19 Gold Jackets to participate in "Touchdown in Israel: Mission of Excellence"

Thursday, June 18, 2015 10:13 AM EDT
CANTON, OHIO – Nineteen members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame will embark on a week-long tour of Israel in a historic trip called “Touchdown in Israel: Mission of Excellence.”

The trip provides an opportunity for the football legends to witness the growth of the game in Israel as well as experience a journey through the historic country. “Touchdown in Israel: Mission of Excellence” is being sponsored by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. 

Impetus for the trip came from a March 2014 visit by Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. The Ambassador, an avid football fan and a former quarterback in Israel’s American Football League, spent the day at the Hall with his son and staff. Dermer then reached out to Hall of Fame President David Baker to hatch the idea of inviting a group of Gold Jackets (reference to living Hall of Famers who wear the coveted Hall of Fame Gold Jacket) to Israel. Baker will join the group for the trip that takes place June 16-23.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Mission is to “Honor the Heroes of the Game, Preserve its History, Promote its Values & Celebrate Excellence EVERYWHERE.” Israeli football fans and youth players will engage with the 19 Gold Jackets during scheduled events. The programs are created for the Gold Jackets to provide inspiration to future generations of fans in Israel by sharing stories from their legendary careers and by illustrating how they applied values learned from the game to their lives after football. 

The following 19 Pro Football Hall of Fame members are taking part in “Touchdown in Israel: Mission of Excellence.”

• Raymond Berry – Class of 1973 – End – 1955-1967 Baltimore Colts
• Mel Blount – Class of 1989 – Cornerback – 1970-1983 Pittsburgh Steelers
• Tim Brown – Class of 2015 – Wide Receiver/Kick Returner/Punt Returner – 1988-2003 Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, 2004 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Curley Culp – Class of 2013 – Defensive Tackle – 1968-1974 Kansas City Chiefs, 1974-1980 Houston Oilers, 1980-81 Detroit Lions
• Chris Doleman – Class of 2012 – Defensive End/Linebacker – 1985-1993, 1999 Minnesota Vikings, 1994-95 Atlanta Falcons, 1996-98 San Francisco 49ers
• John Hannah – Class of 1991 – Guard – 1973-1985 New England Patriots
• Mike Haynes – Class of 1997 – 1976-1982 New England Patriots, 1983-1989 Los Angeles Raiders
• Ken Houston – Class of 1986 – Strong Safety – 1967-1972 Houston Oilers, 1973-1980 Washington Redskins
• Paul Krause – Class of 1998 – Safety – 1964-1967 Washington Redskins, 1968-1979 Minnesota Vikings
• Floyd Little – Class of 2010 – Running Back – 1967-1975 Denver Broncos
• Tom Mack – Class of 1999 – Guard – 1966-1978 Los Angeles Rams
• Curtis Martin – Class of 2012 – Running Back – 1995-97 New England Patriots, 1998-2005 New York Jets
• Ron Mix – Class of 1979 – Offensive Tackle – 1960-1969 Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers, 1971 Oakland Raiders
• Jim Taylor – Class of 1976 – Fullback – 1958-1966 Green Bay Packers, 1967 New Orleans Saints
• Thurman Thomas – Class of 2007 – Running Back – 1988-1999 Buffalo Bills, 2000 Miami Dolphins
• Andre Tippett – Class of 2008 – Linebacker – 1982-1993 New England Patriots
• Roger Wehrli – Class of 2007 – Cornerback – 1969-1982 St. Louis Cardinals
• Rayfield Wright – Class of 2006 – Tackle – 1967-1979 Dallas Cowboys
• Jack Youngblood – Class of 2001 – Defensive End – 1971-1984 Los Angeles Rams

Man injured after jumping from second storey to escape New Plymouth house fire

Supplied

A house ablaze on Huatoki St, New Plymouth, this morning.

A man was badly burnt and suffered serious injuries after leaping from the second storey of his New Plymouth house to escape a fire.

The fire brigade was alerted to the blaze at the Huatoki St address about 2.30am on Wednesday.

Senior station officer Steve Dombroski said the second storey of the house was well alight when firefighters arrived.

