Clipmarks | MHacker's clips

Top defenses feature mighty men in the middle

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:43:23 GMT

clipped by: MHacker
clipper's remarks: Tony Dungy, Lovie Smith, and Albert Haynesworth talk about the role of the defensive tackle

Clip Source: www.nfl.com

the defensive tackle in today's game has carved his nook.

Tony Dungy said

The closer you are to the ball before it is snapped, the more impact you can have.

as a player

in the '70s

with Joe Greene at tackle in Pittsburgh. He created total havoc.

"The really good ones, you have to double-team them.

Smith said

We want all 11 on defense getting to the ball. It makes sense that the guy who is closest to the ball when the play starts needs to make an impact in that. If an offense makes a mistake blocking him, it can blow up the entire play; he's right on the ball. Even if an offense makes a mistake blocking a defensive end, you can chip him at the start and sometimes account for that. Not with the tackle right in your backfield. He's already on the quarterback. On the ball."

"My job is to be disruptive," Haynesworth said. "Cause commotion. I usually line up with the ball to my left. I get in the backfield. People can play off of me. We all have our different roles. Mine is to dominate."

Tags: nfl, football, dts

Book Drive for Iraq: How You Can Do Your Bit to Build Democracy

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:31:51 GMT

clipped by: MHacker
clipper's remarks: Christopher Hitchens tries to do something nice.

Clip Source: www.slate.com

Here is some background: In 2006, the McKinsey consulting group was hired by my friend Barham Salih, the deputy prime minister of Iraq, to produce a business plan for a university along the lines of the existing success stories of the American Universities in Cairo and Beirut.

the Arab region—which at the time of the Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad was one of the world centers of humanistic learning and philosophy—is in a profound crisis of intellectual unfreedom. It boasts of no great centers of study; it translates pathetically few books from other languages and cultures; it is prone to waves of intolerance and fanaticism under which books are actually burned.

look at the university's Web site. Get some decent volumes together,

and send them off to:

Nathan Musselman
The American University of Iraq—Sulaimani
Building No. 7, Street 10
Quarter 410
Ablakh Area
Sulaimani, Iraq
(+964) (0)770-461-5099

It's important to include the number at the end.

Tags: books, iraq, hitchens, slate, neocons

Damages Cut Against Exxon in Valdez Case

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 09:20:46 GMT

clipped by: MHacker
clipper's remarks: Compensatory v. Punitive Damages

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday reduced what had once been a $5 billion punitive damages award against Exxon Mobil to about $500 million. The ruling essentially concluded a legal saga that started when the Exxon Valdez, a supertanker, struck a reef and spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil into the Prince William Sound in Alaska in 1989.

The decision may have broad implications for limits on punitive damages generally. Punitive damages, which are meant to punish and deter, are imposed on top of compensatory damages, which aim to make plaintiffs whole.

Justice David H. Souter, writing for the majority in the 5-to-3 decision, said a ratio between the two sorts of damages of no more than one-to-one was generally appropriate, at least in maritime cases. Since Exxon has paid about $507 million to compensate more than 32,000 Alaska Natives, landowners and commercial fishermen for the damage caused by the spill, it should have to pay no more than that amount in punitive damages

Playing 'hardball'

Sat, 31 May 2008 20:32:44 GMT

clipped by: MHacker
clipper's remarks: Ben Smith on Obama's supposedly rough means of winning his first significant political victory.

Clip Source: www.politico.com

If there's one particularly absurd storyline about Obama's early political career, it's the claim getting a rival knocked off the ballot in his first state Senate race was a form of something called "hardball," a dastardly form of politics endemic to Chicago.

with some exceptions, it's considered madness to let a rival who hasn't met the legal qualifications stay on the ballot.

anybody with the wherewithal to mount a large scale campaign and convince a lot of people to vote for her really should be able to gather, in the Obama-Palmer case, the signatures of 757 local Democrats. Candidates usually gather several times that number to be safe, a shadowy urban political activity involving feeding pizza to a bunch of volunteers.

His opponent had failed to meet a minimal legal qualification for running for the office.

To have let her on the ballot would have been the equivalent of, say, his giving John McCain some money.

The GOP war on (Democrats) voting

Mon, 19 May 2008 19:29:03 GMT

clipped by: MHacker
clipper's remarks: "Remember the larger context too. In the case of the US Attorney firings, most of the dismissals targeted prosecutors who refused to use the power of their office to advance the interests of the Republican party by engaging in these kinds of witch hunts."

Clip Source: talkingpointsmemo.com

Texas' Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott declared war on what he claimed was rampant vote fraud in Texas. He set up a special vote fraud unit and got a $1.4 million grant from the feds for the work.

two years on,

we have a run-down of what Abbot came up with -- 26 cases.

