Category: News

Here’s a quick check of notable injury situations and a few things to pay particular attention to during Saturday’s game action.

• Both Dirk Nowitzki(notes) and Carl Landry(notes) sustained injuries during a collision in Friday’s game (video here). Nowitzki’s elbow knocked out or cracked five of Landry’s teeth, with some of them ending up embedded in said elbow. We should see updates on both players sometime on Saturday – Dirk may end up being able to go Sunday, but it’s a pretty safe bet that Landry will not play Saturday.

• Landry only playing six minutes in the overtime win opened up playing time for other Rockets reserves, and Kyle Lowry(notes) answered the call to the tune of 26 points, three treys, six boards, 10 assists, five steals, and a block in 39 minutes. Lowry is always a solid per-minute contributor and could end up with some sustained relevance if Landy misses extended time, but otherwise will remain outside of most radars.

• Antawn Jamison(notes) suffered a neck stinger Friday but is expected to be in the lineup when the Wizards face the Suns on Saturday. If he has a setback and were to end up missing time, Andray Blatche(notes) would need to be back on fantasy rosters.

• Allen Iverson’s(notes) various ailments (left knee arthritis, right leg stress reaction, left shoulder bruise) kept him out of the lineup Friday, and he’s also doubtful for Saturday and questionable for Tuesday. Eddie Jordan’s take:

"We think for certain he’ll be ready by the end of next week, maybe by
Washington, but not Saturday. He’s been
really battling some issues. We think he’ll be really, really healthy
by next week."

• The latest on Louis Williams(notes) is that all involved parties have agreed on December 26 as the earliest possible return, and the Sixers have only two games before then (Saturday LAC and Tuesday @WAS). 

• Chauncey Billups’(notes) groin injury kept him inactive Friday, and he’s likely to miss Sunday’s game as well. With the team off Monday and Tuesday, George Karl would like Billups to use the extra time to be sure that he’s 100 percent when he does return, and that’s likely to be Wednesday.

• For those of you wondering what happened to your Jazz regulars on Friday: none of the team’s first unit played more than 24 minutes in the 96-83 loss, as they were benched after allowing the Hawks stake a 30-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

• Jason Richardson(notes) is still dealing with some swelling and soreness
in his sprained right hand, but he participated in the team’s
shootaround and will give it a go Saturday night.

• Keep an eye on Jerryd Bayless(notes) Saturday (@ORL) to see how he follows
up the best performance of his career (29 points, 2 threes, 4 assists
in 29 minutes Thursday). It came against the porous Suns defense and in
a game where starter Andre Miller(notes) played just 18 minutes, so there are
certainly no guarantees here. The Blazers have been needing a spark,
however, and Bayless was the catalyst in a 15-point comeback in
Thursday’s game.

• Also keep an eye on Boris Diaw(notes) – and Stephen Jackson’s(notes) – numbers Saturday (UTH). Larry Brown said Friday that Diaw needs to start shooting more and that, for the team to be successful, the ball will need to go through him a lot more than it has been since Jackson arrived. That certainly makes sense on paper, but putting it to practice is a completely different scenario.

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Photos via Getty Images

Article Tags: Copenhagen Conference, Lord Monckton

The mountains shall labor, and what will be born? A stupid little mouse. Thanks to hundreds of thousands of US citizens who contacted their elected representatives to protest about the unelected, communistic world government with near-infinite powers of taxation, regulation and intervention that was proposed in early drafts of the Copenhagen Treaty, there is no Copenhagen Treaty. There is not even a Copenhagen Agreement. There is a “Copenhagen Accord”.

The White House spinmeisters spun, and their official press release proclaimed, with more than usual fatuity, that President Obama had “salvaged” a deal at Copenhagen in bilateral talks with China, India, Brazil, and South Africa, which had established a negotiating bloc.

The plainly-declared common position of these four developing nations had been the one beacon of clarity and common sense at the foggy fortnight of posturing and gibbering in the ghastly Copenhagen conference center.

Source: sppiblog.org

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Article Tags: ClimateGate, Richard Treadgold

NZ climate scandal escalates: NIWA deceives us, but why?

