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This New York Times piece about farmers in Marja voting with their feet is perhaps the clearest evidence yet that the “holding” phase of February’s massive NATO/Afghan invasion of the Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province is going poorly:

Over 150 families have fled Marja in the last two weeks, according to the Afghan Red Crescent Society in the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah.

Marja residents arriving here last week, many looking bleak and shell-shocked, said civilians had been trapped by the fighting, running a gantlet of mines laid by insurgents and firefights around government and coalition positions. The pervasive Taliban presence forbids them from having any contact with or taking assistance from the government or coalition forces.

“People are leaving; you see 10 to 20 families each day on the road who are leaving Marja due to insecurity,” said a farmer, Abdul Rahman, 52, who was traveling on his own. “It is now hard to live there in this situation.”

More than once, I’ve heard from officials involved in the Marja operation that a key metric for determining success is watching the locals return home and rebuild their lives. It’s worth noting that the farmers fleeing Marja for the relative safety of Lashkar Gah don’t evidently express hostility toward the Marines who spearheaded the February invasion. They express discontent and anger over the inability of the NATO and Afghan government forces to actually protect them from Taliban fighters who are deeply embedded within the structure of Marja:

More Taliban fighters have arrived in recent weeks, slipping in with the itinerant laborers who came to work the poppy harvest and staying on to fight, villagers and officials said. Haji Gul Muhammad Khan, tribal adviser to the governor of Helmand Province, said he had reports of Taliban arriving in the area in the last three or four days.

Everyone in Marja knows the Taliban, since they are village men who never left the area although they quit fighting soon after the military operation. Gradually they found a stealthier way of operating, moving around in small groups, often by motorbike or on foot.

An intimidated population is not going to provide intelligence for NATO or Afghan government forces to adequately distinguish between civilians and insurgents. That makes it less likely to remove the sources of such intimidation. And that’s a downward spiral.

Rumors are telling us that Lebron James’ Mom and Delonte West are having a secret affair. We can’t deny the fact that this news is all over the internet, spreading even wider every minute. Recent news also came in that talked about Lebron wanting to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers just because of what is going on between his mom and Lebrons’ teammate Delonte West.

Considering tha fact that Gloria James is the mother of so famous LeBron, who would not be affected getting news that his mom is sleeping with one of his teammate. Reports say that LeBron found out about this affair during the Celtics’ Game Four matchup vs the Boston Celtics in their recent playoff series.

Everything we are waiting for right now is a statement of any of those involved in this scandal that shocks not only Lebron fans but also people around the globe. Many are asking themsleves if LeBron James will play for the Cavaliers and when this might happen?

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KNOXVILLE — More than 240 students from the College of Engineering officially became graduates of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, as about 2,000 parents, friends and relatives watched them walk across the stage inside Thompson-Boling Arena on May 12.

In his commencement address, Raja Jubran, founder and chief executive officer of Denark Construction Inc., offered five suggestions for a successful future: be a leader; stand up for what you believe in; make the right choices; take care of your family; and take care of your community and give back to it. Jubran also reminded graduates to thank everyone who helped them along the way — parents, community, alumni and faculty.

Jubran earned his civil engineering degree from UT Knoxville in 1981. He has led the management team of Denark, a general contracting and engineering company, since its incorporation in 1985. He is also a former member of the college’s Board of Advisers and the recipient of its 2004 Nathan W. Dougherty Award for outstanding achievements in engineering.

As its top students, the college recognized Zachary Dixon, an aerospace engineering major; Mark May, a chemical engineering major; and Timothy Wentz, a computer engineering major.

Daniel Smith was recognized as the winner of a Society of American Military Engineers Award. This Society Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) Award of Merit is a national award given to only 20 ROTC Air Force cadets in the nation by central military service board.

Lt. Col. Michael S. Angle, a professor of aerospace studies at UT Knoxville, officially commissioned seven graduates into the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Army. Brittany Arnold, Andrew Jackson, Garrett Karnowski, Sharon King, Christopher Riley, Smith and Benjamin Yeager are now second lieutenants.

Wayne Davis, dean of engineering, led the ceremony’s academic procession which included associate deans, department heads and faculty representatives. Susan Martin, provost and senior vice chancellor, and Brad Fenwick, vice chancellor for research, also attended the ceremony.

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C O N T A C T :

Kim Cowart (865-974-0686, [email protected])

For weeks there have been reports that the FBI is investigating Massey Energy for possible criminal neglect following last month’s deadly mine explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine in Montcoal, W.Va. On Friday, that news was confirmed, when the DoJ warned the Labor Department, which is investigating possible civil charges, not to interfere with the agency’s criminal investigation.

