Gooch hopeful England can save First Test as South Africa dominate

But whatever the outcome of the first Investec Test, Gooch will be happy to congratulate South Africa's Hashim Amla on joining him as one of only six men to make a Test triple-century in this country.

Amla's tour de force 311 not out featured in stands of 259 with his captain Graeme Smith and then an unbroken 377 with Jacques Kallis (182no) in the tourists' monumental 637 for two declared.

After England had then wobbled to 102 for four, still 150 short of making South Africa bat again, the hosts were up against it on the final day to avoid going 1-0 down with two to play.

Should they fail, their world number one status will be in jeopardy.

Gooch was last night clinging to the belief they could, but made it clear too Amla deserves the plaudits for his outstanding innings.

"I thought it was a wonderful effort," he said. "To score runs you need a great attitude, a good technique, good knowledge and above all spot-on concentration.

"I think he showed all four things.

"He's developed his game over the years since he made his debut. He's got a good range of shot, and a great temperament.

"He needs to be congratulated - a fantastic effort from a very good player."

England will not need a triple-century to rescue a draw, but a hundred would be handy.

Their best hopes rest with not-out batsmen Ian Bell and Ravi Bopara, the latter one of Gooch's Essex proteges.

"It's a different sort of opportunity, but one you face a lot in Test cricket," he said of the challenge facing England.

"Sometimes you go in, where you're trying to set the tone, set up a game.

"This is a rearguard action, backs to the wall; you have to show your character; you have to show your quality with technique.

"It will be a test for both the guys in the middle and the other guys down the order. Each ball is the only ball that matters."

If England do not pull it off, it will be tough to recover over the next month - although a drawn series will be enough for them to stay at the top of the International Cricket Council table.

"If you go 1-0 down in a three-match series you are up against it, but you can still get back into the series," said Gooch.

"If you play well you have a chance, and England have quality to win matches. That's a given."

Amla, meanwhile, was last night confident - but far from arrogant - about South Africa's prospects of victory.

"I think you would rather be in our changing room, without a doubt," he said.

"Our bowlers have bowled really well to ruffle the feathers of the English team.

"They got the ball to talk a bit. I hope we can do some good things tomorrow."

Source: http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/cricket/gooch-hopeful-england-can-save-first-test-as-south-africa-dominate-7965437.html

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An Interview with Ron Dunning on his Jane Austen Genealogy - Blogs

Some of you may be familiar already with the Ancestry.com Jane Austen Family Tree?created by Ronald Dunning.? It is quite the amazing compilation of ancestors and descendants of ?Dear Aunt Jane? ? a resource for Austen fans and scholars alike the world over.

So we are happy to announce that Mr. Dunning has continued with his Austen genealogical work and his new and improved website is to be ?unveiled? at the Jane Austen Society meeting tomorrow (21 July 2012) at the Chawton House Library [an article about the history of the website will appear in the next JAS Report] -?details of the meeting are here: http://www.janeaustensoci.freeuk.com/pages/AGM_details.htm.

The link to the new website is here: http://www.janeaustensfamily.co.uk/? where you will find new content, the complete transcribed text of the manuscript of Akin to Jane, and links?to the?original RootsWeb site noted above [see below for information on how best to?access the data.]

Ron has been very kind to answer a few of my?questions about how and why he took on this monumental research project, so hope you enjoy learning more about it ? then you must take some time to search the database ? it is great fun to poke around in when you might have an extra minute or two on any given day ? you might even find that somewhere deep in the listings some of your very own relatives share a connection to Jane!

********************************

A hearty welcome to you Ron ? with thanks for sharing with us the history of your website!

JAIV:? What prompted you to get involved with this Austen family research project to begin with??

RD:? I grew up in Toronto, a city, and a wonderful city it is, whose civilised history only goes back for two centuries. All of my grandparents were English, but the thought of having interesting ancestors would have seemed too ridiculous to entertain. My paternal grandmother was the sort who wrote regularly to every English member of her and my grandfather?s families, and was always nattering about their current situations. In 1972, aged 25, I left Toronto to find work as a classical musician, and the idea of going to England, where there would be a ready-made family, was deeply appealing. Just before my departure, my grandmother told me that we had some sort of connection with the Austens, though she didn?t know what.

