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Jersey sure : Mark Steyn on Trump and dancing Muslims, not Israelis. ( My words for the latter not Steyn's ).
Jersey Sure
by Mark Steyn
Steyn on America
Steyn on America
 |
| The new New Jersey |
I have a strong dislike of the current fashion among American's
decrepit and unreadable newspapers for "fact-checker" columns, because
the practice attempts to cloak run-of-the-mill hacks in an aura of
dispassionate authority that they do not, in fact, possess.
Pictures added by me and NOT Steyn - TGFP.
Case in point: The Washington Post's Glenn Kessler, who has awarded "four Pinocchios" to Donald Trump, for claiming to recall seeing "thousands" of Jersey City Muslims celebrating on September 11th 2001. Mr Kessler wrote:
Kessler has spent the day re-writing and re-re-writing that confident assertion. As of now, that last sentence currently reads:
When Kessler says "nothing that we can find", he didn't have to search very hard. After a two-minute Google search, Powerline's John Hinderaker turned up the following:
What demented fringe conspiracist website would traffic in such nonsense? Well, in fact, it was Glenn Kessler's own newspaper, The Washington Post, which published the story on September 18th 2001. Is it an "unconfirmed report"? Well, Kessler's colleague, Post reporter Serge Kolvaleski, said in a 2003 email that he got the story from the Jersey City Police Department and "confirmed the JCPD's information via interviews of eyewitnesses of the celebration".
Was Kessler aware, while researching his "fact-check, that a Washington Post reporter had interviewed "eyewitnesses of the celebration"? As it is, a so-called "fact-checker" who claims "an extensive examination" turns up "nothing that we can find involving the Arab populations of New Jersey" was apparently ignorant of the fact that his own newspaper had carried such a story. Called on his omission by John Hinderaker, Mr Kessler turned defensive:
As John Hinderaker pointed out, the phrase "several people" does not occur in the Washington Post 2001 story, so Kessler is putting quotation marks round a non-quotation, which seems a rum thing for a fact-checker to do.
One Pinocchio for you right there, Mister J-School Ethics!
The Post says only that "a number of people" were detained and questioned.
So now we're no longer arguing about whether there were even any reports of any New Jersey residents celebrating 9/11, but merely the number that were doing so.
Glenn Kessler's current version of his story now bears little relation to its original form, but John Hinderaker cuts to the chase:
Kessler has yet to respond.
A further Washington Post column, by Howard Kurtz on October 9th 2001, reminds us that, whether or not the story was on TV, it was widely reported on New York radio:
Another obscure fringe hate-blog that referenced the "celebrations" was a site called The New York Times, reporting from Jersey City on September 30th 2001:
As "rumors" go, they were widespread. The San Francisco Chronicle, reporting from Jersey City on September 22nd 2001:
He claimed to be unable to find any reports of "the Arab population of New Jersey" celebrating on September 11th 2001, whereas his own newspaper carried such a report, as did other prominent newspapers and broadcast outlets.
Were there "thousands" celebrating?
Probably not.
But hundreds? There are those who saw such things and stand by what they saw today. And Mr Kessler's own colleague at the Post claims to have interviewed eyewitnesses.
More to the point, these reports rely not just on supposed eyewitnesses, but on a police record: persons were "detained and questioned". Kessler's colleague also spoke to the Jersey City Police Department, which Kessler apparently has not. If he'd like to, the chap to have a word with is Captain Edgar Martinez, who back in those days handled public relations for the JCPD.
After all, if it's true that "police detained several men", there would be a record of it that Captain Martinez would be able to confirm.
Judging from the comments of the Jersey City mayor, there's evidently some political pressure to make whatever happened disappear down the old memory hole, but I don't believe they'd outright lie to Glenn Kessler, would they?
The past is a foreign country, wrote L P Hartley*, and the immediate post-9/11 period was a very different land from today's America.
Here, for example, is bigshot mainstream liberal Jonathan Alter writing in Newsweek (then owned by The Washington Post) that there were Muslim schoolchildren in the New York area who had prior knowledge of 9/11.
[ I both read & saw these stories at the time & referred to them in my video on this as well. - TGFP. ].
But the moment passed, and liberals stopped writing such stories, and then denied such stories had ever been written.
[ Liberal revisionism at it's worst. - TGFP. ].
And year on year more of the specifics of that day were disappeared - starting with the images of the men and women who hurled themselves from the upper floors of the Twin Towers for the chance to spend their final moments falling through clean, bright sky rather than in that hellish inferno.
A soft-focus blur, a generalized sadness, a yellow ribbon or two is all that remains.
Yet there were Muslims who cheered 9/11 in Oslo and in Yorkshire, and if like Donald Trump you live in New York City, you would have read and heard similar stories from your own neighborhood.
There are two competing narratives here. If you loathe Trump, the story is:
Trump's suggestion of terrorist sympathizers among American Muslims is outrageous.
But, if you're minded to support Trump, the story is:
Obama's and Hillary's and Kerry's assertion that there are no terrorist sympathizers among Muslims is not only ludicrous but mendacious and deeply weird in its relentless insistence. Glenn Kessler's "fact-check" confirms the latter.
[*CORRECTED: I originally wrote "E M Forster", which is pretty bad of me, considering I once advised the Hartley estate over a dramatic adaptation of The Go Between.]
Pictures added by me and NOT Steyn - TGFP.
