Usually I am not keen to review gear but after yesterday's experience I felt the need to warn fellow paddlers about the danger lurking in the curb appeal of the Camelbak Molokai Hydration system.

I was lured in by the amount of storage the ads boasted. I have longed to be able to carry a USCG approved PFD, the proper amount of hydration, and a snack or two all on one part of my body. I have been looking at pictures from races to see what the pros do and there are times when the pros do not carry a PFD much less hydration as well. I am not a pro and do not live my life by the ocean so I feel much more comfortable having the necessary safety items close to my person. However, I carry a lot more weight that many of the pros so I am always trying to find ways to make myself feel lighter on the board.

While it really isn't that bad to have a PFD around the waist and some hydration over the shoulders (Danny Ching did it that way at the 2013 Carolina Cup following the rules like a true champion) I have been trying to consolidate. After reading some reviews about the Camelbak systems created for paddlers, the Tahoe, the Molokai, and the Baja, I jumped at the chance to buy one. After much deliberation I chose the Molokai for more water capacity as I tend to need more hydration in the hot summer months when races are frequent. The Tahoe, that goes around the waist, seemed like the way to go but it only holds 50 ounces of water and I like to do the occasional long paddle and went with the 70 ounce capacity Molokai. Mistake.

I had been using the Dakine Waterman which was great but the PFD capacity of the Molokai looked like THE solution to my consolidation wishes. Five strokes into my paddle I realized I might have made the wrong choice. Six miles into my paddle I was trying my best not to curse Camelbak for making such an uncomfortable product that falls completely short of its intentions.

The lightest USCG approved PFD I have found fits well in the area made to store such but to put the PFD, 70 ounces of water, a cell phone in a waterproof case, and some Cliff shot blocks all on the shoulders is too much. I tried to adjust all the straps to find a comfortable area so everything would ride comfortably and eventually did; however, the hose then no longer reached the clip to hold it in place therefore making hydration, while underway, and complete nightmare. I had not even started paddling yet and was ready to call it a day! What a horrible design flaw!

Ten feet from the shore and I still had 7.5 miles to go in order to complete my workout...this was not looking pretty. I decided to take the PFD out of the Molokai and put it around my waist and was able to continue on. My frustrations did not end.

As one can tell from the picture above, the Camelbak Molokai is much bigger than the Dakine Waterman. Obviously, the more surface area the product has the more surface area of the body it will cover. This does not bode well for paddling, especially if you are executing proper stroke technique. If you do nothing but arm paddle and keep the rest of your body rigid then this might be the system for you. If you twist slightly and open your chest during the reach then bury the paddle and rotate your hips to bring them to the shaft of your paddle then this system will eventually feel like it is falling off of you. Adjustments are fairly easy to make but who wants to do that during a race or during any paddle when you get a good rhythm going? I have NEVER had to adjust the Dakine system during a sprint race or a 26.5 mile seemingly-near-death-experience.

The pockets on the Molokai stretched to the limit to hold my Iphone 4 in its Amphibian case from X-1 and twice when I leaned over too far it fell out. The pockets did hold one package of Cliff shot blocks just fine and would do fine with gels and other small items but for longer paddles leave the turkey sandwich at home or mash it up into bite size morsels. The overall capacity for anything falls way short of making all this extra material worthwhile to have on the body during an activity like stand up paddling.

So I come back from 7.5 miles with this brand new expensive item wondering what in the heck I am going to do with it because I want no part of it..."Hey, honey, do you need a hydration pack for some the rec series races you plan on doing this summer?"

Gracie tried it on and at first she did not feel the love for the product either but then when I showed her how to adjust the straps to make the system fit her body tighter, snugger, and better a smile lit across her face. After a few short pulls and twists and tugs she looked up with an even bigger smile. "It's like the wonder bra of hydration packs!"

It just so happens that my wife also happens to be a chronic arm paddler so I know that if the system feels good on her she still needs to work on her technique!

At least now the Molokai no longer seems like a waste of money...but I certainly wouldn't recommend it to any paddling friends, especially serious paddlers who execute good technique. I am still curious about the Tahoe...to have everything around the waist sure seems appealing. (Maybe I'll sell the Molokai to Gracie for 70 bucks so I can try the Tahoe!)

