boarder fagot: May 2012

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Video: Summer camp fashions for kids

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

college football bowl schedule double mastectomy 2011 bowl schedule bcs games heath bell ncaa bowl schedule ncaa bowl schedule

SpaceX Dragon leaves space station for trip home

This framegrab image from NASA-TV shows the SpaceX Dragon capsule just after the capsule is released from the Canadarm2 at 5:49 a.m. EDT Thursday morning May 31, 2012. The Dragon capsule is scheduled for splashdown at 11:44 a.m. EDT Thursday in the Pacific Ocean. (AP Photo/NASA)

This framegrab image from NASA-TV shows the SpaceX Dragon capsule, center, the U.S. Destiny lab, left and the Japanese Kibo module, right just after the Dragon capsule was dematted from the International Space Station Thursday May 31, 2012. (AP Photo/NASA)

This framegrab image from NASA-TV shows the SpaceX Dragon capsule just after the capsule is backed away from the International Space Station and being repositioned for release later Thursday morning May 31, 2012. The Dragon capsule is scheduled for splashdown at 11:44 a.m. EDT Thursday in the Pacific Ocean. (AP Photo/NASA)

In this image provided by NASA with rays of sunshine and the thin blue atmosphere of Earth serving as a backdrop, the SpaceX Dragon commercial cargo craft is berthed to the Earth-facing side of the International Space Station's Harmony node Sunday May 27, 2012. Expedition 31 Flight Engineers Don Pettit and Andre Kuipers grappled Dragon at 9:56 a.m. (EDT) with the Canadarm2 robotic arm and used it to berth Dragon to the at 12:02 p.m. May 25, 2012. Dragon became the first commercially developed space vehicle to be launched to the station. Dragon is scheduled to spend about a week docked with the station before returning to Earth on May 31 for retrieval. (AP Photo/NASA)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) ? The SpaceX Dragon capsule left the International Space Station on Thursday and aimed for a Pacific splashdown to end its historic flight.

Astronauts set the world's first commercial supply ship loose after a five-day visit, releasing the vessel with the space station's robot arm. The Dragon slowly backed away from the 250-mile-high outpost, on track for a midday return to Earth, six hours later.

The targeted splashdown zone is 560 miles west of Baja California.

"Dragon smoothly undocked, moved out, released and on its way home," Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers reported via Twitter.

NASA's Mission Control quickly radioed praise to the six-man space station crew: "Great work, guys." A brown toy dragon decorated the flight director's desk in Houston. Within minutes, the capsule was outside the NASA-controlled safety zone around the space station and under the complete jurisdiction of the SpaceX team in Hawthorne, Calif.

Last week, SpaceX became the first private company to send a cargo ship to the International Space Station. And Thursday, it was on the verge of becoming the only supplier to return major items.

The unmanned Dragon capsule is returning nearly 1,400 pounds of old space station equipment and some science samples, a little more than it took up. Because it is a test flight, NASA did not want to load it with anything valuable.

The retro bell-shaped capsule was set to parachute down in the style of NASA's old Mercury, Gemini and Apollo spacecraft. A Dragon has returned from orbit once before, on a solo shakedown mission in December 2010.

Russia's Soyuz spacecraft for carrying crews also parachutes down, but on land, deep inside Kazakhstan. All of the government-provided cargo vessels of Russia, Europe and Japan, meanwhile, burn up on descent.

NASA lost the capability of getting things back when its space shuttles were retired last year. The space agency has turned to American private business to take over cargo runs and, eventually, astronaut ferry flights. Several companies are in the running for the human missions, with SpaceX in the lead given the success of this latest cargo shipment.

SpaceX's billionaire founder, Elon Musk of PayPal fame, expects to have astronauts riding his Dragons in three or four years.

Until then, the focus is on filling the space station's larder.

Assuming Thursday's entry goes well, the next Dragon supply mission will be in September. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is already at Cape Canaveral, Fla., awaiting launch.

Rival Orbital Sciences Corp. hopes to have its first test flight off by year's end, launching from Wallops Island in Virginia.

President Barack Obama wants NASA free of orbital deliveries so it can work on getting astronauts to asteroids and Mars.

___

Online:

SpaceX: http://www.spacex.com

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/offices/c3po/home/

Associated Press

audacious pollen count mexico city first day of spring mexico earthquake aziz ansari aziz ansari

Indians' Hafner needs knee surgery, out 4-6 weeks

[ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['Titanic', 7]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/titanic-anniversary/', ' ', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/b/4e/b4e5ad9f00b5dfeeec2226d53e173569.jpeg', '550', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]

[ [ [['did not go as far his colleague', 8]], '29438204', '0' ], [ [[' the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 4]], '28924649', '0' ], [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

keystone pipeline purim acc tournament big ten tournament big east tournament 2012 solar storm solar flares

Durant, Westbrook can't rescue Thunder in Game 2

SAN ANTONIO (AP) ? The Oklahoma City Thunder finally found a way to slow down the San Antonio Spurs. It still wasn't enough to beat them.