Case in point: The Washington Post's Glenn Kessler, who has awarded "four Pinocchios" to Donald Trump, for claiming to recall seeing "thousands" of Jersey City Muslims celebrating on September 11th 2001. Mr Kessler wrote:
Trump says that he saw this with his own eyes on television and that it was well covered. But an extensive examination of news clips from that period turns up nothing. There were some reports of celebrations overseas, in Muslim countries, but nothing that we can find involving the Arab populations of New Jersey.
Kessler has spent the day re-writing and re-re-writing that confident assertion. As of now, that last sentence currently reads:
There were some reports of celebrations overseas, in Muslim countries, but nothing that we can find involving the Arab populations of New Jersey except for unconfirmed reports.
When Kessler says "nothing that we can find", he didn't have to search very hard. After a two-minute Google search, Powerline's John Hinderaker turned up the following:
In Jersey City, within hours of two jetliners' plowing into the World Trade Center, law enforcement authorities detained and questioned a number of people who were allegedly seen celebrating the attacks and holding tailgate-style parties on rooftops while they watched the devastation on the other side of the river.
What demented fringe conspiracist website would traffic in such nonsense? Well, in fact, it was Glenn Kessler's own newspaper, The Washington Post, which published the story on September 18th 2001. Is it an "unconfirmed report"? Well, Kessler's colleague, Post reporter Serge Kolvaleski, said in a 2003 email that he got the story from the Jersey City Police Department and "confirmed the JCPD's information via interviews of eyewitnesses of the celebration".
Was Kessler aware, while researching his "fact-check, that a Washington Post reporter had interviewed "eyewitnesses of the celebration"? As it is, a so-called "fact-checker" who claims "an extensive examination" turns up "nothing that we can find involving the Arab populations of New Jersey" was apparently ignorant of the fact that his own newspaper had carried such a story. Called on his omission by John Hinderaker, Mr Kessler turned defensive:
@AmFedJournal@jhinderaker "several people allegedly celebrating" does not equal "thousands"
As John Hinderaker pointed out, the phrase "several people" does not occur in the Washington Post 2001 story, so Kessler is putting quotation marks round a non-quotation, which seems a rum thing for a fact-checker to do.
One Pinocchio for you right there, Mister J-School Ethics!
The Post says only that "a number of people" were detained and questioned.
So now we're no longer arguing about whether there were even any reports of any New Jersey residents celebrating 9/11, but merely the number that were doing so.
Glenn Kessler's current version of his story now bears little relation to its original form, but John Hinderaker cuts to the chase:
@GlennKesslerWP Did you know about the 2001 Post article when you wrote your "fact check" or not?Because, if you didn't, you're not much of a fact-checker.
Kessler has yet to respond.
A further Washington Post column, by Howard Kurtz on October 9th 2001, reminds us that, whether or not the story was on TV, it was widely reported on New York radio:
On Sept. 11, callers told New York radio stations WABC and WPLJ that some people in an Arabic section of Paterson, N.J., were celebrating the attacks.
Totally bogus, says city spokesman Bob Grant. He's so mad he has demanded transcripts from the Disney-owned stations and may demand equal time.
Grant is particularly steamed at WPLJ's "The Big Show With Scott and Todd," calling in to chide hosts Scott Shannon and Todd Pettengill. "They called me a moron and I called them mendacious," he says...
Curtis Sliwa, a WABC host also criticized by Grant, says callers told him of a celebration that "they felt was crazy, that was horrible, so we reported that based on the calls." Sliwa went to Paterson the next day and says people told him that the cheering was done by about a dozen bicycle-riding teenagers.
Paterson officials are "in total denial," says Sliwa. "They'd rather shoot the messenger."
 |
| The near silent majority. |
Another obscure fringe hate-blog that referenced the "celebrations" was a site called The New York Times, reporting from Jersey City on September 30th 2001:
Since the F.B.I. raid, community relations in Jersey City -- which has a population of 240,000, 20 percent of whom are Arabs or of Arab descent -- have deteriorated, and Jersey City has become rife with rumors: about Muslim celebrations in the wake of the trade center attacks, about violence against Muslim residents, about who might have been involved in the terror, who might have harbored conspirators.
 |
| The sad oftimes silent majority. |
As "rumors" go, they were widespread. The San Francisco Chronicle, reporting from Jersey City on September 22nd 2001:
A few Muslims have been harassed around town by non-Muslims, and police detained several men seen "celebrating" the attack as the smoke first rose across the river. Folks are worried that things could get worse. On both sides.So this Kessler fellow seems to have got everything wrong.
He claimed to be unable to find any reports of "the Arab population of New Jersey" celebrating on September 11th 2001, whereas his own newspaper carried such a report, as did other prominent newspapers and broadcast outlets.
Were there "thousands" celebrating?
Probably not.
But hundreds? There are those who saw such things and stand by what they saw today. And Mr Kessler's own colleague at the Post claims to have interviewed eyewitnesses.
More to the point, these reports rely not just on supposed eyewitnesses, but on a police record: persons were "detained and questioned". Kessler's colleague also spoke to the Jersey City Police Department, which Kessler apparently has not. If he'd like to, the chap to have a word with is Captain Edgar Martinez, who back in those days handled public relations for the JCPD.
After all, if it's true that "police detained several men", there would be a record of it that Captain Martinez would be able to confirm.
Judging from the comments of the Jersey City mayor, there's evidently some political pressure to make whatever happened disappear down the old memory hole, but I don't believe they'd outright lie to Glenn Kessler, would they?
The past is a foreign country, wrote L P Hartley*, and the immediate post-9/11 period was a very different land from today's America.
Here, for example, is bigshot mainstream liberal Jonathan Alter writing in Newsweek (then owned by The Washington Post) that there were Muslim schoolchildren in the New York area who had prior knowledge of 9/11.
