Friday, June 19, 2020
The following is the first edition of a monthly series chronicling the 2020 United States presidential election. It features original material compiled throughout the previous month after an overview of the month’s biggest stories.
This month’s spotlight on the campaign trail includes interviews with the vice presidential nominees of the Constitution and Libertarian parties as well as the chosen running mate of the leading Green Party presidential candidate.
Friday, June 11, 2010
The University of Southern California’s football team was heavily penalized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) yesterday due to several major rules violations involving former player and Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush. The team was banned from participating in all NCAA bowl games for the 2010 and 2011 seasons, as well as was vacated of all wins during the 2004 and 2005 seasons. The team will likely also be stripped of their national title from the 2004 season and will lose ten football scholarships per year for the 2010, 2011, and 2012 seasons.
The NCAA also criticized the university for ineffective monitoring of its student-athletes. “The general campus environment surrounding the violations troubled the committee. At least at the time of the football violations, there was relatively little effective monitoring of, among others, football locker rooms and sidelines, and there existed a general post-game locker room environment that made compliance efforts difficult,” said part of the NCAA’s report.
The rules violations, which were investigated by the NCAA over a four-year period, involved the team’s alleged “improper benefits,” given to Bush, as well as Bush’s contact with an agent, which is illegal under NCAA rules until a player has left the sports program. It is also possible that this will result in the loss of Bush’s Heisman Trophy. The NCAA report ordered USC to not be in contact with Bush for the current time.
“We acknowledge that violations occurred and we take full responsibility for them. However, we sharply disagree with many of the findings in the NCAA Committee on Infractions Report. Further, we feel the penalties imposed are too severe for the violations identified in the report,” stated Todd Dickey, the senior vice president of administration at USC.
Meanwhile, Reggie Bush (who now plays for the NFL’s New Orleans Saints) also released a statement. “I am disappointed by the decision and disagree with the NCAA’s findings. If the University decides to appeal, I will continue to cooperate with the NCAA and USC, as I did during the investigation. In the meantime, I will continue to focus on making a positive impact for the University and for the community where I live,” said Bush. Bush denies all of the allegations brought against him and the university by the NCAA.
The report also included punishments for the men’s basketball team, which was accused of violating the NCAA’s recruiting policy on former player O.J. Mayo. The women’s tennis team was also fined for allowing an unidentified student to use a university-owned credit card to place $7,000 in unauthorized phone calls.
By Jose Nevarez Jr
Many people, who have an active lifestyle, engage in a wide variety of sports. The ideal situation is that you should have a specific pair of shoes for a specific sport. That is because when you engage in an activity, you are actually moving in a very specific manner. Because all such specific movements, you need to have the right shoes to cushion the impact. Having the right shoes will help you enjoy the sport even more. Here are some quick examples.
Indoor sports.
Many sports are played indoors. For example, you can play badminton, basketball, volleyball, and even soccer. The court surface is very different from that of the outdoors. Usually, the surface is much more slippery. You are going to need a pair of shoes with very good grip. Without a good grip, you may slip and fall. Also, such sports may require you to move sideways or backwards. Your shoes must provide you with ample protection, especially around the ankle area. Therefore, you often see basketball shoes that semi high cut.
Long-distance running.
Running is another activity that causes a lot of impact on your feet. If you wear the wrong type of shoes for running, your muscles will start to ache. The next time you visit a shoe shop, take a closer look at a pair of running shoes. Observe that the soles of the shoes are thicker at the heel, and thinner near the toes. Clearly, this is to facilitate the running movement. When you run, your heel strikes the floor first. You then push off with your toes. This is a continuous movement. With a good pair of running shoes, you will find yourself being able to run longer distances without tiring easily. This is because your shoes are able to absorb most of the stress that is caused by the running motion.
Sprinting.
When you want someone sprint, it appears that their feet are not touching the ground. Why is that so? When an athlete sprints, they are actually landing on the toes with every stride. They are specific shoes for sprinting. They are known as spike shoes, or track shoes. For sprinting events, they usually take place on the track. The track is made up of special materials. Sprinting shoes are spiked in front so that the ball of the foot can grip the track while running. Since the heels are not used, there is no cushioning in the back of the shoes.
Outdoor activities.
