I was able to make it for a weigh in after all this last Thursday, on my way to the airport to fly to Coventry. I had to pop in for my food packs and Mary had time to weigh me. I'd lost 7.5 lbs over the previous 2 weeks, which means I'm now over halfway to my goal! :-) I expect the rest to come off more slowly than the first half but am hoping I'll be down to my goal weight by Christmas at the latest.

I had a fantastic few days in Coventry, staying with the organiser of UK Ravelry Day and staffing a stall for Stitches on the Bridge. The overall flavour of the event was not at all unlike big belly dance events I've been to and/or organised myself - a huge number of women with a passion and all the extremes of opinions and feelings that go with it! The hero-worship of the knitting gurus was very familiar to the adoration of the belly dance stars too! It was a very interesting and eye-opening experience altogether! And I don't deny that I got a little caught up in the fandom, though I like to think I'm a bit older, wiser and less impressionable than I was when I was immersed in the belly dance scene... All that said I was very taken with the unassuming charm of Jared Flood and Meg Swansen. I also had my first exposure to the utter delight of a live-on-dvd Elizabeth Zimmerman, the now-deceased mother of Meg Swansen. What a joy! I'm now a big fan of all 3 of them. Ruth aka Woolly Wormhead was also very nice and fun to meet and share a meal with. Jo, the organiser, and her husband Doug were great hosts and really made us feel at home, along with Doug's mum, Christina, and their young children, Robbie, 6, and Zoe, 4. All very off topic for this blog but well worth a mention!

One reason I mention it all is to confess yet again to succumbing to the craving to eat! I had found myself thinking about steak pies last week, and then found myself in a pub restaurant selling just that on Friday in Coventry...! In fact the steak pie in question had the addition of stilton cheese which just made it far too irresistible... I admit it really was delicious and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The downside was that I really struggled not to eat for the rest of the day - and failed. I also felt physically uncomfortable, too full. My stomach has shrunk and no longer has the capacity for a full meal. Clearly the slow introduction to real food over the 12 weeks of the Road to Management programme is there for a reason. It was "interesting" (I guess!) to note just how much more difficult it got to resist the craving to eat as the day went on. I was prowling the kitchen in the late evening, desperate to eat something delicious before the self-imposed deadline of a new day prevented me having anything else. It was not good, not comfortable and not healthy.

As a result, as I sat on the return journey plane yesterday, I resolved to aim for 100 days of "abstinence", following the example of the twelve steps, which aims for 90 days. I'm only too aware that I've been sponsored to do this, not to mention that the longer it takes me to reach my goal, the more it's going to cost me and those who are supporting me with the programme costs. My weight loss will slow down as it is, so I can't expect to lose the second half in as short a time anyway. I don't want to go on not being able to eat normal food for any longer than I need to, so the quicker the weight comes off the better.

So my mindset, when faced with food I'd really like to taste (like the many delicious looking home-made cakes at yesterday's UK Ravelry Day!), is back to "This time next year".

On the positive side, here's a wee list of things I'm very happy about:

- I can fit into airline and train seats with no problem at all and perhaps even a little leeway! Last time I flew (in 2007), I had to have an extension to the seatbelt.

- I can just about walk down the isle of the plane and the train without having to move sideways. Emphasis on just about!

- When sitting, I no longer have a big tummy to rest my hands on and can very comfortably sit with my hands in my lap.

- I no longer have to embarrassingly hide a large cleavage when I bend over.

- I can feel all sorts of bone under my skin that I forgot I had!

- I can wear an amethyst bracelet which was a self-chosen present from Laurie in 2003 and to which I used to have to add an extension.

- Today my scales showed 16 stone 6 1/2 lbs.

- The plantar fasciitis in my right foot is a lot less painful than it used to be - a LOT less!

- I can now comfortably cross my legs (how many of you realised that fat people have a problem with that, I wonder).

- Although I'm still quite big, I no longer feel like a fat person.

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If possible, before proceeding with a specialty service such as a shiatsu or deep tissue massage, it is important to ask the receptionist for the levels of training and licensure required by the establishment. For example, in the state of California, most four or five-star spas will only employ Holistic Health Practitioners (HHPâs) . HHPâs are nationally certified and receive over 1000 hours of training. Their training entails in-depth knowledge of anatomy as well as holistic and alternative approaches to wellness and health. Conversely, in the State of California, Massage technicians receive as little as 200 hours of training and this certification should arguably allow the therapist to perform basic Swedish Massage at best.

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Today, today. Work and then..work. Sucks because all these people are visiting from the hometown but its a good way to avoid drinking. No drinking is allowed on the diet which is the hardest part for me (besides no chocolate of course) because I just moved into this new apartment and my two roommates love to go out and be girly drunk.

Anyways, before when I was half attempting this diet before, I was eating a half a can of beans as a serving size. I decided to follow the recommended serving size of 1/2 a cup. I am OCD fo sho and I like to measure things. So I will measure out the beans from now on because two half cans of beans is really fucking filling and if I lower it to a half a cup, I will be saving calories and money!

Because in total today I had 3 too many servings of beans, I'm not going to eat my portion of walnuts, my portion of cashews and my portion of ricemilk. Tooo much food!

For lunch I had 1/2 a can of garbanzo beans, and 1/2 a can of maple onion baked beans and 1/4 cup of prunes.

As my third meal I had my favorite (but pricey) veggie burger, Southwest Style Sunshine Burger mmmm!
And dinner will be after I get home from the GAMH, a salad with baby spinach and carrots with Annie's light mustard vinegrette! Going to make that before I leave

On the diet you're not 'supposed' to measure anything. You can eat as much as you want but you must stop right before you're full. It's hard to be successful if you don't follow this rule which is why I'm going to start measuring out a half a cup of beans. That won't start until Day 3 (my 1st weigh in day) because tomorrow, you still do the 4 meals but all are comprised of fruit.

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Mars has two tiny moons, Phobos and Deimos, which are thought to be captured asteroids.

Both satellites were discovered in 1877 by Asaph Hall, and are named after the characters Phobos (panic/fear) and Deimos (terror/dread) who, in Greek mythology, accompanied their father Ares, god of war, into battle. Ares was known as Mars to the Romans.
History

The discovery of the two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, occurred in 1877 when American astronomer Asaph Hall, Sr. identified them after a long search, although their existence had been speculated before.

Early speculations

The possibility of Martian moons had been speculated before Hall's discovery. The astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) even predicted their number correctly, although with faulty logic: he wrote that since Jupiter had four known moons and Earth had one, it was only natural that Mars should have two.[1]

Perhaps inspired by Kepler, Jonathan Swift's satire Gulliver's Travels (1726) refers to two moons in part 3, chapter 3 (the "Voyage to Laputa"), in which the astronomers of Laputa are described as having discovered two satellites of Mars orbiting at distances of 3 and 5 Martian diameters, and periods of 10 and 21.5 hours, respectively. This corresponds to the actual orbital distances and periods of Phobos and Deimos of 1.4 and 3.5 Martian diameters, and 7.6 and 30.3 hours, respectively. Swift's prediction is regarded as a coincidence since no telescope in Swift's day was powerful enough to discover the satellites.[1]

Voltaire's 1750 short story Micromégas, about an alien visitor to Earth, also refers to two moons of Mars. Voltaire was presumably influenced by Swift.[2]

Discovery

Asaph Hall, discoverer of the two Martian moons.

