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A service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
1 in 4 Stroke Survivors Suffers From PTSD, Study Finds
And that can pose serious psychological challenges, researcher says
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
The data show that experiencing a life-threatening health crisis can pose serious psychological challenges, said study lead author Donald Edmondson, an assistant professor of behavioral medicine at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City.
Although post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) typically is associated with combat veterans and sexual assault survivors, the researchers discovered that patients who develop a serious health condition followed by intense treatment may have mental problems that frequently go unrecognized by physicians and family members.
The study, published online June 19 in the journal PLoS ONE, also found that people who develop PTSD after a stroke could have a greater risk for heart problems or another stroke because of the psychological issues they endure.
PTSD is an intense physical and emotional response to a life-threatening or traumatic event. The symptoms fall into three broad types: reliving the event, avoiding usual activities and hyperarousal, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For Peter Cornelis, 62, the trauma of enduring a series of strokes followed by brain surgery left him unable to move for months. He remembers lying in bed mentally designing paintings to help him occupy endless hours with nothing to do.
Over the past four years, he has been slowly rehabilitated, and he now walks with a cane. Although he leads an art class at the local community center in Wantagh, N.Y., he avoids going outside as much as possible, because he suffers from PTSD.
Cornelis said he has little control over his emotions -- from crying when he reads a sentimental greeting card to laughing at nothing at all. Sometimes he blows up without knowing why. He is anxious around people, worrying about how he'll react and how others will respond to him. "And I'm afraid," he said. "Could I have another stroke? Can I make plans for the future?"
But people think he has recovered, Cornelis said. "I look fine, talk perfectly," he said.
Cornelis is not alone. Each year, nearly 300,000 stroke survivors will develop PTSD symptoms because of their health scare, the researchers said. Twenty-three percent will develop PTSD symptoms, and for about 11 percent, the condition will become chronic.
For the study, the researchers analyzed nine prior studies of stroke or transient ischemic attacks (TIAs), which are blood vessel blockages that break up quickly and dissolve without lasting damage. Together, the studies included more than 1,100 survivors who were either interviewed or given questionnaires.
PTSD is triggered in people who have strokes and TIAs by a variety of sequential factors, Edmondson said. First, there is a significant, terrifying, life-threatening event that is often accompanied by internal cues, such as a rapid heart rate and high blood pressure. "It's called the fight or flight response, and it's our innate response to fear," he said. An emotional ambulance ride, invasive tests, hospitalization and sometimes surgery follow.
Next, people must adjust to the shock of what has just happened, Edmondson said. "We walk through our lives with the naive belief that we're invulnerable," he said. "Often what is traumatic [about a stroke or heart attack] is that such unspoken assumptions are broken."
And once home, physical and environmental cues can stimulate the fear response all over again. Unlike a soldier who can leave the battlefield, stroke patients typically return to the place where the crisis occurred. Many patients may simply see the living room chair where they had the stroke and immediately feel PTSD symptoms.
Flashbacks, nightmares, palpitations, chills, and elevated heart rate and blood pressure may occur for months or years after their return home, Edmondson said. Severe anxiety, headaches and outbursts of anger also are likely for patients with PTSD.
"PTSD is a huge detriment to quality of life, a debilitating disorder in its own right, and deserves to be treated," said Edmondson.
Edmondson said that although the research does not show that strokes cause PTSD, he thinks it comes close. "You can't develop PTSD without a life-threatening event," he said. "Having PTSD can't cause a stroke a month ago, so this research is some of the strongest causal evidence we have."
Dr. Rafael Ortiz, director of the division of neuroendovascular disease and stroke at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said he thinks this is the first time PTSD has been so closely associated with strokes and TIAs. "It's important that after suffering from a stroke, people are taken care of by a comprehensive team of doctors and other specialists, including psychologists and nurses who are very well-trained," he said.
Edmondson encouraged patients and family to talk with their physicians about PTSD. "I really hope this research lets survivors and their family members know it's not weird and it's nothing to be ashamed of," he said. "It's treatable. Tell somebody."
Health News Copyright (c) 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
- More Health News on:
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Stroke


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Men's study is at Taco Joint in Richardson. Please look for opportunities to take photos of the men socializing, group shots and in discussion. (Look for movement photos - using hands, laughing, thinking and praying.)
Time: 7:00 - 8:00pm
Location: Taco Joint - 100 S Central Expy, Richardson, TX 75080
Upload Link: http://fumcr.smugmug.com/upload/HP9cvQ/biblestudy

subset: commoncrawl


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Sally Jewell is environmentalist, business exec
- Cabinet nominee is well known for her environmental efforts
- If confirmed%2C she will become one of few female Cabinet secretaries
- 56-year-old Great Britain native started her career as an oil industry engineer
President Obama's nomination of Sally Jewell for Interior secretary Wednesday was lauded by several retail and environmental groups and is expected to pass the Senate without much objection.
Jewell is president and CEO of outdoor apparel and equipment company Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI), based in Kent, Wash. But she is perhaps even more well known for her work with environmental non-profits and conservation groups.
And as Interior secretary, Jewell would oversee the health and conservation of the nation's public lands. If confirmed by the Senate, she will succeed Ken Salazar and will be one of the few female members of Obama's Cabinet.
Obama praised Jewell's "broad expertise" during the nomination Wednesday and her love of the outdoors.
The 56-year-old Great Britain native has served as CEO of REI since 2005, but she also sits on several boards, including for the National Parks Conservation Association and Initiative for Global Development.
NPCA President Thomas Kiernan says Jewell "knows how to work across the aisle."
"When Sally speaks, people listen," he says.
REI declined to release Jewell's political affiliation but according to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, she has made campaign contributions almost solely to Democratic candidates going back to 2008.
Jewell has won numerous environmental awards, such as the 2009 Rachel Carson Award for Environmental Conservation from the Audubon Society. Last year, she received the Award for Public Service from the Woodrow Wilson Center and was a named a 2012 Woman of Distinction by the Girl Scouts of Western Washington.
Jewell also worked with Obama's America's Great Outdoors Initiative, launched in 2011, according to her biography provided by REI. And in 2009, she participated in a White House meeting on health care reform, discussing REI's health benefits program.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who also chairs the Energy and Natural Resources Committee that will hold Jewell's hearings, called the nomination "an inspired choice" in a release the committee put out.
"Her record shows that she understands the importance of preserving our public lands for future generations, as well as the critical links between public lands, natural resources and economic growth," he said.
Dirk Kempthorne, who was Interior secretary under former president George W. Bush, says Jewell will be a "terrific secretary of Interior," citing the fact she's "an outdoor enthusiast and brings that passion."
Kempthorne got to know Jewell when the two worked on a public-private partnership while he was at Interior to fund national parks ahead of the parks' 100th anniversary in 2016.
Jewell started her career as an oil industry engineer and has a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Washington. She is married to Warren Jewell, and they have two adult children.
Before joining REI in 1996 as a member of the board, Jewell was a commercial banker for Washington Mutual, a savings bank.
STORY : Obama taps REI executive for Cabinet position
Several groups from the retail and energy industries have expressed support for Jewell's Cabinet nomination, such as the League of Conservation Voters, Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Western Energy Alliance, a non-profit trade association of oil and natural gas companies.
Sandy Kennedy, president of the Retail Industry Leaders Association, where Jewell serves on the board of directors, says the nomination is fitting for Jewell.
"She always said she'd never leave REI for another business job," Kennedy says. "But I think she's always been interested in and alert to opportunities for public service. This is an ideal situation for her, and for the country."
Contributing:David Jackson, Jayne O'Donnell and Fredreka Schouten


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One of the largest gastroenterology practices in the United States, Atlanta Gastroenterology Associates (AGA) is dedicated to the evaluation and treatment of digestive and liver diseases, providing care to thousands of patients each day.
AGA's IT environment includes a primary and backup data center located in the Metro Atlanta area. Supported by an eight-person in-house IT team, the environment supports more than 750 employees and workstations across the organization.
The push to digitize healthcare records over the past five years has streamlined patient care and enhanced the ability of providers to share information. Along with those benefits came significant risk as malicious actors began targeting patient information being stored and transmitted digitally. Well aware of this risk, AGA prioritized information security early on.
"We knew we had to take proactive steps to ensure that our patients' healthcare information and other company data remained protected at all times," said Jon Challen, IT Director and Chief Security Officer at AGA.
AGA had a well-protected IT environment, but they began seeing an increasing number of advanced phishing attacks targeting individual employees. These attacks tried to obtain sensitive information, such as usernames and passwords, by disguising emails as trustworthy communications.