NIWA have published misleading material on their web site and seems to have advised the Hon Dr Nick Smith, the Minister for Climate Change Issues, to misinform Parliament, according to the Climate Conversation Group and the New Zealand Climate Science Coalition. The two organisations claim that NIWA’s response to their enquiries for simple information about the national temperature record has been unnecessarily defensive and obstructive.

Spokesman for the project, Richard Treadgold, said that claims from NIWA that they gave the information to the Coalition in 2006 are wrong. “They have quoted a private email from one of their scientists to a colleague. It was sent almost before the Coalition existed, when they hadn’t even talked about the temperature record, it mentions neither NIWA nor the Coalition and does not contain the information we asked for. NIWA’s assertion that that email contains the requested information is not supported by reading the email,” said Mr Treadgold, adding, “We invite them to release it, so everyone can see what it says.”

“To expect the whole Coalition to know that one scientist was sent an email several years ago suggests mere ignorance; but to refuse to resend that email or a copy of a paper betrays a reluctance to help, and that’s disgraceful. If any other government department gave deliberately obstructive answers to questions from their clients (much less Parliamentary questions), heads would roll.

Source: climateconversation.wordshine.co.nz

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Filed under: Performance, Government/Legal, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs, Plants/Manufacturing, GM, Saab, Earnings/Financials, Rumormill, Luxury

Less than a day after General Motors officially announced Saab’s euthanization, it looks like the storied Swedish brand might still have the faintest whisper of a pulse. Motor Trend is reporting that there are rumors swirling that the Swedish government will hold emergency meetings this weekend to try to save Saab. At least some government officials apparently feel that Saab is too important to fail… now where have we heard that before? With such a small population, the closure of Saab could have a major impact on the nation’s economy, much like the failure of GM (and Chrysler, to a lesser extent) was viewed as potentially catastrophic in the States.

Some 3,400 employees will be jobless when GM completes its planned “orderly wind down” starting in January. That estimate doesn’t include workers from the 1,100 Saab dealers that will also be shuttered around the globe.

Despite the failed selloff, things look like they’re picking up at The General. The automaker announced yesterday that they had paid back the first $1 billion TARP money they borrowed from us the U.S. government. BAIC, Koenigsegg, Spyker and others had attempted to jump into the Saab fire-sale, but all have come out burned. Well, BAIC at least scored tooling for the old 9-3 and current 9-5. With a new-for 2010 9-5 having taken the stage at auto shows around the globe in recent months and the 9-4X in the wings, we’d love to see all of the Saab faithful get an early Christmas gift. We’re definitely not holding our breath, but we’ll keep you posted through the weekend should anything materialize.

[Source: Motor Trend]

REPORT: Swedish government to meet with GM officials – could Saab still be saved? originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 19 Dec 2009 15:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For older Americans, it’s a hard-knock life – By Lisa Shidler – … According to Golden Gateway Financial’s online survey of 300 people 62 or older, 30% of respondents said they have sold personal items to make extra money, while 25% said they have postponed trips to the dentist or optometrist to save money.  Some 27% said they haven’t been able to pay their bills due to unexpected medical expenses – Investment News

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Most finance job-seekers open to pay cuts: survey – Nick Zieminski – A majority of job-seekers in the finance sector would consider taking a pay cut since their job searches are taking longer than initially expected, according to a survey by an online career management company. – Reuters

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Potential Energy revolution – Nick Gogerty – … Here is perhaps the most interesting video on energy I have seen in the last 5 years.  If you are interested at all about energy it is worth the 20 minutes.  Here is the company  Sun Catalytix that has been formed to commercialize the technology from Dan Nocera.  Warning this is subtle and the impact won’t register with most. ht Paul Kedrosky. – Designing Better Futures

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Bank robber: ‘I need to pay my mortgage’ – By Marcus K. Garner –  The Atlanta
Journal-Constitution  (Bet you hope your company does not hold his mortgage!)