See you on the water (if the water is not too gross)!

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Update

Its been a while since I have had time to update our blog webpage so Ill be filling you in on the things that have happened in the past few months since our last post. If you read our last blog post about our own black beauty and ginger I have some sad news. Sadly we lost our black beauty who we had to have euthanatized due to his joints failing him. Mishka was beside her self but we have since introduced her to "Lynda" a new rescue horses who has bonded with Mishka helping her through.
We have rescued a number of horses in the past few months as well and have had a few surgeries done including Jaffa's puss pocket which just kept coming back after being drained. The photos are below but very graphic. I hope you enjoy the photos and stories of our rescue horses and please remember that we are a not for profit fully registered and sanctioned charity and we rely on donations to keep our doors open so please go to the "how you can help" tab and donate today. Every $ helps, ever just a $2 donation goes a long way in helping us help these needy horses. Thank you so much xxx Amanda

 

The above photo is of Bexter, he was surrendered by his owner who no longer wanted him after he got out of his paddock and was picked up by the pound. Bexter was in a pretty bad way, his shoulder was out along with his pelvis and back. The vet inspected him and said that his stifle was unstable along with his joints and body under developed due to starvation at some point in his growing life. The poor boy is just 3 years old. This photo was taken on arrival on the 9th of March. 

 

Poor Bex had pretty bad mud fever but he is all healed up now.

 

Bex had an eye ulcer which we treated with a treatment tube and I'm happy to say it has healed very well.

 

 

This is bex currently. He has grown about a hand already and his joints and stifle are all strong and sound now due to amazing chiropractic and muscle release therapy which he has regularly. He will be going to the breaker after winter and will be ready for adoption at the end of the year.

 

If you have seen earlier posts you will know the story of Jaffa who was surrendered with a massive lump of puss. We has this puss drained but it came back. We had it drained 3 times before opting for surgery and I'm glad we decided to have it cut out completely because there was some horrible dried cheese like puss in a pocket under the muscle which needed to come out. Jaffa is healing very well now and will be ready for adoption soon.

 

This is the pocket of puss

 

Loki was surrendered in poor condition. He is picking up well in care but at 22 years old I doubt we will be able to find him a suitable loving home. He needs supplements for his joints and isn't rideable. Its sad that no one wants these beautiful old horses.

 

The above photo is of Maisy and her hoof which hasn't been trimmed in 10 years. This poor pony was to far gone and we got her to the equine hospital for xrays but the specialist farrier and the vet suggested having her put down. She was far to gone for us to help her and for her to ever be pain free.

 

Poor Maisy couldn't even walk properly.

 

This is Paddy, he was surrendered in poor condition with a massive sarcoid on his side. We are currently treating the sarcoid but it will take a while to heal completely.

 

This is Savy, she was also surrendered in poor condition and she sadly had a 8 month old foal feeding off her at the time. We have taken her into care and she is slowly getting better. She is such a sweet old girl and will be fat and happy in no time.

 

 

Massive thank you to all of our supporters and volunteers for everything that they do to help SAHA and the horses. :-)

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Inspiration All Around Me

SUP Race season is on!

Actually, it probably started back at the Carolina Cup but things have been very iffy on my end since the middle of March when I was trying to patch up my old DEAN 12-6. It did not sink during the Carolina Cup but it did manage to break open along a seam the very next day. Since, the board has been Dremeled open and left to dry out in my mother's garage in Maryland. I think I may take ALL the glass off and try to re-glass it myself...just for fun. But back to my original point which is: inspiration is everywhere this race season!!!! People are doing amazing things out on the water and it's not even the Fourth of July!!

It seems that I cannot go to an event or read about an event without taking away some positive vibes to put to use in my own training. Being a part of the SUP community is just so fulfilling. My own accomplishments fulfill me and the accomplishments of others inspire me! Have you ever noticed that it is extremely difficult to find an asshole at a SUP event. I haven't met any (so far) and have only heard about one well-documented case at an east coast race... Now let's move on to the good chicken soup-for-the-soul stuff that gets me amped up to get out on the water and do my best...every time I'm privileged enough to be out there.