"We really didn't have a good gauge of how our employees would respond to active attempts to steal information through phishing attacks," said Challen. To determine the organization's risk level and each employee's ability to identify phishing attacks, AGA began looking for a phishing simulation solution.
"Providing Phish Insight at zero cost demonstrates Trend Micro's commitment to helping organizations protect sensitive information—and they continue to actively develop and adapt their solutions to confront the latest security issues."
Jon Challen
IT Director and Chief Security Officer
Atlanta Gastroenterology Associates
AGA began working with Trend Micro 12 years ago when it replaced its workstation-based antivirus protection software with centrally-managed Trend Micro™ OfficeScan™ and Trend Micro™ ScanMail™ software, which continue to protect the organization today. After looking at several alternatives, AGA selected Trend Micro™ Phish Insight for its phishing simulation solution, which is a free security awareness service.
"Providing Phish Insight at zero cost demonstrates Trend Micro's commitment to helping organizations protect sensitive information—and they continue to actively develop and adapt their solutions to confront the latest security issues," said Challen.
"Phish Insight really is a home run for AGA security. Its dashboards and reports make it easy for us to measure and demonstrate our employees' aptitude and progress."
Richard Eells
IT Project Manager
Atlanta Gastroenterology Associates
Trend Micro™ Phish Insight enables AGA to test the security awareness of its employees against social engineering and educates them to quickly and efficiently spot attacks. Phishing simulations help increase employee awareness of attacks by 25 percent. By combining Trend Micro's phishing simulation with its awareness training, AGA can take a holistic training approach that will make its employees more resilient against these threats—and the solution is easy to use.
"From initial solution startup to sending out our first simulations, the process took just minutes, not hours or days," said Richard Eells, IT project manager at AGA.
Phish Insight is a Software as a Service (SaaS)–based phishing awareness tool, so AGA's IT security team can access the solution using a standard web browser. With predesigned templates that mimic real-world attacks without any of the danger, the solution allows AGA to customize the simulation to meet its requirements.
With Phish Insight, Challen and his team can see who clicked on the simulated phishing email, what operating system they were using, and what browser was used. Reporting also tracks whether recipients opened attachments and whether they input sensitive data into simulated webpages. "Phish Insight really is a home run for AGA security. Its dashboards and reports make it easy for us to measure and demonstrate our employees' aptitude and progress," said Eells.
After rolling out Trend Micro Phish Insight in a phased approach across the company, AGA recognized several significant benefits. For example, the security team realized that they did not have many users interacting with phishing exploits, and the solution helped users understand that it only takes one issue to cause potentially disastrous results.
"Phish Insight helped me realize that the sky is not falling. It helps us increase security awareness among users so that they feel more empowered to focus on their jobs," said Challen. "Their job is to care for patients and provide the best GI care possible, not to have to worry about information getting into the wrong hands."
Since sending phishing simulations to its users, AGA has seen a marked increase in phishing reports to the company's help desk, indicating greater security awareness across the organization. By providing baseline data, Phish Insight allows Challen to demonstrate the impact of phishing simulations and security training to senior leadership. "The reports really show the value of security training and validate our efforts to stop phishing attacks before they impact the organization," he said.
Looking ahead, AGA plans to look for ways to identify and stop threats before they reach users. For example, Trend Micro offers solutions that include sandbox capabilities to isolate malicious emails and links before they even get to employees. "Trend Micro will always have a role in any AGA security initiative," said Challen.
Atlanta Gastroenterology Associates www.atlantagastro.com
Industry Healthcare
Employees 750+
Region North America, United States
Products Phish Insight
IT Environment Two data centers


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What do you see?
This, here, is an image of power.
Pure and simple, it is what a specific person with power sees. Out of the window. Every day.
Views of Power, a project by Konrad Pustoła, could be postcards. They are annoyingly nice. Others - most of them, actually - seem violent in their chaotic setting.
One of the most exciting aspects of this project is perhaps the most obvious one - why this window? What is this person's power? It's like trying to discover what are the superpowers of some superhero - only here, there is no super. The power is quite real. It can be power over the soul, the body, the political body. But we can name it, one way or another. And through this simple choice, of deciding this is a person with power, Pustoła provokes us, saying, look, I've made my choices, those are the views I associate with power, here and now, where are yours?
The accent on our capacity to choose power comes across even in the formal approach: these pictures are not attempting to be particularly nice, or ugly. They aren't shot as panoramas, which could seem an obvious solution. But a wrong one. It would suggest that the picture sees it all - that there is, indeed, a panorama. The "standard" angle is a political choice. It tells us clearly, this is the view. The limits are part of this game. They provoke us, ask for alternatives, answers, consequences other than the ones we already have. The billboards set the record straight: if power is always symbolic, the symbol requires context more than scope. The choice, and hence the power, is sharp as a small and precise frame.
There is one more aspect of this simple and effective work.
It was made locally. I was told the plan is to have the scope broadened. I like it as it is. It was made in one Polish city - Krakow. It is the third largest Polish city. Not the capital. Not the center. Neither the periphery. It is one place in the world. And a few windows. Where's the power? In the view, of course.


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AL West | AL Central | AL East | NL West | NL East
As part of Perfect Game's partnership with Baseball Prospectus, David Rawnsley, Todd Gold and Patrick Ebert will be conducting a "Before They Were Pros" series, providing scouting reports on some of the top prospects in baseball from when they were in high school attending PG events. This six-part series (one for each division in MLB) will appear once Baseball Prospectus has provided their own detailed scouting reports of the top prospects, team-by-team, as part of their "Prospects Will Break Your Heart" series.
We continue by looking at select top prospects from National League Central teams. Be sure to read Baseball Prospectus' features on each of these five teams:
Cubs | Brewers | Reds | Pirates | Cardinals
Javier Baez – SS
Baez, a native of Puerto Rico, was a bit late to arrive on the national prospect scene, but he was a well-known player within the Jacksonville area, where he attended high school at Arlington Country Day School. He made up for lost time, opening eyes in his first WWBA appearance after being scooped up by East Cobb's highly visible program for an early summer tournament. He was immediately invited to the PG National Showcase, where he earned himself an invitation to the PG All-American Classic. At that game he shared the left side of the infield with fellow Puerto Rican native and 2011 first-round pick Francisco Lindor, whom he also teamed with at the WWBA World Championship in Jupiter that October as members of the loaded Cardinals Scout Team.
Baez's offensive upside was highly regarded in the prospect community, and his power projection made him a household name amongst scouts within weeks of landing on the national radar. The question about his long-term future was his eventual defensive home. His quick actions, smooth hands and plus arm strength assured that he could be at least an above average infielder playing on the left side of the diamond. The question was whether or not he could stay at shortstop as he matured and his body began to add mass. He also made a few cameos behind the plate as a catcher, though his offensive upside prevented that idea from picking up much steam given the time and attention that would have been required for him to learn the finer points of the position.
While there was a considerable amount of swing-and-miss to his game due to his super aggressive hitting approach, he was widely considered a safe bet to come off the board in the first round because of his elite bat speed and power projection. Those who had faith in both his ability to make frequent contact against professional pitching and stick at shortstop saw him as one of the elite prospects in a top heavy 2011 draft class. The Cubs fell into the latter group and selected him with the ninth-overall pick. —Todd Gold
Albert Almora – OF
There haven't been many players at Almora's prospect level who followed the mantra "play as often as possible against the best players as possible as soon as possible" any more actively in pursuing becoming a better player.
With all his high level experience as a teenager it is no wonder that Almora's top attributes as a baseball player are often considered to be his skills and make-up rather than his physical tools. They've been developed differently than most teenagers.
Consider this resume:
Almora played for various USA National teams for four consecutive years. He hit .667-3-14 in eight games for the 2008 14u Team. He spent the next two years playing for the 16u team, hitting .356-1-15 in 2009 and .455-1-5 in 2010. In 2011 he graduated to the 18u National team and was the Most Valuable player at the Pan American championship.
Almora played in four different WWBA World Championships beginning his freshman year, the first two with the All-American Prospects, followed by a year each with the Florida Legends and FTB Mizuno. There is no official record kept for players who have done this, but if there were, it would be a very short and exclusive list.
Almora also played in two WWBA World Junior Championships, the Perfect Game Junior National and National Showcases, the East Coast Professional Showcase and topped it off with the 2011 Perfect Game All-American Classic.
