishing I was there. The kid’s corral is the one by the Dodger dugout. Not sure what they call the one by centerfield. That is so cool the little girl got the baseball. that fence is always coming down. I know the guys there could be so agressive going after a ball. I went there the first time it was open and then I just go to the kid’s corral but I only stay very briefly to give other kids a chance.
Hey between the tour and the game we have some time. Maybe we can go have lunch somewhere close by…Chinatown, Phillipe’s or ?

Josh-Very cool. The tour, arranged seating, and bringing out the old fan. I’m sure that everyone that makes it will be sure to show much appreciation. Thank you very much and could you please thank your boss on my behalf. Very cool.

Good morning ITD boys and girls!!!
OMG!!! Wow!!! OldBrooklynFan/JoePierre will be with us!!! THANK YOU FRANK!!! JoePierre is such a critical ITDer, that I cannot imagine our tour without him!!! Kudos to you Frank!!! I’ll e-mail about the tour!!! For those who care (and even if you don’t), my husband and I already have tickets for that evening: Infield Reserved, Aisle 1, Row M!!! I am soooo excited about this!!! I can’t wait to meet my fellow ITDers!!!

EMMA: OOOh so I must of been in the Wild Kids Corral…LOL. Next time I’ll make sure and go to the right one. Well I’ll make sure my kids are with me. Love your idea about all of us eating together…my suggestion: Eat at the Dodgers Cafeteria and try out the Dodgers Chef cuisine….who is with me…I know I know I am asking for tooo much. I am just happy OLDBROOKLYN might come down. Where is he? I might not even make it to the game after…BOOOOHOOOO…I have a party at night. But I’m hoping my husband decides to ditch that party for a better one at Dodgers Stadium.

Hey Rose!!! Don’t even think of not coming!!! :)

I am going to the tour…..that I am not skipping…but the game I might have to skip. But I am praying hard that my husband decides to ditch his aunt’s retirement party so that we can be at the game.

Okay Rose, that’s better. It’ll be even better if you can come to the game that night!!! :)

CPO I will work on that! Donw’t want to miss it. I can’t wait……GOOOO DODGERS! Gotta get my camera ready.

Oh, and Emma, if you’re still around, I just noticed on your earlier post that the tour is the day before your birthday!!! Well, it’s three days after mine!!!

Oh yeah Rose, my camera will be ready too!!!

How exciting! a DODGER stadium tour! =) I’m taking my nephew, he is so excited that he said if he has a game that day (he plays for Torrance Babe Ruth League) he would rather miss that than the tour!

So we must get the Chef to bake a birthday cake for both of YOU…EMMA & CPO!
JEANNETTE can’t wait to meet you. This is Dodgersrule1655 but I went for a name change for the new season! Your nephew knows what’s best. I’ll be taking my husband and two kids.

Carol! Cool! Your birthday too! Last month I got a graduation cake for my friend Lore. She got her masters and I embarrassed her by putting a balloon on her seat and sharing a cake from Portos with the fans and workers around. I can take a cake but I don’t know how many of us will be there. Maybe I’ll just take cookies…we’ll see.

Hey Josh, I think I can speak for all of us on ITD and give you and Frank and Jamie a profound and heart felt THANK YOU for bringing Oldbrooklynfan out for the tour. Out of all of us regulars, I can think of no one that’s anymore of an optimistic and diehard fan of our beloved Dodgers.

OOOOHH PORTO’S IS GOOOOOOD! Fruit cakes & lil’ cute pastries….mmmmm mmmmm! Thanks EMMA!

And Josh, no worries – bear and I won’t be there!!!!

WHAT…Enchanted! You are a “Must Attend” person!

Hey Rose…yeah he knows what’s best! he better..he learned from me!! lol I took him to Thursday’s game and he was all like “Jeanette…when I play here i’ll get you some seats right behind home plate alright?” lol Before the game I was like “you sure you wanna go, there’s a laker game?” he was like “its baseball..i live for this!” lol he’s more like the little brother I never had, he’s 13, i’m 23 and he’s taller lol

can’t wait to meet you too!! =)

I’m with you, msrussyethier. We need Enchanted there!!!

JEANNETTE…kids! Love them. We went to yesterday’s game. The Little League had their parade there yesterday and my son was all excited thinking he was going to play with the Dodgers. He says he will play with them when he gets “BIG”. He is only 4, so the promises to buy stuff has not started yet.

Just can’t. Have to go down to Houston about a week or so after the tour and can’t do both.

Besides that I gave my word to Josh that if they got Brooklyn out there I’d stay in NM :)

Maybe we should all tattoo our screen names on our foreheads. I won’t know anyone by their real name. enchanted and messagebear, wish you were coming!

yeah he’s too young to start promising, my nephew has promised to buy a large house for the WHOLE family to live in, I was like “can I get my own??” lol And since my “dream” is to work for a baseball team in the community relations or media relations dept. he’s like “imagine if you work for the same team I play with??” hey Rose do you have a facebook or myspace so I can add ya?? =)

I’ll just ask dodgereric say something controversial and rude and it’ll almost be like I’m there. LMAO :)

Well E I hope you change your mind. Well I’m sure JP was looking forward to meeting ya!
KAHLI – we probably have to wear those HELLO MY NAME IS labels.
I’ll be going by Rosie or Rose..

msrussyethier ~ That’s funny. And, to bad Manny won’t be back in time to greet Messagebear! lol

Enchanted ~ I’m sure that can be arranged with Dodgereric! lol

A. Pujols hit sacrifice fly to deep left, S. Schumaker and C. Rasmus scored

Did anyone see the replay of the Rockies and Cards game yesterday?

When did we trade Pierre back to the Rockies???

TRU – Oh well…no Manny. I wonder if his locker is still set up? Can he just be there for that day?

I know enchanted make you think does it.

Thanks, kahli for expressing the idea that you’ll miss me from the tour. While I’m only up in Washington state instead of across the country, I am in my post retirement period and really can’t swing the cost of that kind of trip. Love baseball and the Dodgers greatly, but we have to observe some other priorities. Look forward to all your chats and description of what went on.

Hope you all have a great deal of fun. Enchanted and I will keep some of the negative coals smoldering in the background.

I’m just so excited for Joe Pierre. That is just way too cool. Guess I’ll stop bagging on management.

At least until after the 27th…

It wasn’t even Hawpe in LF it was Gonzales that was part of the Holliday trade to Oakland.

Can the Tracy lowly Rockies do it and sweep the Cardinals?

Enchanted ~ :) and, at least we know they do read what we have to say.

Messagebear & E hopefully there are others oppurtinies to were ITD get get together and you two can meet with the crew! The tour will be missing the special touch you people bring to this blog.

msrussyethier ~ I think we are going to try to make the ITD Tour an annual event. When we are there, we can talk to those in charge about the idea. That way, if a date is put on the Dodgers schedule, people will have more time to plan for the tour.

Russy – my “special touch” is like sculpting with a sledgehammer.

Tru – that must mean the Ned’s got some of my songs hanging up in his office for sure!!!

I’ll bet he does, Enchanted! He may even have Dodgereric’s entire book of lyrics! Wouldn’t that be a riot?!

I am guessing tru is referring to me on the tickets. I have to wait and here from Ward Dear and see what he thinks we should do about game tickets. Even though Wally and Beav aren’t going (just heartbreaking), our real kids are going, and I am assuming they will want to sit together.

messagebear – it would have been to have you there as well.

TRU – That is a great idea. That way those that missed it can get another chance.
ENCHANTED – Your special touch, the “I HATE JP” touch, but we all know deep down you love him. Deep deep down you know Dodgers are not the same without JP…LOL!

Josh – That is just a wonderful thing you are doing for OldBrooklynfan – just fabulous!!!!!

Now I don’t hate JP russy – without him on the team, I would have no inspiration for song! I’ve actually been praising JP here and there lately – ask Nells.

NED probably has a KARAOKE machine and he sings along with DODGER’S LYRICS….

He has been Rose, and it is just scary at times too.

Wow!!!!! This is finally coming to fruition!!!! I can’t believe it!!!

Josh Rawitch and Frank McCourt- Thank you both for making this a reality, and especially for the absolutely CLASSY step of getting oldbrooklynfan out here!!! We are all very excited, and appreciate this great event!!

Enchanted has been so kind to JP it was like an out-of-body experience!

Maybe it was an out-of-mind experience!

ENCHANTED – I know you don’t really hate JP and it is all a front. It makes it fun. But if you really did hate JP you wouldn’t spend your time writing about him.

TRU – Hasn’t E been out-of-his mind the whole time, even before the whole we-love-jp-phase!

LMAO, Msrussyethier!

If you remember he was the very first one to go off into the deepend and the rest of us have followed since then. He is trying to resurface now and go to the shallow end, but there is no going back to the shallow end once you’ve been in the deepend.

LOL, NellyJune!

The Rox just swept the Cards………….How about that?!?

NELLY – There is hope for Enchanted…thanks to the Dodgers new seating section. He should continue to resurface to the shallow end and eventually he will end up in the DODGERS BEACH BLEACHER section.

I want to echo the thanks from everyone else around here for the Tour, the game, and last but certainly not least, the offer to bring joepierre out here. It really is a wonderful gesture. I’m impressed. I can’t wait to hear his response. But regardless, tell Frank that he’s ALMOST got me turned to his side of things. :-) Hell, I’ve already stopped slamming Ned. Now, if Torre would just take Russ out of the middle of the lineup, people around here will start accusing me of drinking the Kool-Aid!

Junie, if you think I’m going to come all the way to Dodger Stadium on a game day and NOT take in the game, you don’t know me as well as I think you do. (I just have to check with the missus to see if it’s ok)

And the answer to the question on the last post is “D”.

See Rose,……………this is the real enchanted :)

There is one record that isn’t on there… Juan Pierre’s record of 5 consecutive years of at least 450 slappy outs. LMAO!!

