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Sisak-Moslavina County Head Calls for Declaring State of Disaster
ZAGREB, 4 January, 2021 - Sisak-Moslavina County head Ivo Zinic said on Sunday that the state of disaster should definitely be declared following the 6.2 magnitude earthquake that hit the county on December 29.
"The county head can only declare a state of emergency following natural disasters based on assessments by the towns and communities affected. I believe this earthquake was much more destructive and that the state of disaster should be declared," Zinic told the N1 broadcaster.
The December 29 earthquake claimed seven lives and caused extensive material damage in the areas of Petrinja and Sisak in Sisak-Moslavina County.
Zinic noted that the insufficient quantity of container homes and camper vans was the main problem at present.
"We have received 13,272 requests and inspected 3,972 facilities. There are around 250 camper vans in the field and the needs are much greater. We expect 1,500 mobile homes to be necessary. Their installation will take ten more days because we can install 20-50 mobile homes per day," he said.
The HAC motorway operator said on Sunday that it would not be collecting the road toll on the Zagreb-Sisak motorway until January 31.
HAC stopped collecting the road toll on December 29 to enable emergency services to reach the quake-hit communities in Sisak-Moslavina County, deciding initially not to collect it until January 4.
County Prefect: Reports on Quake Damage on 8,928 Buildings So Far Received
ZAGREB, 3 January, 2021 - Of the 19 cities and municipalities in Sisak-Moslavina County, Petrinja, Glina, Sisak and Lekenik suffered the biggest damage, and Donji Kukuzari, Sunja, Hrvatska Kostajnica, Majur, Dvor, Topusko, Gvozd and Marinska Ves sustained extensive damage in the 29 December quake.
The county prefect Ivo Zinic explained on Sunday that so far, the damage was reported on 8,928 buildings and structures.
Of them, 20% are buildings completely destroyed or out of use anymore. Also, a quarter of the inspected buildings will need additional checks, and 54% of buildings checked by experts received a green label, which means that they can be used.
Reports on damaged buildings are still being received and the number of destroyed and damaged buildings will definitely rise, the prefect said at a news conference.
We have set up five mobile teams that are visiting settlements and villages to establish a state of affairs and see what the population needs, he added.
"A difficult situation is ahead of us, people are depressed, we will also organise psychological assistance," Zinic said.
825 small businesses, a third of family-run farms suffer damage by quake
Of 2,000 small businesses in the county, 825 have reported extensive damage, he said.
Furthermore, 700 companies and 3,000 out of 9,000 family-run farms have also sustained damage, he said.
When it comes to educational institutions, out of the 13 secondary schools in the county, six are unusable, and a preschool institution in Petrinja was destroyed.
Retirement homes in the area were also evacuated.
All healthcare institutions are providing services, although some of them are now placed in containers.
On 29 December, the earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale, that hit the area of Petrinja, some 50 kilometres south of Zagreb, killed seven people in the county, and a number of people were injured.
"The intensity of this destructive earthquake has been estimated at VII-IX degrees on the EMS scale. The quake was felt across the country. Large-scale damage is expected," the Croatian Seismology Service said on its Twitter profile immediately after the quake.
President Calls on Gov't to Declare State of Catastrophic Emergency
ZAGREB,3 January, 2021 - President Zoran Milanovic said on Sunday that the government should declare a state of catastrophic emergency due to the 29 December devastating earthquake that hit Petrinja and other areas of Sisak-Moslavina County.
"I do not know why a state of catastrophic emergency has not yet been declared. Those are important matters legally," Milanovic said in an interview with the N1 commercial broadcaster on Sunday.
Milanovic explained that the declaration of a state of catastrophic emergency was necessary so as to define the command chain and to know who would disburse the money needed for addressing the aftermath of the earthquake.
The president, who is the supreme commander, praised the engagement o the army in Petrinja and other quake-hit areas.
Milanovic believes that the National Civil Protection Authority could manage the quake aftermath, provided that it was given enough money and responsibilities.
Comparing the situation on Petrinja, hit by the 6.2-magnitude earthquake and in Zagreb after the 22 March earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale, Milanovic said that Petrinja was razed to the ground while Zagreb would always have the financial strength for the reconstruction.
He, however, expressed dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs in the capital city, claiming that Zagreb was in a negligent state and he pointed out examples of unkempt city properties.
As for the coronavirus infection, Milanovic again called for inoculation of the population.
He added that since the start of his presidential mandate, he had been fair in the relationship with the government.
On Sunday afternoon the parliamentary party Centar also called on the government to declare a state of catastrophic emergency and criticised the Plenkovic cabinet for how it was dealing with the aftermath of the quake in Sisak-Moslavina County.
Sisak-Moslavina Prefect Ivo Zinic Visits Firstborn Baby in Croatia
January 3, 2021 – Sisak-Moslavina County Prefect Ivo Zinic visited little Daris, the first-born child in Croatia this year, and his mother Nataša Safić, at the Sisak General Hospital "Dr. Ivo Pedišić".
As Hina reports, Sisak-Moslavina County Prefect Ivo Žinić and Deputy Mayor Roman Rosavec visited on Saturday the first child born in Croatia, accompanied by hospital director Tomislav Dujmenović. They congratulated the young mother on her own, but also on behalf of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković.
Along with the occasional gifts, Prefect Žinić stated that this was a joyful moment in the whole agony.
"This symbolic birth in the first minute of the year is a symbol that 2021 will move in a better direction and that new development awaits us this year," Žinić told the gathered journalists.
Source: Sisak-Moslavina County
As reported earlier, the first baby born in Croatia in 2021 was Daris Safić from Petrinja. The mother and child are fine but remain at the Sisak hospital until further notice because the family was left homeless in the devastating earthquake. They slept in the car before going to the maternity ward.
As it is known, the city of Supetar on Brač has pledged to build a house for the Safić family, which will be a permanent solution. After the visit, Žinić said he believes that the remaining problems would be located in the coming days.
"The system is now working well, from local communities to the state. We have established a call center where citizens will be able to respond to their needs. Victims need psychological help, and we will send a professional team to the field on Sunday," said Žinić.
He thanked the Government of the Republic of Croatia, which made all its forces available.
"Material help is just the beginning of the remediation, to bring the situation under control and at the same time, repair minor damage. According to initial estimates, we have 8750 damaged housing and a large number of public buildings. The first task is to take care of people, and we do not want anyone to be forgotten. The first estimates are that the damage amounts to around three billion kunas," Žinić said.
For more on the Petrinja earthquake and to see how you can donate money, food, humanitarian, sanitary, and material aid, follow TCN's dedicated section.
SIMORA and A1 Croatia Collaborate on Business Incubator in Novska
December 22, 2020 – The Sisak-Moslavina County Development Agency SIMORA and A1 Croatia, a leading technological innovator, have entered into business cooperation to develop the video game industry in the Business Incubator in Novska.
As Jutarnji list reports, SIMORA, a development center for the video game industry, and A1 Hrvatska, a leading technological innovator, have signed a multi-year agreement on cooperation and services exchange.
Business cooperation has common goals: development of the video game industry in the Business Incubator in Novska, including the development of video games on the most modern mobile and fixed technology, promotion of innovations, as well as stronger involvement of ICT industry and video game industry in education, public, and private sector throughout Croatia.
The specific location where the cooperation will take place is the PISMO Business Incubator in Novska, recently declared the best EU co-financed project in Croatia for 2020.
"At a time of unprecedented public health and economic challenges, we are especially pleased that the project of our development agency is recognized by important market participants aimed at digitalization of society, the progress of the local community, and thus the whole of Croatia. I am convinced that the inclusion of A1 Croatia will further accelerate the achievement of the goal of our county becoming a true center of the gaming industry, the fastest growing industry in the world," said Ivo Žinić, prefect of Sisak-Moslavina County.
The PISMO business incubator currently consists of two facilities with about twenty offices, co-working, and conference rooms equipped with the latest technology such as motion capture, photogrammetric and video, and music studio, CNC, 3D printer, VR, and other ICT equipment.
"About forty startups from the gaming industry are already operating in our incubator. It proves that we are succeeding in our intention to give young people the opportunity to stay in Sisak-Moslavina County or a reason to move in. The support provided by our new technological partner A1 Croatia is related, among other things, to access to the most modern mobile and fixed network. This is certainly one of the basic preconditions for our further development and growth in the direction of building a future Gaming campus worth almost 400 million kunas," explains Mario Čelan, director of SIMORA.
In addition to optical fixed infrastructure with access speeds of as much as 1 Gbps, A1 Croatia also ensures the availability of a real 5G network, gigabit speeds, and extremely low latency.
"A1 Croatia is a company that brings innovations and recognizes technological and social trends. So it's no surprise that everything related to the gaming industry has been in our focus for a long time. The potential that we recognized in the PISMO incubator we plan to realize much wider than technical support. In addition to content related to esport and hackathon events, we will organize numerous demonstrations and trainings related to the use of new technologies together. This partnership will certainly be one of the wheels of development of modern, digital society," concludes Tomislav Makar, General Manager for Technology and Information Technologies at A1 Croatia.
To read more about business in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.
'Croatian Wine House' One of Many Projects in Sisak-Moslavina County for 2021
December 7, 2020 – Sisak-Moslavina County plans many new projects for 2021. Among them, the construction of the Croatian Wine House (Hrvatska kuća vina) in Popovača stands out, as a promotion center of Moslavina wines, especially the indigenous variety škrlet.
As Lokalni.hr reports, the administrative department for the economy, agriculture, and rural development of the Sisak-Moslavina County will have a budget of more than50 million at its disposal next year, and a much higher amount is expected for projects from EU funds.
New crafts and businesses
For the economic development in 2021, 8.8 million kuna will be allocated: 4 million kuna for the development of entrepreneurial infrastructure, 3.85 million kuna for subsidies to craftsmen, small and medium-sized enterprises, and 750,000 kuna for capital aid for new investments in production.
The development of tourism will be supported next year with 4.572 million kuna. 1.4 million kuna will be invested in transport and communal infrastructure. Co-financing of passenger transport and co-financing of public road transport in municipalities continues. For regional development and projects co-financed from EU funds, 32.2 million kuna is allocated.
Most of it goes to the work of the Regional Coordinator of the SMC, which prepares and implements projects, and to the Natura SMC project – an educational and presentation center that will include all the richness of the county's natural heritage.
Among other planned projects, which should be co-financed from European funds, is the project "LIFE in Zone Ozone". With this project, a new model of disinfection should be developed, and its value is 7 million kuna.
Croatian Wine House - the future recognizability of the county
Also, a 34-million kuna project "Croatian Wine House" is planned, which would contain two segments. The first would be a tourist segment for which a tasting room, a restaurant, and a viewpoint would be built. The second segment would be scientific and educational and would consist of a laboratory, a wine cellar, and a test field intended primarily for the development of the indigenous wine variety of the Sisak-Moslavina County – škrlet.
The project will be implemented in the area of the City of Popovača, where it was presented in February. The prefect of Sisak-Moslavina County, Ivo Žinić, said on that occasion that the Croatian Wine House is the future recognizability of the county, emphasizing that it is just a continuation of all efforts for better promotion of Moslavina wines, especially the indigenous škrlet variety.
"This is an important project primarily because a lot of people here are involved in winemaking. Wine, vineyard, and wine cellars are the tradition of this area and status symbols of the City of Popovača. Thus, we will complete one story in which it will be possible to present everything that is produced, not only in the area of Popovača but also in the entire County," said then the mayor of Popovača Josip Mišković, Radio Banovina reports.
A special feature of this project is a viewpoint with flower petals that give a new character to this vineyard area.
"Everyone who comes to this area will have the need and desire to visit the wine house, see which wines are produced in this area, but also taste them and all other wines to help our winemakers. They are investing more and more every year, especially in škrlet, which has an increasing value on wine lists. I think that this project will be the capital crown of the entire investment in the development of wine and winemaking," said Mišević.
Other projects – battery development center, photovoltaic power plant, business incubators...
Other planned projects are the renovation of Villa Zelengaj in Topusko (5.5 million kuna), project "Research-development-production center for batteries and design and production of furniture" in the Entrepreneurial Zone Glina (150 million kuna), Photovoltaic power plant Martinska Ves (86 million kuna) and establishment of a network of business incubators in Popovača, Novska, Glina, Kutina, Donja Kukuruzari, Velika Ludina, and Lipovljani, with an estimated value of 192 million kuna.
Sisak-Moslavina County continues with the implementation of the project "County Entrepreneurial Loans", which enables the launch of new crafts and companies, and the growth and expansion of existing ones. This project has been implemented in SMC for years in cooperation with cities, municipalities, and commercial banks, which achieves an interest rate of 0.25 or even 0 percent for entrepreneurs.
To read more about lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.
Continental Croatia Trains: Inland Opens Up With Green Travel
October 3, 2020 - With charter airlines in a state of flux and Croatia Railways beginning a renewal of their fleet in Slavonia, are continental Croatia trains the eco-friendly and best way to unlock the inland's amazing potential?
Everything changes. Nothing stays the same. Even before 2020 arrived, lifestyles and trends were headed in new directions. Eco-tourism and agro-tourism were two of the fastest-growing areas within the travel sector, this behaviour change a response to concerns about the environment. And nowhere in the country stands better poised to take advantage of this interest than continental Croatia.
Impossibly pretty Zagorje - the region lies just north of Zagreb and is accessible by continental Croatia trains © Ivo Biocina / Croatia National Tourist Board
