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YOU ARE HERE: LAT HomeCollectionsLakers

The Suns have bent, and parts are broken, but they're not about to quit

By now, with the Western Conference finals starting over as a best-of-three, you don't need a scorecard to know the players.

The Suns are the gutty little guys fighting for their lives, leading with their hearts, or in the case of Steve Nash, their noses.

The Lakers are the Lakers, meaning they're A) great, and B) know it.

Unfortunately, they're C) not as great as they think, which is why they're D) back where they started in the series after watching the Suns create one extra possession after another in Game 4, prompting Kobe Bryant to announce stonily:

"We've got to cut that stuff out."

Coach Phil Jackson acknowledges his team defends only according to necessity.

How were they supposed to know it would be necessary? With the Suns, as Nash noted after Game 4, urgency isn't an issue but a given.

"You know, we've got to fight," he said. "They're bigger than us. Most people can make an argument they're better than us."

Willing as Nash is, as a fighter, he's more like a bleeder. The Suns now sell "Show Your Game Face" T-shirts, showing Nash with a band-aid over his eye from the cut he got in the last round against the San Antonio Spurs.

Since then, of course, Nash has had his nose broken by Shannon Brown in Game 3, and swatted again by Derek Fisher in Game 4.

As the medical staffs say, he can't hurt it any worse now.

"The doctor put it back to some semblance of normal," Nash said Wednesday. "It was never really normal, but now I can't go back."

A nose reduction is a small price for an opportunity Nash wasn't sure he'd ever have again.

For three seasons after his 2004 return to Phoenix, the Suns were as good as anyone and as entertaining as everyone put together.

Given an open floor and total freedom by former coach Mike D'Antoni, Nash reinvented his position.

Before, point guards didn't often get 20 points and 10 assists while shooting 50% and 40% on three-pointers.

Over the last five seasons, Nash's numbers were 16 points, 11 assists, 51% and 45%, good enough for back-to-back MVPs in 2005 and 2006 and a No. 2 finish in the 2007 voting.

The next thing you knew, Chris Paul and Deron Williams were putting up similar numbers with more prolific young scorer/distributors coming up: Derrick Rose, Rajon Rondo, John Wall.

Unfortunately, the Suns lost in the West finals in 2005 (to San Antonio) and in 2006 (to Dallas).

Then in Game 4 of the second-round series in San Antonio in 2007, which the Suns won to tie it 2-2, came the cruelest blow of all.

That was the game in which Robert Horry hip-checked Nash into the scorer's table and Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw came off the bench, earning suspensions for Game 5 in Phoenix, which the Spurs won, before closing the Suns out in six.

The next season, 2007-08, the Lakers got Pau Gasol, the Suns panicked and grabbed Shaquille O'Neal and there went the neighborhood.

Shaq is gone and the Suns are back, although with Stoudemire approaching free agency, the situation remains fluid.

Nevertheless, if this is their last stand, it's one more than anyone thought they would make.

"I mean, people have asked me that for six years now," Nash says. "It might be, but I always say, and I've felt this way before, and I'll feel this way next year, this is the only stand.

"It's now. You just go for it now and you worry about the future and the past later.

"And one day you look back and say, 'Wow, I only had so many shots.' "

No one will ever say Nash didn't make the most of his.

For the NBA candidate as world's most interesting man, try Nash, who spoke out against invading Iraq, dated actress Elizabeth Hurley and is now married with twin 5-year-old daughters he held in his arms outside the dressing room, beaming, after Game 4.

If the Suns remain underdogs, they're underdogs who can shoot, once again, after making six fewer threes than the Lakers in Games 1-3 and shooting 30% from the arc to the Lakers' 40%.

In Game 4, the Suns put on one of their vintage rockets-red-glare shows, making six three-pointers in nine trips in the second quarter and three in a row in the fourth when they blew the game open.

Just in case, updated versions of the "Game Face" T-shirt are forthcoming, showing Nash wrapped like a mummy.

Four games into the Western Conference finals, the Phoenix bench has fared slightly better at home (34.5 points per game) than at Staples Center (30.5), but it has been the Lakers substitutes who have suffered on the road (19.0 at Phoenix, 40.0 at home). Breaking down the Lakers' three main bench players:

Lamar Odom

*--* FGM-A 3-pt FG Reb. Ast. Pts. Home 16-25 1-2 15.0 3.4 18.0 Road 10-24 1-7 8.0 2.5 12.5 Total 26-49 2-9 11.5 3.0 15.3 *--*

Jordan Farmar

*--* FGM-A 3-pt FG Reb. Ast. Pts. Home 8-11 5-6 0.5 2.5 10.5 Road 2-8 2-6 1.0 1.0 3.0 Total 10-19 7-12 0.75 1.75 6.8 *--*

Shannon Brown

*--* FGM-A 3-pt FG Reb. Ast. Pts. Home 5-9 2-2 1.0 1.5 8.5 Road 3-14 1-9 1.5 1.5 3.5 Total 8-23 3-11 1.25 1.50 6.0 *--*

Los Angeles Times Articles


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If soldier killed Afghan civilians in rampage, did he act alone?

Shots reportedly heard long after the suspect's return to an Afghanistan base are among the questions raised at a hearing for U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales.

November 14, 2012|By Kim Murphy, Los Angeles Times
  • Emma Scanlan, right, the civilian defense attorney for U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, with Bales' military defense attorney, Maj. Gregory Malson, at Joint Base Lewis McChord in Washington state.
Emma Scanlan, right, the civilian defense attorney for U.S. Army Staff… (Ted S. Warren, Associated…)

JOINT BASE LEWIS MCCHORD, Wash. — The case against U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales appeared at first to be horribly simple: Days after a bomb blew off the leg of a friend in southern Afghanistan, the 39-year-old combat veteran picked up his rifle, a pistol and a grenade launcher, walked to two villages and allegedly conducted a one-man campaign of vengeance, killing 16 civilians and wounding six more.

But by the time a weeklong hearing wound up Tuesday in a military courtroom, one of the Army's highest-profile war crimes from Afghanistan raised almost as many questions as it answered.

If Bales acted alone, why were shots heard coming from one of the villages 20 minutes after he was spotted returning to the base for the first time?

Why was a witness who claimed to have seen two U.S. soldiers killing her husband while helicopters flew overhead not brought in to testify?

Why were the crime scenes so very different — at one house, a surgical execution of the head of the family, while at the next house, 11 men, women and children were shot and possibly stabbed, their bodies piled in a heap and burned?

The Article 32 hearing, held to determine whether there was evidence to hold the serviceman for a court-martial, drew a portrait not just of a rogue soldier, defense lawyers said. It revealed a U.S. combat outpost at which soldiers spent their evenings drinking alcohol, snorting Valium and taking steroids, all three of which Bales apparently had done before asking a friend to "take care of my kids" and setting out into the darkness outside the base perimeter, laughing.

"We have a dysfunctional, drinking and drugging … team," civilian defense lawyer Emma Scanlan said in her closing argument.

"We can't isolate Sgt. Bales within a bubble," Scanlan said, noting that he was under the supervision of Special Forces officers. "They are the command. They are in charge. And they are terrible at it."

Army prosecutors claim Bales acted alone and with chilling rationality: walking to the village of Alkozai, where he is accused of killing four people and wounding six, coming back to the base and telling a friend what he had done, then venturing out again to the village of Najiban, where he is accused of killing 12.

When Bales returned to Camp Belambay the second time, he admitted to friends he had done some "sick" things, and told them they would thank him when fighting season got underway again during warmer weather later in the spring, said prosecutor Maj. Robert Stelle.

"Terrible, terrible things happened. That is clear. The second thing that is clear is that Staff Sgt. Bales did it," Stelle said.

He urged investigating officer Col. Lee Deneke to recommend a full court-martial and that it be tried as a capital case, with the possibility of the death penalty. Bales committed "the worst, most despicable crime a human being can commit: murdering children in their own homes," Stelle said.

If Deneke recommends a court-martial, a lengthy process of mental health evaluations and further forensic reports will follow. Defense lawyers have pledged there will be a full exploration of the medical care Bales received at the Madigan Army Medical Center for an earlier traumatic brain injury.

The hospital south of Seattle was the subject of an investigation this year for tossing aside diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder, making it harder for those soldiers to receive follow-up medical care.

In the year before the shootings, Scanlan said, Bales had received an exemplary evaluation, in which he was praised for "a strong moral compass, never wavering from what was right."

What went wrong?

Scanlan suggested part of the answer might lie in the steroids and sleep aids Bales was taking, along with the Jack Daniels he drank with two friends on the evening before the killings as they watched "Man on Fire," a movie about a former CIA operative who executes a violent campaign of revenge.

"They drank a ton, and they were all drunk," Scanlan said, noting that testimony showed that one of the soldiers who'd been drinking with Bales that night, Cpl. David Godwin, was stumbling, slurring his words and smelled like alcohol four hours later.

The prosecution said Bales had plenty of time to reach both villages and return at the end of the night with his clothing and weapons covered in blood. Before he left, prosecutors said, he had discussed his frustration with the Army's lack of response to the bomb that blew off his friend's leg; after his arrest, he reminded one soldier of an Afghan machine gunner the unit had faced earlier.

"That's not going to happen again," Bales said, according to Staff Sgt. Ross O'Rourke.