By enchantedsunset on June 8, 2009 10:11 AM

Enchanted in the bleacher beach section= a story about being stalked by a lifegaurd. LOL!!!!!

*lifeguard, Im a little off today….

Damn Bear, its gonna be loney around here the 27th with just you, I and jhall (all without parental supervision I might add.)

What are the odds any of us could possibly get into trouble?

Ward Dear – I know you are going. That wasn’t the question on whether you were going or not. The question was do we need to make sure our “own” children are sitting next to each other – LOL!!!!!

Opps, forgot the “L” – so used to spelling Loney I forgot!!!

OH yeah NELLY I forgot about the LIFEGUARD…damn no wonder he won’t resurface, he is waiting for the LIFEGUARD to rescue him!

DodgerEric I loved that last post with the Trivia by the way..:-)

It’s okay enchanted I seriously have the same issue with “either” and “ethier”…………..sometimes on purpose, but most of the time not. Enchanted, Jhall and Messagebear with no supervision. That is a very scary thought indeed.

NELLY you might need a sitter for them!

You guys, be warned. Junie’ll have her phone and she’ll be checking up on you while we’re gone! No wild parties! I’m marking all the booze bottles!

Well, enchanted – at least three minds relatively of a kind will be at work away from the ITD get-together. For my own part, I’m trying to develop a reverse 12 step method to become a Manniac, since the date when he returns is getting closer. Unless your prediction of a possible 100 game suspension comes about, I’ll have to deal with the fact that you know who will be back in Dodger blue. In a game situation how do you not root for a Dodger? There’s probably a song in there somewhere, but I’m not a song guy. Maybe you can help.

I think we can rest assured that on the 27th, no moons will arise.

Enchanted, Jhall and Messagebear you people will be on check. So behave. Well gotta go now. Boss is sending me on a mission. Everyone have a wonderful day.

I was so looking forward to meeting Enchanted in his thong and high-heels!

Just by admitting you have a problem Bear, you’ve taken the first step… LMAO.

How about a little Paul Simon – 50 Ways To Love Your Manny?

Just hop on the bus Russ,
Cuz your hitting disgusts us,
Cuz Manny’s the key see,
T’ settin’ Messagebear free…

“Love Is A Manny Splendid Thing”

“Love Is A Manny Splendid Thing”

Sorry, I did only hit the button once.

After our recent tour of Bristol’s favorite NL East, we’ve come out 10-5, including sweeping the Mets and going 4-3 against the Worlds Champions. And we still are #1 on Bristol’s Power Ranks, with #2 being Joe Torre’s old ballclub.

Sitting pretty right now, but not getting too comfortable until the end.

And thanks to Josh and Mr. McCourt for doing the right thing.

Hey Josh – Nice publicity shot for you on ITD Day – Joe Torre on one side, Juan Pierre on the other, and Joe Pierre (oldbrooklynfan) in between.

That would be cool….woudn’t it enchanted? THAT is a very good idea.

Agreed enchanted! And a video of all of us singing the Loney song? :)

Gotta get Don Newcombe in that pic too. OldBrooklynFan is one lucky fella to have the Dodgers owned by the McCourts instead of Fox.
I am looking forward to the tour with this wild and crazy group.

Maybe you can choreograph a few moves to go with the song Peru!!

Hope you all have a great time!!!

32and52 ~ should be lots of fun.

I don’t know what kind of arrangements there will be for those of us who want to see the game later. Can we hang out at the Stadium Club until game time? If we have to leave the stadium after the tour, can we leave some cars there and carpool down to Phillippe’s for some French dip sandwiches and brewskis and wait for the gates to open back up?

I’m just trying to get desensitized of the idea of Manny coming back soon by playing that old Al Jolson favorite “Give me my Mammy”.

I got back from work and dinner and I was told my luggage had been placed in my room! Ahhh, is so good to be reunited with my luggage.
So I see we have not heard from Pierre. Maybe I’ll go looking for him at other blogs like Tommy’s blog.
When I get back to L.A. I will send you the picures I took of you and your wife.

Messagebear ~ between now and July 3rd, I’m sure you will be bombarded with Manny songs! LMAO!!!

Josh, thanks so much for putting this all together.

Oldbrooklynfan/joepierre, I’m so glad you are going to be able to come out for the tour. That’s great news):

The dodgers gained a half game tonight because the Marlins beat the Giants 4 – 0!

Look like another long extra innings game between Pirates/Braves.

Shad ~ are you going on the ITD Tour?

Pretty quiet here tonight Tru.

Dodgers had played four more games than Gnats…hence, only 6-game lead in the loss column. Nice to have one of those games played…and with a result in that wonderful loss column!

Good Evening ITD readers and writers!!!! Going back to the last thread, and the answer “D”. So, at one point the players agreed not to be paid. How did it go from that to what it is today……………….pretty amazing, isn’t it? That players were willing to play for free back 1858 and now , in today’s times, some won’t play for a few million less than what they asked for.

Geez I can’t believe yahoo made this mistake and this is why the Angels needs to get rid of the LA by there name. Yahoo has it on the wrong team lol. You guy need to check this out and I didn’t think we had Adenhart on our team.;_ylt=AjFaE6gN2B7tjeE3Uzb6s7gd0bYF?slug=e2459a99a8e546bd88912d322b8060de.angels_pitcher_killed_baseball_ny152

We should be stronger now Kahli with Kuroda back. He’s almost like a mid-season pick up. Even with no offense these last 10 games we’re still playing .500 ball.

I don’t worry about he Gnats – they’re playing about as well as they can and are still going to be what they are – a .500 team. Last I looked, they were still one of, if not the worst in league OBP.

Like him or hate him, this team will only get stronger with Manny back as well.

Sorry Tru but I’m not really sure what I have plan on that day but it’s still a long way away

Evening Nells! I’m as excited for the tour for you guys as if I was going.

Kudo’s to you Josh, Frank, and the Dodgers!!! Classy move all the way around. I too am excited and happy for all of you attending. It is wonderful that the Dodgers are going to get Brooklyn there if he can make it. I applaud them. As for the ITD board, Wally, and Beaver, and Bear, Oh My!!! Throw in a flying monkey or two and we’re off to see the wizard!!! LOL!!!!

Shad, you’ve got to be there!!! Make it so!!!

jhall is in the ITD House!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wally, Beav and Bear…………….Oh my!!!!!!!

BonJoir Nelle’ mon amie!!!!! LOL!!!!

Beav, you take care of the booze, I’ll get the strippers, and Bear can bring the food. PARTYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!

No Beav, you can’t be one of the strippers!! LOL!!!!

Sorry buddy!!!!! LOL!!!

LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do you really want that jhall? I seem to remember enchanted is a guy, or did we ever really figure that one out? There was some confusion at one point. LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, thought I was on the Giants blog…

Good food, lots of booze, and naked women, darn, sounds like more fun than a Dodger tour!!! LOL!!! Sorry, going back to my primal instincts!!!! LMTO!!!!! Baseball is reverent, but those things are basal instincts!!!!

I guess that means the assless chaps are out.

I don’t think I could handle Beavette!!!! Sensory overload!!!!

LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!! I guess that would be so enchanted :)

Sorry. No one handles the Beavette.

…Unless you buy it a couple drinks and cab fare home.

LMFTO Beav!!! Yep buddy, leave those to the Village People!!! I would venture to guess that Phan seceretly is the gay cop of that group!!!! LOL!!!!!

Right about now Josh is thinking, “I’m really glad that Wally and Beav guy aren’t coming.”

Trumom might bail on you all to catch Beav in a**less chaps!!! LOL!!!!

……..and at the same time thinking what are we going to do about Ward and June Darlin’?

LOL!!! They really aren’t ready for us my brother!!!

They may not be ready for Wally and Beav but Ward and Junie are :(

I hope Dad gets to meet Ned!!! It’ll be like Ward dealing with Lumpy’s dad!!! LOL!!!

Tell you what guys, since I can’t be there, if you get to meet Ned and JP maybe you could get them to each autograph a song I wrote about them and send them to me sometime – that would make my millennium.

Oh you and Dad wouldn’t want a couple of goofs like us tagging along. Wally and I’d probably sneak off in search of the girl’s locker room or somethin’.

Ward Dear – that’s your job!!! LOL!!! (jk) That would be very cool enchanted.

CP actually got Andre to sign the song she did for him. Now, the difference being, her song was a nice song about Andre.

Beav and I might be too much, but Bear really would give’em hell’!!!!!

Darn straight Beav!!!

Hey Ned has a good sense of humor – he signed Tomko once didn’t he?!!

Nelly, I’ve got a couple of good Andre songs on the Lyrics. Get one autographed. Maybe the one about you. Just a thought!!!

Ouch Beav!! LOL!!

I think Frank has more sense of humor as Ned is still employed!!!! Double ouch!!!!

No Beav, the pole is not for YOU to dance on!!!!! LOL!!!

I think Ned, JP and Frank would all be waiting in a dark corner of the stadium for me to pass by…

I think you could take them all Beav!!!

You do to, evidently!!! :)))

Gotta figure Wally that whoever Ned hired to help would already be hurt. JP never hits anything very hard, and Frank wouldn’t be able to to anything without a camera nearby.

LOL Beav!! So true!!!

“to do” not “to to”.

Evidently the two Tylenol PMs and two shots of tequila are starting to to their job.

What happened to Mom? Sure hope she wan’t sore enough to tell Dad about he assless chaps.

Oh yeah, Josh is happy I’m not coming…

Go get’em gang!! Gonna hit the old rack. You all have fun, and we’ll hold the fort!!!! Excelsior True Blue Believers!!!

Night Wally!!!

Guess I’d better hit it too. Catch everyone tomorrow!!

Good Night Boys!!!! See you tomorrow sometime I am sure :)

I just see Cox won his 2,000 win in a Braves uniform. Congratulation to Cox.

