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Thursday, November 5, 2015

Atlanta Braves News: The Morning Chop, David Justice, Free Agents, Jonny Gomes ...

Jonny Gomes excites crowd with speech at rally

Albany Herald

Tomahawk Take Editors Note: The day after the World Series, all MLB players who are eligible become free agents. On Monday, this happened. This means that Pierzynski, Peter Moylan, Ross Detwiler and Edwin Jackson are all not a part of the Atlanta Braves at this point. With bullpen being the biggest point of interest this offseason, Moylan and Jackson will probably be pursued to return to Atlanta.

The Braves hope to re-sign veteran Pierzynski, but it remains to be seen if his price rises above where theyre willing to go for the catcher, wholl be 39 on Dec. 30. After batting .300 with 24 doubles, nine homers and 49 RBIs in 113 games, Pierzynski might be attractive for an American League team that can offer a multi-year deal with the designated-hitter role a possibility down the line.

Moylan signed a two-year minor league deal with the Braves in March that was intended to give him time to recover at a cautious pace from his second Tommy John surgery and serve as a player/coach for rookie-league Danville in late summer. But he progressed ahead of scheduled and was called up by the major league team in August, at which point the minor-league contract was voided.

The Braves might have interest in re-signing Moylan or Jackson, who was released by the Cubs last summer with 1 1/2 seasons left on a huge contract.

Fox Sports

AJC

Tomahawk Take Editors Note: Remember when the Atlanta Braves had Jonny Gomes? I do. I was a fan of this guy. He brought leadership and a voice to a team that seems they havent had one in years. Though he underperformed on the field during his time with the Braves, I believe he lit a spark during the first half of the season. The Braves, yes the ones that traded away many pieces of their team, were a .500 team around the half way point of 2015Atlanta traded him to the Royals on August 31. Think he had anything to do with a playoff surge for Kansas City?

Its unbelievable what those boys did.

Its unbelievable what they did! Its unbelievable what they did!

They stole bases, they hit homers.

Hey guess what, Cy Young winner, not on our team, beat him.

Rookie of the year, not on our team, we beat him.

MVP of the whole league, turning to the teammates behind him, sorry guys, not on our team. But we beat that guy, too! You know why we beat them. Because all of yall people had our backs.

Source: http://tomahawktake.com/2015/11/04/atlanta-braves-news-the-morning-chop-david-justice-free-agents-jonny-gomes-speech/

DNA evidence could "make or break" Fox Lake police shooting investigation ...

Fox Lake Shooting: Coroner Deepens the Mystery "Can"t rule out Suicide"!

FOX LAKE Police investigating the shooting death of Fox Lake Police Lt. Joseph Gliniewicz have hopes that DNA evidence recovered at the scene will bring them closer to the suspects after several surveillance videos failed to do so.

As the investigation proceeds, DNA and the science behind it might be the only hope investigators have of catching the suspects without video, a dashboard camera recording or eyewitness accounts of the attack, some experts contend.

If there are no witnesses, DNA will make or break the case, said Richard Kling, a clinical professor of law at Chicago-Kent College of Law. Theres nobody saying, I saw this person. Theres no video or surveillance footage.

Lake County Major Crime Task Force Cmdr. George Filenko said Tuesday investigators recovered DNA that was not Gliniewiczs at the crime scene. The announcement came after he revealed the three men captured on video near the crime scene were not involved in the shooting.

Filenko, as well as Lake County Sheriffs Department Detective Chris Covelli, wouldnt elaborate on where specifically the DNA was found or what the source was blood, saliva, sweat but they said the DNA had made contact with something relevant to Gliniewicz.

Any time an unknown donors DNA is found at the crime scene, its significant, Covelli said.

Covelli said investigators hope to receive results from the Northeastern Illinois Crime Laboratory, the Illinois State Police and a federal lab soon, although he couldnt provide a more exact time frame as of Friday.

Police have been investigating the case for almost two weeks. Gliniewicz, 52, was shot and killed about 8 a.m. Sept. 1 after he radioed he was in a foot pursuit with two white men and one black man. Police have yet to add any details to the vague description of the suspects.

