Indonesia and India on Tuesday were named as the world's biggest catchers of sharks in an EU-backed probe into implementing a new pact to protect seven threatened species of sharks and rays.
Indonesia and India account for more than a fifth of global shark catches, according to the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC.
They head the list of 20 countries that together account for nearly 80 percent of total shark catch reported between 2002 and 2011.
The others, in descending order, are Spain, Taiwan, Argentina, Mexico, the United States, Malaysia, Pakistan, Brazil, Japan, France, New Zealand, Thailand, Portugal, Nigeria, Iran, Sri Lanka, South Korea and Yemen.
The report was requested by the EU's executive European Commission following the listing of seven species of sharks and rays by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Bangkok last March.
The regulations will take effect in September 2014 to give countries time to determine what is a sustainable level of trade in these sharks and how their industries can adapt to it.
Shark numbers have been decimated by overfishing, caused in great part by a demand for shark fins in China.
The absence of this apex predator has a big knock-on effect on the main biodiversity chain. Some scientists believe that one of the consequences has been an explosion in jellyfish numbers.
TRAFFIC -- an alliance between green group WWF and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) -- said it had identified other countries that were major hubs for the trade in shark meat or shark parts.
They include Bangladesh, Maldives, Oman, Singapore, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates as exporters of shark fins, and Namibia, South Africa, Panama and Uruguay as exporters of shark meat.
The report also gave a red-flag warning about the need to unravel a trade as complex as it is lucrative.
Some of the species are specifically targeted by fishing operations, but others end up as accidental, but valuable, catch when trawlers are looking for tuna.
"Key to implementing the CITES regulations will be the establishment of chain-of-custody measures, to facilitate enforcement and verification that harvest is legal," said Victoria Mundy-Taylor, who co-wrote the report.
The CITES controls will cover the ocean whitetip shark, porbeagle shark, three species of hammerhead shark and two species of manta rays, which are all classified as endangered on the IUCN's Red List.
These species are all slow-growing, late to mature and produce few young, which make them highly vulnerable to overfishing. The decision in Bangkok moved them to Appendix II of CITES, which covers species that are threatened by trade or may become so without strict controls.
Source: www.calendarwiz.com --- Saturday, August 03, 2013 Tickets on sale now for our Golf Tournament Saturday September 28th 8-1pm! Wood Creek Golf Course $225/4 person team includes lunch and cart Individual play $60/person includes lunch and cart Hosp... ...
Home ? NFL ? News ? NFL Hall of Fame Game: Tony Romo Doesn?t Think He Will Play Sunday
Sunday marks the official start of NFL games for the 2013 season with the first preseason game of August in Canton as the Dallas Cowboys take on the Miami Dolphins in the annual Week One preseason Hall of Fame Game.
Jul 23, 2013; Oxnard, CA, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (9) hands off to running back Lance Dunbar (25) during training camp drills at the River Ridge Fields. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports.
Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo has been the subject of most of the lead up into the game as after getting offseason surgery on his back and reporting to camp overweight, Romo?s status for Sunday has been up in the air for much of the last two weeks. As everyone wondered out loud whether or not Romo would come out to play the first series or two for Dallas, Romo remained quiet about the situation as did the Cowboys staff.
Now Romo has came out and said that he doesn?t think he is going to participate in what is an extra preseason game for the Dolphins and Cowboys.
Via Rainer Sabin of the Dallas Morning News, that?s what Romo said Friday when asked about the preseason opener on Sunday. ?Coach Jason Garrett still declined to confirm that Romo won?t play, although Garrett?s initial comments on the topic from more than a week ago provided a pretty strong clue that Romo won?t make the usual one-series cameo appearance at Fawcett Stadium in Canton.
One one hand, it?s no big deal for Romo to miss anywhere from three to 10 snaps. ?On the other hand, if he can?t suit up for anywhere from three to 10 snaps it is obvious that he is having issues from offseason surgery to remove a benign cyst from his back.
It is an extra game, but if Romo?s status isn?t better for Friday?s preseason game against Oakland it might be time to worry in Dallas considering that Jerry Jones just gave Romo a huge pile of money this spring. They will want their investment back to full health ASAP.
Topics: Dallas Cowboys, Hall Of Fame Game, News, Tony Romo
JEANNETTE, Pa. (AP) ? Looking dapper in a tiny tan pinstripe suit and orange shirt, a 2-year-old boy with only weeks to live served as the best man Saturday afternoon for his parents' Pennsylvania wedding.
Christine Swidorsky carried Logan Stevenson on her shoulder at the Saturday afternoon wedding in Jeannette, a suburb of Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.
Logan stood with his grandmother, Debbie Stevenson, during a 12-minute ceremony uniting Logan's mother and his father, Sean Stevenson. The boy has leukemia and other complications.
"We're married," Swidorsky exclaimed joyously after kissing her groom to applause from family and friends.
After a whirlwind week, the Jeannette couple tied the knot in a hastily arranged backyard ceremony that formalized their union and celebrated Logan's life, which doctors say will be cut short soon by cancer.
The Stevensons abandoned an original wedding date of July 2014 after learning from doctors late last month that their son had two to three weeks to live. The couple wanted Logan to see them marry and to be part of family photos.
Logan dozed off and on during the ceremony, nestled on his grandmother's shoulder, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. Debbie Stevenson said he is on medication to make him comfortable, but it also makes him sleepy.
Swidorsky's mother died six years ago and her father died just two months ago, the newspaper said.
Logan, who was born Oct. 22, 2010, was diagnosed shortly after his first birthday with acute myeloid leukemia. He has Fanconi anemia, a rare disease that often leads to cancer.
He endured a stem cell transplant in July 2012. Last March, he underwent surgery to remove a kidney ravaged by a tumor.
During a Make-A-Wish trip to Disney World in June, Logan fell ill. He was hospitalized in Florida before he was flown back to Pittsburgh.
During a trip to the emergency room last month, a test revealed a mass in his remaining kidney, which led to his terminal prognosis. Logan is spending his remaining days at home, where he is showered with attention from family members.
Swidorsky's daughter, Isabella Johns, 13, served as bridesmaid and the couple's 1-year-old daughter, Savannah, was her parents' flower girl.
"This is our dream come true," Swidorsky said through tears, the Post-Gazette reported.
CARBONDALE, IL-- Construction crews have been busy at Abe Martin Field, demolishing almost everything that was once there. Saluki baseball coach Ken Henderson says a new field will not replace the memories made at Abe Martin the last half century.
"The history is going to remain,"?said Henderson. "It's still going to be Abe Martin Field, and it's still going to be on the same site, and so no one is going to take that history away from us."
But plenty will change. As Henderson pointed to, the field itself will still be called 'Abe Martin Field,' but it will be apart of a larger facility referred to as 'Itchy Jones Stadium.' And new memories will be made at the state of the art stadium, which includes field turf, lights, and updated amenities for fans, which is expected to help?boost attendance.
Of all the things changing, one thing that is untouched is 'The Hill,' where Saluki fans of all ages have watched the games for a different vantage point, for decades.
"Everybody has something about their facility that's theirs, and 'The Hill' is ours,"?admitted director of facilities Andy Pettit. "We aren't going to touch that hill, it will actually be improved. We're sinking the dugouts, so the view over the dugouts will be better from 'The Hill.'
But for the first time ever, everyone will be charged admission. Pettit says they haven't yet decided what that charge will be, but it will not be expensive.
Henderson says that as bright as the future is for the Salukis, they'll be worth the price of admission.
