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Rent-___ (security guard) crossword

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Rent-___ (security guard) crossword clue

Clue answer: Acop

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Rent-___ (security guard)

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Contact Us

Blake Sims Helps Lead Tide Over WVU In Debut Outing

Blake Sims
(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

ATLANTA – Nearly five years ago, Blake Sims’ high school football career ended at the Georgia Dome.

It was the Georgia Class AAA state championship game, and Sims had just thrown a touchdown pass to cut the lead to one with no time remaining when his team decided to go for two and the win. The ball, again, was in Sims’ hands.

His pass was batted down and never made it to his intended receiver.

But on Saturday, on the same field where he played in the state championship game, his career, at least as a starter, was reborn.

Making his first start since his high school finale, Sims finished where he left off years earlier, leading the charge to put No. 2 Alabama past West Virginia in a 33-23 victory Saturday in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game in Atlanta.

“I didn’t think about it too much,” said Sims when asked about getting his first start. “I just went out there and played. Through spring and summer I was focused on getting the team ready. I know I would be ready to go if I got the call.”

Named as the starter only hours before kickoff, Sims, a fifth-year senior, was nearly error-free in a solid, but not spectacular performance, passing for 250 yards with a 73 percent completion rate along with one interception and rushing for 42 more. His completions (24) and attempts (33) were Alabama quarterback records for a starting debut.

For him, it was a long-time coming.

After redshirting his freshman year in 2010 as a player who really didn’t have a true position, he sat behind the likes of Trent Richardson and Eddie Lacy at running back for a year before moving back to quarterback for the last two, where he waited behind AJ McCarron as his backup. And he still he waited patiently.

“He [Coach Saban] told me to play with composure,” Sims said. “I told him when it comes time, I’ll be ready.”

The Crimson Tide (1-0) did not win solely off the arm of Sims, but at the same time, he did nothing to potentially make them die by it either.

Despite highly-touted Florida State transfer Jake Coker waiting on the sidelines for an opportunity and a West Virginia team bidding for a colossal upset as late as the early fourth quarter, Sims played comfortably in the pocket for the majority of the game. His most noticeably error came early in the fourth quarter when an interception near midfield put the Mountaineers in good position to cut or tie the lead, trailing 30-23.

But as was the case on several occasions, a dropped pass at an inopportune time prevented the Mountaineers (0-1) from taking advantage, forcing them to punt on a three-and-out. West Virginia gained 393 total yards of offense but managed only one touchdown to go along with its three field goals.

“Not to take anything away from Alabama, but you need to make a few more plays, a few more calls than we made,” West Virginia coach Dana Holgorson said. “It’s frustrating. We’re not interested in moral victories. We have to finish the job.”

Alabama pushed its lead to 33-23 on the following drive on Adam Griffith’s 45-yard field goal. Griffith was a perfect 4-for-4 on field goals, including three from 40-plus yards.

Amari Cooper led all Alabama receivers with 12 catches and 130 yards as Sims’ favorite target. T.J. Yeldon, carrying the ball 23 times, rushed for 126 yards and two touchdowns, while Derrick Henry, carrying the ball 17 times, rushed for 113 and one score. As a team, the Crimson Tide had 538 yards on offense.

The Mountaineers, with its hurry-up, no-huddle offense, scored first with a field goal on the opening drive of the game and matched nearly every Alabama score throughout the game, causing some familiar problems for a Crimson Tide defense known to struggle against that type of offense.

“I thought this game was going to go exactly like it went,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “Not having a quarterback with any experience, who ever played before that is out there playing against a fast ball, no‑huddle group that had to call the defenses and get the defense lined up.

“… So I’m not surprised at all.”

West Virginia scored its second of two touchdowns in the game on Mario Alford’s 100-yard kickoff return in the second quarter to tie the game at 17-17.

Alabama hosts Florida Atlantic (0-1) in its home opener next Saturday.

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Contact Us

Rihanna Wore a Doobie Wrap at AMAs [PHOTO]

Jason Merritt, Getty Images

We admit that when we saw Rihanna‘s hair at the 2013 American Music Awards, it looked like she was rocking super shiny, glossy finger waves, fastened with pearl bobby pins. Apparently, she wasn’t.

Instead, she wore what’s known as a “doobie wrap,” which is the equivalent of wearing rollers out and about, if you can imagine that.

It looked like she had sideswept bangs, since the wrap appeared to melt into her own black hair. But nope, that wasn’t it. That was just an optical illusion, revealed upon closer inspection and a torrent of fan tweets about her choice of headgear.

Essentially, the doobie wrap is a scarf that women wear at night and while they sleep. It is used to help create bouncy hair the following morning.

So it may have been a styling tool, but it was one that she blinged out and turned into an accessory.

Jason Merritt, Getty Images

It had people wondering why she would go out with a tool that most people sleep in.

Maybe her real hair has been damaged by all the changes she puts it through? Who knows!

It didn’t go unnoticed by fans and was a hot conversation topic.

We noticed that her makeup artist didn’t use any bronzer or illuminator with shimmer to cover up her obvious bikini tan lines. Just sayin’.

Jason Kempin, Getty Images

We all know RiRi loves a doobie — aka the kind you spark up and smoke — but she also loves doobie wraps.

Below are some eagle-eyed tweets about the doobie wrap.

Oh, and did you ever wonder if you’re saying RiRi’s name correctly? While the entire world calls her “Ree-ah-na,” she has said it’s “Ree-Anna.” Watch this video clip of everyone else saying her name wrong.

Ree-ah-na sounds so much more cosmo, but she has confirmed that it’s “Ree-anna.” We’ll just call her Robyn.

Next: See Rihanna's Best Hair Looks

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Sunday, September 24, 2006

Israeli control of the UK security services? Part 1.

Imagine if a foreign power gains control of key people within the security services of your country and then arranges who occupies key positions within the government and then dictates foreign and domestic policy.

George Young was a top officer in Britain’s MI6, military intelligence. Reportedly he is the man who organised the overthrow of Mossadeq in Iran.

According to Young, Soviet Russia, in 1946-7, supplied base facilities, arms and explosives to Jewish groups to operate against British targets.

(Source: The Wilson Plot, by David Leigh, 1988. Chapter 1.)

In 1946 the British security services issued this warning: "Members of the Stern group are now being organised and are under training. It is expected that they will be sent to the United Kingdom to assassinate important members of his majesty’s government, particularly, Mr Bevin."

In 1946 a number of bombs exploded in London and an attempt was made to drop a bomb on the House of Commons from a hired plane.

Communist Russia, which had many Jews in top positions, was allied to the Jewish groups attacking Britain in Palestine and in the UK.

In 1946, Britain had a Labour government whose key figures were Prime Minister Clement Attlee and Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin.

According to David Leigh, in Chapter 1 of The Wilson Plot, Attlee and Bevin, developed ‘in concert with the Americans, a secret shadow state... Most of which was invisible to the general public, and, indeed, to many members of the British Labour Party.’

The secret state set up a propaganda unit called the Information Research Department (IRD). According to David Leigh, BBC programme makers ‘were required to accept batches of undercover IRD material.’

The secret state organised special forces to carry out secret operations in Palestine and in the Soviet Empire.

Unfortunately, the UK security services had been infiltrated and their operations had a tendency to fail. British spies tended to get arrested the moment they landed in places like Albania.

Who were the infiltrators? Mention is often made of people like Philby and Blunt, who turned out to be spies for Russia. Secrets that were handed over to Russia could then be handed over to the Israelis.

Some people suspect Victor, Lord Rothschild, a friend of Israel and a friend of Blunt, of giving away some of Britain’s secrets.

In 1947, George Blake, who was Jewish, was recruited by MI6. He went on to betray all MI6 operations in Berlin and Poland.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Trevor Brooks, spooks, John Reid and the TV cameras.

On 20 September 2006, UK home secretary, John Reid, made a speech to a small gathering in London urging Muslim parents to monitor their children. TV cameras were in attendance.

Trevor Brooks, allegedly a member of a banned Moslem group, had been allowed to attend the meeting. Mr Brooks heckled Mr Reid and this was carefully filmed for the TV news channels.

Reportedly Mr Brooks, on previous occasions, has admitted he wishes to die as a suicide bomber. Reportedly he has said that it was every Muslim’s duty to kill the Queen of England.

Some might find it strange that Mr Brooks, wearing a robe and a turban, and calling himself Abu Izadeen, was allowed into the meeting and allowed to carry out his heckling.

"John Reid, Tony Blair and George Bush's crusade can all go to hell," Mr Brooks had shouted.

Mr Brooks is alleged to have been a leader of Al-Ghurabaa, which reportedly organised the flag-burning protests outside the Danish embassy in London.

Reportedly Al-Ghurabaa is a fan of CIA agent Osama bin Laden and al CIAda.

Mr Reid told the audience that fanatics were on the hunt for vulnerable young people to recruit to their cause. It is not thought that Mr Reid was referring to the recruitment of patsies by members of certain security services.

"There is no nice way of saying this," said Reid. "These fanatics are looking to groom and brainwash children, including your children, for suicide bombings."

Reid barracked during speech

Radical Muslim Trevor Woods Apparently in Hiding

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Thailand, the military and the CIA

In 1946 Ananda was found shot in his bedroom in the Grand Palace.

This ensured that teenage Bhumibol became king. And it ensured that pro-American Field Marshal Pibul became the power behind the throne.

Bhumibol had once said of his brother's murder, "It was not an was political."

King Bhumibol has a difficult job, surrounded as he is by certain 'corrupt fascist' generals who allegedly have links to the CIA.

In 1973, when pro-democracy students were being shot at by the army outside the Chitralada palace, Bhumibol ordered the gates of the palace to be opened, to help save some lives.

