And in South Carolina – where the H is silent in Horry Country – the names matter. Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who mastered most of the names during her husband’s campaigns, goofed by calling the state’s coastal area “the lowlands” rather than the preferred “Lowcountry.” To be sure, campaigning in the early voting states is an art. Voters want to see would-be-presidents at their neighborhood store, serving up ice cream as Romney did in Kingston, N.H., awkwardly tossing a bright green T-shirt over his dress shirt and tie. “Oh gosh, I’m not as strong as these girls,” Romney said, sliding behind the counter for a photo opportunity. “Just have me do some soft serve.” Such campaign stops are meticulously choreographed, with crowds assembled, stickers in hand and pledge cards ready. “Part of the problem is that everyone tries to be so disciplined, golly, you worry about the spontaneity,” said Kathy Sullivan, a former Democratic chairwoman in New Hampshire. When Republican Fred Thompson stopped by a Manchester, N.H., sports bar recently, the customers were more interested in watching the New England Patriots than shaking hands with the “Law & Order” actor. “Down in front,” one voter joked to the former Tennessee senator as the 6-foot-5 candidate blocked his view of quarterback Tom Brady and the rest of the Patriots. The disruption – he and the throng of journalists standing in front of a big-screen television – prompted Thompson to take his cheeseburger back to his bus and forced his host, Manchester Mayor Frank Guinta, to offer up his untouched light beer to a nearby table. The event was not long after Thompson’s trip to the Iowa State Fair, where the Republican rode around in a golf cart and wore Ferragamo shoes. Republican Sen. John McCain raised eyebrows among South Carolina GOP voters, who are overwhelmingly religious conservatives, by saying he considers himself a Baptist and attends a Baptist church at home in Arizona. For decades McCain had publicly identified his religion as Episcopalian. His follow-up that he “didn’t find it necessary” to be baptized in his adoptive Baptist church further puzzled voters, many of them Southern Baptists. There are plenty more `don’ts’ on the list: Don’t schedule a trip without looking at a map, as aides to former Sen. John Edwards apparently did when they promoted a campaign swing through New Hampshire’s North Country, but included stops far from that region. Don’t forget where you are, as Giuliani apparently did when he referred to “the people here in Massachusetts” during a speech in New Hampshire. Not quite as bad, Obama repeatedly called New Hampshire’s Belknap County “Bell Camp” during an early trip. Don’t get the governor’s name wrong, as Thompson did with South Carolina’s Mark Sanford. (Thompson called him Sandford.) Don’t get the name of the party chairman wrong, as Romney did with Fergus Cullen at a New Hampshire Republican gala. Romney called him Angus, a name Cullen has embraced as a joke. Don’t assume food comes ready to eat, as candidates in South Carolina have done. In that state, political barbecue means roasted pig and hands-on messiness. “You peel shrimp and shuck oysters,” said Romney political consultant Warren Tompkins. More than 20 years later, some remember when Walter Mondale didn’t peel and got more than a mouthful. Sports are another pitfall, as 2004 Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry learned at least twice. Kerry called the Green Bay Packers’ famous Lambeau Field “Lambert Field” and talked about the Ohio State Buckeyes while in Michigan, home of the Buckeyes’ archrival. But Kerry’s biggest of-the-people mistake was visiting South Philadelphia and ordering a cheese steak – with Swiss. It was a punchline for weeks. Giuliani, aware of that particular challenge, ordered his Geno’s sandwich with provolone and onions. At the packed event, he wore a suit and tie.160Want local news?Sign up for the Localist and stay informed Something went wrong. Please try again.subscribeCongratulations! You’re all set! AD Quality Auto 360p 720p 1080p Top articles1/5READ MOREGame Center: Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, 10 a.m.“How about the lobster?” he asked, never loosening his tie. “Everybody has the lobster.” Fellow Republican Mitt Romney went through the same hazing ritual, tie tight and lobster in hand. Laughter – including from wife Ann – followed. Democratic Sen. Barack Obama tried talking business with farmers in Adel, Iowa, in August to demonstrate empathy and win votes. But then he referred to a high-end organic food chain that has no stores in Iowa. “Anybody gone into Whole Foods lately and see what they charge for arugula?” said Obama, who lives in Chicago. “I mean, they’re charging a lot of money for this stuff.” SEABROOK, N.H. – Thou shalt not wear a shirt and tie at a lobster shack near a New Hampshire beach. Thou shalt not invoke upscale grocery stores while campaigning in farm-rich Iowa. And thou shalt not call South Carolina’s Lowcountry “the lowlands.” For every must-do, must-see tradition or place in the critical states that kick off voting for the presidential nominations, there is an equally important list of must-avoid steps. Some candidates, however, apparently didn’t get the memo about what’s incongruous or sometimes annoying to voters in New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani made a trip this summer to a tourist-filled lobster shack in Seabrook, N.H. In sweltering heat, the Republican rolled up in his black SUV wearing a bold red tie and crisp white shirt. As guests with flip-flops on their feet cracked lobster bodies with their bare hands, Giuliani got a laugh by rolling up his sleeves, grabbing a live lobster from a tank and holding it aloft. 
