I hate to say it, but her "performance" .... if, in fact that is what it was, is reminiscent of some I pulled, in my younger days, to draw sympathy, or a sympathetic response from my family on days I did not have homework done, or a term paper to hand it. I thought it was a very convincing performance, something Tim Conway might have done. I have never seen a reaction to a "virus" such as she is experiencing. She has unique effects from losing ...............

WIMBLEDON, England -- In a bizarre scene at Wimbledon, Serena Williams appeared disoriented in a first-round doubles match with sister Venus and was forced to retire after three games Tuesday.

LONDON (AP) — It was clear something was wrong with Serena Williams from the moment she began trying to warm up for her Wimbledon doubles match Tuesday.

She weakly pushed volleys into the net from a couple of feet away. She whiffed on practice strokes. She even had trouble with the simple task of collecting tennis balls from the ball kids.

After Williams was examined for about 10 minutes on the sideline by medical staff, including a check of her blood pressure, the match began. After three games, though, an out-of-sorts Williams and her partner, older sister Venus, stopped. The tournament referee's office and WTA later said Serena, who lost in singles Saturday, had a viral illness.

"I am heartbroken I'm not able to continue in the tournament," Serena said in a statement. "I thought I could rally this morning because I really wanted to compete, but this bug just got the best of me."

About 1 1/2 hours after leaving the court, Serena walked out of the All England Club, still wearing her white match outfit, and with a tournament towel draped around her waist. She got into a car and was driven away.

"Unfortunately, Serena has been feeling unwell for the past few days and she just couldn't play to her potential today," Venus said. "I'm really proud of her for trying because we just love playing doubles together."

Indianapolis woman sues police after being stopped over bumper sticker

(Reuters) - An Indianapolis woman has sued the city's police department, contending that an order to remove an "Unmarked Police Car" bumper sticker from her minivan violated her rights to free speech, the group representing her said on Monday.

A lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana on Friday argued that Indianapolis police did not have the right to question and make demands of Pamela Konchinsky after pulling over her vehicle earlier this month.

"We contend that the police officers who detained and interrogated our client without legal grounds to do so violated her constitutional rights," ACLU attorney Kelly Eskew said in a statement. "The promise of our Constitution is that these lines cannot be crossed."

According to the complaint, Indianapolis police officers told Konchinsky the bumper sticker would make people think she was impersonating a police officer and could get her shot, before demanding that she remove it from her rear window.

The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department spokesman Lieutenant Chris Bailey said the department did not comment on pending litigation.

Caroline Wozniacki joins the growing push for shot clocks in tennis

On Monday at Wimbledon, Caroline Wozniacki fell toBarbora Zahlavova Strycova in her fourth round match, meaning this is her tenth straight exit at a Grand Slam before making the quarterfinals.

But Wozniacki wasn't just chatting about her play after the match, but about the time between points that her opponent was taking.

Wozniacki mentioned that the 20-second rule between points is being routinely abused, and that shot clocks might be the next thing to come to tennisif things don't change.

''I thought she was very slow,'' Wozniacki said. ''But I guess the referee, she has the time on it. If she's within the time, I guess it's OK.''

''I wouldn't mind,'' Wozniacki said. ''You have a clock. It shows exactly how much time you take in between points.''

The rules on time is something that is abused in just about every match you watch, and it's something that the stars in the sport seem to abuse more than anyone. Lukas Rosol, who lost toRafael Nadal after taking the first set off him in their second round match, said he thought that Nadal took way too much time between points and that he doesn't get as much pressure to speed up because of his position in the game.

"I think all the players should have the same time between the points. But always the best players, they're taking much more than the normal players, and nobody is telling them nothing. I don't know why," Rosol said.

The one big name on the men's side that tends to agree with this is Roger Federer. The 17-time Grand Slam champion mentioned last week that he thought a shot clock might be smart considering that regular tour events allow 25 seconds between points, an eternity in a world that continues to want things quicker and faster.

"What you're going to see next is all of a sudden a shot clock," Federer said. "We discussed that as well. We said we didn't need to go that far. I wouldn't be surprised if that were to happen all of a sudden. Because you only just need a couple of guys always doing it, and that's when it happens."