At no event did Almora ever have the best tools. His fastest recorded sixty in the PG database is a 6.78 and his best outfield velocity was 89 mph. At 6-foot-2 and a slender 180 pounds, he didn't stand out as the alpha prospect in any crowd of athletic teenagers either. But he was frequently the best baseball player.
Almora's defining moment as a prospect was at the 2011 East Coast Professional Showcase in Lakeland, Fla. That was an absurdly talented gathering of players, highlighted by Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa in full tool mode and Lance McCullers hitting 100 mph on the scoreboard radar gun. But Almora stole the show from the very beginning. As the first batter in the first game on the first day of the four day event, Almora blasted a deep home run to left-center field. He did the same thing in his second at-bat. The final score of the game was 2-0.
Almora grabbed everyone's attention that day and carried it all the way through the next year, when the Cubs picked him with the sixth pick in the 2012 draft and signed him to a $3.9 million bonus. Even though he was advised by Scott Boras, Almora carried no signability issues into the draft as the scouting community knew he was a 100-percent-dedicated ballplayer who should and would be playing professionally. —David Rawnsley
C.J. Edwards – RHP
Edwards pre-professional background is the stuff that movies could be made from if he makes it big in the major leagues. He was a 48th-round draft choice in 2011 by the Texas Rangers out of Mid-Carolina High School about a half-hour north of Columbia, South Carolina. 2011 was, of course, the last year the draft went 50 rounds—it was reduced to 40 rounds in 2012. It's safe to say that Edwards will be the last top prospect ever picked in the 48th round.
That Edwards reportedly received a $50,000 bonus in that round to buy him out of a scholarship to Charleston Southern is pretty impressive for that round. The Rangers knew they had something.
Prosperity, South Carolina, is a town with a listed population of 1,184. Only Edwards didn't really live in Prosperity, he lived about six miles outside of Prosperity down a couple of dirt roads. If you've driven around the rural Deep South much, it isn't hard to picture. Edwards had two nicknames growing up due to his baseball prowess and build, the "String Bean Slinger" and "Satch"—the latter after the great Satchel Paige.
Perhaps somewhat surprisingly given his background, Edwards did play at three WWBA tournaments in high school, two for the Carolina Cyclones and one for the Diamond Devils. He wasn't a hidden player by any means, just an obscure one. His first event was at the 2009 16u WWBA National Championship coming out of his sophomore year. He threw in the 82-86 mph range with a 72-mph curveball and 77-mph changeup. The scout notes on him from that event read:
Low effort, raw, whippy AA, not real great mechanics, doesn't follow through, w/coaching could be a great pitcher, FB has cut and ASR, can mix them up, once he warmed up his CB was sick-nasty.
Edwards final appearance was at the 2011 18u WWBA National Championship about a month after he was drafted. It's easy to imagine that the Rangers had multiple scouts in attendance to see Edwards pitch. He threw 87-90 mph on his fastball with a 73-mph curveball and 85-mph cutter/slider. His notes from that event read:
Overtop arm angle, Good command, Throws strikes, Arm works well, Effortless arm action, Good follow through, Sharp downhill, Throws easy, Quick arm, Works fast, Attacks hitters, Stays tall on backside, Smooth delivery. —David Rawnsley
Dan Vogelbach – 1B
Vogelbach most certainly did not fit the mold of an elite draft prospect as a teenager. For starters, organizations are typically very hesitant to invest heavily in high school first basemen. In the five drafts prior to Vogelbach's 2011 draft class only two high-school first basemen were selected in the top 50 picks.
Eric Hosmer, who is the kind of athlete who would've been a high-level third base prospect if he were born a right-handed thrower, was selected third overall in 2008. Christian Yelich was selected by the Marlins in 2010 and was immediately shifted to center field.
But even within the high-school firs- base demographic, Vogelbach didn't fit the mold of a prototypical prospect due to his thick, stout build. Many scouts either wrote him off completely as a result, or were slow to come around on him. This was certainly not a secret to Vogelbach himself, who was fueled by the doubters and played with an obvious chip on his shoulder.
The son of a personal trainer, Vogelbach was and is a much better athlete than he is generally given credit for. He ran a 7.20 60-yard dash as an underclassman, which while below average is not at a level that precludes him from being able to run the bases competently as a professional. After being measured at 5-foot-10 and 250 pounds at the 2010 East Coast Pro Showcase, Vogelbach worked hard over the off-season heading into his senior year, shedding 20 pounds. Of course, that would've gone unnoticed were it not for the fact that over his high school career Vogelbach had clearly established himself as one of, if not the, best hitters in the country.
Vogelbach had one of the most prolific careers in the World Wood Bat Association's history, consistently putting up huge offensive numbers while hitting in the middle of the order for one of the top travel baseball programs on the national circuit; FTB (Florida Travel Ball). He showed the ability to drive the ball out of every part of the park with ease, using a well controlled swing with plus bat speed and tremendous strength at contact, and an advanced approach with no glaring flaws.
In the year leading up to the 2011 draft there was a philosophical debate taking place amongst scouts, and Vogelbach was clearly the catalyst. It was generally phrased along the lines of, "if a player is projected to be a legitimate plus hitter at the major-league level, but doesn't project as an average defender at any position, is he worth a first-round pick?" There wasn't a consensus as to whether or not Vogelbach could develop into a serviceable defensive first basemen with time in a player development system, or if he would live up to his lofty offensive ceiling. But it was plainly clear that Vogelbach was at least one of the best hitters in the class, with many feeling he was the best, and that he was never going to win a Gold Glove.
There was a general feeling heading into the 2011 draft that Vogelbach was likely to be taken by an American League club. But it was the Cubs, who spent aggressively on the best available player on the board who took advantage of the industry's skepticism, landing a first-round-caliber bat with their second-round pick. —Todd Gold
Tyrone Taylor – OF
Taylor was a two-sport star in high school and played in only one national-level event, the 2011 Area Code Games. With all his achievements in football and the energy it probably took, that's probably not surprising.
During his senior year at Torrance High School between Los Angeles and Long Beach, Taylor rushed for 1,521 yards and 20 touchdowns and also added 25 more receptions good for 10 more touchdowns. He excelled on defense as well, making 190 tackles and intercepting three passes. He also kicked off for Torrance and recorded 29 touchbacks and even picked up seven more points on PAT's. In an evident attempt to make sure he never left the field, Taylor also returned punts and kickoffs.
Taylor produced at much the same level on the baseball field, hitting .488-4-29 as a senior and .473-6-25 as a junior.
Taylor's baseball skills were understandably raw, especially for a top prospect from Southern California, but his athleticism stood out. He had easy-plus speed and was big and strong enough to be showing present power and plenty of offensive projection. His Perfect Game notes from the Area Code Games certainly reflect that:
4.10 runner, plays the game fast, raw hitting mechanics, pulls up and out, finds the barrel consistently, has hitting skills despite mechanics, surprising pop, ball jumps, could be a big surprise over the next year.
The Brewers selected Taylor with their second round pick in the 2012 draft and eventually signed him for a $750,000 bonus, well over the recommended slot of $523,000. Taylor passed on a baseball scholarship to Cal State Fullerton to enter professional baseball. —David Rawnsley
Jimmy Nelson – RHP
The big-bodied Jimmy Nelson already checked in at 6-foot-5, 220-pounds when he made his first Perfect Game showcase appearance at the 2006 Florida Showcase. At the event Nelson pumped his sinking fastball up to 86 mph while also throwing both a promising slider and a changeup.
A year later at the 2007 World Showcase—where he earned a PG grade of 9.5 and was named to the event's top prospect list—Nelson's fastball was now thrown consistently as his previous peak velocity, touching 89 while throwing a harder, firmer slider and his usual polished change. Here's his report from that event:
(Nelson) has a big and tall country strong type of build that could get really strong in the future. Nelson throws from a complicated, multi-piece delivery with a full arms over head takeaway and a high 3/4's release point. There are plenty of inconsistencies he'll have to iron out at the next level. His arm works very well through all of it. His best pitch was an 80 mph slider that had a sharp 2-plane break and was nasty at times and will be a major weapon for him in the future. Nelson had much better command of his slider than his other pitches and lots of confidence in the pitch. His fastball was 86-89 mph from a good downhill plane and it had excellent sink at times when he got it low in the strike zone. Nelson's change up also showed quality and he should consider throwing it more often. Nelson is a very good prospect now and when he gets his delivery under control and his strength grows into his frame, he could be something special. That slider will be unhittable when he's throwing it 85 mph. Nelson is a very good student who will be attending Alabama.