"He was woken when the fire was well involved," Dombroski said.

The man was unable to get out of the burning building, which didn't have working smoke alarms, and went to another bedroom where he jumped out of the window and fell several metres to the ground, he said.

"He's lucky to get out alive. Everything was lost in that part of the building."

A couple living in the downstairs basement flat escaped unharmed.  

Dombroski said the man who suffered serious injuries from the fall and was badly burnt by the flames, was treated by paramedics before being taken to hospital by St John ambulance.

Downstairs tenant Ryan Watson said he was woken by the man's screams and the sound of smashing glass.

"I just heard heaps of banging and glass smashing upstairs and heard our neighbour yelling get out, get out," Watson said.

"We are pretty sure he jumped through the window and then started yelling to us to get out, get out."

Watson, who has lived at the address for about seven months, initially didn't know what was happening but after looking out of his kitchen window and seeing the lawn lit up in a fluorescent red colour he knew it was a fire.

He then grabbed his girlfriend and got out.

Watson said they helped their neighbour up the steep driveway as flames engulfed the entire upstairs section of the house.

Fire safety officers and New Plymouth CIB detectives returned to the scene about mid-morning on Wednesday.

The roof had collapsed over one area of the building which had been razed by the blaze with nothing but charred timber framing left.

Nearby trees were scorched by the flames and twisted gutter spouting lay on a blackened veranda in front of the house.

Firefighters were at the scene for about two and a half hours and a police guard remained at the house until fire investigators could attend.

Dombroski said the cause of the fire was unknown at this stage.

 - Stuff

Dementia-friendly communities support everyone

YVETTE BATTEN/FAIRFAX NZ

The University of Auckland Centre for Brain Research clinical research nurse Karen Smith.

New Zealand has a long way to go before becoming fully dementia-friendly. 

The University of Auckland Centre for Brain Research clinical research nurse Karen Smith, who was in New Plymouth for various speaking engagements, said those at a Government level have been slow to take action.

"For me a dementia-friendly model is about giving everybody the best quality of life possible."

She explains that dementia is an umbrella term used for many different syndromes, all of which have varying symptoms.

"Somewhere along the line those symptoms are going to marry up with somebody else in our community."

"For instance someone with a hallucination with dementia may mirror somebody with schizophrenia, somebody who is struggling with visual perception may mirror somebody with visual disability."

"If we embrace the dementia-friendly notion, in effect we virtually meet the needs of every member of our community whether they're a permanent resident here or a visitor."

While the response from individuals and some organisations is enthusiastic, so far she's struggled to get a response from MPs about becoming a more dementia-friendly society.

"I've not heard anyone from our Government stand up and say, 'Hey look, we need to do this' because it also has economic implications.

"The more people who are diagnosed, and we are seeing a steady increase in the number of people being diagnosed, if we don't support them to live well they're going to be needing our care facilities a lot sooner, which is going to be a huge drain on Government resources."

"Even though I come at it primarily from a humanitarian perspective there is a political and economic argument to be had there as well."

Making communities dementia-friendly could include things as simple as making street signs more readable or altering zebra crossings. 

"When they see a black floor surface against a contrasting colour, especially a pale colour such as white, they see the black as holes," she said.

"Some people I've seen have been inclined to leap from one white stripe to the next and then get really exhausted."

The whole world outside can turn into a frightening place so the dementia sufferer stays at home, which leads to social isolation and rapid decline.

Being dementia-friendly also means that people notice each other and look after one another.

She uses the example of a man with dementia who eats at the same cafe every day. When he doesn't turn up the staff ring his carers and let them know.

And it's not just an older person disease. "Every community team that I've ever talked to, both here in New Zealand and in the UK, is saying that they're seeing far more referrals come though from people under 65.

"That's going to have financial implications for them, their families."

Employers and employees should watch for warning signs in the workplace too. Smith has heard of cases where employees were bullied by fellow staff members for mistakes or misplacing things.

"His colleagues thought this was hilarious so they did things like hide his lunch or hide his work equipment. Once they realised that he'd actually got dementia they were gutted to think that they'd made his life worse."