Would a shot clock work? I believe so. While it probably won't look like our edited picture above, why not allow umpires, fans and players alike to see exactly the time between points, and get people going? Just like pitchers in baseball, the time between points and plays seem to elongate the more stressful the moment, but that isn't exactly fair to the player waiting on the other end of the net.

If tennis really wants to address one of its biggest issues, putting in a shot clock between points wouldn't be the wildest of ideas, and might actually work if the penalties are actually enforced.

U.S. sending 300 more troops to Iraq

The U.S. is sending another 300 troops to Iraq to beef up security at the U.S. Embassy and elsewhere in the Baghdad area to protect U.S. citizens and property, officials said Monday.

That raises the total U.S. troop presence in Iraq to approximately 750, the Pentagon said.

The State Department, meanwhile, announced that it was temporarily moving an unspecified "small number" of embassy staff in Baghdad to U.S. consulates in the northern city of Irbil and the southern city of Basra. This is in addition to some embassy staff moved out of Baghdad earlier this month,

Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the Baghdad embassy "will be fully equipped to carry out" its mission.

The White House announced that President Barack Obama had directed that 200 troops be sent to reinforce security at the embassy, its support facilities and Baghdad International Airport.

The Pentagon said the 200 arrived Sunday and Monday.

"The presence of these additional forces will help enable the embassy to continue its critical diplomatic mission and work with Iraq on challenges they are facing as they confront Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant," the Pentagon's press secretary, Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, said in a written statement.

An old but good read ................

In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

4th of July

Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain (now officially known as the United Kingdom). 

Independence Day is commonly associated with:

• fireworks
• parades
• barbecues
• carnivals
• fairs
• picnics
• concerts
• baseball games
• family reunions
• political speeches and ceremonies
• in addition to various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. 

Independence Day is the National Day of the United States.

Obama is trampling on authority of Congress

The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee charged Sunday that President Obama is “trampling upon” the constitutional authority granted to Congress, as he defended Speaker John Boehner’s decision to file a lawsuit against the president for allegedly exceeding his authority.

“This is all about the United States Constitution,” Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., told “Fox News Sunday.”

Goodlatte rejected Democratic criticism that the lawsuit announced by Boehner amounts to an election-year political stunt. He cited a presidential pattern of “not enforcing laws, or changing laws that have been passed, taking power from the Legislative Branch.”

This, he said, runs afoul of Article 1 of the Constitution which grants legislative powers to Congress.

A few more comments .... of my own .....

I have never cared for Serena Williams. Venus, I liked, something about a smug, ego inflated Serena, just could not care for.

Her conduct and attitude on the courts was just too arrogant for me. And, I hated to see sisters play in the finals, with Dad sitting in the stands, waiting to collect the checks and invest in their various companies.

She was ..... a great athlete, I do not see how she maintains that number one ranking.

And then, to put the blame of losing, on her opponents, because they played better ..... against her ..... is the height of arrogance. "If she played her regular game, she could not beat me, I am number one." "They all play ..... above themselves when they play me."

She is unable to face the facts, she is not as competitive as she used to be .... some are able to compete with her .... even on a higher level. She will win again, I just hope, graciously ..... because, that she is not.

My Great Grand DaughterI

I may be a little prejudice .... but .... she is a cute kid.

Just wanted to share it.

Miss Emma

Al-Qaida breakaway formally declares Islamic State

BAGHDAD (AP) — The al-Qaida breakaway group that has seized much of northern Syria and huge tracks of neighboring Iraq formally declared the creation of an Islamic state on Sunday in the territory under its control.

The spokesman for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, made the announcement in an audio statement posted online. Islamic extremists have long dreamed of recreating the Islamic state, or caliphate, that ruled over the Middle East for hundreds of years.

Abu Mohammed al-Adnani said the group's chief, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is the new leader, or caliph, of the Islamic state. He called on those living in the areas under the organization's control to swear allegiance to al-Baghdadi and support him.

"The legality of all emirates, groups, states and organizations becomes null by the expansion of the caliph's authority and the arrival of its troops to their areas," al-Adnani said.

He said that with the creation of the caliphate, the group was changing its name to just the Islamic State, dropping the mention of Iraq and the Levant.