The telescope used to discover the Martian moons

Hall discovered Deimos on August 12, 1877 at about 07:48 UTC and Phobos on August 18, 1877, at the US Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., at about 09:14 GMT (contemporary sources, using the pre-1925 astronomical convention that began the day at noon, give the time of discovery as August 11, 14:40 and August 17 16:06 Washington mean time respectively).[3][4][5] At the time, he was deliberately searching for Martian moons. Hall had previously seen what appeared to be a Martian moon on August 10, but due to bad weather, he could not definitively identify them until later.

Hall recorded his discovery of Phobos in his notebook as follows:[6]
I repeated the examination in the early part of the night of [August] 11th, and again found nothing, but trying again some hours later I found a faint object on the following side and a little north of the planet. I had barely time to secure an observation of its position when fog from the River stopped the work. This was at half past two o'clock on the night of the 11th. Cloudy weather intervened for several days.
On 15 August the weather looking more promising, I slept at the Observatory. The sky cleared off with a thunderstorm at 11 o'clock and the search was resumed. The atmosphere however was in a very bad condition and Mars was so blazing and unsteady that nothing could be seen of the object, which we now know was at that time so near the planet as to be invisible.
On August 16 the object was found again on the following side of the planet, and the observations of that night showed that it was moving with the planet, and if a satellite, was near one of its elongations. Until this time I had said nothing to anyone at the Observatory of my search for a satellite of Mars, but on leaving the observatory after these observations of the 16th, at about three o'clock in the morning, I told my assistant, George Anderson, to whom I had shown the object, that I thought I had discovered a satellite of Mars. I told him also to keep quiet as I did not wish anything said until the matter was beyond doubt. He said nothing, but the thing was too good to keep and I let it out myself. On 17 August between one and two o'clock, while I was reducing my observations, Professor Newcomb came into my room to eat his lunch and I showed him my measures of the faint object near Mars which proved that it was moving with the planet.
On August 17 while waiting and watching for the outer moon, the inner one was discovered. The observations of the 17th and 18th put beyond doubt the character of these objects and the discovery was publicly announced by Admiral Rodgers.

The names, originally spelled Phobus and Deimus, respectively, were suggested by Henry Madan (18381901), Science Master of Eton, from Book XV of the Iliad, where Ares summons Fear and Fright.[7]

Jonathan Swift and the moons of Mars

Night sky of Mars showing Deimos (left) and Phobos (right) in front of Sagittarius, as seen by Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on August 26, 2005
click image to expand

The existence of two fictional Martian moons was described in Jonathan Swift's satirical novel Gulliver's Travels, published in 1726, 150 years before their discovery:
They [the Laputan astronomers] have likewise discovered two lesser stars, or 'satellites', which revolve about Mars, whereof the innermost is distant from the centre of the primary planet exactly three of his diameters, and the outermost five; the former revolves in the space of ten hours, and the latter in twenty-one and a half; so that the squares of their periodical times are very near in the same proportion with the cubes of their distance from the centre of Mars, which evidently shows them to be governed by the same law of gravitation, that influences the other heavenly bodies...

Phobos and Deimos are in fact about 1.4 and 3.5 diameters from Mars' centre, and their periods are 7.7 and 30.3 hours, respectively. A similar discovery was described by Voltaire in his interplanetary romance Micromegas, published in 1752.

In recognition of these 'predictions', two craters on Deimos are named Swift and Voltaire.

Recent surveys

Searches have been conducted for additional satellites. Most recently, Scott S. Sheppard and David C. Jewitt surveyed the Hill sphere of Mars for irregular satellites. [The] search covered nearly the entire Hill sphere, but scattered light from Mars excluded the inner few arcminutes where the satellites Phobos and Deimos reside. No new satellites were found to an apparent limiting red magnitude of 23.5, which corresponds to radii of about 0.09 km using an albedo of 0.07.[8]

The relative sizes of and distance between Mars, Phobos, and Deimos, to scale
Click here to expand

Characteristics

If viewed from the surface of Mars near its equator, full Phobos looks about one third as big as the Earth's full moon from Earth. It has an angular diameter of between 8' (rising) and 12' (overhead). It would look smaller when the observer is further away from the Martian equator, and is completely invisible (always beyond the horizon) from Mars' polar ice caps. Deimos looks more like a bright star or planet for an observer on Mars, only slightly bigger than Venus looks from earth; it has an angular diameter of about 2'. The Sun's angular diameter as seen from Mars, by contrast, is about 21'. Thus there are no total solar eclipses on Mars, as the moons are far too small to completely cover the Sun. On the other hand, total lunar eclipses of Phobos are very common, happening almost every night[9]. See also Transit of Phobos from Mars and Transit of Deimos from Mars for eclipse-like events.

The motions of Phobos and Deimos would appear very different from that of our own Moon. Speedy Phobos rises in the west, sets in the east, and rises again in just eleven hours, while Deimos, being only just outside synchronous orbit, rises as expected in the east but very slowly. Despite its 30 hour orbit, it takes 2.7 days to set in the west as it slowly falls behind the rotation of Mars, and has long again to rise.

Both moons are tidally locked, always presenting the same face towards Mars. Since Phobos orbits Mars faster than the planet itself rotates, tidal forces are slowly but steadily decreasing its orbital radius. At some point in the future, when it approaches Mars closely enough (see Roche limit), Phobos will be broken up by these tidal forces[10]. Several strings of craters on the Martian surface, inclined further from the equator the older they are, suggest that there may have been other small moons that suffered the fate expected of Phobos, and also that the Martian crust as a whole shifted between these events[11]. Deimos, on the other hand, is far enough away that its orbit is being slowly boosted instead[12], as in the case of our own Moon.

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The Iranian national team plan will be as follows:

1 - Iran National Team Camp in Germany...
Iran National Team will be in Germany as a preparation camp for Five days.
They will leave Iran in June 18th and will have some practice game.
Iran National Team's camp will be in Nuremberg City.

2 - Iran National Team Camp in Qatar...
During July 1st to July 5th, Iran National Team will be in Qatar Tournament with Jordan, Lebanon and Qatar National Teams.

3 - Iran National Team in Chinese Taipei...
After Qatar, Iran National Team will be in Chinese Taipe for William Jones Tournament.
Teams In this tournament are : Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Japan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, South Africa, Philippine.

