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Tagged 'LPL'
Articles Tagged 'LPL'
New airline routes launched (4 – 10 January 2011)
anna.aero has now passed the 7,000 mark for new routes reported! Last week's 23 routes is the perfect week to celebrate this, with diverse routes having launched in all corners of the world. The capitals of Peru and Estonia, Lima and Tallinn, are the only ones with more than one route launch, so we have […]
New airline routes launched (14 – 20 December)
Ahead of Christmas, we have seen 83 new routes launch! You might have thought that route launch celebrations would be more low-key as Christmas celebrations take over, but we dare almost say it has been the contrary. We have fantastic photos from route launches all across the world!
New routes launched during the last week
(Tuesday 26 October – Tuesday 2 November)
Download the spreadsheet with this week's 250 new routes and see our fantastic photo coverage of launch celebrations all across the world. Ribbons have been cut in masses, lakes have been emptied for fire brigades to salute the arriving aircraft and the world's master bakers have worked day and night to bake an amazing selection […]
Flybe steps in to replace some Ryanair capacity at Belfast City; re-launches Bristol and Liverpool, adds East Midlands
Flybe is stepping in to start three of the five routes that Ryanair will soon be axing. But two of the routes it has previously flown back in 2006. What is unusual about the new East Midlands service?
Few UK airports reporting growth; APD increase, strikes, the economy, exchange rates and the World Cup all factors
The new government has scrapped plans for runway expansion at London's airports and decided not to make any changes to APD. So how have the UK's airports fared in Q2? Not that well, though there are a few bright spots.
(Tuesday 8 June – Monday 14 June):
The United States dominated the world's route launches this week, which is detailed in our top story, but a major political breakthrough for flights between Taiwan and mainland China resulted in three airlines launching the same route. The total of 65 new routes involved 60 airports in the US, followed by Germany, China, Spain, the […]
New routes launched during the last week (Tuesday 18 May – Monday 24 May):
Over 60 new routes this week with a strong bias towards European LCCs. Cimber Sterling, easyJet, Jet2.com, Ryanair and Wizz Air all launched multiple routes. But AirAsia, Avianova, BA CityFlyer, Delta, Flydubai, Southwest, Spanair and Transaero among others all had reasons to celebrate this week.
UK airports see traffic fall 2% in 2010 Q1; poor weather, APD increases and industrial action have all had an impact
UK airports have had a poor start to 2010 compared to many other EU countries. Which regions have fared best and worst? Which airport has gone 30 months since last reporting growth? Which returned to growth in February after over a year?
New routes launched during the last week (Tuesday 30 March – Monday 5 April):
You know what? It wasn't all Ryanair this week. We also have great coverage from Qatar Airways' two route launches, Avianova's new operations from Sheremetyevo, easyJet and Norwegian in Malta, Meridiana in Helsinki and much, much more.
New routes launched during the last week (Tuesday 23 March – Monday 29 March):
Over 150 new routes to celebrate this week with the focus heavily on Europe. There are so many great cakes to choose from we're asking you to help us identify our Cake Of The Week. And don't forget, there's a free, downloadable, spreadsheet for you to look at all the new route data any way […]
Manchester needs Berlin, Madrid and Warsaw services; Prague market down 50% in two years but should grow in 2010
Manchester is the UK's second biggest metropolis but what of its connections to major EU cities? How has traffic developed since 1997 on 22 key international routes? What impact has the growth of nearby Liverpool had?
(Saturday 26 September – Friday 2 October):
Quite a busy week with new routes from airlines based in Australia, Bahrain, China, India, Iraq, Ireland, Latvia, Oman, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, the UAE, the UK and the USA.


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Please select options for Ford Performance High Flow Air Filter (10-14 GT500; 15-19 GT350) at the top of this page.
Increase Air Flow for More Power. Bump up the performance of your Shelby GT350 or GT500 by increasing air flow with a Ford Performance High Flow Air Filter for more power. This Air Filter is ideal for Shelby owners wanting more air to improve the performance level of their engine and improve its fuel economy at the same time.
High-quality Filtration. Manufactured by Airaid for Ford this Air Filter offers far superior air filtration than the ordinary stock filter. Featuring multiple cotton gauze layer construction, this dry conical Air Filter delivers significant improvements in air flow while still providing outstanding filtration.
Washable, Reusable Filter. Ford Performance designed their High Flow Air Filter to be reusable. That means there is no need to buy a new filter every few thousand miles. You can just clean the filter with a mild household detergent, rinse, allow to dry and reinstall.
Direct Replacement. When it comes to the installation process, this Ford Performance High Flow Air Filter is a direct replacement performance upgrade for the original equipment filter. No modifications or calibrations are needed to install this filter.
Application. This Ford Performance High Flow Air Filter is designed for use on the 2010-2014 GT500 and 2015-2019 Shelby GT350 Mustang models.
Please Note. This High Flow Air Filter can also be used on 2015-2017 GT models equipped with a Ford Performance Cold Air Intake that is used on the Shelby GT350 models.
Is this a wet or dry filter??? I would rather not have an oiled filter.
The Ford Performance High Flow Air Filter is a dry filter.
Is this the correct filter for a 2019 Bullitt Mustang?
This Ford Performance High Flow Air Filter will fit the 2019 Bullitt Mustang.
I have the Ford Performance Power Pack 2 on my 2017 Mustang GT - Is this the correct replacement filter for the CAI that came with the Power Pack 2?
Yes, this filter is the correct replacement for the power pack 2 kit.
Your website should allow purchase for users who have the Ecoboost Ford Performance Calibration kit. It blocks me when my car settings are entered, just saying you may want to make a change there.
The Ford Performance High Flow Air Filter will fit GT and Ecoboost models equipped with the Ford Performance Cold Air Intake. This will not show fitment for the GT and Ecoboost models, as this will not fit these without that specific cold air intake, however you will not be blocked from purchasing this and can still add this to your order.
Will this work with a 2018 GT350R?
This Ford Performance High Flow Air Filter will fit on the 15'-18' GT350 and GT350R Mustangs.
There is no Carb number required for the Ford Performance High Flow Air Filter. It is designed to replace the OEM filter while giving you better performance.
The Ford Performance High Flow Air Filter is designed for use with the stock air box of the GT350 models.
This filter will fit with the 2016 EcoBoost with the Ford Performance Package upgrade with the GT350 cold air intake.
great product and quick to replace. took me about 5 minutes to change.
Considering the cost of disposable air filters, this is a no brainer. Super easy to install, clean, and it gave me a few more HP on my most recent dyno!
Added a nice touch to my GrabberBlue GT350. Also like having a second filter clean and ready to go at any time.
You get what you pay for and this is worth the investment.
Great product! Fits perfect and looks great. Super easy to install.
Great look and reusable. Looks great with the blue coil covers.
Noticeable difference as soon as installed on my ecoboost. Way more intake noise, and I noticed it builds boost noticeably quicker! Just before you install, check inside the filter to make sure there's no black plastic pieces loose (I had one short little strip of plastic) but highly recommend! literally a minute and a half install.
Easy install, took 5 minutes. One of the first things to do!
Looks great and performs well.
Installed just as easily as the OEM filter. Looks 110 better than an ugly yellow paper filter. As for performance, no noticeable "seat of the pants" gains however that is not why I purchased the filter. In my opinion, the car should've came with the filter.
5 star. Fits like a glove and lets the beast get the air it needs!
I purchased the "Ford Performance High Flow Air Filter" shortly after purchasing my 2016 Shelby Mustang. The filter was very easy to install and I am very pleased with it. I highly recommend purchasing this filter for your Mustang!
Nice replacement filter. Actually made by Airaid. Greater airflow and looks great.
High quality and easy fit! Love the Ford blue paper element color!
Easy install. Looks amazing. Much better than the OEM paper one. Stays cleaner longer.
Clean look, like the blue. Can feel a mild pickup in torque.
Great product to go along with the PP2 ! Along with the PP2 install you can really tell the difference !!
Saw a tad bit of fuel savings... this looks much better than the original filter. Would recommend this product for ALL... it's a must to replace the cloth stock Shelby Cobra Filter.
Big improvement over the factory yellow Ford Performance filter that comes with the FP power pack for the Ecoboost.
Easy to install and no oil! What more can you ask for?
Airaid/Ford Performance Air Filter for the GT350 or Mustang GT with the Ford Performance Power Pack 2 or 3.