In 1980 one third of the rural population lived in absolute poverty (this could mean one meal a day and no money to buy shoes or typhoid medicine). In 1980, a child working 11 hours a day, in a workshop in Bangkok, would earn £36 per year! Yes, per year! Great for the Americans getting their cheap shoes and clothes made by child labour.

When the generals were again getting violent in 1992, and hundreds of people were killed, it was Bhumibol who summoned General Suchinda to the palace and had the meeting televised live. The entire Thai nation could see General Suchinda crawling across the carpet to the feet of the monarch.

In the Oriental Hotel I got talking to a retired Thai gentleman called Yong. I asked him how things were going in Bangkok.

"There is a power struggle going on within the army," said Yong. "On one side we have the reformers who want to end the army's links to drugs and karaoke bars. They want to purge the army of mafia colonels. And on the other side we have the conservatives who want to continue to do deals with the Burmese junta and the drugs barons."

Yong read to me the calypso written by Allen Ginsberg in 1972:

In nineteen hundred forty nine
China was won by Mao Tse-Tung.
Chiang Kai Shek's army ran away.
They were waiting there in Thailand yesterday

Supported by the CIA
Pushing junk down Thailand way.

First they stole from the Meo Tribes
Up in the hills they started taking bribes
Then they sent their soldiers up to Shan
Collecting opium to send to The Man
Pushing junk in Bangkok yesterday
Supported by the CIA...."

Monday, September 18, 2006

Exit Habeas Corpus, Enter Night and Fog

Chertoff: “Radical Ideologies” Threaten Internet

Judge Revokes Lay's Conviction
A federal judge in Houston yesterday wiped away the fraud and conspiracy conviction of Kenneth L. Lay, the Enron Corp. founder who died of heart disease in July, bowing to decades of legal precedent but frustrating government attempts to seize nearly $44 million from his family.
"Just one more reason to question whether Kenny boy is really dead."

Dr. David Ray Griffin gives a lecture in Copenhagen entitled, "9/11: Should the Truth be Revealed or Concealed?"

What was the Bush Administration's Motive for Creating 9/11?

Gangsterism, Laskar Jihad, al Qaeda...

aangirfan: Christian gangsters and the military and terror in ...

Alpogan’s Israeli counterpart to visit Turkey in November

David Harrison's Sunday Tel sex slave stories win Paul Foot award

"A cover story to hide culpable extracurricular CIA drug smuggling..."

Barbara Honneger, Author of "The Pentagon Attack Papers", reveals a ton of information that proves the official timeline given by the U.S. government about what happened at the Pentagon on 9/11 is completely false. She also argues against the current "don't talk about the Pentagon!" taboo that exists in many corners of the 9/11 Truth movement.

UK Energy Security - Nuclear Con - Fusion (2)

Danny and Ricky Preddie

How MI5 treats the Moslems who work for them.

New Labour - New Fascism
Blunkett 'wanted to shoot rioters'
Machine-gun the rioters, Blunkett 'told' prisons chief

Sarkozy Loses Ground in French Presidential Race Amid Party Row

Salmond: our date with destiny

Nona: some favourite videos

Black Op Mujahideen Shura Council Declares Islamic State in Iraq

"It was reported that Congressmen Hoekstra had travelled to Paris along with Congressman Curt Weldon (R-PA), the No. 2 Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, to meet with Ghorbanifar front man Fereidoun Mahdavi."
A campaign to create and launder falsified intelligence?

Thick haze smothers parts of Indonesia
Forest fires result from government failure in Indonesia
Haze distresses orangutans in Indonesian reserve

Bush Administration Insider Says U.S. Government Behind 9/11

The Moles, the Patsies, & State-Sponsored Terror

Human Rights Concerns Fail To Staunch Flow Of UK Arms

UK Police Chief hints at internment

New York Times and CBS News Poll: Most Americans Believe Bushcons Hiding Nine Eleven Crimes

London bomber's suicide video is 'linked to traitor'
"Funny that none of these stories about the "American Al Qaeda" never seem to mention his real name, Adam Pearlman, or the fact that his grandfather was on the board of directors of the ADL. 'Gadahn' is being built up in the media for some nefarious purpose." -

Webster Tarpley gives a presentation on the smorgasbord of evidence you get to choose from and all the various aspects you get to examine when you're building the case that 9/11 was an inside job that was planned and executed by the Bush Administration.

Jesse Ventura

We guess that when the government has stopped blaming the Libyans for Lockerbie, the government will start blaming some other lot of Moslems, such as the Palestinians, Syrians or Iranians. We reckon that the real culprits, the people who were smuggling heroin on Pan Am planes, may be too powerful to prosecute.
aangirfan: Lockerbie - new forensic tests suggest evidence was ...

Will Iran be given the blame for Lockerbie?
"German investigators established that a Palestinian terrorist called Abu Talb, funded by Iran, could have placed the bomb on board Pan Am flight 103. They also established that the Iranian government paid millions of dollars into a Swiss bank account belonging to one of Talb's colleagues two days after the Lockerbie bombing."
Lockerbie retrial demand over new evidence

Missing evidence may free Megrahi

Mohammed Abu Talb - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

South Africa
Horrific violence now an everyday sight as the Rainbow Nation ends in a pool of blood

Explosive report reveals true extent of prison drug abuse epidemic

Farmer — Scots break is inevitable

Catholic leader backs Scottish independence

Anglo-American-Israelis doomed?

General Sir Richard Dannatt is a dangerous man

Revolt of American generals and call for US talk with Iran

"He worked for Pakistan’s notorious ISI, essentially a CIA subcontractor."
Abu Musa al-Hindi: Another Patsy Bites the Dust

Pyongyang North Korea

The voters have had enough of the party in power and its arrogance; its unhealthy relationship with the lobbyists of 'K' Street; and its "bridge to nowhere" pork-barrel legislations. Twentysix days before mid-term elections there can be no doubt about the Republicans' fall from grace.

Foreign Ministry slams envoy's comments about 'yellow race'

SNP has 'date with destiny'

Union Sundown: The Corporate Elite Takes Off its Mask

Huge bomb haul, rocket launcher biowarfare gear fi...

Media Hypes Scribblings as "Terror Plot Admission"

US forces killed ITN man in Iraq

Book: Bush Aides Called Evangelicals 'Nuts'

The sad state of UK military intelligence

Brainwashed Crusader general?
"We can’t wish the Islamist challenge to our society away and I believe that the army both in Iraq and Afghanistan and probably wherever we go next, is fighting the foreign dimension of the challenge to our accepted way of life."
"We need to face up to the Islamist threat, to those who act in the name of Islam and in a perverted way try to impose Islam by force on societies that do not wish it."
"It is said that we live in a post Christian society. I think that is a great shame. The broader Judaic-Christian tradition has underpinned British society. It underpins the British army."
Army chief declares war on Blair: 'We must quit Iraq soon'

"Lebanon constitutes a strategic corridor between Israel and North-western Syria. The underlying objective of this war was the militarization of Lebanon, including the stationing of foreign troops, as a precondition for carrying out the next phase of a broader military agenda...
In February 2005, NATO signed a military cooperation agreement with Israel...
British troops stationed in Iraq have been redeployed to the Iranian border in southern Iraq...
The war against Iran is part of a longer term US military agenda which seeks to militarize the entire Caspian sea basin, eventually leading to the destabilization and conquest of the Russian Federation...
If the attacks directed against Iran and Syria were to proceed, martial law and/or a state of emergency could be declared in the US and possibly Britain on the pretext that the homeland is under attack by Iran sponsored terrorists."
Lebanon: Stepping-Stone to a Broader War

UK military revolt against Israeli-American dominated Blair cabal? Or, prelude to attack on Iran-Syria?
Top general says UK armed forces in Iraq 'exacerbate security problems'. Top General Urges Britain to Leave Iraq
UK army chief calls for Iraq withdrawal
General seeks UK Iraq withdrawal

Salmond aims for a million home turbines

Timewatch: Operation Gladio - Behind False Flag Terrorism & 9/11 (part1)

Timewatch: Operation Gladio - Behind False Flag Terrorism & 9/11 (part2)

Timewatch: Operation Gladio - Behind False Flag Terrorism & 9/11 (part3)

Video: Operation Gladio - BBC Documentary

Italian TV show on drug-taking MPs pulled from schedules

Olbermann on the Murder of Habeus Corpus

Habeus Corpus: The Senate Sets Us Back 800 Years

bush incompetent

truthers equated ...

Fascist bomb plot?

Study: 655,000 Iraqis Died Due to War

US forces 'shot to kill' Terry Lloyd

Yahoo IM Blocking You Tube URL's?

'Two prominent European politicians saying that 9/11 was an inside job that was planned and carried out by the Bush Administration.'
9/11 Truth: Micheal Meacher & Andreas von Bulow (Part 1)
9/11 Truth: Michael Meacher & Andreas von Bulow (Part 2)

Keeping the Moslem world divided and weak.
"Sunni Arab regimes and Israel will develop a quiet alliance, radically transforming the political landscape of the Middle East. A not-so-secret meeting between an Israeli Prime Minister and a Saudi official looks like one of the first steps towards that transformation."
Mideast Realignment: Could Iran Unite Arabs and Israelis

SNP receives Kwik fix with £100,000 gift

Property of the State

Northern Ireland's biggest ever drugs haul today

Malaysia tourism
Kids dance

Indonesia tourism
Bogor, near Jakarta, Indonesia, 1

Radio host Meria Heller ( speaks about 9/11 at the Chicago 9/11 truth conference in June 2006. She covers Rudy Giuliani's involvement, the controlled demolition of WTC 7, the JFK assassination, the Federal Reserve, and much more.
9/11 Truth: Meria Heller Speaks in Chicago

The people of Fife have had Tony Blair's wars but not Gordon's great economic miracle. They are ready for independence... The upside of the present situation of high oil prices means Scotland can use the weather-window of our North Sea resources to get the technology and training it needs to construct an eco-hi-tech future.
Dullness fades

Scotland savour win over France

DC Gays Say Hastert Had Sex With Young 'Men For Hire'?