I met Nathan Bankson last year at a few races back east as he and his handsome Speedboard 14 were always close by at the start of races. We often exchanged nods and smiles and "good lucks" before the horn went off. He had just purchased the board and had not been able to spend as much time on the board as he would have liked due to a busy work schedule. Speedboards, from what I hear, are not for the balance-challeneged paddler. They are hard to paddle and even harder to paddle well. Despite being on a very demanding board, Nathan always had respectable finishes but usually finished just off the podium, but that was last year. This year is very different. This year Nathan is hitting the podium and Speedboard has taken notice. Go check out Speedboard's website click here and you will see a nice little picture that you can click on to read the Team Speedboard Athlete Profile of Nathan Bankson.

Obviously Nathan worked very hard during the long Virginia offseason when the weather makes it easy to find any excuse to avoid being near the water. He put his time in and his hard work has rewarded him. I have thought of Nathan often over the last few days as I have tried to adjust to a board that is very challenging for me to ride. I just keep thinking that time on the board will help me improve as it did for Nathan. I am quite happy with the fact that I bought a board that will force me to work very hard in order to raise my level of paddling. Hard work pays off! I would love to be a featured rider on somebody's website besides my own!!

At the first event of the 2013 Midwest Sup Championship in Benton Harbor this past Saturday I watched a newcomer to the 14 fleet put on quite a showing to win the race. Last year Tony Paul raced in the 12-6 class and seemed to have quite a battle going with Ross Herr who eventually won the 12-6 class in the 2012 Midwest SUP Championship. Back in January I met Tony at the Orange Bowl Paddle Championships and saw he was on a 14. Can't say I was disappointed to see him in a different class than myself because I had always heard about what a great paddler he was so I wondered why he made the switch! A lot of people are heading to the already crowded 14 class and I am trying to hang on in the 12-6 as long as I can. At any event in any part of the country you have to be at the top of your game to reach the podium in the 14 class. Having a hell of a battle last year at 12-6 I figured Tony would be in a bigger battle against all the top guys the Midwest has on 14s. Well...

At the 3rd Annual Sweetwater SUP Challenge put on by Third Coast Surf Shop Tony reached the top of the podium in the 14 class, and was the overall winner, and he did so in quite an impressive fashion. That man was fast; I mean dang fast! Wow, was all I could think while watching him get further and further away from me as the race went on. He made the jump from 12-6 to 14 look effortless, which by no means, means it is an easy transition to make. Tony's win on Saturday evidences a lot of hard work and dedication to the sport. I don't know Tony well (yet) but I am going to pick his brain for some training tips for sure! His win was truly inspiring because he beat some incredibly fast paddlers! What I witnessed him do last Saturday is just another shining example of what might result from putting in some serious time preparing, paying heavy dues on the water, and showing a lot of respect to the sport. bravo, sir!

Last year I met Westy when he was in Chicago nursing an injury that I know had to be frustrating for a guy who had earned a reputation for being an avid waterman. He was not able to paddle in the way that got him to be an Elite team rider for one of the biggest companies in SUP - YOLO Board. Well, this 2013 race season is a bit different for Westy as I have watched him cross the finish line ahead of me at the events we have competed in together. We went out on a training session together and month or so ago and I saw no hint of a leftover injury as I worked my tail off to try and keep up with him. He paddled well and his stroke looks very technically sound. My stroke makes me look like a bit of a spazz. His board has very few scuffs on it. My board is less than a week old and already looks like it has been through a complete race season! Paddling with Westy makes me want to paddle better. I want my stroke to improve so it will be admired by the paddlers behind me.

Paddling with Westy...(I can see a Youtube series in the making with that title)...is also beneficial because he is a great person to be with on the water because he always offers encouragement. You pass him he says good job, you fall behind he tells you to come on and catch up to him. There is always encouragement from Westy to push yourself to do better, as long as you can stay within earshot! I'm a jerk so if you are ahead of me I am thinking: fall, fall fall, but with Westy there is always positivity and a huge desire to share the stoke.

Westy also has a reputation for being one of the best teachers in the business. I have seen him with people just getting started in the SUP vibe and his energy and patience seem to have no limit. By watching him I see what I need to work on if I expect anyone to want to work with me on the water for longer than 10 minutes!! Over the last year we have become pretty good friends and I appreciate the time he gives me to help improve as a paddler.