From the impossibly pretty hills of Zagorje, the peaceful rivers of Karlovac county and the hidden vineyards that surround the capital Zagreb to the vast Pannonian flatlands that stretch to Slavonia, Baranya, Vukovar-Srijem and beyond, the varied topography of continental Croatia is wild, exciting and - by many - wholly undiscovered.
This is land where agriculture and nature thrive side by side, where the stresses of modern-day existence ebb away as you readjust to a way of life that would look mostly familiar to the people who lived here centuries ago. These are places where you can truly be at one with yourself and with your surroundings. In continental Croatia, you often find yourself in an environment that is both timeless and traditional, yet wholly contemporary in regards to its ecological aspirations. And you're never far away from an exciting city environment that you can dip into on a whim – not just Zagreb, but Osijek, Slavonski Brod, Karlovac, Sisak and Varaždin too.
To those who really know and love Croatia, Osijek is simply unmissable. It is both the capital of and the doorway to Slavonia and Baranya and should be more accessible by continental Croatia trains. Sadly, international transportation links to the city by air are also quite poor. Improvements in accessibility to Slavonia and Baranya by rail and road are imminent © Romulić & Stojčić
Unlocking the incredible potential of continental Croatia relies on getting the message out there and facilitating travel to these regions
In recent TCN features we have detailed that motorways within Croatia are among the best in Europe - once you're inside Croatia, travelling by car (or bus) between the regions couldn't be easier. We have also seen evidence of the huge interest in travelling here by rail and using continental Croatia trains.
Of all the modern methods of long-distance travel, rail is by far the most eco-friendly. What better way to begin an environmentally friendly holiday than by arriving on continental Croatia trains? When the country wisely decided to prioritise its internal motorway system, a modern and fast inter-regional rail network was put on the back burner. Nowhere suffers greater from this decision than continental Croatia.
The Croatian rail network © Croatian Official Document uploaded to Wikipedia by Epepe
The only high-speed line that currently exists in Croatia links Rijeka to Budapest, via Zagreb and Koprivnica. Planned improvements hope to cut journey times between Zagreb and its nearest coastal city to an hour. Same as it ever was - Rijeka was the first Croatian city to be connected internationally by rail. That line also ran into the heart of Austro-Hungary and facilitated upper-class travel to places like Opatija. But does it best benefit the country to invest in more links to the coast or in continental Croatia trains? Well, the inland is not being ignored. Upgrades are being made to continental Croatia trains.
This impressive beast actually services the country's coast. But would more investment in the continental Croatia trains network better service more people and help unlock the inland to tourists? Around 70% of the country's inhabitants live in continental Croatia © HŽPP
The rail link between Zagreb and Slavonski Brod is so historic that it was once part of the four routes of the Orient Express. It has been maintained to a standard where you can make a relatively quick journey from the capital to Vinkovci via Slavonski Brod. The same cannot be said for rail travel to Osijek, the access point to Baranya and much more. So slow is the connection between Osijek and Zagreb that it has been possible over recent times to reach the Slavonian capital quicker by taking the train to Vinkovci, then the bus to Osijek, rather than travelling direct by rail.
Osijek train station. A renovation to the building is planned for the near future © Romulić & Stojčić
However, in February this year, Croatian Railways introduced four direct daily lines between Slavonski Brod and Osijek. And there will be a new tilting train line that will run between Zagreb to Osijek on Friday afternoon and from Osijek to Zagreb on Sunday afternoon, facilitating student travel. On October 15, the first low-floor train will run between Osijek and Vinkovci as an additional part of the renewal of their continental Croatia trains fleet in Slavonia. The welcome return of Croatia's second-oldest international rail line - linking Osijek to Pécs in Hungary, via Beli Manastir and Baranya - was introduced in late 2018.
A motorway stretch between Metković and Dubrovnik, integrating the Pelješac bridge and the Croatian segment of the European corridor are the final big remaining projects in a three-decade-long undertaking to give Croatia one of the best motorway networks in Europe. Should Croatia's rail network be next? © Hrvatske Autoceste
Access to Slavonia and Baranya will also be massively facilitated upon completion of the European corridor, which will connect North Europe to the Adriatic. Starting in Budapest, it necessitates the building of a bridge near Beli Manastir. Thereafter the motorway will pass by Osijek, connect to the Zagreb-Slavonia motorway near Lipovac, then pass through Bosnia and its capital Sarajevo and on to Ploče.
The removal of budget airline flights to the airport in Osijek remains a hindrance to attracting many international visitors to Slavonia and Baranya. However, with charter airlines facing the greatest uncertainty of all modes of transport at the current time, though their return is a must, it is perhaps now an ambition that should remain more long term. For the immediate future, improvements to rail travel look to be a brilliant way of opening up not only Slavonia, Baranya and Vukovar-Srijem, but also an eco-friendly access point capable of serving the whole of untapped continental Croatia.
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Sisak-Moslavina County Celebrates Its Day
ZAGREB, June 12, 2019 - Sisak-Moslavina County Day was celebrated in Sisak on Tuesday with emphasis on numerous projects, some that are already being implemented and others that are yet to start, and both President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković welcomed the application of new know-how and technologies, particularly in the ICT sector.
Addressing the county's Assembly, President Grabar-Kitarović underscored that that county is the "geographical centre of our state" and that Croatia's history is concentrated there too. She recalled Stjepan Radić who, "with his martyrdom, became a symbol of the Croatian people's struggle for freedom," and places like Gvozd, Dubica, Gvozdansko, Sisak and Petrinja, which represent "the sites of our tragedies and victories since the Middle Ages through to the Homeland War."
She in particular made reference to the town of Zrin, saying it had been the seat of the Croatian aristocratic family Zrinski, but also the place of the murder and expulsion of hundreds of Croatians in September 1943, only for the Yugoslav communist authorities to deprive survivors and their descendants of all civil rights, assets, banning their return after the war. "We still not have amended that injustice. It is time for the relevant institutions to embark on amending what can be amended, she said.
She expressed her satisfaction that the county was directed toward industries that strongly include the use of digital technology, and said that it was encouraging that, compared to 2014, workers in the ICT sector a less likely to emigrate.
Investing in the education of young people, in their projects and dreams is a true investment in the future of Croatia as a country made to the measure of man, she underscored and added that that is why she launched the branding Croatia project. In that regard, counties need to be the main pillars in investing energy and know-how in developing Croatia. Subsidies and state aid to counties has to continue, primarily through concrete development investments she added.
The president spoke about the Sisak refinery and assessed that it needs to be upgraded and given new business opportunities. Let's not delude ourselves, without industry there is no desired progress, and that is why we have to create competitive conditions for investors who will bring modern technological industrial projects to Croatia, she said.
She added that in her capacity as president, she promotes other energy projects like the LNG terminal on Krk island, which is regularly connected to a series of other investments that she advocates during visits to other countries, in particular within the Three Seas Initiative, which she said strongly separates Croatia from everything that is negatively connected to the Balkans and the so-called region, and firmly positions Croatia where it belongs, along the belt between the Mediterranean and Central Europe.
In her address, the president said that the main source for any responsible policy is to listen to the people and respect the will of the people.
Because the trust of the people can only be gained by trusting the people. That is the foundation of unity which I have been emphasising for four and a half years as the focal point of my policy. Unity is the denominator of Croatia's development and progress. Unity combines our energy, work and creativity, it raises our optimism and self-confidence, it is the key to success at the municipal, city and county and state level, she said.
Prime Minister Plenković recalled that 50,000 people from the county fled their homes during the Homeland War and that the damage done to the infrastructure and factories at that time was close to 1 billion euro.
He said more than 821 million kuna was invested from 1998 to 2018 in demining the county and that another 9.4 square kilometres was expected to be cleared by the end of the year.
Plenković said his government held a meeting in Sisak in February 2017, "aware that this county needed incentive and support. Therefore, we adopted a score of concrete decisions to stimulate regional development and the projects adopted then were worth 250 million kuna."
He said the county was important because of oil and natural gas, thermal springs, the development of agriculture, fruit growing and cattle breeding, and its tourism potential. He added that 8% more arrivals and 40% more nights were recorded in the first five and a half months of the year.
Plenković said huge progress was made in the county with regard to the absorption of EU funds, with 255.8 million euro contracted to date, most of which are to upgrade the water infrastructure. He said 24 projects worth 120 million kuna were approved for the development of the local infrastructure, and that 75 projects worth 216 million kuna were signed for energy-efficient buildings, including 117 million kuna in grants.
Plenković said some of the European money would be used for new business opportunities, and that the county was becoming a gaming industry centre. He added that the government would continue to support all projects that benefited the county.
The prime minister said he was pleased the government and the president were making complementary efforts towards cooperation between the central and local governments. "We are in non-stop intensive dialogue and cooperation," he said, adding that that was the best way to achieve synergy regarding projects, funds, and the realisation of common development goals.
Prefect Ivo Žinić said the projects that were currently being implemented in the county were worth 400 million kuna. "These projects confirm our desire for progress. Our job is to work for better living standards for all citizens in the county."
More news about Sisak-Moslavina County can be found in the Lifestyle section.
Uhljeb Alert? One of Poorest Counties in Croatia Establishes Space Technology Centre
Sisak-Moslavina County is one of the poorest in Croatia. However, yesterday it established the Centre for Space and Innovative Technologies. Although the news that a county with many villages without electricity, water and roads has opened a space technology centre sounds like an April Fool's joke, county officials seem offended by such comparisons, reports Jutarnji List on May 17, 2019.
County prefect Ivo Žinić pointed out that the project "Sisak-Moslavina County - Gaming Industry Centre" has become one of the most innovative projects in Croatia and that the establishment of the Centre for Space and Innovative Technologies will enable the county to become the centre of competence for certain other technologies as well.
"The activities led by the centre can attract a large number of young scientists, and the opening of new jobs will prevent them from leaving the country. The future of Croatia, the future of Sisak-Moslavina County, is in modern technologies," concluded Žinić.
The decision by the County Assembly has caused an avalanche of comments and jokes on social networks. "A very inventive way to employ party personnel, if there are still few unemployed members left. They need the space centre because HDZ members seem to have come from Mars."
Some commentators have also advised the authorities to be sure to "set up the Central Agency for the Coordination of County Centres for Space Technology with one coordinator for each county, and a deputy, and a secretary, and a secretary's deputy." Others say that the "space centre will gravitate toward HDZ members," and that the elections are coming soon, but that this idea is too much even for an election campaign.
However, there are other opinions. Danko Bosanac, an astrophysicist from the Ruđer Bošković Institute, support the idea. Several years ago, he initiated the establishment of a similar, never opened centre in Udbina. "I am directly responsible for launching this centre because I have started the Adriatic Aerospace Association.It is fine to express doubts, but it has to be done in a civilized way, because this initiative is supported by A3, with about 60 highly-qualified members from the areas of space technology and science, and with numerous contacts around the world.
The discussion about the Sisak centre lasted for about a year. The centre will primarily focus on the commercialization of top-quality materials that will have the 'terrestrial' application. The Faculty of Metallurgy and the Ruđer Bošković Institute will represent a link towards scientific research. There will be a co-operation between science and technology. We should be happy and help this initiative; someone has decided to make a step forward," said Bosanac.
The information on the establishment of the centre has been published on the Adriatic Aerospace Association's website. It is a non-profit association that focuses on four main areas: promoting research and development in the aerospace sector, mediating in projects as a point of contact, education and consulting, and regional co-operation.
Translated from Jutarnji List (reported by Anita Belak-Krile).
Is Petrinja in Danger from Proposed Nuclear Waste Site?
ZAGREB, January 30, 2019 - Sisak-Moslavina County Prefect Ivo Zinić on Tuesday commented on the possibility of the Trgovska Gora mountain range becoming the location for medium radioactive nuclear waste site, saying that Petrinja is some 60 to 70 kilometres away and would not be under any threat, adding that some people were trying to portray the county as a place where there is no life and where hopelessness prevails.
Asked by reporters to comment on Petrinja Mayor Darinko Dumbović's appeal to join him in the fight against Trgovska Gora's becoming a radioactive waste dump, Zinić said that that was politicking and that some people wanted to portray the county in a bad light, as a place with nuclear waste where there are no jobs and no prospects for life and where hopelessness prevailed.
He explained that Trgovska Gora is the possible site for low and medium radioactive waste, while nuclear waste from the Krško Nuclear Power Plant would be stored near Krško in Slovenia.
The waste storage site in Čerkezovac is related to medical waste, radioactive needles, material, lightning rods, protective clothing and the like. We have to control the storage of our radioactive waste and we presume that uncontrolled sites (with that type of material) exist around the country and perhaps even in military warehouses and bunkers in Čerkezovac. Even though our county physical plan doesn't foresee that site for waste storage, we have to respect physical plans of a higher order, Zinić said.
Zinić reiterated that the issue concerning a site for radioactive waste on Trgovska Gora, similarly to the dispute over the Sisak oil refinery, is being exploited to attract attention and that this was about 'political promotion and politicking by certain groups or individuals.'
More news on the nuclear waste issue in Croatia can be found in the Politics section.


