rift gold
A man is so addicted to gambling that he often comes home late. His wife never stops railing at him. Once he is detained at his office and comes home late. His wife accuses him of gambling again but he swears he was detained in his office. I pray to God that you are speaking the truth, his wife says.
May God strike me dead if I am lying.
Then I pray to God that you are lying, his wife said hopefully.
rift gold
2011年4月29日星期五
Bette Davis
A grande dame of bitchiness, Davis brought intelligence and skill rather than beauty to her roles as a powerful woman whose goals conflict with social codes,rift gold whether in antebellum New Orleans, LA (Jezebel, 1938, Oscar) or twentieth-century Boston, MA (Now Voyager, 1942). While popular with female fans, Davis ran afoul of studios, suing Warner Brothers in 1936 for an unjust contract, which she lost. The studio, however, treated her with more respect, and put her in demanding roles. There were striking gaps in her career as she matured, despite her success as an older actor in All About Eve (1951) and her reinvention as an even older matriarch of horror (What Ever Happened to Baby Jane, 1962), as well as in Disney fantasies. Davis’ unique voice, artful gestures (especially with a cigarette) and indomitable roles made many of her lines rift gold proverbial references among generations of American filmgoers, while her style created iconic status among gay commentators as well.
Coincidence
A woman was singing. One of the guests turned to a man by his side and criticized the singer.
What a terrible voice! he said. Do you know who she is?
Yes,rift gold was the answer. She is my wife.
Oh, I beg your pardon. The man said, Of course her voice is not bad, but the song is very bad. I wonder who wrote that awful song.
rift gold
I did. was the answer.
What a terrible voice! he said. Do you know who she is?
Yes,rift gold was the answer. She is my wife.
Oh, I beg your pardon. The man said, Of course her voice is not bad, but the song is very bad. I wonder who wrote that awful song.
rift gold
I did. was the answer.
AN ENERGETIC WIFE
rift gold
Neighbor: I heard a big noise in front of your house last night. What happened to you?
Husband: It was nothing. My wife was a bit cross, and threw my overcoat out of the window.
Neighbor: Your overcoat? But how could it make such a noise?
Husband: I... I happened to be inside the coat.
rift gold
Neighbor: I heard a big noise in front of your house last night. What happened to you?
Husband: It was nothing. My wife was a bit cross, and threw my overcoat out of the window.
Neighbor: Your overcoat? But how could it make such a noise?
Husband: I... I happened to be inside the coat.
rift gold
GOOD ADVICE
2011年4月28日星期四
Britney Spears' 'Hold It Against Me' Demo Leaks While the Real Single Is Due Next Week
Fans of Britney Spears can get an unusual sneak peek at her sure-to-be-hit new single 'Hold It Against Me.' While a version of the song has leaked, TERA Gold the blond bombshell is not the one singing on the track.
Singer/songwriter Bonnie McKee is the featured voice on the demo, which was produced by beatmaker Dr. Luke. The bass-thumping track features lyrics like, RIFT Platinum "If I said my heart was beating loud, rift gold if we could escape the crowd somehow / If I said I want your body now, would you hold it against me? / 'Cause you feel like paradise and I need a vacation tonight."
Spears, McKee and Dr. Luke took to Twitter to inform fans that the leaked version was not the final track set to premiere Tuesday, Jan. 11.
The pop star confirmed the news herself, RIFT Platinum posting a brief-but-informative message on the social networking site. She also gifted her followers with a photo of the 'Hold It Against Me' cover art.
"Heard an early demo of my new single leaked," Spears tweeted. "If u think that's good, wait til you hear the real one Tuesday."
"Well if you haven't heard, the demo of me singing the new Brit song leaked!" McKee tweeted. "New version is waay crazier and yes, it has a bridge foolios!!"
Dr. Luke assured Britney's loyal supporters that the newer version would be stellar. Rift Gold "That version of hold it against me is really really old ... it don't sound like that anymore ... it's WAY better :-p [sic]," he tweeted.
Singer/songwriter Bonnie McKee is the featured voice on the demo, which was produced by beatmaker Dr. Luke. The bass-thumping track features lyrics like, RIFT Platinum "If I said my heart was beating loud, rift gold if we could escape the crowd somehow / If I said I want your body now, would you hold it against me? / 'Cause you feel like paradise and I need a vacation tonight."
Spears, McKee and Dr. Luke took to Twitter to inform fans that the leaked version was not the final track set to premiere Tuesday, Jan. 11.
The pop star confirmed the news herself, RIFT Platinum posting a brief-but-informative message on the social networking site. She also gifted her followers with a photo of the 'Hold It Against Me' cover art.
"Heard an early demo of my new single leaked," Spears tweeted. "If u think that's good, wait til you hear the real one Tuesday."
"Well if you haven't heard, the demo of me singing the new Brit song leaked!" McKee tweeted. "New version is waay crazier and yes, it has a bridge foolios!!"
Dr. Luke assured Britney's loyal supporters that the newer version would be stellar. Rift Gold "That version of hold it against me is really really old ... it don't sound like that anymore ... it's WAY better :-p [sic]," he tweeted.
Randy Couture's Most Important Role Could Lie in Retirement
Saturday night is expected to be the last time in the octagon for UFC legend Randy Couture, so expect the tributes to begin trickling in early this week and a flood to follow his fight with Lyoto Machida, win or lose. They are all deserved of course, even though plenty of them will focus on what he's done, rather than what he might do.
What's amazing is that despite all his accomplishments in the cage -- championships and megafights among them -- Couture could end up becoming one of the rare fighters who is more important to the sport in retirement than he was in action. That is a tall order, of course. Couture is and will forever be one of the seminal figures of early MMA, and was one of the few pioneers able to evolve from a singular style to favorably compete with the modern class of hybrid athletes.
His legacy is surely written in stone. He's a multi-time, multi-division champion; he holds a UFC record by competing in 16 title fights; and he was one of the few early personalities that transcended into mainstream consciousness. So what can he do after he hangs up his gloves that he didn't do before? He can be a voice for MMA, he can be an agent for change, he can offer thought-provoking perspective on the direction of the sport.
Couture already has his first two post-MMA roles. They are in the movies. In May he will begin shooting an action film entitled "Hijacked" and in August, he'll move into taping the sequel to "The Expendables." He will probably make a couple of nice paydays and look to continue growing his career in Hollywood. He is certainly entitled to those opportunities, and to shaping his future however he sees fit. He doesn't owe the sport another second of his time.
But there is another role he would be perfect for, one that would allow him to stay involved in his beloved sport and make him a leading voice in its future. It's not in the UFC, but instead, in the media.
For a few years now, Couture has dabbled as an analyst, first for the UFC, then for ESPN on their "MMA Live" show. He's excelled in the role. He perfectly understands the fighter's mind, the business of MMA, and how the two intertwine.
During that time, Couture was one of many who stepped into the guest analyst seat. Rift Gold There is and/or was Rashad Evans, Stephan Bonnar, Chael Sonnen, Frank Mir and Rich Franklin, among others. The common thread: they are all active fighters. As a general rule, when you're under contract with a team, or a promotion, you're not going to say anything too critical of them. When asked, you might offer a few vague words on a controversial subject, but in the interests of self-preservation, you're not going to cut off your nose to spite your face. That's fair, and that's normal -- some would say rational -- human behavior. With Couture there, the show matters more. And when the show matters more, so does the sport.
An analyst by definition should be someone with the independence to fairly look at every side of an issue, someone with vast knowledge of a subject and whose words carry some weight. Someone with a little gravitas. No one in MMA fits that classification better than Couture.
There are certain subjects in MMA that could use a leading voice. RIFT Platinum Concussions, fighter's unions, fighter pay, performance enhancers, judging issues. This is just a short list of topics in which it would be beneficial to have the input of a retired, respected fighter. Whether it's just bringing attention to the problem or offering a solution, anything from Couture's lips will result in a bigger audience to the issues.
Couture has shown a willingness to address controversial issues in the past, notably in 2008, when he resigned from the UFC after a financial dispute. Given the newfound freedom of retirement, his voice should be welcomed into other hotly debated issues. Among other sports, there has been a trend of utilizing retired athletes in the analyst role. Over the last 10 years, the Sports Emmys for studio analysis and sports event analysis have gone to ex-pro athletes in 18 of 21 awards. rift gold Only three-time winner and legendary football broadcaster John Madden kept the pros from a complete sweep. Given Couture's cerebral approach to MMA, his well-known preparation skills and a willingness to tackle important issues, he fits the ideal mold of what an analyst should be.
There are other ways for Couture to continue to impact the sport, of course. He still has his Xtreme Couture gyms, which will continue to churn out top talent. He could use his name to be a Zuffa ambassador in the world at large. Or like Chuck Liddell, RIFT Platinum he could take a job in the UFC corporate office. Couture mentioned the other day that he plans to stay involved, specifically mentioning the fight to get MMA sanctioned in New York as a possible cause in which to lend his name and voice.
In retirement, Couture is likely to become more inundated with work offers than he was during his active career. As one of MMA's most knowledgeable minds and legendary names, it would be a shame if his platforms did not extend beyond entertainment. TERA Gold There is no replacing Dana White as the mouthpiece of MMA, but it wouldn't hurt to add Randy Couture as its voice of reason. UFC 129 may be the last time we see him fighting, but hopefully it's not the last time we hear his take on issues worth fighting for.
What's amazing is that despite all his accomplishments in the cage -- championships and megafights among them -- Couture could end up becoming one of the rare fighters who is more important to the sport in retirement than he was in action. That is a tall order, of course. Couture is and will forever be one of the seminal figures of early MMA, and was one of the few pioneers able to evolve from a singular style to favorably compete with the modern class of hybrid athletes.
His legacy is surely written in stone. He's a multi-time, multi-division champion; he holds a UFC record by competing in 16 title fights; and he was one of the few early personalities that transcended into mainstream consciousness. So what can he do after he hangs up his gloves that he didn't do before? He can be a voice for MMA, he can be an agent for change, he can offer thought-provoking perspective on the direction of the sport.
Couture already has his first two post-MMA roles. They are in the movies. In May he will begin shooting an action film entitled "Hijacked" and in August, he'll move into taping the sequel to "The Expendables." He will probably make a couple of nice paydays and look to continue growing his career in Hollywood. He is certainly entitled to those opportunities, and to shaping his future however he sees fit. He doesn't owe the sport another second of his time.
But there is another role he would be perfect for, one that would allow him to stay involved in his beloved sport and make him a leading voice in its future. It's not in the UFC, but instead, in the media.
For a few years now, Couture has dabbled as an analyst, first for the UFC, then for ESPN on their "MMA Live" show. He's excelled in the role. He perfectly understands the fighter's mind, the business of MMA, and how the two intertwine.
During that time, Couture was one of many who stepped into the guest analyst seat. Rift Gold There is and/or was Rashad Evans, Stephan Bonnar, Chael Sonnen, Frank Mir and Rich Franklin, among others. The common thread: they are all active fighters. As a general rule, when you're under contract with a team, or a promotion, you're not going to say anything too critical of them. When asked, you might offer a few vague words on a controversial subject, but in the interests of self-preservation, you're not going to cut off your nose to spite your face. That's fair, and that's normal -- some would say rational -- human behavior. With Couture there, the show matters more. And when the show matters more, so does the sport.
An analyst by definition should be someone with the independence to fairly look at every side of an issue, someone with vast knowledge of a subject and whose words carry some weight. Someone with a little gravitas. No one in MMA fits that classification better than Couture.
There are certain subjects in MMA that could use a leading voice. RIFT Platinum Concussions, fighter's unions, fighter pay, performance enhancers, judging issues. This is just a short list of topics in which it would be beneficial to have the input of a retired, respected fighter. Whether it's just bringing attention to the problem or offering a solution, anything from Couture's lips will result in a bigger audience to the issues.
Couture has shown a willingness to address controversial issues in the past, notably in 2008, when he resigned from the UFC after a financial dispute. Given the newfound freedom of retirement, his voice should be welcomed into other hotly debated issues. Among other sports, there has been a trend of utilizing retired athletes in the analyst role. Over the last 10 years, the Sports Emmys for studio analysis and sports event analysis have gone to ex-pro athletes in 18 of 21 awards. rift gold Only three-time winner and legendary football broadcaster John Madden kept the pros from a complete sweep. Given Couture's cerebral approach to MMA, his well-known preparation skills and a willingness to tackle important issues, he fits the ideal mold of what an analyst should be.
There are other ways for Couture to continue to impact the sport, of course. He still has his Xtreme Couture gyms, which will continue to churn out top talent. He could use his name to be a Zuffa ambassador in the world at large. Or like Chuck Liddell, RIFT Platinum he could take a job in the UFC corporate office. Couture mentioned the other day that he plans to stay involved, specifically mentioning the fight to get MMA sanctioned in New York as a possible cause in which to lend his name and voice.
In retirement, Couture is likely to become more inundated with work offers than he was during his active career. As one of MMA's most knowledgeable minds and legendary names, it would be a shame if his platforms did not extend beyond entertainment. TERA Gold There is no replacing Dana White as the mouthpiece of MMA, but it wouldn't hurt to add Randy Couture as its voice of reason. UFC 129 may be the last time we see him fighting, but hopefully it's not the last time we hear his take on issues worth fighting for.
How to Cook Langoustines
Overview
Langoustines, Rift Gold also known as Norway lobster, are related to lobsters and bay prawns. The edible part of the langoustine are the claws and tail, but the entire fish adds flavor to soups, sauces and other dishes. RIFT Platinum Langoustine have a very short shelf life, so most of the fish are cooked when they are caught and flash frozen for sale. You are not likely to find live langoustine for cooking unless you catch them yourself or purchase them right from the fishing site.
Step 1
Allow the langoustine to thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
Step 2
Fill one large pot 3/4 with water. rift gold Add a handful of salt and bring the water to a rapid boil.
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Step 3
Fill the other pot halfway with ice. RIFT Platinum Fill the pot the rest of the way with water.
Step 4
Put the langoustine in the boiler basket. TERA Gold Put the basket in the boiling water for two minutes.
Step 5
Transfer the basket of langoustine to the pot of ice water. Let the langoustine sit for four minutes.
Step 6
Break off the tails and claws and discard the rest of the fish.
Langoustines, Rift Gold also known as Norway lobster, are related to lobsters and bay prawns. The edible part of the langoustine are the claws and tail, but the entire fish adds flavor to soups, sauces and other dishes. RIFT Platinum Langoustine have a very short shelf life, so most of the fish are cooked when they are caught and flash frozen for sale. You are not likely to find live langoustine for cooking unless you catch them yourself or purchase them right from the fishing site.
Step 1
Allow the langoustine to thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
Step 2
Fill one large pot 3/4 with water. rift gold Add a handful of salt and bring the water to a rapid boil.
Lose 10kg a month - JAPAN Lose weight with Herbalife products Safe, natural, healthy & effective www.removekilos.com
Sponsored Links
Step 3
Fill the other pot halfway with ice. RIFT Platinum Fill the pot the rest of the way with water.
Step 4
Put the langoustine in the boiler basket. TERA Gold Put the basket in the boiling water for two minutes.
Step 5
Transfer the basket of langoustine to the pot of ice water. Let the langoustine sit for four minutes.
Step 6
Break off the tails and claws and discard the rest of the fish.
Heat sleepwalk through Sixers series; that won't work against Celtics
MIAMI – It’s obvious how the Celtics will beat the Heat. Show up dressed as the 76ers.
Something about Philadelphia turned the Heat into insufferable zombies. TERA Gold It was all LeBron James could do not to fall asleep while dribbling on Wednesday night.
The Heat stifled their yawns long enough to beat the 76ers, 97-91, and end their series in five games. Then they praised Philadelphia and vowed to have their minds right when Boston comes to town Sunday.
Surely that will be the case. Nothing against the 76ers, but the first-round series was the NBA equivalent of Barack Obama’s birth certificate controversy.
Everybody (except Birthers, who claim LeBron James is Rosemary’s Baby) just wanted to get it over with and move on to bigger things.
“We do not have time for this kind of silliness,” Obama said. “We’ve got better stuff to do. I’ve got better stuff to do.”
Chris Bosh and Miami got through Philadelphia in five games. (AP photo)OK, he was actually talking about releasing his birth certificate. Though the First Hoopster is no doubt relishing the Boston series a bit more than another exhibition of Philadelphia spunkiness.
It’ll be the Battle of the Big Threes. RIFT Platinum The return of Shaq. LeBron’s Vindication. Or LeBron’s Humiliation.
“I think that matchup is one all fans will enjoy,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Players on both sides look forward to it.”
Players on Miami’s side were just looking forward to ending Round One. If you’re looking for a flaw that Philadelphia exposed, it’s that the Heat can be painfully cocky.
Before Wednesday’s game, James said ending the series would be like “finishing our breakfast.” Instead, they went out and threw up all over themselves.
Miami trailed 16-5 after five minutes. rift gold It was the fourth game this series in which Philadelphia jumped to a double-digit first-quarter lead.
James and Dwyane Wade had an explanation. They are the type of players who let the game come to them. That’s a nice way of saying they start out in cruise control.
“Throughout me and D-Wade’s career,” James said, “we have always kind of felt out the game and go from there.”
No wonder Miami crowds are notorious for arriving late and acting comatose. James vowed to infuse his teammates with a sense of urgency Wednesday. RIFT Platinum They responded by making two of their first eight shots and committing four early turnovers.
Yawns happen when you’ve beaten a team 10 out of 11 times.
“People say we weren’t ready,” Spoelstra said. “That’s an absolute discredit to the Philadelphia 76ers.”
He was half-right. Doug Collins & Co. Rift Gold certainly deserve praise for not playing the role of tomato can. The 76ers not only jumped to a lead Wednesday, they had a chance to tie the game in the final minute
Something about Philadelphia turned the Heat into insufferable zombies. TERA Gold It was all LeBron James could do not to fall asleep while dribbling on Wednesday night.
The Heat stifled their yawns long enough to beat the 76ers, 97-91, and end their series in five games. Then they praised Philadelphia and vowed to have their minds right when Boston comes to town Sunday.
Surely that will be the case. Nothing against the 76ers, but the first-round series was the NBA equivalent of Barack Obama’s birth certificate controversy.