Race season is just getting started yet there is so much to feed off of! I can't get over how much awesomeness I have seen already! As the sport continues to grow I can't imagine what else will be available for me, and for anyone else looking for positive encouragement, to feed off of and input into their own system. I hope we all continue to grow and improve as our sport does. I thank Nathan, Tony, and Westy for their inspiration and I thank all the other people I paddle with as well because I have gotten so much more from countless other paddlers. Some I have mentioned in previous posts and some I have not but just know that I am probably watching you because there will always be opportunities for all of us to learn from each other.

Thanks for reading and see you on the water!

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bristol palin and melissa rivers on celebrity wife swap

Bristol Palin

bristol palin and joan rivers along under the very same roof ? yep, thats the genius work of abcs celebrity wife swap. the network announced nowadays that sarah palins oldest daughter bristol can star alongside joan and melissa rivers when celebrity wife swap returns with its new season on june 23, 2013.

bristol and her 4 year old son, tripp, can leave the cold comforts of wasilla, alaska, and migration to los angeles, california, where shell settle for joan rivers for 2 weeks. the premise may be that bristol takes over for melissa and melissa heads to alaska to fill in as bristol.
bristol palins failed reality show cost alaska taxpayers $350, 000

since bristol palin is designed to a relaxed and casual home environment, abc explained the major hollywood lifestyle of joan and melissa rivers was an uncomfortable adjustment palin.

daily within the whole rivers house is scheduled in the minute. whereas the rivers house is bustling with assistants, crew members, and cameras, the family still finds opportunity to sit down for dinner each night. stepping into melissas shoes, bristol palin isn't ready for your own rivers formality and schedule, and is reluctant to fill in clearly as the government producer for his or her e ! tv show fashion police.
joan and melissa rivers plan creepy new mother daughter series. not as being outdone, the celebrity wife swap episode conjointly shows melissa rivers in total shock at the shortage of structure in bristols life.

what tripp says goes within the whole palin household, same abc. when melissa rivers arrives in wasilla, shes surprised to discover snow inside the ground  in might ! meeting bristols younger sister willow and tripp, melissa finds it a challenge to trot out tripps boyish exuberance, and feels that he desires to possess a set daily routine.

our translation : joan and melissa rivers live crazy overbooked lives in hollywood glamour whereas bristol palin leads a messy and chaotic life back with her lax parenting vogue. watch the full episode of celebrity wife swap to catch all the drama that goes on with bristol and melissa on sunday, june 23, 2013 on abc.

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Her married jay cutler kristin Cavallari makes lindsey Vonn in hate Elin Nordegren

Elin Nordegren

elin nordegren hates lindsey vonn, kristin cavallari marries jay cutler, and kim kardashian slams photographers : see us weeklys top 5 stories from friday, june 7, within the whole roundup !

a regular. exclusive : elin nordegren hates lindsey vonn, angry at tiger woods

if elin nordegren had her approach, tiger woods wouldnt get another swing at love. the golfers ex-wife, who divorced him 2010 after his epic cheating scandal, hates lindsey vonn and everything about this romance, a supply tells us weekly. woods, 37, and therefore the blonde olympic skier, 28, are dating since last fall and went public around the time of march -- with high-profile dates at nycs met gala in could and multiple excursions with sam, 5, and charlie, 4, woods kids with nordegren.

2. kristin cavallari, jay cutler married : see their wedding bands !

kristin cavallari is officially a married lady ! the previous hills star tied the knot to jay cutler on friday, june 7. im officially kristin elizabeth cutler ! ! ! ! ! cavallari, 26, tweeted. she too showed off her diamond wedding band and husband cutlers black band in an image.

3. kim kardashian dresses baby bump in button down shirt, slams photographers

pregnant kim kardashian is within the whole home stretch ! the expectant reality star, 32, headed to your doctors appointment in beverly hills on thursday, june 6, looking polished and serene because we are part of a white, bump-hugging button-down shirt, that she paired with silver jewellery, black leggings and flip-flops. kanye wests love -- feted with a baby shower in beverly hills last weekend -- wore her brunette locks in glamorous retro waves.