“Given the ongoing criminal investigation, we request that MSHA petition the … judge for a stay of the pending civil actions pertaining to UBB until the criminal matters are resolved,” U.S. Attorney Charles T. Miller wrote to the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Part of the criminal probe, Miller noted, “involves whether Performance Coal and its directors, officers and agents engaged in willful criminal activity at UBB.”

Just another thing Massey shareholders can discuss tomorrow, when they meet in Richmond for their annual meeting.

h/t: The Charleston Gazette.

Jeremy Jackson calls himself a tropical ecologist. He has spent decades studying marine habitats. He is one of the foremost experts on coral reefs in the world. And he knows his geologic history too.

Recently, Mr. Jackson gave a slide show talk at the hugely popular, annual TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) conference. The picture he paints of the current state of our oceans, and where they are heading, is anything but pleasant or comforting. (more…)

Mihoko Obunai-Truex announced today that she will take over as chef and owner of Repast Restaurant — a position she has shared with her husband, Joe Truex, since the restaurant’s inception in 2006.

Truex will leave by the end of the month to pursue a new Atlanta-area venture.

“The menu will have a different format with a lot of new dishes,” Obunai-Truex said, “but we’ll still keep a number of the Repast signatures, such as our crab cake and hanger steak.”

I got a look at the new menu, which is a fair bit less expensive than the current menu and thick with small plates and dishes to share. A number of items reflect Obunai-Truex’s Japanese heritage, such as tako-yaki (soft dumplings with octopus) and blistered shishito peppers with Okinawan sea salt. Other new dishes will include pork tonkatsu with shiso cheese, miso-cured foie gras with sansho pepper, and pork belly steamed buns with house-made ramp kimchi. Meat and seafood entrees will be served with sauces …

Remedy took their time to fine-tune Alan Wake to the best it possibly could be, but unfortunately, the Xbox 360 exclusive settled for #2 in the UK. It’s fellow new releases, Lost Planet 2 and Skate 3, landed

As the oil has continued to leak into the Gulf of Mexico, bad news about the attempts to stop the flow has continued to leak out, too. But this weekend, finally, brought a ray of good news: BP succeeded in installing a mile-long pipe that will siphon some of the oil up to a tanker on the shore, slowing down the rate of oil flow into the water.

The current strategy involves snaking a tube snugly into the leaking pipe. The tube is bent at one end like a hook and equipped with thick rubber fins intended to keep oil from leaking out around the edges [Wall Street Journal].

BP officials say the pipe is working well so far, but they don’t yet what percentage of the oil they’ll be able to capture with this method. And the siphoning pipe is a temporary solution. As the oil company presses on with the months-long process to drill a relief well to relieve the pressure on the leaking area, its engineers are also hunkered down designing a way to deliver the “junk shot” made of tires and golf balls that potentially could seal of the leak.

Meanwhile, more bad news: We reported late last week that several scientists are now saying BP and the government grossly underestimated amount of oil leaking into the Gulf. Now, a team working out in the Gulf has backed up that assertion. They found large plumes of oil hidden from normal view, deep under the surface of the water. Samantha Joye, one of the oceanographers on board the research vessel Pelican, says:

The plumes are depleting the oxygen dissolved in the gulf, worrying scientists, who fear that the oxygen level could eventually fall so low as to kill off much of the sea life near the plumes. Dr. Joye said the oxygen had already dropped 30 percent near some of the plumes in the month that the broken oil well had been flowing [The New York Times].

The likeliest explanation for the drop in oxygen levels, says Joye, is that oil-eating bacteria are devouring the plumes, and consuming large amounts of oxygen in the process.

Rather than being thick pockets of oil moving deep in the water, these plumes are probably partially dispersed, and some could be the consistency of salad dressing. And their movements have scientists worried that they could spread far beyond the already-large area of the oil slick in the Gulf.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warned over the weekend that plumes of oil already spilled and suspended beneath the water surface might, as soon as Tuesday night, start to get picked up by the powerful “loop current.” The current could carry the oil to the Florida Keys and beyond, scientists fear [Washington Post].

The coral near the Keys are especially under threat, both from the lack of oxygen caused by the plumes and from the oil itself.

Depending on the oil exposure, they can be smothered by the pollutants or become more susceptible to bleaching, which hinders reproduction and growth. While the warm temperatures of Florida could speed the recovery of damaged reefs there, some problems could be seen for a decade or more. In the deeper reefs in colder water closer to the spill, the damage could last even longer [AP].