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HERENDA ON KANAAN: "Ali brings diversity to our center position, in that he can step out and pass and shoot extremely well. We need Ali to become a more consistent scorer around the basket in our offense. He also gives our team a level of strength and size that will present problems for our opponents."
AS A FRESHMAN: Played in 25 games with seven starts Northeast- 10 Conference Weekly Honor Roll once Season-highs include 25 points and four assists in a 92-76 win over Southern Connecticut; eight rebounds in a 68-63 win over Southern New Hampshire; and three blocks three times.
AS A SOPHOMORE: Played in all 29 games with 26 starts Ranked among NE-10 leaders in blocked shots (sixth, 1.17), defensive rebounds (12th, 4.52) and total rebounds (18th, 6.1) Season-highs include 14 points and five assists in a 56-50 loss to Bryant; 15 rebounds in an 80-73 loss at Merrimack; three blocked shots three times.
HIGH SCHOOL: Four-year player at Georges-Vanier H.S. for coach Ralph Olin Province of Quebec Most Valuable Player as a senior Also helped Georges-Vanier to the 2003-04 regional, provincial and national championships as a senior Also played at Montmorency H.S. for coach Alex Perno Led Montmorency H.S. to Province of Quebec championship (named tournament most valuable player) as well as and national title Led Montmorency H.S. in blocked shots (2.3) as a senior.
PERSONAL: Born in Beirut, Lebanon One of three children of Anis Kanaan and Amira El-Fares of Beirut, Lebanon Nicknamed "Tony Montana" Influences include Michael Jordan, Dwight Howard and brother Khalil Kanaan Lists Phoenix Suns, Montreal Canadiens as favorite professional teams Aspires to earn a business degree and play professionally in Europe Speaks English, French and Arabic.

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Dr Phil had his Summer Weight Loss Series show on Friday 5/22. One of his points were that people think that in this economy it is too expensive to lose weight. Obviously this is waay wrong. Here are my tips for losing weight on a major budget:
(and this is what I still typically eat)

- Frozen vegetables. Frozen vegetables at Wal-mart are easily $1 or less for a medium sized bag that even if you eat A LOT you can still make two personal meals or side dishes out of it.

-Cans of soup. Yes there is a lot of sodium in cans of soup, but if you don't intake much sodium the rest of the day it shouldn't be an issue. Some stores these cans can be pretty pricey but at Wal-mart they are usually $1.62 a can. A can of soup can be an entire meal. Add some carrot sticks and a FEW low fat wheat crackers if you must, but still the entire meal is around $2. Versus $5 at the fast food joint.

-Pasta. Believe it or not I eat a lot of pasta. Mainly because it gives you A LOT of energy for the day and it fills you up quick. Dry pasta doesn't have many calories and sometimes 0g of fat. Yes there are carbs, but if it keeps you active you burn off the calories. Remember keep it dry though. You can add a small amount of margarine that goes a long way and sometimes I add a little bit of Parmesan cheese and pepper. Not to mention 1lb boxes of pasta are only a little over $1 a box.

-As for meat products it will get a little more pricey than the soup or pastas but you can buy whole bags of frozen chicken breasts (also at Wal-mart) for around $8 at most. Even if you eat chicken every day for dinner it should last you all week then being about $1 a day.

-V8, V8 Fusion, V8 Splash. These aren't cheap per-se, but at around $3 a bottle it has a whole serving of fruits and vegetables in an 8oz glass. I drink the Fusion a lot because I tend to not be able to get a lot of fruit servings in in my day. This helps. I drink the Acai Mixed Berry. Watch the sugar and calories in these though. Some flavors come in light. However its good to take in calories for nutritional value.

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The Slim Girl's approach to weight loss is unlike anything else you'll have ever seen or heard of before because the key secret in our system enables you to lose weight without even trying!
That's what makes The Slim Girl's Box of Secrets so unique.
It's fast and it's fun, because our cutting edge techniques can permanently change the way you think about food effortlessly and forever.
Imagine being able to beat the cravings, and finally lose weight easily, without any effort.

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We would like to thank you for notifying us about these errors. Your feedback is very important to us and we understand the importance of providing you with the best user experience possible when using these tools.
We are currently working to fix this error. The drag/drop function is working, but depending on your browser it may be operating slower than normal. There is some sluggishness when using IE6 IE7, but it has been working in FireFox, Safari, and IE8.
For those who do not like the drag/drop feature, we are adding back the option to use an add item link to add your personally defined foods to the log. The initial launch date for this was late next week; however, due to the current operation of the drag/drop feature, we are trying to expedite this request.
Again, we wish you the best and thank you for your feedback and notification of any errors you come across.

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NETANYAHU VISITS THE WHITE HOUSE:
Change We Can Believe in for U.S.-Israeli Relations?

May 15, 2009
Institute for Policy Studies

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is coming to Washington on May 18, for his first official visit with President Obama. If Obama is serious about achieving a two-state solution in his first term, and therefore serious about bringing real pressure to bear on Israel, there will be no better time to do so.*

Obama, who has strongly supported the idea of a two-state solution since his campaign, has yet to articulate whether or not he is actually prepared to spend some of his massive political capital to exert serious pressure on Israel towards that end - for example, by conditioning (even some) of the currently committed $30 billion in U.S. military aid to a complete Israeli settlement freeze in the West Bank. If he means it, this could be the moment. Netanyahu's campaign rejection of the two-state solution, his rejection of continuing the current Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy and instead limiting negotiations to economic issues, and his extreme racist Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman all serve to make a serious U.S. effort towards Israeli accountability not only timely, but less politically costly than ever.

But there are serious dangers ahead.

We still don't know for sure whether President Obama is indeed serious.

There is little question he supports a two-state solution in the abstract, but that isn't enough. The question is: What he is willing to do to make it happen? Israel on its own, secure in its so-far unconditional U.S. military aid and uncritical protection in the UN and elsewhere, has no intention of making efforts to that end.

What if Obama accepts a meaningless Netanyahu gesture as a significant concession?

In recent days, as the Jewish Telegraphic Agency describes it, the White House is indicating that "Netanyahu has shown seriousness about accommodating Obama's push for renewed talks with the Palestinians." If the U.S. demand is simply that Israel renew talks, Obama will have failed the first test; "talks" have been the hallmark of at least 18 years of failed U.S.-backed Middle East diplomacy. "Talks," including the Madrid, Oslo "Road Map" and other agreements, have left the Palestinians with virtually nothing on the ground except for a virtually powerless "Palestinian Authority," expanding settlements, checkpoints, theft of land and water, the separation Wall in the West Bank, and the complete physical and human devastation of Gaza. Without an entirely different U.S. role - one based on explicit support for international law as the basis of any negotiations - a new round of talks will go nowhere.

Another version of this scenario might be a sudden reversal of Netanyahu's current position, where he re-embraces the idea of a two-state solution. He could perhaps even promise some kind of action on settlements (most likely an agreement to dismantle settlement "outposts"). If Obama welcomes mere words, this will also mean repeating the failures of the past. A variety of Israeli governments have previously agreed to settlement freezes, explicitly including so-called "natural growth," and simply disregarded their obligation to implement them. They have agreed numerous times to dismantle their "outposts," which are the smaller symbolic settlements, only to allow or provide support for their immediate rebuilding. (In fact, all the Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, not only the "outposts," are illegal under international law, including the huge city-settlements of Ma'ale Adumim, Ariel, and the vast East Jerusalem settlements disguised as "neighborhoods").