Prosecutors also established that DNA from at least one of the women killed at the home of Haji Mohammed Wazir in Najiban was found on Bales' clothing.

Yet defense lawyers continue to raise questions about whether Bales was the only one responsible — whether one person could have killed so many people in so many locations in one night.

Los Angeles Times Articles

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YOU ARE HERE: LAT HomeCollectionsResearch

Bird flu debate: Should H5N1 experiments resume?

October 10, 2012|By Eryn Brown | Los Angeles Times
  • A lab where scientists study bird flu. Nearly nine months after calling a moratorium on some H5N1 research, experts still haven't decided how to proceed with the work.
A lab where scientists study bird flu. Nearly nine months after calling… (Dita Alangkara / Associated…)

Virologists making mutated versions of the H5N1 bird flu halted their research in January after a U.S. government advisory panel suggested that their work, though well-intentioned, had the potential to endanger the public.

That voluntary moratorium was intended to last 60 days. Nearly nine months later, it remains in place, and scientists are still hashing out if, when and how the research might resume. In a series of essays commissioned this week by mBio, a journal published by the American Society for Microbiology, key players in the controversy set out their thoughts on the matter.

First, a brief review of the controversy: H5N1 bird flu has been circulating in parts of Asia, Europe and the Middle East for more than a decade, resulting in the deaths of millions of chickens, ducks and other fowl. It’s rare in humans and does not appear to pass easily from person to person. But when bird flu does strike in people, it is often deadly.

Virologists were concerned that if H5N1 did evolve to become contagious in people, it could trigger a devastating pandemic. To see how easy it might be for that to happen, they decided to test the virus’ ability to become transmissible in ferrets, a lab mammal whose flu response is similar to ours. Last winter, reports began to emerge that two teams had engineered versions of H5N1 in the lab that passed through the air between ferrets and sickened them.

Before long, some began to worry about what might happen if the mutated viruses were to escape the lab. Also of concern: whether terrorists or other mischief-makers could use the content of the yet-to-be-published papers to make and unleash their own deadly viruses. The moratorium on publication and research was intended to let everyone step back and figure out how to go on with the work — which could help fight outbreaks in the future, proponents said — while protecting the public.

The journals wound up publishing the research several months later. In May, Nature released a study led by University of Wisconsin virologist Yoshihiro Kawaoka, which reported developing a hybrid bird flu that could pass between ferrets. In June, Science published a paper by Dutch virologist Ron Fouchier and colleagues showing that mutated H5N1 could pass between ferrets and, when administered directly to the animals, occasionally proved deadly. At the time, policymakers and scientists took time to debate how to continue with the work, with some calling for strict controls on the H5N1 work moving forward and others urging self-regulation by researchers.

This time around, in the mBio essays, the experts touch on many of the same issues. Dr. Anthony Fauci of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, Md., writes that the moratorium “should continue, pending the resolution of critical policy questions.” Infectious disease experts Marc Lipsitch and Barry R. Bloom of the Harvard School of Public Health advocate specific, “explicit risk benefit assessments” before scientists are permitted to work on potentially dangerous pathogens like H5N1.

An essay coauthored by Fouchier and Kawaoka, with researcher Adolfo García-Sastre, argues that research that has already received approval should be permitted to resume.

“It is unreasonable to extend the pause on H5N1 transmission research until every country has made a final decision” on how to proceed, they wrote. “To contribute meaningfully to pandemic preparedness, we need to conduct more experiments to better understand transmission of H5N1 viruses in mammals, in a timely manner.”

For now, the work remains at a halt. As of Wednesday, the World Health Organization reported that 359 people had died between 2003 and 2012 after catching H5N1 — nearly 60% of confirmed cases.

Click here to read all the H5N1 essays on the mBio website.

To learn more about H5N1, visit this collection of bird flu coverage from the Los Angeles Times.

Los Angeles Times Articles


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Simona De Silvestro seeks to make her mark in Long Beach Grand Prix

The Swiss driver hopes to become the first woman to win an IndyCar event since Danica Patrick in 2008.

April 20, 2013|By Jim Peltz
  • Simona de Silvestro is seeking to become the first woman to win an IndyCar event since 2008.
Simona de Silvestro is seeking to become the first woman to win an IndyCar… (Chris Trotman / Getty Images )

Simona De Silvestro holds out her hands to show there's hardly a sign that they were seriously burned in a racing crash two years ago.

"I wish I had a cool scar because it was really miserable," De Silvestro joked in reference to her car catching fire, "but [the doctors] did a really good job."

De Silvestro, now in her fourth season in the Izod IndyCar Series, hopes to do a good job herself Sunday in the 39th annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

The 24-year-old Swiss driver is seeking to become the first woman to win an IndyCar event since 2008, when Danica Patrick scored her only victory in her seven-year IndyCar career.

It won't be easy. De Silvestro will start 20th in the 27-car race based on Saturday's qualifying session around the 11-turn, 1.97-mile street course.

Four-time IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti, who won the Long Beach race in 2009, captured the pole position with a lap of 105.369 mph.

Ryan Hunter-Reay, the reigning champion and the 2010 Long Beach winner, qualified second at 105.282 mph.

De Silvestro is widely viewed as a talented driver on curvy street and road courses. Before she graduated to IndyCar, she won a junior-league race on the Long Beach track the same year Patrick won her IndyCar race.

But in De Silvestro's first three years in IndyCar she drove for a small team lacking the resources enjoyed by the sport's leading drivers.

This year, however, she moved to the KV Racing Technology team, which uses top-tier Chevrolet engines, and expectations quickly rose that she would be more competitive.

Her results were mixed in the season's first two races. She was sixth in the street race in St. Petersburg, Fla., then 18th two weeks ago on the Barber Motorsports Park road course in Birmingham, Ala.

"We have the pace. Both races we were really quick," De Silvestro said. "But when you look at the field, the talent is so deep."

De Silvestro said she also has to keep improving as a driver and her team has to improve its pit stops to get her back on track more quickly.

"We made little mistakes here and there, and the big teams don't do that — the Penskes, the Ganassis and the Andrettis don't do that," she said. "That's really what our focus is for this race."

Support races

Co-drivers Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr of the Muscle Milk Pickett Racing team won in P1, the top-level prototype class, in the American Le Mans Series race Saturday.

Rutledge Wood, co-host of the television show "Top Gear USA," won the Toyota Pro/Celebrity race.

Brett Davern of MTV's "Awkward" program finished second among the celebrities, who raced identically prepared Toyota Scions in a 10-lap event.

And finally

IndyCar driver Ed Carpenter will carry a "Boston Strong" decal on his No. 20 car Sunday in honor of the Boston Marathon bombing victims.

Los Angeles Times Articles


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YOU ARE HERE: LAT HomeCollectionsBeyonce

Beyonce shows support for gay marriage, reposts equal-sign logo

March 27, 2013|By Nardine Saad

Beyoncé is showing her support for gay marriage.

Queen Bey posted a picture of a handwritten red note Tuesday on Instagram with a variation of her signature "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)" lyrics scrawled on it.

"If you like it you should be able to put a ring on it #wewillunite4marriageequality! B" she wrote. The pic was liked by more than 220,000 people in about 24 hours.

Her sentiments echo those of husband Jay-Z, who in May 2011 equated the issue to being racist against African Americans.

PHOTOS: Celebs react to Supreme Court gay marriage debate

"It's discrimination, plain and simple," he told CNN, adding, "What people do in their own homes is their business and you can choose to love whoever you love... That's their business.”

"it's about time #equality#prop8#marriageislove show your support!!," Beyoncé wrote, reposting a pic of the red and pink equal-sign logo that went viral this week. The logo itself is a variation of the Human Rights Campaign's bright yellow and blue logo. The organization re-purposed its symbol this week with red and pink, the colors of love, according to the Associated Press.

Martha Stewart and George Takei have also reposted the emblem but they aren't the only celebrities who have spoken as the Supreme Court considers two controversial cases involving whether same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry: Proposition 8, California's 2008 ban on gay marriage, and the Defense of Marriage Act, which since 1996 has defined marriage for federal purposes as a union between a man and a woman. Ben Affleck, Padma Lakshmi, Leonardo DiCaprio, Seth MacFarlane, Ricky Martin, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Kristen Bell are just a few of the celebrities who have unleashed messages about gay marriage this week.

For more Times coverage on the topic, click here.

"Today, the Supreme Court is hearing 1 of the most important cases in history," Kristen Bell tweeted. "Don't sleep on it. Equality matters." The pregnant "House of Lies" actress said she and fiancé Dax Shepard won't tie the knot until same-sex marriage is legalized on the federal level, Us Weekly reported. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have also made a similar statement, though they might backpedal because their union is becoming more and more important to their children.

Madonna also posted a handwritten note on Instagram, writing, "Marriage equality! Let's start a revolution."

Even President Barack Obama tweeted, urging people to "reach up and close that gap."

Kendall Jenner too skinny? Not so, she says

Sofia Vergara blond again, returns to natural color

Ashley Judd says she's not running for Senate after all

Nardine Saad

Follow Ministry of Gossip @LATcelebs.