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HomeCALGARYAlberta to review driver examination switch
Alberta to review driver examination switch
May 31, 2019 Josie Lukey CALGARY 0
Motorcyclists looking to get their Class 6 are having a rough ride with the previous governments changes to driver exams protocol. JOSIE LUKEY / LIVEWIRE CALGARY
If you're hoping to license up and drive on two wheels instead of four this summer, you could be stuck in first gear with your driver exams. But the province says help is on the way.
Since last March, all driver exams have been conducted by government employees. The former NDP government policy ended the privatization of the driving exam system – in place since 1993.
Motorcyclists say the change has led to a series of issues for those wishing to obtain their Class 6 license, which allows you to drive a motorcycle or moped. One of the issues, according to Lanchi Dech, Operations Manager for Too Cool Motorcycle School, is being able to even book a test.
"I've already heard of people from Edmonton coming down to Calgary because they don't have testing spots available in Edmonton," Dech said.
Challenge for motorcyclists to get to drivers examination
Booking an actual test isn't the only problem. Dech said, for many, the challenge is getting to the driver exams. Riders need to have a motorcycle to conduct the test, but without a valid license they can't get there without help.
In the past, some motorcycle schools would have drivers examiners come straight to the classes themselves to test students for their Class 6. There, students could have a bike provided for them and take the test all in the same location. Due to the changes, examiners are no longer allowed to conduct tests outside of registries.
To qualify for your Class 6 license, riders must have a motorcycle learner's license. For that, you must have either a full Class 5 drivers license or be at least 16 years old and have had a Class 7 learner's license for a year.
With only your learners, the law says you must always be with someone that has their Class 6 license. Dech said due to the exam changes, some with only their motorcycle learner's license and have a bike are riding to registries to take their test without a Class 6 license holder.
Select registries in the province actually have a motorcycle to rent for a cost to take the Class 6 driver exams. JOSIE LUKEY / LIVEWIRE CALGARY
For those without a motorcycle, a few registries in the province do have a motorcycle to rent to take the Class 6 test.
"Now there's an extra added cost to that, and then if they don't have a person who has their full Class 6 to escort them down, now they have to find somebody," said Dech.
"Just financially it's adding up."
Finding someone who has their Class 6 has led some to turn to the online motorcycle community for help. There are several Facebook groups dedicated to motorcycles in Calgary where on any given day you're likely to see at least one post asking other members of the group for an escort to a registry.
Dech said that's a good idea if you have no other options. She said she's even heard of motorcycle shops in the city renting bikes and escorting riders to their driver exams. Some people with only their learners are renting a truck and trailer and hauling their bike down to the registry.
"People are now holding off on training because they want to know if they're going to be able to get tested and how," said Dech.
"Some of them don't have friends who know how to ride. They just want to do this for themselves and they don't have anybody."
Review of driver exams system coming, province says
The province said Friday they will review the public takeover of drivers examinations after "the previous NDP government rushed implementation of the system, causing months of delays for road test appointments."
"We will be following through on the commitments we made to Albertans, including a review of the public takeover of the driver's license examinations. We will be speaking with driver examiners, registries, and other stakeholders to look at next steps," the statement read.
"In the meantime, our focus is on clearing the backlog and ensuring that Albertans have timely access to the current road test system."
The province said they hired more examiners and added evening and Saturday bookings in some areas to address backlogs. As of May 22, 155 driver examiners had been hired throughout Alberta with 111 in the field right now and the remainder being trained, ready by the end of June.
Dech said she'd like to see the system revert to a privatized system and then look at that system for changes. She says she can speak for most of the motorcycle community: On-site testing at schools made for better riders on the streets.
"When you're taking a course, you're taking more steps to be safer out there. What's a better way to reward that person by making it easier for you to go through the process of testing," she said.
Calgary business tax: Long term solution sought for complex city problem
Calgary planning: Mistakes and missed opportunities

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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An Energy Facility Near Brownsville Could Block The Path For Texas Ocelots
The proposed Annova liquefied natural gas terminal would be located between the wildlife refuge where the cats live, and the border with Mexico.
By Michael MarksFebruary 14, 2019 10:42 amBusiness & Your Money, Energy & Environment
Mike Fisher/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
An ocelot at the Houston Zoo.
A planned liquefied natural gas facility near Brownsville would boost energy export opportunities, but also poses a risk to Texas ocelots.
There was a time when the United States imported a significant share of its natural gas, but those days are gone. Now, there's more natural gas coming out of Texas than producers know what to do with. A lot of it is wasted – just burned off. Which is why recently, companies have been looking to the Gulf Coast as a place to liquefy and then export natural gas. And one site that's drawn particular interest is the Port of Brownsville. Texas Standard's Michael Marks visited the area, and says It's a valuable piece of South Texas property, both to oil and gas interests, and to wildlife.
Marks says the Annova LNG project is one of three that are proposed to export liquefied natural gas from the Port of Brownsville. It's expected to take four years to build, with an estimated cost of $4.5 billion. The site will employ 700 people during construction, and 165 personnel will be needed to operate it, once the facility is up and running.
But there are also environmental concerns, and a threat to wildlife.
"Environmentalists have several concerns about these projects – how they could affect air quality, and local fish populations, for example – but they also think the Annova project could affect ocelots," Marks says.
He says an ocelot is bigger than a housecat, but not as large as a leopard.
"They're about 20 to 30 pounds, and kinda look like little jaguars," Marks says. "You used to find them all the way up to southern Arkansas, but as their habitat disappeared, so did they. They like this dense, scrubby, thorny vegetation that's not good for much but housing ocelots and other wildlife."
Marks spoke with Boyd Blihovde, who manages a U.S. Fish and Wildlife property called the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge. Blihovde said that there are less than 100 ocelots left in the U.S., almost all of them around the refuge he manages. And in order for them to survive long-term, they're going to have to expand that gene pool.
"Really the only way to keep that genetic diversity in the population is if there's connection with larger populations. And that is Mexico right now," Blihovde said.
There are still plenty of ocelots in Mexico, including in protected areas across the Texas border. For years, groups like the Fish and Wildlife Service have worked with landowners to build a continuous corridor of ocelot habitat from Blihovde's refuge down to the U.S.-Mexico border so that the Texas ocelots could connect with their Mexican counterparts.
But the site where Annova plans to build the LNG terminal happens to be a choke point for this wildlife corridor. It sits between the wildlife refuge and the southern border, which means it has the potential to restrict that corridor and isolate the Texas ocelots
"It could potentially be a road to nowhere if the Annova site was completely developed," Blihovde said.
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission draft environmental impact statement
The proposed plan for the Annova LNG site near Brownsville includes a wildlife corridor on its western side.
Annova chose not to record an interview for this story, but they did provide written answers to questions from Texas Standard. They say they're aware of the region's importance to ocelots.
In 2016, Annova hung game cameras around the site for a year, and didn't capture a single image of an ocelot during that time. Still, Annova changed its original plan for the site to include a corridor for wildlife to pass through. It would be a fenced-off area that spans the length of the site – 750 feet wide at its narrowest, 1.900 feet at its widest.
Is the corridor enough protection for the ocelots? Blihovde said it depends.
"We really don't know if ocelots would use it because it's going to be an industrial site with light and noise and some disturbance, probably, to that corridor that's left," he said.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recently released a draft environmental impact statement that said, even with the corridor, the project would likely have an adverse effect on the ocelot population. Annova says it's working with the Fish and Wildlife Service to mitigate the risk.
Marks says a final draft of that environmental impact statement will be released this spring.
"And then the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will give the thumbs-up or the thumbs-down for the project," Marks says. "Depending on how that goes, Annova will decide by the end of the year whether to build the facility."
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Tag: United Nations
Posted on February 23, 2021 February 23, 2021 by Nancy Atkinson
How Long Will Space Junk Take to Burn Up? Here's a Handy Chart
An artist's illustration of space junk. The problem isn't this bad yet, but it's getting worse year by year. Image: Tohoku University
If the Roman Empire had been able to launch a satellite in a relatively high Low Earth Orbit – say about 1,200 km (750 miles) in altitude – only now would that satellite be close to falling back to Earth. And if the dinosaurs had launched a satellite into the furthest geostationary orbit – 36,000 km (23,000 miles) or higher — it might still be up there today.
Continue reading "How Long Will Space Junk Take to Burn Up? Here's a Handy Chart"
Posted on June 1, 2017 by Fraser Cain