Iraq's Partition

Lord Patel's sources refuse to believe that the DPRK have the materials (Plutonium), the engineering skills and certainly not the very sophisticated remote sensing, and analytical equipment , tools and experience to benefit from an underground test.
BBC "claim" that DPRK "claim" nuclear test

FLASHBACK: Khan 'gave N Korea centrifuges'
Disgraced Pakistani scientist AQ Khan supplied North Korea with centrifuges and their designs, President Pervez Musharraf has confirmed. "Now then, this gets interesting, because when the Dutch wanted to arrest Khan in 1975, the CIA told them to leave him alone! "

FLASHBACK: Rumsfeld sold North Korea 2 nuclear power plants

In less than a month, a small number of Americans will trek to the polling stations and vote for their preferred mobster, pederast, and warmonger, or all of the above.
The Six Percent Solution Illusion

Ki-moon: Moonie or Neocon Toady?

Marine Scientists Report Massive Dead Zones

Bush's Secret Advisor Has Bloody Past

Police 'exaggerated evidence' against British 9/11 suspect

Rights advocates deplore murder acquittal in Indonesia

How the strong pound killed British industry

Risk played down after spin doctors step in

Sheridan’s former friend defends tape

The Emerging Russian Giant Plays its Cards Strategically

Deadly deals in Pakistan -

Soldier 'saw US tank fire on ITN car'

Message to YouTube - Don't Do It!

The Lion Roars

Assassin's bullet kills fiery critic of Putin

German prosecutors probe claim of human rights violation at US ...

Jowell husband ‘hid files from prosecutors for seven years’

Musharraf and Pakistan Slipping Toward Disaster

Israel-Firster Cheryl Halpern Named Head Of Corporation for Public Broadcasting

Wakey Wakey - Stopping the Slide

Save The Forest

Orangutans - The Grim Facts

Secret government

Do people know who they are voting for?

A YouGov poll conducted in June 2006 revealed that 65 percent of Britons consider Americans “vulgar,” and 58 percent see the U.S. as “an essentially imperial power, one that wants to dominate the world by one means or another.”

Weekly human rights report: Israeli forces killed eight ...

Closeted Gay Republicans and a Party in Political Free-Fall

Al Qaeda Tapes: Direct Link To Military Psyops And Donald Rumsfeld

Lloyd shot dead by US troops, inquest told

October 5 - Day of Mass Resistance - protest locations

Indonesian court acquits pilot of murdering human rights activist
Conviction Overturned in Murder of Indonesian Human Rights Leader ...

Save Darfur: Zionist Conspiracy?

Lockerbie man.
Mixed reactions to Boyd departure

From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe

"It appears that the Establishment – you know, the group that Chomsky claims rules the world – has finally decided to stop playing polo and sipping champagne long enough to get around to reining in the Bush Administration."

TerrorStorm (Alex Jones) - Google Video

Please e mail Google and ask them why they keep trimming the viewership figures for Terror Storm....

Israelis and Palestinians - where are they from?
Where are these people from versus those they displace?

PNAC ring leader William Kristol confronted on 9/11

U.S. Government Caught Red-Handed Releasing Staged Al-Qaeda Videos

Boyd resignation: 'No McKie link'

Telecom Italia - CIA - suicides - electronic surve...

Andy Hayman - the sewage principle - the solid bit...

We’ve now gotten to the point where Nazi Germany was, say, in 1934. Remember, at that time, if you had told a typical German what his government would do over the next ten years, he would have looked at you as a madman. After all, his land had been civilized for over a thousand years.

Not My Son in Video, Declares Atta Senior

Atta's Father Says Video Fake, Credibility of 'Hijackers Tape' Crumbles

Unseen hands brought India and Israel closer for defense and intelligence cooperation.
Mumbai Bomb Blasts – Intelligence And Counter-Intelligence

More doubts on Lockerbie with new revelations

Victims' families blast "biased" Manila rights probe

Sheridan accuses MI5 and Murdoch over 'mother of stitch-ups'

“When the history of this whole episode is written about, I think you'll find that MI5 certainly was involved."

British documentary alleges pope linked to "child abuse cover-up"

Republican Pedophilia - A Long but Distinguished List

FLASHBACK: Fla. can't find 1,000 kids in state custody

FLASHBACK: The Strange Death Of The Woman Who Filed A Rape Lawsuit Against Bush

Photographic Evidence Showing Ziad Jarrah Was Not a 9/11 Hijacker

Video shows hijackers a year before 9/11
Really? That's very odd, because photos of Ziad Al-Jarrah taken during 2000 and 2001 show him to be clean-shaven!

BRITAIN: The mysterious case of the disappearing 'terror' plots

"Marc Foley, former Republican Congressman of Florida and homosexual pedophile, has now been linked to Jack Abramoff...It can also be reported that Foley along with Abramoff operated as bagmen for the General Counsel of Islamic Banks which laundered money thru Sun Cruz Casinos and the laundered money found it's way into the hands of alleged 9/11 Hi-Jacker Mohammed Atta...It can now be reported that the alleged Bin Laden films were produced in Las Vegas by a company owned by Paramount Pictures called Las Vegas Rose Productions. Note: It is important to remember that many of the 9/11 Hi-Jackers including Mohammed Atta visited Las Vegas just before Sept. 11..."

The FIS was outlawed in 1992, shortly after the army stepped in to prevent the party winning Algeria's first multiparty elections. An estimated 150,000-200,000 people died in the decade-long struggle that followed. Security forces were blamed for widespread human rights violations in their repression of suspected Islamic militants, including the disappearance of several thousand people...Families of Algeria's disappeared say government compensation not ...

aangirfan: Alleged use of terror by the French security services

Pakistan and the Terror Nexus

Malta Hits Top 5 Safe Locations
Rabbit Hole Of Elitist Perversion Far Deeper Than Foley

MAD TV - Pedophile Senator

Diana crash witness: I saw a dozen 'shady figures' in tunnel

Bill Christison On His 9/11 Conversion

Naval build-up in the Persian Gulf and the Eastern Mediterranean

Corporate journalists, selected for obedience and conformity, praise Blair.
Exchanges With ITN's Tom Bradby And The BBC's Nick Robinson
Write to ITN's political editor Tom Brad by Email:
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SCOTLAND'S most pro-British historian has performed a remarkable about-face and declared his support for Scottish independence.
Michael Fry, a former Scottish candidate for the Conservative and Unionist Party, says the break-up of Britain is essential if Scotland is to thrive.
Historian now backs Scots' independence

Monaco Yachts Attract British Royalty and Multi-Millionaires

New molestation allegation dogs arrested conservative activist

Jean Charles de Menezes - FOI request to MOD refus...

Depleted Uranium: Far Worse Than 9/11

The Truth about the 7/07 London Bombings Pt 1.

The Truth About The London Bombings Pt 2

How US politicians draw the lines...Voters are being left on the sidelines as US electoral democracy is undermined by gerrymandering, finds Paul Harris.

White House in crisis over 'Iraq lies' claims

US may accept Iranian nuclear bomb

Europe’s new dumping ground

Michael Russell given choice: change book or lose candidacy
Salmond causes rival to change ‘dangerous’ book

Judge's career in ruins over sex and cocaine blackmail

America: 14 Characteristics Of Fascism.

Why 9 11?
"New Pearl Harbor"

The CIA's Involvement in Drug Trafficking

George Monbiot speaks about air travel and Love Miles

MI6 and 9 11
Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf has disclosed that Omar Sheikh, who kidnapped and murdered American journalist Daniel Pearl, was actually the British secret Agency MI6’s agent. Omar Sheikh, at the behest of General Mahmood Ahmed, head of the ISI, wired $100,000 to Mohammed Atta, the leading 9/11 hijacker, before the New York attacks, as confirmed by Dennis Lormel, director of FBI's financial crimes unit.
President dubs alleged Pearl killer MI6 spy

Guardian Unlimited Guardian daily comment The Pakistan connection

Pakistan 'role in Mumbai attacks'

Detainee Bill and the Dawning of a Fascist America

Do you believe any of the conspiracy theories suggesting the U.S. government was somehow involved in 9/11? * 72030 responses
Yes. 61%
No. 33%
Not sure.5.6%
Live Vote: Do you believe 9/11 conspiracy theories?

Exclusive: The Sexually Explicit Internet Messages That Led to Fla. Rep. Foley's Resignation

"The role of MI6 in the mid-1990s in actively using Omar Bakri, Abu Hamza and suspected 7/7 mastermind Haroon Rashid Aswat..."
Biting Mangos . . . and bullets: from Bradford to Bangladesh -- a ...

Blow for Cameron as poll lead is slashed

Bush Given Authority To Sexually Torture American Children.
Seymour Hersh says that the U.S. government is still withholding the tapes because of the horror of the "soundtrack of the shrieking boys" and their mothers begging to be killed rather than seeing their children raped and tortured.