We must have been almost the only branch of descendants who?d lost sight of it!? I was pleased to be able to tell her, before she died, that Frank Austen [Jane's brother] was her great-great-grandfather.? It was difficult to get much further back than that in the 1970s, so I gave up the search to get on with work, and to raise my own brace of descendants. In 1998 my wife bought a computer for our kids and, Luddite that I am, I grumbled and scowled in the background ? till I thought that I might just see what it?s like.

I was soon drawn back to family history. The kids were old enough that they preferred neglect to parental attention, though we did meet?occasionally?to fight over whose turn it was to use the computer. At the time I thought that it would stand to reason that the Austen genealogy had been exhausted, so for the next five years I worked through the seven non-Austen great-grandparents? lines, and just copied the charts in the backs of Jane Austen biographies.

When that was thoroughly exhausted I was addicted, and needed a fix! Simultaneously it became evident that the authors of the biographies had all copied the family charts from one another, and there was a lot further to go.? In particular they mainly recorded the male lines, dishonouring the women. I?ve found that not just Cassandra Leigh but George Austen too had eminent ancestors, which means that their records go back, potentially, to the beginning of recorded history.

Now I have a lifetime?s supply of fixes, and in retirement, a full time job.? Do not call it a hobby.? And don?t say that I?m obsessed. Oh well, all right, perhaps I am. This study means a lot more to me than just a growing collection of names ? it makes me feel organically connected, not just to the Austen family (and I don?t feel at all proprietorial about Jane) but to the whole of English history.

JAIV: Tell us something about Joan Corder and her manuscript, Akin to Jane ? how and when and where did you first come upon it ? what a find! ? and why did she not publish her research??

RD:? Joan Corder was born and lived through her life in the English county of Suffolk. She served as a young woman, during World War 2, in intelligence as a plotter, then moved back home to look after her widowed mother. She didn?t marry. Over the course of her life she became a distinguished herald and genealogist; Akin to Jane was her first big project.

It was to her enduring disappointment that she couldn?t interest a publisher ? so only two copies of the manuscript were made. One was presented to the Jane Austen Society and can be seen at the Jane Austen?s House Museum at Chawton, where it has been, presumably, consulted by most if not all of Jane Austen?s later biographers.

With use, the manuscript has become increasingly fragile; people still visit the Museum to inspect it. My Austen cousin Patrick Stokes scanned the work to help preserve it for posterity, and it?s his scans that are displayed on the website. The museum curator is pleased that she can now refer interested parties to the web, and retire the original.

[Ron says on the website: ?I would like to acknowledge and thank my Austen cousin, Patrick Stokes, who first brought the manuscript of?Akin to Jane?to my attention, and gave me a copy.?]

Joan Corder

?

JAIV:? What, of all the discoveries in your research, surprised you the most?

RD:? So many discoveries! They constantly amaze, but no longer surprise. ?I?ve been making a list, and intend to write articles about them. Here is a sample and though many of them seem improbable, they are all true.

1.? William IX, Duke of Aquitaine.? William was a leader of the 1101 Crusade.? He is best known today as the earliest troubadour ? a vernacular lyric poet in the Occitan language ? whose work has survived.? Grandfather of Eleanor of Aquitaine, and Jane Austen?s 19^th-great-grandfather.
2.? Owain Glyndwr, Prince of Wales. Shakespeare?s Owen Glendower. Jane?s 13^th-great-grandfather.

Owain Glyndwr ? the BBC

3. John King, Bishop of London, from 1611 (the year of the King James Bible) to 1621. John King ordained John Donne. Jane?s? 4^th-great-grandfather.

John King, Bishop of London (1611-1621)

4.? Faith Coghill, the wife of Sir Christopher Wren. The? 1^st cousin once removed of George Austen.

5. Lizzie Throckmorton, the wife of Sir Walter Raleigh. A distant cousin of Cassandra Leigh.

Elizabeth Throckmorton

[image from Peerage.com]

6.? Katherine Leigh, the wife of Robert Catesby, the Gunpowder plotter, another distant cousin.