[ I both read & saw these stories at the time & referred to them in my video on this as well. - TGFP. ].
But the moment passed, and liberals stopped writing such stories, and then denied such stories had ever been written.
[ Liberal revisionism at it's worst. - TGFP. ].
And year on year more of the specifics of that day were disappeared - starting with the images of the men and women who hurled themselves from the upper floors of the Twin Towers for the chance to spend their final moments falling through clean, bright sky rather than in that hellish inferno.
A soft-focus blur, a generalized sadness, a yellow ribbon or two is all that remains.
Yet there were Muslims who cheered 9/11 in Oslo and in Yorkshire, and if like Donald Trump you live in New York City, you would have read and heard similar stories from your own neighborhood.
There are two competing narratives here. If you loathe Trump, the story is:
Trump's suggestion of terrorist sympathizers among American Muslims is outrageous.
But, if you're minded to support Trump, the story is:
Obama's and Hillary's and Kerry's assertion that there are no terrorist sympathizers among Muslims is not only ludicrous but mendacious and deeply weird in its relentless insistence. Glenn Kessler's "fact-check" confirms the latter.
[*CORRECTED: I originally wrote "E M Forster", which is pretty bad of me, considering I once advised the Hartley estate over a dramatic adaptation of The Go Between.]
How the Bungles loss to the Cardinals will impact the Steelers & the AFC North race.
Last week after the Cincinnati Bengals lost to the Houston Texans on Monday Night Football, I wrote how the door to the AFC North championship was left open, ever so slightly. Many criticized such a sentiment, saying it was highly unlikely the 8-1 Bengals would stumble enough for the 6-4 Pittsburgh Steelers to catch them in the division race. After the Bengals' second consecutive loss, this time to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday Night Football, the door isn't just slightly ajar anymore, it has been pushed open.
The Bengals' prime time struggles continue, but within the AFC North their lead has dwindled to just two games, and the Bengals will play the Steelers in Cincinnati in just a few short weeks. So, what needs to happen for the Steelers to not just chase down the Bengals in the division, but possibly take the lead? Well, a lot needs to take place, to be honest.
First, the Steelers need to play near flawless football. Losing more than one game, which can't be the Cincinnati game, in their final 6 contests could be a devastating blow, but the equation gets more complex too. Not only do the Steelers need to be nearly perfect in their remaining schedule, but they need the Bengals to, well, continue to be the Bengals of the past two weeks.
The Steelers road to the postseason has softened, but is far from a guarantee. Their remaining games are at the Seattle Seahawks, vs. the Indianapolis Colts, at the Bengals, vs. the Denver Broncos and at the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns. Not an easy stretch of games, regardless of Andrew Luck and Peyton Manning being question marks for their respective teams moving forward.
The Bengals' road isn't quite as daunting. Their schedule persists of a home game vs. the St. Louis Rams, at the Browns, vs. the Steelers, at the San Francisco 49ers, at the Broncos and vs. the Ravens.
Some will compare the two schedules and simply say the Bengals aren't going to lose enough games for the Steelers to catch them, and that certainly is a possibility. The Steelers' poor division and conference record doesn't bode well for their chances of a tie breaker going their way, which means they need to at least have a one game lead on the Bengals to claim back-to-back division titles.
If the Steelers and Bengals are in the same position when they play head-to-head in Week 14, and Pittsburgh is able to beat the Bengals in Cincinnati, it would make their lead one, but despite the door being opened further after Cincinnati's most recent loss, the Steelers most likely path into the postseason is through the Wild Card and not winning the division. Not that it is impossible, but a lot needs to take place for such a feat to be accomplished.
Crazier things have happened, and with six weeks left in the 2015 regular season the Steelers could certainly make things interesting down the stretc
Early odds in the Pittsburgh Steelers vs Seattle Seahawks week 12 game.
By Jeff.Hartman @BnGBlitz on Nov 24, 2015, 5:00a
The Pittsburgh Steelers travel to play the Seattle Seahawks in Week 12. See who are early favorites in this inter-conference matchup.
The 6-4 Pittsburgh Steelers are making the cross-country trek to play the 5-5 Seattle Seahawks in a rematch of Super Bowl XL, and despite their record the early odds are favoring the home team. The Seahawks possess one of the true home field advantages in the Seattle "12th Man", but rarely does their "Legion of Boom" defense face an offense with the power and prowess like the Steelers.
The one comparable offense which the Seahawks see twice a season is that of the Arizona Cardinals, who just went into Seattle two weeks ago and handed Russell Wilson and company their 5th loss of the season. The Steelers offense with Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant, DeAngelo Williams, Heath Miller and Markus Wheaton is enough to give even the best defensive coordinator headaches, and will look to pick up where they left off before their bye week, with back-to-back wins and consecutive games of scoring 30 points.
Nonetheless, despite the Steelers' offense and their 5th best scoring defense, the early odds have the Seahawks as 3.5-point favorites to start the week. However, the early line starting at 3.5 is on the low end of several other sports books. The highest spread sees the Seahawks as 5-point favorites, while the majority see Seattle as 4-5-point favorites.
Surprising numbers for a Seahawks team who has struggled, but has the friendly confines of home field standing in their corner. The Steelers don't travel cross country well, and have only won once in Seattle in the 1980s. Pittsburgh will look to reverse that trend this Sunday in the land of Starbucks and Silicon Valley, but if the Vegas odds tell fans anything, it is they see this game being a close contest between two teams who are playing for their postseason lives.