This morning Br John George concluded his novitiate year and made vows of stability, conversatio morum and obedience for three years.
His formation in the monastic life will continue and we pray that he will persevere to life vows in 2019. Br John comes from our parish in Little Malvern, Worcestershire, and was reminded in Dom Leo's homily that monastic life would not always be easy, but that he could be assured of the presence of God and the support of the community. Please pray for him, and that he will be joined by others.
If you are considering a vocation to the priesthood or monastic life, then contact Dom Anselm and think about coming to the Vocations' Weekend in December. To learn more about vocations at Downside, click here.


Google announced yesterday (19) Stadia. Google's own long-awaited gaming platform. It's a streaming service that promises to take cutting-edge games, which would require advanced hardware to run in a conventional way, to basically any device and instantly. With games starting in just five seconds straight from the browser.
In short, the big balcony is to dispense with the use of some console to perform simultaneous transmissions for any device. Initially, Stadia will run from desktops, laptops, smart TVs, smartphones and tablets. It should open up many possibilities for remote gaming. It would let the fun begin in one device and continue in another device from the very point where you stopped.
If the idea of Nintendo Switch was already sensational in allowing the player to load the console anywhere, Google seems to take the situation to another level by allowing the game to start on the notebook, switch to the TV in the room, and then proceed on the smartphone. And all without having to install anything. It depends only on the connection to the internet.
To run the party, Google also announced the Stadia Controller. The equipment looks anatomical and has a very sober look. It has buttons Xbox style, two analogue ordered as in the controls of the PlayStation. And it also has buttons of quick access to the sharing and the Google Assistant.
Stadia is the product that until now has been called Project Stream. It was announced last year by Google. The new platform will allow gamers to play cutting-edge titles on several different devices connected to the internet through Google Chrome. That is, no specific hardware is required.
"A place for all ways to play," said Phil Harrison. He is one of Google's vice presidents who has been an executive at both PlayStation and Xbox. The choice of the expression "a place" is not for nothing. And it is in line with the suggestive slogan of the Stadia: the future of games is not a box, it is a place.
In his presentation, Harrison spoke of a connected and integrated platform and was not exaggerating. One of the highlights of Stadia is the possibility of offering multiplayer gaming for its players. This will expand the possibilities of multiplayer challenges.
Made for the streaming generation of games, the Stadia has other interesting features in that sense. Those who are playing can select an exact point of the game to share with other people – the State Share -, making it easy for spectators to join streamers and youtubers games and also the good old round among friends.
Today, the company has confirmed that Stadia will seamlessly stream 4K games at 60 frames per second in HDR and surround sound over a 25 Mbps connection. She hopes the platform will work on a 5G network soon, but at first it will only run through WiFi and wired connections.
To ensure the quality of image processing for its players, Google partnered with AMD to create an exclusive GPU for their datacenters. It will offer 10.7 teraflops power and therefore will be more powerful than the Xbox One X (6 tflops) and PlayStation 4 Pro (4.2 tflops) video cards put together.
To complement the performance part, each Stadia session will also be powered by a 2.7GHz x86 processor and 16GB of RAM, reports Google. All this combination will offer game transmissions in the future from 8K to 120 fps.
Google announced today the formation of Stadia Games and Entertainment , the division that will take care of the initiative of the games and of its own games. The group will be headed by Jade Raymond, former EA and Ubisoft recently confirmed as one of the company's new vice presidents, and it is possible that it will be responsible for developing exclusive games for the Giant's web gaming service.
While the exclusive ones do not arrive, one of the first games to support Stadia will be Doom Eternal, id Software's title that will run at 4K and 60 fps for users of Google's new gaming service.
On the stage of GDC 2019, Google has confirmed that Stadia hits the market later this year for Europe, the United States and Canada – Brazil, of course, was left out and there is still no forecast of when (nor if) the Google games streaming platform will reach other regions.
Google has not yet reported on how to access Stadia, whether individual sales or subscription style Netflix and Spotify.


