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A new study finds that 260 million people a day cross bridges in the USA that are structurally deficient.


More than one in nine bridges in the USA — at least 66,405, or 11% of the total — are structurally deficient, according to a new report.

These are not rarely used, out-of-the way structures: Each day, Americans take 260 million trips over structurally deficient bridges, says the report from Transportation for America, a Washington, D.C.-based coalition that works to improve transportation.

The report comes less than a month after the May 23 collapse of a span of the Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River in Washington state. Part of the bridge collapsed when it was struck by a truck with an oversize load. That bridge, built in 1955, was not structurally deficient.

The structurally deficient bridges are 65 years old on average, and the Federal Highway Administration estimates that repairing them would cost $76 billion.

A structurally deficient bridge isn't necessarily one that's dangerous or about to collapse; rather, they are bridges that require significant maintenance, rehabilitation or replacement.


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The repair bill will likely increase as many of the nation's most heavily traveled bridges, including those built as part of the interstate system, near the end of their expected life spans. "You're seeing the aging of the system," says David Goldberg, a co-author of the report. "It really does parallel the (aging of) the Baby Boomers in a startling way."

This is a problem that has worsened since Transportation for America's last report on bridges, in 2011: Fifteen states have seen an increase in their structurally deficient bridges. The report projects that in 10 years, one in four bridges will be 65 years old or older.

In the two-year federal transportation funding bill it pa#sed last year, Congress eliminated a dedicated fund for bridge repair. "The upshot is that bridge repair now must compete with other transportation needs," the report says. Money previously targeted for bridge repair was rolled into a new National Highway Performance Program, which can be spent only on highways that are part of the National Highway System, which includes interstates and major state highways. Nearly 90% of structurally deficient bridges are not part of the National Highway System.

Transportation for America recommends that Congress raise new dedicated revenues for transportation programs including bridges; that 180,000 bridges be made eligible for the new funding program, and that repair of bridges and highways be made a national priority.

Not everyone is alarmed over the state of the nation's bridges. "From my perspective, we've never had a better bridge system than we have right now," says David Hartgen, senior fellow at the libertarian Reason Foundation who co-authored a February report on the condition of roads and bridges in the USA. "The overall system is getting better slowly and steadily over time" as states work to improve their roads and bridges.

Hartgen, emeritus professor of transportation studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, says it's good that more responsibility for repairing bridges is shifted from the federal government to the states. "The states are closer to the problem," he says. "I'm not overly pessimistic about the funding picture. At the state level, there is more willingness to raise state taxes for bridges."

any pair would be dope

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A Saudi court sentenced two women to ten months in prison, along with a two-year travel ban, after they tried to help a Canadian woman who, with her three children, was denied adequate food and water and was subjected to violence by her Saudi husband.

On June 6 2011, the two human rights workers Wajeha al-Huwaider and Fawzia al-Oyouni received a text message from Nathalie Morin, the Canadian woman, saying that her husband had locked the whole family in the house and left for a week-long visit to see relatives in another town while her supplies of food and water were running out, according to Human Rights Watch.

“I cannot help myself and I have no rights in Saudi Arabia. My children are hungry and I cannot do anything to feed them. I'm f!ghting to get freedom, justice and fairness for my family including myself,” Morin wrote on her blog.

The two bought food and came to Morin’s house, where police were already waiting for them. The women were brought to Damman station for questioning, where police told al-Huwaider and al-Oyouni they believed they were trying to smuggle Morin and her three children to Canada, Human Rights Center reports.

After the women signed a statement pledging to cease all involvement with the case, the police released them. However, more than a year later in July 2012, authorities called in al-Huwaider and al-Oyouni for questioning, after which the government launched a case against them.

The trial continued for another year, and last Saturday presiding judge Fahad al-Gda'a issued a ruling sentencing the two human rights workers to ten months in prison, imposing an additional two-year travel ban on top of the jail time. The charges were “inciting a woman to flee with her children” and “attempting to turn a woman against her husband.” The women were acquitted of charges that they had attempted to smuggle the wife and her three children to the Canadian Emba#sy in Riyadh.

Al-Huwaider and al-Oyouni plan to challenge the ruling in the Court of Appeals.

The same day the two women issued a statement that when the case was launched, they predicted that the government was trying to punish them for their women’s rights activism in recent years.

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"It was clear to us from the very beginning when we were summoned to the investigation by the prosecutor in Dammam that the issue was malicious and that those who filed this case against us are from concerned authorities that aim to harm and hara#s us to stop our humanitarian activities, because since the night of the incident two years ago, the case has been revoked by an order issued by the Amir of the Eastern region and the file was closed," they said.

