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Tanner Bryant led Miami Trace with a 59.
Maddi Wallace shot a 66 for Miami Trace and Shelbie Rowan shot a 69.
Bridget Perkins had a score of 77 and Taylor Perkins shot an 81.
Also for McClain, Kendall Pollard, 55; Erika Martin, 57; Brianna Wheeler, 58 and Cassidy Willis, 61.
Miami Trace’s next match will be Wednesday at Jackson.
Miami Trace will be back at home at The Greens on Aug. 23 against Hillsboro.
When NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan (NTM-A) was stood up in November 2009, our mission was about teaming with Afghans to build a dynamic future for a secure and stable Afghanistan. With lessons from the Soviet experience and previous international efforts as our guide, NTM-A adopted a new mindset relying on teaming, transparency, and transition.
Initially challenged by trainer numbers, the unified approach under a NATO flag worked. The first 30 trainers grew to over 1,800 in two years; the original two countries were joined by 33 others (Ukraine and El Salvador are the latest). By March 2012, we anticipate an additional 600 trainers, with more to follow.
When combined with additional financial resources from NATO and non-NATO partners such as Japan and the United Arab Emirates, the benefits of a unified NATO command are apparent in a growing and professionalizing Afghan Army, Air Force, and Police.
During the first two years of NTM-A’s existence, the Afghan Army grew by 75,000 and the Afghan Police grew by 45,000. The combined force is on schedule to grow an additional 47,000 by November 2012 and Afghan air frames will nearly triple by 2016.
While still developing enabling capabilities such as logistics, counter-IED (improvised explosive devices), and human resources, the Afghan military and police are on track to assume country-wide lead security responsibility from ISAF (the International Security and Assistance Force) by the end of December 2014. As agreed between NATO and Afghanistan in Lisbon during last fall’s summit, the train, advise and assist roles will endure through NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan.
The depth of NATO’s commitment to training the Afghan army, air force, and police is clear throughout the 70 training sites NTM-A manages. At the Kabul Military Training Centre, for example, there are personnel from ten countries training between 8,000 and 12,000 Afghan soldiers in 40 different courses every day. This includes Basic Warrior Training for new recruits, non-commissioned officer training, female and male officer candidate schools, and specialty branch schools such as logistics, law, and communications.
NATO’s assumption of Afghan military and police training responsibilities in 2009 produced a marked quality improvement. This was noticeable in marksmanship, discipline, and retention. Additional NATO trainers brought key capabilities that were previously absent such as helicopter maintenance, medicine, and civil policing. They also improved the recruiter to trainer ratio.
Prior to the creation of NTM-A, police were often assigned duties before receiving the appropriate level of training. Moreover, the overall quality of training varied from region to region. Through an agreement with the Afghan Ministry of Interior, NTM-A, EUPOL (the European Police), and the German Police Project Team, there is now a common training curriculum.
Basic patrol training has been expanded from six to eight weeks. The new programme of instruction now incorporates more human rights and gender training, additional literacy training, and new transparency and accountability material. These improvements would not have been possible without a concerted international effort to unify action and make the most of scarce resources.
NTM-A has been able to oversee more civil policing. Over the last year, the number of civilian police assigned to NTM-A increased from 168 to 525. Whether they are at the headquarters at Camp Eggers or training sites throughout Afghanistan, civilian police are bringing their unique skill sets and professionalism to the Afghan National Police As NTM-A enters its third year, several areas require continued focus to enable security lead transition by the end of 2014. Among these are training Afghan trainers, leader development, building literacy and vocational skills, and developing enduring institutions and self-sustaining systems.
The success of NTM-A in the training base created over the past two years is evident in the quality of the fielded Afghan forces we see today. Increasingly, Afghans are assuming the security lead for their country and are gaining the trust of the people. To ensure these gains are enduring, a key priority is training Afghan trainers. Today, there are over 3,200 trained Afghan trainers and they are on track to be in the lead for basic-level training by December 2012. While coalition trainers will still be needed to provide oversight of the training base and conduct advanced training, the foundation has been laid to enable institutional transition.
Over the past two years, much progress has been made training and educating Afghan military and police personnel; officers and non-commissioned officers in the police grew from 42,500 to 61,850. Now that the schools are in place, the police leader ranks will grow to 83,400 by mid-2012.