All 26 cases involved Democrats, and almost all were either blacks or Hispanics.

Of the 26, 8 appear to have been genuine cases of fraud

The remaining 18 cases all involved eligible voters casting legitimate mail-in ballots. The 'fraud' was that others collected the ballots and deposited them in mailboxes without putting their own name and address on the envelope in which the mail-in ballot was sent.

The final verdict is one that will be familiar

Claims of widespread vote fraud justify big investigations, which more or less transparently target minorities, and find at most a handful of actual cases of wrongdoing.

Money and politics: In cash we trust

Mon, 19 May 2008 19:04:16 GMT

clipped by: MHacker
clipper's remarks: Obama's strengths, beyond fundraising success.

Clip Source: www.economist.com

Even rich campaigns covet “earned media”, or positive coverage in the news, rather than the kind that is bought.

Mr McCain’s strategy of granting the press close and frequent access

may have kept his campaign alive in the darkest days of last year. Nor is it clear that money has been an overwhelming boost to Mr Obama so far. He has flourished because of his personality, his organisational savvy and disciplined message. The races in which he tried to overcome a deficit with Mrs Clinton through big spending (Ohio, Pennsylvania) he failed to turn around.

But Mr Obama’s fund-raising has given him one clear advantage: an army of small, activist donors. Such people are more likely than average to vote, and to volunteer to get others out. Battalions of such volunteers will produce a formidable operation in November, one that was honed in the long primary season. His activists and his money may also help to lure new voters—notably the young and the black—to the polls.

Today's NFL is turning some positions into endangered species (TE/FB edition)

Mon, 19 May 2008 05:22:37 GMT

clipped by: MHacker
clipper's remarks: By Pat Kirwan, Senior Analyst

Clip Source: www.nfl.com

For years, the fullback was a big bodied blocker who led his tailback into the line and blocked the inside linebacker on an iso lead. If he was lucky he would carry the ball 10 times a year. While those traits still hold true to some extent, the bigger role of the fullback in today's pass-oriented NFL is that of a receiver. Many fullbacks, like Tony Richardson, now with the Jets, have made their living as blockers who can catch the screen or make a play in the flat, but also understand blitz pickups and how to protect their QB.

Spread offenses like those used in New England and Indianapolis like to employ the tight end as a receiver split out into the slot. These players generally have too much speed for the linebackers in coverage and too much size for the safeties.

Then there's the H-back.

These players have the ability to line up anywhere -- as a back, split out, or in motion -- using their alignments in combination with their speed and receiving skills to exploit

coverage.

Today's NFL is turning some positions into endangered species (SS edition)

Mon, 19 May 2008 05:18:31 GMT

clipped by: MHacker
clipper's remarks: By Pat Kirwan, Senior Analyst

Clip Source: www.nfl.com

many teams are finding that several traditional positions are not what they used to be.

The strong safety is another position that has undergone a pretty major transformation in recent years, and the Cover Two again plays a part.

It is possible that the true strong safety is going to become a situational player. If and when a fullback or an in-line tight end enters the game, there is a reason to send the box safety into the game. But if a team is in a three-receiver package or has a hybrid tight end with vertical speed, then the old-time safety may have to be on the sideline.

It looks as if it's time to marry the strong safety to personnel groupings that present power run issues and not matchup problems.

Today's NFL is turning some positions into endangered species (MLB edition)

Mon, 19 May 2008 05:15:05 GMT

clipped by: MHacker
clipper's remarks: By Pat Kirwan, Senior Analyst

Clip Source: www.nfl.com

many teams are finding that several traditional positions are not what they used to be.

The "Mike" has always traditionally been a big, strong, tackling machine whose primary responsibility was defending the run.

But the MLB also has to be able to play laterally and display enough speed to stretch outside runs to the sideline. It's not a tackle-to-tackle job anymore. The MLB is expected to drop into deep middle coverage; when he can't do that, he becomes a situational role player at best.

The emergence of the Cover Two defense, and empty-set backfields have also made the MLB position a key to pass coverage. Urlacher again is the ultimate example of this

In the Cover Two, the Mike is asked to drop deep in zone coverages without sacrificing his ability to defend the draw or trap play, but also must have enough man cover skills to run with the tight end or the running back out of the backfield.

Trend watch: Is power offense making a comeback?

Mon, 19 May 2008 05:04:42 GMT

clipped by: MHacker
clipper's remarks: by Pat Kirwan, Senior Analyst

Clip Source: www.nfl.com

Will bigger be better?

As we continue to see defenses get faster and more athletic to handle all the matchup problems offenses throw at them, perhaps it is time for offenses to try a different tact.

The defenses did what they had to do -- build units based on speed.