7.? Both of Jane?s parents were descended from royalty. Cassandra was descended from John of Gaunt, the son of Edward III, so every previous English king, back to William the Conqueror, and some beyond, was her ancestor.? For George we have to go back two generations further, to Edward I.

8.? Some Scottish royalty ? the real-life Duncan I of Scotland who was either murdered by his cousin, the real-life Macbeth, or killed in battle against him.? Macbeth, as we know, succeeded him as King.? Duncan was Jane?s 21^st-great-grandfather.

9.? By the way, we all know from Jane?s juvenilia that she ?preferred? Mary Queen of Scots to Queen Elizabeth. Well ? not only was she related to both, but in Jane Austen?s Sailor Brothers she is quoted favourably comparing her brother Frank with Queen Elizabeth.

Cassandra Austen?s Mary Queen of Scots ? The History of England

JAIV:? This is all wonderful!? But I must ask, any real gossip ? things hidden for generations?

RD:? Ooh ? I?d be banished from the family if I revealed any of those!

JAIV: Oh, but the story of Elizabeth and Herbert is quite an interesting one! All hidden from the family and worthy of a Victorian novel! ?? or at least akin to the writers of Victorian novels, as the lives of Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins can attest! [see below for the link!]

JAIV:? Where do you go from here??

RD:? I began the web project thinking that I would be producing a revision of Akin to Jane , but it eventually became obvious that the plan was unworkable. I want the reader to be drawn to my research, and not to think that Joan Corder?s work was the end of it. She managed to record a little over 300 of George and Cassandra Austen?s descendants, and gave ancestors no attention. My genealogical database contains more than 1200 descendants ? that is, another 900 ? and another ten thousand people, who include ancestors, collateral families, and families of social connections. The address of that, by the way, is http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~janeausten.

There is a link beneath each individual in Akin to Jane to that database, but in the long run I plan to organise things better. I?ll spend next winter learning the html to create a proper design (you won?t know it, but the current one is improper), and intend to do wondrous things with a sidebar. That will take care of technicalities. I have only just begun thinking beyond the current content, and have decided that I will add more original family history source material. I believe that one can jinx plans by talking about them too soon, so I?ll do that when I know that the material can be used.

JAIV:? Is there a book in the works?

RD: I?m sorry. No book. Articles, yes. Though I?ve really enjoyed building the Jane Austen?s Family website, it has absorbed an immense amount of time ? time taken away from research, my first love.

?******************************************************?

Thank you Ron for joining us here today! [well, really you are at the JAS meeting at the Chawton House Library, and I am here in Vermont, but we can pretend, can?t we?]?- it has been delightful getting to know you via emails! and I very much?appreciate you sharing all this with us. What a gift of research you have given the Jane Austen world?

Now Dear Readers, it is time for you to journey through these ancestry files, both those of Joan Corder?s Akin to Jane manuscript, now transcribed for all to see on the website, as well as the expanded genealogical research at the Ancestry.com site that Ron has lovingly put together over these past how many years?! ? Ron makes it clear that this is still a work in progress [isn?t everything?] and he will continue to make changes to the set-up and continuously add content.? But it is best to just dive in and see all that is there ? [as an aside, so please forgive the intrusion,?I must say that I put in several of my family names (both my parents were born in England, so I knew there was a chance of some connection somewhere), and find that the mother of Sir Christopher Wren has my maiden name, and his wife, mentioned above [Faith Coghill] was a direct cousin to George Austen! ? now I have some serious sleuthing to do to find the exact connection ? but I have been quite annoying to friends and family these past few days since my discovery ? and not sure in any given minute whether to sit down and write a Novel, or get out my drafting table and design a Cathedral ? this genealogy stuff can be quite daunting!]

