A-Rod says he's ready to rejoin Yanks, play Monday

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) ? Alex Rodriguez brushed aside any worries about a pending suspension, saying he's headed to Chicago and plans to play for the New York Yankees on Monday night.

"I'm excited to play Monday," the star third baseman said after drawing four straight walks with Double-A Trenton on Saturday night. "I can't wait to see my teammates. I feel like I can help them win."

Rodriguez said he would work out Sunday ? no one disclosed the site ? and then travel to Chicago, where the Yankees will open a three-game series with the White Sox on Monday.

No matter what else happens?

"I'm flying to Chicago," he said.

Major League Baseball and the Yankees turned down requests Saturday to meet with Rodriguez's camp and the union about the embattled star's expected drug penalty, two people familiar with the talks told The Associated Press.

The overtures were made two days before MLB was poised to hand Rodriguez a lengthy suspension for his part in the Biogenesis case. The two people spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because no public statements were authorized.

"I've been on the field the last 5? hours. I haven't seen or heard anything," Rodriguez said. "My focus has been on baseball. As far as any of that stuff, I'll let those guys take care of what they need to take care of."

Before Rodriguez took the field, his side reached out to the Yankees and union head Michael Weiner contacted MLB Executive Vice President Rob Manfred. The Yankees and MLB said they had no interest in such talks.

There was always the chance, however, that further negotiations could take place at the last minute.

"I'll have an opportunity, when the time is right, to tell my full story," Rodriguez said.

The New York Post, Daily News and New York Times reported the discussions earlier Saturday.

There hasn't been any definite word on the severity of Rodriguez's looming penalty, with speculation ranging from a lifetime ban to a suspension through the 2014 season.

Also possible, according to those familiar with the talks, was a suspension lasting until Aug. 31, 2014, the day before all teams are permitted to expand their rosters from 25 players to 40.

The 38-year-old Rodriguez hasn't played in the majors this season. The three-time American League MVP is recovering from hip surgery and a strained quadriceps.

A day after Rodriguez homered for Trenton, Thunder manager Tony Franklin hedged on whether A-Rod was ready to rejoin the majors.

"That's not for me to say," Franklin said. "His swing is getting better. He's running better. He's doing the baseball things OK right now. But that's a different game up there."

"I think he can handle it because he's been there for a number of years," he said. "I don't think he'll be surprised by anything on the baseball field despite what's going on now. He's been one of the best baseball players I have ever seen. Once they decide he's ready to go back, I don't think he'll have any trouble adapting at all."

Rodriguez certainly had no trouble tracking balls, drawing three of his four walks on full-count pitches against Reading. He swung through a 91 mph fastball on a 3-0 pitch his third time up in the fifth and flipped his bat.

A high-and-tight fastball backed him off the plate in the seventh, and he turned and smiled, thankful the pitch didn't hit him.

Rodriguez ran the bases, then left the game after the seventh. He gave his batting gloves and a bat to fans in the sellout crowd of 8,113 before heading into the dugout.

"I feel great," Rodriguez said. "It was great to see a lot of pitches."

A few minutes before the national anthem, he chatted up fans near the dugout, fist-pumped a kid and walked off to have a catch.

Rodriguez caught a knuckling line drive by the game's first batter and later fielded a grounder and began an inning-ending double play.

Batting second, Rodriguez walked to the plate to Jay-Z's "On To The Next One" and received a mixture of cheers and boos in the first. He fouled off a 2-2 pitch before eventually drawing a walk.

Rodriguez slowly went first to third on a double off the right-field wall and was stranded. He also walked in the third while his girlfriend, former pro wrestler Torrie Wilson, held up her cell phone to video the action from a second-row seat behind the plate.

In the top of the second, Rodriguez ranged to his right to field a grounder and threw high and wide to second. It was ruled an infield hit, though he probably would've made the play a few years ago.

The next inning, Rodriguez fielded a slow bouncer down the line and made a strong throw to first to get the out. He heard loud cheers as he jogged slowly to the dugout, looking around and seemingly taking in the crowd's appreciation.

___

Ronald Blum reported from New York.

___

Follow Rob Maaddi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_RobMaaddi

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rod-says-hes-ready-rejoin-yanks-play-monday-025302805.html

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Florida denying the transfer of Randy Moss? daughter to Kentucky

Florida women?s basketball player Sydney Moss is looking to transfer schools. The daughter of former NFL star Randy Moss was thought to be interested in the possibility of attending Kentucky to play for Matthew Mitchell. Unfortunately, Florida says that Moss can transfer to any school she wants to? besides Kentucky.?