Tony Parker had 34 points and eight assists, Manu Ginobili added 20 points and the Spurs stayed perfect in the playoffs with a 120-111 victory in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals Tuesday night.

Kevin Durant scored 31 points, Russell Westbrook had 27 points and eight assists and James Harden rebounded from a rough Game 1 to score 30 points for the Thunder, who have lost two straight for the first time since early April. Oklahoma City dropped to 15-4 in games after losses this season.

"There are no moral victories for us," Durant said. "We were down. We dug ourselves a hole. We did what we normally do, which is fight all game, and we lost."

The Thunder trailed by as many as 22 points in the third quarter and by 16 when coach Scott Brooks resorted to intentionally fouling Spurs center Tiago Splitter, a 32 percent free-throw shooter in the playoffs entering the game.

Splitter went 5 for 10 from the line over a 54-second span before Spurs coach Gregg Popovich replaced him with Tim Duncan, and Oklahoma City trailed by the same margin ? 16 ? that it did when Brooks called for the "Hack-a-Splitter" strategy.

The Spurs seemed to lose their offensive flow after that, and the Thunder rallied in the fourth quarter.

"There's a reason why you do it, to kill the rhythm," Parker said. "I think it got us out of our rhythm."

Oklahoma City got within six points with just over 5 minutes to play. But Parker, Ginobili and Tim Duncan helped San Antonio finish off the Thunder.

Game 3 is Thursday night in Oklahoma City.

"We're upset about that loss," Durant said. "We've got to go home and regroup and watch film, see how we can get better."

The Thunder are 5-0 on their raucous home court in the playoffs. But only 14 teams in NBA playoff history have overcome 2-0 deficits to win a series, and the Spurs show no signs of letting the Thunder back in it.

"First, we've got to worry about Game 3," Westbrook said. "Regardless of what's going on with this last game or the next game, we've got to worry about Game 3 and come in with the same mindset and try to get a win."

The Spurs set an NBA record with their 20th consecutive victory bridging the regular season and the playoffs. They came in sharing the longest such streak with the 2000-01 Lakers, who won 19 straight before losing to Philadelphia in the first game of the finals.

Those Lakers went on to win the championship and Parker's performance is yet another reason to think the Spurs will do the same.

Guided by their All-Star point guard, San Antonio shredded Oklahoma City's defense with pinpoint passes for three quarters. The Spurs were shooting 63 percent from the field and 64 percent from 3-point range at one point in the third quarter.

Parker went 16 for 21 from the field, including a 3-pointer.

"Tony's been great all year," Popovich said. "He's been really focused the entire season."

San Antonio picked up where it left off from the 39-point fourth quarter that turned Game 1 on Sunday. With sharp passes and hot shooting, the Spurs jumped to a 19-9 lead after the Thunder missed six of their first seven shots and had three turnovers in the first 4 minutes.

The Spurs shot 58 percent (22 of 38) and had 13 assists in the first half. They also cut down their turnovers, committing only six in the first half after giving away 14 in the first two quarters of Game 1.

San Antonio resumed picking apart Oklahoma City's defense with precision passes after the break, scoring on five straight possessions. The biggest cheer from the crowd came after Ginobili flipped a behind-the-back pass to Parker in the corner for another 3 and the lead ballooned to 78-58.

"We have seen what we can do when we play as a team," Harden said. "We fought hard, but it was too much of a deficit to come back (from) late in the game."

The Spurs missed 12 of 15 shots during one stretch, but Parker hit an off-balance, high-arcing jumper with 3:39 left for a 107-96 lead and San Antonio controlled the game from there.

"Our guys played hard," Brooks said. "Unfortunately, we came away with nothing the last few days."

dan savage new world trade center kellen moore guy fieri ryan braun bryce harper may day

Ex-Cameron aide arrested, charged with perjury

FILE - This is a Thursday, May 10, 2012 file photo of Andy Coulson, the former editor of the News of the World newspaper and former director of communications for Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron as he arrives to appear at the Leveson Inquiry at the High Court in London, Coulson was arrested by police Wednesday May 30, 2012 on suspicion of perjury. Scottish police said Wednesday that Andy Coulson, was detained at his home in London over an accusation of committing perjury at a case at the High Court in Glasgow. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)

LONDON (AP) ? The former top media adviser to Prime Minister David Cameron was arrested and charged with perjury Wednesday in the trial of a flamboyant ex-Scottish lawmaker ? the latest case tied to allegations of wrongdoing by British tabloid newspapers.

Andy Coulson, 44, was detained by Scottish police at his home in London Wednesday morning over an accusation related to testimony he gave in a high-profile case at Glasgow's High Court in 2010, when politician Tommy Sheridan was himself convicted of offering a false account in a legal hearing.