In any of these scenarios, Netanyahu might drop his ultra-nationalist rhetoric to endorse earlier Israeli "moderate" positions - none of which ever led towards ending the occupation. It's even possible that Netanyahu's extremist language was designed explicitly to be moderated as a "gift" to the U.S. president during just such a visit. But what if Obama falls for the trick, welcomes such inadequate promises with enthusiasm, calls them a great concession, thanks the Israeli leader profusely, and demands Palestinian concessions in return? If we go down this road, the Obama administration will have done nothing to hold Israel accountable to its promises, settlements will continue being built, and the Palestinians will once again be identified as the obstacle to peace.

Then there's Iran

Netanyahu has continued to escalate his campaign rhetoric threatening military force against Iran, sometimes framing it as "what Israel will have to do if the U.S. does not prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon." Despite the agreement of all U.S. intelligence agencies (under the Bush administration, made public in the National Intelligence Estimate of December 2007) that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon, is not building a nuclear weapon, and may not even want a nuclear weapon, the claim that Iran somehow represents an "existential threat" to Israel continues. Netanyahu demands that the U.S. agree either to attack Iran if Obama's potential nuclear diplomacy doesn't work, or agree to support an Israeli attack on Iran.

There are reports in the Israeli daily Ha'aretz that Obama sent an urgent message to Netanyahu just days before his visit, demanding that "Israel not surprise the U.S. with an Israeli military operation against Iran." If true, that would be a good sign. But it also gives credence to reports that Obama is considering creating a regional anti-Iran alliance - an extraordinarily dangerous proposal that will certainly escalate regional tensions - and wants to link that idea to an Israeli settlement freeze. That is, Obama may try to persuade Netanyahu to agree to a settlement freeze (implemented or not) as a necessary requirement to getting the Arab states on board a U.S.-Israeli anti-Iran alliance.

U.S. backing for an Israeli military strike against Iran and creating a regional anti-Iran coalition would result in significant regional dangers, and won't lead to any possible progress in supporting regional stability or ending the Israeli occupation.

So what do we look out for?

At the recent AIPAC convention, Obama administration officials' and supporters' speeches put greater emphasis on Israeli actions than was ever true during the Bush years. Senator John Kerry called for a settlement freeze; Vice-President Biden called for Israel to "not build settlements, dismantle outposts and allow Palestinians access to freedom of movement." If Obama, meeting with Netanyahu, demands a real settlement freeze - meaning an end to construction, expansion and building in all settlements, not only outposts - it could signify a real change in U.S. policy towards Israel. But this demand will be effective only if it's backed up by specific enforcement mechanisms, like conditioning all (or even part) of the annual $3 billion in U.S. military aid to Israel until there is tangible, internationally confirmed action on the ground. That would certainly be a change we could believe in.

Obama's acceptance of mere words from Netanyahu, on the other hand, whether he "accepts" a settlement freeze or "agrees" to a new round of talks about talks with the Palestinians, and not imposing any conditions to make sure it happens, will indicate that so far, at least, U.S. support for Israeli occupation and apartheid remain intact.

And any "deal" that offers Israel any promise of U.S. support for or involvement in a military strike against Iran will undermine whatever small move towards justice might be possible from a settlement freeze or removal of roadblocks.

Lots to watch for. Stay tuned.

* My reference to a two-state solution in this context does not mean that I believe such an arrangement will ultimately be viable, sustainable, comprehensive or maybe even possible - let alone just. But active support for it is the basis for Obama's claim of a different U.S. policy towards Israel and the Palestinians - and it would certainly transform the political terrain.



Phyllis Bennis is a Fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies. Her most recent book is Ending the Iraq War: A Primer. If you want to receive her talking points and articles on a regular basis, click here and choose "New Internationalism.

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The International Health, Racquet Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) and fitness professionals across the nation gathered today in Washington, DC to meet with their Congressional members, asking for their support of health promotion legislation to remove federal barriers from exercise, and to reward Americans for choosing to lead healthy lifestyles. During the 7th Annual IHRSA Summit for a Healthier America, fitness advocates wlll encourage the passage of the Personal Health Investment Today (PHIT) Act (H.R.2105) and The Workforce Health Improvement Program (WHIP) Act (H.R. 2106 and S. 913), both recently re-introduced in Congress.

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NTI Website Resources on Nuclear Trafficking
http://www.nti.org/e_research/e3_special_nuctrafficking.html

On January 25, 2007, the media reported the seizure of 100 grams of highly enriched uranium (HEU) in Georgia. The actual incident occurred in 2006, and some earlier reports about a seizure of uranium of unspecified enrichment level in Georgia were published in February 2006. However, no additional information about this incident was made public in the ensuing year.

According to the January 25, 2007 story in the New York Times, the material involved is HEU. The level of enrichment--nearly 90-percent enriched U-235--makes it ideal material for the construction of a nuclear weapon, although, the seized amount is too low to be sufficient for a bomb. The HEU seizure in Georgia was the result of a sting operation conducted by the Georgian secret services, who became aware of a Russian national from North Ossetia (a region of the Russian Federation that borders South Ossetia, a separatist region in Georgia), looking for a buyer for 2-3 kilograms of enriched uranium. A Georgian undercover agent was able to convince the would-be seller to bring a sample of the material to Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. Oleg Khinsagov, the main perpetrator, and three accomplices from Georgia were arrested with 100 grams of the material on February 1, 2006.

In seeking the origin of the material, Georgian authorities turned to the United States and Russia for assistance. Both countries were provided small samples of the material for analysis. However, according to Georgian sources, Russian experts were not able to establish the origin of the material. The 2007 New York Times report also mentions the seizure of 170 grams of HEU on the border between Georgia and Armenia in 2003. In this earlier case, as reported, the material came from a nuclear facility in Novosibirsk. The report does not rule out the possibility that the HEU seized in February 2006 is also of Russian origin.

The Center for Nonproliferation Studies has gathered the following information on nuclear trafficking and highly enriched uranium as well as the table below of confirmed proliferation-significant incidents of fissile material trafficking in the NIS (1991 - 2007). Go to link for information.
http://www.nti.org/e_research/e3_special_nuctrafficking.

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Weight loss TV programs sometimes gets people doing the wrong thing to lose weight. I came upon a TV ad that says performing daily exercise alone for at least 1hour will get you losing weight, another says that by only cutting out fats and carbs will get you loosing weight. The truth is that either of each one alone cant do it for you. To obtain a good outcome, i suggest you do both.
We shall be looking at more ways and tips on losing weight in this article. You can on a daily basis apply this methods to your routines as they demand little effort on your part.
 
Weight loss with Fat binders:
I know by now you will be screaming your head off as you read that word Fat binder, but hear me out first. Its no news that lots of weight loss pills are coming into the market in large numbers, 29 a year to be exact. Its also true that many of them are fakes and can sometimes be harmful. While this is true to some extent, its NOT entirely true if you take a closer look.
Not taking a closer look is what gets most people into trouble. Those who do, find the real thing among the many fakes.
 A current article by The Telegraph revealed what you should be looking at. This article also provided the top 5 ways of staying slim for the year.
Here is what The Telegraph has got to say on the top 5 ways to weight loose.