ITD is everyone voting for your dodgers?!?!?!?!?!?!
u dont have to make 20 emails to vote multiple times!

ALL U NEED IS 2 TWO… email accounts and just alternate when voting….the last email should reset the first one used!

PLEASE VOTE! its preety pathetic seeing garbage jimmy rollins leading for SS!

once again all u need is TWWWWOOOOO email accounts and just alternate..

the email doesnt work if u try to use it twice in a row but if u alternate it should refresh the one u used first!

i dont come to this site as often but i know the regulars like…

please i know u guys spend a lot of time on this blog but at the same time i know u guys are not voting as much as u should. i have like 10 email accounts and ive already voted 5 or more times on each of em and i have collected at least 7000 ballots! at this point we can only hope for hudson, martin, and ramirez! broxton n bills will be locke din for pitching!

WOW! I have been so busy this is the first chance I had to check in. Thanks Josh and the Dodger organization for this great opportunity! I can’t wait!! And what fun to do it with the best Dodger fans on the planet!!!!

Good Morning ITDland ~ Things were slow around here last night around 9:00 pm, so I decided to shut down. And, then all the fun began! I’m sorry I missed all the antics with Enchanted, NellyJune and Jhall! If Enchanted, Jhall ad Messagebear were all coming on the ITD Tour, it would be a non-stop, a**kicking riot!!! I’m laughing out loud just thinking about having them all together!
Have a great game tonight, Dodger Blue!!!!

I am looking foward to following the game thread here and listening to the game in my hotel room. That is the thing I don’t like about being on the East Coast but only two games this week so I can put up with that. Maybe a little nap prior to the game will do the trick.
Go Chad! Go Dodgers!

With the MLB draft happening today, every team owner and GM should read this article:

……and tell Boras and all the other agents who don’t give a crap about the future of this great game to go pound sand when they start demanding that these kids be paid like proven veterans. Lord, I wish they’d stand up to them.

Good Morning ITD, Dodger Faithful
After an actual day off, the Boy’s have a rare two game stint with the Padre’s today and tomorrow. As alway’s we are hoping for a sweep, Lets come out firing on all cylinders tonight. Go Get Em Dodgers!!!!
Have a great day and enjoy the series everyone.
BRING THE RING TO L.A. IN 2009!!!!!!
I LOVE L.A. :))))

McDonald finally had a good outing at ABQ lasting 7 innings without being wild and with 10K’s. It would be a Godsend if he could get his form back.

In the meantime, GO DODGERS – win all the games you can before Manny comes back. Things are bound to get screwed up after he returns, not necessarily because he won’t hit, but because Joe will need to find playing time for JP – like he’s said, he wants JP to start about two games a week. Just figure out at whose expense that might be, and what it’ll do to the team to have him patroling CF.

Fire Joe,
Fire the guy who hired Joe,
Fire the guy who hired the guy who hired Joe.

Just practicing up before the ITD Tour.

30 games without Manny. 20 more to go. We aare the best team in the National league without Manny so that won’t change when he comes back. Now’s the time to trade Pierre/
Don’t to forget to vote over and over again for your favorite Dodgers which in my opinion is all of them. i voted hundreds of times already. Keep those votes coming in.

Messagebear ~ I think I’ll wear my Manny dreadlocks at the ITD Tour in your honor! lol

Manny Happy Returns to you, Messagebear!

I understand that the game the night of the ITD Tour is against the Mariners. At least I can see all of the Mariners’ games on my local TV, so I’m looking forward to that one. Will see if they pan the crowd and I can pick up the ITD Group somewhere in the stands.

MESSAGEBEAR – The seating sections that will be available for the ITD pips to buy is Section 3, which is towards the center behind the pitcher but up high.

TRU – please DO wear those dreadlocks…LOL My kids will be taking pictures for you. My 4 year old keeps asking for Manny. I’ll just tell him that you are Manny. LOL!

msrussyethier ~ LOL!!!! I’d much rather wear my Ethier shirt! I wish we had “ETHIERAHOLIC” shirts, because nobody else would have them and everyone would be able to spot us!

hey, sorry for the random post…..I’m making the rounds on the mlb blogs to tell people about a new website for Ballhawks,

You can create a profile, upload pictures, and record balls that you snagged at baseball games. It automatically updates your stats and has top-10 rankings for the current season and lifetime.

It’s awfully quiet in here for a team that’s about to win its ten thousandth game by pummeling the Puds. Go Dodgers!!!!!

Manny, Manny, Manny, Manny, Manny, Manny, Manny –
just practicing acceptance of the inevitable.

LOL, Messagebear!
Hi Crash. How are you today?

Anybody know where one can buy silver-gray hair dreadlocks?

And I have been looking for Dreadlocks R Us!

I am going to wear my special Loney shirt.

I just want to echo the sentiments expressed here in grattitude for you and the organization agreeing to bring OldBrooklynFan/JoePierre/Pierreeastmeetswest out to Dodger Stadium for this. A couple of seasons ago Jungar and some others started talking about the idea of getting together, and helping him come. It’s a fantastic gesture for a fan that deserves it, in the middle of a season that will be truly worth it.
My regret here is that I won’t be able to join (I might have even suspended for one day my boycott of unholy and evil illegal inter-league games), since I am in Washington DC. And it’s a shame that I am away from home during this season–I am following as closely as possible, but not being to listen in on the radio on a drive home or go to Dodger Stadium makes you realize how good we as Dodger fans have it.
I hope everyone is doing well here. It’s been a great start to the season, and I feel that there is a slight slump underway, but I think they will pick it up and continue to play excellnt baseball. The free agent signings (O-Dawg, Blake, etc.) have worked brilliantly. Ethier is coming back on, Martin will pick it up, Loney is driving in runs and will drive the ball more. And Juan Pierre has played fantastically (in the end, do I think that when Manny returns, he’s one of the best three outfielders? No, but I am happy he has stepped in to produce). And Kershaw is going to improve. And Matt Kemp stands to do much better (of course–this is unfair from me–Kemp’s already having a monster season, but I am pretty sure that I could watch Matt Kemp hit 40 home runs and think, “you know, Kemp should easily be able to hit 50-55”).
Just a final note on this tour, and the Dodgers arranging for JoePierre to attend. I have said this before, but I think this demonstrates my belief that Frank McCourt is doing a good job as owner–and more importantly demonstrated that while there are undoubtedly mistakes and flaws, he cares about the team, the fans, and is doing his best. Nothing’s perfect, but I think we have the philosophy down, and it’s starting to pay dividends on the field. I’ll try to check in, but 2009 is not just a good year for the team, it’s the first year (maybe really the second, or year and a half) of the beginning of a young Dodger dynasty finally coming to fruition from everything we were hoping for back in 2005 when we had one eye on the 91-loss major league team and one eye on Jacksonville and the rest of the Farm system.

It’s (the ITD Tour) on June 27th at 11:30 AM.

Sorry, posted and answer to a question on the tour on the new thread on this one by mistake.

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This is a guest post from Nick Metcalf – who makes websites, writes a personal blog regularly, likes taking photos and enjoys being creative. You can connect with him on Twitter

The world of WordPress has come a long way recently, with the release of 3.0 and also a big update to the smart phone applications, WordPress is becoming the market leading toolset in blogging and CMS. This article will review the latest release of the smart phone application, specially looking at the iOS releases but with some information regarding the Android, Blackberry and Nokia applications.

The iOS application was called WordPress for iPhone but with the recent release of the iPad, the name had to change to fall in line with Apple’s terminology. The application for iOS allows users to edit and add posts and pages and also approve/reject and make comments:

The application also allows users to upload images to their posts or pages from their iPhone’s camera or iOS’s photo library.

As you can see from the above image, the application allows users to add posts in very much the same way as they can online, modifying the tags, categories and even adjusting the status of a post.

The latest release, WordPress 2.5 for iOS (a very confusing name) adds a couple more goodies to the already impressive application. It offers performance and user interface enhancements as well as the usual bug fixes, what improves it no end is its support for fast app switching which will allow the application to start where you left off, saving precious time when you might be blogging on the go. And especially for the iPhone4, the images and UI have been optimised for the Retina Display.

I personally use the application to write blog post or ideas on the go, as well as manage the comments from my personal blog. I have also have it set up to work for some of the other WordPress websites I manage, these use WordPress as a CMS and work seamlessly.

The Android application is slightly different and offers the user the ability to add specific text formatting such as Bold and Underline. The Blackberry application adds statistics and a media library, this allows the user to manage the site or blog they host on the go, with only a few minor WordPress functions missing.

Briefly reviewing the other applications for the different OS’s has highlighted the major features omissions that are missing within the iOS release compared to the other applications, we can only hope that these features such as stats and media library viewing are being built into the next release.

The WordPress phone specific sites can be found below

WordPress for iOS

WordPress for Android

WordPress for Blackberry

WordPress for Nokia

Our testking 650-393 and testking 640-461 practice questions provide you 100% exam pass guarantee. You can get free access to testking 642-982 & testking 642-467 exams with multiple prep resources of testking 642-873.


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Nigel Campbell's picture

Adam Levine To Be Named PEOPLE's 2013 'Sexiest Man Alive'

Those sassy sleuths over at Gossip Cop are exclusively reporting that Adam Levine is about to be named PEOPLE Magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive"!!

We've got no objections.

Gossip Cop writes:

Adam Levine will be announced as “Sexiest Man Alive” by People next week, Gossip Cop has learned exclusively.

The Maroon 5 singer and “The Voice” coach is expected to be unveiled as the magazine’s choice on November 20.

Last year, Gossip Cop was the first to report that Channing Tatum was 2012’s “Sexiest Man Alive,” more than a week before People announced it.

When reached, a rep for People magazine told Gossip Cop, “We’re not commenting on that right now.”

Would Adam be your choice for 2013's "Sexiest Man Alive," Instincters?