Nelson did indeed attend Alabama after going undrafted out of high school. He continued to work on his delivery while in college and his fastball continued to add velocity, thrown consistently in the upper-80s—where it showed more sinking life—and peaking in the low-90s. Nelson's slider also continued to be a plus offering for him, thrown with the same arm speed and action as his fastball, giving him the profile of a sinker-slider innings eater. —Patrick Ebert
Taylor Jungmann – RHP
Jungmann's reputation led to him being selected to participate in the 2007 PG All-American Classic despite not attending a Perfect Game event prior to that. Here is the report from his performance at the Classic:
Jungmann started off a little shaky, as he appeared to be over-throwing while not incorporating his whole body into his delivery as he was out of rhythm and all over the place. The good thing is that he was missing low, and the better thing is that he started to settle down and pitched quite well despite giving up a walk and a base hit to (Tim) Beckham and (Ethan) Martin respectively. He showed once he settled down that he does have pretty good fastball command and a nasty slider, using one such pitch to set Destin Hood down swinging.
Although the Angels selected him in the 24th round out of high school in the 2008 draft, it wasn't nearly early enough to sway him from him strong commitment to his home-state Texas Longhorns. There Jungmann enjoyed immediate success, and was remarkably consistent during his three-year stay with the Longhorns, collectively going 32-6 with a 1.63 ERA and highlighted by his 13-0, 0.95 campaign as a junior, which cemented his status as a first-round pick in the 2011 draft.
At Texas his success was predicated largely on his command, effectively changing speeds between his low-90s fastball, which would peak in the mid-90s and usually settle in to the upper-80s later in games, a slider, curveball, and changeup. He grew more confident throwing his curveball during his college career, effectively dropping it in for strikes to induce weak, early contact, but none of his secondary pitches projected as much more than average.
Based on this profile, since he wasn't over-powering, his ceiling was that of a no. 3 starter. Because he consistently displayed plus command of four offerings he could throw for strikes, he also had a high floor, and was believed a safer bet to contribute effective innings at the major-league level. —Patrick Ebert
Robert Stephenson – RHP
Stephenson grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, and like many young top players from that region, didn't travel much in high school until the beginning of his senior year. His first national level event was the Perfect Game National Showcase in June, 2010. He quickly showed that he was a top pitching prospect, sitting steadily at 92-93 mph during his outing with a mid-70s curveball and a 7- mph changeup. Stephenson was an easy choice for the 2010 PG All-American Classic based on his stuff and very projectable build, but the package was still pretty raw.
The scouting notes from that event read as follows:
Long slender build, not close to mature, big leg raise delivery, drift in delivery, some effort, quick arm, loose actions, CB has v. short flat break, FB runs arm side, Good change but rarely uses, some head jerk, misses arm side, command improved 2nd IP, spin/effort not ideal but a power arm.
Later in the summer it was obvious that Stephenson was doing exactly what one wants to see a young high level pitching prospect do; improve in noticeable and multiple ways. At the Area Code Games and PG All-American Classic in August, Stephenson upped his velocity to the 93-95 mph range and developed more depth to his curveball and better relative velocity to his more frequently used changeup. His notes from the Area Code Games read:
Big leg raise delivery, rocks back, sometimes gets off balance, + athletic build, projects, occ has trouble working down in zone, mixes pitches well for a young power pitcher, change was very nice at times.
Stephenson's senior year, when scouts frequently got to double up on days with he and fellow first round pick Joe Ross in nearby Oakland, was more of the same. He opened the season with a pair of no-hitters and ended up striking out 119 batters in 61 innings. Stephenson generally worked in the 92-94 mph range, topping out at 97 mph, and he frequently maintained that velocity through a full seven innings. The debate between Stephenson and Ross centered around Ross being smoother with less effort in his delivery versus Stephenson's lightning fast arm and tick better raw stuff.
Ross won on draft day by going two picks higher than Stephenson's 27th slot to the Reds, where he received a $2 million signing bonus. Thus far it looks like Stephenson has the edge as a professional, however. —David Rawnsley
Billy Hamilton – OF
When Billy Hamilton made his first appearance at a Perfect Game tournament event—the 2006 16u WWBA National Championship—he was a 5-foot-6, 115-pound shortstop/right-handed pitcher whose athleticism was obvious. Not surprisingly, his game was highlighted by his quickness and speed even if he didn't have the strength necessary to consistently drive the ball.
Two years later Hamilton had grown to 6-foot, 150-pounds, and while he still needed to continue to add strength to improve his impact at the plate, his game-changing speed allowed him to wreak havoc simply by putting the ball in play.
That isn't to say Hamilton was weak, as he had visible, wiry strength, and even took to the mound with the ability to reach 90 mph with a promising curveball.
Here is a collection of reports from the tournament events he attended:
60 runner, great range in CF, 4.46 RH turn. Good range at ss, in CF w/ above avg HS arm. When he physically matures he could blow up. Smooth CF. Good wheels. Fast out of the box, good swing, kid flies, can go the other way. 4.22 H-1B. Hustle double, baseball instincts, runs well. Tall thin RH, slow delivery, good arm action, over the top delivery, quick to plate, early control trouble, good CB with weak command.
Hamilton made one more appearance at a PG tournament in 2009 at the 18u National Championship prior to signing with the Reds as their second-round pick that year. At that event he showed the promise as to why he was selected as early as he was, although there was still the need for him to improve as a hitter. His athleticism with three plus tools—arm strength, defense, and foot speed—made it easy for the Reds to select him as early as they did, and those tools continue to be the foundation to his success. —Patrick Ebert
Jesse Winker – OF
Winker was as well traveled as a teenage baseball prospect could be, competing in 25 Perfect Game events during his high school career, many with the FTB Mizuno organization, along with a pair of East Coast Pro Showcases, an Area Code Games and the 2011 USA National 18u team. On top of that, he played on a top flight Olympia High School team with first round righthanded pitcher Walker Weickel – now a member of the Padres organization – and a young shortstop named Nick Gordon.
What playing in all those high profile events enabled Winker to do for the scouts was to give them the opportunity to track the huge improvements he made as an athlete over that time. Winker already had a national reputation as a hitter during his sophomore year, but was somewhat of a slow-twitch athlete who had below average speed (7.5 second in the 60-yard dash) and arm strength on the professional grading scale. At that point he looked like a future sweet-swinging college left fielder.
That changed significantly over the next two years, as Winker got stronger and quicker. He got his sixty times down around 7.0 and his arm went from being a non-factor to a plus weapon. The extra strength and quickness in his body found its way into the barrel of his bat in the form of big power.
There was an ironic side to Winker's improved arm strength. The lefthander rarely pitched for either Olympia High School or for FTB Mizuno, but was pressed into pitching for the 2011 USA National 18u team. He went 2-0, 0.00, with a save, including a complete game seven-inning shutout featuring only 66 pitches and was named the top pitcher at the Pan Am Championship. Winker did pitch in relief during his senior high school season, usually topping out in the 93-94 mph range.
Winker's defining moment as a prospect came in the same place as it does for many top prospects, in Jupiter at the WWBA World Championship. FTB Mizuno coach Jered Goodwin put together and unparalleled outfield featuring a trio of PG All-Americans including Winker, Albert Almora and David Dahl. Winker outshined both the future top-10 picks, leading all Jupiter players in RBI and hitting a pair of long home runs. In the playoff quarterfinals, with FTB Mizuno down 5-3 in the bottom of the fifth inning, two outs and the bases loaded, Winker took a mighty cut and just got under a ball that was caught on the warning track in right field. A grand slam could have very well changed the entire course of the tournament. —David Rawnsley
Jameson Taillon – RHP
Taillon very well may have been a legitimate choice for the no. 1 overall pick in the 2010 draft if it weren't for the simple fact that young phenom Bryce Harper was also available. Built tall and strong at 6-foot-7, 230-pounds, Taillon had the workhorse frame and the stuff to match to project as a staff ace.
What made Taillon even more impressive was his athleticism and body control, as young pitchers of his stature often have difficulty repeating their deliveries. He also threw from a pronounced downhill plane, which made his fastball—which could sit in the 93-96 range while flirting with triple digits at times—that much harder to catch up to. He also threw a low-80s hammer curve, giving him two distinct swing-and-miss pitches.
That profile allowed Taillon to start the 2009 PG All-American Classic for the West squad, coincidentally throwing to the aforementioned Harper behind the plate. In that game he struck out four of the six batters he faced, three of them swinging on fastballs.
