Tuesday, May 31, 2011

FA chairman leads calls for Sepp Blatter to halt election and start Fifa reform

David Bernstein seeks a 'genuinely independent' review of the scandal-hit governing body

England and Scotland led the way in a brave but unlikely attempt to force reform at Fifa after the Football Association's chairman, David Bernstein, called on Sepp Blatter to postpone Wednesday's uncontested election for his fourth term as Fifa president.

On another day of drama in Zurich, Bernstein issued a public declaration demanding the launch of a "genuinely independent" review of Fifa's governance structures.

Having kept the sports minister, Hugh Robertson, informed of his intentions, Bernstein made a plea for reform that was swiftly reinforced by the Scottish FA's chief executive, Stewart Regan. "This is a matter of principle," said Bernstein on Tuesday. "Myself and the FA believe that the position in Fifa is just not acceptable."

Last night Prince William, who is president of the FA, said he was supportive of the call to postpone the election, Clarence House said. A spokesman said: "The Duke of Cambridge, as president, has been kept informed of the FA's proposals and is fully supportive of the chairman and the initiatives the FA has recommended.

"He considers the transparency of the international governing body to be integral to the good governance of the game."

Despite Blatter's defiance at Monday's press conference, in which he insisted he would only be judged by the "Fifa family", there is believed to be some backing for the measures in certain regions of the world. One influential football figure said the perspective of Bernstein, who has been at the FA for fewer than six months, is potentially refreshing for Fifa, an organisation that is apt to circle its wagons.

With pockets of support in Africa, northern Europe and some other English-speaking nations, Bernstein may have set in train a chain of events that could deliver an embarrassing blow to Blatter's standing among his peers. Whether that will translate into the votes required to change the agenda of the Fifa congress is highly questionable. There will be 205 voting national associations there on Wednesday and, under Fifa statutes, it will require the support of 153 other countries for Bernstein's motion to be carried.

Bernstein himself would not be drawn on what would constitute a moral victory for his campaign. "I am not judging this by mathematics; it is a good result already with the support we have from within the UK," he said. "Sometimes you have to jump without knowing how solid the ground is."

With the Fifa vice-president, Jack Warner, and the former presidential challenger, Mohamed bin Hammam, reacting to their suspensions from all football activity with claims their bans were "politically motivated", there is a risk of revenge against British interests.

Bernstein remains unperturbed, knowing from the humiliation of England's 2018 World Cup bid, which picked up only one non-English vote, that the nation that gave the game to the world is already on the sidelines of international football politics.

"I don't think we will get isolated and nor should we be," he said. "[Fifa] is a democratic organisation and we should be able to express a minority or singular view. I do not believe that because a party takes a stance it should lead to retribution."

More of Fifa's leading sponsors have chosen to make public reservations about the direction the organisation is taking. Visa and Emirates added to the sense of crisis at Fifa with statements on Tuesday.

"The current situation is clearly not good for the game and we ask that Fifa take all necessary steps to resolve the concerns that have been raised," said Visa.

Emirates, Fifa's airline partner, said: "Like all football fans around the world, [Emirates] is disappointed with the issues that are currently surrounding the administration of this sport." Adidas and Coca-Cola had previously announced their displeasure with recent events.

As one local newspaper published the results of a survey indicating that 86% of Blatter's compatriots believe him to be "corrupt" ? 7% more assess him as "a bit corrupt" ? Switzerland's president, Micheline Calmy-Rey, addressed the opening of the Fifa congress by saying: "Where there are concerns about corruption and transparency, it is necessary to listen and reform your governance."

Jacques Rogge, the International Olympic Committee chairman, was more emollient before Fifa's constituents. He said he was speaking not as the IOC's president but as a "lover of football" and said Fifa could emerge a stronger organisation.

There were echoes of Bernstein's calls from the global anti-corruption body, Transparency International. It demanded the introduction of an empowered, external ombudsman, as well as strengthened auditing measures. "Fifa delegates know that they must clean house if their vote is to have legitimacy," said Transparency International's Sylvia Schenk.

However, Bernstein faced strong opposition from one of football's grandees. The 95-year-old Jo�o Havelange spent 24 years as Fifa president and was Blatter's mentor. He told Brazilian journalists: "Do you think they would do the same if there was an Englishman running alone for the presidency?"Late last night there was fresh evidence of further meltdown within Fifa as Concacaf's acting president, Lisle Austin, first attempted to sack the whistleblower and Warner's chief accuser, Chuck Blazer, only for the confederation to issue a statement an hour later saying he had no authority to do so.


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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/may/31/fa-chairman-sepp-blatter-fifa-reform

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Clippers win behind Kipnis' bat - Minor League Report

Kipnis hit his first home run of the season to go with his second triple of the year.

jason-kipnis.JPGView full sizeJason Kipnis had a good night for the Columbus Clippers on Tuesday night.

AAA Columbus Clippers

Clippers 7, Braves 5 Columbus scored three runs in both the first and third innings and held on for an International League victory over Gwinnett, in suburban Atlanta. Jason Kipnis hit his first home run for Columbus in the third, with a runner on. He also stroked his second triple of the season.

David Huff (2-0) pitched seven innings to pick up the win. He gave up nine hits and five runs (four earned). He had no strikeouts and no walks. Zach Putnam pitched two scoreless innings to pick up his third save.

AA Akron Aeros

Baysox 6-0, Aeros 4-1 Akron’s Juan Diaz singled home Juan Apodaca for the game’s only run in the fifth inning, and the Aeros gained a split with Bowie, Md., in an Eastern League doubleheader at Canal Park. Starting pitcher Eric Berger pitched four shutout innings for Akron, and Nick Hagadone (1-0) pitched the final three innings for the win.

In the first game, Akron right-handed starter Austin Adams (1-2) lasted just two-thirds of an inning, giving up three earned runs on three hits, walking three and striking out one.

Notes: LHP Nick Hagadone has been named the Indians’ Minor League Player of the Week for April 17-23. He tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings of relief while allowing four hits, walking one and striking out eight.

Advanced A Kinston Indians

K-Tribe, Red Sox rained out The Carolina League game at Kinston, N.C., against Salem, Va., was rained out. The teams will play a doubleheader starting at 4:30 p.m. today.

A Lake County Captains

TinCaps 5, Captains 4 Lake County rallied for three runs in the top of the seventh inning, but fell one run short in a Midwest League loss at Fort Wayne, Ind. All the Captains’ runs came by the long ball.

Carlos Moncreif slammed a three-run homer, his third, and Giovanny Urshela hit a solo shot, his second.

Cole Cook was the starter and loser. He pitched only 3 1/3 innings, yielding four runs, all earned, on five hits. Notes: Captains right fielder Jason Smit went 2-for-3 and by game’s end was hitting .406. He has 26 hits in 64 at-bats. He also has eight walks, and an on-base percentage of .480.

Source: http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2011/04/clippers_win_behind_kipnis_bat.html

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Clippers top Charlotte in AAA slugfest, 18-12: Minor-league report

Nine-run eighth inning powers Columbus; Aeros, Indians and Captains all lose.

huffman-mug-tribe-ap.jpgView full sizeColumbus outfielder Chad Huffman had a pair of doubles and scored three runs for the Clippers on Monday.