Amanda Webb founded The Sunflower Group in August 2015 to address the need for affordable and flexible Financial and Business advice, tailored to the SME sector. Prior to this she held senior roles in rapidly growing organisations across high tech and telco, in both the SME sector and corporate.
Amanda is also the Vice Chair and Ambassador of the Young Directors Forum for the Institute of Directors, Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes branch. In this role she actively supports Young Directors to hone their skill set and reach their potential as a Business Leader.
At the Sunflower Group we work with SME Businesses and support them through the many challenges associated with business growth.
In this seminar Amanda will be sharing stories of growing pains many of our clients have had and even some of our own.
Through the lessons learnt our hope is that we can equip you with some tools to help you scale your business.


This annual herb grows up to a height of about 3 feet and has feathery green leaves called dill weed, marketed in both fresh and dried forms. The distinctive flavor of fresh dill weed in no way translates to its dried form.
Fresh dill does, however, quickly lose its fragrance during heating, so should be added toward the end of the cooking time. Dill weed is used to flavor many dishes such as salads, vegetables, meats and sauces.
Dill is tolerant of most conditions and easy to germinate, so it causes few problems for novice gardeners. Container grown or in the garden it is also a very attractive plant with wispy.


text:
import {
    OwidArticleContent,
    OwidArticleType,
    isEqual,
    omit,
} from "@ourworldindata/utils"

export const checkFullDeployFallback = (
    prevGdoc: OwidArticleType,
    nextGdoc: OwidArticleType,
    hasChanges: boolean
) => {
    return hasChanges && (prevGdoc.published || nextGdoc.published)
}

/**
 * This function checks if the article has changed in a way that is compatible
 * with a lightning update. It does this by excluding certain props ("lightning
 * props") from the comparison. If nothing has changed except for the lightning
 * props, then it is safe to do a lightning update.
 *
 */
export const checkIsLightningUpdate = (
    prevGdoc: OwidArticleType,
    nextGdoc: OwidArticleType,
    hasChanges: boolean
) => {
    const lightningArticleProps: Array<keyof OwidArticleType> = ["updatedAt"]

    const lightningContentProps: Array<keyof OwidArticleContent> = [
        "body",
        "subtitle",
        "refs",
        "summary",
        "citation",
        "cover-image",
    ]

    const lightningProps = [
        ...lightningArticleProps,
        ...lightningContentProps.map((prop) => `content.${prop}`),
    ]

    return (
        hasChanges &&
        prevGdoc.published &&
        nextGdoc.published &&
        // When this function is called from server-side code and a Gdoc object
        // is passed in, the omit() call will surface Gdoc class members. The
        // comparison will then fail if the other operand in the comparison is
        // an OwidArticleType object. To avoid this, we spread into new objects
        // in order to compare the same types.
        isEqual(
            omit({ ...prevGdoc }, lightningProps),
            omit({ ...nextGdoc }, lightningProps)
        )
    )
}

export const checkHasChanges = (
    prevGdoc: OwidArticleType,
    nextGdoc: OwidArticleType
) => !isEqual(prevGdoc, nextGdoc)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Order 5493 Apply Order filter
Decision 1284 Apply Decision filter
Letter Decision 77 Apply Letter Decision filter
2013 107 Apply 2013 filter
1988 1205 Apply 1988 filter
Showing 71-80 of 6854 decisions.
Louis Dreyfus Commodities Canada Ltd. v. CN - level of service application.
Introduction Application [1] On April 14, 2014, Louis Dreyfus Commodities Canada Ltd. (LDC) filed a level of service application with the Canadian Transportation Agency (Agency). LDC submits that the Canadian National Railway Company (CN) failed to fulfill its level of service obligations with...
2014-10-03 | Letter Decision | 2014-10-03
Canadian Canola Growers Association against Canadian National Railway Company and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company - Level of service obligations
INTRODUCTION [1] On May 26, 2014, the Canadian Canola Growers Association (CCGA) filed a complaint with the Canadian Transportation Agency (Agency). CCGA submits that the Canadian National Railway Company (CN) and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company (CP) have failed to meet their level of service...
360-R-2014 | Decision | 2014-10-01
Ferroequus Railway Company Limited - Certificate of Fitness No. 99001
INTRODUCTION [1] On April 17, 2014, Ferroequus Railway Company Limited (Ferroequus) applied to the Canadian Transportation Agency (Agency) to transfer Certificate of Fitness No. 99001 to 6793649 Canada Inc. [2] Certificate of Fitness No. 99001 permits Ferroequus to operate non-revenue...
Viterra Inc. against the Canadian National Railway Company - request for an interim order
This is further to Viterra Inc.'s (Viterra) request for an interim order, filed as part of its June 20, 2014 level of service application to the Canadian Transportation Agency (Agency) against the Canadian National Railway Company (CN) in which Viterra requests that the Agency: Order CN to not...
Revisions to the Uniform Classification of Accounts and Related Railway Records
Pursuant to section 156 of the Canada Transportation Act (CTA), the Canadian Transportation Agency (Agency) amends the current Uniform Classification of Accounts and Related Railway Records (UCA). A copy of the UCA, as amended, is attached. The UCA, as amended, takes effect on January 1, 2015, for...
LET-R-53-2014 | Letter Decision | 2014-08-14
Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway, Ltd. and its wholly-owned subsidiary Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Canada Co. - Cancellation of Certificate of Fitness No. 02004-3
The Certificate of Fitness No. 02004-3 issued to Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway, Ltd. (MMA) and its wholly-owned subsidiary Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Canada Co. (MMAC) was suspended effective July 1, 2014. On June 30, 2014, the rail assets of MMA and MMAC were sold. Further, on...
2014-R-153 | Order | 2014-08-12
Richardson International Limited against the Canadian National Railway Company - request for an interim order
This is further to Richardson International Limited's (RIL) request for an interim order, filed as part of its June 12, 2014 level of service application to the Canadian Transportation Agency (Agency) against the Canadian National Railway Company (CN) in which RIL is seeking that the Agency: Order...
Central Maine & Québec Railway Canada Inc. - application for a Certificate of Fitness.
Central Maine & Québec Railway Canada Inc. (CMQ) applied to the Canadian Transportation Agency (Agency) for a certificate of fitness for railway operations that will result from the acquisition of assets through the Asset Purchase Agreement between Railroad Acquisition Holdings LLC and Robert J...
667803 BC Ltd. v. CN - Authorization for construction of a private crossing
INTRODUCTION [1] 667803 BC Ltd. (applicant) filed an application with the Canadian Transportation Agency (Agency) pursuant to section 103 of the Canada Transportation Act (CTA) for a private crossing at mileage 48.85 of the Canadian National Railway Company's (CN) Fraser Subdivision, Dunster, near...
Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway, Ltd. and Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Canada Co. - application pursuant to section 32 of the CTA to Vary Order No. 2013-R-266, as varied by Decision Nos. LET-R-98-2013, LET-R-107-2013, 393-R-2013, 29-R-2014 and 113-R-2014, allowing railway operations up to and including June 30, 2014.
INTRODUCTION [1] Pursuant to Order No. 2013-R-266, as varied (Order), Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway, Ltd. and Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Canada Co.'s (MMAR) Certificate of Fitness No. 02004-3 is suspended effective June 1, 2014. [2] In Decision No. 113-R-2014, the Canadian...