Can We Own Space? Buying Your Own Piece of the High Frontier
Space for Sale!
Compared to a regular human, the Earth is enormous. And compared to the Earth, the Universe is really enormous. Like, maybe infinitely enormous.
And yet, Earth is the only place humans are allowed to own. You can buy a plot of land in the city or the country, but you can't buy land on the Moon, on Mars or on Alpha Centauri.
It's not that someone wouldn't be willing to sell it to you. I could point you at a few locations on the internet where someone would be glad to exchange your "Earth money" for some property rights on the Moon. But I can also point you to a series of United Nations resolutions which clearly states that outer space should be free for everyone. Not even the worst rocky outcrop of Maxwell Montes on Venus, or the bottom of Valles Marineris on Mars can be bought or sold.
However, the ability to own property is one of the drivers of the modern economy. Most people either own land, or want to own land. And if humans do finally become a space faring civilization, somebody is going to want to own the property rights to chunks of space. They're going to want the mining rights to extract resources from asteroids and comets.
We're going to want to know, once and for all, can I buy the Moon?
Until the space age, the question was purely hypothetical. It was like asking if you could own dragons, or secure the mining rights to dreams. Just in case those become possible, my vote to both is no.
The Sputnik spacecraft stunned the world when it was launched into orbit on Oct. 4th, 1954. Credit: NASA
But when the first satellite was placed into orbit in 1957, things became a lot less hypothetical. Once multiple nations had reached orbitable capabilities, it became clear that some rules needed to be figured out – the Outer Space Treaty.
The first version of the treaty was signed by the US, Soviet Union and the United Kingdom back in 1967. They were mostly concerned with preventing the militarization of space. You're not allowed to put nuclear weapons into space, you're not allowed to detonate nuclear weapons on other planets. Seriously, if you've got plans and they relate to nuclear weapons, just, don't.
Can't kill killer asteroids with nukes. Credit: Los Alamos National Lab
Over the years, almost the entire world has signed onto the Outer Space Treaty. 106 countries are parties and another 24 have signed on, but haven't fully ratified it yet.
In addition to all those nuclear weapons rules, the United Nations agreed on several other rules. In fact, its full name is, The Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies.
Here's the relevant language:
Outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means.
No country can own the Moon. No country can own Jupiter. No country can own a tiny planet, off in the corner of the Andromeda Galaxy. And no citizens or companies from those countries can own any property either.
And so far, no country has tried to. Seriously, space exploration is incredibly difficult. We've only set foot on the Moon a couple of times, decades ago, and never returned.
But with all the recent developments, it looks like we might be getting closer to wondering if we can own dragons, or a nice acreage on Mars.
Perhaps the most interesting recent development is the creation of not one, not two, but three companies dedicated to mining resources from asteroids: Planetary Resources, Kepler Energy, and Deep Space Industries.
Just a single small asteroid could contain many useful minerals, and there could potentially be tens of billions of dollars in profit for anyone who can sink robotic mining shafts into them.
Asteroid mining concept. Credit: NASA/Denise Watt
The three different companies have their own plans on how they're going to identify potential mining targets and extract resources, and I'm not going to go into all the details of what it would take to mine an asteroid in this video.
But according to the Outer Space Treaty, is it legal? The answer, is: probably.
The original treaty was actually pretty vague. It said that no country can claim sovereignty over a world in space, but that doesn't mean we can't utilize some of its resources. In fact, future missions to the Moon and Mars depend on astronauts "living off the land", harvesting local resources like ice to make air, drinking water and rocket fuel. Or building structures out of Martian regolith.
Mining an entire asteroid for sweet sweet profit is just a difference of scale.
In order to provide some clarity, the United States passed the U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act of 2015. This gave details on how space tourism should work, and described how companies might mine minerals from space. The gist of the law is, if an American citizen can get their hands on materials from an asteroid, they own it, and they're free to sell it.
The Interplanetary Transport System blasting off. Credit: SpaceX
As you know, SpaceX is planning to colonize Mars. Well, so far, their plans include building the most powerful rocket ever built, and hurling human beings at Mars, hundreds at a time. The first mission is expected to blast off in 2024, so this is quickly becoming a practical issue.
What are the legalities of colonizing Mars? Will you own a chunk of land when you stumble out of the Interplanetary Transport Ship out on the surface of Mars?
Right now, you can imagine the surface of Mars like a research station on Antarctica. If SpaceX, an American company, builds a colony on Mars, then it's essentially US government property. Anything that happens within that colony is under the laws of the United States.
If a group of colonists from China, for example, set out on their own, they would be building a little piece of China. And no matter what kind of facility they build, nobody within the team actually owns their homes.
If you're out on the surface, away from a base, everything reverts to international law. Watch out for space pirates!
The space pirates were everywhere. Monday suddenly got a lot more interesting. Credit: NASA/JSC/Pat Rawlings, SAIC
Under the treaty, every facility is obliged to provide access to anyone else out there, which means that members of one facility are free to visit any other facility. You can't lock your door and keep anyone out.
In fact, if anyone's in trouble, you're legally bound to do everything you can (within reason) to lend your assistance.
The bottom line is that the current Outer Space Treaty is not exactly prepared for the future reality of the colonization of Mars. As more and more people reach the Red Planet, you'd expect they're going to want to govern themselves. We've seen this play out time and time again on Earth, so it won't be surprising when the Mars colonies band together to declare their separation from Earth.
That said, as long as they're reliant on regular supplies from Earth, they won't be able to fully declare their independence. As long as they have interests on Earth, our planet's governments will be able to squeeze them and maintain their dominance.
Credit: NASA
Once a Mars colony is fully self sufficient, though, which Elon Musk estimates will occur by 1 million inhabitants, Earth will have to recognize a fully independent Mars.
Space law is going to be one of the most interesting aspects of the future of space exploration. It's really the next frontier. Concepts which were purely theoretical are becoming more and more concrete, and lawyers will finally be the heroes we always knew they could be.
If you've always wanted to be an astronaut, but your parents have always wanted you to be a lawyer, now's your chance to do both. An astronaut space lawyer. I'm just saying, it's an option.
Podcast (audio): Download (Duration: 8:19 — 2.9MB)
Podcast (video): Download (Duration: 8:21 — 108.4MB)
Posted on September 27, 2010 April 26, 2016 by Nancy Atkinson
UN May Appoint Ambassador to Visiting Aliens
Image from the 1951 move "The Day the Earth Stood Still." Credit: IMBD.com
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UPDATE: OK, this seemed like a cool story, reported by many news sources, but apparently, it isn't true. The Discovery Discoblog has the details. . I guess there was a truth abduction.
If aliens ever visit Earth and actually do use the time-worn phrase, "Take me to your leader," or if a SETI search ever finds a signal of an alien civilization saying "hello," there may be someone ready and waiting to respond. The United Nations is considering selecting a special ambassador to be the first point of contact for aliens wishing to communicate with Earth. Mazlan Othman, a Malaysian astrophysicist and currently head of the UN's Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) is expected to be named to the position.
"Othman is absolutely the nearest thing we have to a 'take me to your leader' person," said Richard Crowther, in an article in the UK newspaper, the Telegraph.
Crowther is an expert in space law at the UK space agency who leads delegations to the UN. Reportedly, the plan to make UNOOSA the coordinating body for dealing with alien encounters will be debated by UN scientific advisory committees and should eventually reach the body's general assembly.
The proposal is said to have been prompted by the recent discovery of hundreds extrasolar planets, which makes the discovery of extraterrestrial life more probable than ever.
Ms. Othman said in a recent talk to fellow scientists, "The continued search for extraterrestrial communication, by several entities, sustains the hope that someday human kind will received signals from extraterrestrials. When we do, we should have in place a coordinated response that takes into account all the sensitivities related to the subject. The UN is a ready-made mechanism for such coordination."
But will visiting ET's be greeted with open arms, or with a conditional sterilization? Under the Outer Space Treaty written in 1967, (which UNOOSA oversees) UN members agreed to protect Earth against contamination by alien species by "sterilizing" them. Reportedly, Othman supports a more tolerant approach.
But physicist Stephen Hawking has warned that aliens should be treated with caution.
"I imagine they might exist in massive ships," he said, "having used up all the resources from their home planet. The outcome for us would be much as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, which didn't turn out very well for the Native Americans." Alien abduction would be the least of our worries.
In the meantime, US citizens wishing to be 'ambassadors' for space exploration should consider joining JPL's Solar System Ambassador program. This is a great program (which I am honored to participate in) to spread the word about the wonders of excitement of space exploration and science. Find out more at the SSA website, and if interested, the program is now taking applications for new ambassadors. Hurry, as applications are being taken until September 30, 2010.
Source: The Telegraph