Taillon pitched at numerous PG events, including the 2009 National Showcase, where his report read as follows:
Extra large athletic build, plus strong, very well coordinated actions. Well paced 3/4's cross body release, long extended arm action, repeats + well. Maintained 95 mph FB from stretch, outstanding angle to RHH's. Present plus true CB at times, hard and late with big break, commands CB plus well. Only 1 change this outing, has flashed plus change in past. No doubt #1 guy in class, special talent. Very good student, early draft prospect, verbal to Rice.
Taillon continued his dominance on the travel circuit the rest of that summer, including his appearance at the Classic. He showed much of the same the following spring, leading to the Pirates taking him with the no. 2 overall pick in June, right behind Harper. —Patrick Ebert
Nick Kingham – RHP
Nick Kingham's career as a prospect got off to a bumpy start, but once he got moving forward it took off quickly. He didn't pitch in high school during his junior (2009) season due to transfer rules enforced in Las Vegas. His first Perfect Game showcase was the 2009 Sunshine West Showcase, which is held in early June just prior to the National Showcase.
One of the primary functions of the Sunshine Showcases (there will be five in 2014) is a final sweep of the country to find any overlooked players that belong at the National Showcase. Numerous top prospects, including Marlins catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo were first seen at these events.
Kingham threw very well at Sunshine West, pitching in the 85-88 mph range with a hard 75-mph curveball and an 80-mph changeup. Here are his notes from that event:
Arm works, good pitcher's build, arm speed, projects, long levers, low effort, balanced, some extension, can stay back better, opens a bit early with front hip, sharp CB, 11/5 CB, pot 92-93 arm, some down plane, 84-86 from stretch, comes out clean, can get more from midsection, occ ASR FB, occ GSR FB, quick move.
Kingham did earn his invitation to the National Showcase and his first exposure before a national scouting audience. He threw even better at that event, throwing in the 88-90 range with two quality secondary pitches. My own notes on Kingham's performance didn't understate how much I liked him:
Profile build, well-paced balanced delivery, loose athletic actions, downhill, stays behind the ball, projects ++ well, compact in back, Chg was very good, + arm speed, CB has hard spin/good shape, has an idea how to pitch. Really LIKE this kid's potential.
Kingham stayed in that 88-90 mph range for the rest of the summer and fall while maintaining his high level secondary pitches and ability to mix. One just knew that it was only a matter of time before he started throwing harder and he did, bumping up his comfort range the next spring to 90-92 and touching 94 mph regularly.
Knowing he had a scholarship to Oregon in hand, the Pirates selected Kingham with their fourth-round pick, the 117th-overall selection. They signed him for $480,000 about 10 days before the signing deadline. —David Rawnsley
Josh Bell – OF
Bell was a well-known prospect after hitting .412-11-36 as a junior at Jesuit Prep in Dallas and was on his way to experiencing the full force of the summer showcase circuit in the summer of 2010 until he fractured his right kneecap in a high school playoff game and missed the entire summer.
That put the scouting community well behind on Bell compared to his peers in the class of 2011. It was frequently written and commented on that Bell would be the most watched player at the WWBA World Championship in late October, where he was playing for the Dallas Patriots. With a huge contingent of scouts following his every move, Bell proceeded to put on one of the best performances in Jupiter history. He blasted three home runs in pool play to lead the Patriots to the playoffs. In the quarterfinals, the Patriots were the victims of one of the most brilliant pitching performances ever at that level of baseball, facing off against Jose Fernandez at the peak of his abilities. While Fernandez threw mid-90s with a disappearing slider and pin-point control for six innings, Bell had a pair of quality at-bats, including a hard base hit, and looked remarkably comfortable against the otherwise dominant Cuban.
Bell went on to hit an eye-opening .552-14-55 as a senior, with 19 stolen bases, 48 walks and only five strikeouts.
Bell's non-hitting tools were frequently described as fringy average leading up to the draft. He was a 6.9 to 7.0 runner with fair arm strength, tools that both played up because Bell showed very good instincts on the bases and in the outfield. But it was his ability to hit equally well and with power from both sides of the plate that made up almost his entire value as a prospect.
Bell's path leading up to the draft and to signing with the Pirates was not as pretty as his swing, however. As a very hot commodity with Scott Boras as his advisor and a strong commitment to Texas, it had all makings of a player with complicated signability issues. Late in the spring Bell sent a letter to all 30 major-league teams that he was firm in his commitment to Texas and would be going to school. Even though Bell was perceived as having potential top-10-overall-pick talent, he slid to the Pirates with the 61st-overall pick. The Pirates then surprised virtually everyone by finding Bell's price, which turned out to be an even $5 million. —David Rawnsley
Kolten Wong – 2B
Wong's talents were evident at an early age, and it was never a surprise that he could hit, as his father, Kaha, spent two years in the minor leagues, posting a .280/.345/.351 slash line, and is now one of the more respected hitting instructors on the Big Island.
Kolten first attended a PG event as a high school sophomore, the Hawaii Showcase in 2006, and came state-side during the summer of 2007 to attend the National Showcase in Cincinnati, Ohio. A very good overall athlete with great versatility and a wide array of tools from a compact, 5-foot-9, 175-pound frame, Wong was a catcher early in high school before eventually making the permanent switch to second base. He also played in the outfield, as well as some time at shortstop while at the University of Hawaii.
With a compact left-handed swing, Wong proved to be one of the better hitters in the nation, routinely smoking line drives to all parts of the field while also displaying surprising pop for a player of his stature. He also exhibited good foot speed and quickness, giving him a well-rounded tool-set. Here's his report from the National where he earned a PG grade of 9.0 (out of 10):
(Wong) has a short, compact build with good present strength. Wong has swung between catcher and second base and played mostly catcher in Cincinnati. His tools and actions are better suited for second base, where he has good quickness and speed (6.88 in the 60), and we are told that is the position that he is going to play in college. Wong's left handed bat will play well at either premium defensive position. He hits from a balanced coil at the plate with very quick hands and a pull type of approach. For much of the showcase Wong seemed to be content to make contact and didn't elevate his bat speed and ability to drive the ball like we've seen frequently in the past. When Wong stepped up against 6-8 Kyle Long and his 94-96 mph fastball, we saw the true Wong, though. He was unfazed by the velocity and showed the bat speed we knew he had, along with the aggressiveness. Wong's bat plays and he has an aggressive ballplayer's approach to the game.
The Twins took Wong in the 16th round of the 2008 draft, but he opted to take his talents to the University of Hawaii and ended up being a first-round pick three years later. He was a College All-American at Hawaii, and also was named the MVP on the Cape Cod League during the summer of 2010.
Here's a snippet of his Draft Focus report prior to the 2011 draft:
Pound for pound, there may not be a better prospect in the 2011 draft class than the 5-foot-9, 190-pound Wong. He has well-rounded skills and may have solidified his status as a potential first-rounder last summer by passing up an offer to return to Team USA's college national team for a second season. He elected instead to play in the Cape Cod League, where he earned league MVP honors for a .341-3-11 season along with a league-best 22 stolen bases. Wong showcased polished offensive skills with a sound approach from the left side of the plate, and surprising pop for a player his size. He drove the ball hard consistently. He also became an accomplished base stealer … Wong had been an extremely versatile player earlier in his career, and spent most of freshman season at Hawaii in center field, while earning national acclaim by hitting .341-11-52 with 11 stolen bases. After initially being tried as a catcher as a sophomore, he settled in at second base and hit a solid .357-7-40 with 19 stolen bases … Though not blessed with blazing speed, Wong is aggressive on the bases and has excellent base-running instincts.
Kolten's success from high school to college and now as a pro led the Tampa Bay Rays to draft his younger brother, Kean, a similar prospect, in the fourth round of the 2013 draft. —Patrick Ebert
Carson Kelly – 3B
The state of Oregon has received plenty of baseball attention in the last decade due to the pair of NCAA championships won by Oregon State, plus the reemergence and immediate success of the baseball program at Oregon.
But the state rarely produces much in the way of high school baseball talent. Carson Kelly had the distinction of probably being the state's best high school hitting and pitching prospect in the last two decades while he was at Westview High School in Portland. The last high school player to be selected in the first round of the draft from Oregon was first baseman Matt Smith by the Royals in 1994. The only prep pitcher selected in the top three rounds during the same time was the late Steve Belcher, taken in the third round by the Orioles in 1998.
Kelly was picked in the second round with the 86th-overall selection.