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Happy Easter everyone! While I might be a total Christmas junkie, there is definitely a special place in my heart for Easter as well. As much as I love the Christmas season (liturgical and secular), I have to admit that the Easter Triduum might be my all-time favorite time of year, liturgically-speaking.
This past week, I had the opportunity to sing in my parish choir, a pastime that I once cherished, but have been deprived of for the past few years. College and the convent made it rather difficult to attend choir rehearsals, even if I was present for the actual events. I absolutely love every liturgical celebration of the Easter Triduum, but the Good Friday service has always enamored me. I've often heard people complain that the music is "too depressing" and that the service itself is "too focused on death," but I can only pity those who do not see the beauty of the cross and the Good Friday service.
I don't consider the music to be overly depressing- hauntingly beautiful, certainly, but not depressing. The hymns remind us of the mercy of God, and the love that He has for us. Yes, that man condemned God to die on a cross is atrocious, but even this crime has been redeemed, transfigured. God has transformed it into something beautiful.
Yes, the Good Friday service is oriented around the death of Christ. It would be absurd for it to focus on anything else. Yes, this death occurred two thousand years ago, but it is just as relevant today as it was back then. If it had not been for that one particular death, none of us would be able to gain eternal life. We focus on this death, even if it occurred two thousand years ago, because if Christ had not died, we would never be able to truly live. There would be no resurrection without the cross. No empty tomb without a burial. No life without death.
Good Friday celebrates the cross, because without the cross, there would have been no Easter and no resurrection. As our parish gathered to venerate the cross of Christ, we all eagerly anticipated the coming celebration, Christ's victory over sin and death. But there cannot be a victory without first fighting a battle.
In Arlington National Cemetery, you can find soldiers standing guard over what is called the "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier" twenty-four hours a day, three hundred sixty-five (or sixty-six) days a year. This tomb commemorates the lives of soldiers who died during the First and Second World Wars, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. These soldiers are unnamed, but each is honored for his sacrifice. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is unique, but it is not the first of its kind.
Two thousand years ago, the original Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was created, and for three days, dedicated followers mourned the death of the most important unknown soldier to have ever lived: Jesus Christ. He lived and died in an insignificant part of the world, the son of an insignificant carpenter and his wife. Yes, He had followers, and he obviously caused quite a stir since He had to be condemned to death, but for all of His popularity, upon His death, He remained relatively unknown. There is not a single reference to Jesus of Nazareth in any pagan work, and only one Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, felt the need to give Jesus of Nazareth a line in his book Antiquities of the Jews. While Jesus was condemned according to Jewish law, He died as thousands of men in the Roman Empire did- on a cross. Even after He rose from the dead, Jesus Christ did not appear to great multitudes of people; instead He chose to reveal Himself only to those who already believed in Him. In the grand scheme of things, Jesus Christ seemed to have died an unknown soldier, cast off as a blasphemous Jew or else a failed revolutionary.
For three days, only Christ's most devout followers stood guard over his tomb. Like the unnamed men buried in Arlington National Cemetery, many people mourned the death of this unknown soldier. He had fought the good fight, but to His despairing disciples, He seemed to have failed in His mission. They had wanted a Messiah, a King. They had expected Him to overthrow governments and unseat corrupt rulers. Instead, they had gotten a carpenter's son who had been condemned to die on a cross. He had come and promised life, but then He died.
But then the unimaginable happened. After three days in the tomb, the unknown soldier rose from the dead. He had been dead, but He was alive again. In order to defeat sin, He who knew no sin was "made to…be sin" (2 Corinthians 5:21). In order to conquer death, the Bread of Life had to die. The battle was only won after it seemed as though all had been lost. Christ emerged victorious only after it seemed as though He had sacrificed His life for nothing.
Christ was the primordial unknown soldier. His battle was against sin and death, and His battlefield was the cross. He fought against the powers of sin and death, and He won. Christ's death gave way to His resurrection. The cross yielded to the empty tomb. Good Friday prepared us for Easter Sunday.
For three days, Christ's most devoted followers mourned His death and guarded His tomb. Though reason told them that the battle had been lost and death had been victorious, they continued to hope. They did not lose faith. And so they became the first witnesses to the resurrection, the first people to encounter the Risen Christ. They were the first to learn that the battle against sin and death had been won. Christ had emerged from the tomb victorious.
Jesus Christ "emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:7-11). Satan was prideful, and believed that he would be victorious. Christ, the unknown soldier, had died on a cross and been buried in a tomb. It seemed as though the battle had been lost, that Christ had failed, but Christ's humility, His willingness to be obedient to death, even death on a cross, sealed death's fate. Christ died so that He could rise. He became like sin so that through His death, sin would be defeated. Death gave way to life. The cross was transformed; the tomb was transformed. Things associated with death became symbols of life, and not just earthly life, but life eternal. And finally, through His cross and resurrection, the unknown soldier Himself was transformed. He died relatively unknown, but He was raised having been given the name that is above all names. And so today, two thousand years later, at the name of Jesus, heads continue to bow and knees continue to bend across the globe. For this is Jesus Christ, the King of the Jews and the Son of God, and He has risen from the grave, victorious. Alleluia! Alleluia!


The doors are metal roll-up doors, forming a strong and secure barrier against access to your belongings.
Brick walls offer far better protection than corrugated iron walls, they are more weatherproof and provide more resistance and protection against extreme temperatures.
We do not want to give away the operation of our security systems but you can rest assured, as we have a variety of deterrents which include 24 hour armed response, an electric perimeter fence, movement sensors, flood lights, alarms and restricted access times. All of these measures combine to allow for a level of protection that should deter any attempt at a break- in.
Our access times have been set to allow for access from early to late.
Units can be accessed between the hours of 06:00 and 18:00, seven days a week.
We are closed on Christmas and New Year's, if we need to close on any other public holidays we will inform you well in advance.
Long shackle padlock: these are the traditional padlocks we all know. Most come in shackles made of hardened material, making them virtually impossible to cut with an ordinary hacksaw. This is the best choice but make sure that you select one with a shackle thickness of not more than 10mm but not less than 5.
Closed shackle padlocks: The shackle recedes into the padlock, offering more protection against hacksaws or bolt cutters. Troublesome to open if the keys are lost so be careful of where you store the keys.
Straight shackle padlock: These have straight shackles spanning a gap in the padlock body. They are the most secure type but extremely difficult to open in the event of keys having been lost. If you select this type, know that you may damage the door locking mechanism if the keys are misplaced and you will be liable for such damage.
Discus, round shackle of circulate padlocks: a highly popular choice as the shackle is curved and goes around the padlock body. Cheaper models are not as good as the original designs but they offer good protection.