AAA Columbus Clippers

Clippers 18, Knights 12: Columbus CF Ezequiel Carrera (.314) had four hits and four RBI, 3B Lonnie Chisenhall (.275) had three hits and two RBI and SS Jason Donald (.412) had two hits, including his first home run, to lead the Clippers to the International League win Monday in Charlotte, N.C.

Columbus broke a 9-9 tie in the eighth inning with nine runs. RF Jerad Head (.379) added three hits and 1B Chad Huffman (.286) had two doubles and three runs.

Scott Barnes (5.40) started for Columbus and got shelled. The left-hander gave up 10 hits, including four home runs, and seven runs (all earned) in five innings. He walked one and fanned four.

Righty Jensen Lewis (3-0, 1.69) earned the win despite being less than spectacular in relief. He gave up two runs (both earned) on four hits, including a homer, in two innings.

AA Akron Aeros

Curve 10, Aeros 9: Akron RH closer Cory Burns (0-1, 3.38) suffered his first blown save in eight chances this season, allowing two runs in the ninth as the Aeros lost the Eastern League game in Altoona, Pa.

Akron CF Jordan Henry (.338) went 5-for-5 with three runs and two RBI and SS Juan Diaz (.242) and C Chun Chen (.295) each had two doubles and three RBI.

RH Marty Popham (21.00) started his first game for Akron since being called up from Class A Kinston. He allowed seven runs (all earned) on 10 hits and one walk.

Popham made six appearances for Kinston, all but one out of the bullpen. He was 0-0 with a 3.86 ERA for the K-Tribe.

Advanced A Kinston Indians

Red Sox 3, Indians 2: Righty Clayton Cook (5.09) started and pitched six strong innings but shoddy fielding cost the K-Tribe the Carolina League game in Salem, Va. All of Salem's runs were unearned.

Cook went six innings, allowing two unearned runs on three hits and three walks. He struck out three.

RH Jose Flores (0-2, 6.75) pitched the final two innings, giving up one unearned run on four hits.

LF Tyler Holt (.286) led the Indians' offense with a double and an RBI.

A Lake County Captains

Lugnuts 4, Captains 3: Lansing (Mich.) scored an unearned run in the bottom of the 10th to beat Lake County in a Midwest League game. Captains LF Anthony Gallas (.312) had two hits, including his third homer of the season.

RH Steven Wright (2.63) started for Lake County and pitched five innings. He gave up two runs (one earned) on four hits and three walks while striking out three.

Source: http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2011/05/clippers_top_charlotte_in_aaa.html

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Holy Name baseball advances to state semis with belated win

The Holy Name baseball team waited longer than any in Ohio to reach the state semifinals, but the wait was well worth it.

Source: http://highschoolsports.cleveland.com/news/article/-2054267813687093483

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Calling all Castaways: Taransay island up for sale

Be a castaway every day of the year ? Taransay island was the setting for the original BBC series and is on the market for �2m

In pictures: Taransay island

A beautiful Hebridean island, made famous by the reality television series Castaway, is being put up for sale complete with spectacular white beaches, a private herd of deer, wild otters, trout and seals.

The uninhabited island of Taransay in the Western Isles has seen pagan Celtic settlers, a massacre involving warring medieval clans and in 2000, a group of 36 city dwellers and a large television film crew trying to survive unaided on the edge of the Atlantic.

That BBC series, which made a star of one equally rugged young castaway, Ben Fogle, but upset others who took part, transformed the island from a secluded spot for the hardiest and best informed travellers into one of the Hebrides' most famous private islands.

Made up of two treeless, cliff-fringed and wind-battered islands connected by a wide, sandy isthmus, Taransay is being sold by its owners, Angus and Norman MacKay, two locally-raised brothers who live on the neighbouring island of Harris, for offers in excess of �2m.

With a history of habitation stretching back to at least 300AD, Taransay was bought by their father John MacKay in 1967 for �11,000. It once had three villages but the last family left the island in 1974, leaving the properties derelict and a place mainly for sheep grazing, and intrepid travellers.

When it was selected for Castaway, several houses were upgraded, leaving three ? the farmhouse, the old school chalet and a more basic bothy with beds for 10 ? for the MacKays to rent out as self-catering holiday homes.

They have only rudimentary services, but some of the most spectacular sunsets over the Atlantic and sunrises over the sharp-peaked mountains of Harris immediately to the east.

The island, thought to be the largest uninhabited island in Scotland, is being sold in its entirety with a working sheep farm ? currently at 680 breeding ewes ? and with 200 red deer, its holiday homes and an offer from the MacKay's to sell a landing point on the beach on South Harris for its new owner to pull up and store the boat required to visit their property.

John Bound from estate agent CKD Galbraith, which is selling Taransay, said the sale was quite rare. At 3,445 acres Taransay is unusually large to be sold in its entirety. And the MacKays ? one a farmer, the other a business man ? are selling up for pragmatic reasons, he said.

"The sale is purely a business decision; it suits both families now, the timing and everything," Bound said. "It's quite unusual to get an island of this size where everything is owned. Usually something has been sold off or is crofted. Anyone can now buy it in its entirety."

The firm said the island had the potential to continue as a holiday letting business, but also for its country sports, deer stalking and its fishing. Taransay offered "the country sportsman an abundance of activity whilst protecting the biodiversity of the island, with hill lochs teaming with brown trout, first-class coastal and sea fishing, as well as a herd of around 200 head of red deer providing some enjoyable and sustainable stalking."

The temporary Castaway islanders, watched by 9m viewers at its peak, lived in "pods" in the deserted village of Paible, where they raised their own pigs, cattle and chickens, and grew their own vegetables. They enjoyed electricity, supplied by a wind turbine and a small hydro-electric scheme, and a water supply. Of the original 36 castaways, 29 stayed on the island for the full year. Most returned to their normal lives; Fogle went on to become a television presenter, including for the BBC nature and farming series Countryfile.


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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/may/31/castaway-taransay-island-for-sale

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Live Blog-Swansea City v Reading

Have your say on the action live as Swansea City and Reading contest the Championship play-off final at Wembley.



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Jim Tressel resigns as Ohio State football coach following months of mounting NCAA troubles

Ohio State accepted his resignation Monday after 10 seasons, a national title and a final scandal surrounding NCAA violations.

Gallery previewCOLUMBUS, Ohio -- Jim Tressel fought back tears while announcing his resignation to his Ohio State football team Monday morning, an illustrious coaching career undone less than three months after his NCAA violations were first made public.

Following 10 years with the Buckeyes, seven Big Ten titles, a 9-1 record against Michigan and a national championship, Tressel was chased from his job by the scandal around his failure to be truthful with his bosses and the mounting public pressure that came with it.

Members of the team Sunday night received messages to meet Monday morning and feared what the news would be, and they were right. Accompanied by Athletic Director Gene Smith, Tressel announced his time as the head of the OSU program had ended. Assistant coach Luke Fickell will serve as the interim coach for the 2011-12 season and the school will hold a full search for a new coach next year.