He can sleep in my bed anytime or park his shoes under my bed. Sweet, sexy and really down to earth.

He is hot. However, the sexiest man alive is "True Blood"'s Ryan Kwanten (Jason Stackhouse).

He's a JEW  And a Homo

You're a racist and a homo-phobe

He does for me, I'm not disappointed.

Whew! yes he is the sexiest man ever!

I thought is was supposed to be Leonardo Di Caprio. Not this guy

Hell no!!!

afraid not in my opinion

For  me... Oh yes, he is one of them.

HELL YEAH! He is sooooo hot!!!

never !!!!!!!

I think to be "sexy" you have to have a bit of ... what the French call, "I don't know what." *smirk*

Think of Tina Turner: she's still definitely sexy (at HER age) but she's not a bit "pretty."

Adam Levine is pretty hot.  I say he's not the PRETTIEST man we know about (that would probably be Chris Hemsworth) but yeah, he's damn sexy.

I think the sweet guy I just met from Taiwan is a lot sexier than Adam Levine. I get to sleep with him tonight too on his last night in America before he flies back.

Adam is damn sexy!!!!! Bradley Cooper, Chris Hemsworth and Hugh Jackman are also in the running for the sexiest man alive!!

He could sleep in my bed or what ever he wanted he is the sexiest man alive or dead

I wouldn't kick him out of bed for eating crackers.....  he is pretty hot, but so are Daniel Craig, Bradley Cooper and Gerard Butler.  I have a varied taste in men's looks, so glad to not be a judge on this award.

I prefer men without a lot of freckles on there face. Great body, but unfortunately he is not the sexiest man alive...

Nice body, but ... nope !!

Tonio's picture

He's good doubt about that. But sexiest man alive? Nope!

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About IER
Studies and Data

Offshore Oil Production Estimate Illustrates Flaws in Forecasting

Politicians have a knack for citing statistics that support their positions. Those who are opposed to increasing domestic supplies of energy are especially adept at citing statistics that make it seem as though it is “not worth it.” Government reports, while not all wrong, can be rife with such statistics.

Recently, for example, some have pointed an Energy Information Administration (EIA) report that estimated the amount of oil we could produce on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) if the drilling ban were lifted. EIA estimated this to be approximately 200,000 barrels per day. 1

Unfortunately, this figure – and the data it was based on – is fatally flawed. For example:

  • 200,000 barrels per day is roughly equal to the daily production rate of just one new offshore platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The Thunder Horse oil production facility, which will be on line this year, is designed to produce 250,000 barrels per day. 2 The Atlantis oil platform currently producing in the Gulf of Mexico has a production capacity of 200,000 barrels per day. 3

Despite these facts, the EIA projects that lifting the bans that prevent production on 85 percent of the OCS acreage surrounding the lower 48 states will yield an amount equal to that which can be produced from just one of these platforms. Obviously, the projections are flawed.

The EIA assumed that technically recoverable undiscovered oil resources in off-limits areas of the OCS total 18.2 billion barrels, based on the Department of Interior’s Mineral Management Service’s Report to Congress (February 2006). 4 But technically recoverable resources are based on current technology and economics.

Historically, technological improvements and on-site exploration and development have increased technically recoverable resource estimates. For example, world proved oil reserves were estimated to be 521 billion barrels in 1971 when oil was $1.25 per barrel ($6.61 in 2007 dollars) and are estimated under present technology to be 1,317 billion barrels at an average price per barrel in 2007 of $67. 5

  • EIA’s analysis is based on crude oil prices averaging around $50 per barrel in 2005 dollars 6 (or around $80 per barrel in 2030 assuming a 2 percent per year inflation rate), well below the current price of around $120 per barrel.
  • EIA’s analysis assumes that exploration, development, and production of economical fields (drilling schedules, costs, platform selection, reserves-to-production ratios, etc.) in the OCS are based on data from fields in the western Gulf of Mexico that are of similar water depth and size. Since the majority of the resources under moratoria (55 percent) are off the coast of California, the analysis should have used data from the Santa Barbara Channel, which would have provided more realistic assumptions and higher production levels.
  • EIA’s analysis assumes that leasing would begin no sooner than 2012, and production would not be expected to start before 2017. Yet, off the coast of California, some of these resources have already been leased. A report from Wall Street research house Sanford C. Bernstein says that California actually could start producing new oil within one year if the moratoria were lifted. The California oil is under shallow water and already has been explored. Drilling platforms have been in place since before the moratorium. 7 Further, Department of Interior Secretary Kempthorne announced in July a new 5 year plan that will allow leasing to start 2 years earlier, in 2010, implying production from currently unleased areas could begin as early as 2015. This new 5 year plan includes the areas under Federal moratoria. 8

1. EIA, Annual Energy Outlook 2007, February 2007, page 51,

2. Thunder Horse: No Ordinary Project,

3. Atlantis Platform, Gulf of Mexico, USA,

4. EIA, Annual Energy Outlook 2007, February 2007, page 51, Table 10,

5. EIA, Annual Energy Review 2007, Tables 5.19 and 11.4,

6. EIA, Annual Energy Outlook 2007, February 2007, Table A12, page 158,

7. Article by Larry Kudlow, July 15, 2008,

8. Department of Interior Press Release,

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How to Build a Ruby Gem

How to build a ruby Gem” tutorial by our Scrum Master Chris Young.

This weekend I built my first ruby gem. The stuff out there on the internet is pretty confusing so hopefully this post will make it exceedingly clear. The most complete source I found was the Railscast, “Making a gem”

Here are the steps I took:

1. Create the library
2. Use the echoe gem to create a rake file that will generate your gem spec
3. Use rake to create the manifest and gemspec
4. Install your gem locally
5. Create a self-signed certificate
6. Update the gemspec with the certificate information
7. Use ‘gem build’ to create the gem
8. Add your project to github
9. Use the gemcutter gem to host your gem on gemcutter

Create the library

Our library will have one method HelloWorld.say_hello that will write out ‘hello world’ when called. We’ll store the method in a module called “HelloWorld”, as suggested in the screencast.

1. > mkdir -p hello_world/lib
2. > touch hello_world/lib/hello_world.rb
2. Add this code to hello_world/lib/hello_world.rb:

  module HelloWorld
    def self.say_hello
      puts 'hello world'

Create a rake file using echoe

There are a lot of gems out there that are made to make gem building easy. I went with what was recommended in the screencast and tried out the “echoe” gem.

1. > gem install echoe
2. > touch hello_world/Rakefile
3. Add this code to hello_world/Rakefile

require 'rubygems'
require 'rake'
require 'echoe''helloworld', '0.0.1') do |p|
  p.description    = "A gem that illustrates how to build a gem"
  p.url            = ""         = "Chris Young"          = "beesucker @nospam@"
  p.ignore_pattern = ["tmp/*", "script/*"]
  p.development_dependencies = []

Now you can type rake -T and get a bunch of tasks to help you manage your gem.

Create a manifest and gemspec

A manifest just lists which files should be included in your gem and the gemspec has everything gem needs to manage versioning. Echoe is partial to rubyforge, but this didn’t keep me from being able to use it with github.

1. > cd hello_world
2. > rake manifest
3. > rake build_gemspec

Install your gem locally

Let’s make sure the gem works. Running this command will install your gem on your computer so you can test it.
1. > rake install helloworld.gemspec
2. start irb and test

  >> irb
  > require 'rubygems'
  > require 'hello_world'
  > HelloWorld.say_hello
  hello world

It works!

Create a certificate

We’ll sign the gem with a self-signed certificate.

For some reason, the install moved the gemspec to the pkg directory. Let’s create it again.
1. > rake build_gemspec
2. > gem cert –build
3. Important! Move the gem-private_key.pem file to a secure location

Update the gemspec with the certificate information

Add this code to hello_world.gemspec (use your own paths, of course):

  s.signing_key = '/Volumes/Secure/Certificates/gem-private_key.pem'
  s.cert_chain  = ['gem-public_cert.pem']

Create the gem

Now we’re getting close. This command will build the gem with your certificate.

> gem build hello_world.gemspec

Add the project to git

1. create the repository on github
2. > git init
3. > git add .
4. > git commit -m “initial commit”
5. > git remote add origin
6. > git push origin master

Host your gem on gemcutter

1. Create a gemcutter account
2. > gem install gemcutter
3. > gem push hello_world-0.0.1.gem

3 thoughts on “How to Build a Ruby Gem

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Tag archives for Kansas City

I Heart My City (in the Fall)

Autumn is kicking into full swing (for the northern half of the world, at least), so we thought we’d celebrate the season with a special edition of I Heart My City. Here are 20 fall must-dos from I Heart contributors in 20 cities around the world.

I Heart My City: Shanley’s Kansas City

Topeka native Shanley Cox made the move to Kansas City three years ago and spends her time dishing about local cuisine on her blog. But this foodie knows the ins and outs of more than just the restaurant scene. Here are a few of Shanley’s favorite things about the “BBQ Capital of the World.”

The 10 Best BBQ Joints in America

In the land of the free and the home of the brave, nothing tickles the taste buds quite like barbecue. BBQ capitals like Kansas City and Memphis are well represented on our list, but America’s love affair with smoked meat is quite clearly a national preoccupation.

Kansas City Barbeque Society Celebrates 25 Years

Starting even before the dawn of Henry Perry’s slow-cooked ribs (wrapped in newspaper and sold out of an old trolley barn in the 1900’s), Kansas City has long been recognized for its mouthwatering barbecue. Today Kansas City is home to over one hundred different BBQ joints and the Kansas City Barbeque Society, the “world’s largest…

Plan My Trip: Kansas City

The latest in the ongoing series in which the editors of Traveler Magazine take travel suggestions from readers… Read more reader suggested itineraries here. This week, I’m taking my history-teacher boyfriend on a road trip around Kansas City, from Abilene, Kansas, to Independence, Missouri, and everything in between (for all you history buffs out there,…


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Get Out of Your Own Way

The most powerful prayer and affirmation is not to decree what you want.