More so than any player in the 2012 draft, Kelly was a true two-way prospect who had scouts lined up on both sides of the fence as to his future role in professional ball. Here is what was wrote in late March of 2012 in Kelly's Perfect Game Draft Focus report:
Kelly is a primary third baseman. He's very athletic defensively at third base, the kind of defender who plays on his toes and is very quick laterally on ground balls and line drives. His arm strength is a clear plus tool both on the mound and throwing across the infield, and he has a flexible, quick release. Offensively, Kelly has a very nice load and hitting rhythm with a bit bigger leg raise trigger than some scouts prefer. He shows plus raw power from the right side and has nice lift in his swing when he's pulling the ball. Kelly will get long at times and expand the strike zone, especially on off-speed pitches, but he handles high velocity stuff well.
Surprisingly perhaps, Kelly is more polished on the mound. He has a simple, repeatable delivery and sits in the 90-92 mph range with minimal effort on release. For a pitcher who throws in the low-90s so consistently, it's somewhat unusual that there have never been reports that he'll touch 94-95 at times as most young strong armed pitchers do occasionally. That's a sign for me that his present mechanics work well for him and he's throwing in his envelope right now with his fastball.
Kelly has shown less consistency with his breaking ball. I've seen him with a mid-70s curveball, but the best breaking ball I've seen him throw was at the 2011 Area Code Games, when he was throwing an 80 mph pitch I called a slider but which had tight, hard bite, good depth and was buckling hitter's knees with consistency. Kelly has a changeup that still is in the developing stages, and he throws consistent strikes with all three pitches. If he can develop consistency with the 80 mph hard biting version of his breaking ball, I can see more and more scouts leaning toward his future as a pitcher. —David Rawnsley
Tim Cooney – RHP
Although Cooney displayed solid baseball skills while in high school, it was clear at the time that his body needed to mature physically before he could reach his potential. At the time, that potential was unclear with a slight 6-foot-1, 165-pound frame. He did attend the Northeast Showcase after his sophomore year in high school, topping out at 84 with a sharp 74 mph curveball, earning a PG grade of 8.0 and this report:
Pitches from a high 3/4 arm slot, solid mechanics, clean arm action, straight FB at 84 mph, tight CB at 74 mph, CB has depth, mixes in a 74 mph CH, hits from a slightly open stance, high hands, top hand release, level swing plane, makes consistent contact, excellent student.
His velocity held throughout his high school career, peaking at 85 mph during his senior year while pitching for All Star Baseball Academy at the 2008 WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, Fla., and went undrafted the following June.
Cooney elevated his game to another level while in college at Wake Forest, adding two inches and 30 pounds to his previously slight frame. He made a strong initial impression during his freshman year at Wake Forest, pitching in 14 games, 13 of which were starts, and served as the Demon Deacons' Friday ace during his junior season. His fastball sat in the upper-80s to low-90s, peaking a few ticks higher, while routinely displaying a well-rounded four-pitch mix and advanced sense for changing speeds.
Here's part of his Draft Focus pre-draft report from 2012:
Cooney emerged as a solid second- or third-rounder with a breakthrough sophomore season, and he essentially solidified his standing in the draft as a junior … Typically, (his fastball) ranges from 88-91 mph, but Cooney tried to overthrow it, at times, to achieve a little more velocity, and while it often reached 92-93 mph, his command suffered in the process. He threw quality strikes with his fastball more consistently towards the end of the season as he made a more-conscious effort to stay within himself. He did not have the same kind of command issues with any of his three off-speed pitches, a change, cutter and breaking ball. His cutter, which normally sits in the mid-80s, is considered his best secondary offering. Cooney typical relies on an advanced sense of pitchability for his success, and precise command is critical in his approach. At his best, Cooney excels at mixing his four pitches efficiently to get hitters guessing and keeping them off balance, and he is able to create deception with his loose, easy, free arm action. —Patrick Ebert
Randal Grichuk – OF
While Houston area native Randal Grichuk will always be known as the high school outfielder that the Angels took just before Mike Trout in the 2009 draft, the selection actually made sense in the context of the time that the decision was made. Trout was a late bloomer in high school, especially with the bat, and New Jersey had an especially cold and rainy spring that year, making it difficult for cross-checkers and scouting directors to get a thorough read on him. Trout wasn't an unknown by any means, but there wasn't much surety on him.
Grichuk, on the other hand, had been putting up eye opening home run numbers in the Houston area since he was in Little League. He was the dominant performer on the 2007 Team USA 16u National Team, which included players such as Nick Franklin, A.J. Cole, Matt Davidson and Zach Lee, and he hit .563-3-6 in six games. He played in Jupiter twice with the Houston Heat and won the 2009 International High School Power Showcase, blasting 20 home runs overall. In his senior year in high school, Grichuk hit .613-21-46.
The ball made a different sound when it came off Grichuk's bat at that age, it just exploded. It wasn't a classic or even pretty swing by any means, as he hit down to the ball in an almost exaggerated way and didn't have the lift and extension out front that one normally sees in power hitters. He just overpowered the ball with strength and bat speed.
Grichuk was also a 6.85 runner and regularly ran in the 4.2 to 4.3-second range to first base from the right side of the batter's box. He was considered a plus makeup young man with a plus motor on the field.
Here are the notes on Grichuk from the 2008 Area Code Games:
Strong kid, quick hands, live body look, kind of stiff at ball, level to almost downward swing, hits bombs, 420' to LCF off 90 mph FB, can flat hit, very hard contact, ball explodes, will fish at outside CBs, one of the best hitters in the 2009 class. Arm is marginal, likely LF future. —David Rawnsley
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Credit: Michael Fleshman on Flickr, under Creative Commons
(WOMENSENEWS)– Delegates headed to Abuja, Nigeria, for the May 7-9 World Economic Forum meeting on Africa are likely to run into protestersin the capital city of Abuja.
Reuters reported on May 6 that the military's inability to find the girls in three weeks has spawned protests in the northeast, in the cities Abuja and Lagos, and the protesters are expected to make use of the international spotlight falling on Abuja as delegates jet in to the forum.
Nigeria's president on Tuesday accepted an offer from the United States for help in searching for nearly 300 schoolgirls, MSNBC reported May 6.
British Foreign Minister William Hague offered to help Nigeria secure the schoolgirls' release, the Globe and Mail reported May 5. "We are offering practical help," Hague was quoted as saying as he arrived for a Council of Europe meeting in Vienna to discuss ways to defuse the situation in Ukraine.
Maisu Segun, a Nigeria researcher for Human Rights Watch, expressed outrage on May 5 that Nigerian State Security Service agents had arrested two women–Saratu Angus Ndirpaya and Naomi Mutah Nyadar–who were leading protests that criticized the government of Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan. They were arrested after an all-night meeting with his wife, Patience Jonathan, at the presidential villa in Abuja, the capital city. Segun writes that the two Abuja residents were originally from Chibok in Borno State, where alleged Boko Haram insurgents abducted 276 girls from the Government Girls Secondary School on April 14.
Activists on Twitter are pressing for more vigorous rescue efforts and congregating around the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls. Press columnists are also rallying international women's rights activists to this cause. "As Western feminists, we have a duty to stand in solidarity with these girls, their mothers and their fathers," Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett wrote in The Guardian on May 6.
Gunmen kidnapped eight girls from a village near a Boko Haram stronghold in northeastern Nigeria overnight, police and residents said on Tuesday, Reuters reported May 6. The abduction of the girls, ages 12 to 15, follows the kidnappings last month.
A leader of the Nigerian Islamist extremist group has said that the schoolgirls snatched from their dorms were "slaves" that he planned to sell in the market, the Guardian reported May 5. "I abducted your girls," a man claiming to be Abubakar Shekau, the group's leader, said in a video seen by the Guardian. "I will sell them in the market, by Allah. I will sell them off and marry them off. There is a market for selling humans."
Clips of those claims are included in this Associated Press video.
Brad Myles, CEO of the anti-human trafficking group Polaris Project, told NBC News that the human trafficking market in Nigeria has been well documented in a series of reports by governmental and nongovernmental agencies, and the problem is by no means confined to the West African nation.
Reuters reported that an intermediary who has said Boko Haram is ready to negotiate ransoms for the girls also said two of the girls have died of snakebite and about 20 are ill. He said Christians among the girls have been forced to convert to Islam. The man, an Islamic scholar, spoke on condition of anonymity because his position is sensitive.
Corinna Barnard is editor of Women's eNews.
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Recognize Yom Kippur as official holiday, Israel asks U.N.