4. amy poehler, nick kroll make public debut as couple

its official ! amy poehler and nick kroll made their public debut as a few on thursday, june 6 at afis 41st life achievement award gala in hollywood. the parks and recreation actress, 41, who announced her separation from husband can arnett last fall, walked the red carpet alone -- other then the comedy central star, 35, later joined poeher at her table. the combine ( us weekly broke news with the burgeoning romance in could ) were super shut and comfortable, an observer notes, and shared a steak between them.

5. spencer pratt applauds brody jenner for confronting bruce jenner : he is well known regarding his courage

brody jenner is obtaining big ups from an previous pal : spencer pratt ! because we are part of a clip from ensuing episode keeping up with kardashians, jenner, 29, opened up an previous wound, revealing his less-than-perfect relationship with dad bruce jenner. calling the decathlete, 63, an excellent human being, brody muses on camera that the patriarch wasnt an excellent father to me.

More about → Her married jay cutler kristin Cavallari makes lindsey Vonn in hate Elin Nordegren

Massachusetts teen accused freed on Facebook terror post

Facebook terror post

a massachusetts teenager jailed a month ago to produce a facebook post that urged he might do worse when compared out to the boston marathon bombers was released, a court official aforementioned on friday, after having a grand jury refused to indict him.

cameron dambrosio was arrested on could somewhat and accused of communicating a terrorist threat. the 18-year-old aspiring rapper from methuen, 30 miles ( 50 km ) north of boston, posted lyrics on-line that included the lyrics a boston bombinb wait until u see the shit i do.

the case sparked a viral on-line effort by rights activists to own him freed, and demonstrated the growing tension between law enforcement and free speech proponents after having a spate of terror and school-violence incidents across the country.

lawrence district court judge lynn rooney issued an order on thursday to unharness dambrosio after having a grand jury selected to not indict, the court clerks office aforementioned. an official along at the county prosecutors office wasn't offered to comment.

whereas these days is a significantvictory. "the syrian regime has victory for cam, the chilling effect the fact that case has already had on free speech can not be undone, aforementioned evan greer, of bostons center for rights and fight for our future, that organized a web petition supporting dambrosio that gathered ninety, 000 signatures.

police had arrested dambrosio after fellow students at methuen your childhood alerted them of his facebook posts. if dambrosio had been convicted of one's terrorism charge, he would have faced as numerous as 20 years in prison.

the case came weeks after twin bombs exploded along at the end line of one's boston marathon on april 15, killing 3 individuals and injuring 264. investigators aforementioned the attack was the hard work of 2 brothers of chechen descent.

a few lawmakers have criticized the fbis handling of one's case, only if the older of one's brothers, tamerlan tsarnaev, had been on any u. s. master list of potential terrorism suspects. tamerlan was killed within the shootout with police days after the bombing and his younger brother dzhokhar was wounded after having a manhunt and is in prison for our crime.

police are additionally under pressure to avoid a repeat of recent faculty shootings, as well as the sandy hook elementary faculty shooting in newtown, connecticut last year during which 20 students and six faculty staff were killed.

law enforcement likes to preempt acts of violence before they actually occur, aforementioned shirin sinnar, assistant professor of law at stanford university law faculty. the risk may be that you sweep in folks that had no intent to cause a crime.

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tebow rumors hint with the finish in an extraordinary career

Tebow rumors

a report in espn the magazine is suggesting everybody not far away from tim tebow are saying that his national soccer career is perhaps over. in case the report and of course the sentiment are true, then tim tebow can be the very first professional soccer player to actually lose his job as a result of he was too fashionable.

make no mistake, if tim tebows days within the nfl are done, it's not on account of his horrible throwing mechanics. or, possibly additional accurately, it's not primarily on account of them.

as poor as his throwing mechanics are, they actually didn't stop him from compiling an 8-4 record being a starter and leading the denver broncos into your second round as to the playoffs in 2011.

as poor as his throwing mechanics are, they don't diminish the proven fact that he's a physical specimen who will run the scan possibility offenses that took the nfl by storm last year.

true, his inability to actually pass the ball beyond the line of scrimmage with any consistency suggests that that he's going to most likely never be any groups long-term answer at quarterback. however it looks extraordinary that none as to the leagues 31 groups would would you like to bring throughout the quarterback with playoff experience and proven leadership qualities solely being a backup or being a change-of-pace possibility.