Our recent posts on the BP oil spill:
80beats: Scientists Say Gulf Spill Is Way Worse Than Estimated. How’d We Get It So Wrong?
80beats: Testimony Highlights 3 Major Failures That Caused Gulf Spill
80beats: 5 Offshore Oil Hotspots Beyond the Gulf That Could Boom—Or Go Boom
80beats: Gulf Oil Spill: Do Chemical Dispersants Pose Their Own Environmental Risk?
80beats: Is the Gulf Oil Spill Headed for Florida & North Carolina?

Image: NASA

Joslyn James, the porn star, was Tiger Woods’ Mistress No. 8. She is still recovering from what had happen between the two of them. James stated that Woods is a liar, and he made her give up her career. He told her, she was the only woman in her life and that he loves her so much. Who would not hurt if these things are told to you and you’ll know that it was all a lie? Woods has done it again for the 8th time. He had lied to many women just because he has the power over them. Money, popularity and all the things he is saying are his key in gaining woman’s heart. But he does not have loyalty; much more he should not be called as a good player.

Rumors said that Woods’ first mistress Rachel Uchitel, was said to be paid $10 million for her silence, but James got nothing. But how did her relationship end with Woods? Josyln said she texted the married father of two to say Happy Thanksgiving and never heard from him again.

James stated that she regretted her relationship with Woods and she feels mad at herself. She allowed herself to be taken in. She had done everything in order to show him that she loves him. She had been faithful unlike him, and she stopped doing porn because she stated that Woods was jealous. When she heard that there are other women of Woods out there in spite of her faithfulness, she said “I was &%$-ing livid,”.
On the other hand, James predicts that Woods and his wife Elin will get a divorce. She says that Woods is not happy with his wife. They are always arguing and that is because of their life as a family with children.

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It’s not easy living next door to a diva: Tyra Banks, who recently plopped down $10 million to purchase four apartments in Manhattan’s Battery Park City Development, has such intense construction going on at the property, her new livid neighbors are already calling the cops on her.

Well that’s nothing to “smeyes” about!

The America’s Next Top Model star plans to transform the property into one single-family home, but the ongoing work to join all four apartments together has infuriated other residents, who have filed dozens of complaints with police about the ear-splitting noise coming from Tyra’s place, according to The New York Post.

White House Internet wizard Jesse Lee writes to defend the record of the solicitor general and Supreme Court nominee:

Most prominently, a handful of Republican Senators and conservative commentators have attempted to portray Kagan as “anti-military” due to her opposition to “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” during her tenure as Dean of Harvard Law School, citing her continuation of Harvard’s non-discrimination policy that required employers using the recruiting services provided by the Office of Career Services to agree not to discriminate based on sexual orientation or other criteria. Of course Kagan’s opposition to the policy was in no way anti-military — just as opposition today from figures such as General Colin Powell or Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen is rooted in admiration for all those who serve, so too was Kagan’s. Indeed, Brigadier General Patrick Finnegan, dean of the academic board at West Point, described such characterizations of Kagan as “ludicrous.”

A common claim from these critics is that the military was “banned” from the campus altogether during Kagan’s tenure as Dean – in fact, not only was the military allowed to continue to recruit in classrooms on campus and through the Harvard Law Students Veterans Association, a review of the recruitment figures has shown that recruitment kept completely on pace with previous years during Kagan’s time. Even more absurdly, some have claimed that Kagan’s upholding of Harvard’s nondiscrimination policy somehow violated the law – in fact, there has never been a law requiring that campuses allow military recruiters, only that the government was empowered to deny federal funds if military recruiters were not given access, so this claim is preposterous on its face. As the New York Times reported, “Her management of the recruiting dispute shows her to have been, above all, a pragmatist, asserting her principles but all the while following the law.”

It would certainly be ironic if a line of conservative attack against Kagan is that she was far too inflexible about adhering to the letter of existing policy and existing law. That said, the guy who first concocted the idea that Kagan had a problematic relationship with the military because of the way she handled Harvard’s position on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is a liberal (and my former boss), Peter Beinart.

I blogged last year about Jason Kubel’s grand slam that completed a cycle against the Angels, and wondered then if it was even more exciting than the the one that capped this epic game against the Red Sox in 2006. Yesterday Jace added another memorable entrant to a pretty impressive assortment of game-winning four-run shots. Kubel knocked a pretty big monkey off of the Twins’ backs, after losing a bunch straight in the Bronx.

Of course there’s no place like New York to knock a monkey off of something.

Filed under: Miscellaneous

In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court ruled Monday that juvenile criminals cannot be sentenced to life in prison with no chance at parole for crimes other than homicide because it violates their Eighth Amendment right against Cruel and Unusual Punishment.