Everybody (except Birthers, who claim LeBron James is Rosemary’s Baby) just wanted to get it over with and move on to bigger things.
“We do not have time for this kind of silliness,” Obama said. “We’ve got better stuff to do. I’ve got better stuff to do.”
Chris Bosh and Miami got through Philadelphia in five games. (AP photo)OK, he was actually talking about releasing his birth certificate. Though the First Hoopster is no doubt relishing the Boston series a bit more than another exhibition of Philadelphia spunkiness.
It’ll be the Battle of the Big Threes. RIFT Platinum The return of Shaq. LeBron’s Vindication. Or LeBron’s Humiliation.
“I think that matchup is one all fans will enjoy,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Players on both sides look forward to it.”
Players on Miami’s side were just looking forward to ending Round One. If you’re looking for a flaw that Philadelphia exposed, it’s that the Heat can be painfully cocky.
Before Wednesday’s game, James said ending the series would be like “finishing our breakfast.” Instead, they went out and threw up all over themselves.
Miami trailed 16-5 after five minutes. rift gold It was the fourth game this series in which Philadelphia jumped to a double-digit first-quarter lead.
James and Dwyane Wade had an explanation. They are the type of players who let the game come to them. That’s a nice way of saying they start out in cruise control.
“Throughout me and D-Wade’s career,” James said, “we have always kind of felt out the game and go from there.”
No wonder Miami crowds are notorious for arriving late and acting comatose. James vowed to infuse his teammates with a sense of urgency Wednesday. RIFT Platinum They responded by making two of their first eight shots and committing four early turnovers.
Yawns happen when you’ve beaten a team 10 out of 11 times.
“People say we weren’t ready,” Spoelstra said. “That’s an absolute discredit to the Philadelphia 76ers.”
He was half-right. Doug Collins & Co. Rift Gold certainly deserve praise for not playing the role of tomato can. The 76ers not only jumped to a lead Wednesday, they had a chance to tie the game in the final minute
2011年4月27日星期三
Ethics: Coming Soon
rift gold
As a new federal employee, I felt a combination of excitement and anxiety about meeting the strict standards of discretion and respect that our government imposes on its workers. Fearful of making a costly mistake, I decided to read up on procedures and standards on the federal Office of Personnel Management web page. I'm not sure if I was relieved or worried when I clicked on one page and found: "Ethics: Coming Soon!"
rift gold
As a new federal employee, I felt a combination of excitement and anxiety about meeting the strict standards of discretion and respect that our government imposes on its workers. Fearful of making a costly mistake, I decided to read up on procedures and standards on the federal Office of Personnel Management web page. I'm not sure if I was relieved or worried when I clicked on one page and found: "Ethics: Coming Soon!"
rift gold
Express mail
rift gold
After my wife landed a coveted job offer from DHL, we went out of town to celebrate. While on our trip, she was contacted by the company's human resources department with an urgent request to complete and send back her tax forms.
"No problem," she said. "I'll FedEx them right over."
rift gold
After my wife landed a coveted job offer from DHL, we went out of town to celebrate. While on our trip, she was contacted by the company's human resources department with an urgent request to complete and send back her tax forms.
"No problem," she said. "I'll FedEx them right over."
rift gold
The Lion, the Bear, and the Fox
rift gold
Two Thieves having stolen a Piano and being unable to divide it
fairly without a remainder went to law about it and continued the
contest as long as either one could steal a dollar to bribe the
judge. When they could give no more an Honest Man came along and
by a single small payment obtained a judgment and took the Piano
home, where his daughter used it to develop her biceps muscles,
becoming a famous pugiliste.
rift gold
Two Thieves having stolen a Piano and being unable to divide it
fairly without a remainder went to law about it and continued the
contest as long as either one could steal a dollar to bribe the
judge. When they could give no more an Honest Man came along and
by a single small payment obtained a judgment and took the Piano
home, where his daughter used it to develop her biceps muscles,
becoming a famous pugiliste.
rift gold
The Ass and the Lion's Skin
rift gold
A MEMBER of the State Militia stood at a street corner, scowling
stormily, and the people passing that way went a long way around
him, thinking of the horrors of war. But presently, in order to
terrify them still more, he strode toward them, when, his sword
entangling his legs, he fell upon the field of glory, and the
people passed over him singing their sweetest songs.
rift gold
A MEMBER of the State Militia stood at a street corner, scowling
stormily, and the people passing that way went a long way around
him, thinking of the horrors of war. But presently, in order to
terrify them still more, he strode toward them, when, his sword
entangling his legs, he fell upon the field of glory, and the
people passed over him singing their sweetest songs.
rift gold
2011年4月26日星期二
MMA Top 10 Light Heavyweights: Any Stopping Jon Jones?
The Jon Jones Era, as you've surely heard, has begun: Jones is the new UFC light heavyweight champion, and everyone who follows MMA agrees that he's going to be the champion for a long, long time.
However, the light heavyweight division is so talented that it's been nearly impossible for anyone to hold the belt for long: Chuck Liddell lost it to Rampage Jackson, who lost it to Forrest Griffin, who lost it to Rashad Evans, who lost it to Lyoto Machida, who lost it to Shogun Rua, who lost it to Jones. We've had seven different champions in the last four years, so why is everyone so sure that Jones is going to hold onto the belt for so long?
The biggest reason, I think, is Jones' age. With the exception of Evans losing to Machida, every champion I mentioned above lost the belt to someone younger than him. But there aren't any contenders on the horizon younger than the 23-year-old Jones. Not only is Jones already the best, but he's going to keep getting better as the rest of the Top 10 light heavyweights in mixed martial arts get older.
So as I list the Top 10 light heavyweights below, I'll talk about how I'd like their chances against Jones -- even though I expect Jones to reign over all of them for a long time.
(Editor's note: The individual fighter's ranking the last time we did light heavyweights are in parentheses).
1. Jon Jones (2): That was nothing short of a masterful performance that Jones put on against Shogun. Jones deserves all the accolades coming his way, and he deserves to be considered the best light heavyweight in the sport by a huge margin. The toughest challenges to Jones would probably come from outside his weight class, either if Anderson Silva moved up to challenge Jones or if Jones moved up to compete at heavyweight. As he currently stands among the light heavyweights, there's no one close to Jones.
2. Shogun Rua (1): After that savage beating at UFC 128, would anyone give Shogun much of a prayer in a rematch against Jones? Rua has had a great career already, and at age 29 he still has more good fights left in him, but it's hard to see how he ever beats Jones.
3. Lyoto Machida (3): Machida's style of striking would make for an interesting contrast with Jones, but it would be an uphill battle for Machida's in-and-out movement to work against someone with the huge reach advantage that Jones has. If Machida beats Randy Couture at UFC 129 he'll be in the light heavyweight title mix, but he probably needs two more wins before he'd get a shot at the champ.
4. Rashad Evans (4): The man who gets the first crack at Jones will know his opponent well: Before Evans split with Greg Jackson, he trained with Jones regularly. That might help him to some extent, as he won't be shocked the way Shogun was by Jones' size and unconventional approach. But Evans will have a very hard time getting inside on Jones, and although Evans is one of the top wrestlers at 205 pounds, I have a hard time seeing him having much success taking Jones down. It's easy to see why Evans looked so disappointed following Jones' UFC 128 victory: He knows he has an incredibly difficult task ahead of him.
5. Rampage Jackson (5): As a pure puncher, Rampage might hit as hard as Jones, and if he connected with one of those punches he could be the first person to put Jones in any trouble standing. Jones has a far more diverse striking game, however, and would likely put a serious hurting on Rampage.
6. Thiago Silva (6): The thought of a fight between Silva and Jones is a lot of fun, as Silva is a vicious puncher who would take the fight right to Jones standing up. RIFT Platinum But Silva lost by knockout to the best striker he ever faced (Machida) and lost by decision to the best wrestler he ever faced (Evans). It's hard to see why he'd be any more successful against a great striker/wrestler combination like Jones.
7. Dan Henderson (8): If Zuffa eventually decides to unify the UFC and Strikeforce belts, that would result in a Jones-Henderson bout, which would probably go about as well for Henderson as his Pride unification bouts with Anderson Silva and Rampage Jackson. Which is to say, Henderson is a tough old dude who fights everyone competitively, but he wouldn't walk out of the cage a champion after facing the best in the UFC.
8. Forrest Griffin (7): Griffin has surprised us all on more than one occasion, pulling off wins over Shogun and Rampage as a heavy underdog in both fights. rift gold But he'd be a much, much bigger underdog against Jones than he was in either of those fights, and it's awfully tough to see what his path to victory would be against Jones.
9. Ryan Bader (9): When Bader won The Ultimate Fighter in 2008, there was a lot of talk that he was the best young light heavyweight in the sport.Rift Gold He's now been completely surpassed by Jones, however, and it seems unlikely that he'll ever get a rematch with the man who beat him in February. Up next for Bader is a fight with Tito Ortiz in July, which Bader should win.
10. Phil Davis (NR): Davis's name is the one I've heard most often in discussions about the best man to beat Jones some day. But while people talk about Davis like he's a young up-and-comer, RIFT Platinum he's actually three years older than Jones. I expect Davis to keep getting better and perhaps contend for the light heavyweight belt in the future. But I expect Jones to keep getting better, too.
However, the light heavyweight division is so talented that it's been nearly impossible for anyone to hold the belt for long: Chuck Liddell lost it to Rampage Jackson, who lost it to Forrest Griffin, who lost it to Rashad Evans, who lost it to Lyoto Machida, who lost it to Shogun Rua, who lost it to Jones. We've had seven different champions in the last four years, so why is everyone so sure that Jones is going to hold onto the belt for so long?
The biggest reason, I think, is Jones' age. With the exception of Evans losing to Machida, every champion I mentioned above lost the belt to someone younger than him. But there aren't any contenders on the horizon younger than the 23-year-old Jones. Not only is Jones already the best, but he's going to keep getting better as the rest of the Top 10 light heavyweights in mixed martial arts get older.
So as I list the Top 10 light heavyweights below, I'll talk about how I'd like their chances against Jones -- even though I expect Jones to reign over all of them for a long time.
(Editor's note: The individual fighter's ranking the last time we did light heavyweights are in parentheses).
1. Jon Jones (2): That was nothing short of a masterful performance that Jones put on against Shogun. Jones deserves all the accolades coming his way, and he deserves to be considered the best light heavyweight in the sport by a huge margin. The toughest challenges to Jones would probably come from outside his weight class, either if Anderson Silva moved up to challenge Jones or if Jones moved up to compete at heavyweight. As he currently stands among the light heavyweights, there's no one close to Jones.
2. Shogun Rua (1): After that savage beating at UFC 128, would anyone give Shogun much of a prayer in a rematch against Jones? Rua has had a great career already, and at age 29 he still has more good fights left in him, but it's hard to see how he ever beats Jones.
3. Lyoto Machida (3): Machida's style of striking would make for an interesting contrast with Jones, but it would be an uphill battle for Machida's in-and-out movement to work against someone with the huge reach advantage that Jones has. If Machida beats Randy Couture at UFC 129 he'll be in the light heavyweight title mix, but he probably needs two more wins before he'd get a shot at the champ.
4. Rashad Evans (4): The man who gets the first crack at Jones will know his opponent well: Before Evans split with Greg Jackson, he trained with Jones regularly. That might help him to some extent, as he won't be shocked the way Shogun was by Jones' size and unconventional approach. But Evans will have a very hard time getting inside on Jones, and although Evans is one of the top wrestlers at 205 pounds, I have a hard time seeing him having much success taking Jones down. It's easy to see why Evans looked so disappointed following Jones' UFC 128 victory: He knows he has an incredibly difficult task ahead of him.
5. Rampage Jackson (5): As a pure puncher, Rampage might hit as hard as Jones, and if he connected with one of those punches he could be the first person to put Jones in any trouble standing. Jones has a far more diverse striking game, however, and would likely put a serious hurting on Rampage.
6. Thiago Silva (6): The thought of a fight between Silva and Jones is a lot of fun, as Silva is a vicious puncher who would take the fight right to Jones standing up. RIFT Platinum But Silva lost by knockout to the best striker he ever faced (Machida) and lost by decision to the best wrestler he ever faced (Evans). It's hard to see why he'd be any more successful against a great striker/wrestler combination like Jones.
7. Dan Henderson (8): If Zuffa eventually decides to unify the UFC and Strikeforce belts, that would result in a Jones-Henderson bout, which would probably go about as well for Henderson as his Pride unification bouts with Anderson Silva and Rampage Jackson. Which is to say, Henderson is a tough old dude who fights everyone competitively, but he wouldn't walk out of the cage a champion after facing the best in the UFC.
8. Forrest Griffin (7): Griffin has surprised us all on more than one occasion, pulling off wins over Shogun and Rampage as a heavy underdog in both fights. rift gold But he'd be a much, much bigger underdog against Jones than he was in either of those fights, and it's awfully tough to see what his path to victory would be against Jones.
9. Ryan Bader (9): When Bader won The Ultimate Fighter in 2008, there was a lot of talk that he was the best young light heavyweight in the sport.Rift Gold He's now been completely surpassed by Jones, however, and it seems unlikely that he'll ever get a rematch with the man who beat him in February. Up next for Bader is a fight with Tito Ortiz in July, which Bader should win.
10. Phil Davis (NR): Davis's name is the one I've heard most often in discussions about the best man to beat Jones some day. But while people talk about Davis like he's a young up-and-comer, RIFT Platinum he's actually three years older than Jones. I expect Davis to keep getting better and perhaps contend for the light heavyweight belt in the future. But I expect Jones to keep getting better, too.
She Did It Again: Britney Spears' 'Femme Fatale' Debuts at No. 1
Let her detractors talk, but the numbers don't lie: Britney Spears has still got it.
The pop princess's latest album, 'Femme Fatale,' burst onto the Billboard 200 chart at No. 1, selling a whopping 276,000 copies in its first week. Rift Gold It's the sixth No. 1 album for Spears, who first accomplished the feat with her debut, '...Baby One More Time,' over a decade ago at the tender age of 16. RIFT Platinum It proves that fans are still hungry for more from the diva even as a 29-year-old mother of two.
Her most recent success means she is tied with Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson in third place for the most No. 1 albums from a female artist. Only legends Madonna, with seven, and Barbra Streisand, with nine, top her.
It's really no surprise given the wild success of the album's first single, 'Hold It Against Me,' which shot to No. 1 in record-breaking form when it was released in January. rift gold Its video, which debuted a month later and stirred some controversy due to its gratuitous product placement, has over 33 million views on Vevo.
Despite the success, 276,000 falls way short of her previous first week sales. RIFT Platinum 'Circus,' her comeback album in 2008, moved 506,000 units in its first week and ultimately went on to sell over 1.7 million copies in the U.S. alone.
The pop princess's latest album, 'Femme Fatale,' burst onto the Billboard 200 chart at No. 1, selling a whopping 276,000 copies in its first week. Rift Gold It's the sixth No. 1 album for Spears, who first accomplished the feat with her debut, '...Baby One More Time,' over a decade ago at the tender age of 16. RIFT Platinum It proves that fans are still hungry for more from the diva even as a 29-year-old mother of two.
Her most recent success means she is tied with Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson in third place for the most No. 1 albums from a female artist. Only legends Madonna, with seven, and Barbra Streisand, with nine, top her.
It's really no surprise given the wild success of the album's first single, 'Hold It Against Me,' which shot to No. 1 in record-breaking form when it was released in January. rift gold Its video, which debuted a month later and stirred some controversy due to its gratuitous product placement, has over 33 million views on Vevo.
Despite the success, 276,000 falls way short of her previous first week sales. RIFT Platinum 'Circus,' her comeback album in 2008, moved 506,000 units in its first week and ultimately went on to sell over 1.7 million copies in the U.S. alone.
2011年4月25日星期一
LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian Snap 'Engagement' Photo
Is LeAnn Rimes engaged? Not exactly.
Over the weekend, RIFT Platinum Rimes' boyfriend, actor Eddie Cibrian, tweeted this photo of him kneeling while a shocked Rimes looks on.
"I couldn't resist..." he tweeted Sunday evening.
But sources tell PEOPLE the photo was just a joke. "They are not engaged," says a source close to Rimes. rift gold "It was just part of the Halloween fun."
Rimes and Cibrian met and began a relationship while filming the 2008 Lifetime television movie 'Northern Lights.' Both were married at the time but have since divorced their spouses to be together. RIFT Platinum She ended her 7-year marriage to Dean Sheremet, admitting in June that they worked on their relationship after her infidelity became public but decided "it wasn't a marriage that fulfilled either one of us."
"I take responsibility for everything I've done. I hate that people got hurt," says Rimes. Rift Gold "But I don't regret the outcome."
Over the weekend, RIFT Platinum Rimes' boyfriend, actor Eddie Cibrian, tweeted this photo of him kneeling while a shocked Rimes looks on.
"I couldn't resist..." he tweeted Sunday evening.
But sources tell PEOPLE the photo was just a joke. "They are not engaged," says a source close to Rimes. rift gold "It was just part of the Halloween fun."
Rimes and Cibrian met and began a relationship while filming the 2008 Lifetime television movie 'Northern Lights.' Both were married at the time but have since divorced their spouses to be together. RIFT Platinum She ended her 7-year marriage to Dean Sheremet, admitting in June that they worked on their relationship after her infidelity became public but decided "it wasn't a marriage that fulfilled either one of us."
"I take responsibility for everything I've done. I hate that people got hurt," says Rimes. Rift Gold "But I don't regret the outcome."
Wednesday's Frosty Mug
Wednesday's Frosty Mug
by Kyle Lobner on Apr 20, 2011 9:31 AM CDT in News
39 comments Email Print
Some things to read while rocking the karaoke.
The Good Phight may have called it "The most garbage game of baseball ever played" but I prefer to look at last night's win as a potentially tremendous momentum-builder for the Brewers, as they beat Roy Halladay to improve to 4-3 on the road trip. They're back at it early today with a 12:05 series finale: Cash Kruth of MLB.com has the preview.