"He was hurting, and he was fighting it," said someone who was in the room for the announcement. "I couldn't look at him because I was hurting myself."

Smith, in a video released by Ohio State that served as his only official comment, said "our head football coach, Jim Tressel, has decided to resign." But multiple sources confirmed that the resignation came following pressure from above.

"It's an unfortunate situation. But in this day and age all of us have to pay for our mistakes," said John C. "Jack" Fisher, an OSU grad and member of the Ohio State Board of Trustees since 2006, who said the trustees had been working on this decision for a while. "There will be an impact but I think we will be ready to move. Overall, I think there will be a positive reaction. I am optimistic that we are dealing with this the right way."

OSU president Gordon Gee had appointed a special committee made up of some members of the board and other members of the administration to evaluate the situation facing the football program.

"In consultation with the senior leadership of the University and the senior leadership of the Board, I have been actively reviewing the matter and have accepted Coach Tressel's resignation," Gee wrote in a memo to Board members released by Ohio State. "My public statement will include our common understanding that throughout all we do, we are one University with one set of standards and one overarching mission. The University's enduring public purposes and its tradition of excellence continue to guide our actions."

Tressel's departure does not end Ohio State's issues, not by a long shot. But it does separate the school from one problem area. Both the coach and the school still face an Aug. 12 hearing before the NCAA Committee on Infractions. If he hopes to coach again one day, or if he just wants to attempt to defend his name, Tressel could appear at the hearing.

Ohio State is dealing with larger issues.

One expert on NCAA infractions said the committee should treat Ohio State more favorably because Tressel has departed, but a finding of a lack of institutional control by the athletic department as a whole could still lead to crippling sanctions if, as could be the case, more violations come to light. The Columbus Dispatch reported Monday that Ohio State and the NCAA have launched a separate investigation into quarterback Terrelle Pryor.

What's known is that Tressel, who had been earning about $3.7 million a year, is out at age 58 after compiling a 106-22 record over the last 10 years. OSU spokesman Jim Lynch said he was unaware about any possible settlement between Tressel and the university, but it's clear from his contract that his violations should allow his departure with cause with no further compensation.

"After meeting with university officials, we agreed that it is in the best interest of Ohio State that I resign as head football coach," Tressel wrote in his resignation letter to Smith, which was released by Ohio State. "The recent situation has been a distraction for our great university and I make this decision for the greater good of our school.

"The appreciation that [my wife] Ellen and I have for the Buckeye Nation is immeasurable. We have been blessed to work with the finest group of young men in America and we love them dearly. In addition, we cannot thank you enough. ... the high school coaches we have worked with over these many years.

"We know that God has a plan for us and we will be fine. We will be Buckeyes forever."

Six months ago, it seemed that would literally be the case, as Tressel and the program was flying high while preparing for the Sugar Bowl against Arkansas. They'd won a record-tying six straight Big Ten titles and Tressel was viewed by much of the Ohio State community as someone who exemplified everything right with the university, on and off the field.

Jole Harmon, who with her husband donated millions of dollars for a renovation of the football practice facility in large part because of their faith in Tressel, said Monday, "It's disappointing to see a man like Jim Tressel go out the way he has, in a less than honorable way, in a less than stellar way that I would have wished for, and frankly, it shocks me. But this is a good life lesson for kids. This is what happens when you don't fully tell the truth."

Harmon mentioned all the positives she believes Tressel brought to the program, but she supported the OSU administration and understood the need for Tressel to step aside. In an interview with The Plain Dealer last year, she had praised Tressel as someone she knew would never embarrass the university.

"Guess what? I'm never going to say that about anyone again in my life," Harmon said. "You pretty much can't say that about anybody."

That's because Tressel's reputation began to unravel on Dec. 23, when Ohio State announced in a news conference that six players had committed NCAA violations by receiving cash and discounted tattoos in exchange for memorabilia. Pryor and four others were suspended for the first five games of the 2011 season, and that was just the start.

As Tressel sat next to Smith in that news conference, the coach knew he had been alerted to potential violations involving his players and Columbus tattoo parlor Edward Rife in emails in April of 2010, information Tressel did not share with his bosses or the Ohio State compliance office, as required by his contract and NCAA rules. Ohio State discovered those emails in January and began an investigation in concert with the NCAA.

On March 8, a day after Tressel's violations were first reported by Yahoo Sports, Ohio State held a news conference to announce the violations and a two-game suspension and $250,000 fine for Tressel. The suspension was later lengthened to five games. But Gee and Smith backed Tressel unequivocally, with Gee uttering his infamous line, "I'm just hoping the coach doesn't dismiss me."

Before the start of spring practice at the beginning of April, Tressel said he hadn't thought of resigning, and would do it only if he felt it was best for his players. Less than three weeks ago, when asked if his thoughts had changed, Tressel said, "Why? Should they?" And at the Big Ten meetings two weeks ago, Smith reaffirmed his public support for Tressel.

Monday, that support ended. Ohio State lost its coach and Tressel lost his dream job. And that's just the start.

Cinesport video: Jim Tressel out at Ohio State


For more Cinesport video on cleveland.com, go here.

Source: http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.ssf/2011/05/jim_tressel_resigns_as_ohio_st.html

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Club's gifts as it pulls up stumps

MEMBERS from a disbanded Neath cricket league have bowled over four charities by handing over their remaining cash to them.

Stadium Garage Neath District Cricket League has officially finished after around 50 years.

Vernon Hadley, 85, who played cricket until he was 67, and had been the treasurer, said it was a committee decision to finish the league and donate their remaining funds to charities.

"The league finished officially on Thursday," he said. "There was no point in hanging onto the money, so we decided to pass it on to charity.

"We did want to give it to some cricket charities but it did not work out. So we chose Royal National Institute for the Blind, Multiple Sclerosis Society, Macmillan Nurses and Tenovus. We gave them �500 each."

Mr Hadley said the league had seen a decline in numbers over the years. "We just could not get the interest anymore and it was too expensive," he said.

"It costs �42.50 for a pitch in Neath so it was getting too expensive. A cricket ball costs �30 and bats around �140.

"The league had been declining over the years. We had been running two divisions with 16 teams.

"It then went down to eight to 10 teams around 10 years ago. This year we had two to three teams and it was costing us �500 a year for pitches. So sadly we decided to disband.

"I have got lots of memories. It has been going for 50 years and I have been involved for 40 years."

He added an event was held to mark the end of the league on Thursday at Skewen Rugby Club.

"All the committee members were invited and people from the charities," he said. "Everyone enjoyed it."



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Monday, May 30, 2011

Lake County Captains split doubleheader with West Michigan: Minor League Report

The Columbus Clippers lose a close game in the 13th inning. Akron also loses, but the Kinston Indians win.

AAA Columbus Clippers

Tides 2, Clippers 1 (13) Josh Bell's one-out single in the 13th inning plated Matt Angle as host Norfolk (Va.) edged Columbus in International League play Saturday. A first-inning single by Jerad Head -- who also doubled and walked, raising his average to .343 -- drove in Lonnie Chisenhall (.278) for the Clippers' run. Columbus right-hander Jeanmar Gomez (2.82 ERA) allowed one run and four hits in seven innings. He struck out six and walked three.