That sounds like a bit of fear to me?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/kentuckysportsradio/kFbt/~3/J04UPGQoSAs/

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ACC commish hopes for speedy NCAA verdict for Miami

ACC commissioner John Swofford meets with the media Sunday afternoon in Greensboro. (Michael Casagrande/Sun Sentinel / July 21, 2013)

GREENSBORO, N.C. ? Much of the discussion at this week's ACC Kickoff media event centers around new members Pitt and Syracuse.

But one controversy remains with an expansion program of a decade ago.

Miami enters the 6-8 week window for an expected verdict from the NCAA on Friday. ACC commissioner John Swofford joined UM counsel and administration at the June hearings with the Committee on Infractions in June.

He couldn't say much about what he heard over the two days in the hotel conference room.

"I would hope whatever is coming from the NCAA will come before the season starts," Swofford said Sunday. "I would be very disappointed if that's not the case."

Swofford was very complimentary of the presentation UM made in Indianapolis.

"I thought the University of Miami, their personnel and leadership and [attorney] Mike Glazier handled it extraordinarily well.

Follow our UM coverage on Twitter at @ByCasagrande and Facebook and click here for text message alerts.

?

Source: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/um-hurricanes/miami-hurricanes-blog/sfl-john-swofford-on-miami-case-with-ncaa-20130721,0,7424361.post?track=rss

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American Cancer Society seeks local participants for national study

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Source: http://lancastereaglegazette.com/article/20130715/NEWS01/307150015/1002/rss01

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Brain scans of inmates turn up possible link to risks of reoffending

ALBUQUERQUE ? It began with a casual question that neuroscientist Kent Kiehl posed to a postdoctoral fellow in his laboratory who had been conducting brain scans on New Mexico prison inmates.

"I asked, 'Does ACC activity predict the risk of reoffending?'" Kiehl recalls, using the scientific shorthand for the anterior cingulate cortex, a brain structure associated with error processing.

The postdoctoral fellow, Eyal Aharoni, decided to find out. When he compared 96 inmates whose brains had been monitored while they performed a test that measures impulsiveness, he discovered a stark contrast: Those with low ACC activity were about twice as likely to commit crimes within four years of being released as those with high ACC activity.

"We cannot say with certainty that all who are in the high-risk category will reoffend ? just that most will," Kiehl says. "It has very big implications for how we think about treatment and rehabilitation."

The study is the latest paper from Kiehl's lab reporting on experiments performed in a powerful functional magnetic resonance imaging scanner mounted in a semi-trailer. Kiehl and his team at the nonprofit Mind Research Network have used the scanner to study the brains of nearly 3,000 convicted criminals at facilities in New Mexico and Wisconsin since 2007.

Each inmate who volunteers for testing is paid a small hourly stipend and receives a copy of the brain scan, Kiehl says. But the scan is just part of a lengthy process in which Kiehl's assistants interview the inmates, review their prison files and assign scores on the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised, a standard test for measuring psychopathy.

The MRI trailer is parked in a secure area of the prison compound, but no guards are present during the testing, Kiehl says. "Our staff are trained in prison security protocols," he says.

The trove of data they have gathered has revealed telltale abnormalities in the structure and functioning of psychopaths' brains. On the whole, they have less gray matter in the paralimbic system ? believed to help regulate emotion ? which may help account for their characteristic glibness, pathological lying, lack of empathy and tendency to act impulsively.

Kiehl often briefs judges and legal groups on his findings and has consulted in more than 100 criminal cases where, for example, psychopathy might be raised as a mitigating factor to account for a defendant's impaired self-control.

The mere suggestion that it might be possible to predict future criminal behavior may conjure up such futuristic films as "Minority Report," but Kiehl cautioned that the new study merely averages test results from a large group and cannot at this point predict whether any particular individual will reoffend.

But with further refinement, he says, brain imaging might one day be considered in civil commitment proceedings, where convicted sexual offenders can be held indefinitely if it is believed they have a propensity to reoffend.

Predictions about whether an offender poses an ongoing danger to society "already play roles in a variety of legal contexts, such as in deciding whether to sentence a criminal offender to a mental health facility, deciding whether to grant parole and the like," said Owen D. Jones, a Vanderbilt University professor of law and biology and director of the MacArthur Foundation Law and Neuroscience Project, which helped fund Kiehl's study.

