Holdings: Doth it profit man?

Last Sunday, we wrote about modern-day dynasties, dictators, and despots and, in particular, singled out the Administrations of Presidents Marcos (dynasty and dictator), Estrada (dynasty), and Arroyo (dynasty), plus Middle East-North Africa rulers: Tunisia (dynasty, dictator, despot); Egypt (dynasty, dictator, despot); Libya (dynasty, dictator, despot); and Yemen (dynasty, dictator, despot). Nearing the end-game is Syria (dynasty, dictator, despot) now under tight sanctions from the UN, Arab League, EU, US, and others because of heinous crimes and violence by the state against civilians.

To all these erstwhile Heads of State/Government do apply most pointedly the Words of Wisdom (WOW) of Leo Oracion, the first Filipino to climb Mt. Everest – which deserve repeating. He memorably asserted: “Getting to the top is optional, but coming back down is mandatory -- because no one stays at the summit forever.”

Source http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/343515/holdings-doth-it-profit-man

World champion Giants extinguish themselves in fiery wreck of a game, filing a missing persons report, etc.

A team looks flat when it doesn’t hit. It looks lethargic and impotent. Uncaring, even.

When you don’t hit for an entire season, as the Giants have failed to do in 2011, it has a cumulative effect. It’s slow poison, leeching confidence and belief from the body.

But as the Giants displayed Saturday night at Chase Field, it looks a whole lot worse when you don’t pitch.

The games go from dull to disastrous. Eric Surkamp couldn’t find the plate and he was slow in his attempts to do so, leading to a flurry of walks and stolen bases in the first inning – along with one comical form tackle by Mike Fontenot on a much bigger land-bound mammal in umpire Bruce Dreckman.

It got worse from there. Not only were the Giants officially extinguished with their 15-2 loss, but they self-immolated in excruciatingly slow fashion. The freaky, 28-minute power outage delay wasn’t their fault. But those 13 walks – tying the San Francisco-era franchise record for a nine-inning game – were very preventable.

Several months ago, I asked Bruce Bochy which position player would be first in line as an emergency pitcher. He said Miguel Tejada.

And you thought they took too long to release Tejada! Turns out they could have used him Saturday night.

What does a night like this underscore for me? Well, that the Giants really, really pitched incredibly, unbelievably well to be eliminated in their 158th game. Without the best staff in the league, this could’ve been a 100-loss season. Easily.

After the game there weren’t a whole lot of choices for everyday players to interview for perspective on being officially eliminated. That’s because the Giants have had just one truly “everyday” player all season – and it’s Aubrey Huff, whom the New York Times recently called the least valuable hitter in the league.

This is astounding: Huff is the only player on the roster who has compiled enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title. He’s the only Giant who will finish with more than 500 plate appearances this season.

That is rare. Here’s how rare:

The Giants would become the 14th team since 1920 to have just one player or fewer with 500 plate appearances. (The 1972 Mets and 1957 Kansas City A’s didn’t have anyone reach that mark.)

This is not a good list upon which to find yourself, by the way:

2010 Indians 69-93 (Choo)
2009 Pirates 62-99 (LaRoche)
2007 Cardinals 78-84 (Pujols)
2006 Rays 61-101 (Crawford)
2005 Dodgers 71-91 (Kent)
2003 Reds 69-93 (Casey)
1991 Indians 57-105 (Baerga)
1986 Dodgers 73-89 (Sax)
1972 Mets 83-73 (none)
1961 Phillies 47-107 (Callison)
1957 A’s 59-94 (none)
1954 Orioles 54-100 (Abrams)
1952 Tigers 50-104 (Groth)

As you can see, 12 of those 13 teams had losing records. Ten of them lost 90-plus games. Five of them lost 100. Their aggregate winning percentage was .403.

Makes the Giants’ 84-74 record look downright amazing, huh?

You’ll probably be able to add one more team to this distinguished group. The 2011 Houston Astros have only Carlos Lee above 500 plate appearances, and Clint Barmes probably won’t get there.

Oh yeah, one more detail: The Astros are 55-103.

Just like those ’72 Mets, who had Tom Seaver, Jon Matlack and Jerry Koosman still at or near the height of their powers, it took Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner and Ryan Vogelsong to keep this 2011 Giants season from becoming a total calamity.

–
I looked back at the first page of my scorebook. I’d forgotten Pablo Sandoval was the No.8 hitter on opening day. If only he’d really been the Giants’ eighth best hitter.