New Jersey economic development officials have approved a $26 million a year, 10 year taxbreak for Holtec, a Marlton power plant parts maker that wants to start building nuclear power plants, so it can build a plant employing 235 new and 160 relocated workers in Camden, reports my colleague Maddie Hanna here.
Holtec currently makes heat exchangers, nuclear fuel containers and other large parts at an old Westinghouse factory near Pittsburgh and a second facility in Ohio. It is building another plant in an export zone in India, and has a proposal to add a factory in South Carolina. Holtec is developing what it calls the model SMR-160 small nuclear reactor with help from PSEG, New Jersey's dominant utility, which hopes to install the units at its Hope Creek-Salem nuclear facility, if federal nuclear officials approve its plan on schedule next year.
The new factory would employ hundreds making parts for the nuclear plants as well as more conventional parts. The state says Holtec won't handle nuclear fuel in Camden. More from Julia Terruso and Maddie Hanna here; more on Holtec here.


Rowan Reed. That little visual novel I made that is about a kid searching for his missing grand-mother with the help of his best friend. There's two endings and a small music room to chill out with Goldie.
It was also the occasion to test the html based VN engine Belle http://fr33mind.github.io/Belle/.


text:
Aluminio Inteligente Inaugurates Showroom in Vallarta · Nayarit
Founded more than half a century ago in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Aluminio Inteligente is a Mexican company dedicated to the production of aluminum profiles and windows.
They began operations in Vallarta · Nayarit in June 2021, and last month they held the official grand opening of their new showroom targeting high-end clientele located at Plaza 1480 in Nuevo Vallarta, Nayarit.
The star product of this company is Cortizo, a line of high-quality window and door systems imported directly from Spain that provides 100 percent thermal and acoustic tightness. "This allows luxury properties to have the enormous views that characterize them, while also enjoying total privacy inside and outside," explains Juan Manuel Vega, manager of the Aluminio Inteligente showroom.
With an enormous diversity of projects executed in a variety of cities and tourist destinations throughout Mexico, this company currently has an active presence in Guadalajara (where the plant that transforms materials brought from Spain into windows is located), Los Cabos and now in Puerto Vallarta.
"The Aluminio Inteligente products are designed for the high-level market, which has interest and knowledge of innovative, elegant and comfort products. This is a premium line that supports a high degree of architectural status and offers excellent benefits for luxury projects." —José Luis Peregrina, CEO of Aluminio Inteligente.
José Luis Peregrina, CEO of Aluminio Inteligente.
Concept 180º Presents Project...
Marketed by Applegate Realtors, Concept 180º is a collection of exclusive apartments for those looking for a refined, high-quality development with impressive views in the heart of Puerto Vallarta. The company recently presented some updates on t...
The AVA Announces Model Suite...
Marketed by the real estate agency RE/MAX Destiny!, The AVA Pure Puerto Vallarta Lifestyle recently announced the opening of its model suite, which can be visited to see the amenities and finishes that this building located in the 5 de Diciembre neig...


text:
Alois Tichy (* 14. Juli 1906 in Antonienhütte; † 8. Dezember 1952 in Bonn) war ein deutscher Diplomat. Er wirkte als Leiter der Wirtschaftsabteilung an der deutschen Botschaft in Tokio und NSDAP-Parteischlichter (Uschla-Funktionär). Nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg arbeitete er als Referatsleiter im Deutschen Büro für Friedensfragen in Stuttgart. 1950 wurde er in den Auswärtigen Dienst der Bundesrepublik einberufen. Zunächst war er in der Verbindungsstelle zur Alliierten Hohen Kommission, später als Leiter des Referats III (Vorbereitung der Friedensregelung auf dem Gebiet der Wirtschaft) tätig.