text:
The Millions Top Ten: January 2010
C. Max Magee February 1, 2010 | 12 books mentioned 1
We spend plenty of time here on The Millions telling all of you what we've been reading, but we are also quite interested in hearing about what you've been reading. By looking at our Amazon stats, we can see what books Millions readers have been buying, and we decided it would be fun to use those stats to find out what books have been most popular with our readers in recent months. Below you'll find our Millions Top Ten list for January.
1. 1. Cloud Atlas 5 months
2. 4. The Corrections 3 months
3. 3. Austerlitz 4 months
4. 2. The Interrogative Mood 2 months
5. 9. (tie) The Mystery Guest 2 months
6. 5. Let the Great World Spin 2 months
7. 8. The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories 2 months
8. – Stoner 1 month
9. 9. (tie) Asterios Polyp 5 months
10. – Wolf Hall 1 month
January saw two more books graduate to The Millions Hall of Fame, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson and Zeitoun by Dave Eggers. Larsson's books have been the beneficiary of a surge of interest in the late Swedish writer's series of thrillers. Eggers' Zeitoun has won much praise for its nuanced look at one immigrant New Orleanian's Katrina story.
New to the Top Ten list this month is Stoner, a book by John Williams from NYRB Classics. The novel was singled out for praise as part of our Year in Reading series by Millions contributors Patrick and Edan as well as by Conversational Reading's Scott Esposito. Also debuting is Booker Prize winner Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. The book was also named a finalist recently for a National Book Crtics Circle Award.
The Millions Top Ten: April 2010
C. Max Magee May 1, 2010 | 12 books mentioned 3
We spend plenty of time here on The Millions telling all of you what we've been reading, but we are also quite interested in hearing about what you've been reading. By looking at our Amazon stats, we can see what books Millions readers have been buying, and we decided it would be fun to use those stats to find out what books have been most popular with our readers in recent months. Below you'll find our Millions Top Ten list for April.
Graduating to our Hall of Fame this month is W.G. Sebald's Austerlitz, which appeared on both our panel's list and our readers list in our "Best of the Millennium (So Far)" series last year. Our panel's winner in the same series, Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections, stays in the top spot. We've been looking forward to Franzen's next novel, Freedom, out later this year.
Our only debut this month is a classic. Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace landed on lots of reading lists after we published Kevin's thoughtful meditation on the book and what it means to be affected by great art.
Near Misses: Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace, Asterios Polyp, The Known World, Tinkers, Solar, Twilight of the Superheroes
C. Max Magee September 2, 2009 | 12 books mentioned 2 min read
We spend plenty of time here on The Millions telling all of you what we've been reading, but we are also quite interested in hearing about what you've been reading. By looking at our Amazon stats, we can see what books Millions readers have been buying, and we decided it would be fun to use those stats to find out what books have been most popular with our readers in recent months. Below you'll find our Millions Top Ten list for August.
Zeitoun
The Rejection Collection: Cartoons You Never Saw, and Never Will See, in The New Yorker
Infinite Jest
Celine Dion's Let's Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste
The Skating Rink
Felonious Jazz
Thomas Pynchon staged an impressive debut in August, hitting number one in The Millions Top Ten as Inherent Vice hit shelves. Garth, our resident Pynchon expert, shared his thoughts on the post-modern detective story just this week. Also debuting on our list in August is yet another title from Roberto Bolaño. Out of the gate, The Skating Rink is looking less like a footnote in Bolaño's prolific career and more like another Bolaño masterpiece, receiving impressive notices from the likes of Wyatt Mason in The New York Times (a "short, exquisite novel") and Scott Esposito in The Quarterly Conversation ("well worth your time"). The book was also on our most recent "Most Anticipated Books" list.
Graduating to our Hall of Fame (after being on our list for 6+ months) are two books that have been surprise Millions favorites. Kitty Burns Florey's Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog: The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences was the jumping off point for a grammar rodeo that Garth put on analyzing a snippet of a speech by President Obama. The upshot? A Venn diagram of Millions readers and grammar lovers would show quite a lot of overlap, I now suspect. Also newly honored in our Hall of Fame is prizewinner Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout, which inspired Edan to pen her much discussed "Mom Book" essay.
Other notable action: Dave Eggers' Zeitoun, recently reviewed around here and generally getting outstanding notices, shot to the number two spot in its second month on the list.
Next month should be quite interesting as we're poised to have four titles join the Hall of Fame, freeing up room for lots of newcomers.
See Also: Last month's list.
Millions Top Ten: August 2010
C. Max Magee September 1, 2010 | 12 books mentioned 1 2 min read
Nick Moran March 9, 2017 | 12 books mentioned 2 min read
Martha McPhee says:
I loved Wolf Hall. Glad to see it listed here. Above all I was astonished by Mantel's use of the third person. I don't believe I've encountered that before, limited but makes Cromwell somehow omniscient. Brilliant vantage point on the familiar story, makes it completely new — for me. Martha
Nick Moran May 6, 2016 | 12 books mentioned 3 min read
Fortune Smiles
What Belongs to You
The Big Green Tent
Girl Through Glass
The Lost Time Accidents
A Brief History of Seven Killings
Mr. Splitfoot
If you're reading this, you survived to bear witness as Donald Trump became the Grand Old Party's official presidential candidate. (Thanks a lot, William Faulkner!) And if the unpredictable, foreboding days spread out ahead promise nothing if not apocalyptic visions – glimpses of failures personal and societal, as well as cosmic – then take solace in this one thing: the Millions Top Ten abides as ever – safe, regular, and fun.
For here on our list, we celebrate the buying habits of our readers, and we can illuminate the works that bring them joy, inspire them, or whisk their emotions. Surely in these trying times, that's better to read than, say, any newspaper. Right?
And so let's begin with the good news. We graduated two – count 'em! – books to our hallowed Hall of Fame this month. First, David Mitchell launched his fourth – count it! – book to immortality, as his latest novel, Slade House, joined three of his others: Cloud Atlas, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, and The Bone Clocks. (Connections abound with that last one, noted Alex Miller, Jr. in his review for our site.) Next, our own Garth Risk Hallberg sent his debut novel, City on Fire, to the Hall as well. Although this is the first time Garth has reached the Hall of Fame as the author of a work of fiction, he did previously reach it as the editor of one of our Millions Originals – Konstantin Kakaes's The Pioneer Detectives.
Filling those two opened spots are Samantha Hunt's Mr. Splitfoot and Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Sympathizer. Hunt's work is an "elegantly structured novel," observed our own Kaulie Lewis in the Great 2016 Book Preview, and it "promises to be the year's most unusual ghost story." Don't miss her interview for our site with Adam Vitcavage. Meanwhile Nguyen's work is "rich, surprising, and often darkly funny," according to Claire Messud in her most recent Year in Reading entry. (Bonus: Thanh Nguyen contributed his own entry in that same year's Year in Reading series.) You can read an excerpt from The Sympathizer from our friends at Bloom.
Elsewhere on the list, A Brief History of Seven Killings dropped from seventh position to ninth. Ordinarily I wouldn't remark about a book moving down our list, but this is a special case because it only needs one more month to reach our Hall of Fame, and frankly I nagged y'all too damn hard for it to drop out when it's this close. Do your part and buy seven copies immediately, please.
Now, wasn't that better than reading the political tipsheets?
This month's near misses included: The Queen of the Night, The Sellout, The Nest, When We Came to the City, and The Turner House. See Also: Last month's list.
Nick Moran | 12 books mentioned 3 min read
C. Max Magee April 1, 2012 | 12 books mentioned 2 min read
New American Haggadah
Ann Patchett's Kindle Single The Getaway Car: A Practical Memoir About Writing and Life has graduated to our Hall of Fame, and Haruki Murakami's 1Q84 slides back into the top spot.
Debuting on our list is Jonathan Safran Foer and Nathan Englander's New American Haggadah, just in time for Passover. We reviewed the new take on an ancient religous text last month. Next month should see a lot of movement on our list as we're likely to see four books graduate to the Hall of Fame, meaning we'll see four new titles debut.
Near Misses: Visual Storytelling: Inspiring a New Visual Language, The Sense of an Ending, Leaving the Atocha Station, The Great Frustration, and The Patrick Melrose Novels: Never Mind, Bad News, Some Hope, and Mother's Milk. See Also: Last month's list.
Nick Moran June 10, 2016 | 12 books mentioned 3 min read
Zero K
People love The Millions for a variety of reasons, but most of all I love The Millions because the site's readers do things like buy tons of copies of The Big Green Tent, Ludmila Ulitskaya's doorstop of a book about Soviet dissidents, which features almost as many characters as it does pages. Well, maybe y'all don't buy literal tons of copies, but certainly a substantial amount of copies – enough over a six-month span that the book has now graduated to our hallowed Hall of Fame. And that's an impressively bookish feat, so have a round of applause!
Filling that open spot is Don DeLillo, whose Zero K describes not the Atlanta Braves pitching staff, as one might reasonably expect, but instead focuses on what Mark O'Connell called "the desire to achieve physical immortality through technology." (Read more in O'Connell's interview with DeLillo, which gets into the author's iPad usage, and how long it took him to write his latest novel.) It's a concern that, in a certain sense, can be tracked through much of DeLillo's past work, as our own Nick Ripatrazone recently made clear in his nice piece on the author's oeuvre: "Zero K is an extension of DeLillo's developing themes, but it places a darker color upon them."
Elsewhere on our list, some shakers and movers but overall things held steady.
Clinging to the last spot this month is Marlon James, whose Brief History of Seven Killings remains one of the most memorable things I read in 2015, and who really, truly belongs in our Hall of Fame. What I mean to say is: y'all should buy a few more copies of his book to ensure its graduation in next month's write-up – not only because we've come this close and it's the right thing to do, but also because it's a fantastic book and one that you'll return to months and years after finishing. For instance, consider this passage on the cultural variety of male loathsomeness, which I think about whenever I start feeling mean at the corner bar:
All of them came through Mantana's. White men, that is. If the man is French he thinks that he gets away with saying cunt but saying you cohnnnt, because we bush bitches will never catch his drift. As soon as he sees you he will throw the keys at your feet saying you, park my car maintenant! Dépêche-toi! I take the keys and say yes massa, then go around to the women's bathroom and flush it down the shittiest toilet. If he's British, and under thirty, then his teeth are still hanging on and he'll be charming enough to get you upstairs but too drunk to do anything. He won't care and you won't either, unless he vomits on you and leaves a few pounds on the dresser because that was such dreadful, dreadful business. If he's British and over thirty, you spend the whole time watching the stereotypes pile up, from the letttttt meeeee ssssspeeeeeakkk toooo youuuuu slowwwwlyyyyy, dahhhhhhhhling beccauuuuuse youuuuuuu're jussssst a liiiiiiiitle blaaaaack, speed of their speech to the horrible teeth, coming from that cup of cocoa right before bed. If he's German he will be thin and he will know how to fuck, well in a car piston kind of way, but he will stop early because nobody can make German sound sexy. If he's Italian, he'll know how to fuck too, but he probably didn't bathe before, thinks there's such a thing as an affectionate face slap and will leave money even though you told him that you're not a prostitute. If he's Australian, he'll just lie back and let you do all the work because even us blokes in Sydney heard about you Jamaican girls. If he's Irish, he'll make you laugh and he'll make the dirtiest things sound sexy. But the longer you stay the longer he drinks, and the longer he drinks, well for each of those seven days you get seven different kinds of monster.
And this isn't even in the top ten of passages from that book, either. So, for real, if you're thinking about reading it, hop to it already. Take it from a monster.
This month's near misses included: Innocents and Others, The Nest, Signs Preceding the End of the World, When We Came to the City, and The Queen of the Night. See Also: Last month's list.
A Naked Singularity
Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Foster Wallace
Object Lessons: The Paris Review Presents the Art of the Short Story
A Hologram for the King
Our hurricane-delayed Top Ten for October has arrived. This month we see a new Paris Review anthology land on our list. We recently covered its creation in an interview with one of the editors. Meanwhile, Dave Eggers'A Hologram for the King returns to our list after a month off wandering in the desert.
A Naked Singularity by Sergio De La Pava remains in our top spot (don't miss Garth Hallberg's profile of De La Pava from June), and D.T. Max's biography Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Foster Wallace holds on to the second spot (read the book's opening paragraphs), and Junot Díaz's This Is How You Lose Her (our review) leapfrogs other big fall books to land the third spot.
We had two books graduate to our Hall of Fame: How to Sharpen Pencils by David Rees (don't miss the hilarious, yet oddly poignant interview) and Stephen Greenblatt's Pulitzer winner The Swerve: How the World Became Modern.
Near Misses: Shakedown, Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar, An Arrangement of Light, The Fifty Year Sword, and New American Haggadah. See Also: Last month's list.


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Tag: Jerry Lawler says he will attend October WWE taping
Jerry Lawler says he will attend October WWE taping
Adam Martin - September 28, 2012
The Wrestling Observer is reporting that during a television interview in Memphis on Friday, WWE Hall of Famer Jerry "The King" Lawler said he plans to attend the 10/16 Smackdown tapings in Memphis. Lawler's appearance was to promote a...


Collective-bargaining agreements were approved by the Gahanna-Jefferson Board of Education on May 17.
Terms of the agreement include no increase in base pay for the 2018-19 school year and increased premium contributions and deductibles for all employees for health care.
Jenny Palguta, president of the Gahanna-Jefferson Education Association, said district teachers voted 267 to 39 to ratify the one-year contract May 8. She said the association has 560 members.
The Ohio Association of Public School Employees, comprising the district's bus drivers, ratified the agreement May 7 but didn't provide the vote tally.
Superintendent Steve Barrett said the district is grateful for the collaboration with and partnership of both unions.
"This has resulted in a shared commitment that will help the board close the gap on the district's fiscal challenges and stabilize our finances," he said.


Vinayak Sreedhar - Cloud Expo Asia Singapore 2019 - CLOUD. DEVOPS. IOT. DATA. PLATFORMS. INFRASTRUCTURE.
Vinayak Sreedhar has been with Zoho Corp for close to 9 years and is currently heading ManageEngine's business development and sales for the Asia Pacific region. He is an IT professional with extensive experience in developing business in the field of enterprise IT management solutions for the APAC market. He also has expertise in building business channels with global System integrators & service providers, channel partners & distributors.


At Renovation, we are all about helping others take the next step in their journey with Jesus. One of those steps is membership through our Next Steps Gathering [happening on Sunday, May 22nd from 6:00pm-7:30pm].
For more information about membership, email emily@renovationonline.org.


Bernadette Levesque and Marta Chlus put on a clinic at the (very) belated and rain delayed start of the Saturday racing series this week, showing everyone else how to master he crazy conditions on the lake. Bernadette ruled the course, never coming in any worse than second, and except for a rough second race, Marta did the same, making a one-two punch that kept everyone else looking in from outside.
Conditions on the lake were light, heavy, and exceptionally shifty, forcing the Race Committee to set several potential windward marks. The wind didn't cooperate at all, frequently shifting outside all of them, and confounding matters by coming from different directions on different parts of the course. Huge leads were gained and lost several times during the course of each race, and a 10 boat length lead frequently meant nothing. A skipper who was first around the windward mark could, and frequently was, last around the windward mark, after the wind deserted them. Bernadette and Marta mastered the winds. Mark Stoughton came in 3rd in almost every race, sometimes losing by just inches. Scott Rosa joined the racing contingent this week, and did surprisingly well, with a third in his first race. Skip Russell took a 4th in the 1st race, beating Mark, who went right when the rest of the fleet went left.
That's what happens sometimes in Sailing races. Hang in-- the wind may change.