Celebrity portraits by The Times

PHOTOS: Celebrity portraits by The Times

Victoria's Secret Fashion Show

PHOTOS: Victoria's Secret Fashion Show

The Envelope

The Envelope: Celebs on the red carpet

Los Angeles Times Articles


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YOU ARE HERE: LAT HomeCollectionsFrequent Flier Miles

Frequent Flier Miles

October 30, 2013 | By Hugo Martin
Airlines still make most of their money flying you from point A to point B. But a bigger share of that revenue now comes from selling you food, drinks and entertainment during the trip. Airlines worldwide are expected to collect $42.6 billion from passenger fees, the sale of frequent flier miles and other sources in 2013, an 18% increase from last year. The forecast by Wisconsin-based IdeaWorksCompany , a consultant to the airline industry, also shows that such fees and commissions have become a bigger part of the airline industry's revenue stream.
January 15, 2013 | By Mary Forgione, Los Angeles Times Daily Travel & Deal blogger
SuperShuttle launched a winter sale for those who need an extra incentive not to drive to the airport. The national shuttle service takes 10% off fares for shared van rides to and from airports nationwide and gives travelers frequent-flier miles or points too. The deal: The sale is good at SuperShuttle locations nationwide, including airports in Los Angeles , Burbank , Long Beach and Santa Ana ( John Wayne Airport)....
September 27, 2013 | By David Wharton
Now that Alex Ovechkin has been named the first official torch bearer for the 2014 Sochi Olympics, he can look forward to a whirlwind trip. And a lot of frequent-flier miles. The Washington Capitals captain was selected by Russian officials to take part in a ceremony lighting the flame at the Temple of Hera in Greece on Sunday. "I'm extremely humbled and honored to be the first Russian to carry the Olympic torch," he told reporters. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and something I will never forget.
April 2, 2006
Your frequent-flier miles can be worth from a tenth of a cent apiece to 5 to 10 cents. To get the most for your miles, you must determine the true value of the award item, then divide that price by the number of miles. Here are some approximate valuations. Remember that fares are always changing and that merchandise prices vary among stores and websites. *--* Ticket/merchandise Price Miles cost Value per mile L.A. to N.Y. restricted round-trip $250 25,000 0.010 coach L.A. to N.Y.
After six years working for one company, I had accumulated quite a nest egg. It was worth as much as $25,000 by one measure, as little as $5,300 by another. The nest egg was not my retirement savings but the 380,000 United Airlines Mileage Plus frequent-flier miles I had collected from business and personal travel. The difference in value goes directly to the question you need to ask yourself before you spend your precious miles.
Airlines may become more cautious about changing frequent-flier programs after Wednesday's Supreme Court decision that gives travelers who feel awards have been unfairly restricted a greater opportunity to sue. But thrifty air passengers who have been saving up their frequent-flier miles should not expect the high court's ruling to increase the value of their miles for years--if ever.
July 6, 2013 | By Maeve Reston, Harriet Ryan and Rong-Gong Lin II
SAN FRANCISCO -- Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer, had been scheduled to be on the Asiana Airlines plane that crashed at San Francisco International Airport but switched flights at the last moment. Sandberg said on her Facebook page that she was originally scheduled to fly on Asiana Airlines from Seoul to San Francisco, but decided to change flights to United Airlines so she could use frequent-flier miles for the tickets for her family, who were accompanying her. “Taking a minute to be thankful,” Sandberg wrote.
March 3, 2013 | By Brian Kelly
You keep hearing about people who take these fabulous trips (see story) and they don't pay a penny - or very many pennies. You have miles, but you don't seem to be getting much, well, mileage out of them. For the last seven years, my life has been all about points. I quit my recruiting job on Wall Street, for which I traveled more than 150,000 miles a year (and collected numerous corporate credit card points), and founded , a website that's all about maximizing frequent-flier miles and credit card points.
December 18, 2011
I enjoyed the article about snowshoeing in the Travel section ["Hey, Waffle Feet, Mom Knows Best" by Sara Lessley, Dec. 11]. Organizations have found that by holding a snowshoeing activity, a nonprofit can organize a successful fundraising event. The participants walk over white flakes rather than walk or run over hard ground. Sue Chehrenegar Los Angeles Pasadena history I am a mystified that Christopher Reynolds failed to mention the Pasadena Museum of History in his close-up on Pasadena ["Marvelous Magnitude," Nov. 27]
Los Angeles Times Articles


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Allentown Osteopathic Marks 40th Anniversary Briefly

April 29, 1985|The Morning Call

Allentown Osteopathic Medical Center medical staff, administrators, trustees and friends commemorated 40 years of osteopathic health care during a reception yesterday at the Allentown Art Museum.

Some 70 guests attended the reception and participated in museum tours.

The reception marked the decision of a group of area osteopathic physicians to purchase the Hamilton Street mansion of the late William Harris Sr. and start a health-care facility devoted to the practice of osteopathic medicine.

The hospital building was completed on that property in 1944 and opened in 1945, according to Ed Roberts, a hospital spokesman.

The hospital started with fewer than 20 beds, said Roberts, and grew into a full-service, 150-bed hospital with an expansion to the original building in the mid-1970s.

Morning Call Articles
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Candidates Unopposed In 2 Tamaqua Townships

May 22, 1985|The Morning Call

Municipal candidates in two of the four townships in the Tamaqua Area School District - Schuylkill and Walker - were unopposed in their bids for their party's nomination.

In Schuylkill Township, Republican Joseph A. Zelinsky and Democrat Joseph B. Blickley were unopposed for their party nomination for the six-year term of supervisor and will face one another in the November election.

The same held true in the bid fortax collector, where Republican Maureen E. Vanek and Democrat Bridget M. Leskin were unopposed.

In Walker Township, the Democrats did not filed candidates for the party nominations for supervisor and tax collector.

The Republicans who ran unopposed were Bertram O. Leiby, six-year term of supervisor; Frank O'Hara, four-year term of supervisor; and Thelma Mengel, four-year term of tax col

Morning Call Articles
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Oapa Elects Officers

March 09, 1986|The Morning Call

The Old Allentown Preservation Association has elected officers for 1986. They are John Harry, president; Sara Swijter, vice president; Tom Purmort, treasurer, and William Seiberlich, secretary.

The organization's other new board members are Ann Ruth, Mimi Miley and Ginny Harry. Continuing to serve on the board are Bruce Faust and Jenifer Stanley.

The next meeting of the association will be March 14 at St. Andrew's Church, 9th and Gordon streets, Al lentown. The topic will be neighborhood noise.

Morning Call Articles
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Airline's Fee Will Be $19 To People Express Terminal In Newark

March 26, 1986|by DAN PEARSON, The Morning Call

The figure was greeted yesterday somewhat like a lottery number by many winners.

But this is $19, and it's the "bargain" price that Provincetown-Boston Airlines (PBA) will charge to "feed" passengers from A-B-E Airport to the new terminal of People Express at Newark International Airport. There, after PBA and People Express fares are "common-rated" or made identical, Lehigh Valley residents should be able to travel to Florida and many other points for the same fares People Express offers at Newark.

PBA, which is being purchased by People Express as a wholly owned subsidiary, will begin five daily round-trip flights to Newark next Wednesday with twin-engine 19-passenger aircraft. The same $19 one-way shuttle fare will be charged by PBA for flights between Newark's north terminal and Philadelphia International Airport.

But a passenger flying PBA from Hyannis, Mass., to Newark will pay $29 one way.

Representatives of PBA and of Presidential Airways, which begins shuttle flights tomorrow to its new $5-million terminal at Washington/Dulles International Airport, attended a meeting of the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority yesterday to report the basic facts of their introductory services. Presidential, a full-service, low-cost airline, will begin service with its 119-seat B-737 jets - each one named for a U.S. president.

Neither airline places restrictions on tickets that can be used immediately.

Jack Yohe, director of A-B-E Airport, said the decision of PBA to enter the A-B-E competition could be the first step in bringing People Express directly to Allentown if patronage warrants.

Richard F. Koss, PBA's northern division manager, said the no-frills policies and corporate structure of People Express enable the airline to offer some of the lowest fares in the industry - many of them less than $100 to major cities during off-peak travel hours.

Kim S. LaForge, PBA's director of stations for the northern division, said that the A-B-E flight schedules should be inserted into the PBA and People Express computer by the end of the week.

Area residents who wish to make reservations or obtain information on schedules and fares, LaForge said, can call these numbers:

- PBA (the shuttle service): (800) 722-3597.

- People Express: (800) 445-9494.

Representing Presidential Airways yesterday were Timothy R. Berne, regional manager, and Bruce Carper, who is opening new stations for the airline along the eastern seaboard.

Presidential was founded in October 1985 by Harold H. Pareti, a co-founder of People Express, who wanted to run his own airline. Bucking an industry trend of heavy losses and mergers, Presidential alreadyhas started turning a profit.

Berne said that Presidential will offer two departures from A-B-E to Dulles, Monday through Saturday. There also will be one flight on Sunday, but no return that day. The introductory one-way fare to Dulles will be $39. All one-way fares to Florida cities will be $129 coach and $189 first class.

For reservations and information, area residents can call Presidential at (800) 257-7700. Presidential's hub is in Dulles' midfield terminal. A "mobile lounge" transports passengers to the main terminal within a few minutes. Since Presidential is tied in to the Sabre computer of American Airlines at Dulles, passenger can use Presidential to book westbound flights on American.