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Wow, what a busy day! I had to be a mom and wife today and it wore me out :) I started off at 8:00 with aerobics, 9:00 weigh in at WW (lost 4.4 lbs!), pick up kids, go to hardware store, drop kids at church for activity, go to soccer, soccer rained out, back to the church, home to change, back to the church to pick up kids, fold laundry, fix snacks, fix lunch, fold more laundry, do laundry, run to the nursery to drop off my flower pots, give mom a perm and haircut, do more laundry, run out to brothers house to drop off diaper bag, grab dinner for everyone...whew! I leave for Tennessee tommorrow, I am actually looking forward to it so I can rest!

I feel guilty sitting here blogging because the men are still hard at it in the bathroom (that sounds bad, doesn't it? What I mean is that they are still working on the tile.) My eternal gratitude goes out to my wonderful Ben, my dad and my brother. Who knew saving a little $ would be so much trouble???

Here are some more progress shots! Love you boys! Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Similar posts: ali weight loss

Wow, what a busy day! I had to be a mom and wife today and it wore me out :) I started off at 8:00 with aerobics, 9:00 weigh in at WW (lost 4.4 lbs!), pick up kids, go to hardware store, drop kids at church for activity, go to soccer, soccer rained out, back to the church, home to change, back to the church to pick up kids, fold laundry, fix snacks, fix lunch, fold more laundry, do laundry, run to the nursery to drop off my flower pots, give mom a perm and haircut, do more laundry, run out to brothers house to drop off diaper bag, grab dinner for everyone...whew! I leave for Tennessee tommorrow, I am actually looking forward to it so I can rest!

I feel guilty sitting here blogging because the men are still hard at it in the bathroom (that sounds bad, doesn't it? What I mean is that they are still working on the tile.) My eternal gratitude goes out to my wonderful Ben, my dad and my brother. Who knew saving a little $ would be so much trouble???

Here are some more progress shots! Love you boys! Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Similar posts: ali weight loss

Weight Loss Drug Recall - CBS 3 Springfield
The popular weight loss drug Hydroxycut has been pulled from the shelves. Government health officials warn dieters using the supplement to stop after the FDA received 23 reports of liver problems including the death of a 19 year old male who used
Recalls: dietary supplement Hydroxycut products - Newsday
Iovate Health Sciences USA Inc. of Blasdell, N.Y., and Ontario, Canada, recalled Hydroxycut products sold in the United States after the U.S.

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Good question. The ability to sing higher than your normal pitch by flipping to falsetto by using just a small portion of your vocal chords is what you're talking about. Some people cannot do it at all. It is almost an effeminate way to sing, and it yields brilliant results. Falsetto is called your "head voice." The other voice is your "chest voice.

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1. Rinsing your nose with salt water can help keep you healthy and ward off allergy symptoms. Nasal irrigation is a cheap and easy way to find relief if you have spring allergies, nasal congestion, stuffy noses or post-nasal drip, says Dr. Melissa Pynnonen, co-director of the Michigan Sinus Center and an assistant professor in the University of Michigan's department of otolaryngology.

2. Dogs can smell cancer and low blood sugar. The Pine Street Foundation, a cancer-education and research center in San Anselmo, Calif., published a study showing it was possible to train dogs to identify, based on breath samples, which patients had lung and breast cancer. Now the organization is recruiting ovarian cancer patients and dogs for a new study. In diabetics, the presence of ketonessubstances made by the body during the metabolic processcan be smelled in urine and on the breath when blood sugars are high. Dogs can pick up on other smells that humans cant when glucose levels drop.

3. Researchers at Cornell University found that people who pass through an entryway near the kitchen tend to eat 15 percent more than those who use the front door.

4. You're more likely to have a heart attack on a Monday, or up to three days after you've been diagnosed with the flu or a respiratory tract infection. The risk of dying from a heart attack increases by a third during outbreaks of the flu and related respiratory diseases, found researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. The study authors estimate that 90,000 coronary deaths could be prevented a year in the United States if more heart patients simply got a flu shot.

5. You can't get a tan from your computer screen. The Computer Tan Web site was created as a hoax to raise awareness about skin cancer.

6. Obese people spend approximately $485 more on clothing, $828 on extra plane seats, and $36 more on gas each year than their thinner counterparts. Researchers say an overweight driver burns about 18 additional gallons of gas a year. Plus-sized clothing costs 10 percent to 15 percent more than smaller-sized clothes. When it comes to jet fuel, a recent issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicineestimated that the extra weight of obese Americans caused airlines to spend $275 million to burn 350 million more gallons of fuel.

7. Smokers are four times as likely to report feeling unrested after a night's sleep than nonsmokers. Smokers often experience withdrawal symptoms at night, thus causing periods of restlessness and waking. Smokers were also 1.69 times as likely to develop hearing loss than non-smokers, as smoking may affect antioxidative mechanisms or the blood vessels that feed the auditory system.1

8. Eating fruits and vegetables may help the human body make its own aspirin. Findings from the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistryindicate that study participants who received benzoic acid, a natural substance in fruits and vegetables, could make their own salicylic acid, the key component that gives aspirin its anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties.

9. A 20-minute nap can improve your overall alertness, boost your mood, and increase productivity. William Anthony, co-author of The Art of Napping at Work (Larson Publications, 1999),says the post-nap boost can last for several hours. In addition, your heart may reap benefits from napping. In a six-year study of Greek adults, researchers found that that men who took naps at least three times a week had a 37 percent lower risk of heart-related death.

10. Your kitchen sink is dirtier than your bathroom: There are typically more than 500,000 bacteria per square inch in its drain. The faucet, basin, and sponge are crawling with germs as well. Bacteria colonies with a total population exceeding 50 million can live on a single dirty sponge. And just thinkthat's what you use to wipe down countertops, forks and drinking glasses.

11. Four out of five doctors in the UK don't work out enough. Heavy workloads, lack of time and poor motivation contributed to the lack of exercise.2

12. Baking soda can whiten teeth, garlic can help treat athlete's foot, and honey can soothe a hangover.

13. Using a food diary can double a person's weight-loss efforts. Your food diary makes you accountable to yourself and provides you with clues on where the extra calories are sneaking in.

14. Regular exercise can lower a woman's cancer riskbut only if she's getting enough sleep. The National Cancer Institute followed 5,968 women for almost 10 years, during which 604 of them developed some form of cancer. Women in the top half of physical activity levels showed an approximate 20 percent reduction in cancer risk compared to those who exercised less. For a segment of those women, sleeping less than seven hours per night had a decreased benefit to exercise. Their cancer risk was greater than those who exercised but slept morebut still lower than those who exercised the least.

15.Watching yourself run in a mirror can make a treadmill workout go by faster and feel easier.

16. Third-hand smokethe particles that cling to smokers' hair and clothing and linger in a room long after they've leftis a cancer risk to young children (and pets).

17. Walking against the wind, in the water, or while wearing a backpack burns about 50 more calories per hour than walking with no resistance. People who wear pedometers also tend to burn more calories and lose more weight.

18. Trained sexologists can infer a woman's orgasm history by observing the way she walks.3 In other research news, men find women who wear red sexier than those who wear "cool" colors such as blue and green.