The Brewer lineup for today's game has already been released:
Rickie Weeks 2B
Carlos Gomez CF
Ryan Braun LF
Prince Fielder 1B
Casey McGehee 3B
Yuniesky Betancourt SS
Erick Almonte RF
Jonathan Lucroy C
Chris Narveson P
A couple of things immediately jump out at me here:
Wil Nieves caught Narveson's last start, with Ron Roenicke citing the success the two had had together up to that point. Today Lucroy will catch him instead.
I mentioned this in the game thread last night, but I'll repeat it here: Erick Almonte has got to be nearing the point where any plate appearance could be his last as a major leaguer.
In other news, a robot will be throwing out today's first pitch.
The Phillies made a roster move after last night's game, placing reliever J.C. Romero on the DL with a calf strain and recalling reliever Mike Zagurski. Romero left Monday's game with the injury, but I thought I heard Brian Anderson say he was warming in the Phillies bullpen during last night's game.
The Brewers made one change before last night's game, placing Shaun Marcum on the bereavement list (his father had heart surgery yesterday) and recalling Mike McClendon, who pitched a scoreless ninth inning in his first game back with the team (FanShot). In an interview during the game Rick Kranitz said Marcum's father's surgery went well. He's still projected to make his next start this weekend.
The Brewers, meanwhile, are not making a move today. Adam McCalvy is reporting that LaTroy Hawkins will have to wait until Friday to return to the roster.
Other notes from the field:
With Nyjer Morgan still out and Erick Almonte already having been used as a pinch hitter, Craig Counsell played the outfield for the first time in his career last night, filling the final innings in place of Ryan Braun. Tom Haudricourt wonders how many players make their outfield debut at age 40.
Before leaving the game Braun was on base four times. @BrewersHistory notes that he's the first Brewer to reach base in the team's first 17 games since Jeromy Burnitz in 1997.
Craig Calcaterra noted that Roy Halladay threw 123 pitches and a complete game in his previous outing, suggesting that fatigue could have been a factor last night. I didn't think Halladay got tired.
Randy Wolf, Ryan Braun and George Kottaras are leading FanGraphs' Star of the Game Voting.
Here's a transcript of Ron Roenicke's postgame remarks.
Carson Cistulli documented some Bob Uecker quotes regarding Mike Leake and wearing makeup on Mr. Belvedere.
Looking back another day: Prince Fielder was hit by a pitch in the 12th inning of Monday's win, and Plunk Everyone reports that he's now tied for the Citizens Bank Park lead with seven HBP as a visiting player.
Off the field, Zack Greinke was yesterday's big story. In the first game of his rehab assignment he pitched three shutout innings for Brevard County, striking out four and allowing just one hit.
Corey Hart also made his rehab debut last night, going 0-for-2 with a groundout and a strikeout for AAA Nashville. He'll probably be overmatched at that level for a little while: This is his first time facing live pitching in a game situation in over a month.
Speaking of Hart, Scott Miller of CBS Sports has a look at the oblique injury that has taken him and roughly a dozen other players down this spring.
The news is not as good, meanwhile, for Takashi Saito. He's eligible to be activated off the DL on Friday but Ron Roenicke said he won't be ready to go.
Last night's 9-0 lead meant the Brewers didn't need to use John Axford on consecutive days, so they didn't. Jaymes Langrehr of The Brewers Bar says Axford's inability to keep his fastball down is the cause of many of his early issues.
Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder were a solid 1-2 punch for the Brewers last night, RIFT Platinum combining to go 5-for-9 with a home run and three walks. Satchel Price of Beyond the Box Score says they're baseball's fifth best combo, and wants your vote to select the best one.
Over the course of this month we're learning more and more about the personality and managerial style of Ron Roenicke. Here are a couple of notes from around the web today:
Danny Knobler of CBS Sports has a look at what we can take away from Roenicke's first few weeks on the job.
The Baseball Codes dug up an interview with Roenicke from 2006 about unwritten rules.
A Simple Kind of Fan has a look at the decision to shift more often, and asks if the coaches can really help the defense.
In the minors:
The Nashville Sounds had a scary moment last night, as starting pitcher Josh Butler had to be helped off the field after taking a line drive off his head. The batter was former Brewer Vinny Rottino. I haven't heard any update on Butler's condition.
Weather sucks. Appleton got 6+ inches of snow yesterday (and more is falling as we speak), postponing last night and today's Wisconsin games. Rattler Radio has visual evidence of the carnage.
If you're looking for more Brewer content this morning but you're sick of reading, rift gold the View From Bernie's Chalet podcast is up. This week's topics include offensive woes, a week in review and defensive alignment.
Around baseball:
Angels: Designated infielder Brandon Wood for assignment (FanShot). (see below)
Cardinals: Placed outfielders Skip Schumaker (triceps strain) and Allen Craig (groin strain) on the DL.
Mariners: Placed first baseman Justin Smoak on the bereavement list.
Mets: Designated infielder Brad Emaus for assignment.
Tigers: Placed catcher Victor Martinez on the DL with a strained groin.
Wood, now 26, is a former first round pick and top prospect in the Angels organization, and was Baseball America's #3 and #8 prospect in all of baseball in 2006 and 2007, respectively. He's a .284/.352/.536 career hitter in the minors but has never seemed to put it together in the big leagues. RIFT Platinum Wood also has over 500 minor league starts at shortstop. Someone will almost certainly claim him off waivers and attempt to buy low on him, and I definitely would not be opposed to the Brewers being that team.
Around the NL Central:
The Diamondbacks beat the Reds 5-4.
The Marlins beat the Pirates 6-0.
The Astros beat the Mets 6-1.
The Cardinals (v Washington) and Cubs (v Padres) were rained out. Both will play doubleheaders today.
Here are today's updated standings:
Team W L GB
Brewers 9 8 --
Reds 9 8 --
Cardinals 8 8 .5
Cubs 8 8 .5
Pirates 8 9 1
Astros 6 11 3
Scott Segrin of In-Between Hops noted that five of the six Central teams are within a game of .500 at this point, effectively shortening the season to 145 games.
At least yesterday's rainout kept Tony La Russa from spreading this around too much: He's battling a lingering case of pinkeye.
Many/most of you know that I'm not a fan of the NBA, although I try to not to make too big of a deal of it on the front page. Some of that frustrating boiled over a bit when early Brewer games were preempted in favor of meaningless Bucks contests over the last month. Bucks games shouldn't preempt Brewer games, and here's another reason why: More people attend Bucks games than watch them on TV.
24 years ago today the Brewers played one of the more memorable games in franchise history. Rift Gold If you'd like to re-live it this morning, Brewers1987.com has an excellent recap.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to fighting communism.
by Kyle Lobner on Apr 20, 2011 9:31 AM CDT in News
39 comments Email Print
Some things to read while rocking the karaoke.
The Good Phight may have called it "The most garbage game of baseball ever played" but I prefer to look at last night's win as a potentially tremendous momentum-builder for the Brewers, as they beat Roy Halladay to improve to 4-3 on the road trip. They're back at it early today with a 12:05 series finale: Cash Kruth of MLB.com has the preview.
The Brewer lineup for today's game has already been released:
Rickie Weeks 2B
Carlos Gomez CF
Ryan Braun LF
Prince Fielder 1B
Casey McGehee 3B
Yuniesky Betancourt SS
Erick Almonte RF
Jonathan Lucroy C
Chris Narveson P
A couple of things immediately jump out at me here:
Wil Nieves caught Narveson's last start, with Ron Roenicke citing the success the two had had together up to that point. Today Lucroy will catch him instead.
I mentioned this in the game thread last night, but I'll repeat it here: Erick Almonte has got to be nearing the point where any plate appearance could be his last as a major leaguer.
In other news, a robot will be throwing out today's first pitch.
The Phillies made a roster move after last night's game, placing reliever J.C. Romero on the DL with a calf strain and recalling reliever Mike Zagurski. Romero left Monday's game with the injury, but I thought I heard Brian Anderson say he was warming in the Phillies bullpen during last night's game.
The Brewers made one change before last night's game, placing Shaun Marcum on the bereavement list (his father had heart surgery yesterday) and recalling Mike McClendon, who pitched a scoreless ninth inning in his first game back with the team (FanShot). In an interview during the game Rick Kranitz said Marcum's father's surgery went well. He's still projected to make his next start this weekend.
The Brewers, meanwhile, are not making a move today. Adam McCalvy is reporting that LaTroy Hawkins will have to wait until Friday to return to the roster.
Other notes from the field:
With Nyjer Morgan still out and Erick Almonte already having been used as a pinch hitter, Craig Counsell played the outfield for the first time in his career last night, filling the final innings in place of Ryan Braun. Tom Haudricourt wonders how many players make their outfield debut at age 40.
Before leaving the game Braun was on base four times. @BrewersHistory notes that he's the first Brewer to reach base in the team's first 17 games since Jeromy Burnitz in 1997.
Craig Calcaterra noted that Roy Halladay threw 123 pitches and a complete game in his previous outing, suggesting that fatigue could have been a factor last night. I didn't think Halladay got tired.
Randy Wolf, Ryan Braun and George Kottaras are leading FanGraphs' Star of the Game Voting.
Here's a transcript of Ron Roenicke's postgame remarks.
Carson Cistulli documented some Bob Uecker quotes regarding Mike Leake and wearing makeup on Mr. Belvedere.
Looking back another day: Prince Fielder was hit by a pitch in the 12th inning of Monday's win, and Plunk Everyone reports that he's now tied for the Citizens Bank Park lead with seven HBP as a visiting player.
Off the field, Zack Greinke was yesterday's big story. In the first game of his rehab assignment he pitched three shutout innings for Brevard County, striking out four and allowing just one hit.
Corey Hart also made his rehab debut last night, going 0-for-2 with a groundout and a strikeout for AAA Nashville. He'll probably be overmatched at that level for a little while: This is his first time facing live pitching in a game situation in over a month.
Speaking of Hart, Scott Miller of CBS Sports has a look at the oblique injury that has taken him and roughly a dozen other players down this spring.
The news is not as good, meanwhile, for Takashi Saito. He's eligible to be activated off the DL on Friday but Ron Roenicke said he won't be ready to go.
Last night's 9-0 lead meant the Brewers didn't need to use John Axford on consecutive days, so they didn't. Jaymes Langrehr of The Brewers Bar says Axford's inability to keep his fastball down is the cause of many of his early issues.
Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder were a solid 1-2 punch for the Brewers last night, RIFT Platinum combining to go 5-for-9 with a home run and three walks. Satchel Price of Beyond the Box Score says they're baseball's fifth best combo, and wants your vote to select the best one.
Over the course of this month we're learning more and more about the personality and managerial style of Ron Roenicke. Here are a couple of notes from around the web today:
Danny Knobler of CBS Sports has a look at what we can take away from Roenicke's first few weeks on the job.
The Baseball Codes dug up an interview with Roenicke from 2006 about unwritten rules.
A Simple Kind of Fan has a look at the decision to shift more often, and asks if the coaches can really help the defense.
In the minors:
The Nashville Sounds had a scary moment last night, as starting pitcher Josh Butler had to be helped off the field after taking a line drive off his head. The batter was former Brewer Vinny Rottino. I haven't heard any update on Butler's condition.
Weather sucks. Appleton got 6+ inches of snow yesterday (and more is falling as we speak), postponing last night and today's Wisconsin games. Rattler Radio has visual evidence of the carnage.
If you're looking for more Brewer content this morning but you're sick of reading, rift gold the View From Bernie's Chalet podcast is up. This week's topics include offensive woes, a week in review and defensive alignment.
Around baseball:
Angels: Designated infielder Brandon Wood for assignment (FanShot). (see below)
Cardinals: Placed outfielders Skip Schumaker (triceps strain) and Allen Craig (groin strain) on the DL.
Mariners: Placed first baseman Justin Smoak on the bereavement list.
Mets: Designated infielder Brad Emaus for assignment.
Tigers: Placed catcher Victor Martinez on the DL with a strained groin.
Wood, now 26, is a former first round pick and top prospect in the Angels organization, and was Baseball America's #3 and #8 prospect in all of baseball in 2006 and 2007, respectively. He's a .284/.352/.536 career hitter in the minors but has never seemed to put it together in the big leagues. RIFT Platinum Wood also has over 500 minor league starts at shortstop. Someone will almost certainly claim him off waivers and attempt to buy low on him, and I definitely would not be opposed to the Brewers being that team.
Around the NL Central:
The Diamondbacks beat the Reds 5-4.
The Marlins beat the Pirates 6-0.
The Astros beat the Mets 6-1.
The Cardinals (v Washington) and Cubs (v Padres) were rained out. Both will play doubleheaders today.
Here are today's updated standings:
Team W L GB
Brewers 9 8 --
Reds 9 8 --
Cardinals 8 8 .5
Cubs 8 8 .5
Pirates 8 9 1
Astros 6 11 3
Scott Segrin of In-Between Hops noted that five of the six Central teams are within a game of .500 at this point, effectively shortening the season to 145 games.
At least yesterday's rainout kept Tony La Russa from spreading this around too much: He's battling a lingering case of pinkeye.
Many/most of you know that I'm not a fan of the NBA, although I try to not to make too big of a deal of it on the front page. Some of that frustrating boiled over a bit when early Brewer games were preempted in favor of meaningless Bucks contests over the last month. Bucks games shouldn't preempt Brewer games, and here's another reason why: More people attend Bucks games than watch them on TV.
24 years ago today the Brewers played one of the more memorable games in franchise history. Rift Gold If you'd like to re-live it this morning, Brewers1987.com has an excellent recap.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to fighting communism.
Air Zimbabwe Pilots Return to Work, But Carrier's Future Still Looks Bleak
Air Zimbabwe has resumed resumed most flights following intervention this week by the Harare government to settle financial claims by striking pilots and cabin crew.
Sources said the government paid US$2.8 million Wednesday under an agreement with pilots, flight engineers and cabin crew to get the state carrier’s planes back in the air.
Under the agreement, airline employees agreed to forego some US$4.5 million in back wages and allowances outstanding from 2007 and 2008.
The government,rift gold striking workers and Air Zimbabwe management agreed that the arrears estimates were based on inflated figures from the country's bout of hyperinflation.
Air Zimbabwe General Manager for Europe David Mwenga said the deal has brought relief to thousands of travelers. “We are happy that travelers will be able to use Air Zimbabwe during and after the Easter holidays,” Mwenga said.
Publisher Mark Mansfield of Airnews,rift gold which covers African aviation, said that though the strike has been ended Air Zimbabwe's future is bleak. “Zimbabwe must realize that it is losing a valuable asset and what is worrying is that private investors cannot rescue the national airline because of the current political situation in the country,” he said.
“Zimbabwe needs to work hard to clean the reputation of both the country and airline,” said Fly Magazine Publisher Guy Leitch, also based in Johannesburg.
Sources said the government paid US$2.8 million Wednesday under an agreement with pilots, flight engineers and cabin crew to get the state carrier’s planes back in the air.
Under the agreement, airline employees agreed to forego some US$4.5 million in back wages and allowances outstanding from 2007 and 2008.
The government,rift gold striking workers and Air Zimbabwe management agreed that the arrears estimates were based on inflated figures from the country's bout of hyperinflation.
Air Zimbabwe General Manager for Europe David Mwenga said the deal has brought relief to thousands of travelers. “We are happy that travelers will be able to use Air Zimbabwe during and after the Easter holidays,” Mwenga said.
Publisher Mark Mansfield of Airnews,rift gold which covers African aviation, said that though the strike has been ended Air Zimbabwe's future is bleak. “Zimbabwe must realize that it is losing a valuable asset and what is worrying is that private investors cannot rescue the national airline because of the current political situation in the country,” he said.
“Zimbabwe needs to work hard to clean the reputation of both the country and airline,” said Fly Magazine Publisher Guy Leitch, also based in Johannesburg.
Zimbabwe Agriculture Minister Forecasts Harvests Meeting National Needs
Zimbabwe is on track to harvest nearly 1.9 million tonnes of cereals this year, 100,000 tonnes over the annual national requirement of 1.8 million tonnes, Agriculture Minister Joseph Made said in a report presented to the Cabinet this week.
Made said the assessment pointed to a total maize yield of 1.45 million tonnes, a gain of 9 percent over 2010 results. He said 270,000 tonnes have already been harvested.
The rest of the cereal crop, or some 450,000 tonnes, will come from small grains.
The minister's report closely followed President Robert Mugabe’s acknowledgment on a speech on Monday, Independence Day,rift gold that food shortages loom due to drought.
Agronomist Thomas Nherera told VOA reporter Jonga Kandemiiri that he agrees with the ministry's assessment. But he said that achieving the levels in the forecast depended on success among farmers who planted small grains after maize crops failed.
Elsewhere,rift gold responding to consumer complaints, the government said it will slash water prices across the country, overriding prices set by local governments. The government ordered fixed water charges in high-density areas to be reduced to US5.00 a month and to US11.00 dollars in low-density areas. Rates per cubic meter were also cut.
Residents can now expect to pay 20 US cents per cubic meter for the first 20; from 21 to 50 cubic meters the unit cost is 60 cents. Those who consume between 51 and 100 cubic meters a month will pay US$1.00 per cubic meter to discourage overuse.
Residents deprived of water for 30 consecutive days can contest payment for the period.
The imposition of uniform water rates by the government comes amid wrangles between city councils and groups representing consumers who have encouraged households to refuse to pay water bills that they say are based on incorrect estimates.
Harare Residents Trust Coordinator Precious Shumba told VOA reporter Tatenda Gumbo that his group welcomes the fixed charge plan. But he emphasized that billing systems must be fixed, noting that meter systems in many areas are not functioning.
Made said the assessment pointed to a total maize yield of 1.45 million tonnes, a gain of 9 percent over 2010 results. He said 270,000 tonnes have already been harvested.
The rest of the cereal crop, or some 450,000 tonnes, will come from small grains.
The minister's report closely followed President Robert Mugabe’s acknowledgment on a speech on Monday, Independence Day,rift gold that food shortages loom due to drought.
Agronomist Thomas Nherera told VOA reporter Jonga Kandemiiri that he agrees with the ministry's assessment. But he said that achieving the levels in the forecast depended on success among farmers who planted small grains after maize crops failed.