Here’s how it went for that lineup:

Andres Torres – DL (twice), 40 games missed
Freddy Sanchez – DL, 94 games missed
Aubrey Huff – COMPLETELY HEALTHY!
Buster Posey – DL, 110 games missed
Pat Burrell – DL, 43 games missed
Miguel Tejada – DL, and released, but only 25 games missed due to injury!
Brandon Belt – DL, 34 games missed, plus two demotions
Pablo Sandoval – DL, 40 games missed.

With the exception of Huff, every player missed at least a quarter of a season.

I used the game story to focus on Bruce Bochy’s answers to some pointed questions about whether he had any regrets or second-guesses. They were valid questions to ask. But given all you’ve just read, it’s obvious that no amount of managerial maneuvering could be expected to salvage this season.

–
Freddy Sanchez is rehabbing here in Arizona, where he lives. We were told he’d be at the ballpark during the Arizona series, cheering on his teammates as they fought to remain alive.

But nobody has laid eyes on him.

Maybe that would sit better with some folks around here if Sanchez were a free agent after the season. But he’s under contract for 2012.

–
The Giants will finish in second place, officially, because the Dodgers lost. Matt Kemp fell behind in the Triple Crown quest, too. His average is at .325. Ryan Braun is at .331 and Jose Reyes is at .330.

–
Tim Lincecum would’ve pitched on short rest Saturday if the Giants had won Friday night. Instead, he’ll make his final regular-season start on Sunday, with something big at stake.

Lincecum’s 2.59 ERA is in between the marks he posted in his two Cy Young seasons. Yet he’ll take the mound hoping he doesn’t finish the year with a sub-.500 record. He’s 13-13. It’s both sad and amazing. Samazing?

–
Instead of Lincecum on short rest, we got Eric Surkamp. I think the rookie will be learning a slide step in spring training. He nibbled and Arizona ate him alive on the basepaths.

The Giants entered 4-0 in Surkamp’s starts, but he’d been walking way too many batters. That surprised me given the way he has pounded the zone all through his minor league career.

He had a 165-44 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 142.1 innings at Double-A Richmond.

In the big leagues, it’s 17 walks, 10 strikeouts in 22 innings.

–
The Diamondbacks drew a sellout crowd – their third of the season.

The Giants have 78 sellouts this season.

If the Giants’ players have any issue getting motivated for these final four games, well, there you go.

“We owe it to our pitchers, our fans and our ownership to go out and play four good games,” Bochy said.

–
Ian Kennedy improved to 21-4 by beating the Giants on Saturday, ensuring he’ll end up on nearly every Cy Young Award ballot. As a voter for the Cy this year, I’m very glad the ballot has expanded from three to five slots. Kennedy deserves recognition, but it’s clear to me he wouldn’t crack a top three of Clayton Kershaw, Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay.

I’d think hard about listing Lincecum ahead of Kennedy, too. Better ERA and more strikeouts.

We all know wins don’t tell the whole story.

–
The Diamondbacks can’t match the Giants’ payroll, but I think they could be a top contender in the NL West for a long time.

Not only have they assembled a good, young rotation, but they have more high-level minor league arms than anyone in the system. Jarrod Parker, a 22-year-old former top-10 pick, will make his major league debut when he starts on Tuesday. Tyler Skaggs, who arrived along with Joe Saunders from Anaheim in the Dan Haren trade, saw his stock soar with a huge minor league season. And Trevor Bauer, the No.3 overall pick in June, has unique, Lincecum-like stuff.

Meanwhile, the Giants’ rotation, while still intact beyond 2011, is getting crazy expensive. And they don’t have much impact pitching left in their system, especially after trading Zack Wheeler for two months of Carlos Beltran. Surkamp was the most promising, and … well, yeah.

–
With the main story mostly pulling back and looking at how Bochy managed the season, I used the notebook space to summarize the particulars of a very ugly game.

In the notes, I mentioned Fontenot’s collision with umpire Bruce Dreckman, who looked like he was made of rubber as the 5-foot-7 Fontenot bounced off him.

Had Fontenot been involved in a play like that?

“Not where I did a form tackle on the umpire,” said Fontenot, who remained stunned on the ground for a minute. “I think he won. He didn’t budge.”

It was a 2-1 game at the time. The collision turned a ground out into a two-run single. You could argue it made a big impact on the final outcome.

But this was elimination day – the ultimate final outcome. And if you’ve followed the Giants this season, you know it too well:

There are only so many “if onlys…” to go around.