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Luxury-Home Owners in U.S. Use ‘Short Sales’ as Defaults Rise – By Kathleen M. Howley and Dan Levy – Homeowners with mortgages of more than $1 million are defaulting at almost twice the U.S. rate and some are turning to so-called short sales to unload properties as stock-market losses and pay cuts squeeze wealthy borrowers. – Bloomberg

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Ben refis into a fixed rate – Looking a Little Deeper at Bernanke’s Floating Rate Mortgage – By Jon Hilsenrath and Mark Whitehouse – … Locking into a fixed rate mortgage looks like a sensible thing for any homeowner to do with long rates at historic lows now. Of course, Mr. Bernanke isn’t any homeowner. One has to wonder what the decision to refinance implies about his beliefs about where rates are going in the future.  … – Wall Street Journal Blogs 
(Do you remember a few years ago when Greenspan was touting ARMs?)
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4.22 CITI SHARES FOR EACH PERSON IN THE WORLD – A comment on Zero Hedge today offered up an interesting stat — that there are 4 shares of Citigroup for each person on the planet.  Wow. – Bespoke Investment Group

I survived my first night in the ICU on my own. Obviously, they didn’t give me the train wreck patients since it was my first time. I actually had one patient from like midnight to 5am because I transferred one to the floor. And then, of course, I got a patient right at 5:30. At that point, it wasn’t my responsibility since the other nurse was there, so I got her set up and then the oncoming shift took over. So happy for that. I hate having an open bed and just waiting to hear what I’m going to get; it’s totally builds my anxiety.
I also helped one nurse who got trippled by taking her patient to CT scan.

My one patient was quite annoying. He was on the vent, and would not stop screaming. Somehow no sedation was ordered?

Now I need to work tonight. And then I only have two days off and then work THREE IN A ROW *#$%#@$%@#$%@%*!!!!
When you work nights and have “two days off,” it is stupid because one of those days is from when you worked, so it is really like freakin’ 1 day off. I HATE DOING THREE IN A ROW, but I had to put myself on the schedule late.

I honestly need a break. I haven’t had one in soooo long. I went straight from my last job in August into CCIP and I’ve been working non-stop. Seriously, like a week or two would be grand.

Despite the overwhelming mass of shovelware in the DS lineup, there are quite a few that gamers might actually like. They happened to have made some noise this week, and if you’ve been looking for something to

When you go to look at a home, you sort of assume there will be some basics – light, cleanliness and water in the pipes instead of all over the floor.  Unfortunately, whether you are looking at million dollar properties people are still living in or a five thousand dollar property that has been repossessed, these things aren’t always going to happen. The thing is, realtors should be ready for anything, but I have only met a few who are really prepared. So, it is up to the buyer to be prepared for all the bizarre stuff that could happen when you are house hunting.

When I go to look at homes, especially foreclosed properties, I bring along a house hunting tool kit. The items in my kit include:

• Good, sturdy flashlights.
• Rubber boots in case I want to head into a dark, iffy basement.
• Gloves.
• First aid kit.
• Screwdriver and wrench just because you never know when you’ll wish you had them.
• Hand sanitizer and hand wipes.
• Face mask in case I suspect there might be some mold.
• Camera.
• Notebook and pen.
• Walking stick to test floors and stairs before I step on them.
• Rags.

Now, if I am looking by myself, I don’t need stuff like the rubber boots or walking stick. I say it looks like too much for me to handle and move on. But if I’m looking with someone who wants to take on a big rehab, I do sometimes need the extra gear.

Do you have a house hunting kit you use?

Photo: SXC

Post from: Blisstree

House Hunter Tool Kit

Article Tags: ClimateGate, Lawrence Solomon, Wikipedia

The Climategate Emails describe how a small band of climatologists cooked the books to make the last century seem dangerously warm.

The emails also describe how the band plotted to rewrite history as well as science, particularly by eliminating the Medieval Warm Period, a 400 year period that began around 1000 AD.

The Climategate Emails reveal something else, too: the enlistment of the most widely read source of information in the world — Wikipedia — in the wholesale rewriting of this history.

The Medieval Warm Period, which followed the meanness and cold of the Dark Ages, was a great time in human history — it allowed humans around the world to bask in a glorious warmth that vastly improved agriculture, increased life spans and otherwise bettered the human condition.