"I think it's the most exciting time in my twenty-four years here,"?Henderson said.?"And I?think it's one of the most exciting programs in the midwest right now."
As long as the weather co-operates, construction crews are planning to lay field turf down in November, and the new stadium will be unveiled in the spring.
[unable to retrieve full-text content]For every innovation that begins with the question: ?What can we do with this??, there are numerous possible applications. Determining which new solutions can be employed to deliver what business innovations requires ...
'To my sister Amanda Bynes you're not alone. I'm here for you. I understand,' Cannon writes in his lengthy note about the hardships of navigating fame. By Gil Kaufman
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's opposition conservative party proposed sweeping energy reform on Wednesday to change the constitution to allow more private investment and promote competition, while the ruling party is expected to present its own plans for an overhaul next week.
Both parties favor market-friendly policies in Latin America's No. 2 economy and are expected to join forces to push through energy reform.
"Everything indicates that the (energy reform) initiative of President Pena Nieto will arrive next week," said Senator Emilio Gamboa, leader of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, in the upper chamber of Congress.
However, lawmakers from the center-right National Action Party, or PAN, were the first to come out with a detailed bill that aims to provide the biggest private-sector opening of the state-run oil sector in decades.
The party called for changes to the constitution to give oil companies incentives to boost the nation's sliding energy output.
The leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD, has made clear it will not support constitutional changes, which it argues are tantamount to privatization.
"We have set the bar in line with the size of the challenge in Mexico and we urge lawmakers from the PRI and PRD to approach what we can achieve with audacity," the PAN's national chairman Gustavo Madero told reporters as the bill was unveiled in the Senate.
The PAN's bill marks the opening bid in what is expected to be a heated debate over the future of the country's ample oil and gas reserves. Mexico is the world's 10th biggest producer of crude oil, according to data from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
The conservative party's proposed legislation is broadly in line with the thinking of Pena Nieto's PRI, which has also called for constitutional reforms.
The PRI will need the PAN's backing in Congress to achieve the two-thirds majority to push through constitutional reform. That would bypass a political pact forged by the three main parties, which achieved consensus on a batch of economic changes earlier this year, and could complicate future reform efforts.
CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE
The PAN's proposal would end a prohibition on oil and gas concessions and risk-sharing contracts enshrined in Article 27 of the constitution.
In place of the ban on concessions and contracts, the text of the PAN's proposed amendment says the state "should guarantee the maximum benefit of oil profits for the nation from the work of the operators who conduct exploration and production activities."
Mexico's current sole oil and gas operator is the state-run monopoly Pemex.
Overall, the PAN's proposal would reform Articles 25, 27 and 28 of the constitution. It would eliminate public-sector exclusivity over the generation, transportation and distribution of electricity, and strengthen the country's energy regulatory bodies by making them autonomous. Those details would be dealt with in so-called secondary laws.
The bill would create a new national petroleum fund to administer the country's energy riches, but still keep all oil and gas resources under public ownership.
PAN leaders emphasized that they were open to negotiating the fine print of how oil companies would be compensated under a more open, competitive energy sector.
"At the end of the day, how you pay them, whether with money or oil, is practically the same," Salvador Vega, a PAN senator, told Reuters.
"We are not closed to any kind of model. In fact, we are looking at all types of models. That is where the most important part of the debate will be ... whether we move to a kind of royalty, taxes on products or benefits."
The PAN's bill was filed with the Senate, which will formally kick off the debate on energy reform on September 1 when the new congressional session begins.
(Additional reporting by Michael O'Boyle.; Editing by Simon Gardner and Christopher Wilson)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Tea Party-inspired plan to kill President Barack Obama's healthcare law by forcing a government shutdown unless funds to implement the law are denied has not gained traction among senior Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, lawmakers said on Wednesday.
"I think leadership is giving other options that they think are more effective," said Republican Representative Pat Tiberi, a close ally of House Speaker John Boehner.
Tiberi, speaking to Reuters following a closed-door meeting of House Republicans, said that while a final decision probably had not been made, his colleagues are more likely to continue pushing for Congress to repeal individual provisions of "Obamacare."
Republicans have been on a continuous campaign to kill Obama's landmark healthcare law, which aims to help provide medical insurance for millions of people who cannot afford it on their own. They argue that the law, which is taking effect in stages, will discourage job creation and saddle businesses with higher costs.
Tea Party-backed conservatives in the Senate, including Senators Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Mike Lee, have been trying to persuade enough of their fellow Republicans to join them in a high-stakes gamble that would threaten a government shutdown on the start of the new fiscal year, October 1, unless legislation to keep Washington operating specifically defunds Obamacare.
More senior Senate Republicans have savaged the idea, with some calling it "dumb," "silly," "feckless" and "dishonest."
On September 30, federal funding expires for hundreds of federal programs, ranging from military activities and NASA space exploration to federal parks, education and job training.
A dozen funding bills for the fiscal year starting on October 1 are pending in Congress but are unlikely to be completed by that deadline.
The result is that Congress will either have to pass a temporary funding bill, called a continuing resolution or CR, or risk government closings. Tea Party-backed senators who want to attach the Obamacare provision have complicated already difficult negotiations over government spending levels.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers, asked about chances of his chamber going along with demands of Tea Party-backed senators on the funding bill, told reporters: "This is just something the White House will not accept and we've got to have a CR."
Representative Tom Cole, another longtime House Republican, told reporters that he had seen "an awful lot of push-back" on the idea, adding, "I don't sense that there's nearly enough unanimity in either the Senate or the House Republican conferences to push an approach like that."
With Congress about to start a month-long break, Boehner said he will keep mulling ways to tackle end-of-fiscal-year funding problems.
"I'm confident that when we get into the fall, it may be a messy process, but I suspect we'll find a way to deal with it," Boehner told reporters.
When fake tan meets the seams of a white wedding dress, it can make for a very tacky affair. Add to that a good chance you'll look too tanned against your groom, and not the least bit like yourself. While some say a spray will take more kilos off your already primed bridal body, we say go the safe route and use a gradual tan in the weeks leading up to your big day. Try a few out over the months proceeding, and make sure you photograph yourself a few days into the process to see which shade you like the best. Take notes on the application process, colour, scent and longevity. We've done some of the hard work for you, here's seven of our favourites.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) ? Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel thinks it's important for Siemens AG to get back to smooth sailing after the German engineering group's announcement that it plans to remove CEO Peter Loescher, a government spokesman said Monday.
"From her point of view, Siemens is a flagship of German business, and so it is important to her that this global company returns to calm waters," spokesman Georg Streiter said, while stressing that removing Loescher was "a company decision."
Munich-based Siemens makes industrial machinery such as power generation and transmission equipment, high-speed trains, and medical diagnostic scanners. It has 370,000 employees, including 56,500 in the United States, and is active in 190 countries.
The company's stock dropped last Thursday after it said it would miss its 2014 goal of 12 percent profit margin, blaming "lower market expectations." On Saturday, Siemens announced its board of directors would decide Wednesday on Loescher's departure and choose another company executive as president and CEO.
News media speculation has focused on chief financial officer Joe Kaeser as the likely replacement.
Company shares traded little changed Monday on the first trading day after Loescher's departure became apparent, up 0.2 percent at 79.86 euros in early afternoon trading in Europe.
Loescher, a company outsider hired in 2007 from drug company Merck & Co., Inc., helped Siemens move past a corruption scandal involving payoffs to win contracts. But the company has lately missed profit targets and has had other slips such as late delivery of trains to Germany's Deutsche Bahn railway and cross-channel railway Eurostar.