The same is true in their army; over the past two years since 2009, officers and non-commissioned officers grew from 40,900 to 66,800 and will grow to 86,500. Training and education are essential in developing leaders, but experience is irreplaceable and requires time. To close the leader gap, continued emphasis is needed to support initiatives such as the National Military Academy of Afghanistan, the Afghan National Police Academy, and new efforts like “Sandhurst in the Sand,” which is a United Kingdom-led officer candidate school scheduled to begin in early 2013.
One key lesson of the past two years is the importance of literacy training to develop a capable and professional military and police. After decades of war and a decimated public education system, only 14 percent of military aged men and women are literate.
But in early 2010, NTM-A accepted illiteracy as a challenge and worked closely with international bodies and the Afghan Ministry of Education to educate “the lost generation” in the training base. For about $33 per person, over 125,000 Afghans have been taught to read, write, and count through a mandatory literacy programme. By 2012, about 50 percent of the military and police will be functionally literate. Literate soldiers can now verify security passes at entry control points, numerate police can inventory vehicles. And all can count their monthly salaries, helping to reduce predatory corruption.
Because of these efforts, Afghan recruits can now choose to attend advanced or vocational training to become engineers, artillerymen, and logisticians. With the establishment of 12 branch, or vocational, schools over the past year, NTM-A is beginning to train the skills and units that will enable Afghan forces to perform these critical functions themselves. This is part of a phased development effort that includes advanced training in logistics, finance, communications, human resources, intelligence, artillery, engineering, and other important functions. As the fielding of these support units and specialists continues, the ANSF will be carefully balanced with increased ability to support and sustain itself, leading to independent operations.
As we learned from the Soviet experience, without an indigenous training and maintenance base, the system will collapse when international assistance stops. Consequently, it is critical for the international community to provide only equipment and training that are capable, affordable, and sustainable for Afghanistan.
A part of this is supporting Afghan economic development through defence purchases under the NATO Afghan First programme, which has produced about 17,000 jobs and reduced costs. For example, the cost of producing boots in Afghanistan is half the cost of producing them in the United States and then shipping to Afghanistan. And the quality is as good because of partnering with US business and academic experts who assisted Afghan companies. Furthermore, supporting boot factories in Afghanistan has given rise to a fledgling Afghan footwear industry.
In 2011, U.S. Senators Carl Levin and Jack Reed wrote : “Thirty years ago the United States worked to help Afghans reclaim their country from Soviet invaders. With the departure of Soviet forces, we declared victory and turned away from helping Afghans build a stable country with effective security forces. On Sept. 11, 2001, we discovered the tragic consequences that such inattention can have. That is a lesson we cannot afford to learn again.” Through continued U.S. and NATO support beyond transition, partnering beyond 2014 will be critical to avoid repeating mistakes of the past.
Lieutenant General William B. Caldwell, IV., United States Army, was the first commander of NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan and served from November 2009 to October 2011.
After a 35-year break, Scott Hostert joins a group of folks in their 50s shredding old school.
Scott Hostert has heard it all: You're too old. You're nuts. You don't want to live the rest of your life being fed through a tube, do you?
Hostert scoffs, then smiles. Too old to ride a skateboard? Just watch me. With that, the 51-year-old Brea tax consultant steps on his board and plunges down a wall of concrete, piloting his personal time machine through a series of moves some skaters half his age won't try.
Two hours later, Hostert is sweat-soaked and oh-so stoked.
"Nothing compares to how young skating makes me feel," says Hostert, who rediscovered skateboarding after a 35-year break.
That sentiment is shared by a growing number of silver-haired skaters throughout Southern California and beyond. Some are lifelong skateboarders who never gave up the sport; others are digging out their boards after decades. They skate for fun, fitness and a feeling of freedom. They skate because skateboarding is cooler than Zumba. They skate because they opened the mail and found an AARP card staring back at them.
"A midlife awakening," Hostert insists.
The fact that they are three to four times older than the average skateboarder? No matter. They're proud to be the elder skatesmen (and women). Father Time can take a hike.
At least until the next bone-crunching slam.
Fact: Concrete feels harder at midlife. "[As a kid,] I used to fall and bounce right back up," said Warren Sellers, 52, of Irvine. "Now ... there's a thud. I count appendages."
Although wearing safety gear and learning to fall safely can go a long way in preventing injury, most skaters expect bumps. Some share their pain via social media, posting photos of their injuries in vibrant shades of black, blue and bloody.
But gallows humor only goes so far. When Steve Alba, a steely, 50-year-old icon of the "skate or die" crowd, shattered his collarbone while skating a pool last year, he publicly admitted crying from the pain. Alba vowed to be back on a board as soon as his doctor cleared him.