Source: nationalpost.com

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Activistas arrestados por la policía danesa antimotines. Crédito: Claudia Ciobanu/IPS

Por Stephen Leahy

COPENHAGUE (IPS/TerraViva) No se hizo historia en Copenhague. Tampoco se selló ningún pacto contra el cambio climático. Tras dos años de intensas negociaciones entre 193 países, rompe los ojos la división entre el mundo rico y el pobre.

Los países pobres quieren reducciones drásticas de las emisiones causantes del recalentamiento por parte del mundo industrial, y éste sigue resistiéndose a cortes sustantivos y metas obligatorias.

Pese a las enormes presiones, las grandes esperanzas y los esfuerzos de último minuto de gobernantes de 128 países, todo concluyó en un vago texto titulado Acuerdo de Copenhague. La promesa de “sellar un pacto” climático fue pospuesta al menos un año más.

Y hablando de divisiones, la mayor parte de la sociedad civil considera que la reunión de Copenhague fue un amargo desastre. Es un fracaso que “condena a millones de personas del mundo pobre al hambre, al sufrimiento y a la pérdida de vidas”, dijo el nigeriano Nnimmo Bassey, presidente de Amigos de la Tierra Internacional.

En el lado opuesto, el presidente de Estados Unidos, Barack Obama, sostuvo que se había logrado un “avance significativo y sin precedentes”, al hablar en una conferencia de prensa poco antes de la medianoche del viernes en el Bella Center, sede oficial de la 15 Conferencia de las Partes de la Convención Marco de las Naciones Unidas para el Cambio Climático (COP-15).

“Todas las grandes economías se han unido para aceptar su responsabilidad en las acciones necesarias para afrontar el peligro del cambio climático”, añadió Obama.

Parece evidente que los gobernantes no han prestado mucha atención a los anteriores 15 años de negociaciones climáticas.

“Los jefes de Estado ahora están realmente comprometidos”, opinó Robert Orr, secretario general adjunto de las Naciones Unidas para Coordinación de Políticas y Planeación Estratégica. “En Copenhague fue la primera vez que emplearon vocabulario climático”, dijo.

“Esto pone al clima en el mapa de los gobernantes y a estos en el mapa del clima”, añadió Orr. También aventuró que la brecha entre la política y la ciencia está finalmente empezando a cerrarse.

Es un poco tarde para despertar a la realidad del cambio climático. Dos nuevos estudios indican que la retroalimentación climática hará imposible que el aumento de la temperatura media del planeta no supere los dos grados en el transcurso de este siglo.

Para conseguirlo, no solo el mundo deberá dejar de emitir dióxido de carbono en las próximas décadas, sino que además habrá que retirar grandes cantidades de ese gas de la atmósfera para reducir su concentración de las actuales 389 partes por millón (ppm) a 350 ppm.

Fue a última hora del viernes cuando el mandatario estadounidense anunció que su país junto con India, Sudáfrica, Brasil y China habían acordado un texto a puertas cerradas, llamado Acuerdo de Copenhague.

Pero, como sólo participaron cinco de los 193 países que pasaron dos semanas discutiendo en Copenhague, algunos delegados se mostraron visiblemente enojados por no haber sido consultados, y las conversaciones continuaron toda la noche.

Para la tarde de este sábado, persistía la confusión sobre el estatuto legal del Acuerdo de Copenhague, y un puñado de naciones, entre ellas Arabia Saudita, Bolivia y Pakistán, se negaban a aceptarlo.

En definitiva, el Acuerdo no tiene carácter legal bajo los términos de la Convención de Cambio Climático, y los países que son parte de ella apenas “tomaron nota” de su existencia y expresaron, o no, su apoyo al mismo.

El viernes por la noche, Obama reconoció que se trataba sólo de un paso en un largo camino para alcanzar las metas indicadas por la ciencia. El mandatario insistió en su importancia, puesto que los países aceptaron drásticas reducciones de emisiones a largo plazo, con el fin de evitar que la temperatura media del planeta se eleve más de dos grados por encima de las marcas de la era preindustrial.