The company is worth 70.4 billion euros in market capitalization and had net profit of 4.59 billion euros for its 2011-2012 fiscal year ending Sept. 30. The profit figure was down 27 percent on the previous year. Revenues last year were 78.3 billion euros.
Siemens reports earnings for the latest quarter on Thursday.
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MUNCIE, Indiana ? On a hot summer night in 1930, Shaffer American Methodist Episcopal Church in Whitely became a part of 20th century American history.
Without financial help, however, the building and only historical site in the city's neighborhood, will crumble before residents' eyes, leaving only the stories of its members' bravery behind.
"This is an important site not only for African-Americans, but for all of Muncie," said Cornelius Dollison, who married his wife, Mary, in Shaffer 51 years ago. "We're raising money not just to improve the church, but to improve a piece of history and the last piece of history from a horrible event. We don't want people to forget what happened."
On Aug 7, 1930, the last recorded lynching in a northern state took place in Marion, Indiana, after the arrest of two black men, Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, for the alleged rape of a white resident.
Billie Holiday's song "Strange Fruit," along with the poem of the same name, were written in response to the Marion lynching.
When no one in Marion or its surrounding towns would take the bodies and prepare them for burial, Shaffer's pastor J. E Johnson, also a Muncie mortician, volunteered to embalm the bodies.
Members of the Ku Klux Klan came to Whitely looking for the bodies ? and Johnson ? to add more terror to the situation.
Instead, they encountered a group of black residents who held an all-night vigil at Shaffer, eventually prompting the Klan to leave the site and spare Johnson's life.
"I was a little kid when all of that happened, but people always talked about it. Even when I got older, people talked about it," Hurley Goodall, a member of Shaffer, told The Star Press (http://tspne.ws/162Vxhz ). He was also married in the church. "That's what made me want to be an activist. Knowing the community fought back when the Klan was powerful. What those people did was an inspiration."
These days, the Shaffer congregation is smaller and older, but members are still strong in their faith for God and civil rights.
Unfortunately, the building doesn't carry the same strength.
With broken stairs, cracks in the facade, uneven landscaping and an old historical marker, Whitely residents and members of its neighborhood association are calling on Munsonians to donate to the Shaffer Chapel fund.
The Whitely Community Council has long made it their goal to beautify the neighborhood. Bringing pride and glory back to the chapel is a key feature, members said.
With the help of 20 Ball State University elementary education students, the neighborhood association will create fundraisers for the chapel.
"We think it'll be an amazing opportunity for our students to work alongside members of a community in a project like this," said Eva Zygmunt, an associate professor in elementary education leading the student component of the fundraisers. "When they enter their (future) classrooms and communities, they will understand how important it is to engage in communities where they teach ... learn more about where the students live."
The council, which now has tax-exempt status as a nonprofit, hopes to raise $50,000 to fix the broken stairs and improve the landscaping on the Shaffer site. Members also plan to build a ramp for the church to make it accessible for its older population.
The major building improvement will be the creation of a larger marker to denote the role Shaffer members played in providing two men with what Whitely residents called "a respectable burial."
The Klan was outnumbered by prayerful black residents in the summer of 1930, at least for one night.
And the northern states never had a lynching similar to the one in Marion again.
"It's so important for everyone to take pride in what went on in Whitely then and to take pride in the neighborhood now," said Mary Dollison. "This is a historical site for the city and we've taken it on as a project. ... With the community's help, we'll be able to create a site we can all be proud of, a site we can remember."
Information from: The Star Press, http://www.thestarpress.com
Source: www.digitalhome.ca --- Sunday, July 28, 2013 Is there any difference in channels if I buy the Lynx radio in the USA versus Canada? I will probably subscribe with my US address. Thanks ...
Supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi are continuing their protest in the Egyptian capital, despite orders from security forces to end their sit-in and disperse.
The situation in Cairo's Nasr City was relatively quiet Sunday morning, after fighting between security forces and Morsi supporters killed at least 74 people in Cairo and Alexandria since Friday. Around a thousand people have been injured.
Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood movement said Saturday that police fired into unarmed demonstrators in Nasr City, where members have been camped for weeks demanding his reinstatement.
Egyptian officials deny the accusations, saying police only fired tear gas and that pro-Morsi marchers were responsible for the violence.
In Alexandria, Egyptian authorities said people inside a mosque fired shots into the surrounding neighborhood Saturday, while Morsi supporters say gunmen shot into the mosque.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday called this period a pivotal moment for Egypt and warned that violence is a setback for reconciliation and democracy.
He said that Egyptian authorities are morally and legally obligated to respect the right of free speech and assembly. He is calling for an impartial investigation into the latest violence.
Morsi has been held in secret military detention since July 3. Officials say they are investigating allegations that he conspired with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Skip Schumaker's first career home run at Dodger Stadium couldn't have come at a more opportune time, especially now that he's playing for the home team.
Schumaker hit a tiebreaking two-run shot off longtime NL West rival Bronson Arroyo while filling in for the ailing Carl Crawford, Hyun-Jin Ryu gave up two hits over seven innings and retired his last 13 batters, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds 4-1 Saturday night.
"I grew up in L.A. going to Dodger games, so I've always thought about hitting a home run in Dodger Stadium ? and actually doing it is pretty incredible," Schumaker said. "It's kind of a surreal feeling. I get lucky every now and then. Every 200 at-bats or so, I run into one."
Ryu (9-3) had nine strikeouts, all in a span of 13 batters. The first came against Joey Votto, who took a called third strike after Chris Heisey hit his first triple of the season with two out in the third. Cincinnati's run came on a homer by Jay Bruce in the second.
The Dodgers increased their NL West lead to 1 1/2 games over Arizona.
Ryu faced South Korean countryman Shin-Soo Choo for the first time in the major leagues. The Reds' center fielder walked, grounded out to first base and struck out.
"I'm sure Choo was on his mind," catcher A.J. Ellis said. "I mean, it's a big deal. Choo is one of his best friends and one of his baseball idols. So with him facing him in America in an atmosphere like this, and also playing in front of a huge TV audience back in Korea, it's pretty neat to know you're a part of that. It was really cool to see those guys match up. You could hear the crowd on every pitch and every swing."
Kenley Jansen got the last three outs for his 14th save.
Crawford, who singled his first three times up in the Dodgers' 2-1 victory Friday night and then made a brief visit to an emergency room on Saturday to get checked on for a high temperature and fever, was held out of the lineup. Manager Don Mattingly replaced him with Schumaker, who came in with more plate appearances (53) and hits (18) against Reds starter Bronson Arroyo than anyone else on Los Angeles' roster.
"It's a good feeling when you have a situation like today where Carl wasn't able to play and Skip can step in and be a more than capable guy," Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez said. "He's a great veteran who battles every at-bat. That's what this team is built upon ? experience on the bench, experience on the field. And hopefully we'll take that all the way through."
Schumaker came through in the fifth, driving Arroyo's 1-0 pitch to center field for his second home run of the season and a 3-1 Dodgers lead after a leadoff single by Mark Ellis.
"If you look at the numbers, it says I have some hits off him. But a lot of those were bloop hits, lucky hits, and not too many were squared up," said Schumaker, who also doubled in the seventh inning and scored the Dodgers' fourth run on a two-out single by Gonzalez.
It was the 300th home run given up Arroyo (9-8), including a career-high and major league-worst 46 in 2011. The 14-year veteran right-hander was charged with three runs and eight hits in 5 1-3 innings, after going 4-0 with a 2.30 ERA in his previous six starts against Los Angeles. He was coming off a complete-game 11-0 victory at San Francisco on Monday.