It was unclear what immediate practical impact the declaration would have on the ground in Syria and Iraq, or among the wider global jihadi community.

RBION

2 arrested, 22 dead in India building collapses

NEW DELHI (AP) — Police in southern India detained two construction company directors Sunday as rescuers using gas cutters and shovels searched for dozens of workers believed buried in the rubble of a building that collapsed during monsoon rains. It was one of two weekend building collapses that killed at least 22 people.

The 11-story apartment structure the workers were building collapsed late Saturday while heavy rains and lightning were pounding the outskirts of Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu state. Police said 31 construction workers had been pulled out so far and the search was continuing for more than a dozen others.

Four of the workers died on the spot and another seven succumbed to injuries in a hospital, said police officer George Fernandes.

Feeble voices were being heard from those trapped in the debris, said T.S. Sridhar, the disaster management agency commissioner. Rescuers used gas cutters, iron rods and shovels after cranes lifted concrete blocks to get to the survivors.

Nearly 90 contract workers were believed to have been in the basement of the structure to collect their weekly wages when it collapsed, Sridhar said, adding that the exact number of those trapped was unknown.

The collapsed structure was one of the two towers being built in the area, he said.

The weather in Ohio

How is the weather in Ohio, right now, you ask?

Arizona wildfire passes lines; shelter opens

VERNON, Ariz. (AP) — Fire crews are hoping that lighter winds on Saturday will spur progress against a wildfire that has charred more than 8 square miles in eastern Arizona's White Mountains and prompted crews to set up a shelter for evacuees.

The Red Cross announced Saturday that it has opened a temporary shelter after windy conditions pushed the San Juan fire past key containment lines

"The winds picked up and we did have a lot of movement on the fire," said Pamela Baltimore, a spokeswoman for the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. "The fire crossed containment lines to the east and west."

The north end of the fire was holding and planes were dropping slurry on active sections of the blaze in an attempt to re-establish the fire lines on the east and west flanks, officials said. The fire remains zero percent contained, officials said.

Communities mostly populated with summer homes remained under mandatory evacuation orders because of the fire that was reported around noon Thursday. Its cause remains under investigation.

A total of 37 summer homes in the Red Cabin Ranch and Whiting homestead areas remained evacuated as a precaution, and authorities said up to 90 structures in three communities could be threatened by the fire. Those structures include homes, barns and sheds.

More than 200 residents and tourists left the areas by the time evacuations were ordered Thursday night, Apache County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Richard Guinn said.

Pre-evacuation notices also have been issued for the area of Greens Peak Hideaway, officials said.

A public meeting has been scheduled in Vernon later Saturday, officials said.

There have been no reported injuries. The fire is about 135 miles east of Phoenix, near the New Mexico line.

My creation theory - Part ONE

I had one of them epiphany things today, in the shower no less.

I was washing, and a thought came to me ... just how cleverly and efficient our body is. Someone put a lot of thought in to the design of the body, who, when and where did it all happen. Regardless of your religious beliefs, someone, somewhere had to give some thought to the design of the body, it is too cleverly done to just be by chance. So, I gave some thought to it, thus, the epiphany thing.

My theory. God and some friends were sitting around talking, maybe around one of those little "fire" things that are popular today, or one similar. Now, they were just masses of energy, they had no form, this was a really long time ago. God spoke. "Guys, this is no good, we need some sort of form that we can all see, I'm really tire of these "energy mass" things that we are.. I want something I can see, I am getting tired of talking to nothing, you know what I mean?"

"Great idea," another energy mass said, "ah, what is an image, God?"

God replied, "Well, something we can see, make each one different, and, since I am somewhat the boss, new word I just came up with, boss, I like that. We are going to design schloks."

"Ah, what is a schlok."

"Ok, bad word, any ideas?"

They gave some thought to the idea, it was all new to them, words were even new, and they had never seen, well anything, the world as we know it, had not been created yet.

So, God, and "they" got together, came up with the word "shape" and decided to get to work, once they figured out that concept. This was all new to them.

in anser to yur question ...

Sumwun asked me yesterday wat I did befor I reetired.

I wuz in the priting besness, a typeesetter, prooofreader an a printer. I raan a presss too.

Wee had are own shop.