It's an international issue, she said. "We don't have a cure for dementia. We don't even have any real new effective treatments on the horizon. They're still at the animal level, most of them."

Smith explains that working in the dementia field has been a life-long passion. Her first exposure to people with dementia, though she didn't know about the disease at the time, was at the age of 14.

"We had a school project whereby on a Friday afternoon we'd go out to older people in the community and just offer our support."

The first person she helped was a lady called Lilian who was impaired. "I remember meeting her daughter and she was so keen to ensure that her mum was recognised for who she was."

Lilian loved getting out the china set and having tea with visitors.

"I just remember thinking, 'What a wonderful person' and in many ways I kind of think there's some beauty in that naivety of not knowing what dementia is because it enabled me to actually value that person as a person," she said.

Read Smith's study, based in Christchurch, which shares the perspectives of people with dementia here.

 - Stuff

Hillary confidant mocked French president’s love life in emails

By Marisa Schultz

June 23, 2015 | 10:56pm

Modal Trigger

2011 emails sent from Sidney Blumenthal to Hillary Clinton have been released under a subpoena.Photo: AP (2)

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WASHINGTON — Viagra, “shock and awe” and making fun of the French — they’re all in the e-mails confidant Sidney Blumenthal sent to Hillary Rodham Clinton as Moammar Khadafy’s regime was collapsing in Libya in 2011.

The GOP-led House Benghazi Committee released a fresh batch of the messages this week after Blumenthal turned them over under subpoena.

The documents revealed an astonishing volume of information that he jammed into Clinton’s personal in-box, ranging from notes on weapons caches to unconfirmed gossip.

In a March 27, 2011, ­e-mail, Blumenthal relayed a “rumor” that the besieged Libyan dictator “has adopted a rape policy and has even distributed Viagra to troops.”

Seven days later, Blumenthal shared a Daily Beast article about how then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the “incestuous world of French intellectuals” plotted to take down Khadafy, which included details on Sarkozy’s love life.

“Hilarious story about Sarkozy (including his tryst with Carla Bruni) . . . Only Moliere could do this justice,” Blumenthal notified Clinton.

In another e-mail, Blumenthal suggested using a “verboten” strategy to take out Khadafy that gave credit to George W. Bush.

“Here’s a possibly counter-intuitive notion and option: That aspects of the Bush war plan for the invasion of Iraq, now verboten for planning or even thinking, might be applicable, in particular shock-and-awe,” Blumenthal wrote March 26, 2011.

Blumenthal testified for nine hours last week before the House committee in a deposition he and Democratic allies insist was a political charade to learn more about Clinton rather than to glean information on the 2012 deadly attack on the US compound in Benghazi.

Blumenthal, who was employed by the Clinton Foundation in 2011 and had no official role in Libya, told the committee he acted as a conduit in passing along the intel from a former CIA official — now identified as Tyler Drumheller — so Clinton could use it “as she saw fit.”

But Clinton’s longtime pal was passing along unconfirmed information.

The Viagra rumor was “widely alleged at the time,” said Professor Juan Cole, a Mideast expert at the University of Michigan. “Libyans claimed they found the blue pills on slain mercenaries.”

But Amnesty International found no evidence Khadafy ordered rapes.

As the dictator was being toppled, Blumenthal urged Clinton to seize the credit.

“You must go on camera. You must establish yourself in the historical record at this moment,” Blumenthal wrote Aug. 22, 2011.

Little more than a year later, the US compound in Benghazi was attacked and four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, were killed.

