Sunday, May 15, 2011
Scotty McCreery Surprised By Josh Turner At Homecoming Concert
Scotty McCreery Surprised By Josh Turner At Homecoming Concert
Posted Sun May 15, 2011 2:12am PDT by Lyndsey Parker in Reality Rocks
Top 3 "American Idol" finalist Scotty McCreery first made an impression auditioning with, and then repeatedly singing, "Your Man" by Josh Turner, aka the "baby lock them doors and turn them lights down low" song. As Scotty's "Idol" star has soared, his audition song choice has turned out to be the best publicity Josh could ask for. So when Scotty returned to his hometown of Garner, North Carolina, this weekend for his big homecoming event (an "Idol" top 3 tradition), Josh repaid the favor by bumrushing the stage during Scotty's welcome-home concert, giving Scotty the surprise of his life.Scotty had started to sing "Your Man"--his first time performing it with a band--when Josh appeared unannounced onstage. When Scotty turned around he sort of experienced a delayed reaction, at first reaching out to grasp Josh's shoulder, before suddenly realizing just who he was sharing the stage with. Observe his hilarious reaction below:
Josh's band then came out to complete the song as a Josh/Scotty duet. Seventeen-year-old Scotty could barely contain his boyish excitement over getting to sing with his idol, yet still performed like an old pro and held his own.
"Thanks for singing my songs," said Josh, to which Scotty answered, "Thank you for singing them first!" The duo then performed another Josh song Scotty once sang on "American Idol" (during Hollywood Week), "Long Black Train," with both guys playing guitar."It's good to see someone waving the country music flag out there in Hollywood," said a torch-passing Josh, as what appeared to be the entire population of Garner cheered. It seems pretty obvious who Josh will be voting for next Wednesday night.
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Friday, May 13, 2011
School Bus Overturns; Students Injured - Winston-Salem News Story - WXII The Triad
School Bus Overturns; Students Injured - Winston-Salem News Story - WXII The Triad
School Bus Overturns; Students Injured
Injuries Described As Minor
POSTED: 4:18 pm EDT May 13, 2011
UPDATED: 5:14 pm EDT May 13, 2011
LEXINGTON, N.C. -- Twenty-three students and a bus driver were injured Friday afternoon in a school bus crash along Conrad Hill Mine Road at Robert Beck Road, Davidson County School System officials said.The crash happened at about 3:30 p.m.School system spokesman Fred Mock said it appeared the bus driver ran off the side of the road and overcorrected, causing the bus to overturn in a ditch.The students, from Central Davidson High School and Central Davidson Middle School, were taken to Lexington Memorial Hospital and Thomasville Medical Center to be treated for injuries that were described as minor, officials said.Mock said the driver, who wasn't named, had been driving school buses for several years.There was no immediate word on if charges will be filed. North Carolina Highway Patrol troopers are handling the investigation into the crash.
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Photos of the compoundCould the bin Laden Raid Have Revealed a Secret New Helicopter?
When the Team Six members reached Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad one of the choppers made a "controlled but hard landing," according to reports, probably due to higher than expected temperatures.
Temperatures affects the density of the air, and low density makes it harder for the rotor to sustain the weight of the chopper, especially if it was near its maximum weight (being packed with soldiers and fuel to fly in from Afghanistan). Abbottabad is about 1200 meters above the sea level, and altitude also affects air density. (See pictures of the elite force which killed Osama bin Laden.)
So what machine exactly experienced the hard landing described above? Short answer: we don't know for sure. Long answer: It seems that the tail rotor visible in the picture belongs to a highly modified version of the H-60, the chopper of choice of the special forces for more than 30 years. Aviation Week doesn't beat around the bush, claiming: "A previously undisclosed, classified stealth helicopter apparently was part of the U.S. task force that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan on May 1."
Stealth technology on helicopters is not itself new, but the fact that a previously unknown machine was used in this raid is yet another proof of the degree of importance that this mission had for U.S. commanders. (See pictures of Osama bin Laden's Pakistan hidaway.)
Aviation Week then goes techie and explains what we can see from that picture: "Photos disseminated via the European PressPhoto agency and attributed to an anonymous stringer show that the helicopter’s tail features stealth-configured shapes on the boom and the tail rotor hub fairings, swept stabilizers and a 'dishpan' cover over a five-or-six-blade tail rotor. It has a silver-loaded infrared suppression finish similar to that seen on V-22s."
Low radar visibility was essential, for the Pakistani air force would have either scrambled its jets if an unknown threat to its airspace (and near the country's best military academy!) was detected, or fired its surface to air missiles. It's possibly more proof of the fact that Pakistan really knew nothing about the mission - or at least its first wave of attack - until it ended. (See pictures of Osama bin Laden.)
This would explain why the Seals wasted critically precious time to blew up the mysterious helicopter and why many experts had problems identifying its remains. It's unclear what Pakistan could have made of the downed chopper, but growing ties between Pakistani and Chinese armed forces could have made the destruction of such new machine a must. China and Pakistan, over the past two decades, have developed a multi role combat aircraft called JF-17 and an advanced trainer, the JL-8.
The Navy Seals usually fly in the famed Sikorsky UH-60, popularized by the movie Black Hawk Down, in which two UH-60 were shot down in Somalia, resulting in the death of 18 men.
Black Hawk Down was a scenario, insiders say, that together with first attempt to rescue the hostages held at the U.S. embassy in 1980 in Iran, that's been evoked constantly in the planning phases leading to the May 1 raid, as examples of potentially disastrous outcomes. (Via Aviation Week)
See continuing coverage of Osama's death.
See TIME's al-Qaeda covers.
View this article on Time.com
Nowitzki scores 24 as Mavs take control
Nowitzki scores 24 as Mavs take control
Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks can finish the series in Dallas.
LOS ANGELES (AP)
Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks let loose with a few primal howls as they left the court, cutting through the scattered boos and gloomy silence at Staples Center.These longtime playoff disappointments have a golden opportunity to knock out the two-time defending champions.
Nowitzki scored 24 points, Shawn Marion added 14 and the Mavericks stunned the erratic Lakers 93-81 in Game 2 on Wednesday night, taking a 2-0 second-round lead with consecutive road wins.
Jason Kidd scored 10 points for the Mavericks, who pushed the Lakers halfway to playoff elimination with Nowitzki's stellar shooting, another steady defensive performance, and a decisive 9-0 fourth-quarter rally. Dallas did nothing spectacularly well, yet was significantly better than the cold-shooting Lakers on both ends.
''We came to compete, and we came to make something happen here,'' Marion said. ''We made our presence felt on both ends of the floor tonight. We did a good job of handling their pressure and just going out there and doing what we've been doing all postseason, just playing good defense and just playing our style of play.''
Kobe Bryant scored 23 points for the Lakers, who hadn't lost the first two games of a playoff series since the 2008 NBA finals - also the last series they lost. Only three NBA teams have come back to win a best-of-seven series after losing the first two at home, where dismayed fans sent the Lakers off with boos and jeers.
Game 3 is Friday night in Dallas.
Los Angeles missed its first 15 3-point attempts in Game 2, only avoiding its first playoff game without a 3-pointer since May 8, 2001, on Bryant's 3-pointer with 2:43 left. Los Angeles finished 2 for 20 on 3-pointers, but the Lakers also appeared simply exhausted during long stretches of their 75th playoff game in the last four seasons.
''I saw guys tired out there, but I don't think it's contagious from two years ago or three years,'' Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. ''Really poor second half on our part tonight. Just really a rugged third quarter for our team, had a hard time getting going.''
Los Angeles also could be short-handed in Dallas: Ron Artest was ejected with 24.4 seconds left for apparently clotheslining Dallas guard Jose Barea, possibly leading to a suspension. Even Jackson conceded ''there's a good chance'' he won't have Artest on Friday.
''It's not a basketball play, so we'll see what happens,'' Barea said.
After years of playoff underachievement during owner Mark Cuban's tenure, the Mavericks certainly appear primed to change their reputation.
Dallas, which won just one playoff series in the past four years before this spring, was more aggressive and inventive than the champs, maintaining a steady lead before breaking it open with nine straight points down the stretch in the rally led by Barea, who highlighted it with an impressive short shot directly over Andrew Bynum. Barea had 12 points and four assists.
Bynum had 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Lakers, who haven't been able to control the paint with their usual vehemence against the Mavericks' three 7-footers. Pau Gasol had 13 points and 10 rebounds, but appeared tentative for long stretches while struggling to contain Nowitzki.
The Mavericks protected the rim and largely controlled the tempo, using their advantages in depth and athleticism to limit the Lakers' offense. Dallas took a six-point lead into the fourth quarter and stretched it to 10 moments later before coasting home with little opposition from the Lakers, who went 7 for 20 in the final period.
Gasol's struggles have been the Lakers' biggest mystery of the postseason. The Spanish All-Star 7-footer barely contributed to Los Angeles' tough six-game victory over New Orleans in the first round, and he came back from a quiet opener against Dallas with another mediocre game, getting booed several times by the home crowd.
''He was one of the guys that looked tired out there,'' Jackson said.
Dallas rallied from a 16-point deficit in the second half to win Game 1, finishing on a 9-2 run capped by four last-minute points from Nowitzki, who seems determined to erase memories of the Mavericks' past playoff failures on big stages. Nowitzki had 28 points and 14 rebounds in Game 1, including the go-ahead free throws.
Nowitzki came out firing again in Game 2, scoring 15 points in the first half with the 7-footer's usual array of impossible-to-block fallaway jumpers. Dallas took an eight-point lead in the second quarter, but Los Angeles made a 10-0 run catalyzed by Bryant before the Mavericks took a 51-49 halftime lead on another Nowitzki jumper.
The Lakers ran several defenders at Nowitzki, using Gasol and Lamar Odom before trying Artest in the second quarter. Artest gives up 5 inches to Nowitzki, who seemed to have little trouble in the matchup.
Notes: Bryant has 5,246 career playoff points to 5,248 for Shaquille O'Neal, in fourth place on the NBA's career playoff scoring list. The former Lakers superstar is injured and sitting for the Boston Celtics this spring. ... Dallas is the most recent NBA team to win a series after losing the first two games at home, doing it in 2005. ... Fans near courtside included Larry David, directors McG and Brett Ratner, Bridget Moynahan, Eliza Dushku, George Lopez, Dax Shepard, Anthony Anderson, Holly Robinson Peete and Jaime Murray.
DOJ asks why there's no football playoff
DOJ asks why there's no football playoff
WASHINGTON (AP)
The Justice Department wants to know why the NCAA doesn't have a college football playoff system and says there are ''serious questions" about whether the current format to determine a national champion complies with antitrust laws.Critics who have urged the department to investigate the Bowl Championship Series contend it unfairly gives some schools preferential access to the title championship game and top-tier end-of-the-season bowl contents.
"Your views would be relevant in helping us to determine the best course of action with regard to the BCS," she wrote.
''Serious questions continue to arise suggesting the current Bowl Championship Series system may not be conducted consistent with the competition principles expressed in the federal antitrust laws," Varney said.
Varney noted that the attorney general of Utah, Mark Shurtleff, has said he plans an antitrust lawsuit against the BCS, and that 21 professors recently wrote the department requesting an investigation.
Shurtleff, who met with department officials last fall to discuss a possible federal probe, said at the time that such an investigation was critical to the effort to get a playoff system.
The NCAA said Wednesday it would respond to the government's questions when it receives the letter.
Spokesman Bob Williams said Emmert consistently has said the NCAA is willing to move to a playoff format if schools with the nation's major football programs want to go that route.
Bill Hancock, the BCS executive director, was confident the current system complies with the law.
"Goodness gracious, with all that's going on in the world right now and with national and state budgets being what they are, it seems like a waste of taxpayers' money to have the government looking into how college football games are played," he said.
Under the BCS, the champions of six conferences have automatic bids to play in top-tier bowl games; other conferences don't. Those six conferences also receive more money than the other conferences.
Attorney General Eric Holder referenced Varney's letter at a Senate hearing Wednesday, in response to a statement from Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican and BCS critic. Hatch called the BCS a "mess" and said that "privileged conferences" have tremendous advantages over the unprivileged.
"And I just hope that you'll continue to follow up on that particular issue," he said. "It's an important one, I think."
"I don't disagree with you," Holder responded. "You and I have talked about this issue, and I think I'm free to say that we have sent a letter to the NCAA about this issue and will be following up."
Before he was sworn in as president, Barack Obama said in 2008 that he was going to ''to throw my weight around a little bit'' to nudge college football toward a playoff system.
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