Al-Huwaider said that during her interrogations, investigators did not ask her about Morin’s case but rather about her involvement in the Saudi women’s rights movement, including questions about the Women2Drive campaign and her relationship with Saudi women's rights activist Manal al-Sharif. Al-Huwaider filmed the latter driving a car, which is illegal in the Kingdom, and posted the video on YouTube. Al-Sharif said later in a lecture in Scotland that followed the publication of that video, she received threats of being[..]d and k#lled.

Al-Huwaider told Human Rights Watch that during her trial, which began in late 2012, the presiding judge denied her and al-Oyouni the right to adequately defend themselves by refusing to allow Morin to testify. The judge also declined to allow a Canadian Emba#sy official to attend the second trial session, in December, according to Human Rights Watch.

Al-Huwaider is a prominent activist, author and journalist, a co-founder of the[..]ociation for the Protection and Defense of Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia and a member of the Human Rights Watch Middle East advisory committee.

She wrote for the Arabic language daily al-Watan and the English language daily Arab News until May 2003, after authorities banned her from writing or appearing in any local media.

In an article published May 25, 2006 on rezgar.com, she drew a comparison between the lives of the prisoners in the "terrible inhuman prison" camp at Guantanamo Bay in the United States and the lives of Arab women.

"...Anyone who examines and analyzes the lives of the prisoners in Guantanamo, and compares them to the lives of Arab women - particularly in the Gulf States, and especially in Yemen, Oman and Saudi Arabia - will discover that there are very many similarities... First, in some Arab countries a woman is a prisoner in her [own] home, and can only move with the permission of her guardian, or, more accurately, her jailor. Her situation is similar to that of a prisoner in Guantanamo…”

There is no codified Penal Law in Saudi Arabia, and its legal system is based on Islamic law derived from the Qu'ran and the traditions of the prophet Muhammad. That means that judges and prosecutors have wide latitude to arbitrarily define certain acts as criminal.

Saudi Arabia has a “guardianship system” and strict gender segregation rules that limit women’s abilities to make decisions and participate in public life. Under this system girls and women are forbidden from traveling, conducting official business, or undergoing certain medical procedures without permission from their male guardians.

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Kabul has suspended talks with Washington on a bilateral security pact setting the conditions for a US Military presence in Afghanistan beyond their planned 2014 withdrawal. Such a presence could be the basis for a future NATO role in the country.

"In a special meeting chaired by President Hamid Karzai, the president has decided to suspend talks about a security pact with the US because of their inconsistent statements and actions in regard to the peace process," Karzai spokesperson Aimal Faizi told Reuters.

Negotiations on the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) began earlier this year in order to define the US Military's possible presence in Afghanistan for years to come.

The Afghan president's statement was released by his office on Wednesday.

Karzai has said he wants one-on-one talks with the Taliban but the Taliban and U.S. announced they would begin talks together first, before the Afghan government was brought in.

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Informed diplomats have said a plan for providing foreign-backed militants f!ghting against the Syrian government in the eastern city of Dara'a and on the northern boarders with Turkey with weapons has entered the implementation phase.

There are reports that armored vehicles including a shipment of t-62 and t-55 tanks, which are old armored Russian tanks collected in Libya and transferred to Syria, have reached foreign-backed militants through different secret ways.

The US and its allies are geared up to disturb the military balance, prolong the clashes and change the situation into a war of attrition in Syria, Al Quds Al Arabi reported.

There have been reports of a plan for training and organizing thousands of Syrian volunteers including those who had avoided military service or civilians capable of carrying weapons and taking military training.

A comprehensive reconnaissance mission is currently underway on the boarders of Syria’s neighboring countries as a preparatory measure for launching arms to the foreign-backed militants.

The mission seems to be a good reason for the presence of 8000 American, Britain and French forces on the boarders of Syria with Turkey and Jordan to supervise the process of arming and delivering weapons to the foreign-backed militants.

There are also reports that opposition groups consisting of 650 military groups are equipped with new arms in Dara’a.

The process of arming the foreign-backed militants is expected to be carried out by training around 3000 Syrian Kurds who had failed to get Syrian residency in the past, numerous volunteer Syrian refugees including officers and those who had fled to Turkey, and thousands of people who had attempted to est@blish “awareness organization.”

The Syria crisis began in March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of government forces, have been k#lled.

Damascus says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals.

The Syrian government says the West and its regional allies -- especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey -- are supporting the militants.

In addition, several international human rights organizations say the militants operating in Syria have committed war crimes.

Former child star Miley Cyrus has defended her decision to smoke weed, insisting it is far less dangerous than alcohol.