So back to the matter at hand ? let?s head into the Austen genealogy: to begin, go first to the main page: where you will see these links:

1. Akin to Jane ? Joan Corder?s original and transcribed manuscript ? click on this and you will find these links:

Akin to Jane title page

• Jane Austen?s Family- Index of Names, and Lists: Corder?s notes on the Austen family, indexed by Austen family members, all surnames of the extended family ? you will find links to:

1.? Jane?s family and their descendants: George and Cassandra Austen; James Austen; George Austen; Edward Austen, later Knight; Henry Thomas Austen; Cassandra Elizabeth Austen; Francis William Austen; Jane Austen; and Charles John Austen

2. ?Index of people by surname: Austen Family; Austen-Leigh; Bradford, Hill and Hubback; Knatchbull; Knight; Lefroy and Purvis; and Rice

• Highlights page ? oh! much here and much more to be added:

?There is good reason for the general reader to delve into this manuscript. One of Joan Corder?s informants, Miss Marcia Rice, who was 84 in 1954 when the work was written, was the granddaughter of Edward Knight?s daughter Elizabeth, and her husband Edward Royd Rice. Miss Rice wrote extensive memoirs of her family, which Joan Corder copied. Her recollections of her distant childhood were refracted through the most rosy of tinted spectacles; few could read those for her grandmother without needing the discreet use of a tissue. Here is a direct link to Elizabeth.

Please don?t stop with Elizabeth ? Miss Rice didn?t. She left a wonderful record immortalising her entire Rice family, from aunts who could be quirky or intellectual, to uncles who could be courageous or reckless. For many of them there are links in the text to portraits. Be sure not to neglect reading Miss Rice?s personal memories, on page 115; and those following, on her great-aunt Marianne Knight.? ?

• Heraldry ? Eleven Coats of Arms: these are worthy of a website all their own!

Austen Coat-of-Arms

• Joan Corder ? author of Akin to Jane: information on the author of the original family tree.
• Author?s and Editor?s Notes: notes from both Corder and Dunning with explanations on how to use the Akin to Jane database and links to Dunning?s Roots Web database.
• Contact Me ? Ronald Dunning: he would love to hear from you!

Ron Dunning

2.? Recent Research ? Ron?s explanation of his research that continues that of what is in Akin to Jane at the Jane Austen Family Tree website at RootsWeb:
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=janeausten

3.?? Articles ? there are three articles now, more to be added:

• ?An Unconventional Love Match?
• ?The Last Welsh Prince of Wales ? Jane Austen?s Welsh Ancestry?
• ?Latitude and Longitude?

Be sure to read all the extra links ? these often explain the contents and?how the database works; and do not miss all the illustrations that appear throughout the website:

http://www.janeaustensfamily.co.uk/akin-to-jane/text/illustrations-and-portraits.html

Vice Admiral Francis William Austen

Now the fun part: you really do need to explore ? but I shall give you this start ? the wonderful story noted on the ?Highlights Page??above of Elizabeth Austen [later Knight], daughter of Jane Austen?s brother Edward, from her grand-daughter Marcia Alice Rice, as written for Joan Corder in 1953:

http://www.janeaustensfamily.co.uk/akin-to-jane/text/edward/051a.html

?Image?of Elizabeth Austen-Knight Rice and her husband Edward Royd Rice

and then this quite romantic tale?that I mentioned above of another?Elizabeth and her husband Herbert: Herbert was the last?child of?Fanny Catherine Austen Knight Knatchbull?(Jane Austen?s favorite niece ? quite the mouthful! ? and later on they added Hugessen to the name!) -? here we have a tale of a secret marriage, he and his wife Elizabeth?living under an assumed name, Herbert never telling his mother, never telling his colleagues in Parliament, having many children ? all right out of a Victorian novel! : you can find it here on the ancestry.com website:

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=janeausten&id=I3046

and you can read Ron?s take on the story and his research here:

http://www.janeaustensfamily.co.uk/articles/unconventional-love-match.html

So just dig around ? click on any link of interest ? there are treasures to be discovered lurking behind those links! ? whatever would Jane Austen make of all this do you think? ? would she be absolutely appalled to discover she was related to Queen Elizabeth?? I now wonder after all if even I am related to Queen Elizabeth ? and maybe you are too!