9/11 and the Greenberg Familia

The Daily Show: Gay Penguins

Bombshells Expose Bush

Before July 2006, the border between Israel and Lebanon was relatively quiet. There had been no major incidents in the six years after Israel ended its 22 year-occupation in May 2000. But Israel wants to make Southern Lebanon part of Greater Israel."The boundaries of Zionist aspiration include Southern Lebanon, Southern Syria, today's Jordan, all of the West Bank and the Sinai," said David Ben-Gurion in 1938. Israel has now dropped many American made cluster bombs in Lebanon.
Lebanese Children Victims of Unexploded Cluster Bombs (video)

What If Israel Had Never Been Created?

Twilight Struggle: Finally Standing Up as the Republic Crashes Down

Blair pinched speech from The Grapes of Wrath

Doomed to repeat: Germany, 1933

Mini-gulags, hired guns and lobbyists

From BCCI to ISI: The Saga of Entrapment

Bush polarises aspiring leaders

Musharraf, you are next?
Pakistan Denies Coup Rumors as Power Failures Hit Main Cities
Former ISI chief disappears

The role of Pakistan Military Intelligence in terror around the ...

Jesse Ventura questions 9/11 Alex Jones interview 9/25/6 Pt.

Jesse Ventura questions 9/11 w/ Alex Jones 9/25/6 Pt.2

Fascism the American Way

IRAQ: Law to allow Big Oil takeover

FLASHBACK: Official: Unusual coating in anthrax mailings

The underlying politics of 9 11

The Underlying Po...

The Underlying Po...

A.C. Manulang, the former head of the State Intelligence Coordinating Board in Indonesia stated that Bali Bomb mastermind al-Farouk recruited Moslems for the CIA (Tempo Interactive.) “When Al Faruq finished his assignments, the CIA created a scenario that he had been arrested,” Manulang explained in September, 2002. Manulang believes al-Farouk recruited people from Islamic groups to commit several bombings and attempt to assassinate Megawati Sukarnoputri, the former president of Indonesia.
CIA Mole Killed in Basra

Google Caught In Terror Storm Censorship

Former Governor Jesse Ventura Questions Official 9/11 Story

Another Israeli catch and release

Depleted Uranium Measured in British Atmosphere from Battlefields in the Middle East

Chemicals Within Us - National Geographic

Thailand’s coup leaders suppress democratic rights

Alleged London bombers aided by MI6?
M16 'didn't tell us that 7/7 bombers were in Pakistan'

The Oligarchs want John Reid to succeed Blair and are giving him lots of kindly publicity?
Frank Luntz

aangirfan: John Reid, UK Home Secretary, MP for Airdrie and Shotts

The UK Conservatives can hardly be said to be in robust health. Even under Mr Cameron, they have not broken through the 40 per cent barrier in any survey YouGov has conducted for The Daily Telegraph since last year's general election. Voters cannot see Chancellor as the man to revive Labour

Who benefits from the Afghan Opium Trade?

U.S. gets ‘Sovietized’

Leaked NIE Report: More Fake Terrorism, No Matter the Neolib Faction Ruling Congress Come November 7

USCENTCOM Sergeant Blows Whistle On 9/11 Inside Job

"The bombers knew the plane's cargo would go unchecked because of a drug smuggling agreement between the US and a terror group linked to Lebanon." (This story attempts to blame Iran, and that part of the story sounds like disinformation.)
New probe urged into Lockerbie

UK Conservatives - 37% in a YouGov poll in the 24 Sept 2006 Sunday Times.,,2087-2372360,00.html

Not tempted to rejoin the LibDems

Israeli control of the UK security services? Part 1.

America’s first Secretary of Defense killed by Jewish terrorists?
Who Killed James Forrestal

The US-Israel-Iran weapons pipeline
The Bushes & the Truth About Iran

Carlyle poised to bid for Libyan oil giant, says son of Gaddafi

British troops suspected of 'guns for cocaine' trade

SCOTLAND should remain in the UK, says Mike Russell, a leading member of the Scottish National Party. Is Mike Russell secretly working for the oligarchs? Should he be booted out of the Scottish National Party?
Alternative blueprint for SNP future: let’s stick with the union

Russell wants to scrap anti-NATO policy

Have the security services infiltrated the Scottish National Party in order to undermine it?

aangirfan: Shayler: 'Blair was an MI5 agent'.

ALAN JOHNSON: raise the UK school leaving age to 18 and have Saturday school?
Johnson stakes his claim

The school day should be about 3 hours. The school leaving age should be around 12.
aangirfan: We know some British teenagers who do not know the name ...

Foreign prostitutes, 12, for sale in Scotland

Out of America: Behind the bronze doors of the masons' HQ

Drug-resistant TB on the rise in U.S.

UK politician: Pro-Israel lobby controls West

Iran to be attacked? War Signals?

Venezuelan Government To Launch International 9/11 Investigation

John Reid
The dark horse

Blair's Britain..... Public 'think services have got worse'

"DVD Of The Resistance": Watch For Free, Spread The Word

Is the CIA/Mossad controlling the End Timers?

aangirfan: Christian evangelicals and the CIA

aangirfan: Christian evangelical organisations as fronts for the ...

More Evidence “al-Qaeda” is a CIA-ISI Contrivance

You are next!
Musharraf: US threatened to bomb Pakistan after 9/11

Musharraf to Bush - Keep your tanks off my lawn.

"The intelligence director told me that [Richard Armitage] said, 'Be prepared to be bombed. Be prepared to go back to the Stone Age.'...This unnamed intelligence director was none other than Mahmood Ahmed, Pakistan's 9/11 paymaster, who famously authorized ISI-al Qaeda double agent Omar Saeed Sheikh to wire $100,000 to Mohammed Atta just weeks before the attack."
Too Much Monkey Business

"The roots and the perpetrators of the bomb blasts in Malegaon on Shab-e-Barat could be traced to either the Lashkar-ISI nexus or to the Bajrang Dal-Mossad connection."
Update On Malegaon

VIDEO: BBC Reveals ‘Direct Link’ Between Tobacco Companies And ...

UK suspects in new claims of torture at Guantanamo

Amnesty International’s public statement on Colombia on the ...

Human rights organization report on Israeli killings throughout ...

Iraq torture 'worse after Saddam'

Analysis: Lib Dems anti-war sentiment

Her Majesty's Terrorist Network

CIA control of terror cells around the world and their protection of plane bomber Luis Posada.

CIA... During the flight, they placed the C-4 explosives in two separate places in the plane.
LUIS POSADA CARRILES? - what has the Bush family t...

Extradite Luis Posada Carriles!

John Reid, the Christian Communist

Nobles Need Not Pay Taxes

Pathocracy: DISEASE

Israel Plunders Lebanon While Corporate Media Sleeps

America's Africa Corps

IRAN: If any attack were to take place, the usual Zionist gatekeepers like Chomsky and Zune won’t be able to hide the truth any longer: everybody will know who was behind it. We will enter the Golden Age of Anti-Semitism. With hundreds of thousands – even millions – of people newly laid off in the United States, you’ll be able to go into American gun shops and buy ammo specifically made for Jew hunting.

Iran could cut West's oil supplies in event of war, warns American chief in Gulf

Pope has joined US crusade, says Iran

Full text of President Ahmadinejad's speech at General Assembly

The Yinon plan to break Iraq up into small parts by forcing a violent secession of Kurdistan
BBC Says That Israel is in Northern Iraq
Israel 'trains Iraqi Kurd forces'

Real Moslems (not the ones working for the spooks)

Trevor Brooks, spooks, John Reid and the TV cameras.

Operation Gladio Expert Studies 911

Chavez, Ahmadinejad cite 9/11 in attempt to counter fake war provocations

Police: Enough evidence found to indict Katsav on sex charges

1965 CIA coup in Indonesia
"The Education Ministry has rewritten school history books once again, restoring the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) as the sole culprit of the aborted 1965 coup and the bloodletting that followed, in which tens of thousands of people died." (Or a million?)
Interviews and documents show... US orchestrated Suharto's 1965-66 ...

Sudan - Darfur - Zionism

Khalid of the CIA?
"The supposed mastermind of September 11 was a high-living womanizer...Khalid Sheikh Mohammed told us the operatives had been instructed to ensure that the explosives went off at a high - a point that was high enough to prevent people trapped above from escaping."
Secret Agent Man

Haiti - Canada

A Reinvigorated Bush Narco-regime?

Israelis trained Kurdish troops in Iraq-BBC report

The smoke is rising on climate-change deniers

LibDems Cracking Under Pressure

Thailand, the military and the CIA

CIA plot to topple Thai leader? "Thaksin won last year’s elections with 61% of the vote and has implemented policies designed to help the rural poor. Mr. Thaksin began a health program allowing Thais to obtain any medical treatment for just 77 cents per visit... The behavior and tactics of the Thai opposition would appear to have been copied from a CIA manual."

"Dein is a leading member of the Jewish community in Totteridge, great friend of the Karaoke King, Lord Levy..."
Panorama exposes the corruption at the heart of Eu...
BBC NEWS Programmes Newsnight Home Arsenal - the conspiracy ...

On Constitution Day: Talk of Impeachment and Rumors of War

Retired Colonel: ‘We Are Conducting Military Operations Inside Iran Right Now. The Evidence Is Overwhelming.’

Palestinians suspect Israeli agents behind fire-bombing of Churches

Iran Focus-Iran says U.S., Israel ordered September 11 attacks - Special Wire - News

Uncovering the Truth about the Death of David Kelly

Top 25 Censored Stories of 2007

Lieutenant-Colonel (ret.) Nigel Wylde, a former senior British Army Intelligence Officer, has suggested that the police and government story about the "terror plot" revealed on 10th August was part of a "pattern of lies and deceit." .......Lt. Col. Wylde also raised questions about the criminal investigation into the 7th July terrorist attacks in London last year. He noted that police and government sources have maintained "total silence" about the detonation devices used in the bombs on the London Underground and the bus at Tavistock Square. "Whatever the nature of the primary explosive materials, even if it was home-made TATP, the detonator that must be used to trigger an explosion is an extremely dangerous device to make, requiring a high level of expertise that cannot be simply self-taught or picked-up over the internet," Wylde stated.
Sources: August terror plot is a 'fiction' underscoring police ...