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Beav's Banter: Cedric Gillette
He's the Eagle-Tribune's 2017-2018 Max Bishop Award winner and a card-carrying member of Beav's World. We're so thrilled to have Andover (Mass.) High School standout athlete and now Andover alum Cedric Gillette back to visit. Or, as the Eagle-Tribune calls Cedric, "A man for all seasons."
We're especially glad to talk to Cedric in advance of Beav's return to Andover for another special screening of the documentary, Four Games in Fall, set for Saturday, August 4 at the J. Everett Collins Center for the Performing Arts.
Hughes gives Michigan HUGE win in... JULY!
Building off a strong second half and incredible run in the NCAA Frozen Four, Coach Mel Pearson's Michigan Hockey Wolverines should be national title contenders heading into 2018-19. Those chances greatly improved over the weekend when star defensemen Quinn Hughes opted to return to college and put off his NHL career at least one more season. The superb skilled skater was drafted seventh overall by the Vancouver Canucks after an impressive 29-point freshman season, which is a record point total for a first year blueliner. This news is a win for all involved—the Wolverines, the Canucks, and most importantly, Hughes. Hughes makes EVERYONE better.
With or without Hughes, Michigan returns a lot. This team is already junior-heavy and has players throughout the lineup who have played large roles with big minutes and production. The defense has returnees led by captain Joe Cecconi, Luke Martin, Nick Boka, and Griffin Luce. Hughes makes these guys better. The incredibly successful first line for the Wolverines is all gone but a fully healthy Will Lockwood joins Jake Slacker, Josh Norris, Brandon Warren, and Jack Becker in a talented forward group. The Pastujov brothers—Michael and Nick—plus Dakota Raabe and James Sanchez also showed up big late in the 2018 campaign. And reports have transfer Luke Morgan starring at the recent Detroit Red Wings development camp. Hughes makes these guys better.
Hughes NHL team—the Canucks—are in rebuild mode from the Sedins-Luongo era. They have some young pieces up front and eight NHL defensemen under contract. Six play. This is not ideal for a kid defenseman who needs to play and play big minutes. The puck and games find talent. Hughes has talent. He is an NHL skater today. Coach Pearson has seen some guys in his day. He claims his returning blueliner has some of the best wheels he has seen. Kathy and I had Mel on our podcast in the PRESEASON and he talked up his new blueliner. BEFORE coaching him. He came as advertised. Hughes makes his coaches better.
This process and decision worked out. Hughes followed his heart and head. He knows he can play in the NHL. He has played for Michigan. And he liked it. A lot. But he has unfinished business here. Two games short was enough to send the kid back to Ann Arbor and Yost. Vancouver can wait. A national title can't. The Canucks wait will be worth it when they get a better, more mature player who follows fellow college star defensemen Zach Werenski and Charlie McAvoy paths to the NHL after their sophomore seasons. That's the plan and it should work out well for Quinn, the Canucks, and the Wolverines. Because Hughes makes things better.
Football is Near
I know football is near. How do I know this? I got hit with about 75 texts, calls, emails, and tweets today about the New England Patriots. And around 75 percent of them had NOTHING to do with Tom Brady. This is a GREAT thing. Kathy and I have had so many Patriots guests come on our podcast and they all say the same thing: There is no offseason with this team. This is how a quarterback, coach, and owner trio that will someday be in the NFL Football Hall of Fame, won five Super Bowls, playing in eight over the past 18 campaigns. Dull, the Patriots are not. Neither is my life.
Tom Brady and his non-six pack abs showed up WAY early for training camp. I am sure someone from the Boston Globe will write he cares more about his own "brand" than his team. Apparently that myth needs to be reexamined. The man is 41. He was the 199th pick in the draft—the seventh quarterback selected that weekend. SEVENTH. He is one of two players from that class still active. The other? A Punter. Tom Brady has money, a great family, and supermodel wife. HE DOES NOT NEED THIS!!! The issue is not motivation or drive. If you're worried about #12 and #87 not showing up for voluntary workouts, you need to go watch golf. Brady and Gronk could train at Waffle House and kick ass. They are the solution. Not the problem.
The team had a tough, tough end to the 2017 Super Bowl and lots of offseason stories. No more Nate, Dion, Dola, Malcolm, or Matty P. They added some good veterans and had an excellent draft. The team tried to restock and rebuild both lines of scrimmage. Brady and Belichick are still here. So is Gronk, Devin, Donta and Trey. Let 'em write the obit. The door is not closed and if it was, Tommy would just cave it in. You call him the GOAT but try to take down him and his team. Thank you. Nothing—NOTHING fuels him than doubters and challenges. #LetsGo
Celtics and Marcus do a smart thing
The Boston Celtics and Marcus Smart need each other, and they know it. And last Thursday, the team and its defensive identity worked out a four-year contract. The deal is worth nearly $50 million, and both the Cs and Smart are happy. Marcus is the senior tenured player on the roster—an ultimate glue, junkyard dog type player whose value far exceeds statistical contributions. Yes, he is at best an average shooter, but he makes three or four plays a game that help the Cs win. He is almost a sixth starter and plays around 30 minutes a night. This was a good day for the player and team.
Boston is trying to win a World Championship and you cannot win one with just offense and flash. Marcus Smart can control a game without scoring ten points. He is an Olympic-level pest and the type of player every title team needs. For Celtics' fans over 40, this is a better version of ML Carr. Younger? James Posey. The team now has much-needed, long-term security with fellow guards Kyrie Irving and Terry Rozier due to be free agents after next season. This deal had to happen and credit general manager Danny Ainge and Smart's people.
I know Marcus does crazy stuff sometimes—on and off the floor. But winning matters to him. So, does being a Celtic. That's important in today's NBA. Basketball wise, he does not need to shoot. And on a team with offensive firepower, this is huge. On a team with stars, his energy stands out. He is also a good rebounder and passer who gets Coach Brad Steven's offense. He loves covering big and small, short or tall. And he competes his behind off. And Marcus Smart will be in Boston for the next four years.
Beav's World bringing 4 Games in Fall to The Collins Center In Andover, Mass August 4th
. Beav's World and The J. Everett Collins Center in Andover, Massachusetts are teaming up to show an amazing documentary on the Patriots- NFL Deflategate controversy -Four Games in Fall. The event is Saturday Night August 4th and we are pleased to confirm Jay Flannelly aka the Beav and the film director Julie Marron will be in attendance for the show. Flannelly is a Andover native and long time friend of Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady. Their relationship became public during the entire Deflategate saga and was national news. Neither likes to discuss this subject but Marron's work is so amazing we felt it was important to promote this project. Special thanks to Andover High School Principal Philip Conrad and Collins Center director Scott Worthley for making this happen. As we confirm more details, we will update here beavsworld.com #FillThe4th
Event and Ticket Info
Beav's Banter: Jim Brandstatter- Sept 2017
Our Good Friend Jim has been in the news lately. His spot in Beav's World AND Michigan Football is always safe. Kathy and I had Brandy on our Podcast last September. Great guest, better guy. #GoBlue #ThrowBackTuesday
The End is near for Golden State
No, the sky is not falling for the rest of the NBA because The Warriors signed all world Center Demarcus Cousins to a 1-year deal last week. Quite the opposite- this move to me- shows the end is near for Golden State. Why? Simply put- a true all-star team does not work in the NBA. You need role players and guys who can play without shooting the ball 25 times. Hell, this team shows the value of Draymond Green. He does the garbage work. How are you going to make this work with a team killing malcontent looking to cash in for big bucks? He is a ball dominant player who has played on 1 winning team in 8 seasons. And oh- he is coming off a torn Achilles tendon – an awful injury for any player, let alone someone who is not going to be confused with Mr. Olympia anytime soon.
Golden State is a great, great team but do not forget The Houston Rockets had a 3-2 lead in the conference finals then Chris Paul went down. They have 3-star players—Cousins, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson- who can be free agents after the 18-19 season. They are hated throughout the league and get everyone's best effort. And they make few friends with the officials, the team racks up technical fouls like victories. They have been incredibly fortunate with injuries and are due for some bad… things. The law of averages had to hit them.
I am a big Pat Riley fan. He talks about the Disease of More--- the idea that winning leads to players wanting more- for them- money, shots, fame- and that over rides …winning. They focus on themselves not sacrificing for the team. And in pro sports, talent does not win alone- talent can lose to a team that is both talented, together and HUNGRY. The NBA is hard. You need the team on the same page and we have seen Warriors Coach Steve Kerr grow frustrated with his team not showing up, He famously had them coach a game to keep the guys stimulated. Father time is undefeated and wears down teams not just bodies.
Golden State is a great roster and organization. But the NBA is tough and has many great players. Lebron James is lurking in Los Angeles with Magic Johnson. The top young team in the NBA adds two all stars in Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward to a team that lost in Game 7 of the conference finals. The 76ers have an up and coming roster in Philly, Oklahoma City is dangerous, and Houston won 65 games. The league is better than you think, and I am betting on the field not the team. Take the other teams. You can have Golden State.
Beav's Penalty Box: WJR radio-Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions- a team not known for either intelligence or decision making- fired their radio play by play announcer today. After 31 years. On July 10th. Folks, the team reports for training camp in about 2 weeks. Jim Brandstatter deserved better. And he is better than the team he covered and radio station he worked at. Timing is everything and because both WJR radio and the Detroit Lions do not understand this and fired Jim, they have earned a stay in… Beav's Penalty Box.
Full disclosure here- Both owners of Beav's World are HUGE fans of Jim. The voice and person. He has been a guest on our podcast and Brandy was nice enough to host us and Kathy's son in his booth this year before a Michigan game. Jim is a beloved figure in Beav's World. He is a rare talent who can do play by play (Michigan Football) and color (Lions), breaking it down for the average and expert fan. This is the type of guy you want to be your guide during a broadcast. You can trust his eyes and ears. And he was...fired? SMH