Source http://blogs.mercurynews.com/extrabaggs/2011/09/24/postgame-notes-world-champion-giants-extinguish-themselves-in-fiery-wreck-of-a-game-filing-a-missing-persons-report-etc/

In a war-torn Libya, long-repressed Berbers feel free to express their ancient heritage

In a packed classroom on a cool evening near the front line in Libya’s civil war, 15-year-old Mira is teaching children to spell out the names of animals in the ancient Berber script, an act that once could have landed her in one of Muammar Qaddafi’s jails.

The indigenous people of North Africa, known to others as Berbers and among themselves as Amazigh, were brutally suppressed under Mr. Qaddafi, who considered the teaching of their language and culture to be a form of imperialism in his Arab country.

They have become crucial supporters of the rebellion seeking to topple Mr. Qaddafi, with their stronghold in the Nafusa Mountains southwest of Tripoli emerging as one of the main fronts.

Berber was the main language of North Africa before Arabic arrived with the Muslim conquest in the 7th century. It is still spoken in the Sahara and in mountainous parts of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, as well as Libya.

Activists say most of the Arabs of North Africa are in fact descended from Amazigh peoples who were there before the arrival of Islam.

Today, the rebel-held town of Jadu, normally home to about 20,000 people but now swollen with refugees from areas within shelling range of Colonel Qaddafi’s troops, has become the centre for the rebirth of Amazigh culture and language. Many shops have freshly painted Amazigh signs above their doors.

For a few weeks now a radio station has been broadcasting from here in both Arabic and Amazigh, in what Berber activists believe are the first conversations in their language over Libyan airwaves in four decades.

An Amazigh publishing house has printed four books so far during the past month, billed as Libya’s first publications in the language since Colonel Qaddafi seized power.

And there is Mira’s school, where classes are held six evenings a week from 5:30 to 7:30 pm.

The children study the Amazigh language at basic and advanced levels, as well as English, and sing songs in the courtyard. Their teachers learned Amazigh in secret from their parents at home.

Nearby is a museum, with local artifacts defiantly labeled in the once-banned script, items bearing the distinctive geometric patterns that Berbers say are part of their heritage.

Early in his rule, Colonel Qaddafi declared that anyone studying the Amazigh language was drinking “poisoned milk from their mother’s breast”, explained Fathi Anfusi, a 48-year-old Amazigh activist who escaped Tripoli and arrived in Jadu last month.

Mr. Qaddafi accused Amazigh activists of being on the payroll of Western intelligence agencies and seeking to divide the country. Berber activists were rounded up and jailed.

The hero of their movement, a poet and journalist named Said Mahrooq, was paralyzed after being run down by a car. Even giving children Amazigh names was forbidden.

Mr. Anfusi, an agronomist by profession, wanted to name his daughter Tala, a Berber name meaning “fountain.” He was forced to register her with the Arabic name Hala instead.

Even the Berber name of the Nafusa mountain range was banned. On Colonel Qaddafi’s maps, the region is known only as the Western Mountains.

Colonel Qaddafi’s government still uses hostility to the Amazigh as part of its propaganda, warning Arabs in nearby towns that Berbers are coming out of the hills to attack them.

Inside rebel-held territory, Arabs and Berbers say they are united. Rebel units from Berber towns such as Yefren and Jadu have been fighting side by side with units from Arab towns in the mountains, such as Zintan.

All fly the same pre-Qaddafi flag and profess similar goals of creating a democratic state.

But although they fight side by side, the units are still kept separate. When they captured the village of Al Qawalish last week, one of the first acts of the rival units was to hurriedly spray-paint the names of their Arab or Berber home towns on village walls.

An Arab rebel fighter in Zintan winced when this reporter referred to the Nafusa Mountains.

“Never say the Nafusa Mountains. That’s what the Berbers call it. We call it the Western Mountains,” he said.

But aren’t you all friends?

“We are friends for now,” the fighter replied, pausing for a moment to consider. “For the revolution. Mr. Anfusi acknowledges that hostility between Arabs and Berbers will probably outlast Qaddafi’s time in power.

“We will discover about each other. This will need time. Maybe we need five years. Maybe 10 years to build our country. This is our opportunity,” he said.

But in his own way, Colonel Qaddafi had inadvertently helped. The Libyan leader’s crackdown on the rebellion this year had united the Arabs and Berbers of the mountains for the first time, Mr. Anfusi said.

“The people, they all hate Qaddafi.”

Source http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/07/12/157324.html

Ben Ali Trial: Is ben Ali a dictator or a drug dealer?