DNA is a powerful tool, Kling said. Its cleared people when they have been erroneously convicted, but its also helped police catch suspects years after the crime occurred. He pointed to the Browns Chicken massacre in Palatine, in which investigators found DNA on a chicken leg left at the scene that matched one of the killers and led to convictions years later.

But the sample could bring disappointing results initially, said Karl Reich, the chief scientific officer at Lombard-based Independent Forensic. Police wont be able to glean anything from the DNA unless it has a match, Reich said.

The DNA profile is literally a set of numbers and it does not tell you anything about that person, Reich said.

Police will compare it the millions of samples compiled from across the country in the FBIs Combined DNA Index System, also known as CODIS. Lake County investigators also will compare the sample to more than 50 DNA samples taken from people interviewed in the case. Those samples come from people who might have had contact with Gliniewicz.

The laws dictating when a DNA sample is collected vary by state. In some states, police take DNA after an arrest depending on the severity of the crime. Meanwhile, other states collect DNA only after someone has been convicted of a specific set of crimes.

In Illinois, state law requires all convicted felons and registered s*x offenders submit a DNA sample, Illinois State Police spokesman Sgt. Matthew Boerwinkle said in an email. People arrested for first degree murder, home invasion, predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, aggravated criminal sexual assault or criminal sexual assault have to submit a DNA sample after they have been indicted by a grand jury, the code reads.

Illinois had nearly 527,680 DNA samples as of June 30, Boerwinkle said.

DNA is used in just about all of the felony cases, and most of the new cases, in Lake County, States Attorney Michael Nerheim said. He said its a change from the past, when more DNA was needed to create a usable sample. With the change has come a need to scrutinize why the DNA is at a scene.

One of the things we have to keep in mind is there are a lot of reasons someone could touch something, Nerheim said.

Nerheim said theres often a misconception about the prevalence of DNA. Prosecutors and others refer to it as the CSI effect, a side-effect from crime dramas that leads people to believe all crime scenes are teeming with DNA evidence. But thats not the case in many crimes, such as in Fox Lake, where officials have said they are testing one sample.

The general public thinks DNA is everywhere and, if someone touches something, it will be there forever, Nerheim said. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isnt. Sometimes its found and sometimes its not.

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Source: http://www.nwherald.com/2015/09/11/dna-evidence-could-make-or-break-fox-lake-police-shooting-investigation-experts-say/aje1i5j/

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Spike Lee Calls Rahm A "Bully" In New Interview On "Chiraq"

Bad School In Chiraq

By now yall probably know that Spike Lee is making a new movie called Chiraq. Its going to a modern day adaptation of the ancient Greek play Lysistrata based here in Chicago. Lysistrataoriginally performed in 411 B.C. in Athensis the tale of Trojans and Spartans warring with each other. In the play the women involved withhold s*x from the warriors in an effort to stop the violence. Lee aims to take Lysistrata and place it into the setting of modern day Chicago.

The movie has been incredibly divisive. Some are supportive and hope that Lee will create something that shines a light on the citys long standing problems of segregation and gun violence, and that this film will help spur a systemic change. Others are wary that this film is not going to do much more than romanticize the aforementioned problems. Several prominent city figures think the latter is true and Spike has had issues with them as he filmed the movie.

Chicago Magazine recently sat down with Lee to talk about what its like to beef with several aldermen and the mayor:

...Your mayor and I got off on the wrong foot, right away. What I didnt like was him trying to paint me as this villain. Im not the bad guy, but thats how he was trying to portray it. Do I have the guns? Am I the one pulling the trigger? To be honest, hes a bully,

"Youre going to be on the wrong side of history," Lee said he told him. "What economic development is going on in the South Side?

Whether you like Spike Lee or find him to be irritating, hes not entirely wrong here. The citys South and West Sides suffered the worst of the school closings, and food deserts run rampant in those areas. At the same time, there is a lot of positive things going on in the citys south and west neighborhoods that are often overlooked. The Chosen Few Picnic has become a yearly tradition, a South Side institution and celebration of house music while Blue 1647, which has a location in Englewood, aims to teach people of color tech skills and help close the racial gap in tech.

The whole interview is interesting and is worth taking a look at. Lee also talks about his feelings on gun violence, Black Lives Matter and the intersection where both meet. Check out the full interview here.