Leben
Seine Eltern waren der Bergwerksinspektor Josef Tichy und dessen Frau Ida, geb. Goretzki.

Alois Tichy besuchte humanistische Gymnasien in Königshütte und Kattowitz und bestand am 14. Juni 1924 das Abitur. Von 1924 bis 1928 studierte er Japanisch und Jura in Genf, Berlin und Breslau. Am 21. Juli 1927 erhielt er ein Diplom der japanischen Sprache vom Seminar für orientalische Sprachen in Berlin und wurde am 15. November 1928 zum Dr. jur. promoviert. Nach Ablegen des Referendarexamens am 17. Januar 1930 war er ab Februar des Jahres im preußischen Justizdienst tätig. Am 25. April 1933 wurde Tichy in den Auswärtigen Dienst einberufen. Ab dem 18. Mai arbeitete er als Attaché in der Abteilung IV (Osteuropa, Skandinavien, Ostasien) im Referat Po (Polen). Am 9. August 1933 legte er sein Assessorexamen ab. Vom 19. März 1934 bis 31. März 1935 war er an der Gesandtschaft in Kowno tätig. Ab dem 23. August 1935 arbeitete er an der deutschen Botschaft in Tokio. Im November 1937 trat er der NSDAP bei. Ab 1938 übernahm er in Tokio die Leitung der Wirtschaftsabteilung der Botschaft. Seine Diplomatisch-konsularische Prüfung hatte Tichy im Juli 1935 bestanden. Am 12. August 1940 wurde er zum Gesandtschaftsrat befördert. Nach seiner Rückkehr nach Deutschland im Herbst 1947 war er seit dem 1. November 1949 im Deutschen Büro für Friedensfragen als Referatsleiter tätig. Am 20. Juni 1950 folgte die Einberufung in den Auswärtigen Dienst in der Dienststelle für Auswärtige Angelegenheiten im Bundeskanzleramt. Ab dem 22. Juni arbeitete Tichy in der Verbindungsstelle zur Alliierten Hohen Kommission (Abteilung II). Später wurde er in der politischen Abteilung II Leiter des Referats III (Vorbereitung der Friedensregelung auf dem Gebiet der Wirtschaft). Am 13. Oktober 1952 erfolgte die Beförderung zum Vortragenden Legationsrat.

Während seiner Tätigkeit in Tokio war Tichy auch mit dem Fall des Industriellen und "Judenretters" Willy Rudolf Foerster betraut. Laut dem damaligen Marineattaché Admiral Paul Wenneker galt Foerster bei Parteischlichter Tichy als "persona non grata". Zusammen mit dem als "Schlächter von Warschau" bekannten Josef Meisinger soll er vom Reichssicherheitshauptamt einen gefälschten Vorstrafenauszug Foersters beschafft haben, der später auch japanischen Ermittlungsbehörden übergeben worden sei, um Foerster zu belasten. Nach dem Krieg behauptete Tichy im Zusammenhang mit einer Pressekampagne, die Foerster als "sowjetischen Agenten" diffamieren sollte, gegenüber dem Journalisten Jürgen Thorwald, er besitze Material, das Vorstrafen Foersters belege. Als Thorwald diese daraufhin anforderte, bekam er zur Antwort, "dass die Unterlagen zwar vorhanden seien", er diese jedoch nicht an Thorwald weitergeben werde, da dieser unvorteilhaft über seinen Freund Botschafter a. D. Eugen Ott berichtet habe.

Anfang 1950 war Tichy Bearbeiter einer Eingabe Foersters bei der Bundesregierung. Als Reaktion meldete er sich umgehend bei seinem ehemaligen Vorgesetzten Eugen Ott, um Material zu beschaffen, mit dessen Hilfe er Foersters Ansprüche "grundsätzlich", d. h. ablehnend, behandeln könne. Es scheint plausibel, dass er von diesem u. a. Fotos einer japanischen Veranstaltung zur 2600-Jahresfeier des japanischen Reiches (1940) erhielt, bei der auch Foersters Belegschaft antreten musste und diese an alliierte Stellen, möglicherweise die Alliierte Hohe Kommission, weitergab. Zumindest behauptete 1956 Franz Nüßlein vom Auswärtigen Amt, die Amerikaner besäßen Material, das Foersters Beteiligung an "Kriegspropaganda und an propagandistischen Märschen" belege. Tatsächlich war Foerster bei seiner von deutschen Stellen veranlassten Verhaftung im Jahr 1943 von den Japanern das genaue Gegenteil, nämlich "Anti-Kriegspropaganda" vorgeworfen worden.

Im September 1951 hatte der freie Journalist Eckart Heinze-Mansfeld in einer fünfteiligen Serie in der Frankfurter Rundschau die "fatale Personalkontinuität" des Bonner Auswärtigen Amtes enthüllt. In der letzten Folge vom 6. September 1951 wurde auch Alois Tichy erwähnt. Dieser sei nicht nur Parteigenosse, sondern auch "Parteirichter, d. h. Funktionär der NSDAP von 1938 bis 1943" gewesen. Am Abend des 7. September 1951 veröffentlichte das Auswärtige Amt eine Presseerklärung zur Artikelserie Heinze-Mansfelds, laut der es sich bei den genannten Vorwürfen "entweder um objektiv unwahre Behauptungen oder um entstellte Wiedergaben von Protokollauszügen des Nürnberger Prozesses oder um reine Kombinationen" handele. Die Frankfurter Rundschau veröffentlichte daraufhin am 10. September 1951 die o. g. Stellungnahme zusammen mit einem Brief der Chefredaktion, in dem das Auswärtige Amt aufgefordert wurde, bis zum 15. September zu erklären, welche Angaben in den veröffentlichten Artikeln solche Behauptungen rechtfertigen würden. Am gleichen Tag wurden in einem internen, mit "Geheim" gekennzeichneten Rundschreiben des Auswärtigen Amts alle von der Artikelserie betroffenen Diplomaten zur Stellungnahme aufgefordert. Am 17. September 1951 erhielt die Redaktion der Frankfurter Rundschau die Mitteilung, dass auf Anregung der angegriffenen Mitarbeiter ein "dienststrafrechtliches Ermittlungsverfahren" angeordnet worden sei, dessen Ergebnisse übermittelt werden würden. Wenige Wochen später, am 24. Oktober 1951, beschloss der Bundestag auf Antrag der SPD-Fraktion die Einsetzung eines Untersuchungsausschusses zur Personalpolitik des Auswärtigen Amtes. In Bezug auf Tichy entschied der Ausschuss, die Darstellung der Frankfurter Rundschau, dieser sei Parteigenosse gewesen, sei richtig. Eine "nicht sehr wesentliche Abweichung von der Richtigkeit" sei jedoch, dass er tatsächlich "Parteischlichter" und nicht "Parteirichter" gewesen sei. Der Ausschuss entschied, er habe "keine Bedenken gegen die Weiterverwendung" Tichys, empfahl jedoch "eine Verwendung im internen Dienst". Als Grund wurde angegeben, Tichy habe "sich nicht im Sinne der NSDAP politisch betätigt". Allerdings sah der Ausschuss bei der Verwendung seiner Person im Ausland "Zurückhaltung geboten".

Werke
 Alois Tichy: Die staatsrechtliche Stellung des Kaisers von Japan unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des Kaiserlichen Hausgesetzes. Ohlau in Schlesien 1928.

Literatur
 Bernd Isphording, Gerhard Keiper, Martin Kröger: Biographisches Handbuch des deutschen Auswärtigen Dienstes 1871–1945. Herausgeber: Auswärtiges Amt, Historischer Dienst, Band 5, T–Z, S. 40, Schöningh, Paderborn 2014, ISBN 978-3-506-71844-0.
 Clemens Jochem: Der Fall Foerster: Die deutsch-japanische Maschinenfabrik in Tokio und das Jüdische Hilfskomitee Hentrich und Hentrich, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-95565-225-8.

Weblinks
 Schriftlicher Bericht des Untersuchungsausschusses (47. Ausschuß) gemäß Antrag der Fraktion der SPD betreffend Prüfung, ob durch die Personalpolitik Mißstände im Auswärtigen Dienst eingetreten sind auf dipbt.bundestag.de. Zu Alois Tichy siehe S. 33 f. des Berichts

Einzelnachweise

Jurist im auswärtigen Dienst
Jurist (Nationalsozialismus)
Person der deutschen Außenpolitik 1933–1945
NSDAP-Mitglied
Deutscher
Geboren 1906
Gestorben 1952
Mann