The drugs and gun running trial in absentia of Tunisia's ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali has opened in the capital, Tunis. It was initially set to open on Friday but was pushed back following a Tunisian judges' strike.

Ben Ali was the first leader to be ousted in the "Arab Spring", and fled to Saudi Arabia in January following weeks of protests, a country that has so far failed to extradite Ben Ali, despite a request by Tunisia's new interim government.

Ben Ali's wife Leila Trabelsi was also convicted last week on the corruption charges as money and jewellery were found at their palace outside Tunis, which the police searched after the popular uprising forced the presidential couple to flee.

Following a first day of trial, they were then fined $66m (£41m) for embezzlement and misuse of public funds and Mr Ben Ali was sentenced to 35 years in jail.

Ben Ali denies harbouring drugs and weapons at his palace in Tunis during his rule and in court, his lawyer, Hosni Beji, described the drugs and gun-running charges as "irrational", before adding that he had a list of witnesses to prove Ben Ali never owned or kept drugs.

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"How can we imagine that a president holding power can have two kilogrammes of cannabis resin of mediocre quality [with intentions] of selling it," the AFP news agency quotes him as saying.

However, the lawyer also insisted he needed more time with his client.

"I will ask for an adjournment to a date that will allow me to have contact with my client and his family and prepare with him" a solid defence, Beji said.

Mr Beji added that he has a list of witnesses that should be able to prove Ben Ali "never owned or kept drugs."

Regarding the weapons charges, Benji said most of the weapons found at Ben Ali's palace in the Carthage neighbourhood north of Tunis were personal gifts from high-ranking international officials. He cited the Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and the Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef Ben Abdel Aziz has amongst the officials that gave the former head of state weapons.

However, proving that the Tunisian people are still extremely angry at their former leader and those who support him, Reuters news agency reported that members of the public in the courtroom heckled Ben Ali's lawyers, shouting: "Get out! You have betrayed Tunisia by defending Ben Ali!" and "You should have defended the young people killed by Ben Ali's weapons!"

The former leader's lawyers walked out of the courtroom after the judge refused their request to delay the case so that they had more time to prepare their defence.

However, last week the former presidential couple's first sentence was highly criticised by rights groups and commentators, partly because the conviction was handed down after only six hours' deliberation.

Now that Ben Ali is sued for possession of marijuana with intention to sell, the trial is set to become even more bizarre. Surely, this does not represent the Tunisian people's primordial grievances. While the trial of the former Tunisian head of state could have been historical it is now turning into a joke. By the time the trial ends Ben Ali will probably be sentenced to hundreds of years of prison but will almost certainly never even have to set a foot in one.

While the Tunisian judicial system was here given a chance to prove it was now free from the presidential pressure and its dictates, has it succumbed to the new interim government's demands for a hasty trial?

Ben Ali's presidency was marred by human rights abuses and a lack of democracy, not by his incline for marijuana, so it does sound right for the prosecution to focus on the human rights violations he committed rather than on his drug habits.

Source http://uk.ibtimes.com/articles/173980/20110704/ben-ali-trial-is-ben-ali-a-dictator-or-a-drug-dealer.htm

Playfair Reports Initial Drill Results From Seal Lake

Playfair Mining Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:PLY) is pleased to provide an update of the ongoing drill program at its 100% owned copper-silver Project at Seal Lake in Central Labrador. To date 20 holes, totalling 3,430m metres have been completed; analyses have been received for 10 of these holes. A total of 24 widely spaced holes are planned for this winter 2011 drill phase.

Results have been received for the initial tendrillholes. All ten drillholes intersected the favourable reduced Adeline Island Formation rocks with cumulative thicknesses ranging from 40.1 metres in drillhole SL-11-06 to 4.65 metres in drillhole SL-11-08. In addition to the results listed below, the seven remaining drillholes all contain anomalous amounts of copper within the favourable reduced rocks relative to the other sedimentary rocks in the area.

These results provide support to Playfair's exploration theory that the extensive copper-silver mineralization at Seal Lake is syngenetic or diagenetic (that is formed at the same time as the host rocks or shortly afterwards) and not epigenetic (that is formed at a considerably later time than the host rocks). The implication is that the copper silver mineralization occurs throughout the Seal Lake basin and that considerable tonnage can potentially be developed. Potentially economic copper and silver grades were intersected in three of Playfair's drillholes.