Sometimes what you want is actually not what you REALLY want but what you think you want based on who you think you currently are. And who you are is always evolving and expanding.

The most powerful prayer is simply to SURRENDER. To give up what you think your goal and vision should look like, to give up your attachments to the form, and to open yourself to the highest good unfolding for all concerned.

When you surrender what you think should be, you open to a higher flow of GRACE. You tap into the Infinite itself, and IT knows exactly how to bring about the most authentic fulfillment of your dreams and destiny.

The mind is limited. Your personality is limited. In any given moment you can only see part of the picture. Surrender moves you beyond the mind, and into a stream of magic, synchronicity, and miracles.

Then you will be carried on the wings of Grace towards your perfect destiny. It may not look like what you thought, but know that what the universe has in store for you is often much bigger than your mind can ever imagine or conceive.

Surrender does not mean giving up in the typical sense. However. it does mean giving UP the limited view point of what and how you thought things should be so that things can expand into the Divine VASTNESS of what they are truly meant to be for your highest good.

It requires a deep trust in Life. You can either trust your mind, which constantly sells you all sorts of B.S. all day long. Or you can trust the Infinite Intelligence that is not only living and breathing you right now, but synchronizing all of life itself.

So when things don’t work out how you wanted them to, rather than collapse into despair, trust that the the Universe has something bigger, better, and brighter in store for you than what you originally thought.

That is the time to get curious to see what is about to happen. And watch the magic of the Universe unfold.

Sometimes we get afraid or overwhelmed as we think about HOW to bring our goal into reality. It can trigger fear, questioning, doubt.

The illusion is that YOU need to manifest your vision. Inherent in your authentic dream is already the seeds for it’s fulfillment. Your role is not to struggle or force anything. Your role is to simply GET YOURSELF OUT OF THE WAY so that the Universe can flow through you and manifest itself as your vision in your life.

Then things are effortless, since it’s not really you DOING it.

You are then in the flow, simply showing up, participating 100% and witnessing the miraculousness of the Universe at work in your life.

P.S. SPECIAL ATTENTION WOMEN: Sign up today for my powerful weekend seminar  to understand men more deeply, and transform the hidden blocks that keep you from attracting the love you deserve. It is a life changing event held in Los Angeles, CA, October 19-21. Join me!!!

P.P.S. Feel free to leave a comment below about what in particular in your life you are willing to surrender to.

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About Kute Blackson

Kute Blackson is an utterly unique visionary in the world of human potential. Unlike those who promise to simply help people “get” what they want, Kute’s life work instead reveals to people what they have to give, by liberating who they are most truly and deeply. The focus: Freedom. World renowned for creating revolutionary results Kute is widely sought after as a transformational speaker and leader. Today, the venue for his message may be one-on-one, a vast stadium setting, a corporate seminar or anything in-between. His electrifying presentations are sought out worldwide. Kute is a bold voice for a new generation. Find out more at


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Makers: Women Who Make America chronicles how women have helped shape America over the last 50 years through one of the most sweeping social revolutions in our country’s history, in pursuit of their rights to a full and fair share of political power, economic opportunity and personal autonomy. Makers shares the stories of exceptional women whose pioneering contributions continue to shape the world in which we live and the film will continue to chronicle the stories of women who led the fight, those who opposed it, and those — both famous and unknown — who were caught in its wake. Learn More >

Tell Us Your Makers Story:  Story Submission Form

"Maker's: Women Who Make America" is funded by Corporation for Public Broadcasting a private corporation funded by the American people

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Working In These Times

Tuesday, May 10, 2011, 12:58 pm

Obama Has Power to Stop Unionbusting With a Stroke of His Pen

BY Mike Elk

The presidential pen is mighty.

A proposed executive order and 'high road' federal contracting would go a long way

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Two weeks ago I ran into John Podesta, the former White House Chief of Staff (under Bill Clinton) who is now the head of the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank. Podesta was very excited about news that the White House was drafting an executive order that would force contractors to disclose their political donations.

The order would require all corporations seeking a federal contract to disclose all of their federal political spending over $5,000 for the previous two years — including contributions to outside third party groups like the Chamber of Commerce, lobbyists and trade associations. Since 138,000 corporations do business with the federal government, it would bring in an unheralded level of transparency, revealing which companies are spending big to push anti-labor candidates and policies.

It was an example of the executive branch using the massive multi-billion dollar federal contracting process to force progressive changes. “We started fighting for these high road contracting rules under the Clinton Administration, and I am going to keep fighting for them,” a very excited John Podesta said.

The federal government currently has the power to limit what type of corporations receive contracts and state the conditions they must meet in order to receive those contracts, but it doesn’t.

In the last part of the Clinton administration, when Podesta was White House Chief of Staff, the government issued executive orders to implement "high road" contracting practices that would have enforced laws on the books barring companies that broke labor, safety, and environmental laws from receiving federal contracts. President Bill Clinton’s “contractor responsibility rule” would have created guidelines, a centralized database and data standards to prevent bad actor corporations from receiving government contracts. (The George W. Bush administration ended up blocking implementation of the orders.)

Despite laws that forbid companies who break the law from receiving government’s contracts, these laws are rarely enforced by the federal government. As I wrote in February, only a handful of major corporations that have committed major crimes have been suspended from receiving government contracts since the mid-1990s, according to testimony before Congress by the Project on Government Oversight: “General Electric (for a period of five days); now-defunct companies WorldCom, Enron and Arthur Anderson; Boeing (which received multiple waivers to receive new contracts during its suspension); and IBM (for a period of eight days in 2008).”

As David Madland, director of the Center for American Progress' American Worker Project, wrote last year:

The current process for ensuring that the government only does business with responsible companies has been a failure for several reasons. Debarment—the process by which the government bans irresponsible firms from doing business with it—is rarely used, is too slow a process, and occurs after the fact.

And responsibility review—the government’s tool to pre-screen every company’s legal record on a case-by-case basis before it does business with it—is weak and inadequate. An enhanced responsibility review based on thorough information and rigorous analysis.

By updating the standards, databases, rules and guidelines for enforcing contracting rules about what corporations get the law, Obama could stop a wide range of anti-worker practices, from workplace safety rules to sexual harassment to unionbusting.

If President Obama signs this executive order forcing disclosure of corporations' political donations, the progressive movement should then hound him to sign a similar high-road contracting rule.With a stroke of his pen, he coud go a long way toward curtailing rampant unionbusting and workplace safety violations.

Mike Elk wrote for In These Times and its labor blog, Working In These Times, from 2010 to 2014. He is currently a labor reporter at Politico.

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Exemption 10

HUD grants FOIA request but now wants the documents back

Posted: June 22, 2011 | Tags: Department of Housing and Urban Development, Freedom of Information, We ARE Marina del Rey

One of President Obama’s first acts after taking office was to issue a remarkably strong affirmation of the Freedom of Information Act.

“The Freedom of Information Act should be administered with a clear presumption: In the face of doubt, openness prevails. The government should not keep information confidential merely because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure, because errors and failures might be revealed, or because of speculative or abstract fears,” the president said. “All agencies should adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure, in order to renew their commitment to the principles embodied in FOIA, and to usher in a new era of open Government. The presumption of disclosure should be applied to all decisions involving FOIA.”

In the past two and a half years, there have been many reasons to question whether administration officials are actually following this directive. At the Investigative Reporting Workshop we have had our own struggles and we have written about them.

But nothing we’ve seen compares with an outrageous story unfolding in Los Angeles.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is demanding that a local citizens group, We ARE Marina del Rey, return 125 pages of records the agency released under a FOIA request. The group also was told to destroy any copies it had made of the documents.

HUD lawyers also demanded “that you immediately Cease and Desist (emphasis in original) in making any and all disclosures of the aforementioned documents and/or the information contained therein. Additionally, any and all dissemination, including electronic disseminations, disclosure, distribution, use, and/or copying of these documents and/or the information contained therein is strictly prohibited.”

The government also asked for the names and contact information for anyone that We ARE Marina del Rey might have given copies of or access to the documents, presumably so it could go after them, as well.

The group has told HUD it won't do anything with the documents until the challenge is resolved. HUD said last week it improperly processed the documents and reiterated its demand for the documents' return and repeated the request for the group to identify people who might have received the documents.

The documents have made their way to the fulldisclosure.net website, which has posted copies of them, along with a video report about the development and the controversy over the HUD records.

For its part, HUD says it is only trying to correct an error in FOIA processing.

“Humans make mistakes.  After reviewing what was released, we realized the documents provided were not as responsive as they should have been. We’re simply asking the gentleman if he would return them,” Jereon M. Brown, HUD deputy assistant secretary in the Office of Public Affairs,” wrote in an email.

This saga started out innocently enough.

HUD has given a $125 million loan guarantee to a company that is building a 544-unit apartment complex in Marina del Rey.

The citizens group, which opposes the proposed redevelopment of the Los Angeles County-owned marina, asked HUD for “access to and copies of all loan documents, including the loan guarantee and subordination provisions, for the Shores residential development project in Marina del Rey, CA.”

The request was made by email on March 23. HUD responded on April 15 (an astonishingly fast response) with a full grant (also remarkable).

“It has been determined that all requested documents are releasable without applying any exemptions,” wrote Ray W. Brewer, HUD’s Los Angeles field office director. The agency charged $72.20 for finding and copying the 125 pages. The letter also points out that, under FOIA policy, the same information will be available to other requestors.

At that point, this would have been a FOIA success story of an agency acting swiftly to fill a request without withholding any information. Just the sort of thing the president had in mind.

But, alas, that was not the end of the story.

Apparently, HUD’s actions upset the developer, who complained that the agency had released confidential business information that should have been protected from disclosure under Exemption 4 to the Freedom of Information Act. That's when HUD first demanded the documents be returned.