however extraordinary defines the situation perfectly.

what alternative backup quarterback while not a team can be named forbess most influential athlete, as tebow was ? normally, the traveling circus that would be tebowmania might possibly be his greatest strength. the nfl, all things considered, is hardly averse to actually publicity. anyone who thinks the super bowl may be a soccer game — or possibly primarily a soccer game — hasn't been to actually miami in february. it's all spectacle with just dribs and drabs of substance.

however even for your own hottest sport in america, tebow is far too much. which is extraordinary.

no coach wishes to take inside the baggage that would be bigger than his own team. the on-line petitions calling on him to actually begin. the replica jerseys obtain a man unlikely ever to actually leave the bench.

tebow isn't blameless during own situation, after all. if he were a stronger thrower as to the soccer, somebody might possibly be willing to actually offer tebowmania an endeavor, surely. however he's sitting at home, considering an finish to your unique three-year career, on account of an issue over that he is well known regarding his no management.

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1st facebook president sean parker weds in california

Sean Parker

billionaire sean parker, co-founder of music-sharing website napster and therefore the initial president of facebook, was married on saturday in northern california, a representative for your own couple same.

parker, 33, married his fiancee alexandra lenas within the ceremony at an inn within the whole costal retreat of big sur with 300 family friends in attendance, his representative matthew hiltzik same within the statement.

their daughter, winter, who was born this year, was half as to the ceremony. parkers fortune is estimated at $2 billion at forbes. com. in 2004, parker joined facebook where he became its initial president. he left the corporate in 2005 and is now a managing partner at venture capital firm founders fund.

actor justin timberlake played parker just like a hard-partying ladies man within the 2010 movie, the social network, relating to the creation of facebook by mark zuckerberg, who was then a student at harvard university. after the film came out, parker dismissed the portrayal as fictional.

aside from his time at facebook, parker is known for co-founding napster in 1999 when he was 19 years-old. napster flummoxed music executives by allowing free peer-to-peer sharing of songs on-line. it was eventually clean up by court order in 2001 over copyright infringement claims. parker remains concerned within the whole on-line music business, and was a backer of music subscription service spotify.

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surveying the harm from deadly oklahoma twister

oklahoma twister

emergency officers come into being saturday morning to check out just how a lot of is injury a violent burst of thunderstorms and tornadoes caused because it swept across the midwest overnight, killing not less than 5 and injuring dozens.

the storm toppled cars and left commuters trapped on an interstate highway because it bore down throughout fridays evening rush hour close to oklahoma town. the national weather service reported many tornadoes rolled in due to prairie, terrifying towns along their paths.

the storms brought another tense day and get a region still reeling due to recent top-of-the-scale ef5 tornado that struck the oklahoma town suburb of moore on could 20, killing 24 and decimating neighborhoods. several aforesaid they actually took severe weather warnings issued throughout the day friday seriously.

just like the storm bore down on suburban oklahoma town, adrian lillard, 28, of one's village, went in the basement of her mothers office building with a lover, her nieces, nephews and 2 dogs.

my brothers house was in moore, therefore it enables you to take a lot of immediate action, lillard aforesaid whereas her young nieces played connected to blanket upon the floor of one's parking garage. we brought toys and snacks to undertake our best to maintain them comfortable.

storm chasers with cameras in his or her cars transmitted video showing variety of funnels dropping due to supercell thunderstorm because it passed south of el reno and into oklahoma town simply south of downtown. just like the cell advanced, police urged motorists out to leave i-40 and seek a safe place.

violent weather too moved in the st. louis area. early aerial images of one's storms injury showed homes with porches ripped away, roofs torn off and piles of splintered wood scattered across the bottom for blocks. officers in st. charles county too reported that native schools suffered a few injury.

among the 5 dead were a mother but a baby found utilizing a vehicle in oklahoma. amy elliott, a spokeswoman for our state medical examiner, aforesaid early saturday that she had no immediate word of extra fatalities. not less than 75 individuals were hurt, 5 critically, hospital officers aforesaid.