Thank u 4 the queestion. No, I yam no looonger un bizness. Dint wurk out, never figered out why.

Fast food employee at Taco John’s says manager forced him to wear name tag that read ‘Gaytard’

A fast food worker in Yankton, South Dakota alleges that he was harassed and discriminated against when his manager forced him to wear a name tag with a homophobic slur. 

Earlier this week, KELO Keloland Television reported that Tyler Brandt, a 16-year-old Taco John’s employee, quit his job after a manager pressured him into wearing a name tag with a demeaning label. 

“The manager pulled me into the office and gave me a name tag that read ‘Gaytard’ on it and asked me to wear it,” Brandt explained. “So I put it on because I didn’t want to upset him and I felt that if I did do anything to upset him that it would cause me to possibly lose my job because he would be looking for ways to fire me.” 

Brandt’s co-worker Kayla Martian told KDLT News that the manager made his feelings about Brandt known saying, "I remember one time he said, 'Tyler is so weird because he's so gay, it's not even funny.'" 

KDLT reports that Brandt learned early on that the management at that Taco John’s franchise had a “reputation for picking on employees,” though he didn’t think it would have gone as far as it did.

I believe it .........

An old post ..... asked for ..

For those of you who have never traveled to the West or Southwest, cattle guards are horizontal steel rails placed at fence openings, in dug-out places in the roads adjacent to highways (sometimes across highways), to prevent cattle from crossing over that area.  For some reason the cattle will not step on the "guards," probably because they fear getting their feet caught between the rails. 

A few months ago, President Obama received a report that there were over 100,000 cattle guards in Colorado .  Because Colorado ranchers had protested his proposed changes in grazing policies, he ordered the Secretary of the Interior to fire half of the cattle guards immediately. 

Before the Interior Secretary could respond and presumably straighten him out, Vice-President Joe Biden intervened with a request that before any guards were fired, they be given six months of retraining. 

And, they are running the country ..........

A new post

What to write? I have checked the news today, about the same, around the world. None of it can I figure. I have read a few blogs by "experts" and ...... a plethora of words, empty words, that meant nothing other than fulfillment of a contract so that financial remuneration can head towards the originator of the words.

Soccer seems to be the main topic, and if you Google it, there are many links where you can see dogs jumping and howling at large screen TV's with soccer on the screen. There must be a point of some kind there, will let you make up your own mind.

Oprah does not like Michelle Obama because she steals the show from Barack. Many will say, "Who cares." But, just think about that for a while .... Oprah, Michelle, Barack ...... OK, that's enough.

Much time is devoted to the question, "Where will Lebron end up?" In my opinion, if you cannot beat them, join them .... he will go to San Antonio and get another ring next year.

Pro football camps open up in a month. OK?

Some guy from China bought an expensive lunch for a bunch of homeless. In this country, every day, there are thousands of people doing the same thing, with no publicity. Which leads me to believe that HE did it for publicity, well, he sang a song, I think, the world, people one. No one else would listen so he bought one. Hey, come eat lunch, listen to me sing and I will give you $300. No one got $300 though but they did have to sit and listen to him sing. One guy, filled his pockets with food and left, saying he had an appointment with Donald Trump who promised to buy his dinner.

Breaking News ...............

The Hip Replacement Hip Replacement Company of Las Vegas, Nevada recently announced that they are considering opening a new subsidiary company that would be located in Fallon, Nevada, that would offer hip replacements for those who have had unsuccessful hip replacements.

In 1940 at Johns Hopkins hospital, Dr. Austin T. Moore (1899-1963), an American surgeon, reported and performed the first metallic hip replacement surgery. The original prosthesis he designed was a proximal femoral replacement, with a large fixed head, made of the Cobalt-Chrome alloy Vitallium. 

Most of these replacements have been successful, but a few have failed and required additional hip replacement surgery.

Now, we are finding that a large number of the hip replacement hip replacement surgeries have been unsuccessful for the same problems encountered with the second replacement.

The third level replacement prosthesis is in development, and will replace the replacement after more testing is performed. HRHRIII is looking for volunteers to test the new unit. 

If you have had a hip replacement that was replaced, please get in touch with HRHRIII in Fallon, at 1-800-GOODHIP.