New York City Makes Stonewall Inn a Landmark

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSJUNE 23, 2015
The Stonewall Inn, the Greenwich Village bar where resistance to a police raid touched off the modern gay rights movement, was made a New York City landmark on Tuesday, the first time a site has been named primarily because of its significance in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history.
“New York City’s greatness lies in its inclusivity and diversity,” Meenakshi Srinivasan, chairwoman of the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, said before the unanimous vote. “The events at Stonewall were a turning point in the L.G.B.T. rights movement and in the history of our nation.”
Patrons fought back against a police raid on the Stonewall Inn on June 28, 1969, and the street protests that followed for several days are credited with galvanizing gay activism in New York and globally. The rebellion is commemorated with annual gay pride parades in hundreds of cities.
“Few sites anywhere in New York have the international resonance of Stonewall,” said Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.
The vote came after a public hearing in which every speaker supported the landmark designation.
“There are few locations that can be cited as the birthplace of a global movement,” said Councilman Corey Johnson, a Democrat whose district includes the Stonewall. “One such location is the Stonewall Inn.”
The building’s owners, Duell L.L.C., did not speak at the hearing. Officials with the company did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
The Real Estate Board of New York said it supported the landmark designation because the Stonewall “is clearly recognized in New York City and around the world as the birthplace of the L.G.B.T. rights movement.”
The designation covers two adjoining two-story buildings that together housed a gay bar starting in 1967.
One of the buildings, at 51 Christopher Street, is home to the current Stonewall Inn, which remains a gathering place for gay New Yorkers. The brick and stucco facades of the two structures, originally built as stables in the 1840s, have essentially been unchanged since 1969.
The Stonewall is not architecturally distinguished and would not earn landmark status on aesthetic grounds, several speakers noted.
The Stonewall was already part of the city-designated Greenwich Village Historic District, and it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. But speakers at the hearing said the individual city landmark designation was necessary to preserve the Stonewall and recognize its historic importance.
“It must be protected against rapacious developers who would destroy the history of this sacred place and all it represents,” Letitia James, the city’s public advocate, said.

Countering the ISIS Terror From an Islamic Theological Perspective

Jun 21, 2015Dr. Zahid IqbalFeatured, InsightBe the first to comment

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Last weekend, 50 young British Muslims converged to the leafy surroundings of Kidderminster to be trained for counter-extremism work. Their purpose was to learn how to weed out emergent religious extremism from its ideological and theological roots, and therefore to prevent young people from being brainwashed into leaving their homes to join barbaric terrorist groups abroad.

I, along with the other organisers, have watched with some sense of bewilderment and a deep sense of sadness as seemingly academically bright boys and girls and young adults elope to the Middle East as potential jihadi brides or would-be jihadi Johns. There is no doubt in my mind that there is a process of brainwashing involved, as effective as that carried out by any weird or dangerous cult.

And this brainwashing occurs through a combination of exploiting grievances regarding Muslims in difficulty around the world and the promotion of a number of ideological and theological themes. And to top it off, there is a sinister glamorisation of violence and swaggering displays of male machismo in social media broadcasts. All of these together create a potent mix to attract young Muslims, some perhaps looking for purpose or significance in otherwise unfulfilling and anonymous lives.

As for the response from government and most Muslim organisations, I’m afraid it’s been woefully inadequate. On the one hand the new government is hell-bent on eroding our civil liberties even more under the pretext of safeguarding security. Millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money have already been spent, some on dubious projects, with questionable results. On the other hand, many Muslims wish to deflect blame almost entirely on western foreign policy in Muslim lands, whether military ventures or support of despotic regimes. Yet Muslim imams and scholars must not brush the issue under the carpet or wash their hands of responsibility. Of course, government agencies, law enforcement, schools and other institutes all must play a part, but we Muslims must be central to the process of preventing radicalisation.

Much has recently been said in the media on the recognition of radicalisation, but it is an unfortunate fact that many Muslims, whether imams or parents, let alone non-Muslims, cannot recognise the radicalisation process, or present any cogent or evidence based arguments against it. Radicalisation is happening under their very noses and yet there is nothing they can do about it. Neither is it the case, as many non-Muslims may believe, that growing a beard, donning a hijab, avoidance of alcohol or other sudden expressions of religiosity are necessarily indicators of radicalisation. Radicalisation in young Muslims is less to do with outward expressions, than with specific ideas, backed up by ultimately what are flawed and superficial theological justifications.