US-Israel-Iran Alliance: The Great Game Updated

9/11 Truth: Marvin Bush, Power-Downs, Lasting Consequences

9/11 Truth: What Happened to WTC Building 7 ???

Operation Gladio

Bush Tacitly Implies WTC Controlled Demolition?
According to Bush: 'The operatives had been instructed to ensure that the explosives went off at a... point that was high enough to prevent people trapped above from escaping...!'

Kieren McCarthy / The Register September 18 2006

Largest Swiss Paper Asks If Bush Was Behind 911

Blair has picked his successor

Mossad, Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq
Foreign Ministry denies counter-guerilla, Mossad meeting in Ankara

Sick British kids
Children’s commissioner: we need a national debate on parental ...
Archbishop warns of child crisis

"MI5 allowed the ill-treatment and sexual abuse of residents at the Kincora Boys Home to continue; the Loyalist strike was allowed to proceed and there was a complete breakdown of law and order. The province was virtually taken over by Loyalist paramilitary organisations. Two days into the strike, Loyalist paramilitaries exploded car bombs in Dublin and Monaghan, killing thirty three civilians. The Loyalists responsible were members of the outlawed Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), some of whom were acting as undercover agents for Military Intelligence. The explosives, training and planning for the mission were given by the SAS."
Northern Ireland and the security services

Genocide in Gaza

Paraguay - Bolivia
"U.S. Military in Paraguay Prepares To 'spread democracy' "

The myth of fair elections in USA

Life expectancy less than 60 in parts of UK

UK Liberal Democrats R.I.P.

New Labour - New Fascism
No refuge, no shelter

Hutton emerges as Blairite 'Stop Brown' candidate

Ludicrous Diversion - 7/7 London Bombings Documentary
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January 29, 2009

Twins Notes: No Relief, More Kubel, Tons of WBC

  • Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that the Twins pulled out of contract talks with Eric Gagne "just when Gagne was ready to meet their price." Back in November one of my entries listed Gagne among a handful of low-cost bullpen targets and suggested offering him a one-year deal worth "$3 million plus incentives." It turns out that was right on the money, because Christensen notes that Gagne "was willing to sign a one-year, $3 million deal with about $500,000 in incentives."

    Failing to sign Gagne is far from the end of the world, but dating back to the middle of last season the Twins' refusal to add even one capable reliever has been maddening. The bullpen unraveled after Pat Neshek was lost for the season in May and completely collapsed down the stretch, ultimately costing the Twins a trip to the playoffs. Not only did the Twins fail to fill an obvious hole via trade, they've since watched as quality setup men come off the board cheaply all offseason.

    Christensen speculates that the Twins are "exploring trade options for bullpen help" after failing to sign Gagne, so there's still hope that Smith will add a useful reliever. In the meantime he's missed out on myriad chances to address a weak spot for a fraction of the Twins' unused payroll. Along with Gagne, my November entry about low-cost bullpen targets suggested Jeremy Affeldt, Brandon Lyon, and Will Ohman while noting that Russ Springer and Bob Howry would be worthwhile if not offered arbitration.

    Gagne and Ohman remain unsigned, but none of the four who have been snatched up received more than $4.25 million in guaranteed money for 2009 and guys like Takashi Saito and Joe Nelson signed for much less. For around $4 million the Twins could have added a capable veteran to a bullpen that struggled mightily for most of last season and that may haunt them unless Smith pulls off a good trade in the next month. Considering that Smith's next good trade will also be his first, I'm skeptical.

  • Jason Kubel's contract extension finally became official more than a week after first being reported, so we now know that he'll make $2.75 million this year and $4.1 million in 2010, with the Twins holding a $5.1 million option or $350,000 buyout for 2011. This offseason the market for corner outfielders and designated hitters has seemingly dried up quite a bit as teams perhaps realize that the combination of a non-elite bat and limited glove can be fairly easily replaced.

    With that in mind two of my favorite analysts, Rob Neyer and David Cameron, have suggested that the Twins are making a mistake by locking up Kubel. Neyer and Cameron are correct that it isn't especially tough for most teams to find a reasonably priced corner outfielder or designated hitter who can post an .800 OPS in a semi-platoon role, but finding Kubel-caliber hitters has been tougher for the Twins than most teams and there's also a very real possibility that he still has plenty of room left to grow.

    A two-season, $7 million commitment to a 27-year-old who's emerged as the team's third-best hitter is hardly a big risk. Plus, having the option to keep Kubel around for his age-29 season will come in very handy if he bumps up his production, and even if he stays in the .800 OPS range a $5 million price tag will be reasonable (and tradable) in 2011. He's bounced back from a major knee injury to become an asset in a power-starved lineup and the Twins did well to cheaply extend his time under their control.

  • Even with Joe Mauer declining his invitation to catch for Team USA the Twins lead baseball with 18 players on provisional rosters for the World Baseball Classic. Phil Miller of the St. Paul Pioneer Press has the full list, which includes major leaguers Justin Morneau, Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano, Jesse Crain, and Nick Punto, and top-40 prospects Jose Mijares, Luke Hughes, and Carlos Gutierrez. Punto was born in California and has lived in America his whole life, but will play for Team Italy.
  • Miller notes that Carlos Gomez showed some signs of improved plate discipline while playing in the Dominican Winter League, walking 10 times in 21 games after drawing a grand total of 25 free passes in 153 games last season. Winter league performances aren't especially meaningful to begin with and anything can happen in what is basically one month's worth of games, but Gomez is also saying all the right things about becoming a more patient hitter:
    I'm getting more patient. Take more pitches. I practice. I take pitches. I stand and take 60 pitches, then swing at one. Don't swing for 60 pitches. I watch a pitch and tell, "Strike, ball, high or low." When I'm ready to swing, I have more discipline to wait.

    Talk is cheap, of course, and after posting a 142-to-25 strikeout-to-walk ratio Gomez has a long way to go just to have decent plate discipline. Still, it's encouraging that he's working on what is undoubtedly his biggest weakness, because without at least some semblance of strike-zone control all the physical tools in the world will go to waste. I'm not yet convinced that Gomez will be an impact hitter, but a great glove means that it won't take much offensive improvement to make him a top all-around center fielder.

  • January 27, 2009

    AG.com Live Chat Today at Noon

    Doors open for pre-submitted questions around 11:30 and the chatting begins at noon, so be there or risk wasting your day doing something productive.

    January 26, 2009

    Top 40 Twins Prospects of 2009: 30, 29, 28, 27, 26

    Previous Top 40 Twins Prospects of 2009: 31-35, 36-40
    30. Philip Humber | Starter | DOB: 12/82 | Throws: Right | Trade: Mets

    2006 A+ 7 7 2.37 38.0 24 4 36 9
    AA 6 6 2.88 34.1 25 4 36 10
    2007 AAA 25 25 4.27 139.0 129 21 120 44
    2008 AAA 31 23 4.56 136.1 145 21 106 49
    MLB 5 0 4.63 11.2 11 4 6 5

    Taken by the Mets with the third overall pick in the 2004 draft after a brilliant run at Rice University, Philip Humber underwent Tommy John elbow surgery 15 starts into his pro career and has lacked anything resembling the same overpowering stuff since. He was acquired by the Twins last winter as part of the four-player package for Johan Santana and was the first pitcher from the trade to make it to Minnesota, but his September call-up came after a second straight underwhelming season at Triple-A.

    Humber is three-plus seasons removed from surgery and turned 26 years old last month, so what you see is what you get at this point and he now looks like a potential back-of-the-rotation starter or reliever. Humber's curveball has always been MLB-quality, but his post-surgery fastball tops out in the low-90s and he's managed just 226 strikeouts in 275.1 innings at Triple-A. He's also an extreme fly-ball pitcher who's served up 42 homers in those 275 frames, which helps explain his 4.41 ERA.

    Toss in mediocre control and it's tough to see a lot of upside in Humber, although he did put together a good second half at Rochester after rejoining the rotation following a demotion to the bullpen. He's out of minor-league options, so the Twins must either hand him a spot on the Opening Day pitching staff or risk losing him on waivers. A rotation spot should be out of the question, but he may do some long relieving since the Twins are unlikely to give up a high-profile piece of the Santana deal for nothing.

    29. Jason Pridie | Center Field | DOB: 10/83 | Bats: Left | Trade: Rays

    2006 AA 503 .230 .281 .304 5 20 31 93
    2007 AA 300 .290 .331 .441 4 27 14 45
    AAA 274 .318 .375 .539 10 30 22 47
    2008 AAA 603 .270 .305 .435 13 50 30 152

    Jason Pridie had a breakout 2007 season, hitting .303/.352/.487 in 134 games between Double-A and Triple-A, which convinced the Twins to acquire him from the Rays as part of the Matt Garza-for-Delmon Young swap two years after briefly holding him on their roster as a Rule 5 pick. Pridie predictably came crashing back down to earth at Rochester last year, performing so badly in the first half (.243/.276/.392) that a big second half (.326/.364/.522) left him at just .270/.305/.435 in 138 games overall.

    Pridie has persuaded the Twins that he's promising enough to acquire twice, but it's tough to see him becoming more than a fourth outfielder given his non-existent plate discipline, horrendous strike-zone control, and .278 career batting average. He's an excellent athlete with good wheels and some pop in his bat, which is no doubt the combination of tools that had Twins scouts smitten, but Pridie has yet to consistently turn his physical ability into actual baseball skills and time is running out.