Source http://pr-usa.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=683914&Itemid=29

SANTA ANITA STABLE NOTES (Saturday April 2, 2011)

Premier Pegasus enhanced his role as favorite for the Santa Anita Derby with a sizzling five-furlong workout Saturday morning at the 8 o’clock break on Santa Anita’s main track. The impressive winner of the San Felipe Stakes was timed in a bullet :59.20 under regular rider Alonso Quinonez.

The move was the fastest of 13 recorded works at the distance, the average time of which 1:00.56.

“We talked to Alonso before the work and told him to get a nice, easy work. We wanted a slower work but I don’t think we could get anything slower than that,” said Raxon Cho, 17-year-old son of owner/trainer/breeder Myung Kwon Cho, who was at his son’s side.

”I’m very happy with the horse,” the elder Cho said. “I liked the horse from his first race, but I didn’t expect him to accomplish as much as he’s had so far. I love him now.”

Raxon, an accomplished musician who plays saxophone, cello and piano, is enjoying the ride which he hopes will take Team Cho to the Kentucky Derby on May 7.

“Horse racing has always been exciting for me, but having a horse with this kind of capability is an amazing feeling, especially after how he ran in the San Felipe,” he said. “We always wondered if he could go two turns or not, because you never know until they do it.

“Now we know we have a good horse and we’re looking forward to next Saturday.”

Probable for the Santa Anita Derby: Anthony’s Cross, Joel Rosario; Bench Points, Rafael Bejarano; Celestic Night, Joe Talamo; Comma to the Top, Corey Nakatani; Indian Winter, Patrick Valenzuela; Mr. Commons, Mike Smith; Offlee Wild Boys, no rider; Premier Pegasus, Alonso Quinonez; and Silver Medallion, Garrett Gomez.

In other Santa Anita Derby news:

Jaycito, who could run in either the Santa Anita Derby or the Wood Memorial the same day, worked six furlongs at Santa Anita Saturday in 1:13.40. “He worked nice,” Bob Baffert said. “We’ll know (where he runs) tomorrow.”

Bench Points, third by nine lengths in the San Felipe, worked five furlongs in :59.80 for trainer Tim Yakteen.

David Hofmans said there is a “50-50” chance Quail Hill would run in the Santa Anita Derby.

At Hollywood Park, Celestic Night worked six furlongs in a bullet 1:12 under Joe Talamo for trainer Mike Mitchell.

Trainer Eoin Harty said Robert B. Lewis Stakes winner Anthony’s Cross was scheduled to have his final major drill for the Santa Anita Derby Monday, five furlongs, at Hollywood.

Source http://www.horseraceinsider.com/Press-Release/article/santa-anita-stable-notes-saturday-april-2-2011

Digging deeper into bone fossils

The accuracy of studies on ancient bones of interest to archaeologists and paleontologists can be improved thanks to a new procedure designed by scientists in France.

Ancient human and animal bones give us an idea of what the climate and environment were like throughout geological history. They can also give us information on past diets and lifestyles. Unfortunately, the changes that occur to bone once it has been buried in the ground, called diagenesis, can modify bone fossils and limit their use as proxies.

Matthieu Lebon, from the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, and colleagues, have applied a method currently used in modern biomedical applications called synchrotron radiation Fourier transform infrared (SR-FTIR) microspectroscopy, to understand the fossilisation process of ancient bone.

The team prepared samples for analysis by impregnating the bone with a resin and then cutting off very thin sections. This allowed them to sample sites within the bone, irrespective of the preservation state, without affecting the structure.

They then applied SR-FTIR microspectroscopy and found that they could determine the molecular composition and structural properties of the bone at the microscale, a resolution not possible with other techniques. They observed different patterns of collagen-phosphate ratios and crystallinity levels in the bone, which could help in understanding the different effects that diagenesis has on ancient bone, and also in selecting the best sections for carbon dating and palaeo-diet analysis.

'The information provided by fossil bone composition plays an increasing role in current archaeological and paleontological research. Understanding fossilisation processes and evaluating preservation state are crucial when selecting the sample or the part of the sample that can provide the more reliable information, particularly in the framework of palaeo-isotopic studies,' says Lebon.

Matthew Collins, from the University of York, UK, who studies the decay of archaeological materials comments: 'The team's work elegantly highlights the heterogeneous nature of bone decomposition and opens up the possibility to investigate patterns of bone diagenesis and molecular survival.'

Lebon hopes to apply the procedure to more varied fossil samples. The team's goal is to be able to model diagenesis according to specific climate and sediment in archaeological sites.

Source http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2011/March/18031104.asp