Jim Smith, United Airlines station manager at A-B-E Airport, announced at the authority meeting that United will add a third flight to Chicago beginning June 6. It will depart A-B-E at 9:50 a.m. June 6 is the same day that United introduces shuttle flights to Dulles Airport with the twin-engine, 36- passenger propjets of Air Wisconsin, which has an agreement with United to provide regional service.

Smith said that the Shorts 360 planes will fly United's colors but may have an entirely different name. Questions like that were being decided at a joint meeting yesterday.

Yohe said that the increase of airlines to 10 from four at A-B-E "should make it unnecessary for any Lehigh Valley area resident to drive to Newark and Philadelphia."The "regulars" at A-B-E are United, Eastern Airlines, USAir and Allegheny Commuter, which is being bought by USAir. The newer carriers, Yohe noted, are Colgan/New York Air Connection, Henson/Piedmont, Presidential, Republic Airlines, Air Wisconsin and Federal Express.

Federal Express, whose overnight flights transport packages instead of passengers, will dedicate its new facility at A-B-E's cargo complex on Tuesday. It's the first tenant.

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100 Years Later, Marker May Rest In Peace

June 21, 1990|by ISABEL MOLINA, The Morning Call

Edman Helfrich's tombstone may finally return to its resting place, more than 100 years after his burial.

The 1865 limestone marker, carved in old German, was discovered in the basement of a house purchased in May by G&D Russoli Enterprises.

Greg Russoli said the tombstone apparently has been in the house at 23 N. Poplar St., Allentown, for quite some time. The previous owner told Russoli the tombstone was there when he bought the house in 1986.

"We just want to get it to its rightful spot," Russoli said.

And the Union and West End Cemetery Association at 948 Chew St. may have the spot.

The association does not have a complete list of burials, said Deborah Van Horn, president of the Union and West End Cemetery, which used to be two cemeteries. But the tombstone probably belongs at the West End Cemetery, Van Horn said.

"I'm sure it's from our cemetery. The West End Cemetery has a heavy concentration of German tombstones, made of limestone," Van Horn said.

Since the burial took place in 1865, she said, chances are Helfrich was buried at the Union and West End Cemetery. That's because the Old Allentown Cemetery at 10th and Linden streets and the Allentown Cemetery Association of Fountain, Linden and Turner had no plots left by 1860, she said.

Once the tombstone is returned to the Union and West End Cemetery, it will join more than 30 others that are to be replotted.

"What I try to do is find out where it belongs. We walk down the rows and look for empty plots," Van Horn said. When she finds one, she checks association records to find out which family was buried in that area and in what arrangement. Van Horn said she has replaced many tombstones that way.

However, the biggest problem is vandalism.

"As soon as the tombstones are up they are down again," Van Horn said.

Replotting costs about $50, Van Horn said, and memorial companies are too busy to do the job.

"The cost is prohibitive actually. ... This year we can't afford to do it," she said.

The association operates on an annual budget of $20,000, which pays for lawn maintenance, garbage hauling and two part-time workers. Association members are volunteer workers.

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Ulcer Bacteria Linked to Heart Disease

January 02, 2008 | 2,587 views

Infection with Helicobacter pylori, the bacteria associated with gastric ulcers, may trigger an autoimmune response that increases the risk of coronary artery disease, according to researcher. Recent studies have stimulated debate in the scientific community about the role of infectious diseases and bacteria in heart disease.

Growing evidence suggests that the body's response to such infections may also be involved in the development of atherosclerosis, fatty deposits in the walls of arteries that can lead to stroke and heart attack. Although more research is needed to confirm the theory that infections lead to atherosclerosis, these data raise the possibility that exposure to H. pylori and other bacteria leads to increased risk of clinically manifest coronary artery disease by an autoimmune mechanism.

European Heart Journal (1998;19:387-394)

There is ever increasing evidence that there is an infectious cause for heart disease. This is the first that I have seen reported that the ulcer bacteria, H. pylori, is believed to be a cause. One needs remember that it is frequently not necessary to take antibiotics to kill these infections.

One nearly needs to improve their immune response. I have not used antibiotics to treat someone's ulcers in years. Increasing the water and using good bacteria and cleaning up the diet seem to work for most people. I suspect the same strategy would also work to improve the risk for heart disease if this organism were found to be a cause of heart disease.

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Deerfield wrestling coach back in action after brush with death

Bob Burns survives massive heart attack and appreciates one day at a time

  • You wouldn't know Deerfield assistant wrestling coach Bob Burns was in a coma for 11 days last spring after suffering massive heart attack.
You wouldn't know Deerfield assistant wrestling coach Bob Burns… (Carline Jean )
December 25, 2012|By Anthony Chiang, Correspondent

DEERFIELD BEACH — Bob Burns never allowed himself to feel tired.

The 55-year-old taught physical education at Deerfield Beach High, coached the school's wrestling team in the afternoon, and on some nights played guitar and sang in a band. Before his day ended, he made sure to get in some sit-ups and push-ups before sleeping for just three hours.

"My wrestling mentality made it so I was always tough enough to fight through whatever it was that was presented to me," said the educator of 33 years.

But on March 28, 2012, Burns met his match.

During a wrestling practice, he was finally forced to take a breather. That was the last thing he remembers before waking up in a hospital bed 11 days later due to a massive heart attack.

"I was dead," Burns said.

Looking at him today back in action in Deerfield Beach's wrestling room, no one would know what he went through. Even he just shakes his head thinking about his brush with death.

"I was in the gravest situation," said Burns, who spent 11 days in a coma. "They told my wife I was neurologically dead."

Things may look the same for the rough-and-tumble coach, but he certainly appreciates life more since what happened at that routine practice.

It was the Wednesday roll-around, a time Burns uses to wrestle with members of the team to make sure they are using the right technique.

"I had wrestled with one kid and I was down to the second kid, and I said, 'You know what, I don't feel so good. I'm going to lay down here," he remembers.

Seconds later, Burns collapsed in front of 20 Deerfield wrestlers because of a heart attack.

Without a pulse, Burns began to turn purple and Brandon Smith, one of the student wrestlers, called 9-1-1 and ran out of the wrestling room to alert any adult he could find.

Once the ambulance arrived, the first responders began a procedure called therapeutic hypothermia on the way to the hospital and lowered Burns' body temperature to 92 degrees. This frozen state is believed to help minimize damage to the heart and limit brain damage.

Still, nobody knew if it would save him.

The lack of answers tortured Burns' wife, Lisa, and their 22-year-old son, Sean Burns. To make things worse, doctors placed Burns under a medically induced coma that left some wondering if he would ever be the same.

"The toughest part I think was when the doctor came and sat me down and said, 'We really believe he's brain dead and we want to prepare you because he can be a vegetable,'" Lisa remembers. "That was probably the worst thing. I had to think about him not coming back."

But on Easter Sunday, Burns opened his eyes on the 11th day of his coma.

"I was mad because I didn't know why I was in the hospital," he said.

Confused and in a daze, the 5-foot-2, 150-pound Burns started the recovery process and finally returned home 26 pounds lighter on April 24. His life has never been the same since.

Before Burns suffered a heart attack, he had not been to the doctor in seven years. Now, he can recite the date of every doctor appointment he has coming up off the top of his head. Before the heart attack, he would sometimes have two peanut butter cups and a soda for breakfast. Now, he has an apple.

"You can see feathers growing out of my butt from the chicken and turkey," said Burns, who has since found a comfortable weight at 130 pounds. "I have beef once every two weeks, maybe. I'm also compliant. I go to every doctor I'm supposed to. I'm so damn compliant, it's nauseating."

And Burns, who has not live wrestled since the heart attack, has even taken a step back from his coaching duties. Although he returned to teaching and coaching in August, he is now Deerfield Beach's assistant wrestling coach, as his assistant of 16 years, James Forbes, is now the head coach.

"The only difference is that I do all of the paper work and when someone gets called down to the office, it's me," Forbes said. "Other than that, our relationship and how we run things is the same."

It's still an unusual role for Burns, who has coached wrestling for 33 years and was the head coach at Deerfield Beach for 23 years before stepping aside. He was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2007.

"He has been the Deerfield Beach coach for many years," Cardinal Gibbons wrestling coach Frank Pettineo said. "He has had some really talented kids over the years. There are a lot of coaches that have contributed and he is one of the grandpas. There are only a handful of them."

Burns' relationship with his wife grew stronger through all of this. The two renewed their wedding vows on their 30th anniversary in the first week of December, and they are in the middle of a bucket list that is taking them to Scotland in the near future.

And although Burns doesn't emote much emotion and stays away from hyperbole, Lisa put the effect all of this had on their relationship into words.

"I knew I loved him, but I didn't realize how much I loved him," Lisa said. "I definitely appreciate our time together so much more. It's too bad it takes that, but it did."

Now, some have asked the fast-moving Burns to eliminate some of the stress from his life. That's hard for him to do, though.

"I don't have stress. I just go to school. This is what I do," Burns insists. "I'm not making weight, I'm not wrestling matches, so everything else in life is pretty easy. I mean, I hate having 1,000 papers to grade in the middle of wrestling, but I always have something to do."

And Burns wouldn't have it any other way.