If you have any questions for Ron, please leave a comment here ? he is happy?to respond to any queries or suggestions?

c2012, Jane Austen in Vermont

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In German circumcision debate, 'us vs them' fears

A man wearing a hat sits on a visitors tribune and follows the debate during a special session of the German Parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, July 19, 2012. The German Parliament debates because the government wants to reassure Jewish and Muslim parents that they will continue to be able to circumcise their sons according to religious tradition, despite a local court's ruling that the practice amounts to bodily harm. (AP Photo/Gero Breloer)

A man wearing a hat sits on a visitors tribune and follows the debate during a special session of the German Parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, July 19, 2012. The German Parliament debates because the government wants to reassure Jewish and Muslim parents that they will continue to be able to circumcise their sons according to religious tradition, despite a local court's ruling that the practice amounts to bodily harm. (AP Photo/Gero Breloer)

BERLIN (AP) ? Rabbi David Goldberg had performed about 25 ritual circumcisions this year before a regional court ruled in June that the practice amounted to causing criminal bodily harm.

Despite the decision, he expects to perform the same number in second half of the year.

"I haven't changed anything," said Goldberg, one of Germany's few mohels ? a person trained in the Jewish ritual of circumcision.

Though the Cologne court's decision has raised fears among Muslims and Jews that circumcising their children could get them into legal trouble, it has had little practical effect in reducing religious circumcisions ? especially since the government has weighed in with assurances to both communities that their practices will be respected.

But both Jews and Muslims say that a more lasting effect may be "us vs. them" tensions that have raised an invisible barrier between secular Germans and religious minorities.

"It is no surprise that the Catholics and the Protestants have stood behind the Muslim community in this case and denounced the verdict," said Aiman Mazyek, the chairman of Germany's Central Council of Muslims. "In my opinion this is no picture of tolerance or religious freedom from a modern civilization. It is a step backward."

Jews are religiously required to circumcise baby boys on the 8th day after birth in a ceremony seen as their entrance into a covenant with God. Muslims also usually perform the procedure early in a boy's life, though sometimes wait until later in childhood.

In the Cologne decision, announced June 26, the court said circumcising young boys on religious grounds amounts to bodily harm even if parents consent to the procedure. The charge is punishable by anything from a fine to up to five years in prison.

The ruling came in the case of the circumcision of a 4-year-old Muslim boy that led to medical complications.

The boy was circumcised at the request of his parents. He developed complications two days later and was rushed to the hospital. Prosecutors charged the doctor, who was acquitted when a Cologne court found that he had performed the procedure properly, and that he had the parents' permission to carry out the circumcision.

But prosecutors appealed, and the higher Cologne court ruled that in a case of circumcision for non-medical reasons, the welfare of the child outweighed the religious rights of the parents. The acquittal of the doctor, however, was upheld because the court said the law had been unclear.

Though not precedent setting for other courts in Germany, the ruling prompted an outcry from Jewish and Muslim groups across Europe, while in Israel the German ambassador was invited to explain the decision to the Knesset.

Germany's main Catholic and Protestant organizations also condemned the ruling as an attack on religious freedom. The president of the German Medical Association said the ruling could even endanger children, by forcing circumcisions to be performed under possibly unsanitary conditions outside of hospitals.

Caught in the middle were people like Moishe Furer, a rabbinical student in Berlin whose son Elchanan was born five days before the decision was announced.

The native of Moldova said his own parents had to bribe a doctor when he was born to certify that his own circumcision was for medical purposes because performing the procedure for religious reasons was not allowed in the former Soviet Union. When he first heard of the Cologne decision, he said he thought the court ruling was being misinterpreted.

"We thought it was a mistake, that it could not be true that something like circumcision could be forbidden in Germany," he said.

But because of the religious significance, he said, they had the circumcision done, despite fears that other courts might follow the ruling even if it did not set a precedent.

"It was important enough to risk," he said.

The most disturbing part of the ruling for Jews and Muslims is the court's contention that being circumcised "runs contrary to the interest of the child to later choose his religious affiliation," said Josh Spinner, an American rabbi who grew up in Hamilton, Canada, and has been in Berlin for more than a decade.

"I'm a circumcised male, I expect that I have the right to become a Catholic or Protestant or Buddhist or atheist if I choose to today. But what the court is saying is that if I am circumcised I am a Jew," he said. "There's a very dark and very illiberal view of what this mark does on the individual."

