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Wednesday, April 24, 2013

CSN: Giants walk-off vs. D'backs? |? The new Zito

BOX SCORE

SAN FRANCISCO ? Cody Ross tried his best to follow Pat Burrell?s example.

You know. Return to your former home. Soak up the polite applause. Then dig into the batter?s box, pop a home run, and enjoy a steady shower of boos thereafter.

Ross didn?t hit a home run. He did hit a two-run single, though ? and sprawled in the dirt to take a sure RBI double away from Buster Posey in the sixth. Ross the Boss did everything he could to put a stamp on the joint in his first game at AT&T Park as a former Giant.

But Posey has a way of grabbing attention?

Posey smoked a game tying, two-run home run in the eighth inning, and Brandon Belt set aside his struggles long enough to hit a walk-off single in the ninth as the Giants rallied for a 5-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night.

Posey was hit in the throat by a pitch in the dirt earlier in the game, but he didn?t stay down for long. In many other parks, he would?ve had a three-homer night.

He was the difference maker as the Giants took the first of what promises to be 19 hard-fought meetings between these last two NL West champs.

Starting pitching report

Last year, Ryan Vogelsong threw quality starts in 19 of his first 20 assignments. He?s only done it once in four tries this year.

He allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks in seven innings, although it could?ve been worse considering how his night started. The Diamondbacks loaded the bases with no outs on two singles and a double.

Miguel Montero struck out but Ross reached out and poked a high and outside fastball to right field, plating two runs. Vogelsong escaped futher damage when he struck out Didi Gregorius to strand runners at the corners.

Vogelsong retired 11 of 12 hitters before pitcher Wade Miley hit a towering, tiebreaking, Bondsian home run into the right field arcade. Vogelsong snapped a fresh ball into his glove, obviously unhappy at giving up a homer to a career .146 hitter who only had two extra-base hits (both doubles) in 97 plate appearances.

It was the third home run the Giants have allowed to a pitcher this month, counting the Dodgers? Clayton Kershaw and the Brewers? Yovani Gallardo. The Giants hadn?t given up three homers to pitchers in a month since June, 1953.

It was a bad night to live up in the strike zone, as the ball carried through unseasonably warm air. Vogelsong paid for one more mistake, when Eric Chavez parked one in the sixth inning.

He was on the hook for the loss before Posey?s shot in the eighth bailed him out.

Bullpen report

Jean Machi pitched a scoreless seventh inning and Jose Mijares was on the verge of doing the same when Cliff Pennington hit a two-out double in the eighth.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy went straight to his closer, following standard protocol for a tie game at home. It became an instantly intriguing matchup when Arizona sent up pinch hitter Eric Hinske, who so memorably homered off Romo in the 2010 NLDS at Atlanta.

Simply put, Romo is a different pitcher now. He didn?t have that two-seamer, which he threw in a perfect spot. The first pitch broke just enough to hit off the end of Hinske?s bat, resulting in a slow grounder to second base to end the inning.

With that pitch, Romo preserved the tie ? and ended up receiving the victory when the Giants won it in the ninth.

At the plate

The Giants got to Miley for a pair of runs in the first inning when Marco Scutaro, Pablo Sandoval and Posey hit consecutive doubles. Poseys? shot was a deep drive into right-center that would?ve been a home run in almost any other ballpark.

They couldn?t touch Miley again, but they came close in the sixth after Scutaro led off with a single. Posey followed with a shot into the right field corner that kept carrying, but Ross played it perfectly. He laid out on the warning track as the ball lodged in the palm of his glove.

There was no catching what came off Posey?s bat the next time, though. He followed Sandoval?s single with a shot to dead center off right-hander David Hernandez. It was his second home run in as many nights.

The Giants set up their winning rally against left-hander Tony Sipp when Andres Torres singled and Brandon Crawford put down a sacrifice bunt. Up stepped Belt, who entered as part of a double switch in the top half of the inning.

Belt was just 1 for 12 against left-handed pitching, had lost his starting gig against southpaws and entered the day with just a .227 on-base percentage for the season. He had an intensive early batting practice session with Bochy, and some of those lessons must?ve stuck.

Belt laid off an 0-1 slider, then stayed back on another breaking ball while serving it to left field for the game winner.