He arrived in Glasgow Wednesday afternoon for questioning there, but was not arrested or charged until late Wednesday evening. In Scotland, which uses a different legal system from the rest of Britain, a suspect can be detained by police to answer questions before being formally arrested or charged.

Strathclyde Police said late Wednesday that a report would now be submitted to Scottish prosecutors, which will determine if Coulson will face court. In Scotland, police can charge a suspect but the decision on whether to prosecute rests with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

Sheridan had won a lawsuit against the now-defunct News of The World tabloid over its claim that he was embroiled in a sex-and-drugs scandal, but was later jailed for three years after a jury at the 2010 trial ruled that he had committed perjury when he sued the newspaper.

Coulson was editor of the tabloid when stories about Sheridan were published, and working as Cameron's communications director when he gave evidence to the 2010 trial.

The ex-aide, who left his post at the News of The World in 2007 after a reporter and a private investigator were jailed over phone hacking offenses, told the court that he didn't "accept there was a culture of phone hacking" at the tabloid.

He insisted that he had ordered his reporters to work within the law and said that police officers were not paid for information.

Those assurances have since been called into question by revelations of widespread illegal behavior at the paper and allegations ? denied by Coulson ? that he approved and encouraged the shady practices.

Cameron has insisted he had been right to offer Coulson a "second chance," by making him his media chief ? but the ex-aide's resignation early last year, his arrest by London police investigating phone hacking, and Wednesday's detention by Scottish police have raised questions about the British leader's judgment.

The prime minister's ties to both Coulson and their mutual friend Rebekah Brooks, an ex-chief executive of Rupert Murdoch's News International, have brought the tabloid phone hacking scandal to Cameron's doorstep.

Sheridan, who was freed from jail after serving a year of his sentence ? usual practice for crimes of that type in Scotland ? said he now hopes to have his conviction quashed.

"We were led to believe by Mr. Coulson and his acolytes at News International during my trial and the initial phone-hacking investigations that the problem was a rogue reporter," Sheridan told reporters outside his home. "Well, I think we all know now that there is no bad apple in the barrel. What there is is a rotten orchard full of bad apples."

Sheridan's lawyer, Gordon Dangerfield, said he would now appeal the ex-lawmaker's perjury conviction.

In 2006, Sheridan won a defamation suit against the tabloid after it claimed he had visited a swingers' club, had taken part in orgies and used cocaine. However, a year after his courtroom victory against the newspaper, police arrested and charged Sheridan with perjury in connection with the hearing.

The subsequent trial riveted Scotland, with its lurid allegations about sex clubs and tabloid skullduggery.

Coulson arrived in Scotland on Wednesday afternoon for questioning there, but was not formally arrested or charged until Wednesday night.

The police department said the case was tied to Operation Rubicon, a Scottish police investigation into allegations of phone hacking, breaches of data protection and perjury. Those inquiries are running separately to major investigations by London police into newspaper malpractice.

Coulson is currently on police bail in connection with the London inquiry, meaning he must return to answer more questions from detectives there in the near future. He has also testified to the country's media ethics inquiry.

___

Associated Press writer Cassandra Vinograd contributed to this report.

Associated Press

krill oil krill oil black friday 2011 rhodium uppity uppity stuffing

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Aaron Sorkin talks about future Steve Jobs movie, impact of technology on his writing

You don't have to look far to get a grasp on who Aaron Sorkin is -- he wrote A Few Good Men, The American President, The West Wing, Moneyball and The Social Network, for starters -- and he showed up at D10 to talk creative media, how the digital age impacts his writing and his impending movie about late Apple CEO Steve Jobs. While not involving hard technology news, the interview was exceedingly refreshing, and it delved deep into the world of tech as it impacts his upcoming show about a fictional newsroom (The Newsroom on HBO). The highlights included a frank quote that whoever ends up playing Jobs in his movie -- not to be confused with the one already in production with Ashton Kutcher -- will have to be "good, and intelligent." He also confessed to being fully engaged in the "three screens" movement, but wasn't too prideful to admit that he taps into the brain of his 11-year old daughter for lots of technological help. Pretty wild for a guy that many would label "genius." For more from the interview, head on past the break.

Continue reading Aaron Sorkin talks about future Steve Jobs movie, impact of technology on his writing

Aaron Sorkin talks about future Steve Jobs movie, impact of technology on his writing originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 May 2012 15:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

mlk school closures being human being human chicago news chicago news golden girls

Italian journalist defends Vatican leaks

paul babeu kevin costner budweiser shootout animal house invincible jesse jackson whitney houston funeral video

A Look At Flatweaves - Media Home Improvement

A review of Flatweaves

Carpets and also floor coverings can be found in various shades, types, also various components and also textures today. They?re also for sale in many different types regarding weaving strategies at the same time just like made by hand, hand-tufted and also flatweaves, each and every possessing their particular diverse end and also result.