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Good news for parents and kids ù SHMUEL BLITZ is back with a new collection of bedtime stories. His newest book is for the littlest ones. TheyÆll love it ù and so will you! BEDTIME STORIES OF TORAH VALUES Shmuel Blitz has established his credentials as a great story picker and storyteller. Tova KatzÆs illustrations bring the stories to life. So do your children and grandchildren (and yourselves) a favor ù get them this fine new book!

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Peckham Pet-Tastic 3

Artvehicle 18/Recommended

23rd June 2007 — 30th November -0001

Rachael House invites you to make a costume, dress up your dog and come along to Peckham Pet-Tastic 3, a fancy dress picnic for dogs. Don't miss the dog-themed live art events from inimitable performance artists Marcia Farquhar, WebsterGotts, Daniel Lehan, Simon Ould and Laura Wilson. This, the canine art social event of the year is a Space Station Sixty-five Satellite Project. While you are in the area don't miss Sarah Doyle's fabulous window exhibition The Nexus Treatment at Space Station Sixty-five, 65 North Cross Road, SE22 9ET, until 15 July.

Peckham Pet-Tastic 3
Peckham Square
Peckham High Street
London SE15


WARC-Truncated: length

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Military courts to deal cases of target killers

KARACHI: A high level meeting in Karachi, presided over by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, on Friday reviewed law and order situation in the city wherein it was also decided that cases of target killers will be dealt by the military courts, ARY News reported.

It was also attended by Sindh Governor Dr. Ishratul Ibad, Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Federal Ministers Ishaq Dar, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, members of Sindh Cabinet and heads of law enforcement agencies.

Addressing the meeting, PM Sharif expressed confidence that National Action Plan chalked out with the consensus of all political parties will curb terrorism in the country.

Read more: Political consensus made to form military courts

Referring to Karachi operation, Mr. Sharif said it has improved law and order in the city.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has urged Pakistan People’s Party and Muttahida Qaumi Movement to resolve their differences to help establish peace in the province.

Meanwhile, talking to media in Karachi after visiting Karachi Stock Exchange today, he expressed concern over the killing of MQM party workers.  He said that within ten days, the formed commission will submit its report.

Nawaz Sharif said that the government will address reservations of all political parties in Sindh. He said that enemy could take benefit from the mistrust between PPP and MQM. He assured all possible support of the federal government for removing mistrust between the two parties.

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Keyword: millennium development goals

Metzl: Asia Leads in UN Millennium Goals

The United Nations General Assembly in session. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Asia's top leaders are in New York for the 65th meeting of the United Nations General Assembly.

On Tuesday, Asia Society Executive Vice President Jamie Metzl spoke to Bloomberg Radio about Asia's progress in fulfilling the UN's Millennium Development Goals.


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Best handheld shower?
August 2, 2009 11:16 AM   Subscribe

I'd like to install a good handheld shower in my bathroom in my rented apartment.

I have great water pressure with my current shower head and am looking for tips for best brands (I hear Grohe and Moen are the best, but are they overpriced or overrated?), installation tips (it sounds easy, like I just need pliers and plumbers' tape). I also want to make sure I don't get a head that restricts water flow. Basically, I want the same pressure I have now with a good, reliable handheld shower head.

PS My bathtub is about 2/3 the size of a normal tub, in case that matters.
posted by annabellee to Home & Garden (7 answers total)
It's a pretty simple DIY project you'll most likely be successful. I can't recommend a shower head, but sometimes the old shower head in rental units gets all calcified and rusted on because its been there for years. Use two pairs of pliers to hold the pipe that comes out of the wall steady to keep from cracking the tile. Liquid wrench does wonders if it's really sticky. If the old pipe has rust on it, hit it with some CLR to get it nice and clean so you can take your fancy shower head off and put the old one back on. Other than that, just be sure not to cross thread and strip the old pipe and you'll have a new shower in no time.
posted by JimmyJames at 11:23 AM on August 2, 2009

At least some of the heads that restrict water flow do so with a small plastic insert just inside where you connect the hose.

I didn't know mine had one (it's Italian and apparently this is required there) until about a week after it was installed when the hose burst because the water pressure was too high. Luckily, the manufacturer sent another one right away, but they advised me to remove the flow restrictor with needlenose pliers. I did so and it's been fine ever since.
posted by tomwheeler at 11:27 AM on August 2, 2009

WaterPiks are good. Most any shower head you choose will have the flow restricter inside, just take it out.

Look for a shower head with the number of settings you'll use. When you go to the store, see how heavy it is. If you can, see how it feels in your hand. If you like to change between settings, see how easy it is to change with one hand or if your hand were soapy. Finally, if you can, see how it fits in the holder. Is it a sturdy, secure fit, or is it something that will become a problem over time?

I've changed the shower head a couple of times and gone with the mid-range offering and everything has been fine.
posted by elle.jeezy at 11:57 AM on August 2, 2009

There are two older model Hansgrohe, which are different from Grohe, hand showers in my house in France. Hansgrohe is a worldwide concern and you can buy them in the US as well, but hand shower heads will be fairly hard to find there. There are Hansgrohe (fixed) shower heads in my US house. (I have no pecuniary interest in Hansgrohe.)

Nthing the presence of restrictors and the goodness of removing same.
posted by jet_silver at 12:09 PM on August 2, 2009

I have done this multiple times in my house and others. It is about as easy as a DIY plumbing project can be. All currently available shower heads around here have some sort of flow restrictor in them but it is usually a plastic insert that can be easily removed; instructions come with the shower head. I would suggest not removing it until you use the shower a few times; I left mine in and they are just fine for me. Also local codes sometimes require them and using them is environmentally responsible.

I have seen a lot of nice looking Grohe faucets, but they seem kind of pricey to me. I have replaced many of the plumbing fixtures in my 3.5BA house (including an entire sink/vanity and a tub valve, which involved sweating copper pipes and some sheetrock work) so I have had a chance to look at a lot of different brands. The last shower head I put in was a Price Phister and it is fine. Otherwise I have stuck with Delta and Moen because they have a wide range of options and repair parts are easily available. Probably more important than the brand is the price line within the brand you choose. You cite Moen as an example of quality and I agree, but they also have some fairly inexpensive stuff that they sell to contractors ; around here and in many other places their Chateau line is the default fixture in new construction. Actually pretty durable but also pretty plain in terms of styling and features. If you want a handheld shower that will last you, the most important thing (from experience) is to make sure it is solid brass and is as simple as possible; almost all the ones sold at big box stores are made of plastic and will eventually split open along the mold/seam lines if you have high enough water pressure; I think I have replaced 4 or 5 for this reason. Also look at the hose; once again the high end models are made of metal rather than plastic, which means they last longer, are easier to clean, and tend to hang straighter. The latter is important not so much for looks as it avoids hosing you and the rest of the bathroom down when you go to turn on a shower that has been torqued so that it is aimed into the middle of the room rather than the tub.

So this is my plate of beans treatment of handheld showers. You mention you are in an apartment; it may be reasonable to disregard all of my advice and just buy something cheap, since you are improving someone else's property. I you expect to be there for several years or are planning to take it with you to your next home, then invest in something nice; otherwise whatever you want will work fine for at least a couple of years. I do agree with getting a handheld shower, though. I love mine and use it all the time. If you have dogs or kids they can be a real lifesaver.
posted by TedW at 12:21 PM on August 2, 2009

I have an Oxygenics 'Body Spa' handheld one that I bought almost 4 years ago. I love it. It connects easily and even though it's a water-saver head, it is like a power washer. It's a bit pricey but it works perfectly after 4 years of continuous use with no internal leaks or cleanings. I would definitely recommend it.
posted by jtoth at 12:42 PM on August 2, 2009

As a data point, I couldn't be happier with my $14.99 Target brand shower head that I've had installed for 3 years now. It doesn't have any settings other than on and off which is fine with me. Mostly I wanted to point out that you might not need to spend lots of money to get what you want. I had intended this to be a temporary fix while I looked for something better because the head that came with the apartment was HORRID but I haven't felt the need to search for a replacement.

Also seconding the hold it in your hand and test the switching settings thing. My roomie installed one in her bathroom that has different settings but she never uses them because it takes so much effort to change them. Oh and hers I believe was in the neighborhood of $60.
posted by magnetsphere at 10:43 AM on August 3, 2009

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Church of Saint-Eustache

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"In the Belly of the World, the Saint of the Holy Stag still waits for his Austral hand to reach the godly heavens."
―A riddle by Nostradamus describing the Church of Saint-Eustache.[src]

The Church of Saint-Eustache (French: Église Saint-Eustache) is a church in Paris.