Elsewhere,rift gold responding to consumer complaints, the government said it will slash water prices across the country, overriding prices set by local governments. The government ordered fixed water charges in high-density areas to be reduced to US5.00 a month and to US11.00 dollars in low-density areas. Rates per cubic meter were also cut.
Residents can now expect to pay 20 US cents per cubic meter for the first 20; from 21 to 50 cubic meters the unit cost is 60 cents. Those who consume between 51 and 100 cubic meters a month will pay US$1.00 per cubic meter to discourage overuse.
Residents deprived of water for 30 consecutive days can contest payment for the period.
The imposition of uniform water rates by the government comes amid wrangles between city councils and groups representing consumers who have encouraged households to refuse to pay water bills that they say are based on incorrect estimates.
Harare Residents Trust Coordinator Precious Shumba told VOA reporter Tatenda Gumbo that his group welcomes the fixed charge plan. But he emphasized that billing systems must be fixed, noting that meter systems in many areas are not functioning.
The World’s Favorite Cup
Coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the world. Many people think it has a great taste and a wonderful smell. Coffee also contains caffeine, which is a stimulant—that is, a substance that increases the body’s activity.
Coffee grows as a bush with sweet-smelling flowers and fleshy fruit called “coffee cherries.”Within the fruit are two seeds,rift gold or “beans.” The beans are dried, roasted, and ground. The ground coffee is then brewed in water to make a drink. Coffee plants need warm weather and plenty of rain, so they grow only in tropical regions. There are at least 60 types of coffee plants. But only two kinds, called Arabica and Robusta, are in great demand.
Arabica coffee has more flavor and fragrance. It is grown in Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Indonesia. Coffee from Colombia is especially well known. Robusta coffee is grown mainly in Africa. The Robusta plant does not pick up disease easily. It is also useful in making instant coffee. Instant coffee is coffee powder that dissolves completely in water.
Coffee probably first came from Ethiopia, in northeastern Africa. From there it was taken to the Middle East. At first it was used as a food, as a medicine,rift gold and in wines. People did not begin to drink coffee as we know it for hundreds of years. Coffee was taken to Europe and then the Americas starting in about the 1500s.
Today coffee is one of the world’s most popular drinks. Rest periods taken during working hours are often called “coffee breaks.” Many, many people begin each day by drinking a cup of coffee.
Coffee grows as a bush with sweet-smelling flowers and fleshy fruit called “coffee cherries.”Within the fruit are two seeds,rift gold or “beans.” The beans are dried, roasted, and ground. The ground coffee is then brewed in water to make a drink. Coffee plants need warm weather and plenty of rain, so they grow only in tropical regions. There are at least 60 types of coffee plants. But only two kinds, called Arabica and Robusta, are in great demand.
Arabica coffee has more flavor and fragrance. It is grown in Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Indonesia. Coffee from Colombia is especially well known. Robusta coffee is grown mainly in Africa. The Robusta plant does not pick up disease easily. It is also useful in making instant coffee. Instant coffee is coffee powder that dissolves completely in water.
Coffee probably first came from Ethiopia, in northeastern Africa. From there it was taken to the Middle East. At first it was used as a food, as a medicine,rift gold and in wines. People did not begin to drink coffee as we know it for hundreds of years. Coffee was taken to Europe and then the Americas starting in about the 1500s.
Today coffee is one of the world’s most popular drinks. Rest periods taken during working hours are often called “coffee breaks.” Many, many people begin each day by drinking a cup of coffee.
Lack Of Consensus on Zimbabwe Diamonds Fractures Kimberley Membership
The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme for supervision of diamond markets faces mounting internal divisions following the recent pronouncement by new chairman Mathieu Yamba of the Democratic Republic of Congo authorizing Zimbabwe to sell all the diamonds from Marange it wishes without Kimberley supervision.
Western members of the watchdog group dismissed the decision as illegitimate as there was no consensus on the question among Kimberley members. But a fissure has opened with African members - including most significantly South Africa - backing Yamba.
rift gold
Highlighting Kimberley internal tensions, African producers led by South Africa boycotted a Kimberley working group on monitoring in Dubai last Thursday. The working group met to draft an agreement now being circulated among Kimberley members for approval.
But Zimbabwean Mines Minister Obert Mpofu said any new agreement authorizing Harare to sell is moot and unnecessary as Yamba has already given Harare a green light to sell.
The draft proposes Harare be allowed to export diamonds from Marange. Though major diamond importing countries like the United States, China and India attended the meeting, sources suggest Washington is not happy with the draft.
Sources say controversy deepened as members haggled over country compliance as opposed to mine site compliance, which would ensure more scrutiny over new mining concerns.
Five companies from South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and China – all members of the working group on monitoring – now operate in Marange in joint ventures with Harare.
Kimberly sources said the draft is confidential, but indicated that a controversial clause on the handling of complaints relating to violence, which Mpofu had previously dismissed as ‘nonsensical,’ has been dropped from the latest draft.
This has incensed Western human rights groups. But despite the concession, Mpofu says Harare will not bother to look at the new agreement.
The absence of the violence clause is of special concern to Kimberly non-governmental organization observers.
Executive Director Farai Maguwu of the Center for Research and Development in Mutare, a prominent critic of the government's Marange policies, was in Dubai for the meetings. He says civic groups may not back the agreement without the violence clause.
Though represented in Dubai, the United States has threatened to veto the agreement even if Harare eventually signs off on it. The Kimberly Process in theory works on a consensus basis, so such turmoil threatens to continue rift gold and potentially paralyze the group.
Cecilia Gardner, general counsel of the U.S. Kimberley Process Authority, says the Marange issue has been “taking up a lot of our time” which she says could be put to better use to deal with more pressing Kimberley matters.
Maguwu says that if Harare does not accept the new proposal, this would send things back to the drawing board meaning more disarray within the organization.
Mpofu dismisses the entire process saying Harare will remain a member but will not endure further scrutiny by the working group on monitoring.
Sources say participant countries will vote soon on the new agreement. Lack of consensus could leave Zimbabwe on the agenda at the next Kimberley plenary meeting in June.
Meanwhile the clashes within the respected organization seem to be much to the satisfaction of some in Harare.
Western members of the watchdog group dismissed the decision as illegitimate as there was no consensus on the question among Kimberley members. But a fissure has opened with African members - including most significantly South Africa - backing Yamba.
rift gold
Highlighting Kimberley internal tensions, African producers led by South Africa boycotted a Kimberley working group on monitoring in Dubai last Thursday. The working group met to draft an agreement now being circulated among Kimberley members for approval.
But Zimbabwean Mines Minister Obert Mpofu said any new agreement authorizing Harare to sell is moot and unnecessary as Yamba has already given Harare a green light to sell.
The draft proposes Harare be allowed to export diamonds from Marange. Though major diamond importing countries like the United States, China and India attended the meeting, sources suggest Washington is not happy with the draft.
Sources say controversy deepened as members haggled over country compliance as opposed to mine site compliance, which would ensure more scrutiny over new mining concerns.
Five companies from South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and China – all members of the working group on monitoring – now operate in Marange in joint ventures with Harare.
Kimberly sources said the draft is confidential, but indicated that a controversial clause on the handling of complaints relating to violence, which Mpofu had previously dismissed as ‘nonsensical,’ has been dropped from the latest draft.
This has incensed Western human rights groups. But despite the concession, Mpofu says Harare will not bother to look at the new agreement.
The absence of the violence clause is of special concern to Kimberly non-governmental organization observers.
Executive Director Farai Maguwu of the Center for Research and Development in Mutare, a prominent critic of the government's Marange policies, was in Dubai for the meetings. He says civic groups may not back the agreement without the violence clause.
Though represented in Dubai, the United States has threatened to veto the agreement even if Harare eventually signs off on it. The Kimberly Process in theory works on a consensus basis, so such turmoil threatens to continue rift gold and potentially paralyze the group.
Cecilia Gardner, general counsel of the U.S. Kimberley Process Authority, says the Marange issue has been “taking up a lot of our time” which she says could be put to better use to deal with more pressing Kimberley matters.
Maguwu says that if Harare does not accept the new proposal, this would send things back to the drawing board meaning more disarray within the organization.
Mpofu dismisses the entire process saying Harare will remain a member but will not endure further scrutiny by the working group on monitoring.
Sources say participant countries will vote soon on the new agreement. Lack of consensus could leave Zimbabwe on the agenda at the next Kimberley plenary meeting in June.
Meanwhile the clashes within the respected organization seem to be much to the satisfaction of some in Harare.
Gin
Gin, alcoholic liquor, distilled from grain, and deriving its flavor principally from an infusion of juniper berries. The name is an abbreviation of the word geneva, a corruption of either the French genièvre or the Dutch junever,rift gold both meaning “juniper.” The two principal kinds of gin are the American or English variety, usually described as London gin or dry gin, and the Dutch type, called Geneva schnapps or Hollands. Dry gin is prepared from grain alcohol that has been purified by fractional distillation. The purified alcohol is then mixed with juniper berries and other flavoring agents, distilled once more,rift gold and diluted to approximately 80 or 90 proof. Dutch gin is prepared in much the same way as dry gin, except that the grain alcohol is less highly purified, and thus retains more of the flavor of the grain. Sugar syrup is sometimes added to the final product. Gin drinking became a social evil in Britain early in the 18th century, when it was so cheap that one could get “drunk for a penny, dead drunk for twopence.” Increasingly heavy taxes, however, were levied on gin, beginning with the Gin Act of 1736. Gin is a popular beverage in the United Kingdom and the United States.
2011年4月24日星期日
How to File a Divorce From Someone Outside the U.S.
Overview
Divorce is complicated enough without adding the element of a spouse who lives in another country. Divorcing someone outside the United States is not impossible, but it is often more difficult than a purely domestic divorce. Rift Gold While each state has its own divorce laws, and state courts maintain jurisdiction over all divorces in that state, courts can enter divorce decrees for any marriage that meets the legal requirements. This includes divorces for couples in which one spouse lives in another country.
Step 1
Talk to your lawyer. Every state's divorce laws are different, but all require that at least one spouse meets the state's residency requirement. As long as one spouse resides in a state, either spouse can file for divorce there, even if one lives outside the country.
Step 2
Draft and file your petition. Filing a joint petition for divorce, RIFT Platinum also known as an uncontested divorce, is the easiest way to get a divorce when one spouse lives outside the state. State laws differ, but as long as both you and your spouse agree to all the terms of divorce, filing jointly is the best way to go.
Ask a Lawyer Online Now 12 Lawyers Are Online! Current Wait Time: 14 Minutes. Law.JustAnswer.com
Sponsored Links
Step 3
Have your spouse waive service. All divorces are lawsuits. rift gold When you file your lawsuit you have to notify the other party through what is known as service of process. Accomplishing this is best served by your spouse voluntarily waiving service.
Step 4
Publish notification of the divorce. If you do not know where your spouse is, or cannot otherwise prove service of process, you can ask the court's permission for service through publication. RIFT Platinum Serving divorce papers by publishing them in the local newspaper is sometimes allowed, but you must show you can't serve the divorce through any other means.
Divorce is complicated enough without adding the element of a spouse who lives in another country. Divorcing someone outside the United States is not impossible, but it is often more difficult than a purely domestic divorce. Rift Gold While each state has its own divorce laws, and state courts maintain jurisdiction over all divorces in that state, courts can enter divorce decrees for any marriage that meets the legal requirements. This includes divorces for couples in which one spouse lives in another country.
Step 1
Talk to your lawyer. Every state's divorce laws are different, but all require that at least one spouse meets the state's residency requirement. As long as one spouse resides in a state, either spouse can file for divorce there, even if one lives outside the country.
Step 2
Draft and file your petition. Filing a joint petition for divorce, RIFT Platinum also known as an uncontested divorce, is the easiest way to get a divorce when one spouse lives outside the state. State laws differ, but as long as both you and your spouse agree to all the terms of divorce, filing jointly is the best way to go.
Ask a Lawyer Online Now 12 Lawyers Are Online! Current Wait Time: 14 Minutes. Law.JustAnswer.com
Sponsored Links
Step 3
Have your spouse waive service. All divorces are lawsuits. rift gold When you file your lawsuit you have to notify the other party through what is known as service of process. Accomplishing this is best served by your spouse voluntarily waiving service.
Step 4
Publish notification of the divorce. If you do not know where your spouse is, or cannot otherwise prove service of process, you can ask the court's permission for service through publication. RIFT Platinum Serving divorce papers by publishing them in the local newspaper is sometimes allowed, but you must show you can't serve the divorce through any other means.
Nippon Weekly: Aoki Thinking of Calling it Quits, Sakuraba's Ear, Sandro's Hand
From rabbit costumes to reattached ears, every week in "Nippon Weekly," I will give you the low down on what's happening on the other side of the Pacific.
In the inaugural edition of Nippon Weekly: Shinya Aoki ponders quitting MMA, Kazushi Sakuraba's ear is back on his head, Marlon Sandro shows off his ballooned hands, more Japanese fighters look to the West and Deep starts with a disaster while Pancrase begins "Impressively."
Shinya Aoki Contemplating Quitting MMA?
Sources close to Shinya Aoki have indicated that the DREAM lightweight champion was contemplating retirement following his humiliating knockout loss to Yuichiro "Jienotsu" Nagashima at Dynamite!!
Aoki has clearly been troubled following the loss, going so far as to delete his @waoki Twitter account (although it appears that Aoki has started a new private account under the alias @jyotaronawo) after being harassed by Nagashima fans and has privately expressed an interest in quitting MMA to focus on his teaching duties at the Deep official gym.
Despite Aoki's apparent depression, if I were a betting man, I'd wager that we would see a return of the Baka Survivor in 2011. FEG are currently undergoing restructuring and planning and we should know more about the future of the promoter and lightweight ace by the end of January.
Video: "Jienotsu" Nagashima backstage after knocking out Aoki at Dynamite.
Bonus: Alistair Overeem and Todd Duffee talk backstage post-fight.
Kazushi Sakuraba's Ear Successfully Reattached
Kazushi Sakuraba's Laughter 7 Facebook page has revealed (photo) that the Japanese legend's ear is safely back on his head after a four-hour surgery.
DREAM event producer Keiichi Sasahara commented on the injury at the Dynamite!! post-fight press conference, "The lump of cauliflower was slightly torn so they had to stitch it back on. As it is full of veins it was a complicated operation. He should recover in just a few days. He is very frustrated with the injury though as he was in great condition and cut weight very well."
Esther Lin recently published a photo showing Sakuraba's ear getting torn during a takedown attempt on the DREAM welterweight champion Marius Zaromskis. Be warned, it is not pretty.
Marlon Sandro Not 100 Percent for Sengoku: Soul of Fight?
Former Sengoku featherweight champion Marlon Sandro has recently posted photos (photo 1,2) of a badly swollen right hand on Facebook, claiming that he had an infection three days prior to leaving for Japan.
Sandro lost his title in his first defense to Shooto champion Hatsu Hioki on Dec. 30th in what was considered by many to be a late fight of the year candidate.
Rambaa "M-16" Sombet vs. Junji Ito Booked for March 12 Shooto
The top 115-pound fighter in the world, Rambaa "M-16" Sombet (seen here wearing rabbit ears), will return to action on March 12 at Shooto: Shootor's Legacy 2 when he squares off with Shooting gym Yokohama's Junji Ito.
Sombet was sidelined for most of 2010 with visa issues but with the signatures of Shooto fans, the Thai national was granted a visa and he is free to defend his belt against the hard-hitting Ito who is riding a five fight win streak.
Shootor's Legacy 2 will also see the 2009 and 2010 Shooto rookie champions back in action as Yusuke Yachi, Yuta "Uruka" Sasaki, Kyoji Horiguchi, and Kosuke "Rambo" Suzuki will face yet-to-be-named opponents.
More Japanese Fighters Heading West?
Sengoku veteran Eiji Mitsuoka (16-7-2) has revealed on his blog that he has signed with power manager Shu Hirata. Hirata has been the agent responsible for bringing fighters such as Takeya Mizugaki and Yoshiyuki Yoshida to foreign soil and Mitsuoka, who has is one of Japan's most experienced cage fighters, will no doubt be looking to return to America for the first time in 10 years.
Top DREAM featherweight Kazuyuki Miyata is also publicly considering fighting on American soil if a fight with recently crowned DREAM featherweight champ Hiroyuki Takaya is not made in the near future. With his fellow featherweights Michihiro Omigawa and Norifumi "KID" Yamamoto recently signing with the UFC, Miyata feels he has only one or two more interesting fights in DREAM and the inactivity of Strikeforce's featherweight division has him considering leaving the leading Japanese promotion.
Deep Attempt to Recover After Horrible Start to 2011
Regional promotion Deep got off on the wrong foot in 2011 as their first attempt to promote on foreign soil was aborted only three days prior to the event. RIFT Platinum Deep boss Shigeru Saeki dubbed the Deep Macau event "postponed" due to financial issues and the fact that Megaton champion Yusuke Kawaguchi was forced off the card due to injury. According to Saeki, cancellation of the event was important for the continuation of the promotion and they are under significant financial duress.
The promotion attempted to bounce back on Wednesday though as it announced Deep 52 (the renumbered Macau event) for Feb. 25 as well as three smaller events in Tokyo, Nagoya and Shizuoka all for February.
Yusuke Kawaguchi has relinquished his Megaton belt due to the undisclosed injury and Kazuhisa Tazawa will instead face Yuji Sakuragi. rift gold Also on the Deep 52, former Lightweight King Of Pancrase Shoji Maruyama will take on Tomoya Kato, GRABAKA's Takeshi Yamasaki will return from injury against the undefeated Katsunori Tsuda and Yuya Shirai and Ryuta Sakurai will also be on the card against yet-to-be-named opponents.
Pancrase Plan 2011 "Impressive" Tour With Return of Kinniku Mantoro!
Akihito Tanaka aka Kinniku Mantaro, the 59th prince of Planet Muscle, RIFT Platinum will finally return to the ring on February 6 to face Yuhei Fukuda at the first installment of Pancrase's "Impressive" Tour.