The Dodgers got a run in the first on a two-out double by Hanley Ramirez after Yasiel Puig walked, advanced on a flyout and stole third without a throw. But the Reds tied it in the second when Bruce drove Ryu's 2-0 pitch into the right field pavilion for his 22nd home run. Since the start of the 2010 season, Bruce leads all left-handed batters with 42 homer against lefty pitchers ? including eight this season.
"I think it's helped him being around Joey Votto, and seeing how Joey hits lefties," manager Dusty Baker said. "Most guys, I think, have trouble with lefties because they don't see them (enough). I mean, it's hard enough to find a right-handed batting practice pitcher that can throw strikes ? and it's almost impossible to find a lefty to do it. But we've got two of them ? Mark Berry and Ronnie Ortegon. And we always travel with one, so I think that helps a lot.
"That's something that Barry Bonds always did in San Francisco," added Baker, who watched Bonds homer 125 times against lefties during the 10 seasons he managed baseball's career home run leader. "We always had a left-hander throwing to Barry in batting practice. So I took a page out of Barry's book, and I'd like to give Barry credit for that."
Bruce, the Reds' right fielder, also threw out Puig at first base in the fifth after the overaggressive rookie made a wide turn on his single toward the line. The play immediately followed Schumaker's homer. It was the hustle by catcher Devin Mesoraco that made it possible, because he ran up the line and took the throw.
In Thursday night's series opener, Puig made a similar wide turn around first on a single to center and ended up at third base after Choo threw the ball past first baseman Votto and the ball ended up in the stands for a two-base error.
NOTES: Ryu is 5-1 with a 1.83 ERA in 10 home starts. The Dodgers have won each of his last six outings, including three no-decisions. ... Arroyo has given up a franchise-record 238 home runs since joining the Reds in a March 2006 trade from Boston for Wily Mo Pena. ... Reds RHP Jonathan Broxton, on the disabled list since June 15 with an elbow strain, threw 20 pitches during early batting practice. Baker was noncommittal when asked about the best-case scenario for the former Dodger closer's return. ... Los Angeles pitching coach Rick Honeycutt rejoined the club after missing four games because of the death of his mother-in-law. ... Votto's consecutive game on-base streak ended at 38 after he went 0 for 3. That left Ramirez with the longest active streak in the majors at 35.
An Image Claims To Reveal The Name Of The Budget iPhone That Will Join The Fall Apple Smartphone Lineup Which Will Also Include The iPhone 5S.?
JULY 28, 2013, 10:22 PM. Article by Carlo Raphael Diokno.
Ahead of the Fall Apple inc. smartphone reveal reportedly scheduled in week 4-September, a new leak from a Chinese-based forum site claims to reveal the retail packaging of the low-cost iPhone which is rumored to take the lower price point. As reported by slew of tech sites online, the widely-leaked budget iPhone with plastic back case will take the name iPhone 5C ? and it seems to confirm the report that Apple will soon drop the production of the older iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S in favor of new products that will focus entirely on the lightning port ecosystem. The iPhone 4 & 4S are using the old 30-pin Apple dock port.
WHEN SHE CAME BACK, THEY WERE GONE. PEOPLE SPOTTED HER WEARING THE CLOTHES. A COUPLE FROM THE SEACOAST IS LIVING PROOF OF WHAT IT MEANS TO STAY TRUE IN SICKNESS AND HEALTH. SHE IS FIGHTING STAGE FOUR BREAST CANCER, BUT TODAY, SHE WAS THE BRIDE AGAIN. JENNIFER GANNON IS HERE WITH THEIR STORY. THIS IS MORE THAN THEY COULD'VE ASKED FOR. THEY WERE OVERWHELMED BY ALL OF THE SUPPORT THAT THAT HELP TO MAKE THEIR DAY SO SPECIAL. CONGRATULATIONS. IN AN INTIMATE CEREMONY WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY LOOKING ON, COLIN AND SARAH I KNEW THERE WEDDING VOWS -- RENEWED THEIR WEDDING VOWS, CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF MARRIAGE. BUCKS WE ARE ECSTATIC ABOUT THIS DAY. IT HAS BEEN A LONG JOURNEY FOR THE PORTSMOUTH COUPLE. SARAH WAS DIAGNOSED WITH STAGE FOUR BREAST CANCER IN 2008. WITH THEIR 10TH ANNIVERSARY, SARAH REACHED OUT TO WISH UPON A WEDDING ON A NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION WHICH GRANTED THE BRIDE AND GROOM THEIR EVERY WISH FOR THIS SPECIAL DAY. A VERY HUMBLING EXPERIENCE. WE WERE WITH SARAH WHEN SHE TRIED ON WEDDING DRESSES EARLIER THIS MONTH WITH HER YOUNG DAUGHTER LOOKING ON. VENDORS FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY DONATED FORMAL CLOTHING. A LOT OF WONDERFUL PEOPLE. A LOT OF AMAZING COMMUNITY. THE BEST PART OF THE DAY WAS SHARING IT WITH THEIR CHILDREN. I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE BAD, BUT IT WAS PRETTY FUN. IN THE END, IT WAS A PERFECT DAY SURROUNDED BY LOVED ONES. IT HAS BEEN AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE. WISH UPON A WEDDING PLANS SPECIAL CEREMONIES FOR COUPLES
WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 21, 2013) ? The best ideas to put children on a path to school success rarely come from Washington, D.C.
President Obama has put forward a plan to make high-quality preschool affordable for all children ? a vital step in putting young people on a path to a thriving middle class. As I saw firsthand in a pair of visits in the Minneapolis area on Tuesday, that effort builds on the work of states like Minnesota.
The day began at Pond Early Childhood Family Center in Bloomington, where I sat with students who sang a song, recited the alphabet and discussed some of their favorite words. The visit was an inspiring example of great educators helping kids get ready for kindergarten in a setting of joy and support.
Later Tuesday, Gov. Mark Dayton, Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius, and other leaders from business, the military, government and the clergy, joined a town-hall discussion at Kennedy Senior High School. At that town hall, parents, teachers, education leaders and others from throughout the state made clear that they have seen the power of early learning ? and that they know we must reach many more children.
That understanding did not emerge from Washington. Forward-looking states have led the way ? including Minnesota, where Dayton this year signed a bill that invests nearly $200 million in early learning, helping tens of thousands more children attend high-quality child care, preschool and all-day kindergarten.
Minnesota has made a priority of preschool through an Office of Early Learning, a Children?s Cabinet and an Early Learning Council, which together ensure that the cradle-to-career continuum begins with a strong start. In addition, as a winner of a Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge grant, Minnesota is creating systems and infrastructure that offer new ideas to other states.
Minnesota?s work represents real progress for families and children in the face of great need. The state?s new investments will reach about 8,000 children over two years, but that leaves many 3- and 4-year-olds ? some 35,000 of them ? without access to high-quality early learning opportunities. And that?s why we need to work hard, in Minnesota and across the country, to reach so many more students.
Why? Because of the pivotal role that quality preschool education can play in a child?s life. Studies confirm what every teacher knows: Young children who experience secure, stimulating environments with rich learning opportunities from an early age are better prepared to thrive in school. They reap benefits in high school graduation rates and employment, and are less likely to commit crimes.
Experts ? including Art Rolnick, a former senior vice president at the Federal Reserve office here, who joined the town-hall discussion ? have made a strong case that public investments in preschool return many times more in savings and benefits. As Rolnick ? a tireless advocate for early learning ? has said: ?The best economic development strategy is investment in early childhood.? Acting on that knowledge will help to position young people to do well in an increasingly competitive and globalized workforce.