So, what did the participants of this three-day camp learn, and what do they hope to achieve? They studied a preview of the Curriculum for Peace and Counter Terrorism, the work of the renowned scholar Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, and due for an official launch later this month. This detailed and comprehensive syllabus points to material from authentic and undeniable scriptural and scholarly sources, with counterarguments to the ideas employed by ISIS and other groups. These include the legitimacy of setting up an ‘Islamic state’, the legality of armed rebellion against the Muslim state and collective order, the true concept of jihad, clarification of certain verses of the Qur’an exhort killing, such as “wherever you find them, kill them”, and the beliefs and ideology of the Kharijites. The latter label, ‘Kharijites’, could well form one of the most potent countermeasures against ISIS recruitment, as the official launch in London of the Curriculum will demonstrate later this month.

These 50 young people (half of whom were female) will be travelling the country to speak at school assemblies, youth centres, mosques and other educational institutes. They will be working in social media to counter the rhetoric and misleading propaganda of extremists, and carrying out outreach work. We plan to roll this camp out to other parts of the country, and eventually form a large cadre of young people equipped with the knowledge and skills to tackle this growing problem. Of course, terrorism and extremism has many causes, and one cannot pretend that this is the magic bullet to destroy it once and for all. But for the first time in the UK and Europe, a new front has been opened, an ideological struggle against ISIS and other such groups, a jihad even, spearheaded by young Muslims committed to working in their communities to play their part in helping to destroy this evil scourge.

Lexus LFA achieves a 7minute 14.64 seconds lap time on the Nurburgring Nordschleife

On August 31^st 2011, Lexus undertook a performance check with the Lexus LFA Nürburgring Package, a two-seater supercar, at the Nürburgring (Rhineland-Pfalz, Germany).

Scheduled for production in 2012, the LFA Nürburgring Package has been optimized to deliver higher performance on the track, with a number of modifications made to the standard LFA. The LFA Nürburgring package is included in the limited 500 production run of the LFA.

The Nürburgring package includes a carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) front spoiler and fixed rear wing to enhance aerodynamic performance. The LFA Nürburgring Package also comes with track tuned suspension and custom wheels to improve maneuverability and stability. Compared to the standard LFA’s output of 412 kW (560 PS), the output of the LFA Nürburgring package has been raised to 420 kW (571 PS).

On the Nürburgring Nordschliefe (North Loop), where the LFA was extensively developed, professional race driver and LFA test driver, Akira Iida recorded a lap time of just 7:14.64. The tires used during the performance evaluation were Bridgestone Potenza RE070 tires which are the standard road legal specification for this LFA.

Dr. Schmidt , the COO of the Nürburgring Automotive GmbH stated “For us, it is always very special when a car is developed to meet the needs of the Nürburgring-Nordschleife. It shows us that the Nordschleife still is of particular importance for the automotive industry and that it still radiates a tremendous fascination. Lexus met the challenge Nordschleife by developing the Lexus LFA Nürburgring package. The lap time driven demonstrates impressively that Lexus have done an excellent job in matching the challenges of the track with the needs of an exclusive sports car. This is an outstanding result for Lexus and a reassurance of the excellent work done. We are very delighted by this”.

Haruhiko Tanahashi, LFA Chief Engineer stated “Since 2004 in the spring and summer of every year we have conducted development tests for the LFA at Nürburgring Nordschleife. The LFA Nürburgring package is the compilation of our extensive testing programme and we have appreciated the opportunities to utilise the Nürburgring Nordschleife to strengthen and develop the LFA into the vehicle it is today. The development team’s obsession, Iida-san’s concentration and good course conditions all led to achieving this record”.

Commenting on the result Iida-san said “We are delighted with this achievement. Our ongoing development of the LFA and our recent outings at the Nürburgring 24h race have enabled us to continued to tune the vehicle. The result with the LFA Nürburgring package shows the cars ultimate performance and agility. This is a first activity of its type for Lexus and the constant effort of the team has brought this fantastic result”.

The Lexus LFA supercar was first shown at the 41st Tokyo motorshow. The development took place over a period of ten years and was an indispensable step for Lexus, and its future models. The first model of the new generation Lexus, the new GS shows the new direction for the brand in terms of bold, dynamic styling, precise handling and innovative technology. The full hybrid GS 450h will be shown for the first time at Frankfurt motorshow on the 13^th September.