AA Akron Aeros

Flying Squirrels 3, Aeros 2 Richmond (Va.) scored a run in the top of the 10th to pick up the Eastern League victory at Canal Park. Reliever Cory Burns (0-3, 4.26 ERA) took the loss for Akron, which managed just six hits. The Aeros' Tim Fedroff went 0-for-4, snapping his 20-game hitting streak.

Advanced A Kinston Indians

Indians 5, Dash 2 Kinston's bullpen gave up just two runs in 8 1/3 innings as the K-Tribe took down Winston-Salem in a Carolina League game in Kinston, N.C. Indians starter Toru Murata was taken out with an apparent sore arm after retiring the first two Dash batters he faced.

A Lake County Captains

Captains 3-2, WhiteCaps 1-5 Lake County split a pair with West Michigan in Eastlake, winning a suspended game from earlier this month, then stumbling to a loss in the regularly scheduled contest. Jordan Cooper (1-1) picked up the win, tossing three scoreless innings. Brennan Smith (1-2) took the loss in the second game despite going the distance.

Independent Lake Erie Crushers

Crushers 4, Slammers 3 Kellen Kulbacki singled to right field with two outs in the ninth inning to drive in the winning run as Lake Erie edged Joliet in a Frontier League game in Avon.

Source: http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2011/05/lake_county_captains_split_dou.html

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Cleveland Indians manager Manny Acta named AL All-Star coach; Lake County OF Gallas honored

Manny Acta will be going to the All-Star Game in Phoenix as one of the coaches for the American League.

 

Manny Acta, Hunter WendelstedtThe Indians have already earned one spot for the All-Star Game as manager Manny Acta has been named one of the coaches for the American League.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Indians manager Manny Acta has been selected as one of the coaches for the American League in the All-Star Game, set for July 12 in Phoenix.

AL All-Star manager Ron Washington of the Texas Rangers named Acta and Toronto manager John Farrell as his coaches. Farrell is a former pitcher and farm director for the Indians.

National League manager Bruce Bochy of the San Francisco Giants selected Arizona Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson and Washington Nationals manager Jim Riggleman to be his coaches. Riggleman replaced Acta as manager with the Nationals.

GALLAS HONORED: The Indians today announced that Lake County Captains OF Anthony Gallas has been named the organization's Minor League Player of the Week for May 8-14. 

Gallas, a product of Strongsville High School and Kent State, is the third Captains player to win the award this season. For the week, Gallas hit .450 (9-20) with 5 runs scored, 3 doubles, a homer and 3 RBI in 6 games and posted an OPS of 1.292 (.542 OBP, .750SLG).

Last week, he was named the Midwest League Player of the Week. On the season, Gallas is batting .356 (42-118) with 24 runs scored, 16 doubles, 4 HR and 13 RBI in 31 games while posting a 1.009 OPS (.415 OBP, .593 SLG). He currently is tied for first in the Midwest League in doubles (16), is second in average (.356) and hits (42), is third in slugging percentage (.593), and extra-base hits (20), fourth in on-base percentage (.415), and total bases (70), and is sixth in runs scored (24).

Source: http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2011/05/cleveland_indians_manager_mann_4.html

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Brady's bunch of soccer stories

In her first weeks as managing director of Birmingham City Football Club, Karren Brady looked for the directors' box, only to be repeatedly told: "Ah, wives of directors go to the ladies' box through there." Finally, she was recognised: "Oh, you're that woman. Stay here and I'll find out what to do with you."

More than 200 guests at Tuesday's UJIA Women's Division lunch heard Ms Brady, now vice-chairman of West Ham United, recall her early days as a lone woman in the male-dominated industry. By turns funny and frank, Ms Brady, also Lord Sugar's right-hand woman on BBC1's The Apprentice, painted a deft portrait of her career in football administration.

"One Friday," she recalled, "I saw an advert in the Financial Times - football club for sale. I was 23. I went to my boss and said: 'Why don't we buy the club and I'll run it?'" By Monday, the deed was done.

Despite the man from the Sunday People asking for her vital statistics at her inaugural press conference, Ms Brady applied hard-learned business practice to the club. "I should point out that I don't wear a tracksuit. I wear a suit."

In 1993, the club was mired in debt. By the time it was sold for �85 million in 2009, it was debt-free and had made �6.5 million profit. Now she hopes to do the same for West Ham, where Avram Grant was dismissed following relegation to the Championship.

Held at The Savoy, the lunch raised �110,000, a 10 per cent increase on last year, for UJIA educational work with young people at home and in Israel.

Source: http://www.thejc.com/community/community-life/49555/bradys-bunch-soccer-stories

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Jesus Aguilar's three homers power Lake County to DH split: Minor-league report

Lake County slugged seven home runs, including three by Jesus Aguilar and a grand slam by Tyler Cannon, to gain a split of a Midwest League doubleheader against Bowling Green (Ky.) at Classic Park.

A Lake County Captains

Hot Rods 1-4, Captains 0-14: Lake County slugged seven home runs, including three by Jesus Aguilar and a grand slam by Tyler Cannon, to gain a split of a Midwest League doubleheader against Bowling Green (Ky.) at Classic Park. Aguilar ended his day with six RBI.

Anthony Gallas hit two home runs for the Captains in the second game.

In the first game, Hot Rod pitcher C.J. Riefenhauser took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, but Jason Smit singled with one out.

AA Akron Aeros

Phillies 6-4, Aeros 2-0: Fans at Canal Park saw nearly two Eastern League games for the price of one, but the home fans also endured two losses.

Reading blanked Akron, 4-0, on three hits, after beating the Aeros, 6-2, in a continuation of a game that was suspended in the third inning Friday because of rain.

When play resumed Saturday, the Phillies were leading, 3-0. Akron's Tim Fedroff hit a solo home run over the bullpen in right field in the bottom of the seventh inning to make it 5-1.

In the second game, Kelvin De La Cruz (1-3) pitched six innings for Akron, giving up four earned runs on five hits, walking two and striking out six.

AAA Columbus Clippers

Clippers vs. Bats, postponed: For the second straight day, an International League game between visiting Louisville and Columbus was postponed by rain. The two clubs will play Sunday as regularly scheduled at 4:05 p.m. and finish the series Monday with a doubleheader starting at 5:05 p.m.

Notes: In honor of the Clippers' 2010 Class AAA Championship, the first 2,500 fans Sunday will receive a replica of the championship ring.

Advanced A Kinston Indians

Pelicans 11, Indians 2: Myrtle Beach erupted for six runs in the top of the seventh and routed Kinston in a Carolina League game. The Pelicans clobbered K-Tribe pitchers for 16 hits. Although starter T.J. House (0-2), was tagged with the loss, the game got out of control when the middle relievers took over. Chris Jones and Travis Turek each gave up four runs in their two innings of work.

Source: http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2011/04/jesus_aguilars_three_homers_po.html

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Kipnis, Valbuena homer to power Columbus' comeback win: Minor-league report

Chad Huffman is hitting .388 (19-for-49) entering Friday's game with 13 runs, two doubles, five homers and 17 RBI over his past 13 games for the Clippers.