19.Foreign accent syndrome and exploding head syndrome are real (but very rare) medical conditions. The American Sleep Association explains that a person with exploding head syndrome experiences a a loud, indecipherable noise that seems to originate from inside the head.

20. Vitamins don't seem to help older women guard against cancer or heart disease.

21. Some men experience pain, headaches, or sneezing as a result of ejaculation. The increased activity in the nervous system during orgasm may be the culprit in triggering headaches.

22. Germ-killing wipes can spread bacteria from one spot to another if you reuse them. Researchers at the Welsh School of Pharmacy at Cardiff University in Wales issued their concern on the use of the wipes in hospitals and the importance of a routine surveillance program in reducing risks of infection to patients.

23. Oatmeal, citrus fruits, and honey can boost your sex drive and improve fertility. Oats produce a chemical that releases testosterone into the blood supply, increasing sex drive and orgasm strength. Vitamin C found in citrus fruits improves sperm count and motility, while vitamin B from honey helps the body use estrogen, a key factor in blood flow and arousal.

24. Twenty-nine percent of Americans say they have skipped filling a prescription due to the cost, and 23 percent use pill splitting as a way to save money.

25. Facebook may be good for your health: Studies show that staying in touch with family and friends can ward off memory loss and help you live longer.

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Veteran Coach a Leading Candidate for 2009 Trainer of the Year
LOS ANGELES (April 20, 2009) – From the days when he was a really skinny kid with little amateur experience to today where he is now a skinny young man that has unquestionably become the most feared boxer on the planet, the man behind Paul “The Punisher” Williams has been manager-trainer George Peterson.
The well-respected Peterson, a Washington D.C.-native who now resides in Aiken, S.C., has been in Williams’ corner for 11 years. The classy and honorable Peterson is overdue in his worldwide recognition with the prestigious ‘Trainer of the Year’ honors.
Peterson was a policeman in D.C. for more than 20 years before becoming involved in the toughest of all sports.  “I boxed as an amateur and did some amateur coaching with the Police Boys Club in D.C. for a few years,’’ he said. “Several guys, after their modest amateur careers, wanted to turn pro but they didnt want anybody else to work with them but me. Thats basically how I got into boxing.’’
Since 1998, Peterson has served the Al Haymon and Goossen Tutor Promotions superstar in countless capacities – most notably as a father figure but also as a manager, coach, trainer, confidant, mentor, inventor, and friend.  You name it he’s been it for the talented Williams.
“By the time we got together, Paul had reached a point where he wasn’t satisfied with his amateur career and wanted to become a professional boxer,’’ Peterson recalled. “He thought he would be able to accomplish what he wanted in the pro ranks so he just decided to turn pro.’’
In the beginning and even today, it wasn’t merely Williams’ talent that impressed Peterson, but his dedication and attitude.
“I saw that Paul had the love and passion for boxing, and that’s all I needed to know,’’ Peterson said. “I told him, ‘give me 110 percent and I’ll make a champion out of you. That’s all I need from you is 110 percent.’  People always ask, ‘what did you see in him?’  It wasn’t so much what I saw; it was just what I believed, and I believed in him.”
“And Paul believed in himself too and that was it. From day one, I didn’t have any doubt.’’
Knowing he had something special, the wise and knowledgeable Peterson formulated a plan designed to polish the skills of the aspiring World Champion.
It began with the pair visiting countless training camps and traveling the South in search of the best sparring partners. That worked for a while, and Williams gained some experience and his fundamentals improved.
Eventually, they outgrew the local gyms and the scarce opposition in South Carolina – Peterson owns a gym in Aiken – and in Augusta, Georgia.
“We had to get on the road and move around quite a bit,’’ Peterson said. “We moved all around the South, went up to the Poconos, went to Puerto Rico. There wasn’t anything local about us.
“I wanted Paul to get different looks and eventually he was able to recognize those different styles. He learned how to protect himself defensively and how to use those skills offensively.  It was a simultaneous training and development process that he went through and he did well every step of the way.”
Looking back at his start with Peterson, Williams said, “I’d been in the ring with so many champions. But he was like, ‘Im going to take you to every gym I possibly can and let you spar with every champion there is to get a different look and atmosphere. You’re going to need this when you get in the ring years down the road with other champions.’  He was right!’’
The confident, workmanlike attitude Williams and Peterson displayed in their early years together is still intact today as Peterson has expertly molded the stylish, six-foot-two-inch southpaw into a polished, multi-talented boxer-puncher who remains a dangerous threat to any prizefighter from 147-168 pounds.
Of course, only a handful in those four talent-rich weight classes have been brave enough to take on Williams, a trend that has followed Williams’ for the past few years. Former World Champion Winky Wright, one of the most experienced and respected fighters of this generation, stepped up to the challenge on April 11, 2009 and was thoroughly beaten like no other time in his Hall of Fame career.
“Before we fought Winky, we thought nobody with a name would fight Paul,’’ Peterson said. “It was a big surprise that Winky agreed to fight us and we have tremendous respect for him for doing so.’’
So, now, Williams and Peterson find themselves at the top of the sport after his recent dominating performances.
“I just want to keep working hard and have Paul improve in every fight,’’ said Peterson, who has developed a menacing fighter very few dare to step in the ring against. “Paul wants to fight anyone who believes they are the best.”
“He wants to let his fighting in the ring show the fans that he is the best fighter in boxing. The other fighters that think they are the best eventually will be forced to fight Paul to prove it. “
Peterson, who should know, considers Williams one of the most prolific fighters in the last 20 years.  “Paul makes a statement every fight. Everybody he’s fought, he beat convincingly.  Paul Williams is in a situation where we believe he can match the great accomplishments of Tommy Hearns, Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard, and then some,” Peterson said.  “It’s just this guy’s time.’’
“This is absolutely the best trainer/fighter relationship, in and out of the ring, I have ever witnessed,” stated Williams’ promoter Dan Goossen.  I ask any fight fan, promoter, or boxing historian to tell me what fighter in the history of our great sport has had the high-energy, punch output that Paul exhibits round after round, fight after fight?  The credit naturally goes to the fighter, but we have to recognize the driving force behind the fighter.  I certainly do.”
“Paul being as feared as he is, is a good thing.  I remember the Marvin Hagler years of trying to get a big name into the ring after winning his World Championship.  It took the “destroy and destruct” left-hander three years after winning the championship to get the big fight (Roberto Duran) he so desired.
“Paul got Winky after one year of his championship, and Paul’s well on his way of being the marquee attraction in our sport as reflected in his April 11 HBO rating that outdistanced the highly anticipated Shane Mosley-Antonio Margarito broadcast.  Fans appreciate his toughness and work ethic in the ring and it shows in the television ratings.
Concluded Goossen, “George Peterson has taken this skinny young kid and transformed him into being one of the most exciting fighters in the World today as well as the “Most Feared.”  End of story.