In field

Ross made the play of the game, but Crawford made another short-hop look easy when Miley sent a low line drive his way in the seventh.

Center fielder Angel Pagan had a tough night, as he got two bad reads off the bat on balls that dropped in front of him.

Attendance

The Giants announced 41,294 paid on a warm night in China Basin. For once, you could use your coat as a seat cushion.

Up next

The Giants and Diamondbacks continue their three-game series at AT&T Park on Tuesday. The Giants will send Matt Cain (0-2, 7.15) to the mound hoping to win on his day for the first time in five tries. Left-hander Patrick Corbin (2-0, 1.42) gets the start for Arizona. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. PDT.

Source: http://www.csnbayarea.com/blog/andrew-baggarly/baggs-instant-replay-giants-5-dbacks-4

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Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Church of Scotland faces renewed internal division on gay ministers ...

It is claimed up to 50 congregations may leave the Church of Scotland if the General Assembly votes next month to allow the ordination of?ministers who are in same-sex sexual relationships.

The Church of Scotland ordains lesbian and gay ministers ? although they have to be celibate ? whereas ministers who are in married mixed-sex sexual relationships can be ordained without the same requirement.

Following a 2011 report on the issue of gay relationships and the ministry, the General Assembly has been considering whether the church should ease the restrictions on lesbian and gay ministers.

The Scotsman reports up to 50 congregations may leave the Church of Scotland if it chooses to do so.

Although the Church of Scotland has more than 1,400 congregations, such an exodus would represent the biggest split in its ranks since the 19th-century schism which led to the Free Church of Scotland?s formation.

Commenting on the reports of a possible exodus, a Church of Scotland spokesman said: ?We regret and are saddened that any ministers or individuals feel they are obliged to, or feel the need to, leave over this issue but no-one knows how the General Assembly will vote or what it will decide until the day of the debate.?

In February, the Rev Dominic Smart and his congregation of 300 at Gilcomston South in Aberdeen left the Church of Scotland.

The congregation took issue with the General Assembly approving the appointment of the openly gay minister Scott Rennie to Queen?s Cross church in Aberdeen in 2009.

Last month, the Aberdeen presbytery agreed to let Rev Smart and his congregation use their old church on a?temporary?basis.

Discuss this ?

Source: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/04/22/church-of-scotland-faces-renewed-internal-division-on-gay-ministers-in-sexual-relationships/

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Mobile Nations #TM13 teaser

Mobile Nation's own Kevin Michaluk of CrackBerry, Phil Nickinson of Android Central, Rene Ritchie of iMore, and Daniel Rubino of Windows Phone Central, are joined by John P and Cali Lewis of Geekbeat.tv to tease their huge new [redacted].

That's all we can say for now, but stay tuned to all of our sites, follow us on Twitter and G+, and look out for #TM13 for more!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/2Pia8IZDLaw/story01.htm

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Federal officials ask to interview wife of slain bombing suspect

By Michelle R. Smith, The Associated Press

PROVIDENCE, R.I. ??Federal authorities have asked to speak with the wife of suspected Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and her lawyer said Sunday he is discussing with them how to proceed.

John Tlumacki / Boston Globe / Getty Images Contributor

Police officers with their guns drawn hear the second explosion down the street. The first explosion knocked down a runner at the finish line of the 117th Boston Marathon.

Amato DeLuca told The Associated Press that Katherine Russell Tsarnaev did not speak to federal officials who came to her parents' home in North Kingstown, R.I., Sunday evening, where she has been staying since her husband was killed during a getaway attempt early Friday.

Tsarnaev, 26, and his brother, Dzhokhar, 19, two ethnic Chechen brothers from southern Russia, are accused of planting two explosives near the marathon finish line Monday, killing three people and injuring more than 180. A motive remains unclear.

DeLuca said he spoke with the officials instead, but would not offer further details.

"I spoke to them, and that's all I can say right now," he said. "We're deciding what we want to do and how we want to approach this."

DeLuca also offered new details on Tamerlan Tsarnaev's movements in the days after the bombings, saying the last day he was alive that "he was home" when his wife left for work. When asked whether anything seemed amiss to his wife following the bombings, DeLuca responded, "Not as far as I know." He said she learned her husband was a suspect in the bombings by seeing it on TV. He would not elaborate.