Best known to MMA fans for being the comic book character that Bob Sapp knocked out at Dynamite!! 2008, Tanaka is actually one of the best heavyweight wrestlers in Japan and has won seven consecutive All-Japan wrestling championships. In summer 2010, Rift Gold Tanaka was signed into Sengoku's "Training Player" program that currently supports fighters such as Maximo Blanco and Shigeki Osawa and the bout in Pancrase will be the first bout under the new contract.
Also on the card, welterweight King of Pancrase Kengo "Uraken" Ura will defend his crown against Sakuraba pupil Takenori Sato, No. 1-ranked Pancrase featherweight and one-time Marlon Sandro victim Tomonari Kanomata will attempt to back up his dominance of the retiring Kenji Arai against Motoshi Miyaji and host of excellent bouts will take place in the bantamweight and welterweight divisions.
Definitely an "impressive" start to the year for one of the oldest promotions in the business.
Fan Voting Open for 2010 K-1 Awards
K-1 promoter Fighting Entertainment Group has opened the voting for its 2010 K-1 awards. Fans can vote for the MVPs and best bouts of 2010 in all three K-1 divisions.
In the inaugural edition of Nippon Weekly: Shinya Aoki ponders quitting MMA, Kazushi Sakuraba's ear is back on his head, Marlon Sandro shows off his ballooned hands, more Japanese fighters look to the West and Deep starts with a disaster while Pancrase begins "Impressively."
Shinya Aoki Contemplating Quitting MMA?
Sources close to Shinya Aoki have indicated that the DREAM lightweight champion was contemplating retirement following his humiliating knockout loss to Yuichiro "Jienotsu" Nagashima at Dynamite!!
Aoki has clearly been troubled following the loss, going so far as to delete his @waoki Twitter account (although it appears that Aoki has started a new private account under the alias @jyotaronawo) after being harassed by Nagashima fans and has privately expressed an interest in quitting MMA to focus on his teaching duties at the Deep official gym.
Despite Aoki's apparent depression, if I were a betting man, I'd wager that we would see a return of the Baka Survivor in 2011. FEG are currently undergoing restructuring and planning and we should know more about the future of the promoter and lightweight ace by the end of January.
Video: "Jienotsu" Nagashima backstage after knocking out Aoki at Dynamite.
Bonus: Alistair Overeem and Todd Duffee talk backstage post-fight.
Kazushi Sakuraba's Ear Successfully Reattached
Kazushi Sakuraba's Laughter 7 Facebook page has revealed (photo) that the Japanese legend's ear is safely back on his head after a four-hour surgery.
DREAM event producer Keiichi Sasahara commented on the injury at the Dynamite!! post-fight press conference, "The lump of cauliflower was slightly torn so they had to stitch it back on. As it is full of veins it was a complicated operation. He should recover in just a few days. He is very frustrated with the injury though as he was in great condition and cut weight very well."
Esther Lin recently published a photo showing Sakuraba's ear getting torn during a takedown attempt on the DREAM welterweight champion Marius Zaromskis. Be warned, it is not pretty.
Marlon Sandro Not 100 Percent for Sengoku: Soul of Fight?
Former Sengoku featherweight champion Marlon Sandro has recently posted photos (photo 1,2) of a badly swollen right hand on Facebook, claiming that he had an infection three days prior to leaving for Japan.
Sandro lost his title in his first defense to Shooto champion Hatsu Hioki on Dec. 30th in what was considered by many to be a late fight of the year candidate.
Rambaa "M-16" Sombet vs. Junji Ito Booked for March 12 Shooto
The top 115-pound fighter in the world, Rambaa "M-16" Sombet (seen here wearing rabbit ears), will return to action on March 12 at Shooto: Shootor's Legacy 2 when he squares off with Shooting gym Yokohama's Junji Ito.
Sombet was sidelined for most of 2010 with visa issues but with the signatures of Shooto fans, the Thai national was granted a visa and he is free to defend his belt against the hard-hitting Ito who is riding a five fight win streak.
Shootor's Legacy 2 will also see the 2009 and 2010 Shooto rookie champions back in action as Yusuke Yachi, Yuta "Uruka" Sasaki, Kyoji Horiguchi, and Kosuke "Rambo" Suzuki will face yet-to-be-named opponents.
More Japanese Fighters Heading West?
Sengoku veteran Eiji Mitsuoka (16-7-2) has revealed on his blog that he has signed with power manager Shu Hirata. Hirata has been the agent responsible for bringing fighters such as Takeya Mizugaki and Yoshiyuki Yoshida to foreign soil and Mitsuoka, who has is one of Japan's most experienced cage fighters, will no doubt be looking to return to America for the first time in 10 years.
Top DREAM featherweight Kazuyuki Miyata is also publicly considering fighting on American soil if a fight with recently crowned DREAM featherweight champ Hiroyuki Takaya is not made in the near future. With his fellow featherweights Michihiro Omigawa and Norifumi "KID" Yamamoto recently signing with the UFC, Miyata feels he has only one or two more interesting fights in DREAM and the inactivity of Strikeforce's featherweight division has him considering leaving the leading Japanese promotion.
Deep Attempt to Recover After Horrible Start to 2011
Regional promotion Deep got off on the wrong foot in 2011 as their first attempt to promote on foreign soil was aborted only three days prior to the event. RIFT Platinum Deep boss Shigeru Saeki dubbed the Deep Macau event "postponed" due to financial issues and the fact that Megaton champion Yusuke Kawaguchi was forced off the card due to injury. According to Saeki, cancellation of the event was important for the continuation of the promotion and they are under significant financial duress.
The promotion attempted to bounce back on Wednesday though as it announced Deep 52 (the renumbered Macau event) for Feb. 25 as well as three smaller events in Tokyo, Nagoya and Shizuoka all for February.
Yusuke Kawaguchi has relinquished his Megaton belt due to the undisclosed injury and Kazuhisa Tazawa will instead face Yuji Sakuragi. rift gold Also on the Deep 52, former Lightweight King Of Pancrase Shoji Maruyama will take on Tomoya Kato, GRABAKA's Takeshi Yamasaki will return from injury against the undefeated Katsunori Tsuda and Yuya Shirai and Ryuta Sakurai will also be on the card against yet-to-be-named opponents.
Pancrase Plan 2011 "Impressive" Tour With Return of Kinniku Mantoro!
Akihito Tanaka aka Kinniku Mantaro, the 59th prince of Planet Muscle, RIFT Platinum will finally return to the ring on February 6 to face Yuhei Fukuda at the first installment of Pancrase's "Impressive" Tour.
Best known to MMA fans for being the comic book character that Bob Sapp knocked out at Dynamite!! 2008, Tanaka is actually one of the best heavyweight wrestlers in Japan and has won seven consecutive All-Japan wrestling championships. In summer 2010, Rift Gold Tanaka was signed into Sengoku's "Training Player" program that currently supports fighters such as Maximo Blanco and Shigeki Osawa and the bout in Pancrase will be the first bout under the new contract.
Also on the card, welterweight King of Pancrase Kengo "Uraken" Ura will defend his crown against Sakuraba pupil Takenori Sato, No. 1-ranked Pancrase featherweight and one-time Marlon Sandro victim Tomonari Kanomata will attempt to back up his dominance of the retiring Kenji Arai against Motoshi Miyaji and host of excellent bouts will take place in the bantamweight and welterweight divisions.
Definitely an "impressive" start to the year for one of the oldest promotions in the business.
Fan Voting Open for 2010 K-1 Awards
K-1 promoter Fighting Entertainment Group has opened the voting for its 2010 K-1 awards. Fans can vote for the MVPs and best bouts of 2010 in all three K-1 divisions.
2011年4月21日星期四
Lifestyle Changes Could Prevent 340,000 Cancer Cases in the U.S. Yearly
Many Americans vowed to lose weight, get in shape and stay healthy after the recent New Year. Now, researchers at the World Cancer Research Fund say it is more important than ever to be active and stay healthy.
And, if people don't start addressing lifestyle issues that lead to cancer, experts believe rates of cancer worldwide could double in the next two decades.
New information from WCRF reveals that about 340,000 cancer cases could be prevented each year in the United States if more Americans ate healthy, exercised regularly and limited their alcohol intake.
"The Expert Report found a convincing link between excess body fat and risk of several cancers," Dr. Tim Byers, expert in cancer prevention and associate dean for the Colorado School of Public Health, explained in a Q and A report from the American Institute for Cancer Research. "So we looked at data from U.S. surveys to find out how much of the population is overweight and obese. Rift Gold We then worked out the percentage of those specific cancers that would be prevented if everyone in the U.S. maintained a healthy weight. We did the same thing for diet, and for activity levels."
The results reveal that lifestyle changes could reduce breast cancer by 38 percent, stomach cancer by 47 percent and colon cancer by 45 percent.
Of course, other lifestyle changes such as quitting smoking, avoiding secondhand smoke and avoiding harmful sun exposure can also reduce a person's risk of cancer, but the AICR and WCRF Expert Report did not include information about smoking.
"The AICR/WCRF Expert Report and the Policy Report only looked at food, nutrition, physical activity and body weight," said Byers.
Other preventability factors such as smoking were outside the boundries of this study.
"Obesity control is most important," Byers told AOL Health. "For breast cancer, obesity causes elevated estrogens. For esophagus it causes acid reflux. Moderate regular activity helps control body weight, but it also provides other benefits by mechanisms not yet known."
The American Cancer Society also released information Friday about a similar report predicting that cancers such as lung, breast and colorectal cancer, RIFT Platinum which are associated with lifestyle and behavioral decisions, including tobacco use, will continue to rise in developing countries if preventative measures are not taken.
Findings from these ACS reports will be released today on World Cancer Day in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
According to information from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, there were approximately 12.7 million new cancer cases worldwide in 2008. rift gold By 2030, the number of cancer cases could double worldwide. The ACS recognizes the increase as the result of demographic changes, but that it may also be compounded by the adoption of unhealthy lifestyles such as smoking, poor diet, reduced physical activity and increased alcohol consumption.
Another editorial in the CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, written by Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, estimates that about 2.6 million of the 7.6 million cancer deaths that occurred in 2008, RIFT Platinum or about 7,300 cancer deaths per day, were potentially avoidable through the prevention of known risk factor such as tobacco exposure, dietary factors, alcohol use and certain infections.
And, if people don't start addressing lifestyle issues that lead to cancer, experts believe rates of cancer worldwide could double in the next two decades.
New information from WCRF reveals that about 340,000 cancer cases could be prevented each year in the United States if more Americans ate healthy, exercised regularly and limited their alcohol intake.
"The Expert Report found a convincing link between excess body fat and risk of several cancers," Dr. Tim Byers, expert in cancer prevention and associate dean for the Colorado School of Public Health, explained in a Q and A report from the American Institute for Cancer Research. "So we looked at data from U.S. surveys to find out how much of the population is overweight and obese. Rift Gold We then worked out the percentage of those specific cancers that would be prevented if everyone in the U.S. maintained a healthy weight. We did the same thing for diet, and for activity levels."
The results reveal that lifestyle changes could reduce breast cancer by 38 percent, stomach cancer by 47 percent and colon cancer by 45 percent.
Of course, other lifestyle changes such as quitting smoking, avoiding secondhand smoke and avoiding harmful sun exposure can also reduce a person's risk of cancer, but the AICR and WCRF Expert Report did not include information about smoking.
"The AICR/WCRF Expert Report and the Policy Report only looked at food, nutrition, physical activity and body weight," said Byers.
Other preventability factors such as smoking were outside the boundries of this study.
"Obesity control is most important," Byers told AOL Health. "For breast cancer, obesity causes elevated estrogens. For esophagus it causes acid reflux. Moderate regular activity helps control body weight, but it also provides other benefits by mechanisms not yet known."
The American Cancer Society also released information Friday about a similar report predicting that cancers such as lung, breast and colorectal cancer, RIFT Platinum which are associated with lifestyle and behavioral decisions, including tobacco use, will continue to rise in developing countries if preventative measures are not taken.
Findings from these ACS reports will be released today on World Cancer Day in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
According to information from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, there were approximately 12.7 million new cancer cases worldwide in 2008. rift gold By 2030, the number of cancer cases could double worldwide. The ACS recognizes the increase as the result of demographic changes, but that it may also be compounded by the adoption of unhealthy lifestyles such as smoking, poor diet, reduced physical activity and increased alcohol consumption.
Another editorial in the CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, written by Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, estimates that about 2.6 million of the 7.6 million cancer deaths that occurred in 2008, RIFT Platinum or about 7,300 cancer deaths per day, were potentially avoidable through the prevention of known risk factor such as tobacco exposure, dietary factors, alcohol use and certain infections.
Tatsuya Kawajiri Isn't Training in Cage for Strikeforce Title Fight
Top 10 lightweight Tatsuya Kawajiri, who has been accustomed to fighting inside a ring the past 11 years in Japan, hasn't made adjustments for his first-ever fight inside a cage.
As he heads into his title shot this Saturday against Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez in San Diego, Kawajiri apparently doesn't think the fighting surface will be a major factor in the fight.
"He's been training as usual and no specific training geared towards a fight in a cage, RIFT Platinum Kawajiri's translator Ryo Ishibashi said on a recent Strikeforce conference call.
It's been evident time and time again that there are at least some differences when it comes to ring vs. cage. Melendez is one to acknowledge these variations and sees his cage experience as one of the possible advantages against Kawajiri. While Melendez will obviously not rely on Kawajiri to get flustered in a new setting, he plans on exploiting it if the opportunity presents itself.
"I'm not banking on anything, but I am happy that I'm familiar with the cage, and that I'm familiar with the California commission, rift gold and I'm familiar with my hometown and that people are going to be cheering for me," Melendez said. "That's an advantage for me, but I'm not banking on it messing with him. But if it does give him problems, I'll totally take advantage and try to expose it, like I did to [Shinya] Aoki."
More on Kawajiri off the Diaz vs. Daley call:
Kawajiri said he only missed about a week of training due to the recent earthquake and tsunami tragedy in Japan and although the Japanese MMA scene and business is at an all-time low, Kawajiri doesn't see himself out to represent Japanese MMA against Melendez.
"He's always fighting for himself and this fight is between himself and Gilbert, RIFT Platinum so that's No. 1," Ishibashi said. "But No. 2, he does want to meet the expectations of his fans and friends. He's looking forward to seeing his fans, friends and family smiling after the fight."
Kawajiri also commented on how different this rematch will be compared to their first meeting in 2006 when Melendez escaped with the unanimous decision after two rounds.
"He feels he has advanced as an MMA fighter," Ishibashi said. "He thinks he will be able to fight a smarter fight this time. Rift Gold He is obviously training to become a better MMA fighter every day and that's what he's looking forward to in the second fight with Gilbert."
As he heads into his title shot this Saturday against Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez in San Diego, Kawajiri apparently doesn't think the fighting surface will be a major factor in the fight.
"He's been training as usual and no specific training geared towards a fight in a cage, RIFT Platinum Kawajiri's translator Ryo Ishibashi said on a recent Strikeforce conference call.
It's been evident time and time again that there are at least some differences when it comes to ring vs. cage. Melendez is one to acknowledge these variations and sees his cage experience as one of the possible advantages against Kawajiri. While Melendez will obviously not rely on Kawajiri to get flustered in a new setting, he plans on exploiting it if the opportunity presents itself.
"I'm not banking on anything, but I am happy that I'm familiar with the cage, and that I'm familiar with the California commission, rift gold and I'm familiar with my hometown and that people are going to be cheering for me," Melendez said. "That's an advantage for me, but I'm not banking on it messing with him. But if it does give him problems, I'll totally take advantage and try to expose it, like I did to [Shinya] Aoki."
More on Kawajiri off the Diaz vs. Daley call:
Kawajiri said he only missed about a week of training due to the recent earthquake and tsunami tragedy in Japan and although the Japanese MMA scene and business is at an all-time low, Kawajiri doesn't see himself out to represent Japanese MMA against Melendez.
"He's always fighting for himself and this fight is between himself and Gilbert, RIFT Platinum so that's No. 1," Ishibashi said. "But No. 2, he does want to meet the expectations of his fans and friends. He's looking forward to seeing his fans, friends and family smiling after the fight."
Kawajiri also commented on how different this rematch will be compared to their first meeting in 2006 when Melendez escaped with the unanimous decision after two rounds.
"He feels he has advanced as an MMA fighter," Ishibashi said. "He thinks he will be able to fight a smarter fight this time. Rift Gold He is obviously training to become a better MMA fighter every day and that's what he's looking forward to in the second fight with Gilbert."
2011年4月20日星期三
Their draw in the main event of UFC 127 not yet a month old, BJ Penn and Jon Fitch have verbally agreed to a rematch at UFC 132 in July.
The UFC, continuing its recent trend of making fight announcements itself online and through social media, made the announcement at UFC.com early Thursday. RIFT Platinum Along with the Penn-Fitch fight, the UFC said lightweights Evan Dunham and George Sotiropoulos will square off.
Though the promotion hasn't yet made the card official, UFC 132 is expected to take place in Las Vegas on July 2 as the company's traditional Independence Day weekend card.
Penn and Fitch fought to their majority draw in Sydney last month. The bout was a No. 1 contender fight for the welterweight title currently held by Georges St-Pierre, who will defend the belt at UFC 129 next month in Toronto against Jake Shields.
In that fight, one judge scored the bout 29-28 for Penn, a former two-division UFC champion at both lightweight and welterweight. The other two judges ruled it a 28-28 draw – giving Penn the nod the first two rounds and a 10-8 round for Fitch in the third.
UFC president Dana White said after the fight he scored it 29-28 for Penn, believing he won the first two rounds and that Fitch didn't do enough to garner a 10-8 in the third – but that he sees how some could score it that way.
The draw snapped a five-fight winning streak for Fitch, who has now gone to the judges in nine straight fights and hasn't won a fight by stoppage since a submission of Roan Carneiro in June 2007. rift gold After starting his UFC career 8-0, Fitch got a title shot against St-Pierre at UFC 87, but was dominated and lost a unanimous decision 50-44, 50-43, 50-44.
Penn recently moved back to welterweight after losing his lightweight title to Frankie Edgar at UFC 112, then losing their rematch at UFC 118. RIFT Platinum He handed UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes one of the most decisive losses of his career with a 21-second knockout at UFC 123 in November, winning for the first time at 170 pounds in more than six years.