Published October 1, 2013
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel asked the United Nations to recognize Yom Kippur as an official U.N. holiday.
Deputy Foreign Minister Ze'ev Elkin and Israel's ambassador to the U.N., Ron Prosor, met Monday with U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson to request international recognition for Yom Kippur, Haaretz reported.
With the recognition, U.N. employees would be allowed to take a day off without having to give up a vacation day.
There are 10 U.N. holidays, including the Muslim observances of Eid Al-Fitr, Eid Al-Adha and the birth of the Prophet Muhammad, along with Christmas Day, Palm Sunday, Easter and the Islamic New Year.


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16 members
30 members
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Kemurissue has not received any gifts yet
I have been working on few of custom to tboy and here is some that I have finished building lately.
Mao's red - a collage work featuring those Chinese propaganda poster.…Continue
Posted on December 30, 2012 at 6:22am — 6 Comments
Posted on December 6, 2012 at 9:13am — 15 Comments
I like to share with other.But these toys , I also bought from other people,so I do not have the Electronic document of them. Sorry
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"The music seemed to flow from her with an utterly natural lyrical impulse, graced with power, luminous delicacy and a spectrum of tonal coloring that combined to mark her out as one of the most instinctive and eloquent Chopin interpreters playing today."
The performer described in that review from The Telegraph is Ingrid Fliter, an Argentinian force of nature who credits Chopin with teaching her how to maintain the delicate balance between classical restraint and romantic expression and with her very existence…
Fliter relates, "My parents met through Chopin music. It was during a party. Fifty years ago. My father was playing — as an amateur pianist — some Chopin waltzes in a party and my mother was there and that took her attention! That's why she got in love with him. And that's…that's the reason why I say that if it wouldn't be for Chopin music I wouldn't be here. Then musically speaking, professionally speaking, I got in love with piano playing through Chopin as well. Because I was very lucky to have a great teacher at the beginning of my studies who gave me a lot of Chopin music to work on and that made me discover the beauty of piano playing—physically and soundwise as well. Because Chopin is a composer that demands incredible balance between a romantic soul and a classical expression. So it's one of the most difficult things to achieve when you play his music and it's very, very challenging composer to play."
Chopinist Ingrid Fliter, born of a Chopin Waltz. - Jennifer Foster


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Quick Links: ISW | Flickr | Bug of the Day feed! | Weather |
Every day, since 2004, I have posted a "Bug of the Day" to Flickr. That's 1100+ bugs (arthopods if you want to be technically correct). Get Bug of the Day as an email or an RSS feed, as a slideshow, or explore the entire Flickr set on your own. (updated daily)
Visit the Invasive Species Weblog to read the latest information about invasive plants and animals. (updated regularly)
An interactive field guide for the flora and fauna of my yard, which is located in Framingham, Massachusetts, USA. More than 400 species! Created with the BDEI lab's Electronic Field Guide software. (updated 03/2008)
As part of a graduate course I taught in 2007, students were required to create profiles of non-native flora and fauna that have the potential to become invasive species in Massachusetts. I took their hard work and put it all together into this website. (added 10/2007)
Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants, an interactive guide for New England gardeners. Created with the BDEI lab's Electronic Field Guide software. (added 08/2007)
The second in a series of Virtual Nature Trails, the Sailors' Home Cemetery Salt Marsh Trail website includes a detailed guide to 29 stops and a gallery with over 1100 photos. (added 10/2005)
Developed as part of the Electronic Field Guide project, my "Invasive Plants in Winter" guide is now available as a Java applet, HTML version, and more on the efgKEYS page (use the pull-down menu to select it). The guide was developed for the New England area, but you are likely to recognize many of the species if you are anywhere in temperate North America. (added 2/2006)
Breeding system, hybridization, and polyploidy of the invasive plant Fallopia japonica (Japanese Knotweed, Polygonum cuspidatum) and related species, plus information on controlling infestations, other current research, and native plant alternatives. (updated 12/2006)
The Mass Invaders website is the web version of the Invasive Plants in Massachusetts poster, with web links and a photo gallery for each of the 12 featured plants. (added 2004)
Visit the official website for the UMass Boston Nantucket Field Station Virtual Nature Trail, a joint effort of many dedicated UMB faculty, grad students and undergrads. (added 2002)
In 2001 I contributed the article "Methods of Introduction of Non-Native Plants into New Habitats: A Review" to "Conservation Perspectives", the online journal of the New England chapter of The Society for Conservation Biology.
In 2001, I also gave a talk for the New England Botanical Club titled "Through the Looking Glass: History and Consequences of the Introduction of American Plant Species into Europe". The meeting minutes are posted on the NEBC web site.
UPDATE 11/2003: I now have reprints and a species list available for "The introduction of American plant species into Europe: issues and Consequences." a chapter in the book "Plant Invasions: Ecological Threats and Management Solutions."
Discover a new and exciting Plant Genus each month. (1997-2003)
In 1998 I worked on a project for the Conservation New England web site with Jim Stark, "The Introduction of Non-Native Plants into Massachusetts"
Read my article "Non-Native Plants: the good, the bad, & the ugly," featured in the July-August 2002 newsletter of the Friends of the Blue Hills. (.pdf file)
Download cool and weird seamless tiles made from scans of dried plant specimens and photos, for use as desktop wallpaper, webpage backgrounds, or whatever you want...it's absolute freeware. (Updated 8/6/02)
For fellow stamp collectors, here's a simple list I've put together of Post Offices that sell stamps Online. (Updated 1/8/04)


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"In many cases game design, game play and game feel all come from an emotional time or experience, and when you know that story, you start to look at these games -- and the people that make them -- in very different ways."
- Patrick Haynes, Founder and Executive Producer at Fatbelly Productions, speaks about his experience working with Barking Mouse Studio and Autodesk on a new indie game-focused documentary series.
In a brief interview, Patrick Haynes speaks candidly about what drew his team to work on a documentary series with Autodesk, and the insights he learned along the way about indie game developers -- their passion and drive, the emotional ups and downs they experienced while building their games, and what sets them apart from the AAA scene.
Can you tell us about this project? What is it and how was it conceived?
It started back in March when I met the Autodesk games marketing team at GDC. We were talking about how passionate indie game makers are and how each of their stories is so interesting and unique, and we started to discuss how we could capture and document that passion, so that we could share their stories with the rest of the world. At the same time, Autodesk was trying to take a more authentic approach to how they work with the indie game community. This market is a big focus of theirs at the moment, with lower cost tools for indie game makers, but they wanted a marketing approach that wasn't really focused on their software, but instead on helping indies build their games.
The idea of telling genuine and authentic stories about indie game makers -- and their trials and triumphs as they brought their games to life -- was what inspired us to create a short film series. Autodesk took a very hands-off approach and gave me a lot of creative freedom to find and tell these stories in a way that best showcased the unique experiences of each indie game maker.
Tell us about your background and how that influenced your approach to this project.
I'm a traditional artist with a background in creating contemporary art in mediums such as drawing, painting, sculpting, jewelry, ceramics, photography and filmmaking. Over the years I have had the opportunity to live in many different places and follow my dreams, all while developing my professional training in art history, design, computer animation and film. I've been able to obtain two degrees, one in Computer Animation and the other in Film & Television.
From the beginning of my career I've been fortunate enough to be able to work with music icons and other industry greats creating music videos, Grammy Award videos, and live events, and producing several documentaries along the way. Not to mention, my work with technology giants (Intel, HP, AMD, Amazon, Autodesk and so on) that has extended my career and production network throughout the globe. But, the most important factor to my success has been the team I surround myself with. Having the best creative people with strong work ethics while producing any project is huge! I wouldn't be where I am today without the help of others. It's difficult to be an artist sometimes, but in the end I've found that this kind of team collaboration is what makes us better, and helps us develop.
Tell us about the subject of the series, Barking Mouse Studio.
Barking Mouse Studio is a two-person development studio founded by Jim Fleming and Danielle Swank. Their first game Lost Toys was fairly successful for them -- they won several awards and were featured on iTunes. Now that they've had that first taste of success, they're dedicating themselves to careers as indie game makers and they've already started working on their second game.
What is it that's appealing about the indie game story?
I think it's the passion and depth to each story. On the surface, many games -- especially games played on phones or tablets - may appear to just be simple time-killers. But, when you dig into the creation of these games, and the mindset of the people that create them, you find amazing stories. In many cases game design, game play, and game feel all come from an emotional time or experience, and when you know that story, you start to look at these games -- and the people that make them -- in very different ways.
