Carter's induction into hall concludes festivities

CANTON, Ohio (AP) ? Forcefully and emotionally, Cris Carter summed up the 50th induction ceremony for the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday night.

The seventh and final inductee from the Class of 2013, Carter honored dozens of people in his life who were "going into the Hall of Fame with me tonight," as he followed Jonathan Ogden, Dave Robinson, Larry Allen, Bill Parcells, Curley Culp and Warren Sapp in being inducted.

More than 120 hall members, a record, and a crowd of 11,500 was on hand at Fawcett Stadium for the golden anniversary celebration of the shrine.

"I appreciate the process you have to go through to get to be a Hall of Famer," Carter said. "To be able to join these men on this stage in football heaven is the greatest day of my life."

Carter needed six tries to make the hall even though he retired as the No. 2 career receiver behind Jerry Rice. He choked back tears as he made his speech after being presented by his son, Duron, and he spoke of his problems with alcohol while playing three years for the Eagles before being released.

He hooked on immediately with the Vikings and hooked onto nearly everything throw his way: Carter finished his 16-season career with 1,101 catches for 13,899 yards and 130 touchdowns.

"This game gave me identity, gave me a sense of purpose," he said.

Parcells also seemingly spoke for everyone in the Hall of Fame, and all the people gathered Saturday night.

"There's a kinship created that lasts for the rest of your life," he said about his experience as one of the NFL's most successful coaches.

The master of the franchise turnaround as the only coach to take four teams to the playoffs, Parcells won Super Bowls with the New York Giants in the 1986 and 1990 seasons.

"Every organization I worked for supported me to the fullest," Parcells said. "Without that, you've got no shot."

Parcells was Coach of the Year honors in 1986 and 1994. He asked to have his bust placed somewhere near Lawrence Taylor in the hall "so I can keep an eye on that sucker."

As relaxed as if he had no one to block, Ogden became the first Baltimore Raven enshrined. The first player drafted by the Ravens after the franchise moved from Cleveland in 1996 and was renamed, Ogden was presented by the man who made that selection, fellow Hall of Famer Ozzie Newsome, now Baltimore's general manager.

A former college shot putter at UCLA, the 6-foot-9, 345-pound Ogden starred at tackle for a dozen seasons in Baltimore, winning the 2000 NFL championship.

"He is part of the foundation of this franchise, part of the reason we have two Super Bowl championships," Newsome said.

Ogden, who was given a 2013 Super Bowl ring by the team, made the hall in his first year of eligibility. He was a six-time All-Pro, made the Pro Bowl 11 times and was the main blocker when Jamal Lewis rushed for 2,066 yards in 2003.

"Talent isn't enough," Ogden said. "A lot of people have talent, they don't always live up to it. For me it is about maximizing, striving for perfection."

Allen, who sniffled his way through his speech, was just as dominating a blocker as Ogden. He also was the NFL's strongest man, once bench-pressing 700 pounds, saying "I did it naturally."

A lead blocker for Dallas as Emmitt Smith became the NFL's career rushing leader, Allen made six All-Pro squads and 11 Pro Bowls in his 14 seasons, the final two with San Francisco. He won the Super Bowl in the 1995 season and was voted into the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility,

"I just knew I had to win every play," he said. "That's the reason I am here. I knew if I lost a play, I had 45 seconds to get even."

Sapp became only the second Tampa Bay Buccaneer enshrined, 18 years after Lee Roy Selmon made it. He was elected in his first year of eligibility following 13 seasons in which he went from instant starter after being selected 12th overall in the 1995 draft to Defensive Player of the Year in 1999. That season, he had 12 1/2 sacks as the Bucs won their first division title in 18 years. For his career, Sapp had 96 1/2 sacks, extremely high for a defensive tackle.

"I sit here with the greatest among the great," Sapp said, breaking into tears. "We're here, baby."

Presented Saturday night by his 15-year-old daughter, Mercedes, Sapp made the NFL's All-Decade squads for the 1990s and the 2000s.

Sapp, who both Ogden and Allen said was as tough to handle as any player they faced, paid tribute to his roots in Plymouth, Fla.

"That dirt road was something rough," he said. "We sure turned it into something special."

Robinson became the 12th inductee from the vintage Packers coached by Vince Lombardi to be enshrined. Robinson was a prototype outside linebacker who could rush the quarterback, cover tight ends or running backs on pass plays, and stop the run. He made the NFL's All-Decade team of the 1960s and won three NFL titles, including the first two Super Bowls.