DeLuca said his client did not suspect her husband of anything, and that there was no reason for her to have suspected him. He said she had been working 70 to 80 hours, seven days a week as a home health care aide. While she was at work, her husband cared for their toddler daughter, DeLuca said.

In the mountainous region of Dagestan, relatives and friends of the suspected Boston bombers are in shock that two of their own may have been responsible for the marathon bombings. NBC's Adrienne Mong reports.

"When this allegedly was going on, she was working, and had been working all week to support her family," he told the AP.

He said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was off at college and she saw him "not at all" at the apartment they shared with her mother-in-law.

Katherine Russell Tsarnaev was attending Suffolk University in Boston when friends introduced her to her future husband at a nightclub, DeLuca said. They dated on and off, then married in 2009 or 2010, he said.

She was raised Christian, but at some point after meeting Tamerlan Tsarnaev, she converted to Islam, he said. When asked why she converted, he replied: "She believes in the tenets of Islam and of the Koran. She believes in God."

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Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Letterman grills Lohan on rehab on 'Late Show'

By Anna Chan, TODAY

"Late Show" host David Letterman went straight to the topic on everyone's minds when starlet Lindsay Lohan sat down for an interview Tuesday night: her rehab sentence.?

Her troubles weren't exactly what she was there to discuss. The actress is currently promoting her guest role as Charlie Sheen's love interest on the sitcom "Anger Management," as well as a cameo in "Scary Movie 5." In a clip released by CBS, the actress is giggling happily until Letterman asked her, "Aren't you supposed to be in rehab now?"

Her laughter died instantly as she shot back, "Do you not watch anything that goes on? Are you a tabloid now? May 2nd."

In March, she admitted to a Los Angeles judge that she had violated probation, and accepted a plea deal that requires her to stay 90 days in a "locked rehab facility." She is required to prove by May 2 that she has enrolled in treatment.

After Letterman got a few answers from her regarding the length of her stay in rehab and the number of times she's received treatment, Lohan sounded like she wasn't too happy with the line of questioning.?

"We didn't discuss this in the pre-interview, just saying to everyone," she told the audience.

But the comedian pressed on for details before she finally cut him off. "To be honest, I'm the happiest when I'm working, and the healthiest. And I think this is an opportunity for me to, you know, focus on what I love in life," she said. "And I don't think it's a bad thing. I think it's a blessing ... and not a curse."

But Letterman still wasn't done with the subject. "Do you have addiction problems?" he asked.

After a stony silence, Lohan finally replied, "Now you sound like Dr. Phil," and wouldn't give him details.

Tuesday's interview is the first one she's done since November 2012.

Watch her entire interview Tuesday when "Late Show With David Letterman" airs at 11:35 p.m. on CBS.

Related content:

More in The Clicker:

Source: http://theclicker.today.com/_news/2013/04/09/17676227-david-letterman-grills-lindsay-lohan-about-rehab?lite

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Heavy metal, Islamist politics, and democracy in Indonesia

Heavy metal band Jamrud and a major Indonesian Islamist party throw a gig together. That's one of the smallest changes in Indonesian politics.

By Dan Murphy,?Staff writer / April 9, 2013

When I moved to Indonesia in 1993, the Indonesian media and political spheres were closed shops. There were only three legal political parties and the media, particularly broadcast media, were tightly controlled. The scenes around me now, in this corner of the archipelago, reveal just how much the nation has transformed itself.?

Skip to next paragraph Dan Murphy

Staff writer

Dan Murphy is a staff writer for the Monitor's international desk, focused on the Middle East.?Murphy, who has reported from Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, and more than a dozen other countries, writes and edits Backchannels. The focus? War and international relations, leaning toward things Middle East.

Recent posts

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Twenty years ago, nightly news reports largely consisted of long, loving accounts of the latest factory opening by President Soeharto, the self-styled "father of Indonesian development" (the old 50,000 rupiah note carried a beaming Soeharto with this title beneath), followed by an account of the latest foreign dignitary he received and then, perhaps, sports.?

There were red lines everywhere for reporters and film and television producers. Most important was to never, ever discuss in a critical tone the 1965 coup that brought him to power and the anti-Communist purge that followed, leaving an estimated 500,000 dead. There was an official narrative that everyone had to adhere to: Evil communists tried to take over and brave young Soeharto saved the day, pushing the first president of Indonesia,?Sukarno, from power for having unsavory friends. End of story. Or else.