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Richard Schaefer:      Welcome everybody to todays conference call. Im sure all of you have heard the decision. We actually just came from an amazing ceremony, a news conference, in front of Staples Center which was attended by thousands of people. We had over 30 cameras there. It was a very well-covered event.We had Tim Leiweke, the CEO and President from AEG there. We had the mayor of Los Angeles, Antonia Villaraigosa there. Oscars father spoke. Oscars wife spoke and so did the head of HBO pay-per-view Mark Taffet.Its like a bittersweet day today. An amazing career of one of the most accomplished athletes, period, in the world ever - is coming to an end. An amazing career with ten world titles in six different weight divisions, a list of opponents which really reads like the who is who of boxers of this generation. From Trinidad to Hopkins, Mosley, Mayweather, Whitaker, Chavez, Quartey, Vargas, Pacquiao, Gatti, Camacho, Genaro Hernandez and many others.Oscar really was a one man franchise whose 19 pay per view events generated 14.1 pay-per-view buys and $696 million of pay-per-view revenues. That all made him clearly the all-time pound-for-pound king in boxing, and really in just about any other sport.  It is truly an honor now for me to turn it over to Oscar, the President of Golden Boy Promotions and my friend. We really are proud to be here with him and share that special day. Please Oscar.
Oscar De La Hoya:   Thank you very much Richard. It was a very emotional and difficult decision for me to make. But I have come to the conclusion that I am retiring from being a fighter. Its not easy to even talk about it because every time I think about it, every time I mention it it reminds me that this was my life for the last 32 years. And to know that I will not be lacing up the gloves again; to know that I wont be feeling that same adrenaline and rush that one feels when they fight is difficult. But I thought it was only fair to my self. I thought it was only fair to my fans that I make this decision because it hurts me that I cannot compete at the highest level anymore. It kills me inside that every time I step inside the ring now its not me. Its not the person, the fighter, that people grew up watching. And therefore that was one of the reasons why I decided to retire along with many more. So I am firm on this decision. I am convinced Ill never ever come back and I am glad that we can now focus on something else that also has to do with boxing and that is being involved and promoting fighters. So it is a bittersweet moment for me but I truly feel Ive made the right decision.
Richard Schaefer:   Okay. Before were going to open it up to the media for question I just want to say as well,  Oscar has over the years developed a very nice relationship and friendship with many of the writers here in the United States and frankly around the world. And I want to thank all of those people who have worked so hard to help and cover Oscar.Some of them have been critical, others not, but I think with many of you we have really built a friendship and a relationship. In that regard, to make this announcement here in Los Angeles without you guys having been able to be there in a way was a bit sad. And so what we wanted to do and what we will do is we will put together on September the 19th in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Hotel together with HBO and with all of our sponsorsa mega event, a mega extravaganza celebrating Oscar De La Hoyas career.
It will be a huge event. We will fly in all the fighters he fought.           We want to make it like a fan fest, really involve everyone who has been associated or involved with Oscars career. And in, the coming weeks we will release more information on that. And of course all of you media members will be invited there and we hope you can be there to celebrate this tremendous career. Id like to open it now to the media and make Oscar available for any questions.
Kevin Iole, Yahoo.com: I just wanted to offer you my congratulations on great career and on your retirement and wish you all the best. And I wonder what changes for you now that youre no longer an active fighter in terms of how you promote? Are you going to be out on the road more? Is anything going to change in terms of the way you promote and run Golden Boy Promotions?
Oscar De La Hoya: Well I obviously going give myself some bigger responsibilities and be more active and really change it up. Were going to drive that train and were going to go full steam ahead. Its an exciting moment for me because now I have the opportunity to really build Golden Boy Promotions to what it should be. And weve done an amazing job over these years but now its really time to kick it up a notch.
Dan Rafael, ESPN: Oscar I will follow with what Kevin said and say congratulations and personally speaking thank you for all the great thrills Ive had covering your career for the past ten years. When we talked in Las Vegas on Saturday before the Winky Wright-Paul Williams fight, you were playing coy with us. I understand you wanted to save you announcement for today and you did that. I watched it. But Im curious, I also had spoke to you in late February when you started to do some interviews after the Pacquiao fight. And then again in Houston when we were down there for the Marquez-Diaz fight. And at that point in February you didnt really seem - to me anyway, I got the vibe that you really werent quite sure what you were going to do. And then we were in Las Vegas this past weekend you had said you had made your decision and you seemed a little more relaxed about everything. Im wondering if you can pinpoint a moment or explain when the revelation came or the decision ultimately was final in your mind, m going to announce my retirement. Im not going to fight anymore. How did that go and what was that moment?
Oscar De La Hoya:      Ill be honest with you Dan that it happened this morning.
Dan Rafael:             Even after the press conference had planned, you could have changed your mind possibly?
Oscar De La Hoya:      Yes. My wife asked me - she looked into my eyes and asked me, Are you sure? Are you sure you want to retire? And right there and then when she opened the door for me to come back and fight again I didnt take it because I just felt something that this is it. Im not going to fall into the trap.And - because once you fall into the trap theres no way out. So it happened this morning Dan.
Robert Morales, Los Angeles Daily News: Hey listen, I was there today, but unfortunately I couldnt hang around afterwards there - since youre so popular there were about 50 TV cameras waiting in line so I had to get out of Dodge. But I had one quick question for you- did the fact that you had such a one sided defeat at the hands of Manny Pacquiao in your last fight, did that make coming up with the decision to retire even that much more difficult?
Oscar De La Hoya:      It actually made it much easier for me to decide that its over because - I needed that perfect excuse. I was searching for that perfect exit strategy.How do I retire? How does it happen? What is it going to take? Because we athletes are very stubborn and we never know when enough is enough.And when I got beat by Pacquiao it obviously makes it easier for me to say, s it. You dont have it anymore.  And I can make any excuse that I want and say any excuse, but I ultimately planned and believed and thought about - thats why it took so long that the time is now. Its over.  And so - but it made it much easier.
George Willis, New York Post: Hello Oscar and congratulations. Hey Ive talked to some people about you and your career, and a couple of them say that youll probably be remembered more as an attraction than a fighter. Citing the fact that though you did fight people like Hopkins and Trinidad and Mosley and Mayweather that you came out on the short end of those fights.How would you answer those people who say you were more of an attraction than a fighter?
Oscar De La Hoya: I say, Thank you. Thank you for always watching me. Thank you for making me an attraction. Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for being there. Ive had the opportunity to face many world champions and a lot of them I won. Some I lost.   But my satisfaction comes - my satisfaction is because at least I tried. I tried to accomplish the impossible and not too many do that. And so if people want to remember me as an attraction then Im glad I gave a lot of people a lot of entertainment.
George Willis:         Great answer man.
Steve Carp, Las Vegas Review-Journal: You know, when we talked Friday you talked about this transition being pretty easy if this was going to be the route you took. If there was not a Golden Boy Promotions, how much tougher would this decision have been knowing that then maybe you wouldnt have been as financially secure as you are?