"This is the biggest day of the 21st century for the Robinson family," he said, adding that he "lives 25 miles from here but it took me 38 years to get here.

"Now, I am immortalized."

As is Culp, one of the game's most dominant defensive tackles for much of his 14 pro seasons, including the 1969 season when he helped Kansas City win the NFL title.

A five-time Pro Bowler, Culp also played for Houston and Detroit, retiring in 1981, then waiting more than three decades to be enshrined Saturday as a senior nominee.

"It gives me joy and inspiration that will last the rest of my life," Culp said. "I am just overwhelmed by the struggles, joys and tears of those who made it here. I'm happy to join them in the Hall of Fame.

___

AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-08-03-Hall%20of%20Fame/id-88f23dc1a2364084ac6e2af36339e188

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Gov. Chris Christie/Sen. Rand Paul feud could make Christie president

Rand Paul surrendered. He ran the risk of opening an intraparty debate that needs to be had. Chris Christie, a real conservative who is willing to go off the ideological track, is not to be messed with. He is willing to call out those that are much more intellectually dishonest than he is. Rand Paul and the pseudo-conservative Libertarians could not allow the debate to go there. Rand Paul did what he had to do. He surrendered and asked Chris Christie to a beer summit.

So how did this Republican feud get started? A few days ago, Christie said that there was a strain of Libertarianism on both the left and the right that opposes the NSA surveillance program. He then used the standard 9/11 defense of the program. Rand Paul responded by implying that was a cheap shot and accused Christie of having the ?gimme, gimme, gimme? disease, always wanting from the government. Christie responded that New Jersey gives much more to the U.S. Treasury than it gets back and by contrast Kentucky gets back much more than they put in. Rand Paul attempted to imply that their two military bases were the reasons, not realizing that New Jersey has 8 military bases. Continuing the discussion for Rand Paul was pointless. He was beaten. It turns out that Kentucky, Rand Paul?s state, is in fact the ?gimme, gimme, gimme? state, the welfare state. Chris Christie cracked that door.

Jump below the fold for the full story about Rand Paul, Chris Christie, and what it all means for 2016.

The chart below is quite illuminating. Texas is the only red state that gets back less than it sends to Washington. Of course Texas' wealth of natural resources can hide a lot of its intrinsic dysfunction.

The above chart and many others have been circulating over the internet for years. They are modified as new data becomes available. One would think that every time a red state politician started grandstanding about smaller government, the mainstream media would ask them if they realized their stance was disproportionately harming their states. In fact, the chart demonstrates a particular pathology that is systemic mostly with red states. One must wonder why the mainstream media?s objective journalists do not feel compelled to investigate this reality with in depth reporting and specials.

Rand Paul inadvertently opened that door for debate. Most importantly, since the argument was made by a Republican to a Republican it runs the risk of being heard by Republicans. Had these facts been articulated by Democrats or liberals, no one on the right would be listening to them or be receptive of learning the fact that Kentucky, as well as all but one red state, are very dependent on the federal government.

Conventional wisdom by most in the mainstream media and other talking heads is that Chris Christie cannot make it out of a Republican primary because he is not conservative enough. Some believe his acceptance of the Obamacare Medicaid expansion was one of the nails in his presidential coffin.

Christie has already earned his conservative bona fides. He cancelled a much-needed tunnel project. He lambasted unions even as some unions endorsed him likely for political reasons. He has revived his tax cut proposal that gives most of its benefits to the top 1 percent. He attacked the Supreme Court decision for ruling that key parts of DOMA were unconstitutional.

If Christie decides to run for president, he will win the Republican primary. He is a conservative and made the minimal political moves in a Blue State to remain so. He is willing to defend his policies even if he has to destroy the false narratives of his red state rivals. He will make them the fake conservatives for preaching small government even as they are on the dole. He will spin his acceptance of Obamacare Medicaid expansion as a fiscally responsible move on a bill that had conservative origins. Christie will use the social-welfare red state reality and make any additional austerity proposed by the right-wingers an attack on the red state middle class. He will make himself the only adult in the room.

Republicans want the White House. They have lost the popular vote in five of the last six elections. 2016 is likely the last election they can win without revamping their party. While the far right claims that the party is not sufficiently to the Right, most Republicans know better. If they were willing to elect Mitt Romney, the governor that actually passed Massachusetts? version of Obamacare, they surely would be willing to elect Christie who uses it to benefit his indigent (and make money for insurance companies, hospitals, and drug makers).