Many activities occur in the outdoors. For instance, someone may like mountain climbing or hiking. Usually, a pair of high-quality cross trainers will do fine. Cross trainers allow for a wide range of movements. You can run, jump, or move sideways or backwards in them. For this reason, it is always wise to order a pair of cross trainers.
Be sure to choose the right type of shoes for your sport though. If you are playing basketball, you may wish to pick up a pair of Nike Air Jordan or Nike Dunks. If you are into running, a pair of Nike athletics shoes may be just what you are looking for. Having the right pair of shoes is important because as mentioned earlier, different sports involve different movements. The shoes are specially built to cater to these movements. You don’t want to be wearing a pair of indoor court shoes to run a marathon. That will do more harm than good.
About the Author: Visit sneakeralley.com for the latest styles of brand name shoes.
Source: isnare.com
Permanent Link: isnare.com/?aid=360410&ca=Sports
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Businesses remained closed for a second day on Wednesday in the Pakistani financial capital of Karachi, to mourn Raza Haider, a leading politician of the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM), assassinated on Monday. Nineteen people were killed on Tuesday in revenge killings, bringing the death toll to 49 over two days. Twenty-five shops and a number of vehicles including trucks and buses were burned in a series of arson attacks across the city.
Haider was gunned down while attending a funeral near the centre of the city. An officer at the Nazimabad police station said “[t]he number of attackers and the mode of their transport are not clear, but initial investigations suggest that there were more than two people who came on a motorcycle and they were probably backed by armed men in a car. They first shot at the legislator’s guard Khalid Khan and then entered the mosque and fired at Mr Haider who was in the ablution room.”
Following the first night of revenge attacks and arson the MQM accused its main political rival, the Awami National Party (ANP), of supporting the Islamist militants suspected of the assassination. The MQM is a coalition partner with the ANP in the national government and is known as a party that holds great potential for mass mobilization in the province of Sindh.
The Associated Press (AP) said that the MQM’s accusation “appeared to reflect the complex and vicious political and ethnic fault lines that crisscross Karachi.”
The AP also said that Sharfuddin Memon, the head of the Citizen’s Police Liason Committee had speculated that Haider’s killing may be related to a government operation against “land mafias”, who illegally occupy commercially valuable land. According to the AP’s report it is alleged that some of these mafias have the backing of political parties.
According to human rights organizations there have been more than 300 political killings in Karachi this year.
By Tuesday evening the Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre had received 17 dead bodies and 55 injured. The head of the hospital, Dr Seemi Jamali, said that they had transfused 200 blood units to victims of targeted violence and that 31 gunshot victims had been operated upon that day.
This week’s wave of violence and attacks began with the assassination of Raza Haider, but due to the nature of Karachi politics the exact motive behind Haider’s murder is unclear. The Associated Press commented that the city has long been plagued by political violence between supporters of rival parties “that draw votes from different ethnic groups in the city of 16 million people.” The publication said this muddied the reasons for the bloodshed.
Rehman Malik, Pakistan’s Interior Minister was quoted by media as saying Islamist militants were likely suspects. He said that Haider had been on the extremist hit list. The BBC reported that they had been told by security officials in Karachi that there is evidence to suggest the assassination was carried out by the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Pakistan’s deadliest militant group.
The BBC News website also reported that senior MQM leader Babar Ghauri had said: “Every MQM activist will now be looking to pay back the people involved in this heinous act”.
Raza Haider was laid to rest on Tuesday at the Martyr’s Graveyard in Azizabad, northern Karachi. Hundreds of MQM members and supporters attended to pay their final respects to Haider and to his guard Khalid Khan, also killed in the shooting. The funeral took place under tight security, and with activists raising slogans against the violence that has gripped the city.
Monday, May 16, 2005
In France, workers by the millions stayed at home during the Whit Monday holiday despite the government’s cancellation of the traditional Pentecost public holiday. Some acted in defiance of the government’s decision, while some took leave or were put on forced leave by their employers due to uncertainties of public transportation.
Following the 2003 heat wave, which caused the deaths of an estimated 13,000 elderly people in France, the administration of prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin has proposed the suppression of one day of public holiday in order to use the supplemental generated tax for a fund for the caring of the elderly.
Whit Monday was selected because, in normal years, France has several public holidays in May. Furthermore, attendance of religious celebrations is low, so holidays of a religious origin are nowadays generally mere family reunions.