The Steelers and Seahawks game is set for a 4:25 p.m. EDT kickoff, and will air on CBS
The Pittsburgh Steelers travel to play the Seattle Seahawks in Week 12. See who are early favorites in this inter-conference matchup.
The 6-4 Pittsburgh Steelers are making the cross-country trek to play the 5-5 Seattle Seahawks in a rematch of Super Bowl XL, and despite their record the early odds are favoring the home team. The Seahawks possess one of the true home field advantages in the Seattle "12th Man", but rarely does their "Legion of Boom" defense face an offense with the power and prowess like the Steelers.
The one comparable offense which the Seahawks see twice a season is that of the Arizona Cardinals, who just went into Seattle two weeks ago and handed Russell Wilson and company their 5th loss of the season. The Steelers offense with Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant, DeAngelo Williams, Heath Miller and Markus Wheaton is enough to give even the best defensive coordinator headaches, and will look to pick up where they left off before their bye week, with back-to-back wins and consecutive games of scoring 30 points.
Nonetheless, despite the Steelers' offense and their 5th best scoring defense, the early odds have the Seahawks as 3.5-point favorites to start the week. However, the early line starting at 3.5 is on the low end of several other sports books. The highest spread sees the Seahawks as 5-point favorites, while the majority see Seattle as 4-5-point favorites.
Surprising numbers for a Seahawks team who has struggled, but has the friendly confines of home field standing in their corner. The Steelers don't travel cross country well, and have only won once in Seattle in the 1980s. Pittsburgh will look to reverse that trend this Sunday in the land of Starbucks and Silicon Valley, but if the Vegas odds tell fans anything, it is they see this game being a close contest between two teams who are playing for their postseason lives.
The Steelers and Seahawks game is set for a 4:25 p.m. EDT kickoff, and will air on CBS
Seahawks not expecting Marshawn Lynch to play Sunday.
Adam Schefter@AdamSchefter
Seahawks not expecting RB Marshawn Lynch to be available Sunday vs Steelers. Awaiting word Tuesday on abdominal injury and possible surgery.
Per ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Seahawks are not planning on having Lynch available for them this Sunday. Lynch is currently in Philadelphia, PA seeing a specialist regarding his reported sports hernia. Surgery is still possible, which would sideline Lynch much longer than just Week 12.
The Seahawks were able to have success on the ground without Lynch in Week 11 with Rawls running the football. Rawls was able to collect 209 yards rushing and a touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers last week en route to a Seattle victory.
The Steelers will certainly have their hands full with Rawks and Russell Wilson, but if their defense has a strength it is their rush defense. The Steelers average only 93 yards on the ground per game, and are coming off a Week 10 performance where they held the Cleveland Browns to 15 yards rushing. This will certainly be a matchup to keep an eye on this Sunday, but it looks as if the matchup will be Rawls vs. the Steelers defense, and not Lynch.
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Appearance of chronic wasting disease in wild deer herd to impact hunters.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission has tested more than 40,000 deer for chronic wasting disease since 1998. It's been found in just more than a dozen animals in the wild, all since 2013.
The heat is on
Anyone who shoots a deer at this time of year — in a disease management area or elsewhere — faces a more familiar challenge.
Beat the heat.
Archery season opened in wildlife management units 2B, which surrounds Pittsburgh, and 5C and 5D in southeastern Pennsylvania on Sept. 19. The statewide season begins Saturday.
Warm weather has been the norm so far and likely will be for a while. Shoot a deer under those conditions, and bacteria become a threat to the quality of venison.
“Spoilage is going to start immediately. And the warmer the temperature is, the faster that spoilage is going to occur,” said Jonathan Campbell, extension meat specialist for Penn State.
There are things hunters can do to ensure their deer remains fit for the table.
For starters, they need to collect the animal as quickly as possible, said Sharon Karas of G. Karas Meat Packing in Export.
“If you shoot one in the evening, you have to find it right away. If you wait until morning, it won't be any good,” she said.
Campbell agreed, saying a deer lost for even one night at this time of year will probably be unsalvageable.
Hunters should field dress a deer, being sure to remove all organs, wash it out with water from a canteen or water bottle and get it out of the woods as quickly as possible, he said.
Don't wrap the deer in plastic or a tarp, Karas said. Some hunters do to keep it or their trunk clean, but that holds in heat, she said.
“By the time they get their deer to us, it's spoiled,” she said.
Instead, pack the inside of the deer with bags of ice until getting it to a processor, said Kip Padgelek of Kip's Deer Processing in Carnegie. That cools the carcass and ultimately leads to better-tasting meat, he said.
“It helps immensely,” Padgelek said. “It's a very little bit of money you'll spend to make sure that your venison comes out the best it can be.”
— Bob Frye
By Bob Frye
Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015, 9:00 p.m.
Updated 15 hours ago
This is the new reality.
In years past, a hunter who shot a deer could take it home intact, regardless of where he killed it and where home was. That's no longer true, at least not everywhere.
Across parts of Southwestern Pennsylvania this year, hunters who shoot a deer will have to check road maps before knowing what deer parts they can move where.
Chronic wasting disease is to blame.
The always-fatal ailment has been found in several places across the state. Pennsylvania Game Commission officials want to confine it to those locations.
To do so, it has created three “disease management areas” or containment zones. The largest — the nearly 1,700-square-mile disease management area 2 — recently was expanded into parts of Somerset and Cambria counties. It also takes in all of Bedford and Blair and parts of Huntingdon and Fulton.
A map outlining it is on page 39 of this year's hunting digest.
Hunters who shoot a deer within its boundaries can't take it out, at least not intact.