People get let go all the time. It is not always for a good reason or anyone's fault. Hell, the two owners of this website have been canned. Stupid Bleep bleep Bleep. It appears the Lions and WJR wanted to go in another direction. Good for them. Be sure to tell Jim and give him notice. Maybe he wants to do games for another team or do a national broadcast. July 10th? Most of those slots are filled. Jim Brandstatter deserved better. 31 years. WITH THIS TEAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jim is one of us—the voice of the fan. He tells it like it is- good or bad. He can break down a play and sometimes see the future. He was not a cheer leader but was for the home team. This is a big, big loss. For a team that has had many. The winner here is Jim- who gets to sit, have Thanksgiving at home and Sunday's off. The Lions fan losses. And because the team and WJR did our friend Brandy wrong, the earn a nice stay in Beav's Penalty Box.
Patriots Roster Evaluation Post July 1st
The defending AFC champion New England Patriots had an interesting offseason and lost some big-name players who showed up in big spots. Monday nights, championship games, Super Bowls, last-minute plays—these guys did it. Nate Solder, Dion Lewis, Malcolm Butler and Danny Amendola are losses, on and off the field. But this is the NFL, which famously stands for NOT FOR LONG. Changes happen, and the team added some talent via free agency, the draft and trades. Let's take a quick look at how the Pats look as training camp draws near.
The Solder loss is obviously huge, but the team loaded up on talent on the offensive line and Dante Scarnecchia is one of the best coaches in the NFL. PERIOD. Between LaAdrian Waddle, Trent Brown, and Isaiah Wynn, the left tackle position will be okay. I think the O line group will not fall apart. Remember this also: The Pats quarterback is decent and gets the ball out. FAST. The team has an elite tight end in Rob Gronkowski and always keeps a back in help in pass pro. Seven men blocking for 12? I like our odds.
I am a big fan of both Dola and Lewis. They both stepped up huge for us in big spots and played best in big games. Neither had a crazy contract offer so that makes it more frustrating. I honestly think this was about role and use. In the Patriots system, the carries and catches are spread out. And both players have had injury issues. Part of the reason #80 was so strong in the post season is the team did not run him into the ground with Julian Edelman out. The Pats loaded up at running back in the offseason- drafting Sony Michel, resigning Rex Burkhead and adding Jeremy Hill in free agency. Backs on this team must pass protect and run routes. There are no easy downs. Multiple backs play and the roles change week to week. Ask your friends who play fantasy football. A runner who has three touchdowns in week one barely played after week six.
Look at the wide receiver depth chart. The team has seven pros back. Edelman and Malcom Mitchell missed all of 2017. Kenny Britt is back for a full season, Cordarrelle Patterson is a new toy for the team and an elite return guy. Do not forget the Pats play Gronk a lot and almost always have at least one running back in the game. They run a lot of 11 personnel—one tight end and one back. That means three wide receivers in the game. They have seven who can play. Danny is now the #1 receiver in Miami. You would leave too for good money. This is the rare deal that works for all three parties—old team, player, new team. My guess is by week three Danny might miss TB12 after two or three games with Ryan Tannehill.
The Malcolm Butler thing is what it is. I think the team lost a solid player in the last offseason when they did not pay and shopped him. #21 was an emotional guy and max effort player. He seemed lost at times and had an uneven year. His lack of size versus bigger receivers is a huge deal—see the Carolina game. And the team was not going to pay big $$$ for a number two cornerback after paying Stephon Gilmore last offseason. Jason McCourty is a top three corner and like his brother, a low-maintenance, high-character, shows up Sunday guy. I like Malcolm and what he brought to the team, but this is a business and biz wise, the Pats did the right thing. So did #21.
The team really invested in the front seven in the offseason—draft, free agency, and trades—should turn this group around. Big time. The defensive line is ten deep and can rotate guys
all day. Both Adrian Clayborn and Danny Shelton should start and Derek Rivers looked awesome before he missed the season with a knee injury. Deatrich Wise and Vince Valentine could really step up in years two and three. I love this group. The Pats linebackers get better by just having Donta Hightower back. The team plays two linebackers most the game and when he is out there with Kyle Van Noy, the entire D looks BETTER. Harvey Langi was showing promise before his car accident and rookies Christian Sam and J'Whaun Bentley could get playing time. The Patriots defense will be MUCH improved in 2018. MARK MY WORDS.
I am a big fan of both the NHL and NBA but for different reasons. I grew up around hockey—my Dad was a great player and I think I mowed lawns for half the Boston Bruins roster as a kid. The Celtics were huge in the 80s and their mantra, "substance over style" and team play, got my attention. Having Larry Bird did not hurt either. With technology today, I rarely miss a game of either the Bruins or Celtics. I also will watch an odd game of other teams. Living in Michigan, Hockey Night in Canada and one of my personal heroes Don Cherry on Coaches Corner, is almost required viewing. In an odd twist, the two leagues start free agency on the same date. July first. This date has become almost a national holiday in Beav's World.
First the NBA. The sport long before free agency and the salary cap was built on organizations and drafting. Very few teams won titles… the Celtics, Lakers, 76ers, the Isiah Thomas Pistons, Michael Jordan's Bulls and when he went to play baseball, Hakeem Olajuwon's Houston Rockets. The league has always been star-driven and in that sport, one guy can change a team. When you look at the group Lebron James made the finals with this year, odds are you could find a better roster of talent in the parking lot of your local Denny's at 3 a.m. The reality of that league.
The NHL is different. Goalies obviously play the whole game and play around 90 percent of games. A top defenseman can play half the game. An elite forward—think Sidney Crosby or Patrice Bergeron—will play around 20-25 minutes. You need depth and quality. The best way to sustain long term success? Pay and keep six to eight core guys, and mix and match with kids and veterans, and draft well. You cannot have a team packed with same-aged players just because the sport has a hard cap. In English, "hard cap" means the dollar figure. So, $80 million is $80 million. No taxes, exemptions, bird rights, etc. Your team is at 80 and set. You will not see an NHL team with Crosby, Bergeron, Connor McDavid and Nathan McKinnon as the top four centers. It does not work or make sense in that sport.
Because of the collective bargaining agreement and influx of cash, the NBA stack teams if players on the roster want it. Take Golden State. They drafted well—Stephon Curry, Clay Thompson, and Draymond Green where not top draft picks. Warriors' management did a good job. And because these three players worked with ownership, the team continued to add role players and created a sustainable roster—appealing to a guy like Kevin Durant. Here is the key. Starting with the Larry Bird exception, NBA cap guys are a vital part of an organization. You have so many ways to keep a team together and the Bird rule—a team can go over the cap to sign its own free agents. You have other smaller rules to add veterans, but this is how you now have teams like The Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder with payrolls significantly over the cap. They should change the name from salary cap to SOFT cap in the NBA.
The hard cap makes what happened earlier this week with the Toronto Maple Leafs and John Tavares very rare. Tavares is a Toronto native but was the face of the New York Islanders for nine seasons. For those of you who are not hockey fans, the Islanders are a lot like the Green Bay Packers of the NHL. They are a "small" market—Long Island, NY—but the fan base is passionate and comes out to support the team. Tavares became the first true franchise player to move via free agency in a long time. Why? Players usually stay with their draft teams. I truly believe Tavares—a quiet, low key kid—would be in New York, but the draw of home and an upcoming team in a hockey-crazy city proved too much. An NBA comparison would be Lebron James at age 28 leaving a good team for his hometown Cavs.
The problem the NBA has now is with the soft cap and CBA (negotiated by James and his NBA players association buddy Chris Paul, by the way), 20-plus teams in this league are almost irrelevant, serving as farm clubs for the super teams. If you're a fan of the Orlando Magic, Utah Jazz, Indiana Pacers or Milwaukee Bucks, you enter the season thinking you have a chance? The beauty of the NFL is a team can go from worst to first—see the Los Angeles Rams and Jacksonville Jaguars. You can have a great organization and front office and stars will leave. I do not fault LBJ for leaving Cleveland, the ownership-management of the Cavs is bad and he has the right to leave. But someone must explain to me why fans should go tot Detroit Pistons game on a Tuesday night when they play the Sacramento Kings.
I am not sure what the answer is for the NBA. I know free agency is fun and Kathy reminds me that I had LBJ staying in Ohio. (She conveniently forgets to mention I had Paul George staying with the Thunder.) The model gives them record television ratings and year-round media frenzy a la the NFL. The Major League Baseball financial model with luxury taxes also works where the owners can decide where enough is enough as a fine for going over. The Thunder payroll is almost $300 million—half of which is taxes. By the way, Kathy has a better chance of being on this team than Carmelo Anthony. This is a tough spot for the league because they must be the doctor who tells you, "Hey you feel great, but down the road splurging is bad for you."
My idea would be to merge the NHL and NBA model. Have the cap. Have the Bird Rule, but only for star players. Larry Bird should never be linked with Rodney Hood. Merge that rule with the Derrick Rose rule (players that have special seasons—first team all-league, MVP, etc).—are eligible for a super max. Make it so drafted players can and want to sign with their original teams. We need a player the level of LBJ to stay with the Cavs for his entire career. (Unless the team's management stinks. See: Cleveland). You can grandfather in existing deals and work with the players. The league is flush with enough money but not enough good teams. And a good, competitive league has MULTIPLE good teams. Like the NHL.


Greetings acute. I apologize if I'm taking your time but I believe that my registered Clan has to go through you before being in the thread. I ask that you view and maybe approve it. If not please PM me, thank you for your time and stay in this forum.
Hello acute. I just submitted a new wRHG, but I can't seem to find the post. I'm assuming that I have to wait for approval before it shows up, but I want to make sure that is the case. The gladiator is called Pith. Have a good day!
Hey acute, when you're free, could you add my new wRHG 6 and remove Acel? Her quote and stuff is in the post.
and if the infraction were experied will it affect the banning ?
Yeah . And when you get banned cause of infraction will it be banned forever ?
Hi acutelatios , i want to ask info about infractions , can you tell me about it ?
Ya that's fine I guess!
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