Allen Cookson’s New Book Integrates Economics and Science in Analyzing Human Ecological Predicament

Allen Cookson’s New Book Integrates Economics and Science in Analyzing Human Ecological Predicament
Allen Cookson relates the fundamental physical and ecological principles to Economics.

(PRWEB) January 10, 2013
Looming over humanity are impending ecological crises. If they occur, the present global financial crisis will be seen in hindsight as a relatively minor inconvenience, but an ignored warning of worse things to come. Cookson brings to bear in support of his arguments the weight of evidence provided by generations of scientists and economists. Readers will find searching examination of the reasons for our addiction to unsustainable economic growth, and ways of overcoming it without undue discomfort.
Prosperity, Poverty or Extinction written by Allen Cookson, relates in an unprecedented way, fundamental physical and ecological principles to economics so that the detachment of current economic practices from physical reality becomes obvious. Sustainable alternative economic models are proposed in this book and almost all the material is derived from the work of great minds of the past and the present. References will enable readers to check things they have doubts about, including current controversies.
This book is aimed at the educated layman and the student. Its eclecticism will ensure even academics find ideas that are new to them. It includes some technical details that will be of interest to readers with strengths relevant to them. Mathematical or technical bits can be skipped over without losing the thread.
Prosperity, Poverty or Extinction is for intelligent, educated lay people, students and academics. Readers with interest in biology, chemistry, economics, demography, education, engineering, farming, geography, politics, physics, psychology, religion, and other subjects will find the book widens their mental horizons by linking these subjects. The author hopes that it will empower them in directly or indirectly influencing policy makers to bring about positive changes.
For more information on this book, log on to http://www.Xlibris.co.nz.
About the Author

New Zealander Allen Cookson spent most of his life as a secondary school science teacher. A family discussion about the state of the world, and the poor prospects for future generations, led to a challenge from his son to do something about the present unsustainable practices. As it appeared to the author that flawed economics was a major factor impeding essential changes, he embarked upon and completed an economics degree. This enabled him to integrate economics and science in this book’s analysis of the human ecological predicament. His wide interests include conservation and tramping in New Zealand’s mountain country.

Read More..

The "Dig Into Yamhill Valley” Campaign Offers Visitors a New Way to Experience Oregon Wine Country

DIG Into Yamhill Valley features once-in-a-lifetime experiences hosted by wineries, restaurants, and other local businesses, in addition to discounts on accommodation and activities to round out any Oregon wine country vacation. With a different theme each month, there's plenty of ways to experience the valley where imagination still takes flight and you’re never too old to stay and play.

Yamhill Valley, Oregon (PRWEB) January 08, 2013
Travel Yamhill Valley has launched the “DIG Into Yamhill Valley” Campaign, offering visitors a wide selection of new ways to experience Oregon's Wine Country. The DIG Campaign (http://www.digourvalley.com) features once-in-a-lifetime experiences hosted by wineries, restaurants, and other local businesses, in addition to discounts on accommodation, dining and activities to round out a visit to Yamhill Valley. Once travelers find their ideal vacation components, they can click on direct links to providers for reservations.
Yamhill Valley is home to a wide variety of attractions, including world-renowned vineyards, fine dining, unique historic districts, hot air ballooning and other recreational opportunities. Located in the heart of Oregon's Wine Country, the Yamhill Valley is easily accessible and filled with opportunity for families, couples and individual travelers.
Giving guests everything they need for a fun-filled vacation, the DIG Campaign will focus on a different theme each month:
JANUARY: Epicurean Excursion

Take advantage of the valley’s agricultural riches with unique dining options that pair local ingredients with world class wines.
FEBRUARY: Oenophile’s Outing

If rubbing elbows with the winemaker and relaxing in a cozy tasting room sounds like heaven to you, then plan your escape to Yamhill Valley Wine Country in February.
MARCH: Family Foray

Spring Break! Round up the kids and prepare for fun: waterslides, space museums, biking trails, and unique historical districts wait for you in Yamhill Valley.
APRIL: Agricultural Adventure

Spring is breaking through the damp, Oregon ground to reveal all her glory in a million shades of green! What a perfect time to dig in and find a new path to adventure.
Comprised of a collection of small towns, Yamhill Valley is brimming with opportunities to experience the good life. Yamhill Valley is authentic Oregon: a place where the good life is cultivated every day, where world-class wineries dot the verdant rolling hills and roadside farm stands intersect with bicycle paths… where historic main streets meet urban-style bistros… where imagination still takes flight and you’re never too old to stay and play.
Travel Yamhill Valley is a private, not-for-profit membership organization of business and professional people whose mission is to develop regional tourism in the Yamhill Valley. Some of Travel Yamhill Valley members are directly involved in tourism, including wineries, lodging providers, restaurants and attractions, while others are more indirectly involved, such as general merchants, service providers, banks and realtors. Travel Yamhill Valley is almost entirely volunteer driven.