Skateboarding can be an excellent strength and conditioning workout, one reason Mary Mills, 50, had a small ramp built in her View Park backyard. Primarily a surfer, Mills uses skateboarding to improve leg strength. Skateboarding also builds core strength, especially at advanced levels as skaters contort and push themselves higher on vertical walls and attempt more challenging tricks.
If there's one thing older shredders agree on, it's that skateboarding hooks you like little else. How else to explain 56-year-old Gale Hart's return to skating only 10 weeks after breaking her pelvis? Or Steve Wright getting back on board at age 52, two months after a stroke? Or David Hackett's return shortly after a successful battle with colon cancer at 51?
Whether skating pools, ramps or supersized storm drains, skaters find a way to get their fix. Some call it an antidepressant on wheels. "No matter where I'm at emotionally, if I get on a skateboard, it changes my whole being," says Hart, a Sacramento artist.
Getting back on a skateboard after decades away is one thing. Starting at midlife can be beyond daunting. Just ask Sandra D'Ambrosia, 53, and June Ranschau Hughes, 50, who were drawn to the sport several years ago after falling in love with lifelong skateboarders. Lesson one: Breathe.
"When you're that inexperienced and unbalanced, everything is a fear," said Ranschau Hughes, an executive assistant. "All I knew was, if I fell, it would hurt."
D'Ambrosia, an Upland grandmother of 15, knows that all too well. One dramatic slam last year resulted in a knee injury that kept her off her board for three months. She's back skating several days a week.
"I don't know what got me back on that board," D'Ambrosia said. "My kids thought I was crazy."
Former Times staff writer Odanaka is an author and founder of the nonprofit Skateboard Moms/Sisters of Shred, which empowers women through skateboarding.
• David Wagner and Huddersfield Town beat the odds this week, earning draws against powerhouses Manchester City and Chelsea to avoid the possibility of relegation. Wagner, who is German-American but played for the U.S. men’s national team, has earned his stature as an up-and-coming star in the managerial ranks. He says he loves it at Huddersfield, but his name has been linked to much bigger jobs.
• Multiple reports have indicated that Everton striker Wayne Rooney, until recently with Manchester United, will move to D.C. United this summer for a $17 million transfer fee. D.C. is moving into a new stadium and wants to make some sort of splash. Remember this the next time someone in MLS claims that the league doesn’t have enough money.
• New Zealand is the latest country to announce that it will pay, and treat, its men’s and women’s national teams the same. You have to wonder when the United States will finally do the same, especially since the women’s national team is the best in the world, and the men’s team can’t even qualify for the World Cup.
A man who believed gangsters were out to kill him used his bed and a sofa bed to barricade himself in his bedsit before setting fire to them and jumping out of the window.
But as Sean Wright escaped the fire, breaking his foot as he landed, two of his neighbours suffered from smoke inhalation as they tried to get into his room to rescue him.
Wright, 47, of Lillington Road, Leamington, was jailed for three years and ten months after pleading guilty at Warwick Crown Court to arson being reckless whether lives were endangered.
He pointed out that just before jumping from the window and breaking his foot, Wright had shouted ‘fire’ to the other residents because he had not wanted anyone else to be hurt.
Jailing Wright, Recorder Kevin Hegarty QC told him: “You were drinking to excess and using various substances, including something called Black Mamba, and your mental health was deteriorating.
“You barricaded the door of your room, with yourself inside. You then set fire to the bed and sofa bed you had assembled at the door.
“The smoke from that fire set off the alarm within the building. People started their escape, and you started to call for help, which caused two people to try to rescue you.
“They put themselves at risk, and they suffered from smoke inhalation in their efforts to save you.
“I accept you fully believed at the time there were people, gangsters, coming to kill you.
“This is not an offence of arson with intent to endanger life, but it is gravely serious because a large number of people were put at risk by your activities.
“I bear in mind what is set out in the reports on you. I have to consider whether you are dangerous, and I am satisfied you pose a significant risk of causing serious harm by the commission of further offences.
The Android update cycle will continue to frustrate users, based on the flawed update process that Google has failed to address.
The Android world is getting used to seeing new accounts every day of users unhappy with the lack of an OS update for a particular handset. Google keeps madly churning out updates with tasty version names, which starts the clock running to see when (or if) a given phone will get the update. That starts the rumor mill cranking with theories why the OEM is refusing to release the update. It's a cycle that is guaranteed to continue, based on the flawed update process that Google has failed to address.