Around 250,000 Jews live in Germany today, and about 4 million Muslims ? the largest minority among Germany's 82 million population.

Spinner said the ruling has the potential of opening the door to even greater restrictions on religious freedom for minorities ? a particularly sensitive issue in Germany given the years of state-imposed anti-Jewish measures under the Nazis that preceded the Holocaust.

"Germany needs to understand that if they want to tolerate Jews then they need to tolerate Judaism," Spinner said.

Chancellor Angela Merkel acknowledged the same concern behind closed doors in a meeting this week with her party leaders, saying "I don't want Germany to be the only country in the world in which Jews cannot perform their rituals," according to an official who was present.

Immediately following the court ruling, however, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle was alone among top officials to speak out on the issue. He offered assurances that "the free exercise of religion is protected in Germany ? that includes religious traditions."

In the past week, however, Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert has weighed in several times, promising that the government will come up with a solution that will allow the practice.

And in Parliament on Thursday, lawmakers from several parties adopted a resolution urging the government to draft a new law by the fall guaranteeing Muslims and Jews the right to continue circumcising their boys.

"Jewish and Muslim religious life must continue to be possible in Germany," the lawmakers said in the two-page resolution. "The circumcision of boys for Jews and Muslims has a central religious importance."

Had the government spoken out strongly sooner, said Goldberg, Germany may have managed to prevent the discussion from turning into an "us vs. them" embroilment.

"I get a lot of emails from non-Jewish Germans saying things like 'if you don't like it, leave Germany' ? very anti-Semitic. It's a bad atmosphere," said the rabbi, who immigrated to Germany 19 years ago from Israel and now lives in the southeastern city of Hof.

"Nobody said anything aside from Westerwelle, so that is also partially the fault of the government."

Joerg van Essen, parliamentary chief whip of the Free Democrats, Merkel's junior coalition partner, said that drafting the resolution to protect circumcisions took time because lawmakers needed to carefully balance constitutionally guaranteed religious freedoms and parental rights with the safety of the child.

"It's a relatively small procedure for the child, but banning it would be a big encroachment on religious freedom and the right of the parents to decide how to raise their children," he said.

Furer said he hoped that the circumcision debate would be expose more Germans to other religious ideas.

"I think a lot of Germans don't understand our religion and our religious issues," he said.

___

Associated Press correspondent Frank Jordans contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-07-22-Germany-Circumcision/id-c5e4a36e0aeb4e39a9f252e0cda52329

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Air Force instructor sentenced to 20 years

Air Force Staff Sgt. Luis Walker arrives for the fourth day of his trial at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, Friday, July 20, 2012. Walker is accused of sexually assaulting 10 basic trainees, with charges ranging from rape and aggravated sexual assault to obstructing justice and violating rules of professional conduct. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life imprisonment. (AP Photo/San Antonio Express News, Billy Calzada)

Air Force Staff Sgt. Luis Walker arrives for the fourth day of his trial at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, Friday, July 20, 2012. Walker is accused of sexually assaulting 10 basic trainees, with charges ranging from rape and aggravated sexual assault to obstructing justice and violating rules of professional conduct. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life imprisonment. (AP Photo/San Antonio Express News, Billy Calzada)

Air Force Staff Sgt. Luis Walker, left foreground, arrives for the fourth day of his trial at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, Friday, July 20, 2012. Walker is accused of sexually assaulting 10 basic trainees, with charges ranging from rape and aggravated sexual assault to obstructing justice and violating rules of professional conduct. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life imprisonment. (AP Photo/San Antonio Express News, Billy Calzada)

Air Force Staff Sgt. Luis Walker, right, arrives for the fourth day of his trial at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, Friday, July 20, 2012. Walker is accused of sexually assaulting 10 basic trainees, with charges ranging from rape and aggravated sexual assault to obstructing justice and violating rules of professional conduct. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life imprisonment. Others in photo are unidentified. (AP Photo/San Antonio Express News, Billy Calzada)

SAN ANTONIO (AP) ? An Air Force instructor was sentenced to 20 years in prison Saturday, after being convicted of rape and sexual assault in a sweeping sex scandal that rocked one of the nation's busiest military training centers.