It wasn't until 2000, two years after Soeharto was pushed from power, that the mawkish 1983 romance "The Year of Living Dangerously," set amid Indonesia's 1965 turmoil, was allowed to be shown here, with Indonesians in the audience twittering at the accents of the Filipino actors when they spoke Indonesian.

Even almost 30 years later, Soeharto's regime still played masterfully with the fear and paranoia generated by the national tragedy of 1965. In that time, he built an order (which he called the "New Order") based on rigid political control. In the years after taking power he forced Indonesia's existing political parties into two super-parties that, for decades, represented the loyal (very, very, very loyal) opposition: the United Development Party (PPP) for Islamist political groups and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) for more secular nationalist ones.

And then there was the new party to rule them all: His Golkar, an acronym that means "Functional Groups."

In the early 1990s, the protest movement that would help galvanize opinion against Soeharto in 1998 was being born, though no one really understood it back then. It was much like Egypt when I arrived there a decade ago: activists hounded by the state, organizing, seeking to make links to labor unions, often getting their heads kicked in by the police or the military in what seemed like a hopeless cause.

In 1993, Soeharto made one of his great miscalculations. Though he had show-elections every five years, which his government called "festivals of democracy," both PDI and PPP were allowed some scraps of parliamentary representation as rewards for good behavior. At the time, some members of the PDI, however, were pushing to engage politics in a real way, and Soeharto's government sought to directly control the election of a new party leader. However, the PDI succeeded in naming Megawati Sukarnoputri, Sukarno's daughter, as the head of the party.

While she had neither political skills nor governing ability of her own, a group of bright political operators seeking political change gathered around her, and were important players when the curtain came down on Soeharto's 32-year reign. Megawati ended up Indonesia's first post-Soeharto vice president and its second president, in a political era in which the country exploded from just three parties to over 100.

Today, Indonesia's raucous political environment is a stunning change from a decade ago. South Maluku, of which Ambon is the capital, is gearing up for gubernatorial elections (under Soeharto, all local politicians down to the district level were appointed by Jakarta) and the island is awash in political posters and canvassers. Judging from a few days traveling in the province, there are at least five candidates with some money behind them, and the bottoms of their billboards show the support they've aligned in each case from dozens of national parties.

Speaking to an old friend from Indonesia recently, who describes himself as a "glass half-empty guy," he nevertheless said direct local elections and a commitment to the political process has been one of the great successes of Indonesia since Soeharto. Sure, crooks often get into office, "but they end up getting voted out."

Indonesia's next big "festival of democracy" (this time, a real one) is scheduled for next year. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is being term-limited from office, and the jockeying to replace him has already begun.

The old three parties have had mixed fortunes in the years since democracy came to Indonesia. The PDI (which came to be known as the PDI-P, or "Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle") leads the opposition in parliament, with about 17 percent of the seats. Golkar, which has parlayed backing from big businesses and years of organization into ongoing support, is the junior partner in the governing coalition with about 19 percent of the seats. And the PPP? A shadow of their former selves, with 7 percent of the seats in parliament.

But I switched on the TV here two nights ago before going to bed, and came across the PPP's 40th anniversary rally in Surabaya, East Java. Having spent much of the past decade in the Middle East, and having covered the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Indonesia, I was transfixed. A crowd of thousands of enthusiastic young Indonesians, the girls in headscarves, were head-banging to the heavy metal band Jamrud, which was headlining a party for an avowedly Islamist political group.

With apologies to Mark Levine, who wrote an excellent book on the alternative music scene in the Arab world called "Heavy Metal Islam," this was the real thing. I wish I could find an online video of the show. But though its absent the PPP's green flag, with the Kabbah in Mecca in the middle waving above the music, this is what Jamrud sounds like:

And it reminded me that a unique political culture is evolving here that can consistently confound expectations and preconceptions.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/QEnGQX-II2I/Heavy-metal-Islamist-politics-and-democracy-in-Indonesia

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Guide to Student Loans That Everyone Should Know

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Welcome to My Personal Finance Journey! If you are new here, please read the "About" or "First-Time Visitor" pages to find out more about us. If you would like to receive free updates on articles like this by email, then sign up here or you can?subscribe to the RSS feed. Also, check us out on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for visiting! Keep on learning!
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Click here?to enter my free $50.53 giveaway for a chance to win 5% of My Personal Finance Journey blog income and give another 5% to a charity of your choosing! Deadline to enter is April 30th, 2013.