This process is not new to Android, it's been around since the birth of the smartphone. The platform creator (Google) releases a new version of the OS (Froyo, Gingerbread, etc.), which starts users clamoring for the tasty treat. The maker of a given handset (Samsung, Motorola, HTC, etc.) then takes the source code in-house and works on getting the new OS version working flawlessly on each phone they produce. If the OEM has made special modifications to the handset for a particular telco, then those have to be updated and tested on top of the basic update. New OS versions often break the OEM apps and widgets, and those must be updated to work properly.
Once the OEM work is done on a given update for a given phone, it is handed off to each carrier handling the phone to test on their network. This testing can be extensive depending on the carrier, and is necessary to make sure that carrier apps/services still work without problems. Once the new software is blessed by the carrier, a ROM image for the phone is prepared for over-the-air (OTA) distribution to the carrier's customers. This ROM creation is not trivial, as a bad ROM can have drastic consequences, including turning working customer phones into bricks. Those familiar with homebrew ROMs can attest to that, as something as simple as a corrupt download can have dire results.
This entire process can take a fair bit of time, especially if the original OS update was significant. The more things have changed, the more add-on bits get broken and must be fixed. This customization is what has contributed to Android's astounding adoption rate, but it comes with a significant toll to the update process.
Remember that each company that makes Android phones typically makes multiple models; it is why Android has grown so phenomenally. Unfortunately, multiple models at the OEM level turns each Android update into a major development effort. This effort increases exponentially with the need to specialize those updates for each carrier the OEM must support. Every layer of update development adds costs to the OEM, and more significantly to the customer, more time.
I'm not defending the OEMs nor the carriers, just pointing out the system is complicated and time-consuming. Google doesn't help matters either, with its insistence on carrying its own phone (Nexus One and now the Nexus S), for the sole purpose of having one handset that gets updates first (and easiest). It is competing with all of its partners, rather than stepping in and doing something to help smooth out the whole process.
It is time for Google to take the Apple approach with the iPhone, and take control of the OS back from the OEMs and carriers. They won't necessarily like it, but Google will come out on top in the end if Android users get every update in a reasonable amount of time. That may require reducing the level of customization open to handset makers and carriers, but so be it.
Living on the ground, you can feel a bit vulnerable, but not on the 30th floor. I've lived in Trellick Tower, west London, for about six months. Before moving here, I thought the building was pretty ugly. But from the inside, it's totally the opposite. It's beautiful, because of the views. You just want to look out.
My flat has windows on both sides, two bedrooms and a south-facing balcony. I was living nearby on Portobello Road before, in a flat in a town house with a lot more room than this. But there were only the four walls to stare at; here, you can sit on the balcony and watch the world go by. It's quite therapeutic. You look out and see a different London every day - at night, in thunder, rain, snowstorms. You can see the weather coming. You can ring your mates and say: "There's a storm coming over your way - get your rain gear on." You can also watch the sunset every day.
I believe you can see for 30 miles. My points of reference tend to be football pitches. So you can see Wembley Stadium, the Arsenal stadium, Chelsea, Fulham, Queen's Park Rangers - and the Crystal Palace transmitter too. Just outside, you've got the train lines, the Westway flyover and planes going by. It's like having my own big train set.
There's lots of stimulation. The Notting Hill Carnival goes down the road at the front. The noise sometimes is one thing you might think is a bit of a negative, but you just ignore it and turn up the TV. Surprisingly, when the traffic's really quiet, you can still hear arguments and goings-on in the street; you can even hear normal conversations 100ft down. Yet you don't have people walking past your door.
I think the air must be clearer up here, too. This place doesn't get as dusty as the flat I used to live in.
There are three lifts, which is the only way to bring up your furniture. They're pretty big, though - you should see the size of the sofa. The lifts are where you meet other residents, too, people from all walks of life. It's much more sociable than my last place, where I spent 25 years.
The best times up here are things like bonfire night and Eid. You can see fireworks everywhere for miles, for weeks before. It's a fantastic free show. I suppose the novelty might wear off after a while, and there are downsides: I think I've lost a couple of friends who don't like heights - you couldn't even get them in the lifts. But when other friends come round and they head straight for the windows, I recognise that this is a special place to live.
Published: Jan. 16, 2014 at 09:07 a.m.
Updated: Jan. 16, 2014 at 01:44 p.m.
Tony Dungy was not the only former member of the Indianapolis Colts organization to offer the Detroit Lions an endorsement of Jim Caldwell as head coach.