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Why Big-Time College Football Sucks
Bill Morris | 25
1. A Killer Business Model
So tonight it'll be Oregon vs. Ohio State for the college football championship. I'm going to pass. A big part of the reason is that I just watched Amir Bar-Lev's sickening and fascinating new documentary, Happy Valley. Early in the movie we meet a Pennsylvania State University student named Tyler Estright who's being interviewed in his dorm room, dressed in a Penn State t-shirt and a Penn State cap turned backward. The wall behind him is adorned with pictures of Joe Paterno, the university's legendary football coach who, shortly before this interview, was fired amid revelations that one of his long-time assistants, Jerry Sandusky, was a serial sexual abuser of young boys.
"How could they do this to Joe?" Estright cries, echoing a common refrain in State College, Pa. — known as Happy Valley — that Paterno was unfairly punished for another man's sins. "Look," Estright continues, "I feel bad for the victims, okay? I have to say that so people don't think I'm an idiot. But the thing that made me maddest was that the NCAA took away Joe's wins."
Though Sandusky was convicted on 45 counts of sexual assault and sentenced to life in prison, Estright derides an on-campus candlelight vigil for the victims as "fake." Later, watching television as Penn State and Nebraska players kneel together on the field for a prayer before the kickoff of the first game in the post-Paterno era, Estright barks, "Get up off your knees and let's play football! That's what we do here!"
Eventually, Estright's disgust with the unfairness of Paterno's treatment and the ensuing National Collegiate Athletic Association sanctions shades into fury when the Penn State players start wearing their names above the numerals on the backs of their jerseys. This seemingly minor change is, for Estright, an unpardonable contravention of everything Penn State football supposedly stood for under Paterno: selfless devotion to the notion that the game of football, if played correctly, builds better people and a better world.
Also buying into this questionable notion is an artist named Michael Polito, who painted a brazenly religious mural of Penn State football worthies on the wall of a downtown building. A God-like (and haloed) Paterno is at the center, with a Christ-like Sandusky at his right hand, both of them surrounded by angelic coaches and players. After the convictions and the firings and the sanctions, we watch Polito paint over the image of the disgraced Sandusky. Then, after much soul searching, Polito paints over Paterno's halo but leaves the rest of beloved Joe Pa intact. Painting over that halo, says Polito, is "the hardest thing I've ever done." There is also much lamentation when the statue of Paterno is removed from its hallowed spot in front of the football stadium and unceremoniously hauled away. Such events pass for traumas inside a bubble like Happy Valley, Pa.
It's sickening and fascinating to watch Tyler Estright and Michael Polito and other Penn State football supporters not because they're unusual but because, as Happy Valley makes clear, so many other people in Pennsylvania and the rest of America feel exactly the way they feel. In the end, this movie is not really about a sexual predator and his enabler. It's about what their downfall illuminates: a nation so drunk on sports, especially on big-time college football, that it has lost the ability to think and feel. America has become a nation, as one reviewer of Happy Valley wrote, "put under a spell, even reduced to grateful infantilism, by the game of football."
How did this come to pass? To arrive at an answer, do what you always do in America: follow the money. In 2010, the Southeastern Conference, which has produced the last seven national champions in college football, became the first conference to make $1 billion in revenue. This year's three playoff games and associated bowl games are part of a new 12-year TV contract worth $7.3 billion. Baseball, once known as America's national pastime, has been thoroughly eclipsed by college (and pro) football. Game 1 of last year's baseball World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Kansas City Royals drew half as many viewers as a mid-season college football game between Florida State and Notre Dame. Some 28 million people tuned in to each of the Jan. 1 playoff games. Football generates about two-thirds of the revenue at major college athletic programs. Yes, big-time college football has turned its stratospheric popularity into one highly productive cash cow.
But the game's current success is built on a pair of unpretty pillars: the grateful infantilism of millions of fans like Tyler Estright; and the fact that the players who generate the billions of dollars in revenue do not receive a dime in compensation. That's what you might call a killer business model.
2. A Secular Religion
College football's recent tsunami of popularity caught me by surprise, even though I've known for years that big-time college football is virtually a secular religion across the South and in such select Yankee hotbeds as State College, Pa.; Columbus, Ohio; South Bend, Indiana; and Ann Arbor, Mich. Now you can add Eugene, Oregon to the list. I attended a few University of Michigan games as a kid — spectacles that drew upwards of 100,000 fans into the university's colossal bowl of a stadium. In my memory, there was something distinctly gladiatorial about those games.
The South's passion for college football dates back at least to 1926, when Alabama became the first school from the region to play in the Rose Bowl. Three years after that red-letter date, my late father, then aged 7, snuck under a fence to witness the first game ever played in Sanford Stadium in his hometown of Athens, Ga. — a 15-0 victory for Georgia over mighty Yale. In the 1960s, coach Bear Bryant, a sort of piney-woods Joe Paterno, turned Alabama into a national powerhouse.
In 1982, I landed a job as a Top 40 disc jockey at a Savannah, Ga., radio station that also broadcast the University of Georgia Bulldogs's football games. One of my side duties was to put together each Saturday's taped pre-game show, which required me to travel up to the campus in Athens for the annual pre-season Media Day.
It was an experience I'll never forget. Georgia had won the national championship in 1980, and Bulldog running back Herschel Walker was a heavy favorite for the Heisman Trophy in 1982. With the faithful drooling in anticipation of another national title, radios droned the state's unofficial anthem: "Give Herschel Walker the ball…"
When I arrived on the Athens campus for Media Day, there was an armada of TV trucks parked outside the athletic complex, bristling like giant insects. Inside, an army of broadcasters, sportswriters, and nobodies like myself bustled around, interviewing coaches and players. It was an astonishing dance. The interviewers approached their subjects with great deference, especially the star players and the coach, Vince Dooley, who struck me as the biggest gas bag who ever wore pants. All pronouncements were written down or tape-recorded or videotaped as though they were holy writ, soon to be disseminated to the waiting multitudes. It was amazing to watch grown men kowtow to mumbling teenage boys, even if those boys happened to be chiseled, 250-pound slabs of beef.
Eventually I broke away from the breathless clots of interviewers crowding around the players, and I noticed…the girls. They were impossibly beautiful, impossibly blonde, impossibly tan, as though they'd all been force-fed a diet of peaches and yogurt and sunshine. The black girls were every bit as luscious. Co-eds don't look like this up North, I thought. The girls were lurking along the walls in sundresses, and I soon realized they were actually jiggling with impatience for all the old men with the microphones and notebooks to get out of the way so they could get a shot at those beautiful slabs of boy beef, prime boyfriend material, maybe husband material, maybe even N.F.L. meal-ticket material.
The air in that room was a hormonal cocktail, so potent, so thick, so musky that I was surprised those girls hadn't already come out of their sundresses. All in due time, I told myself. As I drove back home to Savannah that evening, I realized I had gotten my first glimpse of the big-time college football business model. It was built on an infantile news media feeding pap to infantile fans, who treated teenage boys like princes while the university raked in millions of dollars off the unpaid labor of those pampered princes. The equation had it all: big money, big media, celebrity, and sex. The only thing missing was academics. More on that in a moment.
Alas, the Georgia faithful were to suffer unimaginable heartbreak at the end of that season. Herschel Walker won the Heisman Trophy and the Bulldogs won the Southeastern Conference championship and finished the regular season ranked #1. But in the Sugar Bowl they lost the national championship to the #2 team in the land, the Nittany Lions from Happy Valley, Pa., coached by a doomed god named Joe Paterno.
3. The "Student-Athlete"
Which brings us to the NCAA's most cynical and lucrative myth, the "student-athlete." Four years after I attended that Media Day in Athens, the president of the University of Georgia resigned when the board of regents implicated him and Vince Dooley, who was athletic director as well as football coach, in a pattern of academic abuse in the admission and advancement of student-athletes. The abuse was brought to light by Jan Kemp, an English professor who had the temerity to complain when higher-ups intervened to give nine football players a passing grade for a remedial English course they had failed. The passing grades enabled the players to compete in that year's Sugar Bowl. For her trouble, Kemp was demoted, then fired. She sued. At trial, one of the university's attorneys justified the favorable treatment of a hypothetical football player this way: "We may not make a university student out of him, but if we can teach him to read and write, maybe he can work at the post office rather than as a garbage man when he gets through with his athletic career." Despite such shrewd lawyering, Kemp won the case and was awarded more than $1 million in damages and lost wages.
Cut to the present. The University of North Carolina, which has long prided itself on "the Carolina Way" — athletic excellence and academic rigor — is now reeling from revelations that for 18 years a "shadow curriculum" funneled student-athletes into courses that required no class attendance and no course work other than a single paper, which teachers often didn't read. For such scholarship, more than 1,000 "student-athletes" received high enough grades to be able to continue to compete.
Defenders of Joe Paterno never tire of pointing out that 80-plus percent of his football players earned their degrees, compared with a national average of about 50 percent. But as a recent Pittsburgh Post-Gazette study revealed, players on the top 25 football and basketball teams tend to get "clustered" into majors where accommodating professors and less rigorous work loads are more likely to result in grades that allow the athletes to remain eligible to play. At Baylor, the student-athlete's major of choice is General Studies; at Texas A&M, it's Agricultural Leadership and Development; at Oregon, it's Social Science, and so forth. This is not a knock on the student-athletes. Competing on a big-time college football or basketball team — with its time-consuming practices, training and travel — is a full-time job, and it leaves players with far less time and energy for academics than non-athletes enjoy. "The Carolina Way," it turns out, is a fantasy, little more than a hollow PR stunt.
Sandwiched between the academic scandals at Georgia and North Carolina is a long and dreary litany of cash payouts, rape charges, shoe scandals, drug busts, the Penn State horror show, and my personal favorite, student-athletes who are unable to read their own contracts when they turn pro.
But rococo scandals are just the beginning of the woes now bedeviling the NCAA's killer business model. The National Labor Relations Board ruled in March that Northwestern University football players are school employees and thus eligible to form a union. In August, a federal judge ruled that the NCAA violates antitrust laws by limiting what college athletes can receive from their "names, images and likenesses." The ruling stopped short of allowing students to receive money from commercial endorsements while still in school. It also failed to address the elephant in the room: Given the revenues they generate, shouldn't athletes in big-time college sports, specifically football and basketball, get paid for their services?
The answer to that and other vexing questions might come from, of all places, Capitol Hill, where there's a movement under way to form a presidential commission to look into the numerous problems facing big-time college sports. The NCAA, meanwhile, is already angling to shore up its crumbling business model. In the first half of 2014, the NCAA paid almost a quarter of a million dollars to lobbyists to press the case on Capitol Hill that it deserves an antitrust exemption. Yes indeed, always follow the money.
4. Football as Metaphor
How do you explain football's rampaging popularity? Take your pick.
On the most superficial level, the game's violence has a built-in appeal in a bellicose country like America. The parallels between football and war are almost too patent: the trench warfare at the line of scrimmage, the aerial combat (with occasional bursts of ballet) of the passing game, the bone-crushing contact, the martial precision of the marching bands. Increasingly, there is also the presence of the U.S. military at games — uniformed personnel participating in on-field ceremonies, fighter planes screaming overhead, game broadcasts peppered with recruiting ads urging members of the underclass to volunteer for the armed services so they can take part in our forever wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Like Hollywood, big-time college football has been thoroughly infiltrated by the U.S. military.
There's a much subtler link between football and the military: the ways players and soldiers get treated. First they're seduced, then they're worshiped, then they're discarded. This link is beautifully captured by Steve Almond in his new book, Against Football: One Fan's Reluctant Manifesto:
The civilian and the fan participate in the same system. We off-load the moral burdens of combat, mostly to young men from the underclass, whom we send off to battle with hosannas and largely ignore when they return home disfigured in body and mind.
It is a paradoxical dynamic. After all, part of what it means to be a football fan is that we have a sophisticated appreciation for the game, and a deep respect for the players who compete at the highest level…But it turns out that our adulation…is highly conditional. As soon they no longer excel on the field, they become expendable.
Another source of football's popularity is that it's ideally suited to television — short bursts of violent action separated by downtime that can be used to over-analyze the action or sell things. Compare this to baseball's unhurried, relatively seamless pacing (and lack of a game clock), or with soccer's two halves of 45 uninterrupted minutes of action when no one tries to sell the viewer anything. Baseball and soccer can't hope to surpass football's appeal to a populace with a wide violent streak, a short attention span, and an innate impatience with narratives that unfold at a leisurely pace. Americans detest longueurs almost as much as they love their shock and their awe. If baseball belongs to the pastoral 19th century, football is a perfect fit with the frenzied, fragmented 21st.
Isn't professional football, with its stratospheric salaries, concussions, and domestic-violence scandals, even worse than big-time college football? I think not. The billionaires who own NFL franchises may enjoy unconscionable tax breaks because the IRS regards NFL teams as "non-profit" operations, and the owners may stage their untaxed extravaganzas in stadiums funded by taxpayers, but at least those rich owners pay their players, and pay them well. There's a certain sleazy integrity to the NFL that's absent from the NCAA. And the NFL, for all its many faults, has inspired at least two very fine novels — Peter Gent's North Dallas Forty and Frederick Exley's A Fan's Notes. That's not nothing.
So feel free to take your pick as to why big-time college and pro football are so popular. Much more interesting to me, in the end, is what football means. I see it as nothing less than a metaphor for America. The game and the nation were built on a shared impulse: the drive to acquire an enemy's territory through violence. Is this overly simplistic? I don't think so, because games reveal character, both of individuals and of groups (teams and fans, even nations). I believe that a football team's drive down the field is an echo of one of the central narratives of our national history — the drive west through the forceful subjugation of the native populace. If you buy this equation, you begin to see just how deeply football is threaded into America's DNA. It's nothing less than a crystallization of our national character. No wonder so many millions of Americans are drunk on the game. And as we become increasingly infantilized by sports and celebrity worship, technology and consumer goods, no wonder a fan like Tyler Estright becomes outraged that more than 100 of Penn State's football victories were vacated, yet he remains virtually indifferent that dozens of boys were sexually abused by one of the school's assistant coaches. After a while, it starts to make perfect sense.
5. The Pure Joy of Play
I love to play sports, especially pick-up basketball, and I enjoy watching sports in small doses, especially minor-league baseball, and basketball at the high school and small-time college levels. (Though as Friday Night Lights reminded us, high school sports are not immune to many of the ills that have perverted big-time college sports.)
So, a few nights ago, I went up to the Bronx to watch a basketball game between two mid-level NCAA Division I schools, Fordham University and Siena College. There were barely 1,000 spectators in Fordham's lovely old gym, there was not a single NBA prospect on the floor, and both teams have at best a modest chance of winning their respective conference tournaments and qualifying for the big-money NCAA tournament in March. Despite all this — or, rather, because of it — the game was a thing of beauty, a tight, well played tussle between two groups of talented young men who play for the love of a game that has given them a chance to get a free college education.
The true beauty of that game in the Bronx was that it was not about making money. It was about something much bigger, the thing that sports are supposed to be about but too rarely are in America today.
It was about the pure joy of play.
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons


text:
Joseph George "Joe" Smyth (nacido el  en Nueva York, Nueva York y fallecido el ) fue un jugador de baloncesto estadounidense que disputó una temporada en la NBA. Con 1,93 metros de estatura, jugaba en la posición de alero.

Trayectoria deportiva

Universidad
Jugó en su etapa universitaria con los Purple Eagles de la Universidad de Niágara.

Profesional
Fue elegido en la trigésimo quinta posición del Draft de la NBA de 1953 por New York Knicks, con los que disputó ocho partidos, en los que promedió 1,9 puntos y 1,3 rebotes por partido. Tra ser cortado, fichó por los Baltimore Bullets, con los que acabó la temporada promediando 3,6 puntos y 2,8 rebotes por encuentro.

Estadísticas de su carrera en la NBA

Temporada regular

Referencias

Enlaces externos

 Ficha de Smyth en NBA.com
 Ficha de Joe Smyth en ultimatenba.com
 Ficha de Smyth en justsportsstats.com

Alumnado de la Universidad de Niágara
Baloncestistas de Nueva York
Baloncestistas de la NBA
Baloncestistas de los Niagara Purple Eagles
Baloncestistas de los Baltimore Bullets (original)
Baloncestistas de los New York Knicks


text:
Welcome to Wizardry! 3.0 Game Info|Jump|FAQs|Help
RP Codex: Azazel Posted by The Arbiter.
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The Arbiter
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RP Codex: Azazel
((This is an RP Codex, there is no individual reason for a Wizard to know what is going on here besides the one reading his Codex (named). This is public more for entertainment value if anything. Only the Named individual should post in this.))
Clouds shift and loom before you where you name once set in the Codex. Your view widened to encompass more and you could see ships sailing at sea in a raging battle over them. Judging by the sail you see 6 different clans battling it out. A volley of flaming arrows stream though the daylight onto a distant ship. The cries of battle, of anguish, and physical strain as the rowers of your own fleet charge forward.
"My lord *******!" You spin around, not because the noise was a surprise, but because strangely you knew they called to you. They said your name... what was it? You couldn't remember. Bowing in front of you is a man in brightly decorated chest plate and grieves. Leather dyed read and beads woven in to cloth shoulder pads. His curved helmet carries with it the sign of his own family, a vassal of yours. But how did you know this? "The gods curse us. Lord Takeda's ship has fallen. His cowardice generals have pulled out of the fight and are retreating. The men cry out that they have spotted a Yellow Tailed Serpent in the waters feasting on the souls of the drowned and damned!" There was suddenly a massive booming noise followed by as cannon fire splashed out into the sea.
What the man says to you is familiar, but not yours. The image of a massive sea serpent of black and blue scales, with a huge yellow frill at the base of his tail came to your mind.
Azazel Vos Drago
player, 19 posts
Re: RP Codex: Azazel
"There is no time to discuss this matter, but it seems our fates are intertwined. If you desire to succeed and your will is strong, I am currently incentivized to help you consolidate power. Now, provide me all the details at once and let us together devise a plan to make your enemies regret the day they stood against you, preferably starting with the cowards. Is there a way to corral them towards the enemy?" Azazel said decisively. For the moment, this voice in his head seemed to have more information than he... it seems he was in need of ally... for now.
You thought to yourself, but received no answer. Perhaps you were going mad, after all those were your thoughts... not that of another. You were Lord ****************... that ringing in your head... why couldn't you remember your own name?!
Azazel, you thought of yourself as that sometimes. He was a figment of your imagination though, a powerful man you invoke in yourself whenever your will faltered. Yes for now, you would be Azazel, a powerful Wizard wielder of Mana and magics. And this Azazel would lead this ship and this fleet to true victory, the the honor of your true name.
To break the silence there is shouting behind you back towards the battle that snags your attention. A huge yellow tail rose out of the waters by a ship with blue sails, one of the enemy ship, one out of perhaps 100. Your sails were yellow, you had perhaps 30 ramming ships for boarding, at least 12 archery boats, 4 of those heavy with a cannon as well, many with fire-rockets. Your own ship hosted a large stone mortar and 6 fire-rockets. Lord Takeda's your former ally, was Red and White you could see his ships fleeing the battle to the right and left, really any way they could. As you reorganized the thoughts in your mind about the battle, the tail crashed down upon the ship like an axe splitting it in two before you could see the body twirl about to snag the sinking men. You knew this fate would be at random. Sea Dragons had no eye for colored sails, only the taste for the blood of brave men at sea.
Another cannon shot, this time from a ship with white and black sails with another flag on top of blue and red, another enemy Clan from across the sea supporting the blue sails, a smaller amount only 20 ships, but all armed with maybe 4 cannons each. There was a splash not 40 meters away from the ship as the cannon ball hit the waters.
Your adviser spoke again. The fear in his voice palpable. "My Lord, I advise we exclude ourselves from the battle. We have not engaged, to withdraw now is not a retreat, but a decision that this battle is not worth of you." But what would Azazel do? Would he fight? Would he flee? He needed to take control.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:49, Sun 16 Aug 2015.
Turning a fierce eye to his advisor Azazel says in an icy tone, "Direct the archers and half the rockets to fire on the fleet of 20, while the rest of us fire on the enemy, corralling them towards the Yellow Tail. I will deal with that beast after I deal with the coward Takeda. You will fire on all ships once they are in range. Expect the first volley on the group of 20 will wipe them out. Ramming ships should defend the ranged ships and help with herding them towards the yellow tail." he says as he closes his eyes and draws his sword (blasting rod?) from its sheathe with murderous intent. With his very will he extends his mind's eye to every ranged soldier in his fleet, touching them and infusing the with one, perfect, vital shot.
He extends his mind even further and sigils appear in the air around the site of the battle, runes of ancient power that were the symbols of sacrifice... for Azazel would feast on the souls of his enemies or those that died serving him, for he would not fail.
Then, touching the stone mortar in place he muttered some words and again turned to his advisor. "I go for Takeda... leave no survivors, show no mercy, and most importantly, do not fail me." he says, as he seems to be ready to leap towards Takeda's ship.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:25, Sat 22 Aug 2015.
You give out the plan of attack and rally you men on the ship, your fierce words making them forget that they likely go forward to their deaths. Flags are waved at the tops of ships relaying your orders and your own rocket ships move forward to being assaulting the enemy. The ramming ships hang back a bit to take their own place as defenders, and attempting to heard enemy ships to towards the dragon. As for your own ship it turns, it makes a move to intercept the bulk of the fleeing Takeda vessels.
You raise your hands up, expecting the power of mana to flow through you. But nothing... to the men you might look like you are posing forward at the bow of the ship to show them true courage. But you own heart sank a bit. While Azazel Vos Drago, that "mental character" you come up with is indeed a powerful wizard, you Lord ************ are not a Wizard in the slightest.
As you near the fleeing red and white sails of Takeda remaining ships you can turn back and see your own ships making their move towards the cannon-ships. Out of your own 12 archery ships, you witness 3 of them lose their sails in a broadside of cannon fire, and many others likely have holes in them. They return fire in a streak of fire-rockets that rain down on the enemy cannon-ships. Spell or not, this suicidal charge might well inflict some massive blows on the enemy. The ramming ships were not so lucky, though served their purpose, as the enemy blue sails flanked your own archery ships, they were no so easily "herded". It seems they feared the Sea Dragon much more than your ramming ships, and each one of them has been engaged in combat. A small part of you was saddened deeply by this. You personally knew some of the commanders of those boats, and they would fight to the end... but to win this fight.
"Order all of the ships to sing of the battle of Ri Shiankai - for we dedicate this victory to General Takeda! He, like General Torunaga will have his honor rise or fall according to the actions of his vassals, and may those whom embrace cowardice haunt the ocean floor until the end of time, just like those whom fled battle only to be devoured by an Oni! Order Takeda's flags to be flown alongside my own, for he shall share in this victory! The Serpent is a message... it is a message of our victory! Feed the serpent the blood of my enemies, for we shall not fail this day!" Azazel said, ordering is words to be repeated amongst all of his ships.
His next set of orders was simple - the wolf formation. The rocket and archer ship would split up into pairs, with the archers targeting the "flagmen" trying to coordinate the fleet, and the rockets targeting the rudders. They would "retreat" into the path of Takeda's fleeing ships, kiting the enemy and slowing them down so that the sea serpent might do the bulk of the work for them. If they fought defensively now, and if Takeda's men took courage and actually aided in the attack, they could win this. He felt it in his bones, his very soul! Victory would be his!
Your ships went to work to undertake your orders as best they could, but order was lost in the fray and it was up to each crew just to survive the onslaught. Finally as you caught up to disbanding Takeda main fleet and deliver your motivational message, things began to turn around at first they seem woefully determined to run away but your ship along with it's vanguard boats seem to bolster their determination, especially after witnessing the display of your own ships. It was gradual at first, on ship would begin to stop and then turn, and once a couple key ships did... there was a difference between a route and desertion at that point. "Lord, you have got them, they are signaling for your orders!"
Suddenly and without warning otherwise, a large axe-like tail sticks up portside of your ship, rising to gain the momentum. It would be crashing upon the deck of your ship otherwise. To make matters worse the wooden railing next to you suddenly explodes outward as a cannon ball rips through it, splintering wood showing you. I'm going to die here... I'm doing to die. you think to yourself.
A rush of memory, a rush of your past life, or at least a past life. Birth, Childhood, a Young Man, then finally who you were now... yes, Lord Akihito. You died here in this battle... or so... it was before.
A rush of power within and you awaken on the deck of the ship. The tail of the sea dragon still moments away from crashing down upon your ship.
((You now have full control over your supply of Mana and the ability to work magic, but you still have the same Body as before.
Your HP: 9/13))
It was just the space of a breath, but in such moments men become Gods. As the tail came crashing down upon him he did not move, instead, his mind turned inward.
And then he snapped his fingers.
While knowing how to cast a spell like that was something you could do, the nuances would still take some getting used to. Simple in terms of Evocation, but you knew if you were going to affect something the size of a sea dragon you were going to have to put more power into it... either more Mana or use your sorcery to empower it.
((This OOC is public so everyone can see because it's a rule clarification. On the spell issue, if your going to use Evocation use Evocation not Sorcery + Evocation. You CAN use Sorcery to boost, but in the end, it's going to be expensive. Sorcery is an amazing "fuck with magic" bit, and yes you can warp spells with it. But you have to "fight" your original magic anyway.
Basically if your SP of the Evocation spell is 10, you must first overcome that SP with your Sorcery of 10 SP to over-come the spell. Then you can mess with it how you want. You can of course boost the SP of the original spell, But you must pay double the spell SP to boost by half.
So to boost our Evocation spell from 10 to 15 you must have a Sorcery spell of 20 SP, to raise it 5 more (from 15 to 20) you must have 40 SP in your Sorcery, 25 needs 60 and so on, and so on. So unless your Sorcery is really high, it's generally better just to sink more Mana.))
msg #10
OOC: I'll power up the spell ;)
((Really... couldn't even do that ICly :P come on people.))
Speaking words of power in a language no man here would know, raising your hands... the Wizard has awoken within. Suddenly thrush with power, the magnificent spell activate and like a sharp wind around the yellow finned tail of the sea dragon, the dripping water around it freezes instantly. The tail itself is suddenly covered in ice going all the way down to the water the heat from the tail rising up out of it in a ball before shooting down in a streak of fire towards several enemy ships around setting them ablaze.
The Tail of the sea dragon suddenly jerked downward and fast, though luckily not on your ship but straight down back into the water before suddenly a burst upward as the things upper body flips out of the water like an enraged shark, it's horrible roar muffled by the cheers of the men on your ship. They weren't quite sure what happened... but they were saved, they would live another few minutes at least!
The yellow tail then crashed back into the waters below, and dove fast away from whatever threat had just hurt it.
All around you now, sails, ships, cannon fire, arrows flying the air, the sound of men screaming, battle raging. In the distance another Yellow Tail crashed upon an enemy ship, while an unknown more are eating the bodies of fallen sailors in the water... even for a Wizard this was going to be a hard fight, but failure here would mean it was all for nothing, and your pretty sure if you died both Azazel and Lord Akihito would.
Your HP: 9/13