Ultimately the real question is, can Chris Christie beat Hillary Clinton? As a blue state conservative Republican who uses his brashness when questioned to deflect from the actual policies, as a mainstream media darling, and as a recipient of poor mainstream media scrutiny and in depth analysis, the answer is yes. If Hillary Clinton is tied to Bill Clinton and a narrative is constructed with his Glass Steagall sin, the answer is yes.

If, however, the country buys into two tenets Hillary will win. If the country believes the truth that governance by testosterone has been a failure to the middle class and that conservative policies by Republicans and Democrats alike decimated the middle class, then Hillary Clinton will win.

The exuberance of many that assume that because of demographic changes a Republican cannot win the presidency is false. A Republican like Gov. Chris Christie can.

Source: http://rss.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/gh04Qrdrn3k/-Gov-Chris-Christie-Sen-Rand-Paul-feud-could-make-Christie-president

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No delay in release of California inmates

WASHINGTON (CNN) -

The U.S. Supreme Court refused Friday to stop the pending release of thousands of California inmates to solve chronic, severe overcrowding in the state prisons.

The unsigned order is the latest chapter in a long-running federal lawsuit by prisoners and their advocates against what they called dangerous and unacceptable conditions in 30 state correctional institutions.

A judge's order in May required the state to further reduce the prison population by 9,600 inmates by year's end. The state has repeatedly cited public safety in resisting the mandated releases. The state in recent days asked the Supreme Court for an injunction to delay implementation of the order.

The high court in 2011 upheld an earlier order setting limits on the prison population and a timetable for the state to follow to meet that ceiling.

Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito said they would have granted the stay requested by the state. Scalia, in a toughly worded dissent, called the original release order a "terrible injunction" and suggested the result would be that many of the released prisoners will commit more crimes.

There was no immediate reaction from Gov. Jerry Brown, but he had called the earlier mandate "unprecedented." A three-judge federal court panel ordered the state to reduce its prison population to 137.5% of design capacity by December 31 and threatened to find the state in contempt if it did not report on its progress every two weeks.

Until recently, California had the nation's largest prison system and officials have said they have been reducing overcrowding.

The case grows out of lawsuits filed in 1990 and 2001 that alleged overcrowding is at the core of a domino effect of unsafe and unhealthy conditions for those on both sides of the iron bars.

In 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the federal panel's determination that California's medical and mental health care for inmates fell below a constitutional level of care and that the only way to meet the requirement was by reducing prison crowding.

The justices two years ago found "continuing injury and harm resulting from these serious constitutional violations," including as many as 156,000 people crammed in correctional facilities designed to hold about half that many.

Justice Anthony Kennedy at the time noted "needless suffering and death have been the well-documented result. Over the whole course of years during which this litigation has been pending, no other remedies have been found to be sufficient."

Federal judges in May expressed impatience with California officials, the defendants in the case. They threatened to cite the state with contempt if it did not comply with the release orders.

The larger issue is a classic battle over state versus federal authority, focusing on whether U.S. courts can step in and essentially run state prisons when officials have repeatedly violated basic constitutional guarantees afforded inmates.

The competing arguments amount to a sharply divided debate between public safety concerns and individual rights, a debate that goes into how the three branches of government should balance competing state interests.

Alito had dissented from the 2011 ruling, and warned any mass release of inmates to alleviate overcrowding would be "gambling with the safety of the people of California."

Prison overcrowding is a nationwide problem, but California's dilemma is unique in its massive scope and time frame.

A special federal court in 2009 ordered the state to shrink the prison population from 202% over capacity to a maximum of 137.5%, and to accomplish that in two years. The state was given wide latitude to meet the goal, but the court was adamant the state do it without delay and without excuse.

The current high court appeal is Brown v. Plata (13A57).

Source: http://www.ktvz.com/news/No-delay-in-release-of-California-inmates/-/413192/21309716/-/aq6jfj/-/index.html

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India's baby Roona discharged after surgeons shrink skull

NEW DELHI: Doctors allowed a one-year-old Indian baby to go home Friday, after nearly four months of treatment to correct a rare disorder that caused her head to double in size.

Roona Begum and her parents left New Delhi and headed home to a remote region of India's northeast after surgeons declared that her health had significantly improved.

Roona, whose plight captured international sympathy, has battled through several life-saving surgical procedures which saw doctors drain fluid from her head and dramatically reduce the size of her skull.

"Roona's health has improved significantly.... We have discharged the baby this morning and she is fit to travel," neurosurgeon Sandeep Vaishya said as the child left the private hospital on the outskirts of Delhi where she has been since April.

