Designer Ilya Birman has come up with what has to be one of the most elegant, minimal perpetual calendars we've ever laid eyes on?at least compared to other creations which tend to look like hideous sudoku puzzles.
Source: http://gizmodo.com/this-simple-chart-is-a-brilliantly-minimal-perpetual-ca-1057709528
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New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez leaves the dugout to take batting practice before a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2013 in Chicago. (AP Photo/David Banks)
New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez leaves the dugout to take batting practice before a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2013 in Chicago. (AP Photo/David Banks)
New York Yankees' Ale Rodriguez gets a hit in his first at bat against the Chicago White Sox in the first inning in a baseball game at US Cellular Field in Chicago on Monday, Aug., 5, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Cherney)
New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez leaves the dugout to take batting practice before a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2013 in Chicago. (AP Photo/David Banks)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Facebook friends. Transcripts of BlackBerry instant messages. Records of texts.
Major League Baseball's investigators used an arsenal of high-tech tools to collect the evidence that persuaded a dozen players to accept 50-game suspensions this week for their ties to the Biogenesis clinic.
And when it came time to meet with the players' association, they flashed some of their documentary proof. While there was not enough time for the union to thoroughly examine what baseball had collected, there was little doubt there was an electronic trail, one of the people familiar with the meetings said. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no public statements were authorized.
"It both complicates things and adds a layer of proof that certainly wasn't available many years ago," union general counsel David Prouty said Tuesday.
Alex Rodriguez, the lone holdout against a suspension, faces an arbitration hearing in coming months that likely will include such evidence. The New York Yankees third baseman was suspended for 211 games from Thursday through the 2014 season, though he is allowed to play until a decision is issued by arbitrator Fredric Horowitz, which is not expected until at least November.
Until now, nearly all suspensions under MLB's drug program resulted from positive drug tests. The Biogenesis probe revealed players were using PEDs without detection.
"To catch the most sophisticated intentional fraudsters, you have to use non-analytical means, which is another reason why baseball's effort here is such a pivotal moment for the anti-doping fight," said Travis Tygart, chief executive office of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
MLB officials would not speak for attribution about its investigation. The league used about 30 people full time in its fact-gathering, another person familiar with the process said Tuesday, also on condition of anonymity because no statements were authorized.
The probe was sparked in January when the Miami New Times published documents linking players to the clinic and accused it of distributing banned performance-enhancing drugs.
Technology has evolved since 2003, when federal agents raided the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative in Burlingame, Calif., sparking an investigation that eventually led to criminal convictions of Barry Bonds, track star Marion Jones, cyclist Tammy Thomas and NFL lineman Dana Stubblefield.
And when former Sen. George Mitchell issued his report on drugs in baseball four years later, he recommended baseball start an investigations department. Dan Mullin, a former New York City Police Officer, was hired as the unit's head in 2008. Former U.S. Secret Service director Mark Sullivan was brought in to assist in the Biogenesis probe.
After the Miami New Times report, baseball investigators examined the Facebook pages of Bosch and Porter Fisher, the former Biogenesis associate who gave documents to the newspaper. They began to sketch out which people they were friends with, and which of those friends posted photos of athletes or mentioned athletes. Each link led to new loops that provided leads.
MLB filed a lawsuit in March against Biogenesis of America, company founder Anthony Bosch and others, complaining they interfered with the contracts between MLB and the union. The suit was unusual and may never reach trial, but it did give MLB the ability to file civil subpoenas.
Records from Florida's Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County that were examined by the AP showed subpoenas were issued to Federal Express, AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA, UPS and Metro PCS. At least some of those companies complied and turned over data to the probe, one of the people said.
By June, Bosch agreed to cooperate with the investigation. The person said MLB hired a data recovery company to obtain records from his mobile telephone.
When baseball officials met with the union, evidence included the BlackBerry instant message transcripts and records of text messages. Lawyers for players believed some emails also had been recovered.
"It's like traditional law enforcement methods," Tygart said. "Even without the powers of law enforcement ? wiretaps, search warrants ? you can still have success in obtaining these documents."
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By Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Amena Bakr
AMMAN/DOHA (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has offered Russia economic incentives including a major arms deal and a pledge not to challenge Russian gas sales if Moscow scales back support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Middle East sources and Western diplomats said on Wednesday.
The proposed deal between two of the leading power brokers in Syria's devastating civil war was set out by Saudi intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow last week, they said.
Russia has supported Assad with arms and diplomatic cover throughout the war and any change in Moscow's stance would remove a major obstacle to action on Syria by the United Nations Security Council.
Syrian opposition sources close to Saudi Arabia said Prince Bandar offered to buy up to $15 billion of Russian weapons as well as ensuring that Gulf gas would not threaten Russia's position as a main gas supplier to Europe.
In return, Saudi Arabia wanted Moscow to ease its strong support of Assad and agree not to block any future Security Council Resolution on Syria, they said.
A Gulf source familiar with the matter confirmed that Prince Bandar offered to buy large quantities of arms from Russia, but that no cash amount was specified in the talks.
One Lebanese politician close to Saudi Arabia said the meeting between Bandar and Putin lasted four hours. "The Saudis were elated about the outcome of the meeting," said the source, without elaborating.
Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, could not immediately be reached on Wednesday for comment about the meeting. A Saudi Foreign Ministry official was also not immediately available to respond.
Putin's initial response to Bandar's offer was inconclusive, diplomats say. One Western diplomat in the Middle East said the Russian leader was unlikely to trade Moscow's recent high profile in the region for an arms deal, however substantial.
He said Russian officials also appeared skeptical that Saudi Arabia had a clear plan for stability in Syria if Assad fell.
CHEMICAL WEAPONS
However, in a possible sign of greater flexibility by Moscow, other diplomats said that in the run-up to the meeting Russia put pressure on Assad to allow in a U.N. mission to investigate the suspected use of chemical weapons.
The U.N. team is expected to visit Syria next week.
"This was one of those unannounced meetings that could prove much more important than the public diplomatic efforts being made on Syria," one diplomat said.
A senior Syrian opposition figure said there had been a "build-up of Russian-Saudi contacts prior to the meeting".
"Bandar sought to allay two main Russian fears: that Islamist extremists will replace Assad, and that Syria would become a conduit for Gulf, mainly Qatari, gas at the expense of Russia," he said. "Bandar offered to intensify energy, military and economic cooperation with Moscow."
Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Muslim powers have been strong supporters of the mainly Sunni rebels battling Assad, from Syria's minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam. The rebels have been joined by foreign Sunni jihadis.
Assad has enjoyed military support from Iran and fighters from Hezbollah and Iraqi Shi'ites.
Russia has maintained military sales to Syria throughout the two year conflict in which 100,000 people have been killed, and helped block three U.N. draft resolutions criticizing Assad's crackdown on the mainly peaceful protests against him in 2011.
The Security Council has been considering a possible resolution on aid for Syria for several months and a shift in position by Moscow could alleviate this.
Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Moscow-based defense think tank CAST, said he had no direct knowledge of the offer, but he would not be surprised if a contract to supply Saudi Arabia with 150 Russian T-90 tanks were revived.
"There was an order of T-90s that was stopped for mysterious reasons, and if this is a resurrection of that order then we could suspect that the Saudis want something in return and that something could be linked to Syria," said Pukhov, who is close to Russia's Defense Ministry.
"If the Saudis want Moscow to outright drop Assad, they will refuse the deal, but they may have a more nuanced position, which they could possibly agree to."
Russia and Saudi Arabia penned an arms contract in 2008 for 150 T-90s as well as more than 100 Mi-17 and Mi-35 attack helicopters as well as BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles, but the contract has stalled for years.
Russian newspaper Kommersant reported at the time that the contract was concluded to persuade Moscow to curtail its ties with Iran, though the Kremlin denied that report.
(Additional reporting by Thomas Grove in Moscow; Writing by Dominic Evans; Editing by Giles Elgood)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-saudi-offers-russia-deal-scale-back-assad-133512903.html
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5 hours ago
Win McNamee / Getty Images
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee July 18, 2013 in Washington, DC.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke should testify in the lawsuit by American International Group Inc's former chief Maurice "Hank" Greenberg against the United States over the insurer's 2008 bailout, a judge ruled on Monday.
Judge Thomas Wheeler of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims rejected the government's effort to keep Bernanke from being deposed, saying the Fed chairman was a "central figure" in the decision to bail out AIG.
"Indeed, the court cannot fathom having to decide this multi-billion dollar claim without the testimony of such a key government decision maker," Wheeler wrote. "These facts constitute 'extraordinary circumstances' for the taking of Mr. Bernanke's deposition."
(Watch: Who will succeed Bernanke?)
Greenberg's Starr International Co, which once had a 12 percent stake in AIG, is suing over the government's taking of a 79.9 percent stake in the insurer in September 2008 and a separate 1-for-20 reverse stock split in June 2009.
Greenberg's attorney, Alanna Rutherford of Boies, Schiller & Flexner, said his team was pleased with the judge's decision.
Earlier this year Greenberg tried to force AIG to join his suit against the government over the $182.3 billion bailout, an effort the company ultimately rejected.
Greenberg is seeking tens of billions of dollars in compensation over the losses he incurred when the government rescued the company.
"Because of Mr. Bernanke's personal involvement in the decision-making process to bail out AIG, it is improbable that Plaintiff would be able to obtain the same testimony or evidence from other persons or sources," Wheeler wrote in his four-page order.
Wheeler said the court would extend "appropriate deference and courtesies" to Bernanke in scheduling the testimony; the judge also said he would attend the deposition himself.
It is tentatively scheduled for Aug. 16, the order noted.
Reuters contributed to thisreport.
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The Chesterfield youth soccer coach accused of inappropriately touching a young boy is due in court on Monday morning.
Investigators say 22-year-old Joe Crespo texted and groped the boy during a car ride.
Crespo has been in jail since his arrest last week. He'll appear in juvenile court at 11 a.m. for an attorney status hearing.
Copyright 2013 WWBT NBC12.? All rights reserved.
Source: http://www.nbc12.com/story/22953884/chesterfield-soccer-coach-accused-of-touching-boy-due-in-court
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Source: delong.typepad.com --- Sunday, July 28, 2013
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