Yet today, millions of young children in this country lack that opportunity. Among 4-year-olds in the United States, fewer than three in 10 attend a high-quality preschool program. The availability of high-quality learning and development programs for infants and toddlers likewise presents challenges for families. And the gap is especially pronounced in low-income communities.
That?s why the president has put forward a plan to make high-quality, full-day preschool available to all 4-year-olds from families whose incomes are at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty line ? a major help to families working to balance work and family responsibilities and the costs of child care.
All federal costs of this proposed state-federal partnership would be covered by a new tobacco tax ? meaning it won?t add a dime to the deficit. States would receive incentives to provide voluntary high-quality preschool with low class sizes, qualified teachers and stimulating learning experiences.
The plan also would launch a new Early Head Start-Child Care partnership to expand high-quality early learning opportunities for infants and toddlers, along with voluntary home-visiting programs in which nurses, family educators and social workers connect low-income families to health, social and educational supports.
President Obama has spoken about America?s basic bargain: that people who work hard and shoulder their responsibilities should be able to climb into a thriving middle class. Restoring that bargain, he said, is the unfinished work of our generation.
Minnesota is doing that work in earnest. Your children are better for it.
WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama?s choice of a replacement for the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, is coming down to a battle between the California girls and the Rubin boys.
Possible Bernanke Fed successor Summers slammed by critics who claim he helped cause the financial crisis
President Barack Obama could be months away from announcing his pick to replace Ben Bernanke at the Federal Reserve, yet critics are already making an unusual public effort to stop one contender in the race ? former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers.
Continue reading.
Janet L. Yellen, the Fed?s vice chairwoman, is one of three female friends, all former or current professors at the University of California at Berkeley, who have broken into the male-dominated business of advising presidents on economic policy. Her career has been intertwined with those of Christina Romer, who led Obama?s Council of Economic Advisers at the beginning of his first term, and Laura D?Andrea Tyson, who held the same job under President Bill Clinton and later served as the director of the White House economic policy committee. But no woman has climbed to the very top of the hierarchy to serve as Fed chairwoman or Treasury secretary.
Yellen?s chief rival for Bernanke?s job, Lawrence H. Summers, is a member of a close-knit group of men, proteges of the former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, who have dominated economic policymaking in both the Clinton and the Obama administrations. Those men, including the former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Gene Sperling, the president?s chief economic policy advisor, are said to be quietly pressing Obama to nominate Summers.
The choice of a Fed leader is perhaps the single most important economic policy decision Obama will make in his second term. Bernanke?s successor must lead the Fed?s fractious policymaking committee in deciding how much longer and how much harder it should push to stimulate growth and seek to drive down the unemployment rate.
Yellen?s selection would be a vote for continuity: She is an architect of the Fed?s stimulus campaign and shares with Bernanke a low-key, collaborative style. Summers, by contrast, has said he doubts the effectiveness of some of the Fed?s efforts, and his self-assured leadership style has more in common with past chairmen like Alan Greenspan and Paul Volcker.
But the choice also is roiling Washington because it is reviving longstanding and sensitive questions about the insularity of the Obama White House and the dearth of women in its top economic policy positions. Even as three women have served as secretary of state under various presidents and growing numbers have taken other high-ranking government jobs, there has been little diversity among Obama?s top economic advisors.
?Are we moving forward? It?s hard to see it,? said Romer, herself a late addition to Obama?s original economic team, chosen partly because the president wanted a woman.
She said she viewed the choice of the next leader of the Fed as a test of the administration?s commitment to inclusiveness. ?Within the administration there have been many successful women,? she said. ?There are lots of areas where women are front and centre, where women are succeeding and doing very well. Economic policy is one where they?re not.?
Supporters of Summers dismiss the idea that gender is a factor in the decision. They say they simply regard him as the best person for the job. They point to the fact that he has served in both of the other top economic policy positions ? as Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration and as chief economic policy advisor to Obama ? which makes him a known quantity who has demonstrated an ability to respond effectively to financial crises.
Yellen was widely seen as the front-runner to succeed Bernanke, but that appears to have reflected an absence of information about the views of Obama and his closest advisors. As word circulated in recent days that the president was seriously considering Summers, Yellen?s supporters have rushed forward to bolster her candidacy.
?It would be great to have a woman, the first woman chairman of the Fed, no question about it,? Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the House minority leader, told Bloomberg Television on Thursday. ?She?s extremely talented. It?s not just that she?s a woman.?
Pelosi said she also thought Summers was a qualified candidate.
On Thursday, Senate Democrats were rallying support for Yellen, with about a third of the 54 members of the caucus signing a letter backing her candidacy.
Summers? supporters are making less noise in public, partly because some of his primary advocates are inside the White House, while Yellen?s primary advocates mostly appear to be on the outside looking in.
Yellen declined to comment through a Fed spokeswoman. Summers did not respond to a request for comment.
Summers, 58, returned to his job as an economics professor at Harvard after leaving the Obama administration, but he has visited the White House at least 14 times in the last two years. The logs record only one visit by Yellen, 66. That is not unusual for a top Fed official in Yellen?s position ? her predecessors also spent little time at the White House ? but it is significant for a president who has often placed a premium on nominating people who he knows.
It also suggests the administration has not tried to groom Yellen for a promotion. Bernanke, by contrast, was plucked from his job as a Fed governor to work as chairman of President George W. Bush?s Council of Economic Advisers before being nominated as Fed chairman.
Women have held a number of top economic policy positions within the administration during Obama?s tenure. In addition to Romer, Lael Brainard is currently the country?s top financial diplomat, and Sylvia Mathews Burwell is the White House budget chief.
Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress and a former administration official, said she saw a general problem, not a particular one. ?I think there should be more women across the board but I wouldn?t select out economic policymaking,? she said.
For years, economic policymaking has been dominated by a small, close-knit group of men who have known one another since the Clinton administration, if not before. In addition to Summers, Geithner and Sperling, the group includes Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, Daniel Tarullo, a Fed governor who has taken a leading role on financial regulation, and Jason Furman, currently nominated to be the head of the Council of Economic Advisers.
Numerous current and former administration officials have described the world as cloistered. A series of women who have worked alongside those men have ended their tenures saying they felt excluded and ignored. Recent examples include Sheila Bair, who ran the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. during the financial crisis; Elizabeth Warren, who led the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau but was passed over for nomination as its first director in favour of a deputy, Richard Cordray; and Romer, who left the administration in 2010.
?I was always officially where I should be,? Romer said of her White House experience. ?When there was a quick meeting on the phone, or the side meeting, that?s when you felt like maybe business was being done or maybe I was being left out of things.?
Similarly, Yellen clashed with Sperling during the Clinton administration, when she ran the Council of Economic Advisers and he the National Economic Council, with the two engaging in turf battles and Yellen at times feeling pushed out of important decision making, colleagues at the time said.
Several former administration officials, who spoke about personnel policy only on the condition of anonymity, strongly disputed the idea that the White House was institutionally sexist, that Obama did not value the promotion of women or that women were excluded because of their gender.
But they acknowledged that women on the economic team had tended to hold advisory roles, rather than policymaking roles. They also said women tended to be further to the left than the more centrist Rubinites that have generally prevailed in policy debates.
Along with the Rubinite network of men, women in the Democratic economic policy world have created an informal network of their own over the last 20 years. Tyson, Romer and Yellen are especially close, calling one another for advice on navigating the world of White House politics and talking economic shop.