Justice Anthony Kennedy has the opinion of the Court. In it he writes that “The inadequacy of penological theory to justify life without parole sentences for juvenile nonhomicide offenders, the limited culpability of such offenders, and the severity of these sentences all lead the Court to conclude that the sentencing practice at issue is cruel and unusual.”

Florida is the state with the most juvenile offenders (77) with life/no parole sentences and that is where this case comes from.

Kennedy says a categorical rule making such a sentence unconstitutional is necessary because otherwise “a court or jury will erroneously conclude that a particular juvenile is sufficiently culpable to deserve life without parole for a nonhomicide. It also gives the juvenile offender a chance to demonstrate maturity and reform.”

The Court opinion also makes note of the fact the United States is the only country in the world that had allowed such a sentence. “While the judgments of other nations and the international community are not dispositive as to the meaning of the Eighth Amendment, the Court has looked abroad to support its independent conclusion that a particular punishment is cruel and unusual.”

Justices Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito are in dissent. Chief Justice John Roberts agreed that the juvenile sentenced in this case, Terrance Graham, was excessive. He disagrees with the ruling that says all life without parole sentences for juveniles are cruel and unusual.

Justice Thomas writes that “Although the text of the Constitution is silent regarding the permissibility of this sentencing practice, and although it would not have offended the standards that prevailed at the founding, the Court insists that the standards of American society have evolved such that the Constitution now requires its prohibition. The news of this evolution will, I think, come as a surprise to the American people.”

BACKGROUNDER

Case: Graham v. Florida

Date: Monday, November 9th 2009

Issue: Whether the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishments prohibits the imprisonment of a juvenile for life without the possibility of parole for committing a non-homicide (armed burglary).

Background: This case is a step removed from the high court’s 2005 decision in Roper v. Simmons that a death sentence for someone younger than 18 years old is cruel and unusual as defined by the Eighth Amendment. Florida is like most states that allow life without parole sentences for juveniles even when the underlying crime did not result in someone’s death. But Florida is unique in that it appears to be home to the vast majority of prisoners who fit this category.

Terrance Graham was 16-years-old when he pled guilty to armed burglary. He was eventually released from jail and on probation when he busted into a man’s home and robbed him at gunpoint. A judge concluded that Graham violated his probation, wasted his second chance at freedom and was a significant threat to society. The judge sentenced Graham to life in prison with no chance of parole.

Graham’s lawyers argue the reasoning behind the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision in Roper is the same that should extend to their client. Namely that like the mentally retarded, juveniles are “categorically less culpable than the average criminal” and that when compared to adults juveniles “cannot with reliability be classified among the worst offenders” when it comes to imposing the harshest of sentences.

Florida argues the severity of Graham’s sentence was “not grossly disproportionate to [the] violent crimes against [his] vulnerable victims.” The state further argues that Graham’s crime was so severe that even he didn’t challenge his treatment as an adult offender. Florida also dismisses attempts to extend Roper’s prohibition to life sentences saying that doing so is “compelled neither by legal logic nor by societal norms.”

There is a significant following in this case from varying interest groups who’ve submitted briefs supporting both sides. Perhaps the most interesting brief is from seven now successful men (including actor Charles Dutton and former U.S. Senator Alan Simpson) who were lawbreaking teenagers and are “living, breathing testaments to the resiliency, adaptability, and rehabilitative potential of juvenile offenders.”

The infamous BitTorrent indexer and search engine the Pirate Bay is currently down after its bandwidth provider was hit with an injunction forbidding it to provide access to the site. The injunction is the latest step in Hollywood’s battle with the site. The ISP, CB3ROB, which operates CyberBunker decided to play i… (read more)

Depois do piloto alemão Michael Schumacher receber uma penalidade de 20 segundos no GP de Mônaco por realizar uma ultrapassagem considerada irregular para o piloto Fernando Alonso, a escuderia Mercedes recorreu da decisão que atrapalhou o resultado do piloto alemão na prova, onde o vencedor foi o australiano Mark Webber.

Os comissários da FIA discutiram por duas horas a decisão que fez com que Schumacher caísse do 6º para o 12º lugar na classificação final do GP de Mônaco. O recurso da Mercedes será analisado pelo Tribunal Internacional de Apelos da FIA, baseado no novo regulamento das provas que permite ultrapassagens assim que o “safety car” sai da pista.

O problema aconteceu na hora em que o safety car paralisou a corrida logo no final da prova, e assim que o safety car entrou nos boxes faltando poucos metros para a linha de chegada, Schumacer ultrapassou Fernando Alonso, criando toda essa polêmica.

Via | Autoportal

Even a layman could calculate the fearsome product that could come from approximately 5,000 barrels of oil per day in about one month.