Say, for example, a hunter from New Kensington shoots a 10-point buck on state game land 82 in southeastern Somerset County. Under the new rules, that hunter will have to take the deer to a butcher within the disease area so as to avoid moving “high risk” parts — brains, spinal columns, lymph nodes and spleens — and potentially spreading the disease. If he wants to get the deer mounted, he'll have to choose a taxidermist within the disease area.
The commission is maintaining a list of processors and taxidermists on its website.
Hunters who live inside the disease area can shoot a deer there and take it home, but even they are asked to dispose of its parts in their household trash or in one of several dumpsters to be set up on state game lands.
Those rules will inconvenience some, said Justin Brown, the commission's wildlife veterinarian. But if the agency is going to manage the disease, it needs hunters' help, he said.
“Managing CWD, a huge part of that falls on you, the sportsmen out in the field,” he told a crowd of about 150 at an informational meeting in Berlin Borough on Thursday.
“Our goal is to keep it in as small an area as possible and keep the number of infected deer as small as possible. You're our boots on the ground we can manage this disease with.”
The rules will be in place for years.
Brown said Pennsylvania's wasting disease response plan calls for maintaining the rules for at least five years after the last positive detection. That clock hasn't started yet. CWD-positive deer have been found in disease management area 2 every year since 2013, Brown said, including three in June and July.
History says that's unlikely to change. Since being discovered in Colorado in the 1960s, wasting disease has spread to 23 states and three Canadian provinces. Only one, New York, has eradicated it, and it was “probably just extremely lucky,” Brown said.
Some hunters asked if it's safe to eat deer from the area.
Craig Schultz, veterinarian with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, said there's no evidence humans can contract the disease, though he also advised against eating sick-looking animals.
Hunters can have their deer tested for wasting disease. But that involves driving the head to the Pennsylvania Veterinary Laboratory in Harrisburg, paying $75 and waiting weeks for results, Schultz said.
In a state where hunters take more than 300,000 deer annually, the number of people taking that step each year “is probably in the dozens,” Brown said.
No CWD-positive deer have been found in Somerset or Cambria counties. They're partially in the disease area because of their proximity to positive cases elsewhere and the commission's need to use roads as easily identifiable disease management area boundaries, Brown said.
Hunters need to cooperate if they want to try to keep the disease away, said Tom Fazi, a supervisor in the commission's southwest region office. He stressed that when asked about the fine for moving high-risk deer parts out of the disease area. Commission officers have encountered that violation in other parts of the state. There were two citations issued in 2012, four in '13 and 53 last year.
Fazi didn't say what the fine would be. Instead, he said hunters should obey the law not because it's economical but because they should want to spread disease unnecessarily.
“You don't want to be that guy,” Fazi said
Scouting report : Steelers vs. Rams.
Alex Brandon/Associated Press
Rams quarterback Nick Foles, left, and receiver Kenny Britt celebrate their touchdown connection last week against Washington.
By Gerry Dulac / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
When Steelers have the ball …
Key performers: DT Aaron Donald, DE Robert Quinn, DE Chris Long, LB Alec Ogletree, LB James Laurinaitis, CB Janoris Jenkins
Who’s hot: The defensive line features five No. 1 draft picks — Donald, Quinn, Long, Michael Brockers and Nick Fairley — and they are most effective when they get opponents in typical pass-rush situations. Since the start of the 2012 season, they have 145 sacks, second most in the league behind Buffalo (147).
What’s been working: Ogletree had 18 tackles against the Redskins, the most by a Rams player since London Fletcher had 21 versus the 49ers in 2001, and leads the team with 29. He has developed into a productive outside linebacker who ranks second in the league in forced fumbles since 2013 (10). Quinn, his teammate, is first with 13.
Game plan: The Rams will try to pressure Ben Roethlisberger, who wasn’t sacked by the 49ers and did a good job getting rid of the ball quick. He will need to do more of that against the pressure supplied by the Rams’ defensive front. Because of their upfield pursuit, the Rams will leave themselves open to long runs by Le’Veon Bell.
Keep an eye on: Right OLB Akeem Ayers has been slowed by injury and appeared for just nine plays against the Seahawks. So the Rams will use former Tampa Bay safety Mark Barron off the bench and employ him like a linebacker in their nickel defense.
When Rams have the ball …
Key performers: QB Nick Foles, RB Todd Gurley, WR Tavon Austin, WR Kenny Britt, TE Jared Cook, RT Greg Robinson
Who’s hot: Nick Foles completed eight passes of 20 yards or longer in his debut against the Seattle defense, the most by a Rams quarterback since Marc Bulger had 11 against the Steelers in 2003. However, it was just the opposite in the loss to Redskins when the Rams had just 213 yards offense and only one play longer than 16 yards.
What’s been working: The Rams have tried to get their running game working by drafting five running backs in the past four years, including Todd Gurley of Georgia with the 10th overall pick this year. But Gurley has been hurt and yet to play for the Rams. Tavon Austin has 57 yards on eight plays.
Game plan: Jeff Fisher-coached teams ideally like to be power running teams, but the Rams are very young on the offensive line. They start two rookies — G Jamon Brown and RT Rob Hevenstein — and left tackle Greg Robinson was the No. 2 player in the draft in 2014. Their offensive line has a combined 76 career starts, fewest in the league. The Steelers, even without Maurkice Pouncey, have 200.
Keep an eye on: Jared Cook is a big target (6-5, 254) who can get downfield. He leads the team with 10 catches. But they will also use TE Lance Kendricks, who has a 37-yard touchdown among his three catches.