The following is a guest post by?Kevin Watts, the creator of the blog, Graduating from Debt.?Enjoy! I was like millions of recent college graduates in heavy debt with very little hope. With the right attitude and discipline, I took control of my financial picture, and now I can say proudly that I am debt free.?

Here below are some practical tips that helped me pay off my student loans:

If you have just graduated from college, or you are in the process of repaying student loans, then these practical tips can help you maintain your loan debts under control. By being aware of your financial obligations, you will avoid incurring massive interest costs and extra fees for late payments. Moreover, it will be easier for you to keep all debt payments affordable while securing a good credit rating.

Forget about stressing out on your loan payments, and check out these 5 relevant tips that will help you manage your debts while ensuring your financial stability:

1. Keep track of your loans.

It is important to be completely aware of your lenders, loan balance, and current repayment status for your loans. These relevant pieces of information will give you an idea about your existing options when it comes to loan forgiveness and repayment. If you are uncertain about these details, then the best thing to do is to inquire from your lender.

By doing so, you will learn more about the status of your federal loans. Additionally, you may want to review your most current billing statement, as well as the original documents that you have signed. In case you are unable to locate these documents, you may consult your school for a backup of these records.

2. Determine your loan's grace period.

You should understand that each loan has its own grace period, which pertains to the waiting time before you can make your initial payment. For Stafford federal loans, the grace period is typically six months, while it is zero months for Perkins federal loans. If you have an existing PLUS loan (federal), then the grace period depends on the date when the loan was issued.

Regardless of the grace period for your student loans, make it a point to pay on time to avoid late charges. Moreover, you should never fail to inform your lender when you have changed your mailing address or contact details since all mails about your loans may be sent to an incorrect address, and this can cause you a huge problem. In fact, ignoring all bills can lead to a default, which can lead to severe and long-term consequences on your financial situation.

3. Choose your preferred loan repayment option.

When you have a federal loan that is already due, the payment will be based on the 10-year standard loan repayment scheme. For some people, the standard plan is barely reasonable, so they consider other repayment options that will be more practical for them. Furthermore, you may want to change the plan entirely when necessary.

While extending the repayment period to up to 10 years may result to more affordable monthly fees, you are likely to pay more interest costs throughout the duration of your loan. Hence, you may choose another option, such as an income-based plan, that will cap the monthly payments at a percentage of your annual income. This repayment program will also forgive any debts that are remaining after the 25 years of loan payments.

However, loan forgiveness may only be available when you have incurred at least 10 years of loan payments, as long as you are employed in a non-profit or public sector. It is also worth mentioning that private loans for students do not qualify for other deferments, forgiveness, forbearance programs, and payment plans available for federal loans.

Nevertheless, private lenders may offer their clients a type of forbearance that comes with a fee. With this in mind, it is best to inquire from your lender, so you can learn more about your repayment options.

4. Reduce your principal.

If you decide to make a payment for your federal student loan, the amount covers any incurred late fees, interest costs, and the principal. When you have the means of paying more than the required monthly fee, you can massively reduce your principal while minimizing the interest costs of your loan.

You may prepare a written request or notification to your lender, so you can make sure that the additional amount is applied immediately to your loan principal.Then, keep all paperwork for your records, and review them to ensure that the overpayment has reflected on your account.

5. Pay off all loans that have the highest amount.

In case you wish to pay off your loans before the due date, then you should consider settling the fees for the one with the most expensive interest rate. You should also begin paying off your private loans followed by your federal loans, since the former have higher rates and do not come with a flexible repayment scheme.

With these practical tips, you can keep your debts in control while making sure that no loan remains unpaid during the designated repayment schedule. How about you all? What about student loans do you wish that you knew back when you were a student that you have learned "the hard way?"

Did you take advantage of any of the tips mentioned above in this post during your student loan payoff?

Share your experiences by commenting below!

***Photo courtesy of?http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Cambrian_Student.jpg

Source: http://www.mypersonalfinancejourney.com/2013/04/guide-to-student-loans-that-everyone.html

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