Oscar De La Hoya: I probably wouldnt be here today announcing my retirement. I mean obviously having something to fall back on, being part of a company that can helps me have something to fall back on and - it makes it much easier obviously.  But that was not my reason why I retired. It was part of the reason but not the primary reason. You know, a lot of us fighters have it difficult. Its difficult to say when to retire.And theres a handful of reasons why we cant retire. And obviously money is one of them. And having to do something after boxing, having a life after boxing is one of them. So having Golden Boy Promotions obviously makes it a bit easier for me to say, Hey, Im going to hang em up for good.
J. Michael Falgoust, USA Today: Hi there. Can you step back now that youre when you look at your career and yourself, where do you put yourself if not in terms of history? I dont know if youre prepared to kind of compare yourself to guys, you know, like the Jimmy McLarnins and Jose Napoles but at least in terms of your era right now with the guys you came up with, Roy Jones was in this era, Evander Holyfields in this era, Mike Tyson is in your era: where would you put yourself? Can you give an honest assessment of where you think you would rank in terms of not only what you meant to the sport but where you would place yourself in terms of the big picture?
Oscar De La Hoya:  Well Ive honestly never thought about it, but I would have to say top ten.You know I have accomplished a couple things in my career. I mean Im probably most proud of jumping up in different weight classes and fighting in six different weight classes. Its not every day that you can see a fighter try to compete in those various weight classes.But I would have to say top ten because, you have a great fighter like lets say for instance Roy Jones, Jr. who is very talented and accomplished so much but theres accomplishment that I - that he can say, Well Oscar never accomplished it. But there are accomplishments that I did that he cant say, Well, you know, I accomplished what Oscar accomplished.
So its - I ultimately have to say top ten, because weve had some great fighters in our era and Ive just been very fortunate enough to be at least mentioned with these other top fighters.
Diego Martinez, Reforma Newspaper: Its a three-part question. The first one is, Oscar, you decided to retire now but like many great athletes, Michael Jordans one of them obviously, they always return. They come back and they try to do it again. Are you totally convinced that youre not going to come back?
Oscar de la Hoya: You know, Ive thought about. Ive thought about it. The temptations there.I dont know what Im going to feel in a week from now, a month from now.  But, you know, I went about this like I always have and Ive always had a plan not only in boxing but in life. And personally, Im 100% convinced I will never ever come back. I want to thank the fans for all their support, everything theyve done for me, and, you know, always buying my fights. And Ive made some good money and most importantly Ive been able to keep my money and save it.And I want to thank the people around me that have helped me. And I have people around me that care about me and that have really helped me. And thats the reason why I know for myself 100% that I will not come back to boxing.
Diego Martinez, Reforma Newspaper: Oscar, what was your favorite memory in your career?
Oscar de la Hoya: The gold medal. Winning the gold medal was my best memory in boxing
Diego Martinez, Reforma Newspaper: What was your worst moment or memory in boxing?
Oscar de la Hoya: Well, my worst moment was losing to Bernard Hopkins, getting knocked out by Bernard Hopkins. That was the worst. That was the worst feeling and it was very difficult for to get over. But that was the worst feeling I ever had in boxing.
Salvador Rodriguez, Diario Record: Oscar congratulations on your retirement. I want to ask you, you had a lot of plans before you announced this retirement. You had a lot of plans: to retire with a win to try to erase the thought of the Pacquiao loss; to fight in Mexico City in Estadio Azteca Stadium in Mexico City: what happened with those plans now? What do you think about that?
Oscar de la Hoya: Yeah, thats what made it very difficult for me to reply to come up with this decision. Yeah I wanted to fight in Azteca Stadium. And I wanted to retire like a champion. That was the plan. But it made it very very difficult and thats why I couldnt come up with the decision right away. But Im sure that Im making the decision. I know that its the best decision for my health. I understand as well that Im not fighting at that very very high level anymore to be able to compete with the top fighters. And thats the reason why I made the decision.It really hurts. Its eating away at me. But I can tell you that the decision was made by myself on my own. It wasnt because of my friends, my family, my father, my wife. Its a decision that I came up with on my own.
Michael David Smith, AOL Fanhouse: Hi Oscar. First of all Ill echo both my colleagues and all the boxing fans around the world in congratulating you. My question is what are your goals as a promoter and as a businessman? And do those goals extend beyond sports - to other sports beyond just boxing? I know youve had some interest in mixed martial arts. Youve had some interest in soccer.And I wonder whether youll continue to branch out beyond your first love of boxing?
Oscar De La Hoya:      Well thank you very much. Im a very ambitious person. And whatever we touch in business whether its promoting, whether its soccer, we want to make sure that we give ourselves the opportunity to be our best.And my plans - our plans for Golden Boy Promotionsthe skys the limit. The skys the limit because were promoting a sport that used to be the sportthe sport where we can fill up arenas, where we can have millions of people watching and talking about boxing.        And we have an opportunity to build it back. And slowly but surely were heading toward that right direction and we have a great team that weve put together. And were going to work hard towards the betterment of the sport whether its taking care of the fighter or whether its making sure that the fans are not confused who the champion is or whether fighters are receiving medial help.
Thats the vision. Those are the things we want to work towards. And, you know, were very optimistic that it is going to get done sooner or later. For soccer with the Houston Dynamonow were involved in a different sport where we have the opportunity along with everyone else involved in the MLS to grow the sport to make it as popular as it can be here in the States, to make it the sport amongst our kids.And so its a great responsibility but we embrace it and we at Golden Boy are hard workers, ambitious people and realize the potential that these sports have.
Ron Borges, Boston Herald:Oscar it seems like a long way from sitting with you and a few other people in Barcelona and you have the gold medal around your neck at lunch to that night against Manny Pacquiao. And Im just wondering in the months leading up to that fight what doubts if any did you have that you were not the same guy because that night against Steve Forbes you really didnt look like the same guy? Did you have doubts yourself that you werent right?
Oscar De La Hoya:      Yes, I mean I - the first sign that I felt was with the Mayweather fight. I felt that that was the beginning of me not having it anymore, maybe - probably the second half of the fight. And you dont - at the time you dont want to accept it. You want to continue to lie to yourself and say, You know, maybe something went wrong. Obviously the Forbes fight even though I won I got hit like theres no tomorrow, so then that obviously was a clear sign to me.And especially the Pacquiao fight: you know, that was kind of like the icing on the cake so to speak. But I did feel that things werent right in training camp. I did start getting beat up during sparring which in all of my boxing career its never happenedever ever in my life. Ive never got beat up by sparring partners. And I was getting beat up by sparring partners in that training camp. But I didnt want to accept it. I didnt want to realize it. I was lying to myself. And so I had a hunch that this was coming sooner than later. I kind of had a hunch that something was wrong in the Pacquiao fight.I had a hunch that maybe Im not going to beat him.But Ive always said things in my life happen for a reason. And yes I did lose in a devastating way to Pacquiao.And yes people never imagined that would happen. But it happens for a reason because it made my decision that much easier to retire from a sport that I love dearly.I feel I have all my marbles.I feel I can still, physically work.I feel that Im still intact.So I think Ive come out okay from such a difficult sport and a sport that Ive been competing in at the highest level for such a long time.So thats why it made my decision that much easier.
Kelly Swanson:       Okay thank you everybody. That was Oscars last question.
Oscar De La Hoya:      Thank you very much. From the heart sincerely thank you for everything youve done and weve been through this many times. Over the years weve lived through many great memories and I appreciate the people that I know, the people that Ive met. You know, were a community that is one that we appreciate each other and I want to thank you for that.

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