SPECIAL TEAMS
This is a good and productive unit for the Rams. Yes, they gave up a 57-yard punt return for touchdown to Seattle’s Tyler Lockett in the first quarter of the opener. But Austin is one of the most dangerous returners in the league and had a 75-yard punt return for touchdown against the Seahawks. K Greg Zuerlein has a strong leg and has 14 career field goals of 50+ yards, including as 52-yarder against Washington. Punter Johnny Hekker’s net average of 40.7 yards — he averages 47.5 yards total — is testament to the coverage. But keep this in mind: Fisher loves trick plays on special teams and Hekker is a good passer.
To win, the Rams must ...
1. Swarm the B’s. They have to have success against Brown, Bell and Ben and slow an offense that averages 458.5 yards per game.
2. Blast Ben. Roethlisberger had five completions of 35 yards or longer against the 49ers, the most by an NFL QB in 10 years.
3. Pile up the plays. Opponents have run 44 more plays than the Rams, the largest disparity in the league. St. Louis is last in the league in plays per game.
To win, the Steelers must ...
1. Hit Britt. Kenny Britt had the only play longer than 16 yards against the Redskins — a 40-yard touchdown — and averages 20.3 yards on four catches.
2. Foil Foles. Nick Foles had the highest passer rating (115.8) by a Rams quarterback in a season opener in 23 years in his most recent outing at home.
3. Trump Donald. The Redskins trapped the former Pitt and Penn Hills star several times and had runs of 25, 35 and 39 yards last week.
Key matchup. Steelers WR Antonio Brown vs. Rams CB Janoris Jenkins.
John Heller/Post-Gazette
Antonio Brown might be the best receiver in the NFL, so anything Rams cornerback Janoris Jenkins can do to slow him would be a bonus.
By Gerry Dulac / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Antonio Brown thinks he is the best receiver in the National Football League, and he certainly has the numbers to prove it.
After having one of the greatest seasons by a wide receiver in NFL history in 2014, Brown is right back where he left off, torturing opposing defenses and posting numbers that are ahead of his record pace from last year.
Brown had nine catches for 195 yards against the San Francisco 49ers — his career best is 199 yards — and he did any number of ways against a defense that tried every which way to stop him. It didn’t help that the 49ers, who played a lot of nickel run defense, never sacked Roethlisberger or hurried him into a throw.
“If you’re a receiver and play the game, everyone should think they’re the best,” Brown said. “I do feel I’m the best, but that’s only my word. My actions will speak louder than anything I say. I got to go out and prove it.”
Brown does that game after game, with seemingly no end in sight. After catching 129 passes (second most in NFL history) and gaining 1,698 receiving yards (sixth most in league history) last season, the three-time Pro Bowl receiver is already ahead of the pace that allowed him to be the first Steelers player to lead the league in receptions and receiving yards in the same season.
With 18 catches for a league-best 328 receiving yards after two games, Brown would be on pace for 144 catches — one better than Marvin Harrison’s NFL single-season record (143) — and a whopping 2,624 yards that would blow away Calvin Johnson’s record of 1,964 yards in 2012.
Granted, it’s only two games and Brown isn’t always going to have days like he did against the 49ers when he had catches of 28, 56 and 59 yards. But his ability to continue to get open and be productive against all kinds of defensive coverages seem to make anything possible with him.
“I saw a little bit of everything [against the 49ers],” Brown said. I saw some press coverage, I saw double coverage, I saw them trying to blitz and get back to double coverage. We saw a variety of things and we were able to exploit some of that.
“It was fun to be a part of. Anytime you get Ben slinging the ball down the grass and me catching passes, it’s a fun day at work.”
The Rams will hope to change that. They will try to pressure Roethlisberger with their talented defensive line and hope cornerback Janoris Jenkins can keep Brown under some semblance of control.
Jenkins, 26, has seven career interceptions and more defensive touchdowns (6) than any NFL player since he came into the league in 2012 as a second-round draft choice. But that larcenous style comes at a price, too.
Jenkins likes to sit on routes and jump throws, sometimes leaving him susceptible to doubles moves and big pass plays. A perfect example came last week against the Redskins when he got beat for a 35-yard catch by receiver Ryan Grant that set up a field goal.
“They’re a team trying to disrupt your timing with their pass rush,” Brown said. “I think it’s going to be a catch-and-run week. We’re going to have to get open and catch the football and run for some extra yards. We’ll have to get the ball out quick and keep Ben clean.”
Saturday, September 26, 2015
The cost of driving away with the gas pump.
The Cost of Driving Away With the Gas Pump
By JENNIFER SARANOW SCHULTZ NOVEMBER 10, 2010 1:34 PM November 10, 2010 1:34 pm
Rick Bowmer/Associated Press
Driving off with a gas nozzle in your car can be costly.
After filling up her car’s tank with gas, a friend of Bucks recently started to drive away with the gas nozzle still in the car.
She made it about five feet and then the hose came off the pump. She stopped the car, put the hose back by the pump and started driving away. The gas station attendant then came after her and took her insurance information.
Nearly a week after the incident, our friend still hadn’t heard from the gas station about any possible charges, but she said she learned from a quick search online that such incidents are relatively common and that the charges can vary from nothing (when gas stations never follow up) to a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars. “Apparently these ‘drive-offs’ happen at least once a month at any given station,” she said.
Intrigued, Bucks decided to investigate the costs of driving away with the gas nozzle in your car and who is responsible for them, checking with everyone from gas station representatives to insurance companies. Here’s what we found.