    Pridie's strong finish provides some reason for optimism heading into 2009, but even while putting up big second-half numbers he posted an awful 51-to-12 strikeout-to-walk ratio. For the season he struck out 152 times while drawing 28 non-intentional walks, which is abysmal strike-zone control that keeps Pridie from taking full advantage of his speed or power. He made his MLB debut in September and will likely see more of Minnesota this season, but right now Pridie is just an unused toolbox.

    28. David Winfree | Right Field | DOB: 8/85 | Bats: Right | Draft: 2003-13

    2006 A+ 287 .276 .328 .490 13 28 19 59
    2007 AA 490 .267 .308 .426 12 44 26 106
    2008 AA 502 .252 .319 .450 19 49 41 87

    David Winfree hacked at everything through five pro seasons, drawing just 25 walks per 500 trips to the plate while striking out 20 percent of the time to take some luster off his strong power numbers. He finally showed some improvement in both areas last year, walking 41 times compared to 87 strikeouts in 502 plate appearances at Double-A. More walks and fewer strikeouts while continuing to hit for good power as a 22-year-old certainly qualifies as promising news.

    On the other hand, Winfree was repeating Double-A and posted a career-worst .252 batting average in the process while moving completely away from third base defensively. With minimal defensive value Winfree's bat will have to carry him, which makes his .269 career average in 537 games concerning even for someone who has been very young for every level. With that said, Winfree's power potential is legitimately outstanding and has been undersold by pitcher-friendly environments.

    Last season Winfree ranked sixth among Eastern League hitters in homers as a 22-year-old and the five guys ahead of him were 26, 24, 24, 29, and 25 years old. In two seasons at Double-A he's posted a .178 Isolated Power, which is 30 percent above the EL average. It's tough to project stardom because he's yet to advance past posting an OPS in the .750 range despite seemingly being around forever, but Winfree won't turn 23 years old until August and has shown enough power to have an MLB role in time.

    27. Dustin Martin | Center Field | DOB: 4/84 | Bats: Left | Trade: Mets

    2006 A- 293 .315 .399 .454 2 24 28 50
    2007 A+ 548 .290 .361 .426 8 44 53 118
    2008 AA 573 .290 .355 .447 10 52 49 125

    Acquired from the Mets in exchange for Luis Castillo in mid-2007, Dustin Martin moved up to Double-A for the first time last season and established himself as a legitimate prospect with a strong all-around campaign. He's never going to hit for big-time power, but Martin has developed a bit more pop as he's moved up the organizational ladder and smacked a career-high 10 homers among 52 total extra-base hits in 133 games last season.

    Only New Britain teammate Erik Lis had more doubles than Martin among Eastern League batters and his eight triples ranked fourth in the league. Martin sports a .295 batting average in 332 pro games and offers decent plate discipline to go with above-average speed and solid range in center field, so there's plenty to like. However, he'll be 25 years old before his first Triple-A at-bat and has struck out in over 20 percent of his career plate appearances, including 125 times last season.

    Martin is an underrated prospect and potentially could be a starting-caliber center fielder if his defense holds up, but he's more likely to end up as a fourth outfielder who offers a little bit of everything without thriving at anything. Unfortunately for Martin the Twins are overflowing with young outfielders throughout the organization and seemingly view Pridie as the superior backup option regardless of whether that's really warranted.

    26. Rene Tosoni | Right Field | DOB: 7/86 | Bats: Left | Draft: 2005-36

    2007 RK 286 .301 .407 .428 3 20 32 48
    2008 A+ 170 .300 .408 .414 1 11 21 30

    Drafted by the Twins in 2004 out of a Canadian high school and in 2005 out of a Florida junior college, Rene Tosoni signed in mid-2006 and made his long-awaited pro debut at rookie-level Elizabethton in 2007. He made a good first impression, hitting .301 with 13 steals in 63 games while ranking second among Appalachian League hitters in on-base percentage and eighth in OPS. He was so good that the Twins had Tosoni finish the year at low Single-A to join Beloit for the Midwest League playoffs.

    Tosoni appeared set to spend his first full season at Beloit last year, but instead the Twins decided to have him skip the level and pushed him up to high Single-A. Aggressively promoting Tosoni proved to be a good move when he hit .325 through 36 games, but he suffered a broken foot in mid-May and was sidelined for over three months. He went just 1-for-14 after returning for the final week of the regular season, but then batted .389 in the Florida State League playoffs to end the year on a high note.

    At just 22 years old Tosoni will be young for the level of competition even if the Twins send him back to Fort Myers again, which makes his .305/.408/.433 line through 109 pro games so impressive. He's yet to show much pop and doesn't have the size to suggest a ton of future power, but hitting .305 with great plate discipline and the underrated ability to get plunked by pitches is plenty promising at his age and Tosoni is considered a good defensive right fielder who even played center field occasionally last year.

    January 25, 2009

    Extending Kubel

    When reports surfaced last week that the Twins were on the verge of inking Jason Kubel to a two-year contract that would cover his remaining seasons of arbitration eligibility, my take was: "If they're smart, the Twins will at least attempt to get a team option for 2011 included in the deal." Apparently the Twins are smart, because they did exactly that, reportedly signing Kubel to a two-year contract that includes a team option for 2011.

    Kubel was already under the team's control for two more years thanks to the arbitration process, so the Twins essentially reached a settlement with him for this season, pre-paid for 2010, and bought out his first season of free agency. The team option for 2011 is crucial because it delays Kubel hitting the open market without forcing the Twins to commit to a truly long-term contract. Instead he's locked in through the age of 29 and the Twins can decide later if his thirties are worth investing in.

    Kubel took much longer than expected to establish himself as a valuable major leaguer because of the career-threatening knee injuries that he suffered while playing in the Arizona Fall League following his debut season. He missed all of 2005 and was clearly at less than full strength while struggling mightily in 2006, but has turned in back-to-back productive campaigns while emerging as the Twins' third-best hitter behind Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau.

    Justin Morneau .286 .359 .495 .854
    Joe Mauer .313 .400 .441 .841
    Torii Hunter .287 .334 .505 .839
    Jason Kubel .272 .335 .461 .796
    Michael Cuddyer .268 .348 .413 .761

    For too long Ron Gardenhire was reluctant to stick Kubel in the lineup and let him be, which included starting Craig Monroe over him against a right-hander on Opening Day last year. That finally changed around midseason, and down the stretch Kubel was a lineup fixture against righties and got regular playing time against lefties too. Kubel still hasn't had 500 at-bats in a season and the outfield logjam means that he may not be a true everyday player in 2009, but he's safely in the Twins' plans. Finally.

    Kubel has developed into a much-needed source of power, smacking 20 long balls in just 463 at-bats last season to rank second on the team behind only the 23 homers that Morneau totaled in 160 more at-bats. For his career Kubel has gone deep 22 times per 600 at-bats and looks capable of reaching 30 homers if given everyday work, but his batting averages have been lower than expected based on his minor-league track record.

    Prior to the knee injuries Kubel rarely struck out and hit .323 in the minors, including .312 at rookie-ball, .310 at Single-A, .377 at Double-A, and .343 at Triple-A. Back in 2004 he looked more likely to hit for big batting averages than big power, and even swiped 17 bases that year. Blowing out his knee changed all of that, as Kubel came back with far less speed and athleticism while seemingly struggling at times to find balance at the plate. He's also added quite a bit of weight, some of which is no doubt muscle.

    Prior to the injury Kubel was a good athlete and high-contact, high-average hitter with developing power and solid plate discipline. Some bad luck cost him a chance to see where that path would have taken him, but to Kubel's credit he battled back and shifted his skill set to become a different type of valuable player. He's unlikely to bat .300, stole zero bases last year, and is best suited for designated hitter on defense, but Kubel has hit .272/.335/.461 over the past two years and is entering his age-27 season.

    January 22, 2009

  • Four words: The Gary Gaetti Cult. Seriously, click that link and then try to avoid spending the rest of your day looking at the photo collection.
  • As a live-chatting veteran, Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak has my sympathies.
  • Official Fantasy Girl of AG.com runner-up Marisa Miller basically makes her living with a bikini on, so you'd think that she'd be better at, you know, actually keeping a bikini on. She is, however, quite good at the highly underappreciated skill of boozing it up while in a bikini.
  • As part of radio giant Clear Channel cutting 1,800 jobs earlier this week KFAN laid off longtime host Chad Hartman and his producer Doogie Wolfson. I've enjoyed Hartman's show in the past and he was very nice when we met a few months ago, but I'm particularly saddened by Wolfson being let go. He'd been at KFAN for over a dozen years, starting there as a 16-year-old intern in 1996 and working his way up the ladder to become a producer and on-air staple. Plus, we grew up together in St. Paul.

    Wolfson used to hang out at my house in Highland Park, asking my mom to make him sandwiches in between talking sports all day, so it always made sense to me that he landed at KFAN. In addition to being Hartman's producer Wolfson often hosted shows of his own on weeknights and weekends, and he was kind enough to invite me in for regular in-studio appearances that led to a weekly segment on The Power Trip Morning Show during baseball season.

    I've always been a huge fan of talk radio, so doing frequent in-studio appearances on KFAN has been sort of a dream come true and a great learning experience. And without Wolfson there to get my foot in the door none of it would have happened (and now that he's gone, it may be done happening). Plenty of good people are out of work right now and certainly I'm focusing on Wolfson because he's a friend, but he's a great guy with tons of radio experience and it's sad to see him forced from a job he was born for.