Source: http://chicagoist.com/2015/10/23/spike_lee_calls_rahm_a_bully_in_int.php

Jimmy Kimmel and parents ruin Halloween for kids again with candy prank

YouTube Challenge - I Told My Kids I Ate All Their Halloween Candy 2014

ABCJimmy Kimmel and cruel parents across the country did it again.

For the fourth year in a row, the late-night host asked parents to tell their kids that they had eaten all the Halloween candy, and then post the results on YouTube.

"We never run out of participants for this," Kimmel said on last night"s show. "Every year, I think kids are going to know, they watch these videos, they"ll be too old to fall for it. I will be able to do this for as long as people continue to have s*x."

This year, a couple kids (as Kimmel feared) remembered the joke from past years and weren"t fooled. But they were the minority. The majority had meltdowns.

The range of reactions was quite vast. Some kids simply couldn"t believe that their parents could do such a thing, while others were surprisingly forgiving. But most were tremendously peeved.

Some had no problem expressing themselves.

Your browser does not support the video tag.ABC

Some had no words.

Your browser does not support the video tag.ABC

Some tried to bargain.

Your browser does not support the video tag.ABC

Some had some help expressing themselves.

Your browser does not support the video tag.ABC

Watch the whole segment below:

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/jimmy-kimmel-halloween-candy-prank-2015-11

Nationals hire Dusty Baker as manager

2002 WS Gm5: Snow swoops in to save Baker"s son

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Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals-hire-dusty-baker-as-manager/2015/11/03/0c6286aa-822e-11e5-9afb-0c971f713d0c_gallery.html

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Atlanta Falcons: William Moore at crossroads in 2015

Atlanta Falcons: The Dirty Birds | In 60 Seconds | NFL

Atlanta Falcons veteran starting strong safety William Moore is the type of player thats easy to root for, especially if you are the fan of a team that hasnt had too many playmakers on the defensive side of the ball in recent years. With his leadership, willingness to take responsibility for mistakes, and the fact that hes just one three defensive backs(Earl Thomas and Charles Woodson are the others) with at least 35 passes defended, 15picks, four fumbles recovered, and ten fumbles forced since the 2010 season, hes become a fixture in Atlanta.

The problem is that his playmaking ability mars the fact that hes a mistake-prone player, and the 2015 season has provided us with another example of how the plays he generates shroud these issues. Moore, who admitted in the piece on 247Sports linked above that he isnt a pure strong safety, has struggled to consistently come up and make plays in run defense this year, in addition to making mistakes in coverage.

Quarterbacks have picked on Moores coverage frequently this season, because, per Pro Football Focus, no other safety has faced more targets as a proportion of their total snaps in coverage. Moores deficiencies in pass defense in the Kam Chancellor role have been exposed frequently, most namely in the loss to the New Orleans Saints on Thursday Night Football and the Week 1 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

Is Moore a bad safety? No. But he misses tackles, blows coverage assignments, and is no longer the same player he used to be. Not only are the Falcons deeper at safety than before, but they have also added young, cheap talent. One of those young, cheap players is Kemal Ishmael, who is just 24 and received the start at SS last week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with Moore out with a groin injury. Ishmael held up well overall, as Jameis Winston and the Bucs werent able to get much going against a player who will make just $675,000 in the final year of his contract in 2016.

Meanwhile, Moore is slated tocount $6.65 million against the cap next season as a 31-year-old, and his cap hit jumps up to an untenable $8.625 million in the final year of his contract in 2017. Only 12 safeties count more money against the capthis season than Moores $5.368 million cap hit, so you can only imagine where hed rank in 2016 and 2017 when that number rises. Even with $3.3 million and $1.65 million in dead cap, respectively, in the final two seasons of his deal due to remaining signing bonus money, Moore is very much a cut candidate upon the conclusion of the 2015 season.

Basically, the Falcons are going to have to make a tough decision on Moore sooner rather than later, and my gut feeling is that it might not be so tough for Dan Quinn and Thomas Dimitroff. While Moore is still a starting-caliber safety in this league, its hard to call him an above-average starter. Yes, he has two interceptions on the season with four passes defended and is good for a game-changing hit, but his stat sheet is filled with empty tackles and doesnt reflect underlying issues.