Sotiropoulos is coming off a disappointing loss to Dennis Siver in his native Australia – his first setback in more than four years, and his first UFC loss after starting his career with the promotion 7-0.
And Dunham, after starting his career 11-0, dropped his second straight with a TKO to Melvin Guillard in the headlining bout of the UFC's Fight for the Troops show at Fort Hood, Texas, in January. Rift Gold Dunham lost a split decision against Sean Sherk at UFC 119 – a loss White refused to acknowledge, believing the judges made a bad decision giving the fight to Sherk.
Also reported to be on the UFC 132 card is a lightweight bout between Guillard and Shane Roller, though the UFC hasn't confirmed that fight yet.
The UFC, continuing its recent trend of making fight announcements itself online and through social media, made the announcement at UFC.com early Thursday. RIFT Platinum Along with the Penn-Fitch fight, the UFC said lightweights Evan Dunham and George Sotiropoulos will square off.
Though the promotion hasn't yet made the card official, UFC 132 is expected to take place in Las Vegas on July 2 as the company's traditional Independence Day weekend card.
Penn and Fitch fought to their majority draw in Sydney last month. The bout was a No. 1 contender fight for the welterweight title currently held by Georges St-Pierre, who will defend the belt at UFC 129 next month in Toronto against Jake Shields.
In that fight, one judge scored the bout 29-28 for Penn, a former two-division UFC champion at both lightweight and welterweight. The other two judges ruled it a 28-28 draw – giving Penn the nod the first two rounds and a 10-8 round for Fitch in the third.
UFC president Dana White said after the fight he scored it 29-28 for Penn, believing he won the first two rounds and that Fitch didn't do enough to garner a 10-8 in the third – but that he sees how some could score it that way.
The draw snapped a five-fight winning streak for Fitch, who has now gone to the judges in nine straight fights and hasn't won a fight by stoppage since a submission of Roan Carneiro in June 2007. rift gold After starting his UFC career 8-0, Fitch got a title shot against St-Pierre at UFC 87, but was dominated and lost a unanimous decision 50-44, 50-43, 50-44.
Penn recently moved back to welterweight after losing his lightweight title to Frankie Edgar at UFC 112, then losing their rematch at UFC 118. RIFT Platinum He handed UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes one of the most decisive losses of his career with a 21-second knockout at UFC 123 in November, winning for the first time at 170 pounds in more than six years.
Sotiropoulos is coming off a disappointing loss to Dennis Siver in his native Australia – his first setback in more than four years, and his first UFC loss after starting his career with the promotion 7-0.
And Dunham, after starting his career 11-0, dropped his second straight with a TKO to Melvin Guillard in the headlining bout of the UFC's Fight for the Troops show at Fort Hood, Texas, in January. Rift Gold Dunham lost a split decision against Sean Sherk at UFC 119 – a loss White refused to acknowledge, believing the judges made a bad decision giving the fight to Sherk.
Also reported to be on the UFC 132 card is a lightweight bout between Guillard and Shane Roller, though the UFC hasn't confirmed that fight yet.
Michelle Obama told AOL Health Tuesday during her first-ever live chat about her "Let's Move" initiative that fighting childhood obesity and helping our next generation of children get healthier is going to take efforts from our nation as a whole, from parents to doctors to government officials. And one of the most important areas to focus on is our schools.
Obama said she hopes to pass the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act, in order to improve the quality of food in schools, including vending machine snacks.
Following the first lady's goals, many school districts across the country are trying to replace their sugary and salty snacks with more nutritious options like fruit bars and nuts, the Associated Press reports.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a 2008 Schools Health Profiles Survey and found that across 34 states, about 64 percent of secondary schools gave up their empty-calorie snacks -- which is up from just 46 percent in 2006, according to the AP.
But like any effort to curb unhealthy eating habits, there's always room for improvement.
Research from the Institute of Medicine and the National Center for Health Statistics found that the average young person gets more than 10 percent of his or her calories from saturated fat and 21 percent of boys and girls ages 9-13 get one-fourth of their energy from added sugars, according to the AP.
Some states, like California, have passed laws to regulate vending machines and prohibit some unhealthy snacks from being sold. Rift Gold The San Francisco school board passed a policy in the 2003-2004 school year that banned sodas (a restriction that the city also adopted) and snacks like baked potato chips in their machines, the AP reports. Instead, these machines have water, juice, milk and juice and water beverages with no added sweeteners, caffeine or herbal supplements. The snacks include yogurt bars, tuna salad and crackers, fruit bars and sunflower seeds.
"I can't say enough for what it does for the kids to have the junk out of the machines," Patricia Gray, a former principal of San Francisco's Balboa High School who oversaw a switch to healthier snacks, told AP.
Gray, now the superintendent of the school, added that ending the traditional candy fundraisers and trying to influence kids to bring in non-junk-food lunches from home is also helpful.
"If you don't have a principal that's totally committed to [healthier snacks], it won't work," she said.
Jolly Backer, CEO of Fresh Healthy Vending, a San-Diego-based company, told the AP that the company has machines in 1,700 locations in the U.S., including schools. These machines offer drinks and snacks like yogurts and fresh fruit.
Altering the eating habits of children will definitely take more than just adding healthy treats to school vending machines. RIFT Platinum Another way to help involves teachers educating students about nutritious meals at lunch, Mrs. Obama told AOL Health Tuesday.
She also explained that healthy eating is more about balance than denying yourself of foods you love and she emphasized that parents and guardians play a key role in guiding children's health and weight.
"I think our kids are looking to us to be examples," the first lady said. rift gold "So we are our children's best, first and oftentimes only role models. So our goal is to make sure that we're practicing what we preach."
But that doesn't have to involve major lifestyle changes to see results, she added.
"You can really make some significant improvements with small changes. And I want people to think in those terms, and not whole scale changes that are going to turn people's lives upside down, because then you can't sustain it."
Mrs. Obama's "Let's Move" campaign encourages the nation to make healthy food choices and physical activity in schools a priority -- changes that will also improve academic performance. And having athletes, chefs and other individuals that kids often look up to come into the schools to teach kids about fitness and nutrition can also propel the first lady's get-healthy initiative.
"Kids are malleable, and they're also open to learn," she concluded. RIFT Platinum "It's us, the grown ups in this game that are going to have to step it up and make some changes on our own to get our kids where we want them to be."
Obama said she hopes to pass the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act, in order to improve the quality of food in schools, including vending machine snacks.
Following the first lady's goals, many school districts across the country are trying to replace their sugary and salty snacks with more nutritious options like fruit bars and nuts, the Associated Press reports.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a 2008 Schools Health Profiles Survey and found that across 34 states, about 64 percent of secondary schools gave up their empty-calorie snacks -- which is up from just 46 percent in 2006, according to the AP.
But like any effort to curb unhealthy eating habits, there's always room for improvement.
Research from the Institute of Medicine and the National Center for Health Statistics found that the average young person gets more than 10 percent of his or her calories from saturated fat and 21 percent of boys and girls ages 9-13 get one-fourth of their energy from added sugars, according to the AP.
Some states, like California, have passed laws to regulate vending machines and prohibit some unhealthy snacks from being sold. Rift Gold The San Francisco school board passed a policy in the 2003-2004 school year that banned sodas (a restriction that the city also adopted) and snacks like baked potato chips in their machines, the AP reports. Instead, these machines have water, juice, milk and juice and water beverages with no added sweeteners, caffeine or herbal supplements. The snacks include yogurt bars, tuna salad and crackers, fruit bars and sunflower seeds.
"I can't say enough for what it does for the kids to have the junk out of the machines," Patricia Gray, a former principal of San Francisco's Balboa High School who oversaw a switch to healthier snacks, told AP.
Gray, now the superintendent of the school, added that ending the traditional candy fundraisers and trying to influence kids to bring in non-junk-food lunches from home is also helpful.
"If you don't have a principal that's totally committed to [healthier snacks], it won't work," she said.
Jolly Backer, CEO of Fresh Healthy Vending, a San-Diego-based company, told the AP that the company has machines in 1,700 locations in the U.S., including schools. These machines offer drinks and snacks like yogurts and fresh fruit.
Altering the eating habits of children will definitely take more than just adding healthy treats to school vending machines. RIFT Platinum Another way to help involves teachers educating students about nutritious meals at lunch, Mrs. Obama told AOL Health Tuesday.
She also explained that healthy eating is more about balance than denying yourself of foods you love and she emphasized that parents and guardians play a key role in guiding children's health and weight.
"I think our kids are looking to us to be examples," the first lady said. rift gold "So we are our children's best, first and oftentimes only role models. So our goal is to make sure that we're practicing what we preach."
But that doesn't have to involve major lifestyle changes to see results, she added.
"You can really make some significant improvements with small changes. And I want people to think in those terms, and not whole scale changes that are going to turn people's lives upside down, because then you can't sustain it."
Mrs. Obama's "Let's Move" campaign encourages the nation to make healthy food choices and physical activity in schools a priority -- changes that will also improve academic performance. And having athletes, chefs and other individuals that kids often look up to come into the schools to teach kids about fitness and nutrition can also propel the first lady's get-healthy initiative.
"Kids are malleable, and they're also open to learn," she concluded. RIFT Platinum "It's us, the grown ups in this game that are going to have to step it up and make some changes on our own to get our kids where we want them to be."
Human Fertility
Assisted human reproduction technologies (ARTs) have flourished in the mid- to late-twentieth century. Greater understanding of human biology and reproduction has led to technological developments to assist individuals or couples experiencing infertility due to a wide range of indications. The field has evolved from a combination of technological advances (such as laparoscopy and transvaginal ultrasonography) together with pharmaceutical developments (notably purified extracts of human menopausal gonadotropic hormones) and theoretical knowledge and practical techniques taken from gynecology, genetics, urology, and associated medical specialties. However, the origins of many current ART techniques can be traced to early practices in animal husbandry.
rift gold
Humans have used some less technological methods to promote their reproduction without the involvement of medical professionals, notably artificial insemination by donor (AID) or by husband/partner (AIH). The introduction of semen or concentrated specimens of spermatozoa (sperm) into a woman’s reproductive tract by noncoital means can be successfully performed with instruments as simple as a turkey baster. However in recent years, fears about donor health status, risk of infection (HIV and otherwise), and legal issues (such as establishing paternity) have caused most AI to be performed in medical clinics under a physician’s supervision. Some doctors avoided paternity issues by mixing sperm from several donors including the male partner, but recent advances in genetic technologies allowing paternity testing using DNA have resulted in clarification in many jurisdictions of the legal standing of children born from AI (though issues remain for instance with custody and adoption of AID children born to lesbian couples). AI is sometimes coupled with use of gonadotrophic hormones to stimulate ovulation at the time of insemination to maximize the chances of fertilization occurring, although these drugs are associated with some risks to the women to whom they are given.
In vitro fertilization and transcervical embryo transfer (IVF-ET) had its first successful birth in 1978, in the clinic of Patrick Steptoe and Robert Edwards, who drew on embryological studies done for over 20 years in mice, rabbits, and other animals. The procedure involved laparoscopic aspiration of an oocyte (egg cell or more generally ‘‘egg’’) during a natural cycle (thus circumventing damaged fallopian tubes), followed by IVF using ejaculated sperm and transfer of the cleaving embryo into the woman’s uterus. More generally in IVF-ET, eggs are harvested and mixed in Petri dishes either with donor sperm (AID), or with sperm from the male partner (AIH, if primary male infertility is not thought to be at issue), typically using the healthiest sperm to facilitate fertilization. Eggs may be obtained from the female or donated by another woman (e.g., in cases of premature ovarian failure, genetic abnormalities, or reduced egg production due to advanced maternal age). Most women undergo controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (as described above) prior to aspiration of eggs to increase the number of eggs that are viable. Surrogacy (the establishment of pregnancy in another woman who either donates an egg to combine with the male partner’s sperm or carries a fetus produced through combination of the couple’s own gametes) has occurred in cases where the female partner in a couple wishing to have a genetically-related child cannot carry a pregnancy (e.g., due to lack of uterus for congenital reasons or following hysterectomy), but the practice has been curtailed in recent years due to legal restrictions following custody disputes between surrogates and couples.
The number of fertilized embryos created and transferred differs according to anticipated success, typically related to the putative cause of infertility in the couple as well as the clinic’s experience. But in recent years, improved methods have created higher success rates both in terms of creation of viable embryos as well as implantation of the embryo posttransfer (the latter had been and remains the major technological barrier to successful pregnancies via IVF). The result has been multiple gestations (often resulting in subsequent ‘‘selective reduction’’; that is, termination of one or more fetuses to avoid the increased risks associated with multiple births), as well as emerging social, ethical, and legal issues associated with the status and disposition of supernumerary embryos. Consequently, many clinics have adopted more conservative approaches to the number of embryos created and transferred at any one time, and there is legislation or guidelines in some places to limit the number of embryos that can be transferred during one IVF cycle. Supernumerary embryos can be cryopreserved (typically at the four- to eight-cell stage) for later IVF cycles, donation to other infertile couples, or under certain circumstances for research. By the mid-1980s, techniques for cryopreservation were sufficiently developed to allow successful pregnancies using ET with frozen embryos, which permitted women to avoid multiple cycles of ovarian stimulation. More recently, IVF-ET has been combined with preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) techniques to allow testing of embryos for genetic diseases (the technique was originally developed as an alternative to prenatal diagnosis for fertile couples with known genetic risks) and chromosomal abnormalities to allow selection and transfer only of unaffected embryos.
rift gold
A number of additional ARTs have been developed in the last 20 years. Gametic intrafallopian transfer (GIFT), which involves placement of eggs (which have been removed from the follicles) together with sperm directly into the oviducts for fertilization, was first described in 1985, and is used with women with fallopian tube problems. This technique quickly became very popular because it did not require sophisticated IVF culture systems and could be done in clinics with less ART expertise and without a full IVF laboratory, and because it produced better results than IVF, perhaps because fertilization occurs in a natural environment (greater success rates are also due to patient selection, as was later recognized). Zygote intrafallopian transfer (ZIFT) involves transfer of the zygote (a fertilized egg that has not yet divided) into the oviduct after IVF, but is less frequently used. Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is a popular micromanipulation technique used to enhance fertilization rates, particularly for men with a reduced sperm count or with impaired sperm motility, banked sperm (obtained prior to chemotherapy or radiation), or sperm obtained through electroejaculation (e.g., in those with spinal cord injuries or recently after death, the latter being ethically and legally problematic). Pregnancy can be achieved with only a single spermatozoon injected directly into the cytoplasm of the oocyte. The technique also can be combined with those allowing separation of male and female sperm to avoid birth of children of a particular sex (for reasons of sex selection, which is considered ethically controversial by many, or avoidance of sex-linked diseases).
rift gold
Humans have used some less technological methods to promote their reproduction without the involvement of medical professionals, notably artificial insemination by donor (AID) or by husband/partner (AIH). The introduction of semen or concentrated specimens of spermatozoa (sperm) into a woman’s reproductive tract by noncoital means can be successfully performed with instruments as simple as a turkey baster. However in recent years, fears about donor health status, risk of infection (HIV and otherwise), and legal issues (such as establishing paternity) have caused most AI to be performed in medical clinics under a physician’s supervision. Some doctors avoided paternity issues by mixing sperm from several donors including the male partner, but recent advances in genetic technologies allowing paternity testing using DNA have resulted in clarification in many jurisdictions of the legal standing of children born from AI (though issues remain for instance with custody and adoption of AID children born to lesbian couples). AI is sometimes coupled with use of gonadotrophic hormones to stimulate ovulation at the time of insemination to maximize the chances of fertilization occurring, although these drugs are associated with some risks to the women to whom they are given.
In vitro fertilization and transcervical embryo transfer (IVF-ET) had its first successful birth in 1978, in the clinic of Patrick Steptoe and Robert Edwards, who drew on embryological studies done for over 20 years in mice, rabbits, and other animals. The procedure involved laparoscopic aspiration of an oocyte (egg cell or more generally ‘‘egg’’) during a natural cycle (thus circumventing damaged fallopian tubes), followed by IVF using ejaculated sperm and transfer of the cleaving embryo into the woman’s uterus. More generally in IVF-ET, eggs are harvested and mixed in Petri dishes either with donor sperm (AID), or with sperm from the male partner (AIH, if primary male infertility is not thought to be at issue), typically using the healthiest sperm to facilitate fertilization. Eggs may be obtained from the female or donated by another woman (e.g., in cases of premature ovarian failure, genetic abnormalities, or reduced egg production due to advanced maternal age). Most women undergo controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (as described above) prior to aspiration of eggs to increase the number of eggs that are viable. Surrogacy (the establishment of pregnancy in another woman who either donates an egg to combine with the male partner’s sperm or carries a fetus produced through combination of the couple’s own gametes) has occurred in cases where the female partner in a couple wishing to have a genetically-related child cannot carry a pregnancy (e.g., due to lack of uterus for congenital reasons or following hysterectomy), but the practice has been curtailed in recent years due to legal restrictions following custody disputes between surrogates and couples.