  • Speaking of The Power Trip Morning Show, Mike Morris and Nathan Lane finally have something in common.
  • As my oddly timed pay-per-view reviews show it's been a while since I've seen a film in the theater, but that changed this week with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I'm big on the Brad Pitt-David Fincher combo and the premise is fascinating, but it was probably more "well done" and "interesting" than "great." Of course, the Academy Awards apparently disagree. My initial comment after leaving the theater was how much the movie reminded me of Forrest Gump and this video amusingly agrees:

    On the way home I started picking apart plot details, which admittedly sounds absurd for a movie about aging backwards. However, it brought to mind this Aristotle quote: "With respect to the requirements of art, a probable impossibility is preferred to a thing improbable and yet possible." Or, as Sam Seaborn put it on West Wing: "It's okay to have a broomstick sing and dance, but you shouldn't turn on the radio and hear the news report you need to hear." The Curious Case of Benjamin Button felt that way a lot.
  • Kurt Warner reemerging as an MVP candidate and going back to the Super Bowl at the age of 37 is truly a big story, but Brenda Warner's transformation at the age of 40 has been woefully underreported.
  • In writing a note for Rotoworld about Jeff Kent's retirement, part of my take was that "he's deserving of the Hall of Fame, but it remains to be seen if the writers with votes will focus on his play or abrasive personality." Sure enough, here's the third paragraph of the Los Angeles Times' retirement story:
    Known as much for the scolding glances he gave reporters and teammates over his 17-year career as he was for what he achieved on the field, Kent, 40, will leave the game as arguably the greatest power-hitting second baseman of all time.

    Surely most obituaries for Mother Teresa included her inability to hit a curveball.

  • Baggy jeans, a huge silver belt, two tank tops, ridiculously big sunglasses, and a knit hat isn't a look that many moms can pull off, but OFGoAG.com third runner-up Kate Beckinsale somehow manages.
  • Similarly, OFGoAG.com fourth runner-up Mila Kunis makes for a plenty cute blood-thirsty zombie.
  • As we plan ahead for this year's baseball coverage, Rotoworld is one of the few places in the country that's actually hiring. Here's our "Help Wanted: Baseball Writers" note that went up yesterday:
    Rotoworld is looking for writers to join the staff as paid, part-time contributors for the upcoming baseball season. Previous writing experience is an absolute must, as is significant knowledge of and passion for both baseball and fantasy baseball. Qualified applicants would work under baseball editors Aaron Gleeman and Matthew Pouliot, providing coverage for Rotoworld's player news page that requires the ability to report news with instant analysis and recap games in a clear, concise style.

    Rotoworld is also looking for someone to specifically focus on our baseball rankings and projections. This person could also be involved in a writing capacity, but would work specifically on weekly rankings and projections in conjunction with our baseball staff. A great feel for fantasy baseball player values and statistics is a necessity.

    If interested, please send a brief note about yourself and desire to work for Rotoworld along with links to examples of your writing experience and a resume to aarongleeman@gmail.com.

    Within 24 hours of that being posted my e-mailbox was filled with more than 300 applications, so we're definitely not short on candidates. However, an amazingly high percentage of those e-mails came from people with little or no significant writing experience and unfortunately that's just not what we're looking for. In other words, if you're reading this and legitimately meet the qualifications described in the above note please feel free to contact me with your information. Non-writers need not apply.

  • Sadly, none of the 300 applicants explained their qualifications by saying: "My eyes are large, my lips full, my legs long. Many have told me that I should be a fantasy baseball writer."
  • Two of my all-time favorite writers, Bill Simmons and Chuck Klosterman, talked about a whole slew of random topics during an hour-long ESPN.com podcast. My favorite part was both of them agreeing with me about Michael Phelps versus Usain Bolt, but the whole show was great.
  • Hopefully having a fan in the White House will help the White Sox as much as it helped the Rangers.
  • On a related note, apparently everyone is blogging now.
  • When adding Steve Phillips to an MLB broadcast is the answer, you've asked the wrong question.
  • Finally, this week's AG.com-approved music video is Anthony Hamilton doing a live cover version of Sam Cooke's hit "A Change Is Gonna Come":

  • Older Posts »


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Sunday, April 24, 2011

Camp Zama

I am not sure if I have mentioned this before or not but my husband is in the military and will soon get his commission (well in December)... anyways its time for us to pick our "WishList" of places we would like to go if we could pick :::keyword is WISH::: and I can't help but think how cool it would be to get stationed in Japan! So neat right?

Reality Check :: I would miss my family and friends so much and I can only imagine the culture shock me and my family would face but still, a girl can dream right?

  1. How fun would it be? Hope you get on your wishlist. I'm sure your Japanese would improve much faster :D

  2. I hope you get the chance to live in Japan. Both times I lived there were great experiences. :-)

  3. i would miss you so much! i get sad just thinking about it...


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Saturday, November 9, 2013

The New FlightControl

FlightControl is up next.  I just wanted to make some quick points on the new direction of the script.

First, FlightControl will become a universal script.  Every interactible object will have a flight control script attached to it.  This is to standardize the access of various types of game objects.

Second, this script will receive its inputs from PlayerControl, FighterControl or some other script.  While this script is in charge with the "physical" movement of a vehicle, it cannot move a vehicle without being told to do so by another script.  This means that I will have to move the player control elements from the old FlightControl into the new PlayerControl.  As a side note, FlightControl will end up being an "input" for most scripts attached to a vehicle.

Third, it will use an applied thrust and turn variable like the previous version.  These values will range from -1 to 1 and will be used like percentages.  The turn variable will be a Vector3 with each coordinate representing a different turn component.  X will represent yaw.  Y will represent pitch.  Z will represent roll.  Applied thrust, like the previous prototype, will be a float; however, I want to make significant changes to the thrusting system with this prototype.  There will not be a set maximum speed in this iteration; the maximum speed value stored in the Vehicle type will represent a speed increment.  The amount of applied thrust will be dependent on current speed of the craft.  This equation will be the basis for determining the amount of thrust to apply to the craft:

      applied thrust = (1/(2^(current speed / maximum speed)))thrust

As a vehicle travels faster, it will become more difficult to turn the craft.  On the flip side, craft can travel faster.

Fourth, setting whether a player is in charge of the script will be removed from FlightControl.  The existence of the PlayerControl script will be sufficient to designate a player controlled craft.  This "setting" will occur as part of the triggering process.

Fifth, FlightControl will continue to have the basic collider listeners from previous prototypes.  This will make DamageControl very dependent on FlightControl.  I'm just not prepared to make the alteration of separating the listeners from FlightControl at this point.  I will note that the FlightControl script, in itself, will not touch the structure values.  This will be left up to DamageControl.

Depsite these changes, I don't anticipate FlightControl going through a major coding rewrite.  Most code from the previous prototypes will be lifted straight out of the previous version.  Except for the thrusting rewrite, FlightControl will mostly see a cut in the amount of code in it.  Alot of the past code will be cut and pasted into other scripts.

  1. I finalized the Scorpion model. Well, I finalized the parts for a NPC version. I still need to add a cockpit for the player version. I should get to that soon...

  2. I think the script is done...

    At this point, it is impossible to test the script. I want to create the DamageControl and PlayerControl scripts next to create a minimum number of scripts to allow some testing...

    After that, I will need to create the HUDControl to make sure that the script really works. HUDControl will output some key things like speed and other stuff...

    I will develop FireControl last... Testing that script should be easier since the other scripts will have been developed at this point. I will probably have to back to PlayerControl to add the fire control elements into the script, but that's unavoidable.


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Sleeping boy injured in Santa Fe Springs drive-by shooting

February 2, 2012 12:00:00 AM PST
A 12-year-old boy sleeping inside a house in Santa Fe Springs was wounded in a drive-by shooting Wednesday night. Police need the public's help finding the gunman.

The incident happened around 11 p.m. on the 9300 block of Danby Avenue. Authorities said the shooting came from the street, but it's not known if the house was targeted.

"We were just sitting around the table, talking with my parents, and all of a sudden we heard a few gunshots, maybe like five rounds or more. Everybody dropped to the floor. My sister comes out of the room, saying that her son had been shot," said the victim's aunt, Gabby Sotelo.

The boy was struck in the knee. He was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Family members fear the injury may impact any plans he had for playing sports.

"He's not going to be able to play sports, they told him, so that sucks because he was just barely joining sports," said the victim's cousin Angel Sotelo.

Police suspect the shooting is connected to gang activity, though they can't say why this family was targeted. At least four shots hit the home: one hit the doorway and another hit a window frame; the shot through the window is the one that hit the boy.

Detectives have very little information and do not have a suspect description. Anyone with information was asked to contact police at (562) 567-9200.

CORRECTION: It was earlier reported that the boy is 11 years old. He is 12.

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• WEATHER ALERT Winter Weather Advisory

Homeowner wrestles with city over flood-prone property

March 29, 2010 6:56:33 PM PDT
With wet weather on the way to the Bay Area, these are anxious times once again for a Richmond homeowner, stuck with a piece of property that has flooded dozens of times. And while city leaders admit it's their problem, they have not done anything yet to fix it.

"What our property is, is a virtual catch basin for the city's defective drainage system," says Richmond homeowner Jason Myers.

Myers figures his home has been flooded 30 times in the past seven years.

That is how long he has lived at the end of Van Fleet Avenue. It is a house Myers bought in an estate sale with no disclosures required, so no one told him about the flooding during high tide and heavy storms.

"Basically, what will happen is the water will start coming down the gutters. On the other side of this fence is the drainage inlet -- a two-foot pipe that takes on six city streets of water," says Myers.