The singer/actress, who shot to fame as Disney's Hannah Montana, landed in hot water in 2010 when she was caught on film allegedly smoking pot from a bong.

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She has also recently joined cannabis fan Snoop Dogg in the studio for a track called Ashtrays and Heartbreak, and has now opened up on her feelings on using the drug.

In a candid new interview with Rolling Stone, she was asked if she is a "stoner", and the 20-year-old replied, "You can't ask someone that and expect them to say yes. I did a song with Snoop Dogg called Ashtrays and Heartbreak, so people can put it together for themselves.

"I think alcohol is way more dangerous than marijuana. People can be mad at me for saying that, but I don't care. I've seen a lot of people spiral down with alcohol, but I've never seen that happen with weed.

"As long as it isn't illegal, there are far more dangerous things... And it's legal in the state of California, so I'm happy to live in California, a place where you can be whoever you want to be."

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While arguments about which city's or team's fans often tend to be a dumb, parochial domain, and while it sometimes feels like Miami catches a #BadSportsTown rap that's a bit overstated, I think we can agree that leaving an NBA Finals game before its completion is kind of a bad look. Let alone a game in which your hometown team would be eliminated with a loss. Let alone a game in which your hometown team fought back from seven points down at the start of the fourth quarter, that was a one-possession affair from just inside the eight-minute mark all the way into the final minute, and in which said hometown team held a three-point lead with less than two minutes remaining.

And yet, a number of members of the AmericanAirlines Arena faithful on hand to cheer for the Miami Heat in Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs did choose to exit with the game still in the balance in the final minute. And based on the escalator shot above shared by ESPN's Bomani Jones late in the fourth quarter — and the commentary of several others on the scene — it was a fairly large number:








:lebronhah:

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:pacuhh:


:sternmaybe:

On Monday, we shared a report with you about former NBA star Allen Iverson’s ex-wife filing court documents claiming he abducted the couple’s five children. Tawanna Iverson has full custody of the children, but she allegedly gave Allen permission to take them on a short vacation. She claimed he never returned them to her when he was supposed to.

Apparently Tawanna’s story was not entirely true. TMZ reported on Tuesday that Allen appeared in court last Wednesday and explained to the judge that Tawanna had full access to the children the whole time they were staying with him. In fact, Tawanna testified that she could have picked the children up but did not want to drive 45 minutes to Allen’s location to do so.

“They say I stole my kids? That’s what they say?” Iverson said Monday, according to NBC 11 in Atlanta. “If that’s what you believe and people think I’m crazy enough to do, then so be it. I ain’t never treated fairly, don’t expect to be.”

After hearing Allen’s testimony, the judge reportedly declined Tawanna’s request to have him put in jail and the children were returned to their mother. TMZ also noted that a source says Allen and Tawanna have worked out some of their issues and she has agreed to allow him to spend more private time with the kids.

So, about that whole he’s an alcoholic who drinks around the kids thing…

Darrelle Revis will be wearing an unfamiliar jersey when he kicks off the 2013 season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but he will reportedly be wearing a familiar number thanks to his incredibly deep pockets. Last season, the Bucs’ No. 24 jersey was worn by safety Mark Barron. Now, the Bucs’ website lists Barron as No. 23. Revis had a lot to do with that.

According to Paul Lukas of Uni Watch, Revis paid Barron a whopping $50,000 for the number.

“A well-placed source tells me that the amount Darrelle Revis paid to Mark Barron in order to get Barron to give up No. 24 was — get this — $50,000,” Lukas said Tuesday. “Is that a record? Is it not even close? Has anyone been tracking these uni number transactions over the years?”

Revis is scheduled to earn nearly $15 million between salary and bonuses with the Bucs this season, so he can certainly afford that kind of scratch. That being said, $50,000 is still $50,000. Most of us would be lucky to make around $50,000 in a year, let alone paying that amount of money for something as trivial as a jersey number.

Revis and Barron aren’t the first players to strike a deal for a jersey this offseason, but Patriots safety Adrian Wilson got off much cheaper in his agreement with Kyle Arrington. Barron would have been stupid to not take that deal.

Is that really how you are going into game 7 manu?
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nicca should never touch the floor again for his comments post game.

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

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i thought the tape would be red :yecigar:

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You just need a account on GOG for it to show up for free. :agreement1:

This little guy in China was left home alone, and managed to get himself stuck in some bars on the window whilst attempting a brave escape.

Rescuers had to break the front door to the apartment down to get to the child. Some parents!!