A military jury at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio found Staff Sgt. Luis Walker guilty Friday night on all 28 charges he faced, including rape, aggravated sexual contact and multiple counts of aggravated sexual assault. A judge consolidated those charges Saturday into 20, but that didn't affect Walker's maximum sentence. He could have received life in prison.

Walker is among 12 Lackland instructors investigated for sexual misconduct toward at least 31 female trainees. Six instructors have been charged, on counts ranging from rape to adultery, and Walker was the first to stand trial. Walker also faced the most serious charges of all those accused.

Prosecutors say from October 2010 through January 2011, Walker sexually assaulted or had improper sexual or personal contact with at least 10 female recruits. Walker's court-martial included testimony from all 10 women, including one who described him luring her into an office and sexually assaulted her on a bed, ignoring her pleas to stop. The Associated Press does not usually identify sexual assault victims.

Five women testified during Saturday's sentencing hearing, saying they couldn't sleep or maintain relationships with men after the assaults. They said Walker's actions eroded their trust in authority and affected their performance at work.

One said it affected her tour in Afghanistan because she felt uncomfortable being alone with men.

"It's made it extremely hard to interact with authority figures," she said. "During my tour in Afghanistan, I was a little bit more scared of everything. I can't work with certain individuals just since they remind me of Staff Sgt. Walker."

Lackland is where every American airman receives basic training. It has about 475 instructors for the approximately 35,000 airmen who graduate every year. About one in five recruits are female, pushed through eight weeks of basic training by a group of instructors, 90 percent of whom are men.

Walker was convicted by a jury of six men and one woman. Under Air Force rules, the jury can declare a defendant guilty by a three-fifths vote on each individual count, rather than the unanimous decision required in American civilian courts.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-07-21-Air%20Force-Sex%20Scandal/id-32d04116485b4903b9f97c238400a1b6

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Gillmor Gang: Or Are You Just Glad to See Me

The Gillmor Gang ? John Borthwick, Danny Sullivan, John Taschek, Kevin Marks, and Steve Gillmor ? turned into Google fanboys on a dime, or $200, with the release of the Nexus 7 tablet. This thing is amazing,, small, fast, and did I mention $200. Just weeks after Microsoft Surface didn't ship, pre-ordered Nexi did, selling out in most if not all the stores that carried it. The Gang touched on @borthwick's Digg acquisition and 11-day relaunch, but had no time to talk Yahoo and Mayer despite repeated requests from the producer and chatroom. It was all Nexus all the time. Did I mention it's $200?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/v7vRcWWm0zQ/

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Montclair June Real Estate Numbers: 46 Homes Sold and the Sale ...

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In the month of June there were 193 residential homes on the market for sale -- 48 of those came on the market in June, 42 were under contract, and 46 sold. Of the 46, the average sales price was $665,997 and the median sales price was $630,000. These homes sold, on average, at 99% of list price in 92 days.

Although the sales numbers are a marked increase from last month, they are a mixed bag versus June 2011. The positive side is 16 additional homes sold last month and the median sales price was $15,401 more, when compared to June 2011. The negative side, the average sales price was $88,920 less than last year with the June 2011 average sales price coming in at $754,917. Of the 30 residential homes sold in June 2011, they sold at an average of 99% of list price in 72 days.

The most expensive home sold at 495 Park Street for it's asking price of $1,999,999 in 68 days. The least expensive home that sold was a 1 bedroom, 1 full bath condo at 16 Forest Street for $145,000. A home that sold close to the average sales price is 32 Franklin Place, the 7 bedroom, 4 full baths and 1 half-bath for $670,000.

There were also 3 multi-family home sales and 55 rentals completed. However, note all of these figures are from the Garden State Multiple Listing Service (GSMLS) and do not include all new construction or private sales/rentals; many rentals are completed without a real estate agent.

Source: http://montclair.patch.com/blog_posts/montclair-june-real-estate-numbers-46-homes-sold-and-the-sale-prices-well-lets-see

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Take A Look At These Muscle Building Tips!