However, the reception of this new working day was mixed. The administration says it promotes solidarity with the elderly. Trade unions and opposition groups argue that the measure is an ill-conceived stunt aimed at hiding the government’s bad handling of the problems of the elderly.
For instance, many remember that in 1956, the government created a tax (the vignette) on motor vehicles, allegedly for funding measures for the elderly. But in 1973, the products of this tax came, as any other tax, into the government’s general fund.
With this measure, the French government intends to raise 2 billion € to be donated to a new public establishment, the “national fund for solidarity for autonomy.” The new fund would be chartered to deal with losses of self-sufficiency of elderly or handicapped people. 1.2 billion € are earmarked for elderly people, 0.8 for the handicapped.
Trade unions had called for strikes in urban public transportation and paralyzed traffic in 27 cities, including Clermont-Ferrand, Lille, Montpellier ou Strasbourg. However, SNCF (the national railway operator) did not strike and RATP (the Paris transportation authority) suffered only minor disturbances, though both are normally known for their frequent and disturbing strikes.
SNCF considered the day as a holiday for payroll purposes and instead increased the work day by 1’52”, a measure that majority leader Nicolas Sarkozy considered shocking and contrary to the objectives of the government.
The protests are also widely considered to be motivated by the unpopularity of the administration of president Jacques Chirac and prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin. Recent statistics show a five year-high for unemployment at 10.2%.
This discontent may result in a majority of “no” in the vote for the ratification of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe.
Sunday, August 21, 2005
A robotic system at Stanford Medical Center was used to perform a laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery successfully with a theoretically similar rate of complications to that seen in standard operations. However, as there were only 10 people in the experimental group (and another 10 in the control group), this is not a statistically significant sample.
If this surgical procedure is as successful in large-scale studies, it may lead the way for the use of robotic surgery in even more delicate procedures, such as heart surgery. Note that this is not a fully automated system, as a human doctor controls the operation via remote control. Laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery is a treatment for obesity.
There were concerns that doctors, in the future, might only be trained in the remote control procedure. Ronald G. Latimer, M.D., of Santa Barbara, CA, warned “The fact that surgeons may have to open the patient or might actually need to revert to standard laparoscopic techniques demands that this basic training be a requirement before a robot is purchased. Robots do malfunction, so a backup system is imperative. We should not be seduced to buy this instrument to train surgeons if they are not able to do the primary operations themselves.”
There are precedents for just such a problem occurring. A previous “new technology”, the electrocardiogram (ECG), has lead to a lack of basic education on the older technology, the stethoscope. As a result, many heart conditions now go undiagnosed, especially in children and others who rarely undergo an ECG procedure.
But, let’s take a look at the other side of the coin, all
Indian Real Estate Sector is expected to constitute an impressive13 percentof the nation’s GDP by 2025. To put the numbers in perspective, India will have a $3.2020 Trillion GDP (estimated) by 2020, that’s a whoppingINR 3 lakh crore or 3,00,000,00,00,000 INRwithout adjusting the numbers for the currency exchange rate from Dollar to INR.
But, let’s take a look at the other side of the coin, all is not good. Plagued by red-tapism and unchecked costs, a direct consequence of the absence of a unified governing body. RERA was the government’s answer to check these problems.
Let’s take a look at the potential problems:
Realtors are living their worst nightmares as you read, the nightmare of no “demand”. Among all, commercial housing is hit the worst, hotels and tourism, whose sole bread was customers, lockdown for them means no revenue.
Now, the sector is looking up to the State and Center government for urgent measures in forms of capital and tweaked rules.
Desperate Times, calls for Desperate Measures
RBI has already taken the initiative with the reduction in Repo and Reverse Repo rates, grants for the NHA and more. You can read about them in detail in our blogREAL ESTATE SECTOR POSITIVE ON RBI’S REFORMS
Here are the Top 5 Expected Indian Real Estate Trends Post the Covid-19 Pandemic.
The stamp duty and registration charges amount to 5–8% of the property prices around India. This further escalates the cost of transactions. Proving to be a decisive factor in preventing customers form sealing the deal. Thus, a significant reduction in the rates will promote more sales
To reduce the risk of contact spread among individuals, multiple point approval process needs to be addressed at the earliest. A single point clearance system will benefit the realtors hugely by reducing the downtime and bringing down operational expenditures.