Describing the study as interesting and well-designed, Jones said the neuroscience of criminal behavior was evolving so rapidly that courts and lawmakers could barely keep up. "Although there are efforts underway to help the legal system close that gap, the gap remains," he said. "This poses challenges to the fair and effective administration of justice."

After hundreds of encounters with psychopaths, Jones has come to view their distinctive lack of empathy as a missing skill, akin to a dyslexic's inability to read.

Some experts see psychopathy as an incurable defect, but Kiehl cites neuroplasticity ? the brain's lifelong ability to remold itself in the face of new stimuli ? as cause for optimism: New therapies might be developed to bolster the psychopathic brain's underactive empathy circuits, he says.

Selling that idea to judges and lawmakers, however, is likely to be an uphill battle. "The problem is, people don't think about empathy as an ability," he said. "They take it for granted."

Kiehl, who has received inquiries from neuroscientists throughout North America and Europe about using his mobile MRI for data collection, is hard at work adding to the existing database of New Mexico and Wisconsin inmates.

"There are also other opportunities where it could be leased commercially," Kiehl says. "We're going to go international."

nation@latimes.com

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Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/P_c1kGwDru8/la-na-prisoner-brains-20130715,0,1919049.story

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Michael Farfan's winning blast for Philadelphia Union an example of his "great technique"

CHESTER, Pa. ? It was not a play the Philadelphia Union ever practiced.

But as Chivas USA players surrounded referee Jorge Gonzalez to vehemently protest getting called for an illegal back-pass to goalkeeper Dan Kennedy, Michael Farfan knew exactly what he was going to do with the rarely-seen indirect free kick.

?I was watching after the call was made and Mike was lining that up for about two minutes,? said Union manager John Hackworth, who was ejected from the game just minutes earlier for arguing a no-call and watched the play unfold from the tunnel. ?You could tell he was going there.?

OPTA Chalkboard: Union improve in second half en route to scoring three unanswered goals

After patiently waiting for the chaos to stop, the Union then perfectly executed the free kick from about seven yards out. Farfan rocketed the ball over the horde of Chivas USA players in front of him and into the top of the net after getting a tap from Sebastien Le Toux, giving the Union a permanent lead in what ended up being a 3-1 victory.

?You could tell right away that Michael said, ?Hey, I got this. If you just put it to where I can get it, I?m going to put this on the roof,?? Hackworth said. ?And he did. He aimed it perfectly. He?s a great player that way. He?s got excellent technique.?

Despite being so close to goal, it was not an easy play to score on. Chivas put essentially their entire team in front of the goal and then the Goats' players charged toward Farfan right when Le Toux made the tap.

?I was pretty confident,? Farfan said. ?I knew they were going to come rushing out so I had to put it over their heads. I was just trying to make sure I didn?t put it over the bar.?

READ: Philadelphia suddenly spoiled with midfield options

Union captain Brian Carroll has been in the league for 11 years but noted he?s only seen the illegal back-pass called ?once or twice? in his professional career. And because it happens so infrequently, how you handle the ensuing indirect free kick is ?playground ball stuff.?

?It?s not easy even though it?s so close to the goal,? Carroll said. ?Credit to the guys for coming up with that designed play and making it happen.?

The goal was Farfan?s first of the season. Even better, the game-winning strike happened in his first-ever professional matchup against his twin brother Gabriel Fabrian?and with their mother watching the game live from the stands.

?That?s probably the most difficult goal that he?s had,? Union right back Sheanon Williams said. ?The technique to sky it to the top of the net is great. That?s good for him. I think it will build his confidence and hopefully he?ll continue to score more goals going forward.?

Dave Zeitlin covers the Union for MLSsoccer.com. Email him at djzeitlin@gmail.com.

Source: http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/07/12/michael-farfans-winning-blast-philadelphia-union-example-his-great-technique

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Zimbabwe 'mole' blogger dishes out dirt on gov't

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) ? Baba Jukwa's name is whispered in buses, bars and on street corners by Zimbabweans eager for the inside scoop on President Robert Mugabe's ruling party. One avid follower even climbs a tree in a rural village for a signal to call a friend for the latest tidbits from the mysterious yet stupendously popular blogger.

Baba Jukwa, or Jukwa's father in the local Shona language, is a ZANU-PF party insider, or "mole," who says on his popular Facebook page that he is disheartened by the "corrupt and evil machinations" of President Robert Mugabe's fractious party.

From its launch in March the Baba Jukwa page now has a larger following than either the president and prime minister with at least 200,000 followers.

