E-connexion

Zapping… 

-The government's plans to evacuate people from New Orleans in the approach of a catastrophic storm were only 10 percent complete a month before Hurricane Katrina, newly released documents show.

 

-A January heat wave came to an end across New England this week as a storm brought dropping temperatures and heavy snow that closed scores of schools and caused road-closing traffic accidents. Up to 10 inches fell in some areas from eastern New York to Maine.

 

-SAN JOSE, California G. Scott Hubbard, who has led a NASA research center since 2002 and investigated the space shuttle Columbia tragedy, is stepping down to accept a position with an organization that studies the possibility of life beyond Earth.

 

-A research team led by Syracuse University biologist Scott Pitnick found that in bat species where the females are promiscuous, the males boasting the largest testicles also had the smallest brains. Conversely, where the females were faithful, the males had smaller testes and larger brains.

 

 

Let’s hit the ball !

Many people in the Americas and East Asia like baseball. In many countries, it is the favorite sport of most people. In the United States, baseball is called the national pastime.

 

 A game is played by two teams, each team has nine players. On the baseball field, there are four bases. The baseball field has two main parts, the infield and the outfield. The infield is where the four bases are. The outfield is past the bases, between first and third base. First base and third base are on the foul lines, which go on into the outfield. Outside the foul lines is foul territory.

 

The game is played in nine steps, called innings. In an inning, each team has one turn to bat and try to score runs. When one team bats, the other team pitches and tries to put the other team's players out. The team that is pitching always has the ball. This is different from most team sports. When three players of the batting team are out, the teams change places. Then the team that was batting starts pitching, and the team that was pitching starts batting. After nine innings, the team that has the most runs is the winner. If the teams have the same number of runs, they play more innings until one team wins. At the start of the game, the home team pitches, while players on the visiting team bat. Only one player can bat at a time.

 

The batter's job is to hit the ball so the batting team can get some runs. The catcher's job is to catch any ball that the batter does not hit. Also, the catcher tells the pitcher how to throw the ball. The batting team wants to score runs.

 

In order to score a run, a player must bat, then become a base runner, touch all the bases in order, and then touch home plate. So first, the batter wants to make other players get to home plate, or to run the bases himself. The batter tries to hit the ball between the foul lines, so that the fielding team cannot get anyone out. The pitcher tries to pitch the ball so that the batter cannot hit it well.

 

A baserunner who touches home plate after touching all previous bases in order scores a run. When there is a fence around the field, when the batter hits the ball over the fence it is a home run. After the batter hits a home run, the batter and all the runners can touch all the bases and score.

 

 

Jokes:

Q:How can you tell it's midnight at an American airport?

A: When you see the 8:00 PM flights taking off.

 

You should always give 100% at work... 12% Monday, 23% Tuesday, 40% Wednesday, 20% Thursday, 5% Friday...

 

Q: What's the difference between a car salesman and a computer salesman?

A: The car salesman can probably drive!