General manager Martin Mayhew revealed Wednesday that Peyton Manning made an unsolicited phone call during the Lions' two-week coaching search.
According to Mayhew, Manning raved about Caldwell's abilities as a quarterback mentor as well as a head coach.
Manning is as respected as any player in the league. Even if his call didn't necessarily put Caldwell over the top, it had to be a comfort to a front office that was looking for a coach to put Matthew Stafford back on the development track after an error-filled season.
"Stafford is a lot like Peyton was early in his career, making a lot of explosive plays and some mistakes," Dungy told The Associated Press. "Jim was able to get through to Peyton to teach him that he could still make explosive plays without taking so many risks. And, he'll help Stafford do that."
Caldwell also has the backing of 17-year NFL quarterback Kerry Collins, whom the new Lions coach tutored at Penn State in the early 1990s.
"(He) taught me what it took to play at that level, the preparation that it took and the attention to detail to doing things the right way all the time," Collins told the Detroit Free Press. "Not just some of the time, all of the time. That was his big thing, and as a young quarterback, it was a message that I really needed to hear and one that really helped me as I moved forward in my career."
Dungy and Collins both suggested Caldwell's greatest influence on quarterbacks is in teaching them how to eliminate mistakes and understand what goes into winning games at football's highest level. That makes him an excellent choice to guide the raw but uber-talented Stafford in Detroit.
Those who have been tracking news on Sammy’s Galaxy Tabs (both the 10.1 and 8.9 inch versions) might well know that the devices are set for roll out this June 8th. That’s just a few more days to go, right? Now, as if building on the enthusiasm the devices have generated already, online retailer Best Buy has gone a step further ahead and put up the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 slate on their product page.
If you head for the Best Buy page, you will get to know the Android 3.1 Honeycomb tablet is raring for the roll out. What we find missing on the page is the pricing factor, though. Listed or not, we tend to believe that the device would come for $499 (16 GB variant) and $599 32 GB variant). Or that was what we were told when the device was first shown at the CTIA back in March this year.
Best Buy’s product page for Samsung’s ultra-thin Galaxy Tab 10.1 slate is complete with all the features and specs the device will bring along. The device on offer is the WiFi-only version in both the 16 and 32GB variants.
Now, if you ponder a bit on the pricing, you will get to realize that the 16GB model for $499 would well be an apt rival for the Apple iPad 2, at east on the pricing front. But then, we also need to tell you that the Galaxy Tab 10.1 gives the microSD card slot a miss.
Also, the 3 mega pixel rear facing shooter is not what we would have expected from Samsung in terms of quality. However, the slim form factor makes us wait to play with the device as soon as it is made available.
Even as we wait to see the final pricing and launch date details to appear on the page, you may want to take a look at the product page Best Buy has put up for all you Sammy fans out there. Tell us if you are picking your variant.
The SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is one of those places that makes magic. Originally named the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, this facility is where many modern discoveries about how matter works were made. Six researchers have earned Nobel prizes for their work at SLAC. It's also where the first website in North America was built.
Today, SLAC is up to all kinds of good things. Many of the projects involve the Department of Energy facility's 1.9-mile-long Linear Accelerator, the longest such device in the world and one of the longest buildings on the planet. But they also help operate a Fermi gamma ray space telescope—which is what Andrea Albert works on. After earning her Ph.D. from Ohio State last spring, Albert took a job at SLAC where she now searches for gamma ray signals from dark matter.
Albert agreed to come hang out at Gizmodo for an afternoon and answer questions from anybody who has them. Curious about dark matter? Got questions about gamma rays? Ever wonder what a particle accelerator smells like? Ask away in the comments below, and Andrea will start answering at 2pm EST.
Update (3:15): Andrea had to get back to the gamma rays, so that's it for now. Thanks for the questions!
That's Andrea giving a thumbs up at the Department of Energy's Fermilab in the photo above.
Smith also stressed his academic purpose. He has one unit left before graduating, and he is already sizing it up with all the fury of a linebacker ready to cut a quarterback in half.
“I have an eight-week first-aid class, and I’m ready to dominate that and the football field,” Smith said with a laugh.
Smith has dominated his craft since he was 6 years old, playing for a Pop Warner team in Roseville and deemed the “Incredible Bulk” for his thick bodied look. Opponents feared him.
A preseason All-American, Smith is on the watch list for the Bednarik Award (nation’s top defensive player), the Nagurski Trophy (top defensive player) and Lott Impact Trophy (defensive impact player).