The number of fertilized embryos created and transferred differs according to anticipated success, typically related to the putative cause of infertility in the couple as well as the clinic’s experience. But in recent years, improved methods have created higher success rates both in terms of creation of viable embryos as well as implantation of the embryo posttransfer (the latter had been and remains the major technological barrier to successful pregnancies via IVF). The result has been multiple gestations (often resulting in subsequent ‘‘selective reduction’’; that is, termination of one or more fetuses to avoid the increased risks associated with multiple births), as well as emerging social, ethical, and legal issues associated with the status and disposition of supernumerary embryos. Consequently, many clinics have adopted more conservative approaches to the number of embryos created and transferred at any one time, and there is legislation or guidelines in some places to limit the number of embryos that can be transferred during one IVF cycle. Supernumerary embryos can be cryopreserved (typically at the four- to eight-cell stage) for later IVF cycles, donation to other infertile couples, or under certain circumstances for research. By the mid-1980s, techniques for cryopreservation were sufficiently developed to allow successful pregnancies using ET with frozen embryos, which permitted women to avoid multiple cycles of ovarian stimulation. More recently, IVF-ET has been combined with preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) techniques to allow testing of embryos for genetic diseases (the technique was originally developed as an alternative to prenatal diagnosis for fertile couples with known genetic risks) and chromosomal abnormalities to allow selection and transfer only of unaffected embryos.
rift gold
A number of additional ARTs have been developed in the last 20 years. Gametic intrafallopian transfer (GIFT), which involves placement of eggs (which have been removed from the follicles) together with sperm directly into the oviducts for fertilization, was first described in 1985, and is used with women with fallopian tube problems. This technique quickly became very popular because it did not require sophisticated IVF culture systems and could be done in clinics with less ART expertise and without a full IVF laboratory, and because it produced better results than IVF, perhaps because fertilization occurs in a natural environment (greater success rates are also due to patient selection, as was later recognized). Zygote intrafallopian transfer (ZIFT) involves transfer of the zygote (a fertilized egg that has not yet divided) into the oviduct after IVF, but is less frequently used. Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is a popular micromanipulation technique used to enhance fertilization rates, particularly for men with a reduced sperm count or with impaired sperm motility, banked sperm (obtained prior to chemotherapy or radiation), or sperm obtained through electroejaculation (e.g., in those with spinal cord injuries or recently after death, the latter being ethically and legally problematic). Pregnancy can be achieved with only a single spermatozoon injected directly into the cytoplasm of the oocyte. The technique also can be combined with those allowing separation of male and female sperm to avoid birth of children of a particular sex (for reasons of sex selection, which is considered ethically controversial by many, or avoidance of sex-linked diseases).
Blood Transfusion and Blood Products
Blood has always had a cultural significance, symbolic of the essence of life; but the process of transfusion—replacing blood with blood—only became an accepted and reliable practice in the twentieth century.
rift gold
William Harvey’s demonstration of blood circulation in 1628 opened up the possibility of transfusion. In 1665 an English physiologist, Richard Lower, described the first successful transfusion between dogs. The first human transfusion came two years later: Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Denis transferred blood from a lamb to a sick boy, who reportedly recovered. The experiment was repeated but, following several deaths, was banned by 1678.
Interest revived in the nineteenth century when the role of blood as an oxygen transporter was understood. James Blundell at Guy’s Hospital in London used transfusions to revive women who hemorrhaged after childbirth. But there were two main problems. First, outside the body, blood would quickly clot, stopping free flow. Second, many patients had severe, sometimes fatal, reactions. Karl Landsteiner solved this second problem in 1901 with his discovery of blood groups. He noticed a human serum sample ‘‘clumped’’ the red blood cells from some people but not others. Using new immunological theories, Landsteiner realized agglutination was due to the presence or absence of specific antigens on the red blood cell. Some individuals have antigen A, some B, some both, and some neither, leading to four blood groups or types: A, B, AB, and O. Not all groups are compatible; mixing incompatible groups causes potentially fatal clumping. Landsteiner’s discovery would ultimately make blood transfusion safe (he was awarded the Nobel Prize for physiology in 1930 for this work), but clinicians initially ignored the importance. In 1908 Reuben Ottenberg introduced typing and cross-matching of donors and recipients, but compatibility testing was not immediately adopted. Improvements in surgery drove the early twentieth century reintroduction of transfusion in America. In 1902 Alexis Carrel reported the possibility of direct transfusion, sewing a donor’s artery to the recipient’s vein (anastomosis). George Crile pioneered the technique, carrying out over 200 animal transfusions before progressing to humans, but Carrel received the recognition following publicity describing a transfusion between a surgeon and his 5-day-old son.
Direct transfusion avoided problems of coagulation but required delicate and painstaking surgery. It was difficult to quantify the amount of blood transferred, which could be lethal. Other surgeons experimented with semidirect methods of transfusion. W. G. Kimpton and M.S. Brown, along with many others, developed specialized equipment using canola, syringe, needles, stopcocks, and valves. Coating vessels with paraffin wax minimized clotting. Coagulation was overcome in 1914; three doctors (Agote in Argentina, Hustin in Belgium, and Lewisohn in the U.S.) independently demonstrated that sodium citrate could be used as an anticoagulant. Adding small concentrations to blood did not harm the patient but prevented clotting. Indirect transfusion was now possible. World War I accelerated the pace of change. With increasing demand, the indirect method was perfected. Blood was collected in citrate–glucose solution, refrigerated and transported in bottles to the front lines. Transfusion spread from North America to previously skeptical Europe. By the war’s end, it was a practical and relatively simple treatment that saved thousands of lives. The focus then turned to donor recruitment. The need for blood typing became clear; rapid testing procedures allowed selection of appropriate blood. In 1921, Percy Lane Oliver set up the first transfusion service with the British Red Cross. It was a ‘‘walking donor’’ service in which volunteers of known blood groups were available on demand, donating blood wherever it was needed. The idea spread, and donor panels were set up in Europe, the U.S., and the Far East during the 1920s and 1930s. The first blood bank was established in 1932 at Leningrad Hospital in Russia.
The outbreak of World War II prompted another dramatic expansion in blood donation services. A huge logistical operation supplied blood to the front lines and to civilian casualties; by 1944 U.K. donors provided 1200 pints a day. Plasma, the yellow serum that carries red cells, became a common transfusion fluid, used to treat shock by restoring blood volume. Using Flosdorf and Mudd’s lyophilization process, plasma was freeze-dried. Removing water under high vacuum left a dry powder, stable for months. Adding sterile water reconstituted the plasma. Other plasma warwork had long-term impact. Edwin Cohn, from Harvard Medical School, developed a process of cold ethanol fractionation to break plasma down into components. The most important product, albumin, was isolated from Fraction V. Packaged in glass ampoules, this concentrated ready-to-use liquid had vital antishock capabilities. Other products were developed from fractions: gamma globulin, fibrin foam, and blood-grouping globulins.
The Plasma Fractionation Project expanded to an industrial scale, with collaboration between universities and pharmaceutical companies. After the war, civilian blood transfusion expanded. The U.K. Blood Transfusion Service was established in 1946, recruiting voluntary donors with the promise of a cup of tea. More controversially, donors in the U.S. were paid. Developments in blood typing and screening ensured compatibility. Over twenty genetically determined blood group systems were identified, including Rhesus positive and negative. Collection equipment improved as disposable equipment replaced glass flasks and rubber tubing. In 1950 Carl Walter introduced the plastic collecting bag, having experimented with polymers to find one suitably robust, inert, and immune to extreme temperatures. The new bags reduced contamination and allowed economical ultra-low temperature freezing of blood. Using cryoprotectants like glycerol, red blood cells were preserved for long periods, allowing stockpiling of rare blood types. Processing developments continued through the century. Today, blood is collected into 450-ml plastic packs with anticoagulant solution. Using a closed system of satellite bags, it is centrifuged with minimal risk of contamination. The red cells, platelets, and plasma components are separated into individual bags, ready for further processing. More than 17 preparations of blood components are available, including clotting factors (such as Factor VIII for hemophiliacs), and antibodies for vaccine production. Whole blood is used only rarely, but no part of a blood donation is wasted. The wide availability of blood components has facilitated dramatic advances in surgery. Blood transfusion is commonplace in hospitals and clinical blood transfusion is a specialty in its own right. In the U.K. alone, over 2.5 million units of blood are collected each year, and demand continues to rise. In the last two decades of the century however, there was concern about virus transmission through transfusion. Public scandals in France, Canada, and Japan, where patients and particularly hemophiliacs became infected with HIV as a result of transfusions, led to comprehensive monitoring at all stages of donation. Testing for HIV was introduced in 1986 and for hepatitis C in 1991. Blood labeling was internationally standardized in 1992.
rift gold
Artificial blood substitutes may be the future. Blood volume expanders and hemodilutants (isotonic electrolyte solutions) are already widely used. The search for an artificial oxygen transporter is underway. Possibilities include microencapsulated hemoglobin, recombinant hemoglobin, or perfluorochemical emulsions.
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William Harvey’s demonstration of blood circulation in 1628 opened up the possibility of transfusion. In 1665 an English physiologist, Richard Lower, described the first successful transfusion between dogs. The first human transfusion came two years later: Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Denis transferred blood from a lamb to a sick boy, who reportedly recovered. The experiment was repeated but, following several deaths, was banned by 1678.
Interest revived in the nineteenth century when the role of blood as an oxygen transporter was understood. James Blundell at Guy’s Hospital in London used transfusions to revive women who hemorrhaged after childbirth. But there were two main problems. First, outside the body, blood would quickly clot, stopping free flow. Second, many patients had severe, sometimes fatal, reactions. Karl Landsteiner solved this second problem in 1901 with his discovery of blood groups. He noticed a human serum sample ‘‘clumped’’ the red blood cells from some people but not others. Using new immunological theories, Landsteiner realized agglutination was due to the presence or absence of specific antigens on the red blood cell. Some individuals have antigen A, some B, some both, and some neither, leading to four blood groups or types: A, B, AB, and O. Not all groups are compatible; mixing incompatible groups causes potentially fatal clumping. Landsteiner’s discovery would ultimately make blood transfusion safe (he was awarded the Nobel Prize for physiology in 1930 for this work), but clinicians initially ignored the importance. In 1908 Reuben Ottenberg introduced typing and cross-matching of donors and recipients, but compatibility testing was not immediately adopted. Improvements in surgery drove the early twentieth century reintroduction of transfusion in America. In 1902 Alexis Carrel reported the possibility of direct transfusion, sewing a donor’s artery to the recipient’s vein (anastomosis). George Crile pioneered the technique, carrying out over 200 animal transfusions before progressing to humans, but Carrel received the recognition following publicity describing a transfusion between a surgeon and his 5-day-old son.
Direct transfusion avoided problems of coagulation but required delicate and painstaking surgery. It was difficult to quantify the amount of blood transferred, which could be lethal. Other surgeons experimented with semidirect methods of transfusion. W. G. Kimpton and M.S. Brown, along with many others, developed specialized equipment using canola, syringe, needles, stopcocks, and valves. Coating vessels with paraffin wax minimized clotting. Coagulation was overcome in 1914; three doctors (Agote in Argentina, Hustin in Belgium, and Lewisohn in the U.S.) independently demonstrated that sodium citrate could be used as an anticoagulant. Adding small concentrations to blood did not harm the patient but prevented clotting. Indirect transfusion was now possible. World War I accelerated the pace of change. With increasing demand, the indirect method was perfected. Blood was collected in citrate–glucose solution, refrigerated and transported in bottles to the front lines. Transfusion spread from North America to previously skeptical Europe. By the war’s end, it was a practical and relatively simple treatment that saved thousands of lives. The focus then turned to donor recruitment. The need for blood typing became clear; rapid testing procedures allowed selection of appropriate blood. In 1921, Percy Lane Oliver set up the first transfusion service with the British Red Cross. It was a ‘‘walking donor’’ service in which volunteers of known blood groups were available on demand, donating blood wherever it was needed. The idea spread, and donor panels were set up in Europe, the U.S., and the Far East during the 1920s and 1930s. The first blood bank was established in 1932 at Leningrad Hospital in Russia.
The outbreak of World War II prompted another dramatic expansion in blood donation services. A huge logistical operation supplied blood to the front lines and to civilian casualties; by 1944 U.K. donors provided 1200 pints a day. Plasma, the yellow serum that carries red cells, became a common transfusion fluid, used to treat shock by restoring blood volume. Using Flosdorf and Mudd’s lyophilization process, plasma was freeze-dried. Removing water under high vacuum left a dry powder, stable for months. Adding sterile water reconstituted the plasma. Other plasma warwork had long-term impact. Edwin Cohn, from Harvard Medical School, developed a process of cold ethanol fractionation to break plasma down into components. The most important product, albumin, was isolated from Fraction V. Packaged in glass ampoules, this concentrated ready-to-use liquid had vital antishock capabilities. Other products were developed from fractions: gamma globulin, fibrin foam, and blood-grouping globulins.
The Plasma Fractionation Project expanded to an industrial scale, with collaboration between universities and pharmaceutical companies. After the war, civilian blood transfusion expanded. The U.K. Blood Transfusion Service was established in 1946, recruiting voluntary donors with the promise of a cup of tea. More controversially, donors in the U.S. were paid. Developments in blood typing and screening ensured compatibility. Over twenty genetically determined blood group systems were identified, including Rhesus positive and negative. Collection equipment improved as disposable equipment replaced glass flasks and rubber tubing. In 1950 Carl Walter introduced the plastic collecting bag, having experimented with polymers to find one suitably robust, inert, and immune to extreme temperatures. The new bags reduced contamination and allowed economical ultra-low temperature freezing of blood. Using cryoprotectants like glycerol, red blood cells were preserved for long periods, allowing stockpiling of rare blood types. Processing developments continued through the century. Today, blood is collected into 450-ml plastic packs with anticoagulant solution. Using a closed system of satellite bags, it is centrifuged with minimal risk of contamination. The red cells, platelets, and plasma components are separated into individual bags, ready for further processing. More than 17 preparations of blood components are available, including clotting factors (such as Factor VIII for hemophiliacs), and antibodies for vaccine production. Whole blood is used only rarely, but no part of a blood donation is wasted. The wide availability of blood components has facilitated dramatic advances in surgery. Blood transfusion is commonplace in hospitals and clinical blood transfusion is a specialty in its own right. In the U.K. alone, over 2.5 million units of blood are collected each year, and demand continues to rise. In the last two decades of the century however, there was concern about virus transmission through transfusion. Public scandals in France, Canada, and Japan, where patients and particularly hemophiliacs became infected with HIV as a result of transfusions, led to comprehensive monitoring at all stages of donation. Testing for HIV was introduced in 1986 and for hepatitis C in 1991. Blood labeling was internationally standardized in 1992.
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Artificial blood substitutes may be the future. Blood volume expanders and hemodilutants (isotonic electrolyte solutions) are already widely used. The search for an artificial oxygen transporter is underway. Possibilities include microencapsulated hemoglobin, recombinant hemoglobin, or perfluorochemical emulsions.
Hematology
Hematology is the medical specialty that deals with conditions of the blood and blood-forming organs. Plentiful in supply and relatively easy to access, the blood is a tissue well suited to manipulation and investigation. Nineteenth century innovations in microscopy, such as the introduction of new staining techniques and phase-contrast methods, brought great advances in analysis of the blood. Such advances, in combination with the massproduction of the relatively easy to use hemocytometer and hemoglobinometer (used for measuring the size and number of blood cells and hemoglobin concentration, respectively), meant that the morphological and quantitative analysis of the blood became a fashionable part of practice for many early twentieth century physicians, especially those wishing to demonstrate familiarity with the latest methods in ‘‘‘scientific medicine,’’ reflecting and stimulating changes in medical practice and research more widely. It was during this time in North America and Europe that new institutional and intellectual ties between clinical medicine and basic science were forged, dramatically affecting the nature of clinical research. The study of the form and functions of the blood in health and disease was a popular subject of research, attracting the attention of chemists and pathologists, research-oriented clinicians, and chemical physiologists.
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Similarly, as knowledge of the blood and its constituents increased, so routine diagnostic analysis of the blood became a central part of the work of the many new hospital laboratories springing up in this period across Europe and North America. Between the mid-nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries, research effort in hematology was particularly focused on the causes and treatment of the anemias. These were conditions commonly seen on the wards, which often provided great potential for analysis using the latest technologies. Sickle cell anemia among African–Americans, for instance, was formally identified by Chicago physician James Herrick in 1910, but as a rare disease found solely in members of an underprivileged minority population, it did not initially trigger much clinical or biological interest in the U.S., and still less in Europe, with its tiny black population. Nonetheless, by the 1930s, sickle cell anemia, along with thalassemia, another inherited hemoglobinopathy (first identified as a specific disease in 1925 by the Detroit pediatric physicians Thomas Cooley and Pearl Lee), was recognized as a genetically linked condition, and as such was fitted well in the growth of interest in genetic and molecular views of disease in the twentieth century. In 1945, chemist Linus Pauling and his new medicallytrained graduate student Harvey Itano took up the problem of sickling in red blood cells as a tool through which to explore the chemical nature of hemoglobin, making sickle cell anemia the first disease to be fully described on a molecular level. The link between iron deficiency and anemia, the root of one of the commonest of all nutritional deficiencies, was first made by Gustav von Bunge, Professor of Physiological Chemistry at the University of Basle in 1902. It was not until the 1930s, however, that British physicians Leslie Witts, D.T. Davies, and Helen MacKay each confirmed the role of nutritional iron in the replacement of iron contained in hemoglobin, and discussed the dietary lack or gastric malabsorption of this iron as leading to a specific disease process. In other anemia research, dietary treatment was also producing a great deal of research activity. In 1925 the Rochester physiologists George Whipple and Frieda Robscheit-Robbins published results showing that administration of beef liver to dogs with severe experimental anemia markedly increased the rate of blood regeneration, and they discussed the possible applications of this work to patients with pernicious anemia. Their work was complemented on the clinical side by George Minot and William Murphy, two Harvard medical school physicians, who announced in 1926 a dietary treatment for pernicious anemia through the administration of raw liver. As had been the case for insulin treatment for diabetes (discovered a few years earlier), these findings were celebrated as a wonderful example of the power of combined laboratory and bedside research, and in 1934, Whipple, Minot and Murphy were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their work. The antianemic factor in liver was isolated and identified as vitamin B12 in 1948 by two teams working independently, one British, led by E. Lester Smith, head of Glaxo’s biochemistry department, and one American, led by Merck’s director of biochemistry, Karl Folkers. The vitamin’s chemical structure was worked out during the mid-1950s by Dorothy Hodgkin, the Oxford x-ray crystallographer, for which work she received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1964.
The absence of some ‘‘intrinsic factor,’’ (i.e., a substance required to absorb the anti-anemic factor), was first proposed by William Castle to be the underlying cause of pernicious anemia arising from his work at the Boston City Hospital during the 1930s (Castle also contributed significantly to studies of hypochromic anemia and iron deficiency ongoing there at this time also).