During the first day of BP PLC disaster, 1,000 barrels of oil leak per day is projected to the public but when it was closely investigated, the amount is raised to 5,000.

Percentage of oxygen has dropped tremendously in the depth where formation of plumes is stretching not less than a mile. Contingencies from BP and supporting sectors can only do so much in lessening the environmental spoilage.

The Gulf of Mexico, deemed as extension of the Atlantic Ocean is the habitat of several marine species. Oil spill chemicals would certainly harm the food web in the long run including the coral reefs. Worst is expected if the oil wave reaches the harboring shores of Florida and other places surrounding the Gulf of Mexico.

BP PLC, through its CEO has recently agreed to the assumption that better preventive measures could have prohibited or at least lessen the effects of this accident. Financial compensation that may exceed $75 million awaits BP when this is all over but for the meantime the oil industry tycoon has been spending day by day to have experts fix the broken pipe using top scale labs including robotics.

More than being financially indebted, BP PLC will eventually face the global community to expound the causes of the incident and to give the company’s course of action to repair the damage.

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Filed under: Etc.

If you want to draw hot rods and learn the basics of drawing cars, then you’ll want to check out the Hot Rod Art Book for the iPad. A combination of the text-only book and the videos you’ll find at the book’s site and Vimeo, it contains 100 pages of guidance and tips from 13 professional hot rod artists and 1.5 hours of videos. It’s not going to instantly turn you into Hot Wheels designer Dwayne Vance, one of the contributors, but you’ll know how to pen the Powell Motors Homer just like you’ve always wanted.

Follow the jump for a sample of the video tutorials you’ll find in the book.

[Source: Apple iTunes]

Continue reading The Hot Rod Art Book for iPad teaches you how to draw cars [w/video]

The Hot Rod Art Book for iPad teaches you how to draw cars [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 17 May 2010 09:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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by Agence France-Presse

WASHINGTON – British energy giant BP, which is battling a gigantic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, also has a record of flagrant safety violations at its U.S. refineries, according to a Washington-based investigative group.

The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit investigative journalism organization, said its analysis showed two refineries owned by BP account for 97 percent of all flagrant violations found in the U.S. refining industry by inspectors over the past three years.

Most of BP’s citations were classified as “egregious willful” by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the group said in its release Sunday. It noted that BP has been under scrutiny from the federal worker-safety monitor since its refinery in Texas City, Texas, exploded in March 2005, killing 15 workers.

The report said refinery inspection data obtained by the center under the Freedom of Information Act showed that BP received a total of 862 citations between June 2007 and February 2010 for alleged violations at its refineries in Texas City and Toledo, Ohio.

Of those, 760 were classified as “egregious willful” and 69 were classified as “willful,” according to the report, which said BP accounted for 829 of the 851 willful violations among all refiners cited by OSHA during the period.

OSHA officials told the center in an interview that BP failed to correct the types of problems that led to the 2005 Texas City accident even after OSHA pointed them out.

BP, which operates five U.S. refineries that collectively process about 1.5million barrels of crude oil per day, was hit last year with a proposed $87 million fine from OSHA for violations at the Texas City refinery with another fine of $3 million for violations in Toledo, Ohio, according to the report. BP is contesting both penalties.

Contacted by AFP, BP had no immediate response to the report.

Related Links:

The real trouble from the oil spill is brewing deep under the sea

MMS goes under the spotlight

Oil now threatening Gulf’s cradles of biodiversity, its reefs

The sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church has triggered an interesting legal question: can you put the Vatican on trial in the United States?

Lawyers for victims in Louisville, Kentucky are trying to do just that. But the Vatican is shooting right back, filing defense motions today arguing that bishops based in the U.S. – who have direct responsibility for their priests – are not “employees” of the Vatican.

I spoke Judge Andrew Napolitano, Senior Judicial Analyst for Fox News Channel, and he told me there’s no evidence that American bishops are agents of the Vatican with respect to personnel matters.

More importantly, Judge Napolitano said, the Vatican is a sovereign state, which means it’s protected.

“International law and American federal law insulate sovereign countries from lawsuits anywhere, except where the sovereign countries have consented to be sued,” Napolitano said. The only countries to which the Vatican has given that consent are Italy and Vatican City itself.

Lawyers for plaintiffs have collected nearly $3 billion from Catholic dioceses in sex abuse cases across the country. The Catholic Church has what lawyers like to dig into: deep pockets.

So why try to put the Vatican in the dock? Maybe the lawyers try to do it for the deep pockets, but it also gets a lot of press. It hasn’t happened yet, so every attempt keeps people talking.