Enemy Ships: 70/120
Your Ships: Your Capital Ship (full supply of rockets/mortar/arrows), 3 Vanguard Bune, 4 non-engaged Ram Ships (guarding arrow ships), out of the 26 engaged you have no idea if they are winning or losing their melee or not, 5 arrows ships functional (depleted of rockets, 2 mini-cannons working).
Takeda Reinforcements: 12 Arrows Ships, 3 Cannon Ships, 6 Ramming Ships, 2 Barrel-Mine droppers.
Yellow Tail 1: 20/30 Hp, Tail frozen, retreating?
Yellow Tail 2: 30/30
(unknown how many more)
Focusing his attention on the ships arrayed in front of him, he searched for the ones likely to hold the enemy leader. The best way to vanquish a serpent after all, was to remove its head.
As the battle raged on around him, he calmly called out orders for his troops to pull back in a false retreat. Ignoring his own wounds he again focused his will... and the dead seemed to come to life in the oceans around him, moving to the very hulls of the ship (or ships) which likely held his enemy, and hopefully drawing the feasting sea dragons with them.
You stand there silently muttering on the ship hands outstretched, the battle raged onward as you did. Arrows flying over you hitting the deck of your ship, concentrating fully on your magic (which were not close by any means, lowering your power on them). There were more than 2 clan leaders, but there were only 2 real leaders against you.
Others around you ship gather around you and being bowing and praying. Not to you, just in general. It seems you have convinced them that this battle will be won by the favor of the gods. This does go well for you as the fever spreads to the other ships.
Unfortunately thing didn't seem to go as fast as you had hoped. There was movement under the seas more around the enemy ships as bodies began to float away slowly towards them, the sea dragons snatching them up as they moved. It would sadly take some time to get any large amount of bodies on those ships.
The false route on the other hand quickly turned into a real one for your own ships, or what was left of them. The remainder of your arrow ships were either on set ablaze through enough fire arrows or had been boarded. One of your vangaurd was actually sinking behind you now due to horrible cannon shots taken from the enemy, and now your rear was exposed. Nothing but your own ship, and 2 Vangaurd Bune remain of your own fleet. A single Takeda ramming ship turned full around and dropped sail, signifying their own cowardice as they attempted to run away with what little wind their was, more would follow if this were the stakes now, and it would surely turn into a slaughter.
Takeda's cannon ships being assaulting anything close to them while the remaining arrow ships. Turn to broadside what they can before fleeing back towards your ship to form one final defensive line before the inevitable slaughter by the enemy ships.
Perhaps only one thing was lucky. Muquo's Clan Leader ship, that of the the dozens of blue sails was making his way forward slowly. Their pressure of your ships slowed, and while cannons occasional boomed, arrow range caused much inaccuracy. Instead the enemy began to circle around. You doubted the borrowed loyalty of the Takeda's ships would hold much longer. Even those praying next to your magic-wielding began to stutter out of fear of the oncoming defeat.
Your Ships: Your Capital Ship (full supply of rockets/mortar/arrows), 2 Vanguard Bune.
Yellow Tail 2: 30/30 Chowing down on the drowning sailor he had just caused by breaking a ship.
Yellow Tail 3: 30/30 headed towards an enemy capital ship, following a trail of bodies on the surface of the water.
Sat 5 Sep 2015
Failure is not an option, better death than failure. he thought to himself, as he surveyed the battlefield before him. Everything was in place now. He ordered his bottle mine droppers to drop all their mines in a small area behind them as the enemy followed, while his troops clumped together behind the mines as he waited, ordering a full retreat and a preparation to concentrate fire on his signal....
The ships move away, the sea-mines dropped and primed at the end. The first enemy two ships to hit the mines were taking water fast, and the others behind them began to slow their advanced an begin to look out for a shoot arrows at any mines before they came across them. Causing the ships directly behind you to slow down. But the ships on either side of you were beginning to speed up determined to cut you off and force a surrender. It was a long horrible wait of nothing happening besides the sound of random cannon and mortar fire. The bodies began to pile up attached to the two ships you were concentrating on, sticking together in a large clump.
The ship without any apparent sea-dragon was the first to go. One of the sea-dragons tails didn't even perform their usual slow rise and downward drop. Instead it was like a spear shooting of the water. More in an attempt to dislodge some bodies from the ship, but this still had the effect of smashing the side of the ship. The release of half of the battles bodies being in that concentration spreading all over though triggers a feeding frenzy among the serpents, causing a panic of all the ships around to being to sail away, leaving the leader of the foreign ships a couple other of the blue sailed ships to die among the frenzy.
When you saw the second serpent reach the leader of you enemy clan's ship, you worked your magic a second time. Speaking words of power you focusing on the two point on either side of your fleet near the encroaching ships. Unfortunately you know the ice-walls you raise from the sea arn't going to be that big compared to the mass of fleets, but putting them under the water at first was a good idea because the sheer force pushing them upward did cause at least 1 ship on either side to capsize, and the wave to cause an abrupt motion. On your port side you got even luckier and one of the iceburgs lifted a sea-dragon partially out of the water, one with a injured tail that had the worse of luck. It then began to flail around attacking any ship near it, putting them in disarray.
Finally your final plan coming to fruition, you saw a yellow tail rise out of the water near the enemy capital ship. As it rose slowly you heard the shouts go out and saw a cannon, mortar, arrow, and rocket hit the tail, which was ignored before slamming down on the capital ship.
At once all of your own ships turned upon the remaining ships, and unleashed an unbound attack on the closest ships which had slowed down because of the mines. Your own mortar hitting it's mark on a close one. While you were outnumbered, suddenly it seemed as if your fleet was no longer prey, but a vicious dog cornered, hurt, but still very deadly.
The ships yours attacked fought back, but it they seemed to receive very little support from the others, and all advanced towards yours stopped. With the proper push, they might just decide that without a leader to guide them and to hold the honor of this fight, it might not be worth a fight the bitter end with your ships. After all, the gods themselves are on our side. Your non-wizard side thinks you.
Pressing the advantage, he called for the fastest ranged ships to pepper the gap while urging his ramming ships would go around the side prepared to push any flankers up against the newly formed icebergs.
The most wounded of his ships he ordered to take the starboard iceberg (opposite from the grounded dragon) and to spread out, firing on the approaching ships. His own ship along with whatever small guard he could manage he decided would stay near the gap and keep firing, using the icebergs as cover and taking advantage of the slower approach to make the most of every shot.
The rest of the ships he ordered a false retreat, this time disappearing behind the port side iceberg ready to cover the retreat of his own ship should any enemy make it around either iceberg.
((LOL that picture. http://draw.to/DdQMlU It looks like an evil smiley. And the icebergs aren't that big. It was really the force of them coming up out of the water that did the damage. Honestly, for lessons learned, you could have started flipping ships upside down... it's not that much of an effect, especially compared to iceberg creation, about like 10-15 SP per ship flipped depending on how big they are (I mean all your doing it rolling them over by pulling down on one side until they flip over)... but it would render the ship useless. Or something like 30 SP spent to cause lighting strikes to begin to rain down on the decks of ships on near by ships. Wouldn't have caused much ship-damage over-all. Might have killed some crew. Definitely would have caused some shock and awe, no pun intended.
My 8 year bro played a game similar to this system (it's predecessor really), he had a horde of 500+ goblins running at him, and instead of spending all his mana to attack he thinks for a second and says "I turn the ground in-front of them into quick-sand", and ends up horribly killing majority of them from that. 8 year old evil genius.))
It took some time to turn your ship all the way around, but it didn't stop your ships from firing arrows, what little rockets and cannon shots you had left, and your own mortar raining down what it could to those ships across the small row of barrel mines left behind. You were bearing your teeth, daring them to get closer. The honor of this fight was yours... even if you ended up losing. There had been just too much against this much superior fleet to be otherwise.
Your ships spread out attacking everything around them in a final vicious assault, and while the flank-attack were clearly not a false-retreat (as the ice burgs weren't that large to maneuver around) it was an obvious flank effort. Which in the cause might have been good because any sign of retreat would have likely signaled you were prey once more. But instead the ships hit the weakened flanks, causing a good number of them to actually evade the coming attacks, as icebergs out of nowhere, no matter how big, were a surprise that derailed most sailors.
The only thing that could go wrong as this point unfortunately did. You, standing tall at the deck of the ship exchanging fire with another ship on the front lines, made your ships a target for attack (which was lucky perhaps as it softened the blow to the remaining fleet. A hail of cannon fire and arrows struck the sides of your ship and peppered the deck. Your advisory from before took an arrow to the knee, an issue much more painful than it sounded, and he would likely never walk right again. You on the other hand took a much worse shot, straight to the chest causing your right lung to collapse. Your personal guard quickly shielded you under their bodies and moved to you a point behind some wet straw barriers.
The wound while not immediately fatal would likely kill you before you got to shore due to blood loss and slow suffocation causing you to cough up blood.
Your HP: 5/13, Losing HP from mortal wound, stupid mortal bodies.
Actively engaged: 10 blue sails(7 in front, 3 on the flank)
Non-aggressive Ships: 20 blue sails dealing with sea-dragons or not really into the fight anymore, 5 remaining red and blue cannon ships, 14 blue sails fleeing from the left and right flanks either away from your attack or the serpents.
Takeda Reinforcements: 9 Functioning Arrows Ships(on your line, 3 Cannon Ships(by you), 5 Ramming Ships(engaging flanks), 2 Barrel-Mine droppers(out of mines, hiding in back)
Yellow Tail 1: 20/30 Slipped back in the water after the iceburg, and is pissed at the nearest blue-sail boat.
Yellow Tail 2, 4, 5: 30/30 Feeding frenzy on the bodies in the middle of the enemy ships, scaring the crap out of everyone there.
Yellow Tail 3: 30/30 snacking on the remains of the enemy commanders ships.
Snarling angrily, he ordered his men to press the attack, and for the victory flag to be waved high. The message should be spread throughout the ships that he was uninjured, that the gods did indeed favor them this day, for even the dragons attacked their enemies.
Then, he watched the battle unfold. He would rush into no decisions hastily. It appeared this Wizard was in his blood, and happily would he have sold his soul for the victory that he had won this day. He would not see it squandered.
((The body spell is over, once the arrow hit full in the chest you would have lost concentration on that. Holy crap, you actually rolled high enough to live.))
You struggle to your feet, your mind overcoming the pain of the arrow in you and the shortness of your breath. Mortal bodies really did suck, and you thanked yourself for the body you might find yourself back in one day.
You casting your spell you pushed a few remaining mines into a few ships while the battle pressed on. Their eruption and the subsequent fires they caused, rang out, letting all know that they battle was going to be far more bloody if it continued. The call for your victory and your blessing went out and the scales were finally tipped. Several flags of surrender went up in the ships you were attacking, and then those that weren't engaged decided that they would take what honor they had and leave.
That would be considered a miracle battle. Won by the Great Clan Leader ****. Your name, yes. This was a name of your past. At first you thought that you might have died. For everything went dark. But then you realized your eyes were just closed. Did you blink? Opening them revealed your original body. The one you paid for in Mana and sacrifice.
In you hands was perhaps the most epic story of a naval battle ever told. You see that it had not been embellished at all, but the fight had been a bit more epic than you realized. That battle was key in a 15 year long war. While Admiral and Clan Leader Yi Sunshin never fully recovered from the arrow wound, he did live to get to the shore and make it to the doctor-priests. He would never personally see combat but his fighting spirit was never lost. He went on many years before succumbing to his wounds in a sickness rather than falling in one of the many other campaigns he would lead from his fortress by the sea. Known as an amazing tactician he carved out himself a kingdom of water and earth that this children would inherit for a time before, it became the base of a much greater nation. Time would pass and his name was held in that world, and even held as a saint in some religions. All of this was not quite important as what you had learned though.
Written in your Codex you looked at it. Your name, it was still not clear what it said, but you knew it's meaning. And it meant ...
((Post back in your tower you lucky bastard.))


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