Tyson recommended Yellen for an open seat on the Fed?s seven-member board of governors, which oversees regulatory policy and sets monetary policy in consultation with the presidents of the 12 regional reserve banks.
She also helped to start the career of Brainard, now the Treasury undersecretary for international affairs, by battling for permission to break the rules by extending Brainard?s White House fellowship into a full-time position with the Council of Economic Advisers.
Romer helped put Janice Eberly up for a post as the Treasury?s chief economist. The debate about the role of gender has spilled out well beyond the White House. Richard W. Fisher, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, said this year that if the president chose Yellen, the decision would be ?driven by gender.?
Her supporters counter that being a woman appears to be hurting her chances.
But concerns about gender would not be determinative in the White House?s mind, officials with knowledge of the process said. The president?s comfort with the candidate, concerns about how well he or she would manage the Fed?s powerful Open Market Committee and deal with the market and Wall Street would be most important. Not to mention the likelihood of a candidate winning Senate confirmation.
?It?s an embarrassment of riches,? said Jared Bernstein, a former Obama administration economist who spoke at length of the brilliance of both candidates. ?He?s weighing who would do the best job at a sensitive time, and the differences here are nuanced.?
The University of the Incarnate Word has been named a "Great College to Work for" by the Chronicle of Higher Education.
The University of Incarnate Word has been selected as one of the ?Great Colleges to Work for? in the country for the fifth consecutive year.
The ratings are based on a survey conducted by The Chronicle of Higher Education of more than 44,000 employees at 300 colleges and universities that gauge best practices and policies.
?This is positive affirmation of the type of environment we?ve worked hard to create for our employees and students,? says UIW President Dr. Lou Agnese. ?It?s gratifying recognition not just for UIW, but also San Antonio.?
San Antonio-based UIW is the largest Catholic university in the state and the fourth-largest private university in Texas.
The full list is available here.
James Aldridge oversees online content of the newspaper; edits and reports stories for the online edition.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama announced Wednesday that he is nominating former first daughter Caroline Kennedy as U.S. ambassador to Japan, offering the most famous living member of a prominent American family a new role of service to country.
Kennedy, an attorney and bestselling book editor, is being rewarded for helping put Obama in the White House where her father served until his assassination 50 years ago. If confirmed, she would be the first woman in a post where many other prominent Americans have served to strengthen a vital Asian tie.
Kennedy helped propel Obama to the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination in a celebrated endorsement over Hillary Rodham Clinton ? the only time she's endorsed a presidential candidate other than her uncle Ted Kennedy in 1980. She was a co-chair of Obama's vice presidential search committee and in the 2012 race served as one of 35 national co-chairs of his re-election campaign.
The White House announced her nomination without any particular fanfare, listing her in a news release along with other selections for administration posts. Obama said in a statement that all the choices bring "a depth of experience and tremendous dedication to their new roles," but he offered no comment specific to Kennedy.
Japan is one of the United States' most important commercial and military partners and accustomed since the end of World War II to having renowned American political leaders serve as envoy. Former U.S. ambassadors to Japan include former Vice President Walter Mondale, former House Speaker Tom Foley and former Senate Majority Leaders Mike Mansfield and Howard Baker.
Kennedy, 55, doesn't have their foreign policy heft or any obvious ties to Japan, a key ally in dealing with North Korea's nuclear ambitions. She would replace John Roos, a wealthy former Silicon Valley lawyer and top Obama campaign fundraiser.
Thomas Berger, an international relations professor at Boston University, said some may be concerned that Kennedy doesn't have the experience to deal with thorny issues in the U.S.-Japan relationship, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks and the dispute over islands in the East China Sea claimed by both Japan and China. But Berger argued that Kennedy will have an experienced staff to guide her through policy matters, while she offers other assets ? celebrity appeal to the Japanese, a close relationship with Obama and her gender.
"Japanese women continue to look for role models who demonstrate that it is possible to be a woman and have a successful career in politics," Berger said. "I expect that many in both the United States and in Japan will want to use her to send that message to the Japanese public."
She also would bring a third generation of her family into the U.S. diplomatic corps. Her grandfather Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. was President Franklin D. Roosevelt's ambassador to Britain, while her aunt Jean Kennedy Smith was ambassador to Ireland under President Bill Clinton.
Caroline Kennedy was five days shy of her sixth birthday when her father was killed, and she lived most of the rest of her life in New York City. She earned a bachelor's degree from Harvard University, got a law degree from Columbia University, married exhibit designer Edwin Schlossberg and had three children.
Kennedy is president of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and chair of the senior advisory committee of the Institute of Politics at Harvard. She has served on the boards of numerous non-profit organizations, helped raise millions of dollars for New York schools and edited numerous bestselling books on history, law and poetry.
She considered running for political office after Clinton resigned the New York Senate seat to serve as Obama's secretary of state. But Kennedy eventually withdrew herself from consideration to fill the seat, once held by her uncle Robert F. Kennedy, citing unspecified personal reasons.
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Follow Nedra Pickler on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/nedrapickle
UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is already one of MMA's biggest stars, but now she will try to become a star of the silver screen as well. Like many MMA fighters before her, Rousey will have a part in an action movie. According to Sylvester Stallone, Rousey will be a part of "Expendables 3," and early favorite to win an Oscar.*
Ronda Rousey will show championship form in Expendables 3! So will multi hampion Victor Ortiz!
? Sylvester Stallone (@TheSlyStallone) July 24, 2013
Expendables is the same franchise that starred UFC pioneer Randy Couture. The third movie in the series includes Stallone, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and MMA hangers-on/fans Steven Seagal and Mickey Rourke. Seagal has been around Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida for years. Perhaps he will try to teach Rousey a move or two?
As Rousey takes a step towards Hollywood, you have to wonder if she's following the path of Gina Carano. After putting together an impressive MMA career, she lost to Cristiane "Cyborg" Justino (then Santos). She went on to star in movies like "Blood and Bone" and "Haywire," and hasn't fought since that 2009 loss.
Rousey has plenty of MMA on her plate to keep her from getting too caught up in the movies, though. She is coaching the next season of "The Ultimate Fighter" against Miesha Tate, then will fight Tate at UFC 168 at the end of the year.
As refugees pour over the border into the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), they don't know what awaits them. Forced to flee the violence between the government and Seleka rebel forces in their homeland of Central African Republic (CAR), women, children and the elderly are now in search of a safe place to sleep, even if that means finding refuge under a few tree branches on the banks of a riverbed.
For thousands of CAR refugees, this is exactly the situation they now find themselves in. Settling on the sandbanks of the Ubangi River in north-western DRC, they are living in makeshift shelters with little access to clean water or sanitation facilities.
"These refugees are living in a very difficult and precarious situation, they are exposed to all forms of adversity, especially those living on the sandbanks who live in huts," says Denis Duffaut, the regional representative for central Africa at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
"Host households are also overcrowded and lack all essential items. This situation has resulted in major challenges for the refugees in all key aspects of health and nutrition, water, hygiene, sanitation and shelter."
The region is a common destination for refugees as the Ubangi River provides opportunities for fishing, which allows people in camps to supplement the support they receive from UNHCR. However, people are also using the river to bathe and wash, and as a latrine, as well as for drinking water, which poses serious health risks.
Humanitarian organizations have launched programmes to promote hygiene and sanitation in affected areas. To date, 18 chlorination stations have been installed along the river in Lembo, Kambo and Mobayi-Mbongo to help provide clean water from the river. These sustainable projects are managed by the refugees themselves who are trained in the safe use of chlorine and aquatabs.