Situated at the center of Les Halles, what is now the second largest church in Paris began as a small chapel dedicated to the saint and martyr Agnes of Rome. Later on, relics of Saint Eustace were brought there, and the Roman saint, whose symbol consists of a large stag overseen by a cross, became the church's namesake.[1]

As the central market at Les Halles developed, the old parish church became too small. Construction on the church that stands today began in 1532 and ended in 1637, 105 years later. Apart from the dimensions, the church is a Gothic structure with Renaissance details. Because there was no wish expropriate the shopkeepers installed at the rue Trainée, later known as the rue Rambuteau, the church was built along the line formed by the street. This means that the building curves to the north. The southernmost tower also remains unfinished.[1]

At some point during the French Revolution, Templar agents met with the gang leader Pacon at the church. In response, the Parisian Brotherhood of Assassins had their agents tail Pacon's men and eliminate anyone at the meeting. The church was also the site for a women's rights rally, where numerous participants, including Assassins, were arrested. The Brotherhood then had its agents free the prisoners.[2]

When the Brotherhood suspected that it was under surveillance, it hatched a plan to lure out the enemy. The Assassins hid a decoy message in the organ pipes of the church and eliminated the person who attempted to intercept it.[2]

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• 23 February 2017
    "We've always loved animals and we choose not to eat animals" Travis Barker from Blink182 for the new 'never be...
  • 22 February 2017
    Jail time for one and a $10,000 fine for his mate, at last we're seeing some punishment to fit the crimes of...
  • 15 February 2017
    Odball the beautiful Mareema dog that starred in the movie of the same name has died. RIP beautiful girl, you...
  • 14 February 2017
    We are filled with sadness at the news today that Soi Dog Foundation co-founder Gill Dalley has passed away. We...
  • 12 February 2017
    How terrific does Binx sound? we are currently fostering her through PAT (Paws and Tails) rescue.
  • 12 February 2017
    How terrific does Binx sound? she is looking for a home of her own, we are currently fostering her...
  • 7 February 2017
    Knitting jumpers for elephants! Yes its a 'thing!'
  • 22 January 2017
    And then I was wondering if the fur of the person that Scarlett Johansson was wearing during her speech belonged...
  • 17 January 2017
    What a great initiative from RSPCA Victoria to get their cats homes!
  • 12 January 2017
    Fantastic work today by James Aspey and Animal Liberation Victoria we all stand beside you against ALL cruelty to...
ATAAC | Australian Teens Against Animal Cruelty - Live Export: its just cruel
Raised on a large, remote farm, this sheep has enjoyed space to roam and very little human contact.
But all this is about to change. Because this sheep is one of millions of Australian farm animals about to suffer a fate far worse than death. He's to begin a horrific journey to slaughter overseas - herded onto a packed truck and driven across the country, sometimes in scorching heat.
It's then onto a ship where conditions are much worse. He's terrified and he'll spend up to three weeks on the crowded ship. With around three sheep to one metre square, there is little room to move and an unfamiliar diet of pellets means he may not eat for the entire journey.
Stress, heat-exhaustion, injury and disease result in the death of around 1,000 sheep on each ship of 100,000. Those that survive the journey arrive in countries with little or no animal welfare legislation where they are often transported, handled and slaughtered in the most barbaric way.
It's just cruel.
It's also completely unnecessary. Australia already exports chilled meat to many countries it sends live animals to. Replacing live export with a growth in the trade of chilled meat, humanely killed as close to the farm as possible, will benefit both animals and Australia.

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  • 23 Feb 2017
    "We've always loved animals and we choose not to eat animals" Travis Barker from Blink182 for the new 'never be silent' campaign about the mistreatment of all animals
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Accelerators Vol 3: Relativity

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Written by R.F.I. Porto; illustrated by Gavin Smith

132 pages; soft cover; full color

Our heroes have been scattered across the timeline, and must find a way to reunite. Spatz has been stranded in a distant future controlled by an insane gang of Time Criminals, with no chance of escape. Meanwhile, the rest of the group arrives at the mythical 88th Century, where they meet an older version of Spatz, who seems to have gone completely insane. How many Spatzes are there, and what do they really want? Collects The Accelerators #11-15.

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US Airways received interim approval from the bankruptcy court to sell and lease back five A330s, nine A319s and five A320s. If given final approval, the transactions will raise more than $120 million in liquidity. The court also approved a deal reached between US Airways and the US Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. resolving nearly $2.7 billion in claims. Under terms of the agreement, the carrier will pay PBGC $13.5 million in cash in addition to giving it a $10 million note and 70% of the ...

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Tag Archives: sculpture

Original Fine Art of the American West – Online Only Auction January 14th

The Heart of the West Art Show and Auction has collected over 120 lots and put them up in an online auction running on January 14th, 2016. This is a new format for them to deliver beautiful pieces by auction to their worldwide audience. Up for auction is a fabulous offering of contemporary and Western art. This is their first online only auction format and will begin at 4PM Mountain Time, from Montana, on Saturday the 14th. Bidders can always leave their maximum bids ahead of the auction and the platform will bid on their behalf.

Their goal is to help artists like build their online profiles and reach thousands of new collectors, while making purchasing art an easy and transparent process for buyers. Heart of the West views online-only timed auctions as a supplement to the physical exhibitions that will keep them running year-round, promoting our artists and building excitement for the shows. This is an exciting launch to their auction offerings and will build the success of artists and value for bidders to new levels.

Highlighted at Lot 17 is a beautiful piece by Brian Astle, named “Arrangement in Blue and Yellow”. The medium is oil and the size is 14”x11”. This depicts an arrangement with flowers and will be a cherished artwork for the winning bidder. In the words of the artist: “Growing up my Grandmother always had yellow roses, and the teacup is one from her very own collection. After she passed, I set out to do a painting in her memory. “ Bidding on this opens at only $500 and there is a photo for viewing in the online catalog.

Lot 63 is an important piece and needs to be seen in the online catalog. This is a painting called “Wild & Free’, from Nancy Dunlop Cawdrey. It depicts a group of beautiful horses and is the type of painting that catches interest of anyone who enters the room. This is a dye on silk that measures 38” by 50”. There is a live video discussing this important piece for viewing along with the photo. The artist shares these words: “These horses were photographed by photographer/friend Susan Papa – I rearranged them and bumped up the color.’. Opening for bidding at $4000, this carries a value of over $13000.

The auction presents a great sculpture near the end of the auction at Lot 115. This is a highly valued limited edition bronze on a black stone base by artist Brenna Tylor. Entitled “Dream Dancer”, this is a museum quality piece opening for bidding at $6000. The size is 33” by 24” by 10” and is described as a “heart of love”. The Dream Dancer is a spirit that reminds us to not only dream, but to set our dreams in motion. This sculpture embodies that belief and inspires people who view this piece and take a moment to reflect and take in the beauty and the meaning. This will be in high demand during the auction and is valued well over $11000.

This auction will feature an excellent team of auctioneers and a great afternoon of buying at auction. All lots are available with photos and descriptions in the online catalog and the auctioneer is happy to answer any questions through email or telephone. Bidders from around the world may register and bid online from any computer or mobile device.

View & Bid today


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The Downfall
Chapter information

Avatar: The War of the Worlds

2: Escalation

Written by

Release date

Last chapter

Chapter 10: About Spirituality...

Next chapter

Chapter 12: Torn Apart

Air. Water. Earth. Fire.
After a long, fulfilled and yet exhausting life, Avatar Korra passed, being succeeded by Sari of the Earth Kingdom, who died early and didn't play a role in history.
The current Avatar is Asura of the Fire Nation, who mastered the elements quickly.
Although she thought she would never play an important role in history, she was proven wrong when the black ships arrived. The first one came in peace, but all the following carried a deadly load: WAR.
A war even the Avatar and her allies can barely end, one that threatens to consume the worlds involved.
And the question everyone asks is: Will there still be a world, a mankind to save?

Previously in Avatar: The War of the Worlds

Mike tells Asura about the true dimensions of her duties, for whose fulfilment she needs guidance. Meanwhile, the Dai Li and the Fire Nation prepare to take over Ba Sing Se.

An Audience

Crown Prince Rong walked through the corridors of the enormous palace Ba Sing Se had, until he came to the massive door behind which laid the throne room. All present servants and guards were conspirators like the Crown Prince himself, and opened the immense door for him. He walked in fast paced, and as the door closed after him, all of the servants and guards hurried out of the room. His father, Earth King Ruyi, and he himself were alone now. No one to aid either, but one of them certainly wasn't in need of aid. The old earthbender who had begun his career as an inhabitant of the Lower Ring and fought his way up in the Civil War looked his son into the eyes and spoke, "I demand to know the reason behind your surprising visit, Crown Prince!"
Speaking sadistically, Rong answered, "Can't one simply visit their father nowadays?"
Unbeknownst to both, a third one was watching and listening, garbed in the uniform of a warrior, and an emerald cloak over it. Her eyes widened in fear when the Crown Prince added, "...a last time."
The Earth King, too, knew why he had added these words, and rose from his throne, shouting, "You want my throne?! Come and get it!"
"As you wish, your former majesty..."
A bullet was metalbent at the monarch, but he avoided it and answered with an earth pillar, which was crushed just when it breached the surface of earth. A rock glove soon covered Ruyi's mouth, but he, the Earth King, personified the Earth Kingdom: steady and strong. He refused to give in and quickly rose three boulders which he kicked at his son. One of them hit him in the stomach and caused the royal to fly back a dozen of metres. While the Earth King removed the rock glove from his face, the Crown Prince prepared an attack of his own. With great power, he ripped off the metal from the throne, and hit his father from behind. The latter submerged himself into earth and struck the conspirator from below with multiple pillars of earth. When he jumped out of it, he was met by a fist of rock mid-air, and was thrown backwards at the battered throne. A few of his vertebrae cracked when they met the hard surface, and he could barely get up. When he had, he only saw his son, blood dripping off his chin, as he rose an immense boulder. In a last attempt to stop it, he rose his hands and caused a mere crack before it crashed down on him. Bone were shattered, the whole organism was bruised as the rock left a crater on the ground. Rong narrowed his eyes at the sight and turned his back to it, as, coming from above, someone jumped just behind his back. His sister Shen-Lin. He felt the katana's point at his back, its wielder trembling with horror.
"Where do you think you're going, Rong? Murdering your own father, you scum of a brother!"
Rong stopped and even let doubt come into his mind, but then he decided to forget the thought of doubt and rose an earth pillar beneath his sister. She jumped and managed to cut her brother's cheek before she hurried outside the palace, to get to her home as fast as possible.