AAA Columbus Clippers

Clippers 8, Braves 5: Columbus scored two runs in the eighth inning and three in the ninth to rally past Gwinnett in a Class AAA International League game in Georgia. It was the Clippers' ninth straight victory. Jason Kipnis (.257) and Luis Valbuena (.313) homered for Columbus.

Notes: After starting the season 0-for-18, outfielder Chad Huffman is hitting .388 (19-for-49) entering Friday's game with 13 runs, two doubles, five homers and 17 RBI over his past 13 games. That stretch includes Huffman's historic performance against Louisville last week when he set a franchise record with 10 RBI. ... Outfielder Jordan Brown has an eight-game hitting streak, batting .355 (11-for-31) with two homers and eight RBI over the stretch. He has raised his batting average 67 points to .286.

AA Akron Aeros

Aeros 10, Mets 1: Akron scored six runs in the sixth inning, capped by Chun-Hsiu Chen's second homer of the season, and the Aeros won an Eastern League game in Binghamton, N.Y.

Notes: Aeros left-handed pitcher Nick Hagadone was named the Indians' Minor League Player of the Week. Hagadone, 25, pitched 51/3 scoreless innings, giving up four hits, walking one and striking out eight. For the season, he has not allowed a run in 13 innings, allowing seven hits, striking out 18 and walking just one. Akron is second in the Eastern League with a 2.97 team ERA.

Advanced A Kinston Indians

Indians 2, Hillcats 0: Brett Brach (2-1, 1.17), Tyler Sturdevant and Preston Guilmet (second save) combined to shut out the host Lynchburg Hillcats in a Class A Carolina League game in Virginia. It was the second shutout in the past three games for the K-Tribe.

Notes: Kinston's Tyler Holt leads the Carolina League with nine stolen bases.

A Lake County Captains

Silver Hawks 5, Captains 3: Raywilly Gomez had three RBI singles to lead South Bend (Ind.) to a Midwest League victory over Lake County at Classic Park.

Notes: Captains starter Mike Rayl did not get a decision, pitching 3 innings and allowing one run on three hits, walking three and striking four.

Source: http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2011/04/kipnis_valbuena_homer_to_power.html

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The Synagogue and the Naked Lady

On the way to shul last Shabbat, I mused upon a mystery: how is it that some synagogues come familiarly to be known by the roads in which they are located, while others do not.

London?s North-Western Reform Synagogue is invariably known as Alyth Gardens. Think too of Lauderdale Road (the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in Maida Vale), or Raleigh Close (Hendon United) or Kinloss (Finchley United, situated in Kinloss Gardens).

But then Mill Hill Synagogue or St John?s Wood Synagogue are always referred to as Mill Hill or St John?s Wood, not by their streets.

Some steibls are popularly known after their presiding rabbi, such as Hager?s or Reb Chunna?s in Golders Green. A few communities bear Hebrew names, most famously the Machzikei Hadass. More recently, some Progressive synagogues have begun to opt for Hebrew names and one new United Synagogue, Alei Tzion in Hendon, has chosen to do so, too.

But synagogue names are rarely imaginative or evocative. I always fancied that Kinloss should be known, after the well-known statue nearby, as Our Congregation of the Naked Lady.

Source: http://www.thejc.com/blogs/simon-rocker/the-synagogue-and-naked-lady

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Cheryl Cole's Jewish hair

Of all the showbiz stars about, Cheryl Cole isn't usually one mistaken for being Jewish.

But according to OK magazine, the X Factor presenter has got one kosher credential.

Discussing her styling in a new advert for L'Oreal and her look at the US X Factor auditions, the fashion pundits write: "Chezza has hit Hollywood with hair the size of a Jewish grandma."

Of course, they've got it all wrong. Cheryl Cole's hair might be sizeable, but she's certainly never eaten a true Jewish grandma's meal.

Source: http://www.thejc.com/blogs/jennifer-lipman/cheryl-coles-jewish-hair

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NE Ohio standouts Lavisky, Gallas learning the baseball ropes in Lake County

It may not be glamorous, but the life of a low minor leaguer beats what the rest of us are doing.

lavisky-gallas-caps-dugout-to.jpgView full sizeAlex Lavisky (left) and Anthony Gallas are two former local high school baseball players now learning the ropes with the Lake Erie Captains.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Last May, Alex Lavisky was leading St. Edward to another state baseball crown and posing for prom pictures.

Strongsville's Anthony Gallas was ripping the ball at Kent State and cramming for his last college finals.

A year later, they're on eight-hour bus rides to towns like Bowling Green, Ky., checking for bed bugs at the team hotel and learning to stretch $20 per day in meal money.

"It's not," said Gallas, "the glamorous life that everybody thinks it is."

Which is not to be misinterpreted. Not at all. Even the life of a low minor leaguer beats what the rest of us are doing.

"You're playing baseball," Gallas said. "What's better than that?"

Lavisky and Gallas are teammates on the Lake County Captains, the Indians' Class A farm team in Eastlake. Being locals, they still get to enjoy the comforts of home, which is rare in the minors. Manager Ted Kubiak approved it.

Being locals, family and friends can easily swing by Classic Park for a game. Just the other day, about 100 of Lavisky's friends surprised him with a cheering section.

"It's nice," said his mother Julianne, who invited the team over for Easter dinner. (Kubiak thanked her but declined.) "You get to watch Alex become who he's meant to be."

The Indians saw enough raw potential in Lavisky to take him in the eighth round of the 2010 draft and offer a $1 million signing bonus to bypass a full ride to Georgia Tech.

He's been inconsistent at the plate, hitting around .220 while striking out more than once every four times up. But he's also among the team leaders in RBI as he works on driving outside pitches to center and right-center rather than try to pull everything.

"When he stays on the ball and keeps his head in there," Kubiak said, "he's been good."

lavisky-portrait-catcher-vert-to.jpgView full size"Even when you're home, you don't have as much time as you think you have because you're so consumed here at the park," former St. Edward star Alex Lavisky, still just 18, said. "And when you're not here, you're on the road."

Lavisky, 20, is one of two catchers on the Captains. The other is Alex Monsalve, 19, who was signed by the Indians as a nondrafted free agent from Venezuela in 2009. He's hitting about .290.

Most nights, you'll find both in the lineup. When one catches, the other is the designated hitter.

Kubiak said Lavisky has grown up quickly in the short time he's had him. He's attentive in meetings, understands the daily routine and is adjusting to the fact that it's a full-time job.

"The other day I had a talk with him," Kubiak said, "and he said the toughest thing for him is just playing every day."

"I don't know how he's doing it, honestly," said Gallas. "Mentally, at 18, there's no way I would have been able to do what we're doing right now, just showing up at the ballpark every single day. College really got me ready for that."

Gallas, 23, actually got more attention from college recruiters as a wide receiver on the Strongsville football team, but thought baseball offered a better shot at the pros.

By the time he was done at Kent State, the 6-2, 210-pound outfielder shared the school's all-time record with 49 home runs, and became the first Mid-American Conference player to collect at least 250 hits, score 200 runs and drive in 200 runs for his career.