Según el texto, las naciones en desarrollo también aceptaron adoptar medidas voluntarias para reducir la cantidad de gases de efecto invernadero que arrojan a la atmósfera y aumentar esas medidas si se les suministra apoyo financiero.

Y hubo acuerdo en que los países ricos entreguen 100.000 millones de dólares por año para 2020 destinados a asistir a los países en desarrollo en la protección de sus bosques, la adaptación al cambio climático y la reducción de sus propias emisiones.

Se aceptó asimismo trabajar hacia un acuerdo legalmente vinculante que pueda ser adoptado el año que viene en la COP-16 que se celebrará en México.

“Estados Unidos no está legalmente obligado por nada de lo que se hizo aquí en Copenhague”, advirtió Obama.

Estados Unidos está internamente dividido sobre este asunto y debe recorrer aún un largo camino para adoptar obligaciones en la materia.

No había transcurrido una hora desde que Obama efectuó su discurso inaugural en la sesión matinal de la COP-15 cuando varios legisladores estadounidenses del Partido Republicano celebraron una conferencia de prensa en el Bella Center para negar que el cambio climático fuera causado por emisiones de combustibles fósiles, o sea del petróleo, el carbón y el gas natural.

Las conclusiones del Grupo Intergubernamental de Expertos sobre el Cambio Climático (IPCC) y de decenas de academias científicas de todo el mundo son sospechosas, agregaron los legisladores, ninguno de ellos científicos y todos procedentes de estados con poderosos intereses en el sector automotor o de combustibles fósiles.

“Hemos perdido muchas cosas en el camino”, manifestó Dessima Williams, de Granada, y portavoz de la Alianza de Pequeños Estados Insulares (AOSIS, por su sigla en inglés), integrada por 43 países.

“Hemos perdido el compromiso vigoroso para estabilizar (el aumento de) la temperatura mundial en 1,5 grados”, agregó. “Creemos que esto es fundamental para la supervivencia de nuestros estados miembros”, destacó Williams en la sesión final de la COP 15, este sábado.

Las activistas esperaban que un texto sensible al género reconociera la realidad de que las mujeres son por lejos las más perjudicadas por el cambio climático, señaló Ana Rojas, de Energía, una red internacional de género y sustentabilidad con sede en Holanda.

Sólo un tercio de los delegados que asistieron a la COP 15 este año son mujeres, lo cual dificulta la igualdad en la representación de las opiniones de mujeres y hombres en relación con el cambio climático.

“Necesitamos una visión compartida del género en el acuerdo final. Y no sólo con respecto a la adaptación, sino también a la mitigación y el financiamiento” de las medidas contra el cambio climático, dijo Rojas.

Aunque reconoció algunos avances, está lejos de ser el “acuerdo justo, ambicioso y legalmente vinculante” que la sociedad civil defendía.

Afuera de las sesiones en el Centro Bella, 1.800 manifestantes y periodistas fueron arrestados bajo la sospecha de que pudieran cometer ilegalidades, en lo que la sociedad civil consideró un intento del gobierno danés de reprimir la oposición legítima y la libertad de expresión.

El uso de “gases lacrimógenos, spray pimienta, tácticas de dispersión de multitudes y arrestos colectivos preventivos fija un precedente peligroso, no sólo para Dinamarca, sino para el futuro del mundo”, advirtió Tadzio Müller, de Climate Justice Action, una organización ecologista internacional.

“El planeta enfrenta una crisis trágica de liderazgo” sobre el cambio climático, declaró el director ejecutivo de Greenpeace Internacional, Kumi Naidoo.

El Acuerdo representa “una importante concesión a las industrias que contaminan el clima, especialmente del sector de los combustibles fósiles”, dijo Naidoo.

“La posibilidad de impedir el caos climático acaba de hacerse mucho más difícil”, concluyó.

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Article Tags: James Maropoulakis Denney

The man-made global warming/climate change hoaxers have failed, for now. The much touted Copenhagen Climate Change Conference ended yesterday in a severe snowstorm, without a binding agreement. They did, however, achieve a minor propaganda coup by keeping the media snowed regarding the truth of the abject failure of the conference, as well as hiding the climate change email scandal and the fact that there is no such thing as man-made global warming or climate change.