Turkish carpets and also Turkish floor coverings certainly are a fantastic illustration regarding the location where the flatweaves approach could possibly be identified. The particular old Turkish tribes regarding Oushak have been popular for carpets and rugs inside the early on area of the 15th millennium together with several making use of flatweaves since their particular desired selection of weaving.

Flatweaves could have usually recently been useful for neighborhood tribes and also found in their particular each day lifestyles. Their particular tents and also properties could have recently been produced in this way, since would certainly their particular foods totes, garments as well as other forms of bed linens as an example. That is if they started out while using the flatweaves strategies inside carpets and rugs since flooring treatments started to be accessible. These kinds of strategies can easily nevertheless be identified nowadays in which neighborhood communities continue to exist.

Flatweaves have become a lot more popularly known as their particular simple identify which can be kilims. In the kilim, the particular weft (the particular weft getting the particular side to side yarn) moves below and also above each and every warp (the particular warp getting the particular top to bottom yarn) before the side with the theme used is finished. It then earnings to make another weft. This kind of flatweaves approach results in an empty slit involving the motifs, nevertheless the resultant weaving is very done about equally factors.

You can find other styles regarding flatweaves strategies also. Inside Cicim weaving, the particular weft will be twisted about a few warps. Next as opposed to the weft getting flipped again about alone just like in the kilim, the particular made of wool will be still left clinging behind the particular bit even though the weft will be continuing in the fresh coloring. The particular clinging made of wool just isn?t lost or perhaps discarded; the particular tribal individuals were really cheap folks, because it will be next reused over a future weft if the coloring is necessary once more, maybe about one more theme as an example. This kind of final results in the rear of the particular bit possessing strings regarding made of wool bridging among motifs.

The particular flatweaves carpets who have lasted coming from yeas in the past have become beneficial items of older binoculars while they have become unusual. The harder modern day carpets that exist nowadays are getting to be popular together with developers and also homeowners while they have become versifier goods. Folks are not merely employing their carpets since carpets both as much today have used them since elegant punches and also comforters, along with showing these around the surfaces of these residence.

Flatweaves are usually carpets that will produce a assertion exactly where they may be exhibited. You?ll probably decide a single within your cooking area or perhaps conservatory because the new kinds have become strong and also adaptable goods, and they?re if at all possible worthy of these kinds of bedrooms while they can easily stand up to a top use. You will want to have a look at what exactly is accessible. You?re sure to discover a ideal flatweaves carpet to your residence.

This is being categorized within Approach Results topic plus Turkish Tribes matter as well as Neighborhood Communities subject plus Top To Bottom topic also Bed Linens topic .

Photos Gallery:

There are 1 pics in the A Look At Flatweaves of this wonderful Uncategorized matter and additionally . Forget-Not to checkout the complete 1 pics to not miss anything.

gabrielle union merle haggard ladainian tomlinson mark wahlberg pipa keystone xl sopa bill

95% Moonrise Kingdom

All Critics (88) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (84) | Rotten (4) | DVD (1)

It makes you nostalgic for the pangs of young love.

What makes it an Anderson movie are the things he adds which mark all his films - the pop-cultural obsessions and excruciatingly detailed set decorations, overarching thematic concerns and little stylistic tics.

I liked this one because of its young performers, the evocative island setting (filmed in Rhode Island), Alexandre Desplat's lovely score and Robert Yeoman's slightly grainy cinematography.

The director's best film since 1998's Rushmore, it has none of the self-conscious smugness of The Life Aquatic or the empty eccentricity of The Royal Tenenbaums.

A gorgeously shot, ingeniously crafted, ?ber-Andersonian bonbon that, even in its most irritatingly whimsical moments, remains an effective deliverer of cinematic pleasure.

"Moonrise Kingdom" breezes along with a beautifully coordinated admixture of droll humor, deadpan and slapstick.

At once funny and melancholic, whimsical and poignantly true.

One is at times reminded of AE Housman.

Moonrise Kingdom is a delight... stuffed full of the quirky details and gags that are Anderson's trademarks, but it also possesses an emotional undertow that will tug at those viewers in tune with its singular sensibility.

Capturing our inner children

If the deadpan sensibility of the film ultimately leaves it feeling a tad lightweight, that isn't to say that Moonrise Kingdom isn't a funny, witty and well-crafted film.

Typically quirky Wes Anderson dramedy has lots of heart.

A bittersweet and evocative period piece that's both a visual and narrative delight.

No one has an eye or sensibility like Anderson's, but this is a chilly disappointment. The unaffecting kids are meant to be the emotional center, yet the adults steal the film.