Tottenham are finally ready to sell Luka Modric, who is still wanted by Chelsea, according to the Daily Mirror.Spurs have been linked with a host of players following the appointment of former Blues boss Andre Villas-Boas as manager at White Hart Lane.And it is claimed that Croatian playmaker Modric, who has been widely tipped to move this summer, will leave in order to fund new signings.Chelsea tried in vain to sign him in January. Real Madrid and both Manchester clubs are also said to be interested.Meanwhile, Daniel Sturridge is inevitably in the headlines following the news that he is suffering from suspected meningitis.The Chelsea forward, 22, has been treated at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, where his condition is being assessed.A friend of Sturridge is quoted by The Sun as saying: “The family have obviously been very concerned and worried.“Thankfully he’s been feeling a little bit better over the last 24 hours and everyone is hoping that’s a positive sign.“But the full facts won’t be known until the results of all the tests are back and have been examined by the experts.”And Paris St Germain boss Carlo Ancelotti has dismissed reports he is keen to sign John Terry from Chelsea.French media quote him as saying: “We are looking for a central defender and the club is in contact with some players, but not John Terry.”This page is regularly updated. Follow West London Sport on TwitterFind us on Facebook
TORONTO — As the Sharks prepare for Wednesday’s showdown with the Toronto Maple Leafs in Canada, an unsolved mystery engulfs the team: what happened to the chunk of hair that Nazem Kadri ripped out of Joe Thornton’s beard?Is it being preserved in a fridge? Prepared for sale on eBay? Maintained for a future display at the Hockey Hall of Fame?After a full-scale probe, the whereabouts of the Thornton chunk continues to baffle investigators. Maybe Robert Mueller can look into it when he’s done …
(Visited 715 times, 1 visits today)FacebookTwitterPinterestSave分享0 by Dr Jerry BergmanAudio Playerhttps://crev.info/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Bergman-20170331-Origin-of-Sex-with-intro-tail.mp300:0000:0000:00Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.Researchers in our day still admit they are baffled about the origin of sexual reproduction.1 Why sex exists is problematic for many reasons, such as the fact that many organisms, from dividing microbes to plants that grow from cuttings, do very well without it. The problem for evolution has always been that sexual reproduction cannot occur until both the copulatory organs are well matched, and the gametes, both the eggs and sperm, are functional so that the union of the two cells produces viable offspring. Sex is a classic case of irreducible complexity.The common notion that these two systems must somehow evolve together from an earlier asexual system ignores the problem that reproduction cannot occur until both systems are highly functional. It is hard to even imagine the evolution from asexual to sexual reproduction, and even if one could, imagination is a far cry from demonstration. Science Daily stated recently thatThere are significant gaps in our knowledge on the evolution of sex, according to a research review on sex chromosomes from Lund University in Sweden. Even after more than a century of study, researchers do not know enough about the evolution of sex chromosomes to understand how males and females emerge.2Another problem is many different types of sexual systems exist in nature. Even the chromosomes that determine the sex are very diverse in living organisms. Mammals use XY (XX produces a female, XY a male) but snakes and birds use the ZW system (ZW produces a female, and ZZ a male). The Platypus has 10 sex chromosomes! Platypus sperm are either XXXXX (which produces a female) or YYYYY (which produces a male). Less studied are haploid UV sex chromosomes and other unique forms. An additional problem for Darwinism is how to get from the mitotic cell division used by asexual cells to the substantially different and more complex type of cell division called meiosis, which sorts out the chromosomes into haploid gametes—eggs and sperm. Then after that, the males and females must possess behavioral modifications with specialized organs to bring the gametes together.Sex is the queen of problems in evolutionary biologySome systems, such as those used by many reptiles and some fish, use a temperature-dependent sex determination in which the specific temperature during the thermosensitive period of embryonic or larval development determines the offspring’s sex. Some lizards even have the option of either laying eggs or reproducing by live birth. Other reptiles, such as the skink lizard in the family Scincidae, can use both types of reproduction. They can lay eggs to reproduce, or give birth to live young, as mammals do. They achieve live birth by letting the eggs hatch inside the mother’s reproductive tract, which then emerge as live young. Earthworms can reproduce asexually or sexually, depending on if they can find a mate. These are not the only variations in nature that must be explained by evolution. In both ant and bee colonies, for example, there exist two different female types—the workers and the fertile queen—and also several different male types with different roles.Thus, evolutionists have to figure out how each system evolved – a huge problem if all sexually reproducing animals descended from the first single asexually reproducing organism. In spite of gallons of ink spilled in attempting to solve this question, the conclusion of Professor of Biology Graham Bell, written over 35 years ago—and 35 years is a lifetime in science—is still very accurate. He said, “Sex is the queen of problems in evolutionary biology.” Bell said this not because it has not been studied, but becauseno other natural phenomenon has aroused so much interest; certainly none has sowed as much confusion. The insights of Darwin