Awareness campaigns on the importance of latrines have also been launched, but their availability varies. In areas where temporary shelters have been erected, latrines are available - including six built by volunteers with the Red Cross of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. But on the riverbanks, they are harder to find.
The IFRC has launched an emergency appeal of 1,122,910 Swiss francs (1.2 million US dollars) to support 15,000 refugees over six months. Ensuring people remain healthy is a key component of the Red Cross work.
Despite the challenges of accessing this extremely remote area, volunteers with the local Red Cross have already helped construct 47 latrines and 30 showers, and distributed aquatabs to help purify water.
"We have succeeded in providing some level of comfort to refugees, who also took ownership of the sanitary facilities, using them before they were even inaugurated," says Duffaut. "But there is still a lot of work to do. And for that, we need support from our partners, if we truly aim to help these refugee families remain healthy in the months ahead."
University of Ohio's Central Chiller Plant is chill because it has to be?it supplies water and emergency power to the university's medical district. But thanks to its facade covered in prismatic fins, it's also chill in the non-literal sense of the word.
Kristen Stewart was caught on the set of her latest flick Camp X-Ray and let's just say X-rays of her lungs probs wouldn't look so hot.
On top of it, K-Stew inhaled the poisonous nicotine with a busted lip from the bad ass moves the military movie requires ? that tobacco CAN'T be good for the healing process!
We know all the hipsters are doin' it, but ciggys stopped being cool wayyyy back when it was discovered they could KILL you.
Get with it, gurl!
[Image via WENN.]
Tags: camp x-ray, film flickers, health, icky icky poo, kristen stewart, smoking
The End of the Fucking World (TEOTFW) [Pre-Order - with Exclusive Signed Print]
Price: $19.99
Willard Mullin's Golden Age of Baseball: Drawings 1934-1972 [Pre-Order]
Price: $35.00
more upcoming titles...
Willard Mullin's Golden Age of Baseball: Drawings 1934-1972 by Willard Mullin; edited by Hal Bock and Michael Powers
240-page black & white/color 9.25" x 12.25" hardcover ? $35.00 ISBN: 978-1-60699-639-3
Ships next week!?Pre-Order Now
In Fantagraphics' ceaseless effort to rediscover every world-class cartoonist in the history of the medium, we turn your attention to a neglected part of the art form ? sports cartooning ? and to its greatest practitioner ? Willard Mullin.
The years 1930-1970 were the Golden Age of both American sports and American comic strips, when giants strode their respective fields ? Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Hank Aaron in one, George (Krazy Kat) Herriman, Milton (Steve Canyon) Caniff, Walt (Pogo) Kelly in the other ? and Mullin was there, straddling both fields, recording every major player and event in the mid-20th-century history of baseball. Mullin was to baseball players what Bill Mauldin was to soldiers: advocate and critic, investing them with personality, humanity, dignity, and poignancy; Mauldin had Willie & Joe and Mullin had the Brooklyn Bum, his affectionate 1939 character representing the bedraggled figure of the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Willard Mullin's Golden Age of Baseball: Drawings 1934-1972 collects for the first time Mullin's best drawings devoted to baseball ? depictions of players like Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Yogi Berra, and Sandy Koufax, legendary managers like Casey Stengel and George Steinbrenner, and events like Lou Gehrig's emotional retirement speech on July 4, 1939, for which Mullin not only drew a portrait but composed a poem (which he often incorporated into his cartoons). Mullin's fluid line and delicate but vigorous brushwork are shown to beautiful effect, with many drawings reproduced from original art.
See why millions of baseball fans from the '30s to the '70s looked forward to Mullin's cartoons in their daily paper. Mullin was voted "Sports Cartoonist of the Century" upon his retirement by his peers, and his legacy has been summed up by New Yorker cartoonist Bob Staake, who wrote, "Mullin defined the modern sports cartoon by combining representative portraiture, cartoonish doodlery, and editorial commentary ? part news account, part personal observation, his cartoons celebrated sport for its entertainment, cultural, and artistic value."
Tom Spurgeon at The Comics Reporter has the scoop on three new publishing projects we're undertaking in stories which have rolled out during this first half of Comic-Con International:
First up, details about?Sock Monkey Treasury: A"Tony Millionaire's Sock Monkey" Collection, collecting the material released in comic book, trade, and storybook form by Dark Horse in a big fancy hardcover, and confirmation that it will be followed by an all-new original Sock Monkey story, Sock Monkey in the Deep, Deep Woods.
Second, the announcement of an as-yet-untitled collection of comics work by?Eleanor Davis, compiling her stories from?Mome?and comics posted online along with new work.?
Third, news of a massive 3-volume retrospective/biography of S. Clay Wilson compiled and written by?Patrick Rosenkranz, with the first 300-page volume coming next year.?
Hit those links for more details, and keep your eyes peeled for more news!?
2013 Lambda Literary Award Winner Featuring an introduction by Lana Wachowski (The Matrix, Cloud Atlas)
?... A definitive collection of the greatest LGBT comics created over the last four decades.? ? The Advocate
?... A useful, combative and frequently moving chronicle of a culture in perpetual transition; to read it is to watch as an insular demimonde transforms itself, in painful?fits and joyful starts, and steps out into a wider monde.? ? The New York Times Book Review
?... A striking example of how entwined the history and literature of the gay rights movement have been since the early days of the battle.??? The San Francisco Chronicle
?All of these [comics] hit on concerns and experiences that cut to the heart of the human soul, not just the gay one.??? Publishers Weekly
No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics (Softcover Ed.) by various artists; edited by Justin Hall
328-page black & white/color 7.5" x 10" softcover ? $35.00 ISBN: 978-1-60699-718-5
Due to arrive any day now. Click the thumbnails for larger versions; get more info, see more previews and pre-order your copy here:
http://www.fantagraphics.com/nostraightlines
To take in the action in Georgetown this weekend you may have to navigate a detour. Exit 162 off I-5 is closed for repairs. Use Albro Place exit 161,?public transportation or surface street?options.
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This is the last weekend to visit the temporary Sub Pop Mega Mart across the street from the bookstore. Catch a free DJ set by Shabazz Palaces on Friday evening from 5:00 to 8:00 PM.? Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery?commemorates the occasion by giving away a free bottle of Sub Pop Soda Pop with every purchase all day long. And don't miss the delightful photography exhibition CP25/SP25 by Charles Peterson next door at All City Coffee.
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Escape the city for the wonderful?Unknown Music Series?in Anacortes this weekend. Visit our table at the small press book fair in Causland Park on Saturday and Sunday and enjoy music by the Hive Dwellers, Karl Blau, ? Paon, LAKE, the Drink Up Honey, Lori Goldston, and many more. See you there.
No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics (Softcover Ed.) by various artists; edited by Justin Hall
328-page black & white/color 7.5" x 10" softcover ? $35.00 ISBN: 978-1-60699-718-5
Ships in: July 2013 (subject to change) ? Pre-Order Now
Queer cartooning encompasses some of the best and most interesting comics of the last four decades, with creators tackling complex issues of identity and a changing society with intelligence, humor, and imagination. This book celebrates this vibrant artistic underground by gathering together a collection of excellent stories that can be enjoyed by all.