The shadowy blog points to what it claims are exposes by well-connected insiders of Mugabe's health secrets, murder, assassination and corruption plots, and intended intimidation and vote-rigging ahead of upcoming elections scheduled for the end of July. It also, in some postings, calls for violent retribution against ruling party members.

Zimbabweans who follow Baba Jukwa now say they have unfettered access to what they have always wanted to know but never dared ask for fear of being arrested. Under the nation's sweeping security laws, it is an offense to undermine the authority of the president and national security operatives.

There is even a Baba Jukwa claim on the page that there is a bounty on his head, although it is believed there are several authors because the writing style of the posts changes from day to day.

After state-run media, loyal to 89-year-old Mugabe, said the president made a trip to Singapore for an eye check-up, the Baba Jukwa page stated: "When we welcomed him at the airport yesterday early in the morning our old man, ladies and gentlemen, looked weaned and very weak. It was clear that the chemotherapy process he went through in Far East Asia was still having effect on him."

It said Mugabe was suffering from a severe recurrence of prostate cancer.

With the catchphrase "tapanduka zvamuchose," a Shona term that he has "gone rogue," Baba Jukwa gives details of secret venues and times of undercover meetings.

ZANU-PF insiders have reported they are afraid to leave important meetings to go to the bathroom in case they are suspected of firing off smart phone texts to Baba Jukwa. The site has reported getting tip-offs from the midst of meetings of Mugabe's politburo, its highest policy making body, and other confidential gatherings.

Zimbabwe has an estimated 12 million mobile subscribers with 60 percent estimated to have direct access to the Internet through their cell phones, according to commercial company reports from the three main mobile networks.

McDonald Lewanika, director of Crisis Coalition, an alliance of democracy and human rights groups said the Facebook site has provided ordinary Zimbabweans with a platform to access information on secretive state security operations. Lewanika said Baba Jukwa remains anonymous because of the dangers associated with what he is doing.

"It is a bad sign for the country that there's no free flow of information," Lewanika told The Associated Press.

The faceless Baba Jukwa vows to end Mugabe's rule by exposing the alleged involvement of his top officials, secret agents, police and military in the violence that led to disputed elections in 2008 and corruption and internal plotting ever since.

Baba Jukwa says Mugabe won't be able to withstand a grueling election campaign.

Mugabe's ZANU-PF party spokesman Rugare Gumbo said that his party does not know the identity of Baba Jukwa and other possible contributors.

The posts are factually incorrect, he said. However, some have proven to be correct as events unfold. The distribution of private and secret telephone numbers of security agents and forecasts of political developments have been corroborated in later public statements by Mugabe's ZANU-PF party.

"Whoever he is, he fabricates lies and is not doing any good to the morality of our society," Gumbo said.

Baba Jukwa's posts claim Mugabe's ZANU-PF is incensed by the site and is making desperate efforts to establish his identity and has put a $300,000 bounty on him or them being unmasked. That claim could not be verified.

"They are wasting their time as I am extremely careful and working from within the country and will never go anywhere as long as these evil old people exist I will continue fighting. My blood will water freedom and democracy for Zimbabweans if I die for this cause" he said, in a recent Facebook posting.

"Asijiki," a word in the local language for "we do not retreat" is the signoff Baba Jukwa uses at the end of all the posts.

Baba Jukwa has been dubbed by his followers "Zimbabwe's own Julian Assange", but he describes himself in the local Shona language as "mupupuri wezvokwadi" which means "the harbinger of truth."

A former minister from Mugabe's party was killed in a car wreck June 19 after a post had warned several times of an assassination plot against him. The page claimed Edward Chindori-Chininga was suspected of being a Baba Jukwa contributor who leaked inside information on infighting in Mugabe's party.

"I told you there will be body bags coming this year ... The war has begun," Baba Jukwa posted on his wall.

The posts have detailed the correct private phone numbers of police, intelligence chiefs and under-cover intelligence officers and urged readers to call them.

In one post, Baba Jukwa warned Saviour Kasukuwere, the nation's black empowerment minister who has been accused of violence, that his child would be kidnapped "in lieu of any act of violence he perpetrates."

Jukwa also posted Kasukuwere's personal phone number, and the minister publicly admitted to receiving least 50 insulting calls a day, and some even went to his children and aging mother. He said the calls were taking a toll on his family but added "it's a price we have to pay for our country," he said.

Baba Jukwa has promised to revealed his identity in time.

"I assure you will know me in a new Zimbabwe where our government will be transparent," he said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/zimbabwe-mole-blogger-dishes-dirt-govt-154532467.html

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