According to Paul Fiore, executive vice president of the service station association Service Station Dealers of America and Allied Trades, how the situation is handled often depends on the gas station. “The policies in place will be as varied as the owners’ and managers’ personalities,” he said. “Each company will have their own approach to this delicate situation. Is it a good customer? Did the customer get an ‘attitude’ right away as if it was the gas station’s fault? Every little thing is a factor in deciding how an owner or manager handles a customer that has damaged store property, and I would imagine it is no different across the retailing spectrum.”
A spokesman for BP, who said Arco stations contract with it to buy gasoline, similarly said each gas station operator or owner “would handle the situation as they deem appropriate.” Our friend’s incident occurred at an Arco station.
The manager of the gas station where our friend’s incident occurred, meanwhile, said the station’s policy is to ask the driver for contact and insurance information. Then, the station calls in someone who handles maintenance, who then checks the pump, replaces what is damaged and sends a bill to the station’s main office. The office would then file a claim with driver’s insurance company for the cost of the repairs. The station manager estimated that replacing a damaged nozzle would cost about $350.
Next, to find out if auto insurance covers the cost of such damages, I asked a number of insurers what their policy is on these claims. Their answer was that yes, auto insurance, and liability coverage, in particular, will generally cover damage to a gas pump.
“A person who drives off from a gas pump with the hose still attached to the vehicle is generally going to liable for the damages caused by their negligence,” said Kip Diggs, a spokesman for State Farm Insurance. “The damage to the pump would be covered under the liability portion of the driver’s auto policy. We would determine the damages through the normal claims process.”
The gas station would file a claim with the driver’s auto insurance company or with its own insurance company, which would then file a claim with the driver’s auto insurance company. After the claim is reported, the insurance company would investigate it, assess the damage and settle the claim, said Leah Knapp, a spokeswoman for Progressive. “The claims process is the same as any other claim,” she said.
According to Christina Tyler Loznicka, a spokeswoman for Allstate Insurance Company, liability coverage is usually required, “but policy limits may vary and if you just carry the minimum coverage limits, you could be left paying the difference, making it a very expensive fill-up.”
As for the exact amount of the claim, that varies. “It is hard to say how much damage is generally done to the pump,” said Rick Ward, director of auto claims for MetLife Auto & Home. “In addition to repairing the pump, a gas station may claim other damages, such as loss of revenue while the pump is out of service,” and “the operator of the vehicle is responsible for the damages.”
According to Mr. Ward, “If there is only damage to the pump itself, the average claim would likely be $1,000 to $2,000. However, if there is damage to the tank below the pump or loss of revenue, the claim cost can increase significantly.” He said the insurer sees less than a dozen such claims annually, probably because of new regulations that stop consumers from setting the pump to automatic and walking away from it, he said. Or there’s also the chance that drivers are paying the costs out of pocket.
Others estimate much lower costs. Mr. Fiore of the service station association estimated that the damage can run from $100 to $500, but generally is on the lower end. It seems that driving away with the nozzle may not necessarily cause any serious or expensive damage in some cases, especially if the hose is detachable and can easily be snapped back on. In this situation, consumers may just be charged the cost of labor. That’s why some consumers recommend asking to see the damaged parts.
By JENNIFER SARANOW SCHULTZ NOVEMBER 10, 2010 1:34 PM November 10, 2010 1:34 pm
Rick Bowmer/Associated Press
Driving off with a gas nozzle in your car can be costly.
After filling up her car’s tank with gas, a friend of Bucks recently started to drive away with the gas nozzle still in the car.
She made it about five feet and then the hose came off the pump. She stopped the car, put the hose back by the pump and started driving away. The gas station attendant then came after her and took her insurance information.
Nearly a week after the incident, our friend still hadn’t heard from the gas station about any possible charges, but she said she learned from a quick search online that such incidents are relatively common and that the charges can vary from nothing (when gas stations never follow up) to a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars. “Apparently these ‘drive-offs’ happen at least once a month at any given station,” she said.
Intrigued, Bucks decided to investigate the costs of driving away with the gas nozzle in your car and who is responsible for them, checking with everyone from gas station representatives to insurance companies. Here’s what we found.
According to Paul Fiore, executive vice president of the service station association Service Station Dealers of America and Allied Trades, how the situation is handled often depends on the gas station. “The policies in place will be as varied as the owners’ and managers’ personalities,” he said. “Each company will have their own approach to this delicate situation. Is it a good customer? Did the customer get an ‘attitude’ right away as if it was the gas station’s fault? Every little thing is a factor in deciding how an owner or manager handles a customer that has damaged store property, and I would imagine it is no different across the retailing spectrum.”
A spokesman for BP, who said Arco stations contract with it to buy gasoline, similarly said each gas station operator or owner “would handle the situation as they deem appropriate.” Our friend’s incident occurred at an Arco station.
The manager of the gas station where our friend’s incident occurred, meanwhile, said the station’s policy is to ask the driver for contact and insurance information. Then, the station calls in someone who handles maintenance, who then checks the pump, replaces what is damaged and sends a bill to the station’s main office. The office would then file a claim with driver’s insurance company for the cost of the repairs. The station manager estimated that replacing a damaged nozzle would cost about $350.
Next, to find out if auto insurance covers the cost of such damages, I asked a number of insurers what their policy is on these claims. Their answer was that yes, auto insurance, and liability coverage, in particular, will generally cover damage to a gas pump.
“A person who drives off from a gas pump with the hose still attached to the vehicle is generally going to liable for the damages caused by their negligence,” said Kip Diggs, a spokesman for State Farm Insurance. “The damage to the pump would be covered under the liability portion of the driver’s auto policy. We would determine the damages through the normal claims process.”