meteorologists had warned about notably nasty weather friday however aforesaid the storms fury didnt match that of one's tornado that struck moore. the friday storm, in spite of this, brought making use of it way more severe flooding. it dumped around 8 inches of rain on oklahoma town within the whole span associated with a couple of hours created the tornado hard to spot for motorists hoping to beat it home, aforesaid bruce thoren, a meteorologist with national weather service in norman.

a few tornadoes are wrapped in rain, therefore its basically not possible to check out, and that is extremely dangerous, thoren aforesaid. someone driving along extremely not aware of whats happening will basically drive into it.

the significant rain and hail hampered rescue efforts in oklahoma town. frequent lightning roiled the skies well after the most threat had moved east. highways and streets were clogged late into your night as motorists worked to them around flooded portions of one's town. roads all around oklahoma town were inundated with muddy water saturday morning.

can rogers world airport was slowly reopening and a few flights were resuming. however the airport reported significant injury in the roof of one's terminal, and flooding injury out to walls, counters and floors.

emergency officers reported that various injuries occurred within the whole area along i-40, and randolph aforesaid there have been toppled and wrecked cars littering the area. standing water was many feet deep, and in a few places it looked a lot of just like a hurricane had passed through compared to a tornado. a little over 86, 000 utility customers were while not power.

among the injured was weather channel meteorologist mike bettes, who suffered minor injuries when his tornado hunt suv that he and 2 photographers were riding in was thrown 200 yards. the weather channel aforesaid all of one's individuals within the whole vehicle were ready to walk away, and to the point it was the very first few time a network temperament was injured utilizing a storm.

in missouri, the combination of high water and fallen power lines closed dozen of roads, snarling traffic on highways and side streets within the whole st. louis area. along at the hollywood casino within the whole st. louis suburb of maryland heights, gamblers rushed due to floor being a storm blew through, inflicting minor injury in the building.

rich gordon, of jefferson town, aforesaid he was upon the casino floor when he heard a loud boom.

i didnt understand if it was actually lightning or what, however it was actually loud, gordon aforesaid.

the u. s. averages a little over a regular, 200 tornadoes a year and the majority are relatively small. of one's 60 ef5 tornadoes out to hit since 1950, oklahoma and alabama are hit possibly the most - seven times every.

national weather service meteorologists aforesaid saturday that its unclear what number tornadoes touched down as half of one's friday evening storm system. dozens of tornado warnings were issued for central oklahoma and components of missouri, particularly close to st. louis, they actually aforesaid, however crews should assess the injury before determining whether or not it was actually caused by tornadoes or severe thunderstorms.

however something you need is sure : the chances for severe weather are upon the decline being a cold front moves in the region, aforesaid weather service meteorologist gene hatch in springfield, mo.

this springs tornado season got a late begin, with unusually cool weather keepingfunnel clouds at bay till mid-may. the season sometimes starts in march and when that ramps up for future number of months.

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mars rat could be possessing a terribly bad time

Mars rat

ufo enthusiasts have noticed whatever they assume could be a rat or maybe a squirrel on mars, allegedly as half of the nasa experiment out to see how long a rodent would survive by the martian surface. there may be many things wrong in that explanation from the total conspiracy theory issue.

note that the “rat” isn't using a area suit. nasa sending an unsuited rat out to mars out to see how long it might live fully exposed out to the components could be akin out to spending billions of bucks out to toss a rat inside wood chipper out to see how long it stayed conscious. plus, a rat corpse on mars would doubtless look lots additional beat up when compared to the dead rats the average new yorker would possibly encounter within the subway station.

an unprotected rat by the martian surface wouldn’t do well, out to call it mildly. mars has an atmospheric pressure that could be a fraction of earth’s, approaching the low pressure found within the vacuum of area. in those conditions, much of the rat’s bodily fluids, saliva, tears, sweat and therefore the water in its lungs, would boil off quickly, leading to bound death, as well as a way more desiccated corpse when compared to the so-called rat within the photo.

the rats blood would stick around for a bit longer. as nasa scientist geoffrey landis explains on his website, the blood in a standard mammal circulatory system doesn’t boil at near-vacuum, as a result of natural blood pressure is high enough out to keep blood from boiling with the rat’s natural body temperature ( slightly on high of a human’s ). however once the guts stops, that protection could be gone.