Of course, the NFL is all about the bottom line, and expensive, 30-year-old safeties on a rebuilding defense with younger, less expensive options generally dont stick around. The Falcons could use a veteran leader like Moore around, but its starting to become hard to argue that hes a better option at strong safety than, say, Ishmael. Perhaps calling him a liability is too strong, but, well, a player who is set to count $6.65 million against the cap needs to be a clear asset in order to justify the cost.

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Considering the fact that Moore played in just seven games in 2014 and missed last weeks game with an injury, health is a background issue worth keeping in the back of our minds here. Every week, Moore is trying to prove to the organization that hes worth keeping beyond the 2015 season, and further improvement from Ishmael and other safeties on the roster like Robensen Therezie would make his chances of returning seem even less likely.

Sep 3, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Falcons strong safety William Moore (25) in action against the Baltimore Ravens in the first quarter at the Georgia Dome. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

At this point, I think Moore is on the outs, because it doesnt matter what hes done in the past or how many highlight-reel interceptions or big hits he makes. What matters is cost, overall effectiveness, fit, and the other options around him. None of these four factors are working in his favor, so the playmaking is merely a superficial benefit in this case.

The Falcons defense has been surprisingly strong in Quinns first year, as they are in the top half of the league in yards allowed and points per game allowed after unquestionably being one of the NFLs worst units in 2014.

This rapid improvement has little to do with Moore, meaning that its hard to see the 30-year-old having a future with the team beyond the 2015 season. The Falcons already have players who qualify as leaders and building blocks, so age is more of a detriment than experience a positive for Moores chances of sticking around.

Source: http://nflspinzone.com/2015/11/03/atlanta-falcons-william-moore-at-crossroads-in-2015/

Merger Monday on Wall Street; Chipotle E. coli scare; Retailers struggling for ...

Eight People Hospitalized After Eating Chipotle - The Drop Presented By ADD

Stocks (^GSPC) (^DJI) (^IXIC)are aiming to start November with more gains after finishing the best month in four years in October as the deal making frenzy continues on Wall Street.

Get the Latest Market Data and News with the Yahoo Finance App

Visa(V)confirms it"s buying its European counterpart, Visa Europe, in a deal worth up to $23.4 billion. The deal will help Visa better compete against rivals such as MasterCard (MA) by bringing all its operations under one roof. Separately, Visa reported an earnings per share miss for its fiscal fourth quarter, while revenue came in right in line with estimates.

Food combo

ConAgra Foods(CAG)is selling its private brands business to TreeHouse Foods (THS) for $2.7 billion in cash so it could focus more on its name brands such as Chef Boyardee pastas and Slim Jim beef jerky.The deal will create the the biggest U.S. private label food and drinks maker with annual revenue of nearly $7 billion dollars.

Get the Latest Market Data and News with the Yahoo Finance App

Dyax(DYAX) is being bought by Shire (SHPG) for $5.9 billion in cash. That comes out to about $37.30 a share. The deal will give Shire access to a treatment for rare genetic disorder that attacks the immune system. If the drug is approved by regulators Dyax shareholders may then receive an additional $4 in cash per share, or $646 million.

HP splits

Hewlett-Packard(HPQ) is officially splitting into two companies after a yearlong process. HP will largely consist of personal computers and printers while Hewlett Packard Enterprise, orHPE, will sell sell the computer servers, data storage, networking, software and consulting services.

Chipotle(CMG) said it has closed 43 restaurants in the Seattle and Portland area due to an E.Coli outbreak that appears to be linked to the restaurants. At least 20 people have gotten sick after eating at the restaurants.

Sprint cost cuts coming

Another company feeling some pain is Sprint (S). According to several news reports, the company is trying to pare $2.5 billion in costs by targeting everything from snacks and raises and even the spectre of job cuts. Sprint expected to report quarterly results on Tuesday.

Holiday hiring hurdle

The holiday season is upon us, but are retailers finding themselves in a pinch? The Wall Street Journal reports retailers are having to offer higher pay and more hours in order to attract seasonal workers - with one CEO claiming theyre not getting as many job seekers in the past.

Source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/merger-monday-on-wall-street--chipotle-e--coli-scare--retailers-struggling-for-holiday-help-130559078.html