"I'm really sympathetic to what he's going through. It can't be easy," says Richmond city manager Bill Lindsay.

Lindsay says the drainage problem dates back 30 years.

"The problem is not storm water going out draining to the bay, it's bay water that's actually going back through the pipe," says Lindsay.

After a lawsuit, the city did pay Myers and some neighbors $50,000 for "historic damage," but the settlement did not address the problem going forward.

"It's a health hazard. You can take the mold, mildew, whatever, but we get whatever's in the bay. The Cosco Busan oil spill in 2007 was in front of our gutter," says Myers.

Although the water has never actually made it into the living area of Jason Myers' house, the flooding has destroyed its value.

Myers paid $268,000 for the house in 2003. Now, the assessed value is $63,000.

"So we're literally and figuratively underwater in this property," says Myers.

The city is treading water, not sure what or if any repair to make. They do not want to pay more to fix the drainage than Myers' house is worth.

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text:
What You Can Do About a Lousy 401(k)

PHOTO: one in four Americans prefer cashMark Scott/Getty Images
More than one in four Americans prefer cash as the best way to invest money not needed for more than 10 years, according to a Bankrate.com report.

It's a tough world out there for people hoping to retire. An employer-sponsored plan such as a 401(k) is a huge help, but bad plans can make it harder for people to retire than it should be. Some of the bells and whistles, such as a match from the employer, are extremely nice to have. Free money from a generous employer is great. But that may not be enough to make up for a plan with lousy investment options.

Most of the problems in bad 401(k) plans stem from high fees and poor investment choices.

Fees are Everywhere

Workers who sign up for their employer-sponsored plan may have no idea what kinds of fees they're being charged. Last year, the Department of Labor instituted a rule that requires plan sponsors -- employers -- to disclose the fees charged to plan participants. Even so, this did not appear to enlighten workers about what they're paying in fees, since half of them had no idea how much they paid in 2012 -- the same percentage as the previous year, according to a study by LIMRA, an insurance consultant.

Read More on Bankrate: 401(k) investing strategies for couples

Average fees and expenses paid by plan participants in 2012 totaled 1.46 percent for small plans with 50 participants and less than $2.5 million in assets. For large plans with 1,000 participants and $50 million in assets, average fees were 1.03 percent, according to the most recent version of the 401(k) Averages Book and the Society for Human Resource Management.

Read More on Bankrate: Find the best MMA account rates

The bulk of fees comes from the expenses related to investments. Fund companies bundle fees differently, depending on share class. One class of shares may have no built-in sales charge, but another share class may add that charge. Institutional share classes generally don't have 12b-1 fees built into the cost. These are "distribution fees" that pay for advertising and marketing costs of funds. Overall expenses will hinge on the investment choices made by the participant, but the share classes offered by the plan make a big difference.

Typically, the share class is identified in the name of fund, for instance, Columbia Mid Cap Index A indicates that class A shares are on tap for that plan. Class A shares typically charge a sales charge, also called a front-end load. The cost of the funds can be found in the prospectus or on the fee statement.

The R Share Class

While A, B and C share classes are generally sold to individuals who work with commission-based advisers, R shares are often found in retirement plans. Though R shares have no load or sales commission, they may have other expenses built in. Investors want to see higher numbers attached to the R, for example R4 shares rather than R1, according to Donald Jones, a director at Fiduciary Doctors in Phoenix, Ariz. "If it's an R1, R2 or R3, you can bet there is a lot of hidden expense built into that fund," he says.

The difference in cost between R1 and R4 share classes can be nearly a full percentage point, according to Jones. That may not sound like a lot, but it adds up year after year and can make a huge difference in how much you end up accumulating for retirement.

Evaluating new fund options in a 401(k) plan

"I call it the rule of 1 percent -- if you take a difference of 1 percent lost through an improper share class and you multiply that over 35 years, participants have approximately $200,000 less at retirement," says Craig Morningstar, chief operating officer at Dynamic Wealth Advisors in Scottsdale, Ariz.

As an example, if you save $10,000 a year and earn a 6 percent return on average, you'll end up with $1,114,348 after 35 years. But if you only earn 5 percent net of fees, your nest egg will be worth $903,203 -- a difference of $211,145.

Spread across an entire plan, that represents a lot of money lining the pockets of investment professionals rather than the retirement accounts of workers.

Why would an employer pick share classes that are obviously to the detriment of their workers? In many cases, they wouldn't; they simply don't know how the financial industry works. "The plan sponsor is not the one choosing the share class.… Usually, the adviser or plan provider is helping select those," says Jones.

Read This Story on Bankrate

Bad Investments

Unfortunately, plan sponsors may be nudged in the direction of adding investments that could benefit the investment provider more than plan participants.

"The revenue sharing they can build in is the most important to them," says Morningstar.

Revenue sharing occurs when plan providers get payments from investment fund companies for selecting particular mutual funds for 401(k) plans. Plan sponsors are often unaware that these conflicts of interest exist. "Many sponsors, particularly of smaller plans, do not understand whether or not providers to the plan are fiduciaries, nor are they aware that the provider's compensation may vary based on the investment options selected. Such conflicts could lead to higher costs for the plan, which are typically borne by participants," according to a 2011 report from the Government Accountability Office.

This work is the opinion of the columnist and in no way reflects the opinion of ABC News.


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Barbara Walters' 2012 "Most Fascinating People"

Barbara tells "GMA" how she came up with this year's list.
3:00 | 12/12/12

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Transcript for Barbara Walters' 2012 "Most Fascinating People"
Her husband wants her to. But she's not sure. Another person a lot of people talk about for running in 2016, chris christie, the governor of new jersey. We asked hillary about her hair. And we asked him about the elephant in the room. That is his weight. Okaygovernor. I feel very uncomfortable asking this question when I'm sitting opposite you. You are a little overweight. More than a little. Yeah. Yeah. Why? If I could figure that out, I'd fix it. There are people that say you couldn't be president because you're so heavy. What do you say to that? That's ridiculous. That's ridiculous. I don't know what the basis for that is. I think they're worried about your health. I've done this job pretty well. And people have watched for the last couple of weeks with hurricane sandy, 18-hour days and getting up the next day and being just as effective in the job. I don't think that would be a problem. He dismissed that. You asked the question that a lot of people do ask when they think of him running for president. He is running for governor. He's campaigned all over the place. His health seems pretty good. We're going to be watching what hahim. In the next election. And after that response to hurricane sandy, his popularity skyrocketed. And deservedly so. It wasn't all politics tonight. The hottest book of the year, "fifty shades of grey." And you talked to the author. I read it. All three volumes. But the author isn't anything you would expect, e.L. James. And the big question is, why do women want to be submissive? "Fifty shades of grey," has a handsome bachelor, who happens to use a little whip here and there, on the beautiful, young virgin. So, we talked about -- you wouldn't know any of this. I'll ask ali about this. It's fun watching you talk about it. I get inspired talking about it. This is what she says. Which do you think is more appealing to the women reading the book? The sex scenes? Or the fact that this was a man who was rich, who bought her gorgeous clothes. It's neither. What is it? It's the love story. It's the fact that he falls hopelessly in love with her. The first love. It's so sweet. "Fifty shades of grey," one of the sweetest books you'll read, right? You seem skeptical there. A lovely virgin, falls in love with a rich guy. But he has a little problem. He uses a whip now and then. Why do we all want to read the book? Everybody did want to read the book this year. You're just back from the white house yesterday. We saw those clips. You made so much news with the president and mrs. Obama. They'll be back here friday to talk about it. How did they seem to you? Very different when the two of them are together. I mean, we talked to him, with the hard news, syria and stuff. But together, they are very charming, very funny. And by the way, they have a special message for robin. Fantastic. They'll be back friday with that. We have a lot coming up. Ten most fascinating people airs

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

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Richard Blais' Signature Twists on Christmas Dishes

The TV chef shares some delicious recipes for your holiday dinner.
3:00 | 12/23/13

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Transcript for Richard Blais' Signature Twists on Christmas Dishes
look at that spread. "Gma" rocking the holidays with our friend, richard blais, whose new show cook your -- let's say buns off. He's here with twists perfect for your christmas table. This is oh, my goodin', my friends are coming over, it's a holiday party and I have no preparation. Were you just listening to me? I was just saying that. I have no food to cook. What do I do? I opened up my fridge. I'm cooking snacks that are already this people's fridges. Swede-ish meatballs. Kind of like swedish meatballs. Onion and garlic. Cook it. Chill it. Add it to our meatball mixture. And I've heard that santa may or may not be somewhere around this set is what I'm hearing. He may or may not. He may will hiding in plain sight. He may have had onion in his beard. Parsley, onions. A good twist of black pepper. Make meatballs out of them. And then we start to sear them. We have the meatballs cooking away. The ricotta go ifs there and gives it that sense of fat. This is all lean meat. How lean can we go? 90%, 99%. What makes them swedish? The sauce. Usually, it's the spices. Right? It's allspice, cardamom. It's the spices that go into it. We'll make the sauce. This is some harisa, a north african condiment that has nothing to do with sweden. We add chile paste to it. These are other snack. Grapes I popped in the oechb on ricotta and toast. How long do you sear it for? A minute or two. Pop fit the oven. And the grapes in the oven sounds treacherous. Leave them on the vine, put it in the oven. On toast with cheese. The olives? Olive with orange juice. And potato chips with caviar. That's how I roll. Your meat balls are so rounded. Mine are so flat. How do you do that? Ment skill. Years and years of my craft. If they're not round, they're not round. They're meat squares. It's all good. They taste good. You can find richard's recipes for all the dishes you just saw and the olives are divine on goodmorningamerica.Com on yaho

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

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