Americans should pay close attention to these plans of the world elites to pass some sort of global “carbon dioxide” restrictions and tax, which will be discussed as part of this just finished Copenhagen Conference held in Denmark. President Obama attended.

Most Americans have always been conservationists, and are in favor of cleaning up the planet and guarding against real chemical pollution. Now, however, the “anti’s” have seized control of the issue, and have transformed it into yet another method of power-grabbing by the government; in this case, the United Nations. It is a power grab in at least three respects:

Source: examiner.com

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Article Tags: Claude Sandroff

If you’ve misspent your youth conducting experiments, taking graduate courses in physics and chemistry, and know something about thermodynamics, molecular spectroscopy, fluid mechanics, modeling data and publishing scientific papers, the current debate over anthropogenic global warming can make you hurl.

While not faulting journalists and politicians for their stupendous ignorance when discussing most scientific subjects, I do condemn their utter lack of coherence concerning basic scientific definitions, processes, and principles.

Specifically, the chattering classes have no appreciation of the following truisms: settled science comes only in the form of physical laws while the causes behind specific phenomena are sometimes never definitively settled. And the more complex the system being observed, the longer it takes to reach a consensus about the causal mechanisms.

Even Al Gore can probably remember being introduced to Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion in high school, F=ma. This is usually our first introduction to settled science. That’s why it’s called a law of physics. It didn’t matter that Einstein generalized its form in the theory of relativity or that in the 1920’s it had it be replaced with a new mechanics valid at the atomic scale. At velocities small compared to the speed of light and for macroscopic objects, F=ma is settled science.

Source: americanthinker.com

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Filed under: Aftermarket, Audi

The Audi R8 is undoubtedly awesome. It is also undoubtedly low, as in to the ground. Not low enough to prevent you from getting around, but you pay close attention anytime the word “driveway” comes up. Cargraphic has engineered an airlift system to address the issue that can raise the car 72 mm (2.8 inches) in 15 seconds. The best part about it is that it doesn’t alter the dynamic performance of the car’s suspension.

The airlift places small bellows on the upper spring cup of the suspension. When the bellows aren’t inflated, the mounting point is rigid, so the suspension responds as normal. With the compressor, the total weight is just 3 kilos, and there are no hydraulics or fluid to deal with. And the system comes with a remote control, in case you want to show off your additional three inches when you’re not in the car. Full details are in the press release after the jump, and in the gallery of high-res images below.

[Source: Cargraphic]

Continue reading Cargraphic brings Airlift system to Audi R8

Cargraphic brings Airlift system to Audi R8 originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 19 Dec 2009 14:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Good news for HTC Touch Pro 2, Diamond 2 and HD users.

Cobaltikus has discovered how to access the ZoomBar.

TouchLockPro *FREE* version 2.9 is the first locking solution, which uses this for unlocking the phone!

 Try the amazing *FREE* TouchLockPro version 2.9, which is different from the other locking solutions.

Featuring:

• No foreground window, like other solutions
• BattClock
• Supports a lot of sensors for locking/unlocking
• Very, very small in memory (38 Kb) and resource usage
• And now also supports the ZoomBar for unlocking via triple touch, slide left or right

Try *FREE* TouchLockPro version 2.9, more information and download here and discover the amazing ZoomBar unlock.

This post was submitted by ZuinigeRijder.

Sometimes information leaks in strange ways, especially about Windows Mobile.  Be it leaked ROMs or job postings, or projected work lists, as in the case of Crispin Porter, who published a picture of their real-time job management system, which also just happened to show two assignments, one for a phase 2 Windows Phone banner on the 4th January, and the other for a Windows Phone 03 Media refresh on the 8 January.

Windows Phone ads have been seeing pretty high media rotation in the UK, but unfortunately do not seem to show much about what makes Windows Phone attractive for a Windows user, such as Windows Live Messenger clients or push Hotmail.

Do you think Microsoft could advertise better?  Let us know in the comments below.

Gizmodo via WMExperts.com