How did you approach telling these stories from a visual perspective?
We really let the story and people behind the project drive the style of the film series. The characters developed while we got to know Jim and Danielle. Their passions, their struggles, their triumphs -- that's what led us to come up with the style of this project. It's more a reflection of them than a creative direction we chose for the project. This kept the truth intact. That's important to us not only as storytellers, but also for building trust between us and the people we are creating films about.
Were you familiar with indie game makers before this shoot?
We were familiar with the gaming industry on a AAA level, having worked with companies like Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony. But it wasn't until we had the opportunity to work with indie developers like Jim and Danielle that we felt the heart beat of the industry. Indie developers bring so much more to their games. They bring them to life through their own personal experiences.
Can you talk a bit about what you learned about indie game makers?
Jim and Danielle shared their personal stories, and allowed us to enter into their lives and struggles as game makers. It was easy to learn about the indie community through them because they were so honest from the beginning. Building Lost Toys was their dream -- a turning point in their own stories -- our job was to translate to the screen just a bit of that overwhelming passion and drive these indie's possess.
An unexpected insight about the indie gaming community that we learned along this filmmaking journey was how resourceful and helpful indies are to other indies. Being that this is still the wild west of independent video game making, finding others along the way that can reveal new paths or better ideas to push your product to the next level can be so instrumental in getting your own projects and vision out to the world. Jim and Danielle definitively fit that role. They are a studio forthright in presenting a really good game, as well as a powerful message.
The video we've seen so far is just the first of a series of four videos, right?
Yes, we're telling Barking Mouse Studio's story in a series of four videos (the first one is now available at: http://www.autodesk.com/makegames). After the Barking Mouse story, we'll move on to profile other indie game makers and their unique stories. So, by the end of the year, we'll have this amazing collection of short videos I think will do a really good job of documenting indie game developers today.
Patrick Haynes, Fatbelly Productions


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Helena City Jail Inmate Search and Prison Information
Helena City Jail inmate lookup: Booking Date, Age, Bond, Inmate Roster, Arrests, Amount, Incarceration Date, Bookings, Mugshots, Who's in jail, Booking Time, Release Date.
Helena City Jail is situated in the police headquarters in Helena, Montana. City jails are transient offices where prisoners are held pre-preliminary or pre-condemning, as a rule for under two years.
There are a few guidelines for loved ones to follow to speak with and see a prisoner.
Inmate Mailing Address
Inmate Name, ID, Housing #
Helena City Jail
2550 Prospect Avenue PO Box 201419, Helena, MT, 59620
Helena City Jail Prison Information
Inmate Records Search
Find Arrest & Court records, Mugshots and Contact Info.
|Jail Name
|Helena City Jail
|Jail Type
|City Jail
|Lewis and Clark County
|Web Page
|2550 Prospect Avenue PO Box 201419, Helena, MT, 59620
Inmate Search
Many city jails throughout the states do not have the manpower to keep an inmate list available on the web. Most of the city jails will have inmates coming and going every few hours, which makes it a lot of work for them to keep the list as accurate as they possibly can.
If you need information on an inmate, you will need to get in contact with the Helena City Jail directly for information.
Sending a Mail/Care Package
Detainees are permitted to get letters, although does not bundle. Letters will be assessed for stash, which incorporates cash, physical things, or substance that insinuates escape. Rough, savage, or explicitly unequivocal substance may likewise be tossed out or dismissed.
Sending Money
The only way to fund an inmate's books while they are staying in the Helena City Jail is to either mail a money order if you are not local to the facility or you can come to the facility and drop off the money order in the lobby.
Please do not mail or drop off cashier's checks, personal checks, cash, or any other forms of money.
Phone calls
Inmates while they are going through the booking process will get one free phone call. When they get put out on the general population floor, they will be allowed to only make collect phone calls to their friends and family members.
You must accept these phone calls and charges to be permitted to talk to them.
Although the Helena City Jail site gives a meeting plan, call the office for refreshed visit days and times. Visiting can regularly be suspended dependent on prisoner conduct.
Guests at Helena City Jail can just carry photograph recognizable proof to the visit. Try not to bring some other things, including mobile phones or cash.
Guests should dress unassumingly, with no transparent or excessively uncovering garments. Foul language or profane/hostile pictures ought not be portrayed. Shoulders ought to be secured.
Visiting Hours
Monday — 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Tuesday — 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Wednesday — 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Thursday — 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Friday — 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Saturday — 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Sunday — 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Refer the map below to find the driving directions.


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(RNS) On HBO's "True Blood," politics is literally a bloody business.
In its fifth season -- which happens to coincide with a U.S. presidential campaign -"True Blood," returning Sunday (9 p.m. ET/PT), explores political maneuverings in the vampire realm between The Authority, a mainstream group that seeks accommodation with humans, and the Sanguinistas, fundamentalists who believe mortals are simply food for their vampire superiors.
"We wanted to play with the politics/religion angle, since that seems to be something that never stops," creator Alan Ball says. "Some of the things being said by some people during the Republican primary were so horrifying to me that I thought, 'What if vampires wanted a theocracy? What would that look like?' Whenever anybody thinks they know what God wants and wants to apply that to government, whether Americans or the Taliban, it's kind of a terrifying thing."
Christopher Meloni, known for his long-running role on "Law & Order: SVU," plays Roman, the powerful, mesmerizing and corporate-looking Guardian of The Authority. "He's a vampire wanting to change the system, fighting against what he sees as fanatics. He's a man interested in coexistence. I think he's a forward-thinking guy," says Meloni, "this supreme example of a man of authority, and yet there are certain moments of him that are surprisingly childish."
Coexistence has long been a show theme, and an especially tricky prospect in a world populated by humans, vampires, werewolves, faeries and shape-shifters. Roman holds the power of life or death over vampires Bill (Stephen Moyer) and Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) after they killed The Authority's representative in Season 4. The two rivals now must join to try to save their lives, offering their assistance in catching the suddenly resurrected vampire Russell Edgington (Denis O'Hare), a thorn in The Authority's side.
"Russell is a pretty powerful vampire. He really represents chaos and anarchy. That is the one thing that my character just disdains, both personally and professionally," Meloni says.
For Skarsgard and Meloni, the union of Eric and Bill represents a twist in the characters' relationship. They must work together or die the vampire's True Death.
"Steve is a really close friend of mine, and I really enjoy the bromance," Skarsgard says. "Eric hated Bill. He thought Bill was insignificant, a young, naive vampire. Suddenly, he's in a position where he cares about this guy. He protects him and saves him. That's definitely something new for Eric."
And this time, Moyer says, it's not just personal. "At different times in the past, things were about stuff going on for them individually. This is on a different level. This is global," says the actor, who's married to co-star Anna Paquin. "They're not just thinking about themselves."
This being "True Blood," which is based on Charlaine Harris' novels, vampire politics is hardly the only story. Sookie (Paquin) must deal with the aftermath of the shooting of best friend Tara (Rutina Wesley) and her retaliatory killing of Tara's assailant. "That sets up an entire universe of problems for Sookie, aside from the fact that she has no idea if her friend will live or die," says Paquin, whose character covers up the shootings. "There are a lot of built-in problems to clean up."
And, there is the matter of the love triangle of Sookie, Bill and Eric. Sookie, whose faerie blood is irresistible to vampires, turned down both suitors last season. (The show has had to undertake some creative shooting to hide Paquin's pregnancy, which is not part of the story line.)
Sookie "can't make her mind up and doesn't want anyone to be hurt, so she's walking away. It's horrible and painful and sad," Paquin says. "But she's never had a chance to stand on her own as a real grown-up. She's giving it a go on her own. It doesn't necessarily go well, because she's Sookie."
The trio's paths will cross again, especially considering the return of Edgington. "Russell would be a common enemy," Ball says. "He wants Bill and Eric dead since they put him into the ground, and he wants to drink Sookie's blood so he can walk in the sun again."
The fifth season of the series, which averaged about 5 million viewers an episode last year, is structured a little differently. Instead of one central villain, the threats will be more dispersed. And Ball believes "True Blood" has another season in it after this one, but leaves the future open beyond that, pointing out that Harris has written 13 books in the series.
The show, which juggles humor, sex and violence, has a darker tone this year, too, Moyer says. "I don't think it's as frothy or quite as camp as it usually is. It feels like it's very serious this year, but I don't mean that in a pejorative way," he says. "It feels like there's more at stake."
(Bill Keveney writes for USA Today.)