:angry27:

:wtf4:

pyshare.com/v/27579253/file.html

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All in one series...the finals at that :success:

this nicca is done. flabby n sick for real. heat looked better every time d-wade took the bench. sad story my fav player but aint that the truth.

it wasnt hard to notice the heat operate better wit an extra shooter around Bron. bosh works there too but d-wade cant hit a damn jumper n he aint as good as attackin the basket as bron.

im not sayin bench him for good, but he need more time on the bench plain n simple. question is does spo got the balls to do it

If not, where does it rank?

Not talking about any specific performances, just the game as a whole.

That applause when Jimmy let them know you can play used games and don't need an internet connection :iseeyou:

I think Knack was the wrong game to show off though. Cerny's a good speaker, but not really the one you call to get people excited. I would've preferred seeing inFAMOUS: Second Son on there.

It's only fitting that ray allen makes the shot of his career for the heat, I just knew that sh-t was going in pure beauty :sadto:



washed up no defense playing :mad:

bum ankle having :mad:

jason terry > :mad:

manu ginobli > :mad:





















:ichirohah:

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Ricardo Lamas will not remain on next month's UFC 162 card, and instead a preliminary-card f!ght between Tim Boetsch and Mark Munoz will be promoted to the main card. That f!ght had been set as the featured prelim on FX.

The announcement was part of Tuesday night's edition of "UFC Tonight" on FUEL TV, with correspondnet Ariel Helwani getting word from UFC officials.

UFC 162 takes place July 6 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The show is headlined by a middleweight title f!ght between champion Anderson Silva and top contender Chris Weidman. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FX and Facebook.

This past Saturday at UFC 161 in Winnipeg, UFC President Dana White told MMAjunkie.com () that Lamas (13-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) will be paid his show money for next month's UFC 162 event in Las Vegas – even though he's not likely to remain on the card. White said the promotion was actively seeking an opponent for him after original opponent Chan Sung Jung (13-3 MMA, 3-0 UFC) was pulled from the f!ght on Thursday to face Jose Aldo for the featherweight title at UFC 163 in August.

It's the second straight time Lamas has been pa#sed over for a possible title shot. The Chicago-area f!ghter has won four straight, including a brutal first-round stoppage of Erik Koch in January. After that f!ght, he thought he had done enough to earn a shot at Aldo – and he even was miked up cageside the following week at UFC 156 to watch Aldo beat Frankie Edgar, meaning even the UFC thought there was a chance that would be the next f!ght they'd make.

But after that f!ght, Anthony Pettis, who had been named the next challenger for Benson Henderson the week prior in Chicago, decided he wanted to drop to featherweight to challenge Aldo. And with the potential for that blockbuster superf!ght, Lamas was pa#sed over. This past week, when Pettis pulled out of the UFC 163 headlining f!ght vs. Aldo with a knee injury, the UFC decided to go with "The Korean Zombie" instead of Lamas.

Now Lamas may be faced with a dilemma that is growing more common in the UFC – sit back and wait and hope he's offered the winner of Aldo-Jung after their Aug. 3 f!ght, or take another f!ght in the meantime to stay active, and risk an injury or a loss.

Boetsch (16-5 MMA, 5-2 UFC) will look to get back into the win column after a third-round TKO loss to Constantinos Philippou in December at UFC 155. That loss snapped a four-f!ght win streak for him that included a split-decision win over Hector Lombard.

Munoz (12-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) will return for the first time in almost a year when he meets Boetsch. He had a four-f!ght win streak snapped in July 2012 when he was brutally stopped by Weidman with a second-round knockout.

The full UFC 162 card now includes:

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman - for middleweight title
Frankie Edgar vs. Charles Oliveira
Roger Gracie vs. Tim Kennedy
Dennis Siver vs. Cub Swanson
Tim Boetsch vs. Mark Munoz
PRELIMINARY CARD (FX, 8 p.m. ET)
Andrew Craig vs. Chris Leben
Norman Parke vs. Kazuki Tokudome
Edson Barboza vs. Rafaello Oliveira
Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Dave Herman
PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook, 7 p.m. ET)
Seth Baczynski vs. Brian Melancon
David Mitchell vs. Mike Pierce

Still a very strong card.

I wouldn't call myself a Lebron hater but I don't like him after how he teamed up with two top 10 players in the game. But I will give him his props he showed up when needed. This is the most heart I ever seen from him coming from a laker/kobe fan. This was probably one of the greatest finals games I ever seen....

I done seen Kobe haters on this site give Kobe his props of how amazing he plays I think Lebron haters should do the same. Amazing performance!! Lets enjoy this great epic basketball series props to Lebron.

:clap::clap::clap::clap: