Alex Rodriguezaccused of violating the league's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Every player on the list accepted the suspension, except Rodriguez who filed and appeal and is allowed to play until the results of the appeal are filed. The league suspended Rodriguez of the rest of this year and the next. Every other player got a 50 game suspension. Here is the list:Astros: LHP Sergio Escalona (minors)Mariners: C/1B Jesus Montero (minors)Mets: UTIL Jordany Valdespin and OF Cesar Puello (both minors)Padres: SS Everth Cabrera and RHP Fautino De Los Santos (minors)Phillies: LHP Antonio BastardoRangers: OF Nelson CruzTigers: SS Jhonny PeraltaYankees: 3B Alex Rodriguez, C Francisco Cervelli and OF Fernando Martinez (minors)No Team: LHP Jordan Norberto (free agent)
Nelson CruzRyan Braun was suspended earlier this year. He accepted a 65 game suspension. The players on the list all had connection to the Biogensis Lab in Miami. Now closed, the lab advertised itself a place that provided anti-aging treatments. MLB says Rodriguez suspension was based on his use and possession of numerous forms of prohibited performance-enhancing substances, including Testosterone and human Growth Hormone, over the course of multiple years. MLB gave no evidence of this. Rodriguez has not ever tested positive for any of these drugs. He did admit to using steroids between 2001-2003 while playing for the Texas Rangers. Still, Bruan is the only player on the list of suspended players who tested positive. Following the 2011 season, a year Braun won the National League MVP, he tested positive for a synthetic testosterone. 
Ryan BraunIn 2012, Braun won an appeal of the 50 game suspension he received following the positive test. He used his victory to claim he'd been victimized by an unfair system and suggested the Major League Baseball employee who took Braun's sample, may have intentionally drugs to his urine sample. Many sports writers believe Braun's story. Unlike Rodriguez who was vilified for volunteer information about his use of banned drigs, the media fully accepted Braun's explanation. In 2012, Braun hit 41 homeruns and batted .319. He finished second to Buster Posey in the MVP race.
BraunA competition MLB writers decide by vote. But just before the 2013 season, Braun's name was included on a list of players who are alleged to have done business with the Biogensis Lab. Braun tried explaining that the lab's founder, Anthony Bosch, had been a consultant during Braun's appeal. Braun's lawyer denied that had been the case. Another, more complete list was leaked tothe press in February. That list included a dollar amount next to Braun's and other players names on the list. In July, Braun excepted his suspension, which appeared to have been negotiated in advance of its announcement by MLB. Braun had been playing with an injured thumb so he can fortuitously use his suspend time to heal until his suspension ends in time for the beginning of next season. MLB is doing an investigation into the names on the Biogenesis list, but has not publicly released any findings that put banned drugs into the hands of the players the league suspended.Source:http://atthebarbershop1.blogspot.com/2013/08/alex-rodriguez-without-positive-drug.html
Alex Rodriguez, Without A Positive Drug Test, Is Suspended By MLB Images
under MLB's performance enhancing drug policy after he tested positive ...
(600 x 400 - 52.62 KB - jpeg)
MLB Players Banned for Drug Violations | wltx.com
(640 x 360 - 19.88 KB - jpeg)
... is suspended for the remainder of the MLB season. (USA Today Sports
(1800 x 2399 - 1.11 MB - jpeg)
Kraig “At The Barbershop” Debro - Google+
(120 x 91 - 4.32 KB - jpeg)
Customers are now required to present a photo ID when buying acid; retailers have to register the customer and write down name and address, India's Supreme Court recently ruled. Acid burns the victim's skin and leads to horrible injuries. There are no official statistics about acid attacks, as they are not documented as distinctive crimes. According to the Stop Acid Attacks campaign, about three to four cases are reported every week in India. The New Delhi-based campaigners are lobbying for stricter regulations and a change in society.DW: Until recently, it was very easy to buy acid on the streets. This and the fact that it is quite cheap made it a very accessible weapon. Will stricter rules curb acid attacks because acid is harder to get?Suneet Shukla: It's certainly a first step towards curbing the crime. But in India, a lot of people sell acid in small stores, in rural areas and in towns. So as far as I see it, it's very difficult to implement the regulation of selling acid on ID cards and shopkeepers making a note of it. The Supreme Court's regulation came on July 18. From then until now we've encountered four more cases of acid attacks in the country.Why can't acid be completely banned from the streets?They use it to clean domestic drains, to clean toilets. Even if people stop using it as a domestic cleaner, there are several other uses of acid in industries in India - the dying industry uses it, the glass industry does as well, the drillers use it extensively, and it's used in battery manufactories. There are a lot of possibilities where people can still procure acid if it's not available over the counter.Why are remote places unable to keep track of acid sales?It's not just remote places. The Indian local media has been highlighting that the sale of acid is still going on even in New Delhi without any regulation. And we've also witnessed cases of acid attacks after the [Supreme Court's ruling]. That explains how efficient the mechanism to implement the regulation works in India. The police already have a lot of responsibilities it is failing at.
It's usually women and girls who are attackedThe regulation is not going to control it entirely. It can probably control the crime to some extent. If there were 10 cases happening today, it might come down to eight, seven or six cases maybe. But I'm concerned the crime is going to continue to happen.What can be done to curb attacks?In India, there is a very strong patriarchal society at the core of this crime. There are a lot of problems of how we treat our women. People need to be sensitized - they are really passive and indifferent towards this crime, the kind of hurt it causes, the kind of pain it causes to a person and the way it destroys the [victim's] entire life. They cannot move out of their houses for the next three or four years because they need a lot of medical care. There are a lot of women who have lost their eyes; their ears have melted away because of the acid. There are women with destroyed noses, face structure.Overall, are you satisfied with the ruling?No, not really, because this was a petition filed by Laxmi [who survived an acid attack in 2005] seven years ago - the court has been working on this for the past seven years. All they have done is classified acid attacks as separate violence in the Indian penal code in 2012 and come out with this regulation now in 2013. So it's a very slow process.When we talk about rehabilitation, the court has again postponed the hearing for four months, and it will probably take another couple of years before it comes up with a regulation for rehabilitation. A lot of survivors we are working with are already struggling with their lives. They do not have funds, they do not have jobs.
Laxmi (right) was attacked in 2005 because she rejected a marriage proposalWhy do you think the court drags these cases on for such a long time?The government is basically not interested; it is not sensitive enough towards these issues. The Bangladeshi government, for instance, took initiative in regulating acid sales. It did not require a Supreme Court intervention. But in India it was only because the Supreme Court intervened and called up the government - not once, but thrice.From your experience working with victims, how much is needed to cover the expenses of medical treatment?The Supreme Court came out with a small [compensation] amount of about three lakhs of rupees. But doctors have estimated 35 to 40 lakhs of rupees (44,000 to 50,000 euros; 58,000 to $66,000) are needed for surgeries. We are filing public interest litigation with the Supreme Court - we are asking that court cases are completed within three months, we are asking for best possible medical treatment for the victim right after the attack. In terms of rehabilitation, we want government jobs. In a case of complete disability like loss of vision we want pensions for the victims.
'We want the acid attacks survivors to realize there is a lot of life remaining even after the attack,' says ShuklaYou've also talked about educating society. It is usually beautiful, young women who are attacked - sometimes by a stranger, but sometimes by people they know well like a spurned lover. How can they be better protected?The crime cannot be entirely controlled by laws and regulations. You need to have a change in the mindset of the people: In the way people treat their women, in the way lovers probably get into relationships. People should understand that rejection does not mean you scar a woman's face. If you are in love with someone, you don't do this to a woman. It's this sort of education which can be probably propagated through flash mobs, through street plays, through social media campaigns. That is our primary goal.To engage in a dialogue or in a judicial process with the government is something we are bound to do. We have to do this to get a stricter set of laws, to get better, more constructive punishment and to get better rehabilitation facilities for the survivors. We want the acid attacks survivors to realize there is a lot of life remaining even after the attack and we want them to come out and be as confident individuals as they were before the attack.
P-Square's Peter Okoye has finally put a ring on it. He proposed to the mother of his two children, Lola Omotayo today with a brand new Range Rover...and Lola said yes! The two have been dating for over seven years and have two children together. Continue to see the engagement ring and the SUV. Sometimes the wait is worth it. Big congrats to them...
C.S. Lewis is rightfully known in the literary community as being one of the most ingenious authors of all time, always finding original ways to convey his thoughts, hypotheses and ideas. The Screwtape Letters are certainly a very good example of what he can achieve. It is a short and very simple novel with only one actual character: the devil called Screwtape. The story revolves around the letters Screwtape is writing to his beloved nephew, Wormwood, and in them he provides advice on how to better tempt humans into following devilish ways rather than angelic ones. Lewis uses this set up to explore a number of different topics revolving around the eternal battle of good against evil, including where morality, faith and temptations fit into the scheme. Though the read was fairly short, I loved every single second of it. It is one of those carefully-crafted satirical comedies in which every phrase is a joke and a reference in itself, and where reading in-between the lines always pays off with new and unexpected jokes. The subject itself, the act of a senior devil coaching a younger one to “secure the damnation” of a human, is already a premise that promises to be rich in content and possible jokes. What really brings the laughs though is the nonchalant and plaintive way in which Screwtape goes into the problems plaguing devils such as himself who are just trying to make it through a day in hell.All humor aside though, The Screwtape Letters may very well be one of the most thoughtful explorations of religious faith and morality in humans. Screwtape spends a considerable amount of time discussing (or rather, writing about) the nature of the “line of work” devils are in, and how even though things may not seem fair to humans, they make sense according to the devils’ playbook. As was previously-mentioned, a number of different themes are explored in this story (most notably morality and temptation), ultimately paving the way for the answer as to what it means to have true faith.All things considered, I would only recommend The Screwtape Letters to those of you who prefer a more old-school type of comedy, something with more irony and satire rather than randomness and crude jokes. In addition, if you also happen to enjoy thinking and discussing existential questions, you’ll get even more out of this experience.Places, where you can buy The Screwtape Letters 
Visit The Screwtape Letters Amazon webpage 
Visit The Screwtape Letters Amazon (Canada) webpage 
Visit The Screwtape Letters Barnes & Noble webpage More of the C. S. Lewis' book reviews:The Chronicles of Narnia
"Abbiamo preso te, Copperfield, solo perché il Divino Otelmavoleva troppi soldi per fare una comparsata..."Vedi, Silvan? Questo sì che funziona.Ecco a voi l’incredibile Burt Wonderstone. Beh, incredibile… adesso non esageriamo. È un filmetto gradevole e guardabile, però incredibile no. Semmai è piuttosto ordinario. Una commedia ben fatta, con tutte le sue cosine al posto giusto, ma si colloca decisamente dentro gli standard del già visto.La storia è quella di due maghi: Burt Wonderstone ovvero Steve Carell, che continua a non convincermi al 100%, e il suo partner (solo professionale) Anton Marvelton ovvero Steve Buscemi, attore non nuovo alle scorrazzate in campo comedy ma che a me sembra più a suo agio sul fronte drama.Dico maghi e a voi puf, appariranno subito in mente Harry Potter ed Hermione. Non è il caso. Harry Potter non c’entra niente, per fortuna, e non c’entra nulla manco Hermione, purtroppo. Qui non si parla di magia vera, come quella che ha visto trasformare Emma Watson da maghetta secchioncella a bomba sexy. Questa volta non siamo in ambito fantasy e si tratta di due maghi illusionisti, due prestigiatori, quelli che fanno i soliti trucchi tipo tirare fuori un coniglio da un cilindro. Quelli alla Silvan o alla David Copperfield, che fa un cameo nel film. Copperfield, intendo, non Silvan.Sim sala bim!Niente. Mi spiace Silvan, ma non capita niente quando lo dico.Abracadabra!
"Volete fare una magia per riportarmi in vita? Eh, sarebbe bello..."Abracadabra funziona sempre: ecco a voi Olivia Wilde, l’assistente di Burt e Anton nonché lei stessa aspirante maga. Come vi potete facilmente immaginare, con lei la pellicola assumerà dei contorni romantici, ma se state immaginando un triangolo sentimentale con i due amichetti maghi, non è così. Per una volta, abbiamo a che fare con un film che non propone un triangolo sentimentale, questa sì che è una magia!Nel valido cast, composto anche dall’appena scomparso James Gandolfini e da Alan Arkin, c’è però un nome in grado di oscurare tutti gli altri.Sim sala bim!Mmm… ancora niente. Non funziona proprio.Abracadabra!
Ecco a voi Jim Carrey.Lo so che negli ultimi tempi si è attapirato e i suoi film recenti sono alquanto modesti per non dire penosi. Lo so che dopo Se mi lasci ti cancello non ha fatto più niente di che, molti l’hanno abbandonato al suo destino e l’hanno cancellato dai grandi della comicità attuale. Però qui è davvero fenomenale. Quando appare lui, è quasi magia Carrey. Nella parte dell’illusionista estremo, quello che gioca con il fuoco e prova a battere qualsiasi inverosimile record (come non pisciare per giorni interi), quello che rappresenta il nuovo che avanza, quello che prova a fare le scarpe agli show ormai sorpassati del sempre meno incredible Wonderstone, fa davvero un figurone. Le sue scene sono quelle più esilaranti e memorabili dell’intera pellicola, insieme alla simpatica scena di sesso tra Steve Carell e Olivia Wilde. Niente di hardcore o sporcaccione - che pensate? - in compenso fa ridere.In questa commedia tutto procede in maniera piuttosto standard, dalla bella intro ambientata negli anni ’80 con i due protagonisti in versione bambini, alla classica parabola del successo tra alti e bassi, oltre alla consueta scoperta di se stessi e a qualche strizzatina d'occhio ai buoni sentimenti. Il tutto senza risate a squarciagola, ma con un sorriso stampato sulle labbra per tutta la durata. Tutto nella norma di una commedia americana, una di quelle riuscite.Il di più in grado di rendere la pellicola degna di essere vista è però lui, Jim Carrey, che offre una performance magnetica un po’ come quella di Tom Cruise nell'altrimenti mediocre Rock of Ages.Il vero numero magico del film è lui, Jim Carrey.Sim sala bim.
Oh, cacchio! Questa volta ha funzionato. È veramente comparso Silvan. E quant'è inquietante...(voto 6/10)