Despite solid numbers, he went undrafted. The Indians signed him as free agent last June. At Lake County, Gallas has been among the team leaders in several categories, including average, slugging percentage and doubles.

gallas-squ-rundrill-captains-to.jpgView full sizeA record-setting player at Kent State, Anthony Gallas wasn't drafted by a pro team and fuels his desire with that rejection now that he's with the Captains.

Kubiak said Gallas is industrial-strength strong and likes his short stroke, the pop in his bat and the ability to hit to all fields. The coaches are working on his timing at the plate to get him to use his legs more.

Ross Atkins, the Indians vice president of player development, said Gallas could probably handle a more advanced minor-league level.

"He's been one of the better surprises," he said. "For someone who wasn't drafted, we've really been impressed."

Maybe it's because he wasn't drafted.

Gallas admitted he plays with a chip on his shoulder because people doubted he was good enough to play in college. Then he wasn't good enough to play professionally.

"And I just keep proving people wrong over and over again," he said. "It's just the way it is and it makes me work even harder."

Most of Lavisky's friends are off to college. Gallas' buddies, with college degrees in hand, are doing the 8 to 5 and making more money. So neither sees friends much or socialize. Baseball hours don't mesh and days off are rare.

"Even when you're home, you don't have as much time as you think you have because you're so consumed here at the park," Lavisky said. "And when you're not here, you're on the road."

Which is where Mom steps up. For the road trip to Kentucky, she packed him homemade pepperoni bread, sliced strawberries, candy, Vitamin Water and Airborne to ward off colds. He was mortified.

"He said, 'Don't treat me like a baby,'" she said laughing. "Then I get a basket full of laundry every week."

For Gallas and Lavisky, it's been kind of a dream come true, playing for the organization they grew up cheering for.

Lavisky attended the first home game of the 1997 World Series when his dad's boss gave them tickets. Gallas saw the Indians beat Baltimore on a blown squeeze play in the 1997 American League Championship Series. Those Indians players of the late '90s were their heroes. Gallas dressed as Kenny Lofton for Halloween in second grade.

During spring training, they noticed the former Tribe center fielder working as an Indians special assistant. Gallas and Lavisky nodded to each other. They were star struck.

"I was like, man, I want to get his autograph," Lavisky said, "but I kind of chickened out."

Source: http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2011/05/ne_ohio_standouts_lavisky_gall.html

Canada Protest Scotland Tim Cahill European Union Chamonix

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Mother begs MI6 to find soldier son

The mother of one of Israel's longest-missing soldiers, Zachary Baumel, made an emotional plea this week for MI6 and the British government to "live up to their humanitarian obligations" and reveal information about Israel's missing soldiers.

Miriam Baumel was speaking during a visit to the UK this week. Zachary was captured with two other Israeli soldiers, after the battle of Sultan Yacoub in Lebanon in 1982.

All three, members of an Israeli tank crew, are understood to have been taken by the Syrians, and it is thought that British diplomats in Damascus at the time witnessed the three being paraded through the Syrian capital.

Mrs Baumel, 79, travelled from Israel to London after making requests to meet, on a personal basis, unidentified British government officials.

She said: "John Sawers, the MI6 chief, said in 2010, 'We have a duty to do what we can to ensure that a partner service will respect human rights.'

"I'm not talking to them on politics or grandiose things, but basic human rights. Where are my son's basic human rights, taken and held without contact with the world at all? "

Mrs Baumel called on the UK Jewish community "to help convince your government that it is the right thing to release information they have about my son, and that political considerations should not enter into this".

On Monday she met Manchester lawyers who are fighting to obtain government documents which may hold vital clues about the fate of the MIAs.

Earlier this year the Defence Ministry said it had lost or destroyed a report of a key sighting of the men, while the Foreign Office said that some documents would remain secret to prevent a deterioration of relations with Syria.

That commitment to secrecy, however, was made before the Arab Spring and the unrest in Syria which has been widely condemned by Britain.

"Let the British government find a solution that would protect their relations and would also help us," pleaded Mrs Baumel. She clutched her son's dog-tag, released by Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat in 1993, which she wears constantly.

Source: http://www.thejc.com/news/israel-news/49522/mother-begs-mi6-find-soldier-son

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Clippers win behind Kipnis' bat - Minor League Report

Kipnis hit his first home run of the season to go with his second triple of the year.

jason-kipnis.JPGView full sizeJason Kipnis had a good night for the Columbus Clippers on Tuesday night.

AAA Columbus Clippers

Clippers 7, Braves 5 Columbus scored three runs in both the first and third innings and held on for an International League victory over Gwinnett, in suburban Atlanta. Jason Kipnis hit his first home run for Columbus in the third, with a runner on. He also stroked his second triple of the season.

David Huff (2-0) pitched seven innings to pick up the win. He gave up nine hits and five runs (four earned). He had no strikeouts and no walks. Zach Putnam pitched two scoreless innings to pick up his third save.

AA Akron Aeros

Baysox 6-0, Aeros 4-1 Akron’s Juan Diaz singled home Juan Apodaca for the game’s only run in the fifth inning, and the Aeros gained a split with Bowie, Md., in an Eastern League doubleheader at Canal Park. Starting pitcher Eric Berger pitched four shutout innings for Akron, and Nick Hagadone (1-0) pitched the final three innings for the win.

In the first game, Akron right-handed starter Austin Adams (1-2) lasted just two-thirds of an inning, giving up three earned runs on three hits, walking three and striking out one.

Notes: LHP Nick Hagadone has been named the Indians’ Minor League Player of the Week for April 17-23. He tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings of relief while allowing four hits, walking one and striking out eight.

Advanced A Kinston Indians

K-Tribe, Red Sox rained out The Carolina League game at Kinston, N.C., against Salem, Va., was rained out. The teams will play a doubleheader starting at 4:30 p.m. today.

A Lake County Captains

TinCaps 5, Captains 4 Lake County rallied for three runs in the top of the seventh inning, but fell one run short in a Midwest League loss at Fort Wayne, Ind. All the Captains’ runs came by the long ball.

Carlos Moncreif slammed a three-run homer, his third, and Giovanny Urshela hit a solo shot, his second.

Cole Cook was the starter and loser. He pitched only 3 1/3 innings, yielding four runs, all earned, on five hits. Notes: Captains right fielder Jason Smit went 2-for-3 and by game’s end was hitting .406. He has 26 hits in 64 at-bats. He also has eight walks, and an on-base percentage of .480.

Source: http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2011/04/clippers_win_behind_kipnis_bat.html

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Drew Pomeranz labors, but Kinston tops Wilmington, 7-3: Minor-league report

Tribe's No. 1 draft pick in 2010 allows his first runs of the season, but Indians pound out 17 hits in victory.

kinston indians logo

Advanced A Kinston Indians

Indians 7, Blue Rocks 3: 2B Justin Toole (.435) went 4-for-5 with four RBI as Kinston won a Carolina League game in Wilmington, N.C. K-Tribe LH Drew Pomeranz (1.80 ERA) allowed his first earned runs of the season, giving up three in four innings. The Blue Rocks got three hits and three walks against him. Pomeranz struck out five.