On that point, regrettably, the company might be correct, given the current state of the law. As we have written previously, the application of Exemption 4 has given corporations virtual veto power over release of information they provide to the federal government. And that is true even when the government is handing over millions (or in some cases billions) to these private entities.

Usually, agencies ask companies in advance whether requested information can be released. HUD apparently didn’t take that step in this case. Agencies can release information over company objections, but few do. So it is hardly surprising that the agency is willing to do the bidding of a private company.

However, HUD’s response seems overbearing, at the least.

First, the general rule in FOIA is that once a document has been released, it is in the public domain. Actually, agencies should go so far as to post copies of records they have released so that future requestors don’t have to go through the process. Again, few do that.

Unfortunately, We ARE Marina del Rey has told HUD it would return any documents that are legally determined to have been wrongly released. This is a bad precedent. Agencies should not be able to pull back records, and certainly not at the whim of a private company.

Second, HUD lawyers should not have demanded that the group stop disseminating the documents it received. The Supreme Court settled the issue of prior restraint 40 years ago this month in the Pentagon Papers case. If the government can’t prevent publication of materials which might harm national security, it is inconceivable it can enjoin someone from disseminating information about a loan guarantee to a private company.

Third, a witch hunt for others who might have the documents is ludicrous.

We will continue to follow this story as it develops.

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iFOIA's new site features tracking

Since 1996 the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has offered a free letter-generating service to provide users with the correct language and structure for FOIA requests. Over the past year the committee looked for ways to expand this tool to better serve reporters. In recognition of the fact that a single investigation can require hundreds of FOIA requests, they sought to make it easier for journalists to track and organize records requests.

“Reporters are always trying to remember where they’ve submitted requests, how much time has passed since they made the request and who they need to follow up with,” said Emily Grannis of the new ifOIA website.

Privacy vs. the public's right to know

Scholars and watchdog groups say the federal government — and the Supreme Court — have slowly expanded privacy rights beyond the guidelines established in FOIA. Supreme Court decisions in five FOIA cases shed light on how the government came to value privacy interests over the public’s right to know.

Freedom of Information Act: Requests and denials climb, backlog slows

The federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) provides that government agency records are open to the public. Access can provide insight into such things as how taxpayer money is spent and what correspondence reveals about relationships between Congress and government agencies or between the agencies and private parties. The law permits agencies to deny requests based on nine exemptions. The most frequently cited reason for denying records is privacy. Agencies used the privacy exemptions more than 232,000 times last year or 53 percent of all the reasons for denying information. That is the highest use of privacy exemptions since fiscal year 2002. Our look at the data since 1998 shows that requests are rising again after dropping dramatically during the second Bush administration.

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5 Questions You Need to Ask Your Financial Advisor

A strong advisor can help you reach your investment goals

    View All

4) When will we buy?

This is very closely related to “when do we sell.” And again, most advisors don’t have a clue. You’d think at least they would have this one covered, but most don’t.

And that’s unfortunate because there are two broad considerations to deal with here. Both have a direct impact on your money.

First, timing the markets is a bad idea. According to Barron’s, 85% of all buy/sell decisions are incorrect. That’s because emotional bias drives bad decisions, particularly when it comes to attempts to time the markets.

As for how much this will cost you…try 342% over 20 years.

The latest Dalbar data shows that the return of an average investor trying to time the market is a pathetic 1.9% per year versus the S&P 500 return of 8.4% over the same time period.

More than 90% of portfolio volatility comes from allocation. Get that right and chances are good that you’ll come out way ahead of the game, especially if you use something like our proprietary 50-40-10 portfolio.

Second, the markets have a decidedly upward bias over time. That means outstanding performance is a matter of identifying relative weakness and wading into it rather than running the other way.

For instance, take a look at this chart.

s&p composite 5 Questions You Need to Ask Your Financial Advisor

It is simple.

Investors who buy into the markets without understanding the big picture get hammered trying to chase returns. Yet, investors who buy when things are gloomiest tend to build legendary wealth.

You can argue that you’ll never see this in your lifetime, but you’d be dead wrong. Most investors will see 2-5 specific periods in their investing lives where the relative valuations favor more buying than selling.

That’s why I’d fire any advisor who does not recommend cautious additions to your portfolio when everybody else is running for the hills. Or at least re-balancing periodically to capitalize on prices that would otherwise not be so low.

5) Finally, how are you being compensated?

I don’t believe in paying people for performance they don’t deliver.

So I am not crazy about paying ginormous account management fees if I’m not getting good results. You shouldn’t be, either.

Over time, the typical 1%-2% management fees charged by many big investment houses and managers can really be a drag on performance that bleeds your retirement of much-needed momentum and future results.

I think fee-only advisors are a much better choice. They sit on your side of the table and have your vested interests in mind.

But because they are independent, they disclose all conflicts of interest in advance (or at least they should), and are not beholden to investment banking, ratings or other nonsense that lurks unbeknownst to most investors. They don’t have a financial stake in your investments.

I think that’s especially important at the moment for one simple reason — many of the conflicts that are inherent in today’s investment world are directly the result of conflicted choices. They are presented under the guise of comprehensive planning by brokerage firms that would like you to believe they perform the same functions as investment advisors. They don’t.

What if you don’t work with an advisor right now? Hire one…and don’t delay.

I know they may seem expensive but that’s a matter of perspective.

Putting $50,000 in to a mutual fund charging a 3% load works out to 10 hours of a professional, fee-only investment advisor’s time — and that’s at an hourly rate of $150!

Given the risks in today’s markets and the inherent problems with Wall Street — not the least of which are pronounced conflicts of interest — I think that is money well spent.

After all, it’s your money and your responsibility-even if you’re not in the richest 1%….yet.

Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, http://investorplace.com/2012/06/5-questions-you-need-to-ask-your-financial-advisor-right-now-mo/.

©2015 InvestorPlace Media, LLC

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Fabricate Your Own DNA Evidence

DNA evidence has become the gold standard for criminal investigations, but researchers in Israel say that finding DNA at a crime scene may not be evidence of a crime, but rather the handiwork of a clever biology student.

In a paper published in Forensic Science International, Dan Frumkin, a private forensics researcher, claims that fabricating DNA evidence has become so easy that "[a]ny biology undergraduate could perform this."

Frumkin outlines two methods for fabricating DNA evidence. The first requires access to a small sample of an individual's DNA, such as a hair or a bit of saliva. The size of the sample is then increased through a common technique known as DNA amplification. Then the hopeful framer takes blood from a different individual, centrifuges it to remove the DNA-carrying white blood cells, and leaves only the red blood cells, which contain no DNA. The person then adds the amplified DNA to the blood sample, creating a handy supply of blood that could be splashed onto a crime scene to implicate the chosen target.

The second method requires no actual sample of DNA, but a person's DNA profile, which may be stored in a law enforcement database. These profiles identify variations at 13 specific spots in an individual's genome. Frumkin claims that a scientist could keep a library of a cloned snippets of DNA representing the variants at the 13 spots (he estimates 425 samples would be needed in all), and he or she could mix the snippets to create a DNA sample matching anyone's genetic profile.

Frumkin says that, at the moment, there are ways to determine whether DNA evidence has been fabricated (and his own company, Nucleix, provides such tests), but it's a step forensic labs don't normally take. Although some respondents question whether criminals will actually use these techniques to throw suspicion off themselves and onto others, Tania Simoncelli, an American Civil Liberties Union science adviser, suggests that it's time for courts to reevaluate the reliability of DNA evidence:

"DNA is a lot easier to plant at a crime scene than fingerprints," she said. "We're creating a criminal justice system that is increasingly relying on this technology."

DNA Evidence Can Be Fabricated, Scientists Show [NY Times]


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Which Marvel characters will make ultra surprise appearances in The Avengers?

The head of Marvel Studios debunks two of the biggest Avengers casting rumors, while an unexpected source promises the craziest cameo yet. Plus Man of Steel adds a vital character from Superman mythos, and there are more details on the new show from Doctor Who's Russell T. Davies.

Spoilers from here on out!

Top image from The Avengers.

The Avengers

Empire Magazine's latest preview of the film features some key quotes from Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, in which he says Loki's mysterious army is not the alien Skrulls, as everyone had just sort of assumed:

"Who said they were aliens?...It's not Skrulls, I've been clear about that. Beyond that, we want to hide it. The identity of the alien race is not impactful. It exists in the comic books, but we're not setting up the Kree-Skrull war or anything like that."

When asked if the aliens were from the Nine Realms, Feige said this was "closer." He also took the time to debunk the toy-based rumors that the Red Skull was the secret second villain:

"Was Skull vaporised at the end of the movie, or thrust into another realm? That remains to be seen. It would be fun to see Skull in future, but he's not in this one."

[Coming Soon]

Here are a few scans from the Empire article, including three images from the movie itself. [Coming Soon]

American Werewolf in London and Logan's Run actress Jenny Agutter confirmed in an interview with The Radio Times that she has a role in the film. She wouldn't reveal anything more, except for the seemingly earth-shattering detail that two of the on-set Winnebagos belonged to Iron Man... and Spider-Man. Of course, if true, that second bit would be an absolutely massive shock, what with Marvel Studios not even owning the moving rights to Spider-Man. Which is really another way of saying that, no, there's pretty much no way that this is true, and that this is almost certainly just a result of some sort of miscommunication between Agutter and The Radio Times. [Bleeding Cool]

Man of Steel

13-year-old actress Jadin Gould, whose previous credits include Battle: Los Angeles and Chuck, has reportedly been cast a young version of Lana Lang, presumably alongside the previously reported Dylan Sprayberry as a 13-year-old Clark Kent. It's not currently known whether there will be a grown-up version of Lana Lang, although I suppose I should point out that role has been the center of a lot of those ludicrous Lindsay Lohan casting rumors. [Superman Supersite]

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

Co-directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor make it clear that this movie isn't really a sequel to the original Ghost Rider, other than the continued presence of one Nicolas Cage, master thespian:

Neveldine: I didn't see the first one.
Taylor: That's pretty much the answer to your question — it doesn't really relate at all.! It's not really a sequel. It's more like a reboot. It stands on its own, except that it still has Nic, so it's kind of like a prequel.