and Mendel, which have illuminated so many mysteries, have so far failed to shed more than a dim and wavering light on the central mystery of sexuality, emphasizing its obscurity by its very isolation. No doubt the roots of this difficulty lie very deep.3As we have learned more about sexuality and life, his statement is actually truer now than when he made it a generation ago. Evolutionists need to explain not only the evolution of sex, but also the origin of the many types of sexual systems existing in the animal world. And no evolutionary pathway has been shown from asexual reproduction to sexual reproduction. Some primitive life forms have comparatively advanced sex systems, and some advanced life forms have simple sex systems.These remain huge problems for Darwinism. One evolutionist wrote under the chapter title of “The Ultimate Existential Absurdity” that evolutionary biologists are teased for their obsession with why sex exists. “Sex is a puzzle that has not yet been solved,” Mark Ridley said; “no one knows why it exists.”4References:1. Jessica K. Abbott, Anna K. Nordén, Bengt Hansson. Sex chromosome evolution: historical insights and future perspectives. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2017; 284 (1854): 20162806 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.28062. Lund University, “Knowledge Gap on the Origin of Sex.” Science Daily, 26 May 2017. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170526084533.htm.3. Bell, Graham. 1982. The Masterpiece of Nature: The Evolution of Genetics and Sexuality. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. P. 19.4. Ridley, Mark. 2001. The Cooperative Gene. New York: The Free Press p. 111.Audio version of this article:Audio Playerhttps://crev.info/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Bergman-20170331-Origin-of-Sex-with-intro-tail.mp300:0000:0000:00Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.Dr. Jerry Bergman, professor, author and speaker, is a contributor to Creation-Evolution Headlines. See his Author Profile for his previous articles.
Share Facebook Twitter Google + LinkedIn Pinterest Predominately hot and dry weather continued this past week, causing crop and livestock conditions to deteriorate across the State, according to Cheryl Turner, Ohio State Statistician of the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.There were 6.6 days available for fieldwork for the week ending August 7th. Aside from sporadic shower activity on Friday, very few areas of the State received any rain during the week. Meanwhile, temperatures statewide remained about five degrees above normal for this time of the year. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, nearly 43 percent of the State was rated as in “moderate drought” while another 27 percent was rated “abnormally dry”. Soybeans were progressing, but showing stress due to lack of rain; there were reports of soybeans looking burned in southern counties. In northern counties, growers reported corn stalks starting to fire at the bottom and leaves curling, while hay fields were browning. Oat harvest was nearly complete across the State. Hay second cutting was nearly finished while third cutting was progressing.Click here for the full report
In August 2009, construction began at the University of California at Davis West Village, amid proclamations that the project would become one of the nation’s largest and most ambitious university developments designed to operate at net zero energy.Certainly its scale suggests it will live up to the first part of that promise. West Village’s plans include 662 apartments and 343 single-family homes (enough housing for about 3,000 people), 42,500 sq. ft. of commercial space, and several on-site renewable-energy installations, including a 4-megawatt photovoltaic system – all on about 205 acres.Last month, the school celebrated the completion of Phase I, a $300 million, 130-acre segment of the project that includes 315 apartments, the commercial facilities, and a 15,000-sq.-ft. recreation center.According to UC Davis, net zero energy performance will be achieved due to design and construction details such as added exterior-wall insulation, solar-reflective roofing, radiant barrier roof sheathing, energy-efficient appliances and fixtures, carefully designed roof overhangs, and window sunshades.A giant NZE lab experimentAlthough two of West Village’s apartment complexes are newly occupied – about 800 students have already moved in – and are being monitored for energy use, it is too early to tell how they’re likely to perform. The project’s designers estimate that the energy-efficiency features of these buildings will reduce electricity use by 50% compared to buildings of comparable size built to code. Similar energy efficiency is expected for the single-family homes.The 4-megawatt photovoltaic installation and a biodigester – based on technology developed at UC Davis for converting organic waste into energy – are planned for West Village’s remaining build-out, Phase II, which is expected to be completed in 2013. Because West Village is so large, it’s not yet clear if its planned renewable-energy infrastructure will be adequate or whether it will have to be expanded to accommodate the community once it is fully populated.UC Davis notes that the project is a giant laboratory for large-scale net-zero-energy applications and energy-efficiency research.By Davis housing standards, it also is not cheap to live there. Student apartments rent for about $745 per bed per month, including utilities and unlimited broadband service. Single-family homes, the school says, will be available for sale to full-time faculty and staff not already owning a home in the Davis Joint Unified School District.The neighborhood master plan for West Village also includes another, 94-acre phase that would add another 882 student beds and 132 single-family homes, but the school says that no timeline has been set for that portion of the project.