even when the evaporation of much of the rat’s body fluids didn’t kill it, it might still die pretty rapidly. mars’s atmosphere is under somewhat % oxygen, therefore the rodent explorer would suffocate pretty quickly.

even when the near-total lack of oxygen failed out to slay our martian rat, he would still doubtless freeze. temperatures on mars swing wildly out to the extremely low finish as to the mercury, obtaining as cold as -225 degrees fahrenheit with the polar ice caps throughout winter.

at best, our spacefaring squirrel would keep conscious for about 10 seconds, then die inside many minutes. there may be many humans which may have survived exposure out to vacuum, as well as one nasa technician who was testing a area suit in 1966, however he lost consciousness after about 12 seconds, and was revived after the pressure within the suit was restored.

this after all, assumes that a celestial rodent wouldn’t have already died en route thanks out to any range of equipment failures.

there are a handful of creatures across the world that might potentially survive direct communicating with mars. german scientists have found that bound lichens and cyanobacteria will survive within environmental chambers that mimic the conditions on mars. and therefore the humble tardigrade, or water bear ( that appearance additional such as a stubby caterpillar ) will survive exposure out to each the vacuum of area and solar radiation ; it enters a dehydrated, near-death state under such conditions, however often is revived with a bit water.

weird rock formations on mars have frequently drawn comparisons out to earthly objects, one semi-translucent rock feature place folks in your mind of the “martian flower ;” another shiny protuberance drew comparisons to some robot’s arm.

possibly the most famous formation by the red planet, though, will be the “face on mars, ” initial photographed by viking somewhat in 1976. later inspections showed that the “face” wasn’t an alien monument, simply a martian mesa that happened out to catch the light in correctly.

human brains seem hard-wired out to see patterns in everyday objects, though it leads us out to conclude that a tea kettle appearance like hitler or that the virgin mary’s face has miraculously appeared throughout the grilled cheese sandwich. a tendency as being ever-vigilant about recognizing patterns could possibly have served early humans well, it’s in all probability safer out to assume that the weird dappled shadow could be a man-eating leopard. however within the modern world, this phenomenon, typically known as apophenia, or patternicity, often is the explanation behind a few questionable behaviors. the human desire out to see the signal within the noise will lead out to something issued from a gambler’s mistaken belief that he is aware of how the roulette wheel can spin out to the spread of the viral news story.

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Fire chief $550k retirement was a mistake

Fire chief $550K

auditors are seeking to firmly collect more often $550, 000 from dupont after concluding friday that improper reporting led to firmly excess pension payments for our citys fire chief. the department of retirement systems concluded that the town mustn't have classified fire chief greg hull as an freelance contractor when he was employed after retiring given by a position at another fire department. hulls pension payments would have stopped if he had been labeled being a regular employee, that the state is now seeking to firmly have the town repay the additional $550, 000 in retirement cash he received in the previous couple of years.

we feel the town is liable for that overpayment, aforementioned dave nelsen, the legal and legislative services manager with the department of retirement systems. its a substantial number of cash for our town, accounting for roughly one-third of duponts annual fire department budget.

state officers recently notified hull that his pension payments might possibly be stopped, and town top leaders aforementioned now that hull is resigning for personal reasons. hull will just be able to firmly apply for pension payments once more beginning next month, nelsen aforementioned.

the retirement system began examining duponts procedures after an associated press investigation showed how a few firefighter and law enforcement workers got late pay raises that helped increase their pensions. at about $184, 000 a year, hull had one amongst the largest pensions within the state.

drs officers were still reviewing details associated with a raise that hull received shortly before he retired in 2010 from lakewood fire district 2 to see whether or not that pay bump was improperly included during pension calculations. nelsen aforementioned hulls pension also will be influenced as a result of he's going to have a lot of service credits as a result of his years getting work done in dupont, however he's going to lose cost-of-living adjustments he had received over the exact era.

auditors conjointly dinged dupont for improperly classifying 2 different workers as contractors, and then they will are seeking to firmly have the town pay $45, 000 to firmly the pension system for all those workers. dupont has that choice of appealing. the town wrote within the temporary response to firmly the ultimate audit so it believed all 3 folks were properly labeled as contractors. mayor michael grayum failed to come back a decision seeking comment.

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