They also claimed that the already infamous moment where Ghost Rider pees fire is really Nicholas Cage peeing fire:

Neveldine: [Laughs] Well, the great thing was that Nic can really pee fire, you just need a lighter.
Taylor: So it was low budget filmmaking. We take advantage of things that actors can really do.

There's more at the link, including their belief that this is a "hot, sweaty kind of movie" and lots of praise for costars Idris Elba and Johnny Whitworth. [Comic Book Resources]

Which Marvel characters will make ultra surprise appearances in The Avengers?

Here's an international poster that shows just a little bit more of the giant head seen in previous posters. [Coming Soon]

Total Recall

Director Len Wiseman says his reboot will be more "cerebral" than the Arnold Schwarzenegger original:

"I love the original. It exists in a tone that works in that era. It's a bit more of a serious tone, still a hell of a lot of fun though. But it's a bit more into the cerebral dilemma that Quaid finds himself faced with. I always loved the idea of Recall itself does. Whether it takes you to Mars or a tropical island or a different section of a futuristic earth. It's more about the dilemma that sets up. In the Philip K. Dick story he never physically goes to Mars. It's a choose your own adventure book in your mind. So this chooses a different adventure because we've all seen that one and we already love it. That concept of Recall allows you to do any experience. I thought it would be great to do another experience of that."

He also says at least a few iconic moments from the original - the examples thrown out by the interview included Johnny Cab and the various characters found on Mars - will also show up in this one:

"Some of them [the moments] are. I couldn't do this film without having some of those. As a fan of the original I would be disappointed if there weren't a few things in there. But I never like to copy moments, so there are shifts in perspectives on some of those. I don't step on the ones from the original, but I have fun acknowledging that we all love some of those moments. As I do."

There's more at the link. [Bloody Disgusting]

Here's a TV spot for the upcoming found footage movie about three teenage boys who develop superpowers.

Snow Piercer

Legendary and omnipresent actor John Hurt has revealed that among his 500 upcoming projects (I'm estimating) is a role in The Host director Bong Joon-ho's adaptation of the French graphic novel Le Transperceneige, which finds Earth in the middle of a new Ice Age and the remnants of humanity huddled on a snowbound train. Hurt joins the previously cast Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, and Jamie Bell. [The Telegraph]

The Host

Two more actors have reportedly joined Gattaca and In Time director Andrew Niccol's adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's non-Twilight book in which the last of humanity fights back against parasitic aliens. 13-year-old actor Chandler Canterbury, who has previously appeared in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and the Nicolas Cage vs. Armageddon film Knowing, will reportedly play the younger brother of star Saoirse Ronan's young alien-fighting revolutionary. Boyd Holbrook, whose credits include Milk and Higher Ground, will reportedly play Ronan's macho older brother. [Variety]

We heard a while back that Jonathan Demme, the acclaimed director of such films as Silence of the Lambs and Rachel Getting Married, had optioned the film rights for Stephen King's novel about time travel and the John F. Kennedy assassination. Now Demme has given an update on where the project stands, for which he's currently writing the screenplay:

"I'm adapting Stephen King's book. I'm on the screenplay for it right now. It's a time travel story. Somebody from the 20th century gets a window back to the past and they go back with the goal of trying to prevent the assassination of JFK. It's an extraordinary thriller. It's a great love story, also. It's a fabulous book. [On the production timeline] First I have to get the script finished, and it's going really well."

[MTV Movies Blog]

Neighborhood Watch

Which Marvel characters will make ultra surprise appearances in The Avengers?

Here's a photo of stars Jonah Hill, Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller, and The IT Crowd's Richard Ayoade on the set of this comedy in which four bored suburban guys form a neighborhood watch program, only to stumble on an alien invasion. According to Jonah Hill, who release the photo, filming has just wrapped on the movie. [Coming Soon]

Game of Thrones

Here's a lengthy interview with actor Nonso Anozie, in which he among other things discusses playing Xaro Xhoan Daxos in the second season of Game of Thrones.

True Blood

Newcomer Giles Matthey has reportedly been cast as Claude, "a hot and mysterious British fairy" who was initially played by Lost's Neil Hopkins in a cameo role. The character is rumored to be involved, possibly romantically, with Jessica in the coming fifth season.

The Walking Dead

Here are some more promo photos for the midseason premiere, "Nebraska", which airs February 12. [multipleverses.com]

Costar Melissa McBride discusses what's ahead on the show, particularly the fallout from the death of her on-screen daughter Sophia:

"For my character Carol, she's got to deal with the grief and how she's going to move forward. I think keeping hope alive for her represented, even though all the odds were against finding her alive, you just sort of cling to that hope. She represented that unseen thing that's going to carry you through and to have her come through the barn the way she did, I think it's really throwing a lot of doubt on faith. What unseen thing is going to help us through this? Is it really out there?"

And Daryl actor Normal Reedus weighs in as well on what the death of Sophia means:

"I think for all of us she was a symbol of hope. If we could hold onto her then we'd maybe save a little piece of ourselves as well. Once that went down, all bets are off and everybody's miserable and homicidal at this point, especially her(Carol)."

You can watch a full interview with them and costar Steven Yeun at the link. [Comic Book Movie]

Here's a trailer for this Friday's two-part finale, "Chuck vs. Sarah" and "Chuck vs. the Goodbye."

And here's three sneak peeks and a behind-the-scenes video. [ChuckTV]

Finally, here's a lengthy interview with star Zachary Levi.

Executive producer Chris Fedak gave this preview of the finale:

"[The finale is] an episode haunted by previous seasons, so you're going to find a lot of echos... The first half of the night is very much a contained thriller. then [in the final episode] every act will have echos of past seasons and you'll see how we fold that into the whole story and the narrative will all make sense... As we were working on the episode in the writers room we wanted something that played to the entire show not just this season."

There's some more at the link, as well some additional tidbits here. [BuddyTV]

Once Upon a Time

Here's the official description for episode twelve, "Skin Deep", which is written by genre mainstay Jane Espenson and airs February 12:

EMMA KEEPS AN EYE ON MR. GOLD WHEN IT LOOKS LIKE HE'S OUT FOR VIGILANTE JUSTICE AFTER BEING ROBBED, AND BELLE AGREES TO A FATEFUL DEAL TO SAVE HER TOWN FROM THE HORRORS OF THE OGRE WAR — After Mr. Gold's house is robbed, Emma keeps a close eye on him when it looks like he wants to track down the criminal and dole out some vigilante justice as payback, and Valentine's Day finds Mary Margaret, Ruby and Ashley (Jessy Schram, "Falling Skies") having a girls' night out. Meanwhile, in the fairytale land that was, Belle (Emilie de Ravin, "Lost") agrees to a fateful deal to give up her freedom in order to save her town from the horrors of the Ogre war.

Which Marvel characters will make ultra surprise appearances in The Avengers?

Here's a promo photo of Emilie de Raven as Belle. [SpoilerTV]

The River

Here are some promo photos for "Marbeley", the second episode of Paranormal Activity director Oren Peli's found footage supernatural horror show. The episode will likely air around February 14. [SpoilerTV]

Star Kiefer Sutherland reveals the crazy mystical underpinnings of the new show from Heroes creator Tim Kring:

"[The show] is based on a Chinese fable called The Red Thread, and in essence it means that all the people that were supposed to come in contact with each other over the course of a lifetime are connected loosely by a red thread around the ankle, and that thread can stretch and it can bend but it can't break. And somehow in the last hundred years between the Industrial Revolution and the Technological Revolution, we've broken it. And my son is much more highly evolved than I am and can see where it is broken through math and through patterns, and he uses me as his father to try and put all of the pieces back together."

Yeah...it doesn't sound like there's any chance this show will get engulfed by its own bonkers mythology. [E! Online]

Aliens vs. Wizards

As we reported the other day, former Doctor Who showrunner Russell T. Davies is launching a new children's show for CBBC along with longtime Sarah Jane Adventures writer Phil Ford. Here's the description of the show:

From the dark side of the moon, aliens are scanning the Earth searching for magic and are prepared to destroy everything in their path to get it. All that stands in the way of Earth's imminent destruction are two 16-year old schoolboys, Tom and Benny. It's Ray Guns vs Wands; Science vs Magic and Aliens vs Wizards. Tom Clarke lives a seemingly ordinary life with his dad and grandmother. However he hides a deep secret - Tom's family are wizards and when the Nekross arrive, hungry for magic, they find themselves on the menu. The Nekross may be equipped with ray guns, teleports and high-tech robots but they haven't reckoned on Tom and his friend, science super-brain Benny. They form an extraordinary duo, using Tom's magic and Benny's science to battle the Nekross and save the Earth.

The first season will be twelve episodes of thirty minutes each, and it's set to air this fall. [Doctor Who Online]

Being Human (US)

Here's a few promo photos for episode three of the second season, "All Out of Blood." [SpoilerTV]

Additional reporting by Gordon Jackson and Charlie Jane Anders.


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Taking cues from Jim Munroe's Everyone in Silico and Rudy Rucker's Postsingular, Tom Scott (previously) put together this deliciously twisted short animation Welcome to Life. Scott describes this film as "a science fiction story about what you see when you die. Or: the Singularity, ruined by lawyers." I'm loving the bit about memories of copyrighted works being excised post-mortem — if anyone ever removes Chaka Khan's "Ain't Nobody" from my psychic databank, then you've nailed my very definition of Hell.