I really wanted to like this film. I respect Wes Anderson and his distinctive voice as a writer-director ('Rushmore' is one of my favorite films of the 1990s), but this latest endeavor is so precious and self-aware that it nearly smothers itself.

Those who find the director's work flawed by preciousness, however, may grow impatient well before the movie reaches the 90-minute mark.

Anderson has imagined the '60s on the East Coast as if from an Eddie Bauer catalog and Boys' Life, with the sensibility of The New Yorker.

Like many holiday locations, you wouldn't want to live there, but a mini-break from the norm can be a real tonic.

A sweet, charming and altogether delightful bit of whimsy from writer/director Wes Anderson.

I normally end up liking Wes Anderson's films, but I love this one.

The delightful Moonrise Kingdom marks a career high for offbeat auteur Wes Anderson.

Moonrise Kingdom is bewitching.

A lot of wonderful things running around the wilderness in this particular Kingdom; if only the tongue-in-cheek wasn't as firmly hammered into place.

More Critic Reviews

norman reedus norman reedus sears office max office max cyber monday deals 2011 cyber monday deals 2011

Monday, May 28, 2012

Cain Velasquez TKOs Antonio Silva in a bloody UFC 146 battle (PHOTO)

Cain Velasquez wanted to make a statement in his first fight back after losing the UFC heavyweight belt to Junior dos Santos. He did that with a bloody, first-round TKO of Antonio "Big Foot" Silva.

Velasquez caught a Silva kick and took him down right off the bell. From there, Velasquez pounded away at Silva's face, opening a massive cut on Silva's nose. The cut gushed a ton of blood, more than is usually seen during a fight. It covered Silva's face and body, coated Velasquez's arms, and gathered in a pool next to them.The bout was stopped for a doctor to check the cut.

[Kevin Iole: Junior dos Santos rocks Frank Mir at UFC 146]

Silva tried to shake the blood off as the doctor looked at the cut. After the fight was allowed to continue, Velasquez kept throwing bombs at Silva's head until the bout was stopped at 3:36 in the first round.

cpac straw poll breaking dawn part 2 breaking dawn part 2 whitney cummings msnbc i will always love you maine caucus

the daily zen: 10 Lessons From Picasso

? ? ?Pablo Picasso was a controversial figure. ?Politics and personal life aside, though, there's one quality most people can agree on concerning Picasso: ?he was a master of his craft. ?He devoted his life to one fervent passion and ended up revolutionizing the art world and prolifically producing paintings and sculpture through many decades of movements. ?Some of these quotes are more art-pertinent than others, but they can help inspire you regardless of your career or aspirations.
? ? ?I'd say the most important takeaways of what I've learned from Picasso are as follows:

Do what you love, don't try?what you love. ?
Only action will get you anywhere, and the most powerful thing you can do with yourself is direct your creative energy towards a specific pursuit.
Do it individually, without overthinking or self-consciousness.
If you can't find inspiration or motivation, quit whining and just do it.

? ? ? I'll let you analyze the rest:

?Everybody has the same energy potential. The average person wastes his in a dozen little ways. I bring mine to bear on one thing only: my paintings, and everything else is sacrificed to it.??

?Inspiration exists, but it has to find us working.??

?Everything you can imagine is real.??

?Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone?

?The chief enemy of creativity is good sense.??

?Bad artists copy. Good artists steal.??

?It takes a very long time to become young.??

?If only we could pull out our brain and use only our eyes.??

?He can who thinks he can, and he can't who thinks he can't. This is an inexorable, indisputable law.?

?Action is the foundational key to all success. ??

if you liked this post, spread the word... send to friends or StumbleUpon. ?im in the midst of setting up a facebook page, you'll be able to 'like' things soon. thanks for reading.

meditation, zen, action, creativity, inspiration, inspiration, self-improvement, self-improvement, meditating, positivity, self-help, quotes, reading, art

masters winner instagram facebook mike wallace mike wallace chicago cubs split pea soup recipe the client list

New Google data show Microsoft's piracy problems

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Eurovision set for battle of the oldies

Russia Buranovskiye Babushki perform during rehearsal for the final show of the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest at the Baku Crystal Hall in Baku, Friday, May 25, 2012. The finals of the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest will be held at the stadium on May 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)

United Kingdom Engelbert Humperdinck perform during rehearsal for the final show of the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest at the Baku Crystal Hall in Baku, Friday, May 25, 2012. The finals of the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest will be held at the stadium on May 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)

Hungary Compact Disco perform during rehearsal for the final show of the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest at the Baku Crystal Hall in Baku, Friday, May 25, 2012. The finals of the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest will be held at the stadium on May 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)

Albania Rona Nishliu perform during rehearsal for the final show of the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest at the Baku Crystal Hall in Baku, Friday, May 25, 2012. The finals of the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest will be held at the stadium on May 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)

Lithuania Donny Montell perform during rehearsal for the final show of the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest at the Baku Crystal Hall in Baku, Friday, May 25, 2012. The finals of the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest will be held at the stadium on May 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) ? Usually a jamboree of youthful exuberance ? and questionable taste ? this year's Eurovision Song Contest features a pair of elderly acts among its top contenders.