What kind of regime do you follow to build muscle mass. The answer might not be as direct as you think. Most people try to build muscle by themselves, but without assistance, it can be overwhelming. Continue on for some helpful tips and you just might find something that you have never tried before.

If you want to build muscle mass, do not get rid of good fats in your diet. Good fats are out there, and they really help your efforts with muscle growth. By restricting fats, you will slow down the growth process. Additionally, there is a relation between levels of fat and testosterone.

Always stretch thoroughly after working out to give your muscles the best chance to repair and grow properly. Anyone that is under forty years old needs to make sure that each stretch is held for a minimum of thirty seconds. If you are over 40, hold the stretch for a minimum of 60 seconds. This will help prevent injuries.

If you want more muscle mass on your frame, get enough protein. Muscle requires protein to rebuild after a workout, and a protein deficiency will actually reduce your muscle mass. Daily you should eat up to 1 gram of protein for each pound you weigh.

Focus on goals that you can really meet when you start building muscle. You will notice better results if you meet your goals over time. Never attempt to bulk up with steroids or stimulants; using these chemicals can cause irreversible damage to your body and your health.

Eating plenty of protein is important for gaining muscle. The process through which your body stores protein is known as protein synthesis. Muscles grow bigger by using this system. You can find protein in a variety of foods, including meat, poultry, fish, nuts, beans and dairy products.

If you are trying to build muscles, remember that carbohydrates are important! Carbohydrates are essential for the energy you need to last through your weight training workouts. If you don?t get enough carbs, your body will start to break down protein for energy. Consume enough carbs so your body can operate properly, and you can last through your workouts.

Do not workout more than four times per week. By limiting your weekly workouts, you give your muscles time to recover from the intense exercises. Working out more than that may injure you and could be counterproductive to your goals.

Recognize that the requirements of serious muscle building and intense cardiovascular exercise (such as marathon training) are not compatible. While engaging in cardio exercise is key to good health, it can negate the work you do on your muscle mass. Strength training exercises are the best way to increase muscle mass.

Too many people botch their muscle building efforts by rushing them. Not only is it safer, but slowing down to assure that you use the correct form will give better outcomes than trying to do them faster. Slow down and double check that you?re doing the exercise properly.

Vary your workout routine from week to week. As you get into any workout routine, it can become boring and that will dissuade you from doing it. Change your routine regularly to work on different groups of muscles and keep things challenging enough. A new workout will help you stay motivated and enjoy exercising.

Try out the farmer?s walk. This exercise is simple. Just hold somewhat-heavy dumbbells, one on each side, and walk until you are exhausted. Make sure your abs stay tense, and take long strides. When you reach the point of muscle fatigue, stop for a minute and a half and then repeat. Do this several times throughout the day.

Ensure that your overall caloric intake is high enough. You can find a number of body mass indexes online to help you figure the amount of calories you need to consume to reach your target weight. Use these calculators to estimate your calorie requirements, but don?t forget these calories need to be healthy ones consisting of healthy carbs, proteins, and other nutrients.

Use a creatine supplement to aid you in building muscle. Creatine supplements have been shown to increase pre-existing problems with the kidneys and gastrointestinal tract. Be very careful about adding a supplement to your diet. Never exceed the recommended amount or use in a manner contradictory to the directions.

Try to ensure that you?re getting enough protein in your diet before and after you workout. Consume no less than 20g of a whey protein supplement prior to a strength training session. This extra protein enables your muscles to recover and increase in mass without using the muscle protein.

Knowing what it takes to build muscle is the key to ensuring it happens. Use the advice laid out here, and apply the tips to your life to be certain your muscle building plan is successful. Armed with the right information, commitment and methods, you can?t help but accomplish your goals

Add a 10-minute stretching period to the beginning of your workout. This will help you stay safe by giving your muscles a chance to warm up before they are pushed into action. This routine can also help you to avoid normal everyday injuries caused by tight, inflexible muscles. This will allow you to continue your exercise plan unhindered.

Source: http://911builder.com/muscle-building/take-a-look-at-these-muscle-building-tips/

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