It was suggested to me that a few teams may be considering an old-fashioned offensive mentality that might be more from the Vince Lombardi school than the spread offense of 2007.

here's the plan as I understand it: Force the undersized weak linebacker to play on the line of scrimmage; make the hybrid safety play in the box, make the undersized pass rusher play over the offensive tackle with a tight end able to block down on him and send a fullback, who is bigger than the middle linebacker, right at him.

The true test will come when a team uses this philosophy when they are down by six or seven points, deciding not to panic and throw more than they are capable of, risking turnovers.

From literacy to digiracy

Fri, 16 May 2008 16:52:51 GMT

clipped by: MHacker
clipper's remarks: "Will reading and writing remain important?"

Clip Source: www.economist.com

THE Macintosh has a lot to answer for. The first time your correspondent clapped eyes on its graphical user interface (GUI), he realised the game was up. The use of icons instead of written words seemed the final admission that we had given up trying to read and write, and had entered a post-literate age.

According to Mark Bauerlein, an English professor at Emory University and author of “The Dumbest Generation”, leisure reading among American 15-to-17-year-olds fell from 18 minutes a day in 1981 to seven in 2003.

Mark Federman of the McLuhan Programme in Culture and Technology at the University of Toronto, argued that the telegraph was the first to “undo” the effects of the written word.

when we incarcerate teenagers of today in traditional classroom settings, they react with predictable disinterest and flunk their literacy tests. They are skilled in making sense not of a body of known content, but of contexts that are continually changing.

Economic focus: Malthus, the false prophet

Fri, 16 May 2008 16:22:46 GMT

clipped by: MHacker
clipper's remarks: "The pessimistic parson and early political economist remains as wrong as ever."

Clip Source: www.economist.com

There may be curbs on traditional forms of growth, but there is no limit to human ingenuity. That is why Malthus remains as wrong today as he was two centuries ago.

Germany Debates Subsidies for Solar Energy

Fri, 16 May 2008 15:50:24 GMT

clipped by: MHacker
clipper's remarks: Growth of largest solar power market in world in danger due to proposed rollback of tax incentives by Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Q-Cells is the main tenant among a flowering cluster of solar start-ups here in an area known as Solar Valley.

Thanks to its aggressive push into renewable energies, cloud-wreathed Germany has become an unlikely leader in the race to harness the sun’s energy.

The debate over solar subsidies is a test of how an environmentally minded country can move from nurturing a promising alternative energy sector to creating a mass-market industry that can compete with conventional energy sources on its own footing.

At the heart of the debate is the Renewable Energy Sources Act. It requires power companies to buy all the alternative energy produced by these systems, at a fixed above-market price, for 20 years.

It has worked: homeowners rushed to clamp solar panels on their roofs and farmers planted them in fields where sheep once grazed.

(solar still generates just 0.6 percent of Germany’s total electricity, compared with 6.4 percent for wind).

Bacon Triptych Auctioned for record $86 Million

Thu, 15 May 2008 17:48:13 GMT

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clipper's remarks: Conspicuous consumption during a recession.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

A 1976 triptych by Francis Bacon brought $86.3 million on Wednesday night at Sotheby’s, becoming the most expensive work of contemporary art ever sold at auction and a retort to doomsayers who had predicted that the art market would falter seriously this season because of broad economic anxieties.

“Recession? What recession?” Barbara Gladstone, a Chelsea dealer, said jokingly as she was leaving the salesroom.

Abstract images have been strong sellers in general this week. Gerhard Richter’s “Abstract Picture” from 1990, a dreamy canvas of yellows, violets, blues and orange, went for $15.1 million, far above its $5 million to $7 million estimate. The buyer was yet another mystery telephone bidder.

After the sale, as the crowds were milling around talking about the evening, everyone seemed stunned by the large sums of money that were spent. “I don’t understand why it did so well if the economy was mediocre,” said Mr. Mugrabi. “Maybe people feel safer with art.”

Military Contracting in the Bush Years

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 16:44:37 GMT

clipped by: MHacker
clipper's remarks: Another military contract is given to an incompetent crony, and the administration fails to dispatch anyone for oversight. Surprise, surprise, the project is over-budget, behind schedule, and embarrassing to those who are involved.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Lesson on How Not to Build a Navy Ship

The program’s tribulations speak to what military experts say are profound shortcomings in the Pentagon’s acquisitions system. Even as spending on new projects has risen to its highest point since the Reagan years, being over budget and behind schedule have become the norm: a recent Government Accountability Office audit found that 95 projects — warships, helicopters and satellites — were delayed 21 months on average and cost 26 percent more than initially projected, a bill of $295 billion.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

“If we do not figure out how to establish credibility in our shipbuilding programs and plans, and restore confidence in our ability to deliver on our commitments, we cannot expect Congress or the nation to provide us with the resources we so urgently need.”