Mike sat before the radio unit, listening to reports of the Earth Kingdom Air Force and its meteorological service, which forecasted slight rain for the northern parts of the city on next day's afternoon, but Mike didn't believe any of it. Not a single cloud could be seen from the garden they had assembled the radio unit when someone knocked at the door nervously. Mike rose from his lying position in which he had spent the day in. Asura was meditating in the temple he had shown her, Zolu was somewhere else in the Upper Ring searching a bathhouse with Malu as a reconnaissance unit, Luo was strolling around the temple while Kiruya guarded it, only Shen-Lin's whereabouts were unknown to him. As he walked barefoot through the dining and living room towards the door, a last few knocks as if coming from a dying one could be heard, and Mike's eyes widened as he caught sight of Shen-Lin cowering just before the door, sobbing. Her whole body shook while tears flew down her horrified face - Mike knew such reactions all too well. He had witnessed them twice already, and he knew what it meant, so he tried to comfort the horrified, wincing girl. He helped her up and inside and embraced her tightly. The two remained in that position for a few minutes until Shen-Lin let loose and Mike asked, "How did it happen?"
Shen-Lin looked baffled, but, still with teary eyes, answered, "Rong - Crown Prince Rong, my brother... He... crushed Ruyi... my father, our father, I mean, with... a boulder... "
As she remembered it, more tears than before flew down her cheeks and shortly thereafter, Mike's back when he held her again, and the two began to talk. Hours passed swiftly as Mike comforted her and helped her to partly overcome the issues, as he already had done once, with his former girlfriend, Anna Visconti. They had finished their talk when night began to fall, and all others except for two returned to the house. These two were Kiruya and Asura, who still were at the temple, but considering they were a waterbending master and the Avatar, the Team decided not to worry about them.

On the next day, just after noon, Shen-Lin was listening to incoming reports from all sides of the Earth Kingdom Air Force so she didn't have to think about her father and his demise, when one of them, more a call for help, caught her attention.
"District forty-two. Request immediate reinforcements to fend off enemy fighter aircraft, I repeat. Under heavy fire over district forty-two of the Upper Ring, requesting immediate reinforcements, being overwhelmed by enemy fighters. Private Li, over."
Shen-Lin's eyes widened when she heard the call. The skies over Ba Sing Se had been silent for the past two weeks, and now, at the beginning of September, the Fire Nation was striking. She took off the headset and laid it to the radio as she walked fast-paced through the house, catching Mike's attention.
"Going to get Asura?" he guessed, before Shen-Lin pulled his ear so he would follow her, answering, "No, fending off a Fire Nation attack! Look at the sky!"
Once they had left the building and taken seat in the car, Mike leaned out of the window and took a look at the skies. To the north, thick, dark clouds moved in, ready to deliver whatever they carried, and from all other sides, Fire Nation fighter and transport aircraft flew in formation. Few to no Earth Kingdom resistance encountered the aeroplanes as they loomed over Ba Sing Se and neared their destination steadily. After half an hour, Mike and Shen-Lin sat in their respective jet fighter's cockpits and taking off when the reason for the little resistance revealed itself. Agents in long, emerald robes took out the personnel of the airfield as the aeroplanes ascended into the skies, headed to the Agrarian Zone to fend off the bulk of the enemy Air Force, and found themselves flying in the rain - of paratroopers. Fire Nation paratroopers descended around them as the jet fighters raced through to the Agrarian Zone, one very well-known aiming a lightning at them. The bolt blasted the air between them and could have easily exploded either aircraft, but it seemed like the bender who had shot the lightning had missed on purpose. No glance back was needed for both to know the bender's identity, who was the Crown Princess of the Fire Nation, and was not possible as of then, since they were flying as high as the engines could take them, and when they descended again, the Legion's camp was below them and the Legion as a whole going into imprisonment, guarded by the mightiest battalion of the Earth Kingdom army, the 501st. After a few minutes of flight, they could witness Fire Nation tanks advancing over the fields, being followed by motorised and mechanised infantry, which all streamed through a breach in the mighty Outer Wall, which had been breached a third time. This was when a squadron of fighters behind them noticed their two fighters and hurried to shoot them down. The two of them saw no other option than to make use of their speed and hide in the mighty cloud that loomed over northern Ba Sing Se. When the aircraft entered the dark entity, their pilots figured out just what kind of mistake they had made, when snow stormed through it and fell down onto the earth whilst lightings shot between clouds and surface and within the clouds as well. Only two of the enemy squadron kept pursuing the Buffalo Squadron, but in that cloud, none truly had an opportunity to strike the other when they could see only a few mere meters and the instruments began to freeze. Mike had only little, Shen-Lin no experience with such situations, and the two Fire Nation pilots seemed to have even less experience with it.
"Seriously? Snow?!" Mike asked rhetorically when he had found out why the cockpit was slowly freezing, "I mean. it's September!"

An audience of another kind

"What have you come for?" the First asked Asura surprisingly irritated. Asura had waited hours, if not even days, to speak to her past life and now she had managed it, her previous incarnation refused. She was a brown-haired girl garbed in brown and red, a slightly rusty armour covering her torso, her curly hair bound in a ponytail, two swords resting on either side of her body, and a dagger in between. Her face was dotted with freckles, her legs covered in rough, brown trousers, and her feet bare - Asura would have believed she was a mercenary if she had not reached her the way she had. Asura gathered her courage and answered.
"I am Avatar Asura, and I have come for guidance- "
"Why haven't you said it at the beginning? I'm Sika, and happy to know someone needs my guidance. So, what would you need?" the First cut her current incarnation off mid-sentence in much friendlier way.
Asura rose and eyebrow at the interruption, or rather at the way she said it.
"You wonder why I was so friendly now?"
"Yeah, it would be nice to know if the person I am speaking to is sane or not!"
"Well, I'm certainly not sure about that, but the reason for my unfriendliness- "
"Is that even a proper word?"
"Not sure. Still, the reason is that a total of twelve Avatars have, in all eternity since I died, have chosen to speak with me. Some just to show how much pain they could endure. Some of them just so that they could boast with the fact that they had spoken with the first Avatar. And then there were four who had no other choice than to use my so-called wisdom. And then there's you. You're the thirteenth, and you have truly come for guidance? Very well. I didn't live too long like certain Earth Kingdom Avatars and didn't end a world war at a premature age after running away because of selfishness like a certain Air Nomad Avatar, nor... y'know, there isn't much I can do. But I will give my best piece of advice I can give."
Asura looked at her previous life and noticed that she had to have died younger than she herself was now, and her eyes widened - with the reason unbeknownst. She only could stutter.
"I- I didn't- I didn't know this, s-sorry, I really- "
"Now what do you want? I have plenty of time, but I guess you don't."
"O-Okay, alright. So, there's this guy travelling with me who has seen pretty much half of the - how does he call it? Galaxy? - yeah, galaxy and who told me that I would be responsible for all of it - it consist of hundreds of worlds like this! I'm not sure if I can bear all of this... responsibility."
Silence fell for what seemed to be an eternity until Sika rose her voice again.
"I know exactly what you mean. When I was revealed as the Avatar, I was shocked. I could barely imagine the size of the realm I grew up in, and from ancient prophecies I knew of the Avatar's responsibilities - to the world. I couldn't even imagine the sheer size of it. But when I travelled across it, and made friends everywhere I went, my confidence grew. I won't tell you my story though, it'd be too long, there surely is time another day. So, where was I? Right, the advice for you... As I said before, there is indeed little advice I can give you, so I hope it helps - and satisfies you... "
"Uh, yeah, ah, well, right. The advice."
"And? I'm still waiting!"
"Always, no matter what happens, where you are and what the odds are - always believe in yourself, you, and only you are the Avatar and you can do it! Not to forget, of course, trust your friends, because some of them might know the threat you are encountering better than you. And also, you can make friends everywhere - you only must search them. And then, last but not least, there is no enemy that cannot be overcome. So, that's all. Everything I can tell- "
Asura looked exasperated at the first of her kind. Sheer rage boiled within her. She hadn't come all this way, endured all this pain, only to hear what she had already known.
"Are you serious?" she began relatively calm.
"Yes, why shouldn't I- W
"Really? I've come all this way, endured all this pain, just to hear this?" she rose her voice as she neared the sentence's end.
"As it seems- "
"Shut up! I've heard something I already knew before, and come all this way to hear it? Really?! I mean, seriously?!" her voice sounded enraged, and her eyes lit up shortly before someone put her hands on her shoulder. Kiruya had come inside to ensure her own safety, and to inform Asura of something of utmost importance. Sika, still present as a spirit, looked, as much as a spirit could, scared and, too calmed and seated herself cross-legged again. When Asura was calm enough to listen again, Kiruya spoke.
"I'm not really sorry to interrupt your eruption of fury, but there's something important. Fire Nation planes all over the city, Dai Li agents taking out the defence and securing the palace, and the 501st opening the gates for the Fire Nation ground forces by capturing the Legion as a whole. Ba Sing Se is being overrun. Interested in the war her current incarnation fought, Sika leaned forward and cleared her throat.
"Air force? Warfare truly advanced since my time, eh? I believe I shall observe the mortal world as a spirit, though. Asura, farewell. Looking forward to the next time."
Kiruya watched as Sika's spirit merged into Asura's body, and the current Avatar moced again from her position to the door.
"So, how do we get home again?"