A drowsy-looking Roona was then driven with her smiling parents to Delhi airport, her first time out of a hospital gown in nearly four months.

Roona was born with hydrocephalus, a potentially fatal condition that causes cerebrospinal fluid to build up on the brain.

Her condition had caused her head to swell to a circumference of 94 centimetres (37 inches), putting pressure on her brain and making it impossible for her to sit upright or crawl.

Her head shrank to 58 centimetres after procedures conducted between April and July at the hospital run by the private Fortis Healthcare group.

Vaishya, who heads the hospital's neurosurgery unit, said he expected her head to shrink further after conducting a final surgery in about six months' time.

"When she came here, she was almost immobile. Now, she is moving her head from side to side easily, it shows that her neck muscles are already getting stronger," he said.

"The next big step will be for her to sit up.

"Neurologically as well the baby shows several signs of improvement. She can see better, her limb movements are much better," he added.

Although Roona's skull is likely to remain large compared with other children, she has a good chance of developing normally, provided her neck muscles can grow strong enough to support her head, he explained.

"Except for the size of her head, she is an absolutely normal baby. She eats without a problem and moves her arms and legs easily," he said.

Her 25-year-old mother, Fatema Khatun, said she was looking forward to taking the baby home to their village in the remote northeastern state of Tripura.

"Everyone at home is eagerly waiting to see Roona. Her grandparents were so happy when they heard we were coming home," Khatun told AFP ahead of their departure.

Roona's father, Abdul Rahman, 18, called her an "extraordinary" child.

"She is so strong, she has gone through so many surgeries and she is still here and she's in good spirits," Rahman told AFP.

Roona's parents were too poor to pay for treatment, but publication of pictures taken by an AFP photographer prompted the hospital to offer to treat her for free.

The photographs also triggered an outpouring of support worldwide, with prospective donors contacting AFP and other news organisations to enquire how they could contribute to a fund for her treatment.

Two Norwegian college students, Jonas Borchgrevink and Nathalie Krantz, started an online campaign that has raised $58,000.

The campaign has paid around $30,000 to the charitable arm of Fortis hospital, as the initially estimated cost of Roona's treatment multiplied by more than 30 times, Borchgrevink told AFP.

The donations have covered about half the total cost of treatment so far, with the rest paid by the hospital's charitable foundation.

"We still have around $28,000 left, which we want to send to the family for her aftercare," Borchgrevink said.

"This is not a short-term project for us. We intend to follow up with the family in the coming years to ensure she gets the help she needs," he said.

Roona's mother Khatun said, "I will never meet all the people who have helped my child, but I want them to know that I am very very grateful to them."

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/india-s-baby-roona/763900.html

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Threat to U.S. embassies appears al Qaeda-linked: lawmaker

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee said al Qaeda appears to be behind a threat that has prompted several U.S. embassies to close on Sunday.

"It's my understanding that it is al Qaeda linked ... and the threat emanates in the Middle East and in Central Asia," Representative Ed Royce said Friday on CNN's "New Day" program.

Royce, a Republican, said he and several other lawmakers met two days ago with Vice President Joe Biden on the threat, "and as you know we're going to take whatever steps necessary to protect our personnel overseas. When we do have an indication of a threat, we take that seriously."

The State Department on Thursday said U.S. embassies that would normally be open this Sunday - including those in Abu Dhabi, Baghdad and Cairo - will be closed that day because of unspecified security concerns.

CBS News reported the embassy closings were tied to U.S. intelligence about an al Qaeda plot against American diplomatic posts in Muslim countries in the Middle East and elsewhere.

(Reporting by Vicki Allen; Editing by Doina Chiacu)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/threat-u-embassies-appears-al-qaeda-linked-lawmaker-123950104.html

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Phoenix among the most miserable sports cities

Staff Phoenix Business Journal

Forbes magazine is out with its annual list of the most miserable sports cities, and Phoenix ranked quite highly on this dubious list.

Forbes ranks Phoenix as the third-most miserable sports city, and describes its rankings this way: "This is about misery in the heartbreak sense ? cities whose teams have been good enough over the years to win games and make championship runs, only to disappoint in the end more often than not."

The magazine points out that the Phoenix Suns have been to the Western Conference Finals nine times but never won an NBA title.

See the full list of miserable cities here.

Source: http://feeds.bizjournals.com/~r/bizj_phoenix/~3/_NJDifIAmt4/phoenix-among-the-most-miserable.html

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