COVID-19 pandemic will change the way companies do business, real estate entities will shift towards incorporating technology in their operations, like Virtual Tours, Interactive Videos, Images, Video Conferencing, Digital Contracts.
Customers will focus on buying properties (Commercial and Office Spaces) which are spacious and provide sufficient area for maintaining social distancing and avoid crowding- the mantra of the day.
The drop-in Indian Currency rates and economic slowdown has attracted a lot of foreign companies wishing to invest in real estate projects at home. Builders are expecting good traction from foreign companies in form of FDIs (Foreign Direct Investment) and JVs (Joint Venture).
SOURCES :
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
In a deal announced yesterday, German association football defender Mats Hummels, the current captain of Borussia Dortmund (BVB), agreed to sign a five-year contract with his boyhood club — and arch rivals of Dortmund — Bayern Munich next season. The arrangement was conditional on Hummels undergoing medical tests before signing.
| Mats is one of the best centre-backs in the world. With him we will increase the quality in our team even further. | ||
Hummels previously spent twelve years with the Bavarians, Bayern Munich, coming from their youth system. He moved to Dortmund in 2007 after appearing that year in one Bundesliga match for Bayern.
With BVB, center back Hummels won two Bundesliga titles, one DFB-Pokal Cup in 2012 when they won the domestic double under Jürgen Klopp; and a silver medal in the 2013 UEFA Champions League. He also won the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
“Mats is one of the best centre-backs in the world”, said Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, chairman of FC Bayern München AG. “With him we will increase the quality in our team even further.” Dortmund’s CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke said Hummels had “always been open and fair towards” them.
Hummels is to join Bayern side on July 1 — one year before his pre-existing contract expires with BVB. Dortmund’s website quoted Hummels saying “the decision was not easy for me after eight and a half successful years with BVB. I have always been proud and am still proud to wear the BVB jersey and to be part of this extraordinary team.”
Dortmund is to face Bayern Munich in DFB-Pokal Cup this month. After joining Bayern, Hummels would share the dressing room with his former Dortmund teammates Robert Lewandowski and Mario Götze.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Mixed martial arts fighter Alex Reid, nicknamed “The Reidenator”, has been voted the winner of UK Celebrity Big Brother 2010. He won what is the last series of the programme in the final on Friday night, having received 65.9% of the votes from the public.
Musician Dane Bowers finished in second place, while Vinnie Jones, a former British soccer player and now a film actor, came in third place. After his departure from the Big Brother house, he commented about Alex: “I taught him everything I know.” Vinnie had become unpopular with fans as he was said to have been bossy to other celebrities inside the house. Speaking to presenter Davina McCall, he stated: “I was just trying to keep order in the house because a lot of people were selfish. I was just trying to keep some stability in the house.”
Musician Jonas Altberg, better known by his stage name Basshunter, finished in fourth place. Actress Stephanie Beacham left the Big Brother house in fifth place.
Alex Reid has been the girlfriend to former glamour model Katie Price since July 2009. Fellow housemate Dane has also previously been Katie’s boyfriend. When Davina McCall mentioned Price during the interview with Alex, the crowd gave out a negative reaction of booing. In response, he said: “Come on guys, don’t do that. I’m sorry guys… I’m not sorry, I really love Katie Price.”
During the interview with Davina McCall, Alex commented about his victory. He said: “What an amazing, fantastic start to a new year. Vinnie has been very inspirational to me. He’s transitioned from athletic to actor, which is what I want to do. I’m not getting booed now. That’s amazing… I’m speechless. My whole agenda in here was to be myself.” Alex also spoke of contestant Dane. “I was surprised by what a cool dude he is. I’m really looking forward to seeing more of Dane,” Alex said.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Pakistani intelligence officials said today that at least four people have been killed in a suspected US drone strike in the North Waziristan province.
Officials say missiles hit a house and a vehicle near the town Miranshah. The region is near Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan.
“The US drone fired two missiles on a house. The house was completely destroyed,” said an unnamed security official.
The attack comes a day after Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari warned that US drone strikes were undermining Pakistan’s “national consensus” in his country’s war against rebel groups in the area. However, visiting US lawmakers told Pakistani officials the US could not afford to abandon the controversial missile strikes.