Notes: 3B Adam Abraham (.314) doubled and singled for two of Kinston's 17 hits. ... Pomeranz has struck out 22 batters in his first 15 innings. He had hurled 11 scoreless innings in his first two starts, giving up just three hits, two walks and one unearned run.

AAA Columbus Clippers

Bats 4, Clippers 2: Columbus managed just one extra-base hit in losing an International League game Tuesday in Louisville, Ky. Clippers LH Scott Barnes (5.40 ERA) allowed four runs -- three earned -- on four hits and five walks in five innings. He struck out three. Columbus 2B Cord Phelps (.311) walked twice and doubled.

AA Akron Aeros

Aeros 3, Baysox 0: RH Brett Brach (1-0, 0.00 ERA) allowed two hits and one walk in six scoreless innings, and he combined with two pitchers on a three-hitter as Akron won an Eastern League game in Bowie, Md. Brach struck out four. Aeros RH Bryan Price gave up one hit in two innings, and RH Matthew Langwell earned his first save after walking one in the ninth. SS Juan Diaz (.200) hit a two-run homer, RF John Drennen (.324) also homered and 3B Matt Lawson (.292) had three hits for the Aeros.

Notes: This was Brach's first appearance for Akron. With Kinston, he went 0-1 with a 1.80 ERA in five innings over two appearances.

A Lake County Captains

Captains vs. Lugnuts, ppd.: Lake County's game against Lansing (Mich.) was postponed due to inclement weather. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader Wednesday, with the first game starting at 5 p.m.

Source: http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2011/04/drew_pomeranz_labors_but_kinst.html

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Bad day on farm as Clippers, Aeros, Indians and Captains all lose: Minor League Report

Third baseman, one of the Indians' top prospects, is hitting .325 the last three weeks and is producing runs.

lonnie-chisenhall.jpgThird baseman Lonnie Chisenhall with the Indians in spring training.
Class AAA Columbus Clippers

Knights 10, Clippers 7 Columbus trailed, 8-0, after Charlotte scored seven runs in the bottom of the fifth inning of Thursday's International League game in N.C. Clippers RH starter Joe Martinez (2-1, 5.14) took the loss, allowing two runs in four innings. Clippers LH reliever Eric Berger was charged with six runs (five earned) in the fifth inning. Columbus LF-CF Josh Rodriguez (.154) slugged his first home run of the season, a two-run clout, and 3B Lonnie Chisenhall (.278) drove a solo homer, his third. RF-LF Jerad Head (.379) doubled twice and singled and 1B Wes Hodges (.246) singled, doubled and walked.

Notes: OF Jerad Head (.379) is batting .432 (16-for-37) in his last 10 games with four doubles, one homer, six RBI and nine runs....CF Ezequiel Carrera (.328) is hitting .410 (16-for-39) in his last 10 games, with two doubles, one homer, eight RBI, 12 runs, six walks and six stolen bases in as many tries....1B Wes Hodges (.246) is 11-for-27 (.407) in his last seven games, with three doubles, one homer and six RBI....3B Lonnie Chisenhall (.278), a 2008 first-round Indians’ draft pick, is 25-for-77 (.325) since April 21. Chisenhall, a 22-year-old left-handed hitter, has nine doubles, one triple and three homers this season, with 22 RBI, 25 runs, 14 walks and 24 strikeouts....RH starter Zach McAllister has made six starts and won them all, with a 3.00 ERA. He has fanned 29, walked six and allowed 36 hits (two homers) in 39 innings....RH reliever Zach Putnam (2-0, five saves, 2.29) has pitched 19 2/3 innings in 12 games. He’s struck out 16, walked four and yielded 13 hits.

AA Akron Aeros

Baysox 6, Aeros 2 Bowie scored five runs in the bottom of the third to win the first game of a four-game series at Prince George's Stadium in Bowie, Md. All five runs were charged to Aeros starter Joe Gardner (2-2, 3.05) in the Eastern League game, but just one of the runs was earned.

Notes: Going into Thursday night’s game, 1B Matt McBride (.265) was 13-for-31 (.419) with five homers, one double, eight RBI and eight runs in his last eight games....LF Tim Fedroff (.330) was on a seven-game hitting streak, going 13-for-29 (.448) with three doubles and seven RBI....RH reliever Chen Lee (1-1, 2.84) had struck out 27, walked five and given up 13 hits in 19 innings....RH closer Cory Burns (0-2, 10 saves, 4.85) was perfect in his two-inning save during the Aeros’ 4-1 win at Erie on Wednesday night. It was a bounce-back effort from his four previous games, when he was 0-2 with a save, giving up six runs on eight hits in 3 1/3 innings. Burns has struck out 24 and walked one in 13 innings this season.

Advanced A Kinston Indians

Pelicans 4, Indians 2 Drew Pomeranz (1-1, 1.93) gave up three runs on six hits in 41/3 innings in Kinston's Carolina League loss in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Notes: Going into Thursday night’s game, Indians’ relief pitchers had not allowed an earned run in their last 39 innings. They had given up three unearned runs during the span....Indians batters had scored one run and hit .139 in the last three games, all losses....RH reliever Preston Guilmet (0-0, five saves, 0.00) had pitched 11 1/3 scoreless innings with 13 strikeouts, no walks and six hits allowed....RH reliever Tyler Sturdevant was 2-1 with a 1.00 ERA, fanning 16, walking five and allowing 14 hits in 18 innings....RH reliever Adam Miller, a Cleveland first-round pick in the 2003 draft who, until April 30, had not pitched in an official game since 2008 because of finger ailments, had two scoreless, one-inning outings going into Thursday night’s game, fanning two while giving up one hit and two walks. Miller, considered one of baseball’s premier pitching prospects before his finger injuries, allowed four runs (three earned) in one inning in his April 30 game....LH Drew Pomeranz (1-0), the Indians’ first-round draft pick last season, went into his start on Thursday night second in the Carolina League with a 1.27 ERA and third in strikeouts with 42. He had struck out 13.33 batters per every nine innings. Pomeranz had allowed just 16 hits (one homer) in 28 1/3 innings, with 10 walks. Opponents were hitting .162 against him....RH Brett Brach (3-2, 1.63) has fanned 19, walked 11 and held opponents to a .181 batting average in 27 2/3 innings. Including his six scoreless, two-hit innings for a win for Akron, Brach is 4-2 with a 1.34 ERA. He has struck out 23, walked 12, allowed one homers and held opponents to a .170 batting average in 33 2/3 innings....LH Giovanni Soto, who will turn 20 on May 18, is 1-3 with a 2.67 ERA in six starts. In 27 innings, he’s fanned 26, walked nine and held opponents to a .202 batting average.

A Lake County Captains

Dragons 3, Captains 2 Juan Duran singled in two runs with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth inning as host Dayton rallied to defeat Lake County in a Midwest League game.