[Via MeFi]


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Iron Sky director moves to time-traveling Nazis with I Killed Adolf Hitler

With his moon-based Nazi flick Iron Sky in the can, director Timo Vuorensola is turning his filmmaking eye toward a different breed of science fiction Nazi: time-traveling Hitler. Vuorensola is getting ready to adapt the film adaptation of Jason's graphic novel I Killed Adolf Hitler.

Vuorensola also has an Iron Sky sequel and prequel miniseries in the works, but next year he'll start production on I Killed Adolf Hitler. Here is the book's synopsis from Amazon:

In this full-color graphic novel, Jason posits a strange, violent world in which contract killers can be hired to rub out pests, be they dysfunctional relatives, abusive co-workers, loud neighbors, or just annoyances in general - and as you might imagine, their services are in heavy demand. One such killer is given the unique job of traveling back in time to kill Adolf Hitler in 1939... but things go spectacularly wrong. Hitler overpowers the would-be assassin and sends himself to the present, leaving the killer stranded in the past. The killer eventually finds his way back to the present by simply waiting the decades out as he ages, and teams up with his now much-younger girlfriend to track down the missing fascist dictator.

Given how craftily minimalist Jason is in both his art and writing style, I wonder just how faithful Vuorensola's adaptation will be. Will we get a quiet, animal-headed assassin, or will the movie serve as Iron Sky: Time Travel Division?

IRON SKY Director Sticking with Nazis; Will Adapt Graphic Novel I KILLED ADOLF HITLER [Collider via TDW]


text: Here's your first taste of the brand new, super dark Evil Dead reboot. If it's good enough for producers Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell, is it good enough for you? Do you like the gory green Saw-esque tint? It certainly does make all the blood pop on screen. Directed by Fede Alvarez, this new movie has the original team's blessing — but does it have yours?


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Major Hints About X-Men: Days of Future Past, Godzilla and Doctor Who!

Bryan Singer and James McAvoy talk more about what to expect from X-Men: Days of Future Past. The BBC releases a metric ton of Doctor Who hints. Godzilla confirms its prestigious cast and starts filming. Check out new images for The Wolverine, Kick-Ass 2, and Pacific Rim. Plus Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, The… » 3/19/13 6:00am 3/19/13 6:00am

Joss Whedon reveals the eternal challenge of making a good Hulk movie!

The early, internal reviews for Man of Steel are in — and if we can believe them, they're ridiculously promising. Zoe Saldana talks Star Trek Into Darkness and Avatar 2. Jason Clarke briefly discusses his star turn in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Plus S.H.I.E.L.D., The Walking Dead, Vampire Diaries, and more! » 2/28/13 6:00am 2/28/13 6:00am

Which rising star will play the leader of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy? Plus a Star Wars writers update!

Jenna-Louise Coleman drops hints about her Doctor Who role. Joseph Gordon-Levitt apparently won't play Batman in the new Justice League film. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 might be webbing across the pond. James Cameron plans to finish the Avatar sequels scripts soon, while The Hobbit screenplay still isn't done. Plus Arrow » 11/29/12 6:00am 11/29/12 6:00am

The Independence Day sequels will be all about the love... wait, what!?

Pacific Rim is going 3D... even if Guillermo del Toro doesn't like it. Watch a Thor: The Dark World set video. Just how drunk will Woody Harrelson be in Catching Fire? Joss Whedon explains why Squirrel Girl might not be in The Avengers 2. And James Cameron explains why the Avatar sequels won't be like the Matrix » 9/13/12 6:00am 9/13/12 6:00am


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Christopher Nolan Shows Us Interstellar's Mind-Warping Alien Planet

This afternoon at Comic-Con, Christopher Nolan and Matthew McConaughey dropped an exclusive look at a new trailer for their mysterious new film Interstellar.

Some of the footage was the same as the UK trailer, below.

But here's what was new: we got a look at the destination for McConaughey's Cooper and Anne Hathaway. We see them outside the ship in their space suits, and the light is very blue. Then they're on a rocky planet, still in their suits, struggling in some kind of body of water. They're also assaulted by what looks like some kind of X-shaped object, which barrels towards them like a missile or a ship. It doesn't look natural, so we'll see what that means.

The new trailer starts with Michael Cain saying that the only way we can solve whatever is wrong with Earth is by leaving. McConaughey tells his children that he has to go, and his daughter asks "how long?" The young girl bears a striking resemblance to Jessica Chastain, by the way, who appears later — we see her face on screen in the spaceship, while a sad-looking McConaughey stares at her.

Christopher Nolan Shows Us Interstellar's Mind-Warping Alien Planet

He and Hathaway have a conversation about how he didn't tell her what he was doing because he didn't know how to explain it. We also see some tender moments between Hathaway and another member of the crew.

During the discussion, McConaughey described his character Cooper as "Pilot, engineer, widowed father of two children." He's offered a chance to his dream of interstellar flight happen, but has to leave his two kids. Nolan added, "It's really about human beings, about what it is to be human." He said that he discovered what other filmmakers have, too: That the further you travel out in the universe, the more it becomes about the human condition.

Nolan was asked why he was so interested in psychology. He said that he doesn't do it consciously, but that "I'm just very interested in people, and in objective versus subjective." Objective reality vs. subjective reality will clearly be big themes of Interstellar, much like they were in Inception.

Christopher Nolan Shows Us Interstellar's Mind-Warping Alien Planet

McConaughey said that Cooper is living in a time where "civilization is being maintained," but there are no big ideas or big dreams being realized. So the journey of the film is chance to do that again. Nolan said he grew up in a time when being an astronaut was the highest ambition of every kid and "going further and further out into the galaxy seemed inevitable." But now innovations in space exploration have "waned" over the last few decades. New technology has been "confined to the living room," he explained. Ultimately, said Nolan, the goal of Interstellar is to make a film on par with 2001: A Space Odyssey:

[You'll see we're] trying to show the biggest possible images and bigggest posssible imaginable phenomena ... [But my] ambition is not to do what they did because I don't think anyone could, but a similar scope and scale.

He also promised lots of homages, saying "You'll see all the things I've ripped off. I'm not joking when I say that."

Now you can watch the entire panel if you want! Here's a nice video of it from the folks at Movieguide.


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Is The Fed Chair Succession Too Politicized?

Sep 27, 2013
Originally published on September 27, 2013 4:17 pm

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel. There was once a time when naming a new Federal Reserve chairman was a non-event. Well, not this time. The competition between supporters for former Treasury secretary Larry Summers and the current vice chairman of the Fed, Janet Yellen has been a highly public affair.

As NPR's John Ydstie reports, there's concern that the high profile discussion could politicize the Fed succession in a way that could ultimately hurt the economy.

JOHN YDSTIE, BYLINE: This week, the president of the Dallas Federal Reserve, Richard Fisher, told a group of Texas bankers that the White House has mishandled the process of choosing a successor to Ben Bernanke. Fisher said picking a new Fed chairman should not become a public debate. Alan Blinder, himself a former vice chairman of the Fed, agrees that the White House stumbled.

ALAN BLINDER: Now was that all the White House's fault? No, of course not. Lots of other people were involved in the fray. But I think the whole thing could've been handled a lot more artfully.

YDSTIE: Blinder says President Obama's apparent desire to nominate Larry Summers got leaked probably as a trial balloon to measure opposition and support.

BLINDER: And that trial balloon attracted a lot of fire. It made the process into a public spectacle of the way that it's never been before.

YDSTIE: Blinder, who's now a professor at Princeton, was himself drawn in. He wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece in support of Yellen. And a large group of Senate Democrats wrote a letter to the White House supporting her. There was also public criticism of Summers for, among other things, his role in deregulating the financial system.

Then, at a news conference back in August, President Obama felt the need to defend Summers, his former top economic advisor from what he called...

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: A bunch of attacks that I was hearing on Mr. Summers preemptively which is sort of a standard Washington exercise that I don't like.

YDSTIE: Ultimately, Summers withdrew his name from consideration, citing a desire to avoid an acrimonious confirmation fight. And the president has yet to make a nomination. While the contentious process is unusual, it also follows Ben Bernanke's second confirmation which came in the wake of the financial crisis. Thirty members of the Senate voted against him.

Blinder says he's concerned this might be the start of the Bork-ing of Fed nominations, a reference to the brutal political battle over President Reagan's nomination of Robert Bork for a seat on the Supreme Court.

BLINDER: Congress' rejection of Bork changed the nomination process for Supreme Court justices forever.

YDSTIE: Blinder does take some comfort from the fact that the fight over Summers and Yellen was largely an interparty Democratic fight, not a partisan one. But he says the rising political stakes are not surprising, given the Feds extraordinary role in fighting the financial crisis.

Former Fed Governor Randy Kroszner agrees.

RANDY KROSZNER: The Fed went from being something that was on the front page of the business section to being on the front page of the newspaper.

YDSTIE: Kroszner, who is now a professor at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, warns that politicizing the process could be dangerous. He and Blinder agree the Fed needs to be free to make the best economic policy, even if it's politically unpopular in the short term.

KROSZNER: Generally, the outcomes of central bank policy are better when there's more of a distance between the central bank and the political actors. So historically, more dependent central banks have generally been more effective at avoiding high inflation.

YDSTIE: So imagine what might happen if Janet Yellen became the chairman and felt beholden to supporters who wanted her to worry less about inflation. Kroszner also worries that a bruising confirmation process could discourage well qualified nominees.

KROSZNER: That would be extremely unfortunate to lose good candidates because the process is not a good one.

YDSTIE: But Blinder is not too concerned about that. He says those who are qualified know it's the most powerful economic policy job in the world.

BLINDER: So I doubt that many people are going to look at that and say I don't want to go there just because the confirmation might be tough.

YDSTIE: Blinder says he only hopes that years from now, when it's time to nominate another Fed chairman, the central bank will again have a much lower political profile. John Ydstie, NPR News, Washington. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.