Castle’s idea stimulated enormous amounts of further hematological research aimed at the isolation and identification of this mysterious entity, and then, it was hoped, the development of a cure for pernicious anemia. Today, the disease remains incurable but treatable, and is now understood as an autoimmune disease. The 1930s also saw the introduction of a pioneering method of quantitative analysis of the blood, devised by the U.S. physician Maxwell Wintrobe, making use of his new invention, the ‘‘Wintrobe tube,’’ designed to measure the volume of packed red cells and erythrocyte sedimentation rate. From this analysis, Wintrobe produced a classification of the anemias that endures to the present day.
If anemia defined the study and practice of hematology in the first half of the twentieth century, then advances in the understanding of blood malignancy (the leukemias and lymphomas) and the introduction of effective chemotherapies firmly established hematology as a formal specialty in the post-World War II years. The first Professional hematological society, the International Society of Hematology, was founded in 1946, followed by the American Society of Hematology in 1954, and then several national societies across Europe and Asia. New journals such as Blood (1946), The British Journal of Haematology (1955) and Progress in Hematology (1956) became crucial professional vehicles for the nascent specialty. The new oncology and pediatric oncology bodies and journals emerging during the 1960s and 1970s further extended the professional interactions of hematologists.
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By the end of the twentieth century, a career in hematology required first training as either a physician or a pathologist, and involved some or all of the following: the management of blood products and derivatives; the administration of immunosuppressives, chemotherapies, anticoagulants and antithrombotic agents; and supportive care for a range of systemic diseases. On the research side, hematologists are actively engaged in research on several fronts including anemia, cancer and chemotherapy, blood typing and blood products, pain management studies, and stem cell therapy.
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Similarly, as knowledge of the blood and its constituents increased, so routine diagnostic analysis of the blood became a central part of the work of the many new hospital laboratories springing up in this period across Europe and North America. Between the mid-nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries, research effort in hematology was particularly focused on the causes and treatment of the anemias. These were conditions commonly seen on the wards, which often provided great potential for analysis using the latest technologies. Sickle cell anemia among African–Americans, for instance, was formally identified by Chicago physician James Herrick in 1910, but as a rare disease found solely in members of an underprivileged minority population, it did not initially trigger much clinical or biological interest in the U.S., and still less in Europe, with its tiny black population. Nonetheless, by the 1930s, sickle cell anemia, along with thalassemia, another inherited hemoglobinopathy (first identified as a specific disease in 1925 by the Detroit pediatric physicians Thomas Cooley and Pearl Lee), was recognized as a genetically linked condition, and as such was fitted well in the growth of interest in genetic and molecular views of disease in the twentieth century. In 1945, chemist Linus Pauling and his new medicallytrained graduate student Harvey Itano took up the problem of sickling in red blood cells as a tool through which to explore the chemical nature of hemoglobin, making sickle cell anemia the first disease to be fully described on a molecular level. The link between iron deficiency and anemia, the root of one of the commonest of all nutritional deficiencies, was first made by Gustav von Bunge, Professor of Physiological Chemistry at the University of Basle in 1902. It was not until the 1930s, however, that British physicians Leslie Witts, D.T. Davies, and Helen MacKay each confirmed the role of nutritional iron in the replacement of iron contained in hemoglobin, and discussed the dietary lack or gastric malabsorption of this iron as leading to a specific disease process. In other anemia research, dietary treatment was also producing a great deal of research activity. In 1925 the Rochester physiologists George Whipple and Frieda Robscheit-Robbins published results showing that administration of beef liver to dogs with severe experimental anemia markedly increased the rate of blood regeneration, and they discussed the possible applications of this work to patients with pernicious anemia. Their work was complemented on the clinical side by George Minot and William Murphy, two Harvard medical school physicians, who announced in 1926 a dietary treatment for pernicious anemia through the administration of raw liver. As had been the case for insulin treatment for diabetes (discovered a few years earlier), these findings were celebrated as a wonderful example of the power of combined laboratory and bedside research, and in 1934, Whipple, Minot and Murphy were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their work. The antianemic factor in liver was isolated and identified as vitamin B12 in 1948 by two teams working independently, one British, led by E. Lester Smith, head of Glaxo’s biochemistry department, and one American, led by Merck’s director of biochemistry, Karl Folkers. The vitamin’s chemical structure was worked out during the mid-1950s by Dorothy Hodgkin, the Oxford x-ray crystallographer, for which work she received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1964.
The absence of some ‘‘intrinsic factor,’’ (i.e., a substance required to absorb the anti-anemic factor), was first proposed by William Castle to be the underlying cause of pernicious anemia arising from his work at the Boston City Hospital during the 1930s (Castle also contributed significantly to studies of hypochromic anemia and iron deficiency ongoing there at this time also).
Castle’s idea stimulated enormous amounts of further hematological research aimed at the isolation and identification of this mysterious entity, and then, it was hoped, the development of a cure for pernicious anemia. Today, the disease remains incurable but treatable, and is now understood as an autoimmune disease. The 1930s also saw the introduction of a pioneering method of quantitative analysis of the blood, devised by the U.S. physician Maxwell Wintrobe, making use of his new invention, the ‘‘Wintrobe tube,’’ designed to measure the volume of packed red cells and erythrocyte sedimentation rate. From this analysis, Wintrobe produced a classification of the anemias that endures to the present day.
If anemia defined the study and practice of hematology in the first half of the twentieth century, then advances in the understanding of blood malignancy (the leukemias and lymphomas) and the introduction of effective chemotherapies firmly established hematology as a formal specialty in the post-World War II years. The first Professional hematological society, the International Society of Hematology, was founded in 1946, followed by the American Society of Hematology in 1954, and then several national societies across Europe and Asia. New journals such as Blood (1946), The British Journal of Haematology (1955) and Progress in Hematology (1956) became crucial professional vehicles for the nascent specialty. The new oncology and pediatric oncology bodies and journals emerging during the 1960s and 1970s further extended the professional interactions of hematologists.
rift gold
By the end of the twentieth century, a career in hematology required first training as either a physician or a pathologist, and involved some or all of the following: the management of blood products and derivatives; the administration of immunosuppressives, chemotherapies, anticoagulants and antithrombotic agents; and supportive care for a range of systemic diseases. On the research side, hematologists are actively engaged in research on several fronts including anemia, cancer and chemotherapy, blood typing and blood products, pain management studies, and stem cell therapy.
Noriega, Closer to Returning to Panama
Although the return to Panama's of the former general Manuel Antonio Noriega is in the hands of the US State Department,rift gold Panama's Foreign Minister and Vice President, Juan Carlos Varela, hinted that his extradition is a fact. According to Varela, U.S. authorities have said they have no objection with Noriega serving his sentences in Panama. Therefore, he explained that it will fall to the Attorney General to send their special agents to France to request the delivery of Noriega. Both the defense lawyers of the former dictator and Panama's president Ricardo Martinelli have said that, upon meeting the procedures of repatriation or in case of a reduced sentence,rift gold Noriega could return to Panama by next June or July.
Medical Anthropology
The field of medical anthropology emerged in the 1960s, with roots in physical anthropology and human evolution, the study of primitive medicine, cross-cultural psychiatry, and the involvement of anthropologists in international health. The Society for Medical Anthropology, organized in 1967, became a section of the American Anthropological Association in 1972, and today constitutes the largest group within that organization. In contrast,rift gold the medical sociology and health psychology sections of their parent organizations have never constituted more than a small percentage of overall membership. The involvement of medical anthropologists in public health has grown steadily over the past 40 years, with the growth of interdisciplinary fields such as social and cultural epidemiology, maternal and child health, international health, environmental health, reproductive health, and health education. Although the number of U.S. medical anthropologists working in domestic public health settings has always outnumbered those working internationally, their contributions to the latter arena have been more prominent because of its cross-cultural orientation.
In contrast, medical anthropology departmentswith an international health focus have occupied prominent positions in European schools of public health, including programs in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Italy, France,rift gold and Germany (Saillant and Genest, 2007). In addition, a number of strong medical anthropology programs have been developed within European departments of anthropology, such as those at the University of Amsterdam and Heidelberg University, which provide graduate-level training for many developing-country students.
In contrast, medical anthropology departmentswith an international health focus have occupied prominent positions in European schools of public health, including programs in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Italy, France,rift gold and Germany (Saillant and Genest, 2007). In addition, a number of strong medical anthropology programs have been developed within European departments of anthropology, such as those at the University of Amsterdam and Heidelberg University, which provide graduate-level training for many developing-country students.
2011年4月19日星期二
The UFC has once again raised its own bar. RIFT Platinum After previously announcing a pair of free preliminary card fights for UFC Fight Night 24 would be streamed live on Facebook, the company has upped the ante to five – apparently thanks to some social media pressure put on company president Dana White.
Posters on The Underground forum started an impromptu campaign asking White, via the message boards and Twitter, for more fights on Facebook. After scheduling two earlier in the week, the UFC boss came through and added three additional to the stream.
The main card for UFC Fight Night 24, featuring a main event light heavyweight bout between Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Phil Davis, airs live on Spike TV starting at 10 p.m. Eastern. rift gold Leading into the four-fight televised card, five prelims will stream at the UFC's Facebook fan page starting at 7:30 p.m. Eastern.
In addition to the previously planned bouts between Jon Madsen-Mike Russow and Alex Caceres-Mackens Semerzier, the UFC will now stream Sean McCorkle-Christian Morecraft, Edwin Figueroa-Michael McDonald and John Hathaway-Kris McCray. Rift Gold To gain access, viewers must "like" the UFC on Facebook, which then unlocks a live streaming video player on the fan page. The UFC currently has more than 5 million fans at the social networking site.
The UFC first began utilizing Facebook to stream unaired prelim fights in January at the Fight for the Troops 2 show at Fort Hod, Texas. RIFT Platinum For that card, two bouts were planned for Facebook. But on the night of the fights, the UFC announced two more would air – a total of four leading into the five-fight card on Spike.
The promotion has continued airing fights for free at Facebook each event since then – but never as many as the five that will air on Saturday, which beats its previous high of four at the Fight for the Troops show.
Between main card broadcasts and prelims on a combination of Spike TV, Ion Network and Facebook, the UFC has made it possible for fans to see the majority of fights on its cards. At UFC 127 last month, between Facebook, Ion and the pay-per-view, 11 of 12 bouts were aired (Mark Hunt's win over Chris Tuchscherer, rift gold the second fight of the night, was added to the pay-per-view broadcast as a filler fight). Last Saturday at UFC 128, and again this Saturday, nine of 12 bouts are guaranteed a broadcast of some kind.
UFC Fight Night 24 takes place at the Key Arena in Seattle and marks the UFC's debut in Washington. RIFT Platinum In addition to the main event between Nogueira and Davis, the main card includes a co-main event welterweight between Anthony Johnson and Dan Hardy; the featherweight rematch of the 2010 Fight of the Year between Leonard Garcia and Chan Sung Jung; and a welterweight bout between Amir Sadollah and DaMarques Johnson.
Posters on The Underground forum started an impromptu campaign asking White, via the message boards and Twitter, for more fights on Facebook. After scheduling two earlier in the week, the UFC boss came through and added three additional to the stream.
The main card for UFC Fight Night 24, featuring a main event light heavyweight bout between Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Phil Davis, airs live on Spike TV starting at 10 p.m. Eastern. rift gold Leading into the four-fight televised card, five prelims will stream at the UFC's Facebook fan page starting at 7:30 p.m. Eastern.
In addition to the previously planned bouts between Jon Madsen-Mike Russow and Alex Caceres-Mackens Semerzier, the UFC will now stream Sean McCorkle-Christian Morecraft, Edwin Figueroa-Michael McDonald and John Hathaway-Kris McCray. Rift Gold To gain access, viewers must "like" the UFC on Facebook, which then unlocks a live streaming video player on the fan page. The UFC currently has more than 5 million fans at the social networking site.
The UFC first began utilizing Facebook to stream unaired prelim fights in January at the Fight for the Troops 2 show at Fort Hod, Texas. RIFT Platinum For that card, two bouts were planned for Facebook. But on the night of the fights, the UFC announced two more would air – a total of four leading into the five-fight card on Spike.
The promotion has continued airing fights for free at Facebook each event since then – but never as many as the five that will air on Saturday, which beats its previous high of four at the Fight for the Troops show.
Between main card broadcasts and prelims on a combination of Spike TV, Ion Network and Facebook, the UFC has made it possible for fans to see the majority of fights on its cards. At UFC 127 last month, between Facebook, Ion and the pay-per-view, 11 of 12 bouts were aired (Mark Hunt's win over Chris Tuchscherer, rift gold the second fight of the night, was added to the pay-per-view broadcast as a filler fight). Last Saturday at UFC 128, and again this Saturday, nine of 12 bouts are guaranteed a broadcast of some kind.
UFC Fight Night 24 takes place at the Key Arena in Seattle and marks the UFC's debut in Washington. RIFT Platinum In addition to the main event between Nogueira and Davis, the main card includes a co-main event welterweight between Anthony Johnson and Dan Hardy; the featherweight rematch of the 2010 Fight of the Year between Leonard Garcia and Chan Sung Jung; and a welterweight bout between Amir Sadollah and DaMarques Johnson.
Indians -- The offense should be improved with addition of Mark Derosa, Shin-Soo Choo earning a starting role, the return of a health Victor Martinez, rift gold and maybe, just maybe, Travis Hafner proving his swift decline was only a fluke. They're considerably less frightening on mound, where Cliff Lee, who's having a brutal spring, is unlikely to repeat his '08 performance. Fausto Carmona might be able to pick up the slack bouncing back from a disappointing sophomore campaign. RIFT Platinum But the back end of the rotation looks much like the Sox Hope and a Prayer unit, running out the always-injured Carl Pavano, the mechanically-troubled Anthony Reyes as a reclamation project, and the effectively forgettable Scott Lewis, who has started only 8 games above AA. They have mid-90's win potential if their pitching comes together.
Royals -- How long will we continue to write that the Royals are still another year away? I might have projected them about even with the Sox had they not made a series of moves (Kyle Farnsworth, Mike Jacobs, Horacio Ramirez) that seemed to be about adding payroll more than wins. Offensively, we'll be waiting for the breakout of Alex Gordon and Billy Butler. Rift Gold Their rotation is pretty good with a front four of Gil Meche, Zach Greinke, Kyle Davies and Brian Bannister, but if they add Ramirez for the sake of having a lefty in they're giving away a few wins. If they had been expertly stewarded this off-season, I would say this was the year; but a few questionable decisions may leave them a few wins short of contention. In this division, that's all it takes.
Tigers -- Onerous contracts to Gary Sheffield and Dontrelle Willis combined with an economy that may be hitting Detroit harder than any other area of the country forced the Tigers to have their quietest off-season in recent memory. They strip-mined their farm system to build a roster that's now clearly older than the Sox. They're a decent offensive club, who, like the Sox have too many players on the wrong side of the aging curve. RIFT Platinum They'll hope that Jeremy Bonderman is finally healthy and worth his contract once again, and that either Nate Robinson or Dontrelle Willis can step up to prevent the rushing to the majors of Rick Porcello. They are a slow start away from attempting to sell off any salary not attached to Miguel Cabrera.
Twins -- Backs will tell the Twins story this season. Their only significant addition was Joe Crede until Memorial Day, or whenever his back decides to give out. And their best player, Joe Mauer, has already been troubled by lower back problems. If they get 260 games out of those two, they'll probably win the division, but that seems like a long shot right now. rift gold So they'll have to rely on their pitching, a solid rotation includes Francisco Liriano, Scott Baker, Kevin Slowey, Glenn Perkins, and Nick Blackburn, and a relatively young, batting-average-reliant offensive core. A good team, but not good enough to project as a clear division favorite.
White Sox -- The White Sox have a hole at CF so large NASA has begun to explore the area in USCF in search of anti-matter, while the back end of the rotation appears destined to be filled by two old pitchers coming off injuries. RIFT Platinum With a host of unknowns from CF, 2B, 3B, to the rotation and aging concerns, the Sox have too many questions to rank as the division favorite, or even among the favorites. They'll need a host of issues to fall their way to contend. But we've seen it happen before, as late as last season
Royals -- How long will we continue to write that the Royals are still another year away? I might have projected them about even with the Sox had they not made a series of moves (Kyle Farnsworth, Mike Jacobs, Horacio Ramirez) that seemed to be about adding payroll more than wins. Offensively, we'll be waiting for the breakout of Alex Gordon and Billy Butler. Rift Gold Their rotation is pretty good with a front four of Gil Meche, Zach Greinke, Kyle Davies and Brian Bannister, but if they add Ramirez for the sake of having a lefty in they're giving away a few wins. If they had been expertly stewarded this off-season, I would say this was the year; but a few questionable decisions may leave them a few wins short of contention. In this division, that's all it takes.
Tigers -- Onerous contracts to Gary Sheffield and Dontrelle Willis combined with an economy that may be hitting Detroit harder than any other area of the country forced the Tigers to have their quietest off-season in recent memory. They strip-mined their farm system to build a roster that's now clearly older than the Sox. They're a decent offensive club, who, like the Sox have too many players on the wrong side of the aging curve. RIFT Platinum They'll hope that Jeremy Bonderman is finally healthy and worth his contract once again, and that either Nate Robinson or Dontrelle Willis can step up to prevent the rushing to the majors of Rick Porcello. They are a slow start away from attempting to sell off any salary not attached to Miguel Cabrera.
Twins -- Backs will tell the Twins story this season. Their only significant addition was Joe Crede until Memorial Day, or whenever his back decides to give out. And their best player, Joe Mauer, has already been troubled by lower back problems. If they get 260 games out of those two, they'll probably win the division, but that seems like a long shot right now. rift gold So they'll have to rely on their pitching, a solid rotation includes Francisco Liriano, Scott Baker, Kevin Slowey, Glenn Perkins, and Nick Blackburn, and a relatively young, batting-average-reliant offensive core. A good team, but not good enough to project as a clear division favorite.
White Sox -- The White Sox have a hole at CF so large NASA has begun to explore the area in USCF in search of anti-matter, while the back end of the rotation appears destined to be filled by two old pitchers coming off injuries. RIFT Platinum With a host of unknowns from CF, 2B, 3B, to the rotation and aging concerns, the Sox have too many questions to rank as the division favorite, or even among the favorites. They'll need a host of issues to fall their way to contend. But we've seen it happen before, as late as last season
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