Notes: Going into Thursday night’s game, SS Tyler Cannon led the Midwest League in batting average (.370) and on-base percentage (.460), and was second in slugging percentage (.620)....LF Anthony Gallas was fifth in batting average (.348) and led the league with 15 doubles....1B Jesus Aguilar (.244) was tied for third with seven home runs and tied for third with 25 RBI....CF Carlos Moncrief (.260) wass third with 20 walks....Catcher Alex Monsalve (.307) was on a six-game hitting streak, going 9-for-24 (.375) with two doubles and a homer....RH reliever Nikolas Sarianides (2-1, one save, 2.50) had struck out 17 and walked two, allowing 13 hits, in 18 innings....RH reliever Clayton Ehlert (0-1, seven saves, 2.38) had fanned 10, walked one and given up eight hits in 11 1/3 innings....RH reliever Dale Dickerson (0-0, 2.19) had pitched in 12 games, fanning nine while giving up seven hits and four walks in 12 1/3 innings....LH Mike Rayl (4-0, 2.29) was tied for third in the league with his four wins, and tied for seventh with 39 strikeouts. Rayl has pitched 35 1/3 innings in seven starts, walking nine and holding opponents to one homer and a .181 batting average.

Source: http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2011/05/minor_league_report_lonnie_chi.html

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UK training Saudi forces used to crush Arab spring

? British military personnel run courses for snipers
? Human rights groups furious over Riyadh link

Britain is training Saudi Arabia's national guard ? the elite security force deployed during the recent protests in Bahrain ? in public order enforcement measures and the use of sniper rifles. The revelation has outraged human rights groups, which point out that the Foreign Office recognises that the kingdom's human rights record is "a major concern".

In response to questions made under the Freedom of Information Act, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed that British personnel regularly run courses for the national guard in "weapons, fieldcraft and general military skills training, as well as incident handling, bomb disposal, search, public order and sniper training". The courses are organised through the British Military Mission to the Saudi Arabian National Guard, an obscure unit that consists of 11 British army personnel under the command of a brigadier.

The MoD response, obtained yesterday by the Observer, reveals that Britain sends up to 20 training teams to the kingdom a year. Saudi Arabia pays for "all BMM personnel, as well as support costs such as accommodation and transport".

Bahrain's royal family used 1,200 Saudi troops to help put down demonstrations in March. At the time the British government said it was "deeply concerned" about reports of human rights abuses being perpetrated by the troops.

"Britain's important role in training the Saudi Arabian national guard in internal security over many years has enabled them to develop tactics to help suppress the popular uprising in Bahrain," said Nicholas Gilby of the Campaign Against Arms Trade.

Analysts believe the Saudi royal family is desperate to shore up its position in the region by preserving existing regimes in the Gulf that will help check the increasing power of Iran.

"Last year we raised concerns that the Saudis had been using UK-supplied and UK-maintained arms in secret attacks in Yemen that left scores of Yemeni civilians dead," said Oliver Sprague, director of Amnesty International's UK Arms Programme.

Defence minister Nick Harvey confirmed to parliament last week that the UK's armed forces provided training to the Saudi national guard. "It is possible that some members of the Saudi Arabian national guard which were deployed in Bahrain may have undertaken some training provided by the British military mission," he said.

The confirmation that this training is focused on maintaining public order in the kingdom is potentially embarrassing for the government. Coming at the end of a week in which the G8 summit in France approved funding for countries embracing democracy in the wake of the Arab spring, it has led to accusations that the government's foreign policy is at conflict with itself.

Jonathan Edwards, a Plaid Cymru MP who has tabled parliamentary questions to the MoD about its links to Saudi Arabia, said he found it difficult to understand why Britain was training troops for "repressive undemocratic regimes". "This is the shocking face of our democracy to many people in the world, as we prop up regimes of this sort," Edwards said. "It is intensely hypocritical of our leadership in the UK ? Labour or Conservative ? to talk of supporting freedoms in the Middle East and elsewhere while at the same time training crack troops of dictatorships."

The MoD's response was made in 2006, but when questioned this week it confirmed Britain has been providing training for the Saudi national guard to improve their "internal security and counter-terrorism" capabilities since 1964 and continues to do so. Members of the guard, which was established by the kingdom's royal family because it feared its regular army would not support it in the event of a popular uprising, are also provided places on flagship UK military courses at Sandhurst and Dartmouth. In Saudi Arabia, Britain continues to train the guard in "urban sharpshooter" programmes, the MoD confirmed.

Last year, Britain approved 163 export licences for military equipment to Saudi Arabia, worth �110m. Exports included armoured personnel carriers, sniper rifles, small arms ammunition and weapon sights. In 2009, the UK supplied Saudi Arabia with CS hand grenades, teargas and riot control agents.

Sprague said a shake-up of the system licensing the supply of military expertise and weapons to foreign governments was overdue. "We need a far more rigorous case-by-case examination of the human rights records of those who want to buy our equipment or receive training."

An MoD spokesman described the Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, as "key partners" in the fight against terrorism. "By providing training for countries to the same high standards used by UK armed forces we help to save lives and raise awareness of human rights," said the spokesman.

Labour MP Mike Gapes, the former chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said British military support for Saudi Arabia was about achieving a "difficult balance".

"On the one hand Saudi Arabia faces the threat of al-Qaida but on the other its human rights record is dreadful. This is the constant dilemma you have when dealing with autocratic regimes: do you ignore them or try to improve them?"


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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/28/uk-training-saudi-troops

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Idly musing

Among the endless predictions of how we function in the 21st century is the all-too frequent potential death of newspapers. Of course, I am partial on the newspaper issue but I wonder if thought is being given to the actual tactile, physical product, as much as the content.

In my family, newspapers were crucial. Not just as vital information portals - though I am absolutely sure we never referred to them as such - but as items with an acute after-life. Newspapers, for the uninitiated, can be used for all manner of things once they've been read. And nowhere were newspapers more important than at Pesach.

We used newspapers to wrap our Pesach pans, utensils, and china, before storing everything away at the end of the festival. And every year, without fail, when we came to unwrap the Pesach houseware, my mother would get distracted and get caught up in reading something from the previous year's Daily Telegraph, while my father would make wild stabs at whether that strangely-wrapped item swathed in several layers of the Guardian was in fact the lid for the flowered teapot, or something else entirely.

There were items, such as the big frying pans, which demanded a grand broadsheet wrapping, while the crystal water jug for Seder night saltwater was usually fine with a swirl of tabloid. There were items which were just plain unwrappable, and there were other things which assumed a heavy disguise through the layers of newsprint. Careful calculations were made as to how many soup plates you could wrap into one spread of the old Sunday Express (oh, the shame), and, oddly, we never wrapped anything in the JC. The Manchester Evening News, as I recall, was particularly good for glasses and cutlery.

Those days of wrapping and unwrapping, with happy cries at discovering one's favourite butter dish, may be long gone. My parents have departed for that great reading room in heaven where I hope they have access to all the newspapers they desire. People celebrate Pesach differently now; either they have the luxurious option of travelling abroad, or - judging by the vast displays outside the kosher shops near where I live - those who observe the festival buy in huge supplies of disposable plates and cooking utensils, as though Pesach were one long eight-day barbecue.

And now that the death knell is increasingly being sounded for newspapers, what will people wrap their Pesach goods in? Ipads?

Source: http://www.thejc.com/blogs/jenni-frazer/idly-musing

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