No Straight Lines showcases major names such as Alison Bechdel (whose book Fun Home was named Time Magazine?s 2006 Book of the Year), Howard Cruse (whose groundbreaking Stuck Rubber Baby is now back in print), and Ralf Koenig (one of Europe?s most popular cartoonists), as well as high-profile, crossover creators who have flirted with the world of LGBTQ comics, like legendary NYC artist David Wojnarowicz and media darling and advice columnist Dan Savage. No Straight Lines also spotlights many talented creators who never made it out of the queer comics ghetto, but produced amazing work that deserves wider attention.
Until recently, queer cartooning existed in a parallel universe to the rest of comics, appearing only in gay newspapers and gay bookstores and not in comic book stores, mainstream bookstores or newspapers. The insular nature of the world of queer cartooning, however, created a fascinating artistic scene. LGBT comics have been an uncensored, internal conversation within the queer community, and thus provide a unique window into the hopes, fears, and fantasies of queer people for the last four decades.
These comics have forged their aesthetics from the influences of underground comix, gay erotic art, punk zines, and the biting commentaries of drag queens, bull dykes, and other marginalized queers. They have analyzed their own communities, and their relationship with the broader society. They are smart, funny, and profound. No Straight Lines will be heralded by people interested in comics history, and people invested in LGBT culture will embrace it as a unique and invaluable collection.
2013 Lambda Literary Award Winner: LGBT Anthology
2013 Eisner Award Nominee: Best Anthology
You may recall, our own Jim Woodring has teamed up with local beer experts Elysian Brewing Company for a new line of flavors dubbed the Oddland Series!? Here's how the collaboration works: Elysian comes up with a kooky flavor, runs it past Jim who sketches an idea; the recipe is tweaked, ingredients secured, and we're off to Oddland!
For the second flavor in the series, the brewers at Elysian present the Oddland Spiced Pear Ale, brewed with pears, Northwest premium 2-row and German Cara-hell malts, bittered with German Northern Brewer and finished with Yakima Cascade and Czech Saaz hops. Cumin and cardamom give it a heady and exotic touch, offsetting a drinkable and refreshing beer of 6.25% alcohol by volume.
Jim's label is also exotic and heady: a buxom songstress sitting on a rock, accompanying herself on a banjo, surrounded by blue alligators and many eyeballs. I'm drunk just looking at it!
Available in stores and on draft beginning July 15th, and at the Oregon Brewers Festival July 24-28 on the Willamette waterfront in Portland.?
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Our hands are hot from unpacking this straight-from-the-presses debut books and meeting all you nice people during Preview Night!
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If the table's a rockin'....please grab it because its groaning from the weight of our books!
Kristy Valenti holds one of her most recent books?Love and Rockets Companion ?(co-edited by Marc Sobel)?
Abrams ComicsArts' editor Carol Burrell laughs and makes Comics Reporter Tom Spurgeon guffaw at the booth.
Wired's Graeme McMillan and Douglas Wolk go ape shit over Cathy Malkasian's?Wake Up, Percy Gloom.
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Scott McCloud came to oooohhh and ahhh over books and ask the most difficult question: what is your favorite comic book of the last year (that also came out in that time)? There are so MANY on the Fantagraphics' tables, no? Come see us at booth 1718.
That's all for now but there's lots more to come! Keep it tuned here and especially to our Twitter feed!?
This week's comic shop shipment is slated to include the following new titles. Read on to see what comics-blog commentators and web-savvy comic shops are saying about them (more to be added as they appear), check out our previews at the links, and?contact your local shop ?to confirm availability.?
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Goddamn This War! by Jacques Tardi & Jean-Pierre Verney
140-page full-color 8.25" x 10.75" hardcover ? $24.99 ISBN: 978-1-60699-582-2
"any work by the great Jacques Tardi is always worth waiting for?and in my opinion every decent graphic novel collection needs some Tardi in it, he is one of the great masters of the medium, from fantastic adventures (Adele Blanc-Sec) to hard boiled crime (adapting Manchette's prose) to seething, searing indictments of warfare." ?Forbidden Planet International
Not-at-Comic-Con Special: Extra Discount on Gift Sets!
Written by Mike Baehr | Filed under Tony Millionaire,?sales specials,?Pirus and Mezzo,?Monte Schulz,?Krazy Kat,?Joe Daly,?Jacques Tardi,?Ignatz Series,?Gilbert Hernandez,?George Herriman,?Ernie Bushmiller,?EC Comics,?Cathy Malkasian,?Carol Tyler
18 Jul 2013 12:10 AM
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For those of us sitting out Comic-Con this year (boo hoo), it means missing out on some special deals on the convention showroom floor. Well, us stay-at-homes should get to have a little fun too!
Now until Comic-Con ends on Sunday, July 21, an assortment of our already-discounted gift sets of sequential or related books are marked down EVEN MORE, at least an extra 10% off and?up to 1/3 off! And after the sale, some of these sets won't be offered anymore, so this may be your LAST CHANCE to get them at a discount! Your choices (while supplies last) include:
? our?first?and?second?EC Library sets ? Tony Millionaire's wonderful?Billy Hazelnuts?books ? the first 2 volumes of Joe Daly's hilarious?Dungeon Quest ? Jacques Tardi's?two WWI masterpieces ? our?Ignatz Series Summer 2010 Super-Pack ? critical darling?King of the Flies?by Mezzo & Pirus ? George Herriman's earliest?Krazy Kat?Sundays collected ? a duo of Jacques Tardi/Jean-Patrick Manchette?crime stories ? all 3 (so far) of Gilbert Hernandez's?"Fritz B-Movie" books ? our first 2 volumes of Ernie Bushmiller's?Nancy ? Cathy Malkasian's acclaimed?Percy Gloom and its brand-new sequel ? the first 2 volumes of Tardi's?Ad?le Blanc-Sec?adventures ? a?pair of literary novels?by Monte Schulz ? the complete?You'll Never Know?by the great C. Tyler?
What's better than a book from Fantagraphics? Two or more books from Fantagraphics!?And even without an extra discount, our other sets are still a great deal too.?See the whole list here!
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The Love and Rockets Companion: 30 Years (and Counting) edited by Marc Sobel & Kristy Valenti
368-page black & white/color 7.5" x 9.25" jacketed softcover ? $29.99 ISBN: 978-1-60699-579-2
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The Love and Rockets Companion: 30 Years (and Counting) contains three incredibly in-depth and candid interviews with creators Gilbert, Jaime and Mario Hernandez: one conducted by writer Neil Gaiman (Coraline); one conducted some six years into the comic?s run by longtime L&R publisher Gary Groth; and one conducted by the book?s author, spanning Gilbert?s, Jaime?s and Mario?s careers, and looking to the future of the ongoing series, with a follow-up conversation with Groth. This book has foldout family trees for both Gilbert?s Palomar and Jaime?s Locas storylines; unpublished art; a character glossary (which is handy, considering that Gilbert alone has created 50+ characters!); highlights from the original series? anarchic letters columns; timelines; and the most wide-ranging Hernandez Brothers bibliography ever compiled, including album and DVD covers, posters and more. The obsessive-yet-accessible detail and high production values make it a must-have for comics collectors, scholars, libraries and old and new fans alike: for those new to the series, it will make jumping in seem less daunting. For longtime fans, it clears up confusion that even those devoted to the groundbreaking alternative comic over its 30-year run can experience, given the sheer amount of material and sophisticated storytelling techniques (such as flashbacks, flash forwards, elliptical narrative and magical realism).
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UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is already one of MMA's biggest stars, but now she will try to become a star of the silver screen as well. Like many MMA fighters before her, Rousey will have a part in an action movie. According to Sylvester Stallone, Rousey will be a part of "Expendables 3," and early favorite to win an Oscar.*
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