The gas station would file a claim with the driver’s auto insurance company or with its own insurance company, which would then file a claim with the driver’s auto insurance company. After the claim is reported, the insurance company would investigate it, assess the damage and settle the claim, said Leah Knapp, a spokeswoman for Progressive. “The claims process is the same as any other claim,” she said.
According to Christina Tyler Loznicka, a spokeswoman for Allstate Insurance Company, liability coverage is usually required, “but policy limits may vary and if you just carry the minimum coverage limits, you could be left paying the difference, making it a very expensive fill-up.”
As for the exact amount of the claim, that varies. “It is hard to say how much damage is generally done to the pump,” said Rick Ward, director of auto claims for MetLife Auto & Home. “In addition to repairing the pump, a gas station may claim other damages, such as loss of revenue while the pump is out of service,” and “the operator of the vehicle is responsible for the damages.”
According to Mr. Ward, “If there is only damage to the pump itself, the average claim would likely be $1,000 to $2,000. However, if there is damage to the tank below the pump or loss of revenue, the claim cost can increase significantly.” He said the insurer sees less than a dozen such claims annually, probably because of new regulations that stop consumers from setting the pump to automatic and walking away from it, he said. Or there’s also the chance that drivers are paying the costs out of pocket.
Others estimate much lower costs. Mr. Fiore of the service station association estimated that the damage can run from $100 to $500, but generally is on the lower end. It seems that driving away with the nozzle may not necessarily cause any serious or expensive damage in some cases, especially if the hose is detachable and can easily be snapped back on. In this situation, consumers may just be charged the cost of labor. That’s why some consumers recommend asking to see the damaged parts.
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Sunday, September 20, 2015
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Monday, September 14, 2015
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Grand jury indicts former 49'er Ray McDonald for rape.
Sept.
7, 2014: In this file photo, San Francisco 49er's Ray McDonald sits on
the bench during the second half of an NFL football game against the
Dallas Cowboys in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)
The announcement came Wednesday, with the indictment stemming from an incident last Dec. 15 at McDonald's home.
Current 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks has also been charged by the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office with misdemeanor sexual battery for an alleged assault the same day involving the same victim. The case against Brooks also was announced Wednesday.
Messages left for McDonald's attorney and Brooks' agent Wednesday weren't immediately returned.
The 49ers sent Brooks home from Colorado, where they are holding joint practices with the Broncos before playing a preseason game against Denver on Saturday night.
"The organization is aware that a misdemeanor charge has been filed against Ahmad Brooks stemming from a December 2014 matter. We take any charge against a member of this organization seriously and are in communication with the NFL," 49ers general manager Trent Baalke said in a statement released by the team.
The woman said she slipped and fell on a pool deck at McDonald's house in December 2014 and continued to fall after that due to her initial head injury and alcohol consumption. McDonald initially thought she was dead, but did not call 911, telling others he didn't want a dead female found on his property, according to the suit.
At some point, Brooks groped her before McDonald carried her upstairs to his bedroom and sexually assaulted her, the lawsuit claimed.
McDonald has had previous legal problems.
McDonald was arrested twice in a week in May. One of those was for violating a restraining order by being at a residence in Santa Clara after the restraining order was issued following a domestic violence incident in which he allegedly broke down a bedroom door to get to his former fiancée and their infant.
McDonald was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence and child endangerment, but was free on bail.
The 49ers released him in December citing a "pattern of poor decision-making."
That move came just a month after Santa Clara County prosecutors declined to file charges against McDonald in a separate domestic violence investigation stemming from an arrest on Aug. 31, 2014, while celebrating his 30th birthday at his home. Prosecutors cited conflicting versions of what happened, a lack of verifiable eyewitnesses and a lack of cooperation by the alleged victim, McDonald's fiancée, in explaining their decision.
Saturday, August 22, 2015
US sugar tariffs cause Oreo production to go to Mexico losing 600 American jobs. Blame also the greedy unions who are anti free trade.
How US Sugar Policies Just Helped America Lose 600 Jobs
Boxes of Mondelez International's Oreo Cookies in multiple flavors on a supermarket shelf. (Photo: RICHARD B. LEVINE/Newscom)
This obvious connection between the lost jobs and sugar quotas was missed by many observers. According to one online commenter: “This is why tariff[s] on products coming to U.S must be raised.”
That’s backwards. When protectionist policies like the U.S. sugar program lead to offshoring, the response shouldn’t be to pass new laws to discourage such offshoring or to raise tariffs even higher. The response should be to eliminate government policies that encourage offshoring in the first place.
The loss of Oreo cookie jobs should reinforce a lesson on the job-destroying aspect of protectionist trade policies.
According to a 2006 report from the government’s International Trade Administration: “Chicago, one of the largest U.S. cities for confectionery manufacturing, has lost nearly one-third of its SCP manufacturing jobs over the last 13 years. These losses are attributed, in part, to high U.S. sugar prices.”
That lesson appears to be lost on unions that are supposed to represent the workers losing their jobs in Chicago.
For example, The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers Union consistently has opposed free trade agreements with sugar-producing countries like Australia, Brazil, and Mexico—the kind of trade deals that just might protect their members’ jobs.
So that’s how the cookie crumbles.
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This should be a wake-up call to defenders of the U.S. sugar program and other job-destroying trade barriers.
The leading ingredient in Oreos is sugar, and U.S. trade barriers currently require Americans to pay twice the average world prices for sugar.
Sugar-using industries now have a big incentive to relocate from the United States to countries where access to their primary ingredient is not restricted.