The ice cold mists blocked every sight, and Mike wasn't the only one trying to get down. Since the radio contact with Shen-Lin had been interrupted - for good, as it seemed, Mike hadn't heard anything of the two fighters which had pursued them. Shen-Lin was trying to get home as fast as possible. He was on his own, and didn't see a thing except the frozen cockpit. His breath was visible and froze the glass even more, though he tried to scratch it off repeatedly in the past half hour, but now he was searching a way down. The barometer's index was frozen and he had lost every means of orientation, so he decided to speed up. When the temperature began to rise again, he saw that at least the last unfrozen instrument of his was good for something, and followed the warmth. Soon, he could make out colours and shapes through the heavy snowfall. Soon thereafter, when he was a few hundred metres above the rooftops, the two fighters which had pursued him and Shen-Lin came into sight, and he intended to fire, but did he not realise that he was too close and too fast to do so. He tried to evade the first one, but his right wing had other plans and hit the enemy aircraft in the engine, whose following explosion cut off the wing. Mike had noticed the second fighter below, but did he have other problems now. After shooting down the first fighter with his left wing, his own nosedived spiralling and shaking heavily. Mike had little control over it, and knew that he would crash into the second fighter, and so he made preparations. He had his rifle ready, and shot the cockpit cover open with the revolver he carried, and hit it hard enough for it to separate itself from the aeroplane. Opening the safety belt, Mike readied himself to jump into the next tree he found, and did so above a backyard near theirs. His fighter crashed into the Fire Nation one and, as one, the two crashed into the house below. Mike fell down at a thick branch which he tried to hold himself on, but failed and continued to fall down. He hit a few other, smaller branches, but managed to land on his feet when soil was the next station. Without thinking much, he ran through the house the backyard was behind, and out on the street. There, a camouflaged car almost hit him if he had not jumped back. As soon as the driver had noticed him, he was being carried into the car's back by Kiruya, who seemingly had left Asura temporarily. As he sat himself upright on the back bench, he noticed Dai Li agents chasing them and shooting earth pillars out of the soil. Few of such caught the car, but it was built to withstand even mines, so they did little to change its course. When they had reached their home, Mike found out how Shen-Lin had avoided to be captured during landing, as her jet fighter still was blocking half of the street. Shen-Lin drifted after passing said aircraft, and made possible for someone to hop on the car. Mike was too weak to bother, and was surprised to see Luo with provisions seating himself beside him, having entered through the window. After having fully turned around due to the fresh snow, Shen-Lin sped up to get to the temple as fast as possible.
"Why the temple?" asked Mike when he had found out where they were headed to, receiving an answer from Shen-Lin immediately.
"Because from there, centuries-old tunnels connect with sewers and lead to an airfield, where we possibly have the possibility to get a flight out of here, or get us one on our own."

The car arrived at the old structure, every of the passengers getting out, heading for the entrance.
"Well, I just noticed I only have five rounds for the Lee-Enfield and twelve for the Webley left," stated Mike as he entered the massive building slightly limping. The others shot him glares before Luo closed his eyes to rely more on his seismic sense and hit the stone floor with his bare foot to slowly rise a huge slab in the building's centre. Just when he had half opened the passage into the sewers, a bullet hit the slab, while emerald-clad agents broke through the roof and a red-robed and armoured woman landed before the company of Fire Nation soldiers who approached the temple. Luo crushed the agents into each other with his metal cables and so, bought some time for the rest of the Team. Kiruya was the most unfortunate of all, she was standing by a certain wooden box at the wall and being approached by two agents who seemed to be out of Luo's range. Mike, having loaded his rifle in the meantime, shot it twice before the agents could reach the Water Tribe woman, and made her see that Mike, still somewhat limping, waited for her to jump into the tunnel. Shen-Lin was the only other of the Team who had not entered it, and currently was fending off Dai Li agents with her katana and her shuriken. Kiruya still thought about the artefact she was observing, one that was centuries of age and historical more than important. Her most famous ancestress - Katara - had it used once, and it had been refilled.
"C'mon already, hop in!" Mike cried through the heat of battle while elbowing a fallen Dai Li who arose again. Kiruya shook her head and took the amulet, putting it in a bag of hers, hurrying to the hole. Mike, too jumped in and left Shen-Lin as the last standing in the temple, until Crown Princess Arzowa entered.
"Long time no see, eh..." Shen-Lin stated out of breath, remarking her former friend's arrival.
"Indeed. Though, I'm sorry... it's not the time to strike yet, considering that I'm leading the Fire Nation occupation of Ba Sing Se. I cannot just let you go, nor can I bluntly kill you," she stated swiftly. Time was short, and she didn't want to be discovered as a traitor - not yet. Shen-Lin knew what was coming and awaited it. As anticipated, Arzowa shot a small blue flame at her ankle. Shen-Lin cried out in pain and stumbled backwards, right into the hole leading into the tunnel, which Luo closed immediately afterwards. Their journey continued as Shen-Lin gave the direction, before, when dusk replaced the evening, she broke down in the sewers. She cowered at a wall of the underground network of tunnels and began to cry. Everyone stopped in their tracks and turned around to see her ankle burnt and her eyes filled with tears, her sobbing resonating all around in the sewers. When everyone moved to her to help her up or similar, she shooed them away.
"Please, leave me! I'm just slowing you down, and I won't leave my people here to suffer! Please, just do yourself a favour and leave me!"
"Shen! Princess Shen-Lin of the Earth Kingdom! You are coming with us, whether you slow us down or not! Let us help you!" Kiruya shouted at the royal, who only continued to yell, "Go! I'm slowing you down!"

A few hours had passed since they had left Shen-Lin and they were at their destination she had suggested. Forming a waterspout, Kiruya shot up to a duct cover and lifted it with her waterbending. Following her were the rest of the Team, who found themselves just before their getaway: a mighty triple-engined military transport aircraft, armed with three pairs of machine guns mounted in cupolas. They climbed in and assumed their respective positions. Mike as the pilot, Malu having the position of the co-pilot, Kiruya as the radio operator, and the rest manning the machine guns. When Mike started the engines, every one of them knew, this trip out of Ba Sing Se was going to be hell.

Notes and Trivia

  • Yes, Ba Sing Se has just fallen a second time. Now the last remaining strongholds are the Southern Air Temple archipelago and the Water Tribes.

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Home / agencies / Highway money on states’ radar

Highway money on states’ radar

States are hoping that a job-creating initiative to be outlined by President Obama on Dec. 8 will include billions of dollars for infrastructure projects. Meanwhile, recession-worn Michigan may be ineligible for $475 million in federal highway money next year because it can’t find $84 million in matching state funds.

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials has identified 9,500 “ready-to-go” infrastructure projects around the nation and wants Congress and the Obama administration to provide states with as much as $69 billion to pay for them, The Washington Times reports. The push by the association underscores criticism that the federal government’s $787 federal stimulus plan “gave short shrift to job-creating highway and transit construction,” the paper says.

“Critics from both sides of the aisle said the first stimulus added to the heap of public debt and did not spur enough job growth,” The Times reports. “Mr. Obama is expected to respond Dec. 8 by announcing infrastructure projects as a chief component of (new) stimulus measures. He will make the speech at the Brookings Institution, a liberal-leaning think tank in Washington.”

In Michigan, the state may lose out on nearly half a billion dollars in federal highway money next year – and as much as $2.1 billion through fiscal 2014 – because it can’t match all the federal funds it is eligible to receive, Crain’s Detroit Business reports.

“The lowered (state) investment would, in fiscal 2011 alone, lead to an estimated 47 percent drop in highway program-related jobs, from 17,070 in the current year to 8,988,” according to Crain’s, which reports that Michigan lawmakers have overlooked highway funding as they have dealt with a host of other budget problems.

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World Chess Cup 2015 opening ceremony held in Baku

A+ A

Baku, September 11, AZERTAC

The 2015 FIDE World Chess Cup opened in the magnificent Mugham Center here.

The players, official and guests were greeted by Elman Rustamov, head of Azerbaijan Central Bank and President of Azerbaijan Chess Federation, Intigam Babayev, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Azerbaijan, and Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, President of FIDE.

The program also included beautiful promotional videos, a chess-themed ballet dance, and a song by Azerbaijani Eurovision contestant.

In the drawing of lots conducted by tournament's Chief Arbiter Faig Hasanov, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov drew a white piece, which means that the top-seeded player Veselin Topalov will have white pieces in the first game of the first round. The rest of the pairings will be aligned according to the pairings tree.

The regular games and tie-breaks will take place daily from 15:00 local time at the luxurious Fairmont Hotel in Flame Towers, Baku.

Azerbaijan is represented at the tournament by chess players Teymur Rajabov, Shahriyar Mammadyarov, Rauf Mammadov, Gadir Huseynov, Altaj Safarli and Vasif Durarbeyli.

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