Engelbert Humperdinck, 76, takes the stage Saturday night for the United Kingdom, 45 years after he first got international attention crooning the hit "Release Me." He'll be wearing a necklace given to him by Elvis Presley.

Humperdinck faces stiff competition for the gray vote from Russia's Buranovskiye Babushki, a group of six grannies, the eldest of them 77. Their performance understandably won't include the intense gyrations favored by many younger performers, but does feature some choreographed baking.

They'll be going up against 24 other finalists in the 57-year-old competition viewed by some 125 million people worldwide and hailed by its legion of devoted fans as harmless, kitschy fun that allows Europeans to forget their differences ? and economic troubles ? for at least one night.

As last year's winner, oil-rich Azerbaijan is hosting the annual competition. Few think it stands any chance of a repeat victory, but the country hopes the hundreds of millions of dollars it has invested in preparing for the event will serve as a public relations coup and mitigate misgivings about its poor democracy and human rights record.

Strong favorite Loreen, a 28-year-old Swede of Moroccan-Berber descent, will be venturing a racier outfit and sultrier performance than the grannies. Her song "Euphoria" even stands a chance of fair international commercial success ? it's already topped the Swedish charts for six weeks and gone platinum five times.

The winner is picked by juries and television viewers across the continent, so a broad appeal is deemed key to success.

Other serious contenders include Italy's Nina Zilli and her lively ode "Out of Love," Zeljko Joksimovic of Serbia with the slow and stripped-down "Nije Ljubav Stvar," and Romania's entry Mandinga, a band fronted by sultry vocalist Elena Ionescu, with their brash attempt at exotica "Zaleilah."

The host country, a comparatively little-known former Soviet republic, has dug deep to make sure it's also a star.

The new Crystal Hall concert venue, a light-bathed arena on a point jutting out into the Caspian Sea, cost $134 million to build and was put up in a speedy eight months. Countless more millions have been deployed embellishing the capital, Baku, and buying a huge fleet of brand new London-style taxis.

Such profligacy has aroused concerns about the spiraling costs involved in holding the contest in times of austerity.

"At the moment, if the costs are growing more and more every year and it needs to be more splendid, there are countries that would have huge difficulties, especially with financial situation in Europe at the moment, in organizing it," said Annika Nyberg Frankenhauser, media department for the European Broadcasting Union, under whose auspices Eurovision is held.

Amid the glitz, antigovernment activists have held a number of small protests in the week running up to the final, seizing on the opportunity of the increased international media presence to draw attention to what they describe as the government's authoritarian style of rule.

On Friday, police quickly shut down a small flash mob near the competition venue, roughly dragging away dozens of demonstrators and stuffing them into waiting buses, at least of one which bore a Eurovision logo.

Three demonstration participants were sentenced to jail terms of five and six days on Saturday, while 17 others were fined 20-25 manat ($25-32).

Associated Press

jcpenney loft old navy cyber monday best deals cyber monday best deals brownback brownback

Friday, May 25, 2012

McClymonds High students learn about their family histories with ...

McClymonds High sophomore Dontarion Layne shares his ancestral history project on Wednesday afternoon.

Dontarion Layne hopped on stage as the crowd cheered and raised both arms above his head, the McClymonds High School sophomore full of youthful energy. Someone in the crowd of about 60 people yelled, ?We love you, Terry!? Without missing a beat he responded, ?I know you do, girl!? as the crowd broke into laughter.

Layne then introduced his ancestral history project?a study of his maternal ancestral line?and told the story of his family. ?It started off with John in Memphis, and John married Maddie,? Layne said, as his fingers traced the family tree he?d written on a poster display. ?Then they had Emma Hazel, which is my great-grandmother.?

On Wednesday afternoon, five students presented ancestral research projects as part of an event entitled ?Remembering Our Past, Moving Toward Our Futures.? For three months, students had conducted ancestral research on their families by interviewing relatives and using genealogical search tools with help from volunteers from the African American Geological Society of California (AAGSC). Students even took a DNA test to find out about where their lineage originated.

The McClymonds students participating in the project are a part of Alternatives in Action Culture Keepers, a mentorship program that pairs students from Mack with students from Hoover Elementary. Students from Hoover Elementary also took part in the ancestral history project, as did teenagers from the Alameda County Probation Department Weekend Training Academy, which is an alternative program to detention. The idea is to teach kids about their family history, while also connecting them to their elders and training them on how to use research tools.

At Wednesday?s event, students shared their family histories through video presentations, song, poetry and, like Layne, on poster board, in front of an audience that included their parents, grandparents, teachers, students and other community members. Students also participated in an African dance presentation. The event was sponsored by Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson?s office, and Alternatives in Action, an East Bay nonprofit that organizes youth leadership programs.

Carson came up with the idea for the project, which is in its second year, because he said he recently realized he and a lot of people he knew didn?t know much about their own family lineage. ?I thought, ?Why not start with kids in school to see if we can get them to take this as a project they?d be engaged in??? Carson said.

Franklin Hysten, the senior director of programs at McClymonds, said he thought the project was important because ?so many times, older adults do not have conversations with youth, or connect in a way to converse about something meaningful.?

?Some people today feel that young people are a lost generation,? Hysten said, ?and this really provided some meat for the youth and adults to have a conversation about what?s connecting them, the connections between them. You have Dontarion going home and having conversations with his grandparents that he otherwise would not have had, and some of us may not have had even in our twenties or thirties.?

The students began looking into their family histories in February with the help of AAGSC volunteers. Nica Smith, the group?s outreach and education chair, said that to reconstruct the past of a family, the students conducted oral interviews with family members and sought out census information, birth, death and marriage certificates, obituaries, land documents, and newspaper clippings. Students also took field trips to conduct research at the Mormon Church?s Oakland Family Research Center and looked through online ancestry sites.

From those different pieces, students were able to reconstruct much the past of their families, she said. ?Just living your everyday life, even if you try to be incognito, you are still leaving these ?little bitty crumbs,? I say,? Smith said. ?And those crumbs come together to make a big cookie, and that ends up being your family history.?

While the students learned where their relatives came from, and how they came to live in West Oakland, they also learned details about their families that even members from older generations didn?t know much about. Tyisha Stills said she discovered the name of her great-grandfather by looking through old census records. ?My nana did not know that,? she said.

During his presentation, Layne shared that both his parents and grandparents met while attending McClymonds, and cracked jokes. (?It doesn?t get any better than me,? he said, indicating his timeline when he stopped at the date of his birth.) After he was finished, he said he was proud to learn about his family?s strong ties to West Oakland, a connection he said he plans to continue.

?To know that it?s a tradition,? he said. ?The West Oakland community is small, so everybody pretty much knows everybody. I learned that pretty much everyone in West Oakland back in the day went to this school. I plan on having my kids come here if it?s still up and running.?

Connect with Oakland North on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

mauritania mark sanchez obama open mic jefferson county colorado extenze tenacious d steve smith

Opposition has failed Syrian people: outgoing leader

san francisco chronicle kourtney kardashian pregnant kourtney kardashian pregnant chip kelly billy cundiff super bowl tickets superbowl

7 Phases of Continuous Process Improvement. 8 Performance ...

Here are the performance management principles was developed by the U.S. Army:

Principle 1: Performance driven:?This principle deals with the key organizational drivers behind the change. All business process changes must be based on customer needs and business performance measurement. All business activities and processes that support them should be done for a reason. Measurement techniques such as balanced scorecards indicate whether we are acting consistently with organizational goals, which should be based on customer needs and traceable to key performance indicators (KPIs). This principle in no way says what the right measurement indicators should be. Every industry is different, and every organization has its own strategy for identifying which goals are achievable. Nonetheless, it is vital that each organization chooses wisely; the old adage ?You get what you measure? is universal to all organizations.

Principle 2: Customer focused:?This principle deals with the following questions: Why would your customer care about the change? Will the improvement initiative solve or improve an identified customer issue? Who are these customers?

Let?s answer the last question first: a customer is any individual, organization, or institution that has a vested interest in or can influence the organization?s performance in some way.

To analyze the gap between our current processes and what the customer?s needs are in the future, we should consider two key factors. First, we should have a strong grasp of our customer?s needs. Second, we should understand the state of our current relationships and a have view of what we want these relationships to be in the future. Gaps between these two states will drive our needs for change. The future state view will provide a set of evaluation criteria for change from the current reality, which then will be translated into balanced scorecard KPIs.

Principle 3: Traceable to the customer requirements and key business criteria:?This principle speaks to the ability to trace change to a customer requirement; if you cannot trace an improvement to a specific customer requirement, then the viability of the improvement initiative needs to be questioned.

The challenge is to build a traceable and actionable link to customer requirements and balance that with institutional and operational objectives. Conflicting business and political drivers can devastate a sound decision-making process. When those drivers are also misaligned with the organization?s mission and culture, we cannot expect successful results. Change initiatives that waste millions and even billions of dollars can be found in almost all organizations and institutions of any size and complexity. Typically, the root cause is poor decision making, or poor interpretation of the organization?s needs and customer expectations.

Principle 4: Segmented along business process lines to synchronize change:?This principle deals with the importance of cross-functional integration and collaboration to ensure a sustainable change initiative. As more and more governmental agencies and commercial institutions move toward Web-enabled services, integration of products and services across an enterprise becomes more and more critical. Management structures with overly rigid organizational structures and boundaries that are too slow to respond will eventually become obsolete and nonresponsive to customer demands. Customer demand for Web-enabled services and seamless institutional response forces closer collaboration and integration between various organizational disciplines from front-end customer support functions to organizational enablers such as information technology and human resources departments. By segmenting the transformational initiatives along business process lines, we have a clear framework for organizing and prioritizing change and for measuring the impact of our efforts in terms that the business executives can understand.

Principle 5: Integrated with organizational change management:?Change management initiatives are often used simply as ways of creating a document or developing the communication strategy for implementing a technology system. Clearly, this is a very limited view of change management. Instead, we must see change management as a vehicle for a more encompassing transformation. We must recognize that during initiatives such as implementing an ERP system we are not just impacting technology, data, or processes, we are also striving to identify champions and transform people into enthusiastic supporters and participants who will enable transformation initiatives. This is one reason we should encourage the analysis of existing organizational processes and capabilities. In addition to traditional change management tools, such as communication strategies, we must support changes with appropriate assignment of roles and responsibilities, organizational structures, empowerment, and most importantly, accountability.

During transition, the staff must feel that an appropriate level of trustworthy communication is happening. The main take-away is that staff affected by change should feel a sense of contribution as a result of their participation and should be positioned as the beneficiaries of the new process.

Principle 6: Conducted with a well-managed and time-boxed approach:?This concept is not new and traditionally refers to program management. The program management discipline might appear on the surface to be simply managing program time and resources. If it is not aligned with the organization?s culture and not integrated with change management components and not accepted by all levels of the organization, it will be a struggle to meet all program objectives and agreed upon stakeholder expectations. Managing complex transformational programs such as ERP implementation might be the toughest thing ever done. By sticking to a proven project management approach and methodology, program risk will be reduced and program goals and stakeholder expectations will be better managed.

Principle 7: Understood as a continuous process:?A major distinguishing feature between continuous improvement process (CPI) and the wave of business process reengineering (BPR) efforts that proliferated in the early and mid-1990s is the approach to continuity of effort. BPR emphasized radical change of business processes and everything that touched them in the ?big bang? approach. But it did little to uphold the notion of supporting the ongoing management of the implemented change or ongoing implementation of change. It assumed the solution would have stability in an unstable market with changing priorities. Perhaps for these reasons, as well as issues with people?s natural tendency to resist change, most BPR programs failed to deliver their expected results.

We must recognize that in any given time, our stakeholders will have a set of requirements that are in flux and can be influenced by regulatory and market demands. If we accept the fact that change is an embedded part of business transformation, we should also recognize that building iterative processes in the overall business transformation is critical to the success of a CPI initiative.

The U.S. Army also defines seven phases of continuous process improvement.?Table 4.1?lists the eight CPI phases and discusses their benefits and effect on the transformation program. Details for each phase and its associated tools and templates are provided under the CPI framework.

From a business perspective, performance management provides a mechanism to set targets (KPIs) for the different departments and function areas. An effective performance measurement system starts from the mission and vision of the organization and designs the KPIs for each unit or process from this overall corporate goal. In order to dynamically respond to a change, the goal and the KPI representing the performance toward the goal achievement have to be changed or modified. To continuously revise the business process and the low operational goals so that they are aligned with the new corporate goal is a serious undertaking for the senior-and mid-level management.

Table 4.1:?CPI Phases and Their Benefits to a Successful Transformation Program?

CPI Phases	Benefits	Effect on the Transformation Program
Define business drivers	Identifies business drivers and reason(s) for change early in the program	Identifies program champions and develops the foundation for organizational buy-in
Architect and align strategies	Aligns transformation program goals with the organization?s business strategy	Ensures early alignment of the CPI initiative with the existing organizational strategy and capabilities
Develop vision	Identifies the key business drivers, organizational goals, and performance measures	Reduces the risk of initiating transformation programs without clearly defined performance measures
Current state understanding	Provides a clear map of the existing processes and identifies potential areas for improvement	Identifies root causes and reasons behind process bottlenecks early and the key features of future state processes
Future state design	Defines the renewed processes and identifies required organizational assets needed to enable continuous improvement	Confirms the business case and develops the foundation for developing the implementation road map
Roadmap development	Defines in detail the future state implementation road map, such as critical milestones and early wins	Reduces program management risks and identifies required steps to accomplish key milestones
Execution	Delivers the early and ongoing benefits of the transformation program	Delivers business objectives and secures organizational buy-in

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

sotu boehner john boehner demi moore hospitalized james farentino somali pirates navy seals

Syria envoy says U.N. mission can't get bank account

obama state of the union address 2012 obama speech terrell owens terrell owens mitt romney tax return flip saunders academy award nominations