Read More..

Turning Point for Reviving New England’s Historic Mills: The Architectural Team Celebrates 30 Year Milestone ofAward-Winning Adaptive Reuse of Boston Chocolate Factory

Beginning in 1983 with construction of the Baker Chocolate Factory Apartments, the firm has shown how to preserve the region's industrial heritage through adaptive reuse of New England’s historic mills, hospitals, schools and office buildings into sustainable, livable communities.

BOSTON, MA (PRWEB) January 08, 2013
This year, The Architectural Team will celebrate a 30-year milestone for one of the firm’s signature specialties: the master planning and conversion of defunct historic mills and factories into vibrant new destination places for people to live, work and play. The occasion is the 30th anniversary of new multifamily housing at the award-winning Baker Chocolate Factory, which over the decades saw the conversion of eight abandoned mill buildings into a thriving – even trendy – multigenerational, mixed-income development.
Since the firm’s founding 42 years ago, The Architectural Team’s design and master planning has led scores of mill conversions in the Northeast helping to revitalize neighborhoods, preserve American architectural heritage, and revive what were, in many cases, decaying urban environments. Today, these historic factories have become the cornerstones of bold master plans, new affordable housing, and high-performance, sustainable architecture.
The notable milestone in 2013 – one that also epitomizes the firm’s successes with mill conversions – marks how 30 years ago the Baker Chocolate Factory campus in Boston’s Dorchester Lower Mills area broke ground on Phase One of its decades-long renovation. Its transformation began in earnest in 1983 with the late Bob Keuhn, Keen Development Corp – a visionary for historic rehabilitation, affordable housing and community development —when 143 mixed-income apartments opened to the public. After its completion, President Ronald Reagan honored The Architectural Team for its work on the historic factory reuse, bestowing the 1988 National Historic Preservation Award to the architects. Over the next few decades, Baker Chocolate Factory grew to encompass three phases of master planning and adaptive reuse to convert its centuries-old building and factory facilities into live/work artist lofts, affordable rentals, an assisted-living facility (ALF) and market-rate apartments developed by Beacon Development Company and WinnDevelopment.
Revitalizing a neighborhood
With sprawling courtyards and access to the adjacent Neponset River, the development has become a catalyst for new businesses and active street life in Dorchester Lower Mills, which began to suffer declining prominence and creeping urban blight in 1965. That year, production of Baker's Chocolate moved to Delaware, leaving the site subject to decay and vandalism. Yet, nearly a half century later, the neighborhood is enjoying the reinvented property as a memorable, attractive and safe place to live, shop and visit – a renaissance largely due to the conversion of the Baker Chocolate Mill 14-acre site.
“Reflecting on our firm’s four decades-plus of historic restoration and adaptive reuse provides us with a unique opportunity to examine the lessons learned, and apply them moving forward to other buildings and sites,” says Robert J. Verrier, FAIA, managing principal of The Architectural Team. “One of our firm’s primary goals is to help a new generation of young professionals develop the expertise, skill sets, collaborative mindset and creativity needed to design new uses for these amazing historic structures – and develop them in thoughtful, sustainable and innovative ways. With that, we can delight our clients and help these communities celebrate the legacy of their industrial past through the new uses.”
With more than 150 historic adaptive-reuse developments designed by the firm, The Architectural Team is nationally renowned and respected for its urban revitalization strategies, its deep knowledge of materials, expertise in recognizing the opportunities and anticipating the challenges inherent in adaptive reuse, and methods for successful historic building preservation. “These projects aren’t just about preserving our past,” Verrier adds. “Our planning and architecture firm is – in the words of the futurist David Zach – all about ‘designing useful things that connect us into life in this world, and designing good tomorrows.’”
After 30 years of opening its brick walls and cobblestone walks to the neighbors – many of whom had family members who worked at the factory – the Baker Chocolate redevelopment is regarded as a national model for other gateway cities like Boston with evolving industrial bases. The techniques that transformed the facilities into highly desirable homes and real estate for residents, businesses and others are being emulated in New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere along the East Coast. Case studies of the firm’s earliest mill conversions include the first U.S. power-loom textile mill, Francis Cabot Lowell Mill in Waltham, Mass., now a senior housing community.
Projects like these reveal important lessons for stakeholders with economic development interests, including:

    Multiple strategies for blended federal and state historic tax-credit financing;
    Enlisting key allies including developers, preservationists and nonprofits;
    Novel building techniques that make adaptive reuse projects easier;
    Engendering community and local agency support; and
    Accelerated paths to LEED certification.
Since the Baker Chocolate Factory was first converted to apartments three decades ago, the remaining historic factory structures have been restored and adapted in three phases to adding senior housing, artist work/live lofts, and both affordable and market-rate housing. In 2010, the firm completed the conversion of its final phase with The Watermill Lofts at Lower Mills — formerly the factory’s boiler room and now home to 17 loft-style apartments. This final conversion phase earned the 2011 Preservation Achievement Award from the Boston Preservation Alliance.
150 historic conversions, thousands of affordable units
Over the years, hundreds of industrial-era mills in New England have been spared the wrecking ball, thanks to savvy developers and master planning and design firms like The Architectural Team, at the vanguard of this trend. The firm’s four decades of over 150 historic conversions have seen not only the completion of three phases of Dorchester's Baker Chocolate Factory, but also more recent developments to include The Apartments at Boott Mills (Lowell, MA), Loft Five50 (Lawrence, MA), Linwood Mill (Northbridge, Mass.), Canal Lofts (Worcester, Mass.), Curtain Lofts (Fall River, Mass.), the LEED Silver Certified Bourne Mill (Tiverton, R.I.) and Rice Silk Mill (Pittsfield, Mass.).

From pr eserving sturdy stone foundations, intricate masonry walls, and massive wood timbers, the architectural and historic character of these buildings has been restored and maintained while also creating vibrant, sustainable neighborhoods.
These projects are the epitome of true sustainability, saving energy and conserving resources while simultaneously preserving a community’s historic fabric,” says Michael Binette, AIA, a partner at The Architectural Team. “We employ, as part of each building’s rehabilitation program, state-of-the-art green design techniques and technologies to create a healthy space and to help ensure high-level performance and contribution to the community well into the future. The lessons learned at Baker Chocolate transcend historic preservation techniques and instead present new ideas about improving the quality of life for residents by providing innovative affordable housing and attracting new businesses to the neighborhood.”
“It’s a catalyst for positive change,” Binette adds. “And in the process, we’ve helped secure the legacy of the mill’s architecture with a unique mix of uses.”

The Architectural Team’s broad portfolio of historic conversions includes a range of unique building types that have been converted to new use: former trolley car barns, U.S. Navy joinery buildings, schools, hospitals and police stations, to name just a few. By utilizing a combination of subsidies, federal and state low-income housing (LIHTC) and historic tax credits (HTC), developers are able to continue transforming communities while preserving America’s architectural heritage for future generations.
Currently, the firm is working on numerous historic adaptive-reuse developments including Cliftex Mills in New Bedford, Mass., which has been applauded by Governor Deval Patrick as a project that is “revitalizing our gateway cities, and providing a much needed boost in terms of jobs, economic development, and affordable housing.”
###
PRESS CONTACT: For information, photographs and interviews,

contact Chris Sullivan at 914.462.2096 or chris@ccsullivan.com.
About The Architectural Team, Inc.

Read More..

Performing and Recording Artist Aleksandra Maslovaric Acquires Violin From Los Angeles Violinmaker Benning

Renowned Los Angeles-based violin virtuoso Aleksandra Maslovaric, has acquired a master violin crafted by luthier Eric Benning. The violin, made by Benning in 2009 after a celebrated Stradivarius model, will be used to record the violinist's next recording of classical works written by women composers.

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) January 08, 2013
Concert violinist Aleksandra Maslovaric, an artist well-known for her performances and recordings of compositions written by women composers, has recently acquired a violin crafted by master violinmaker Eric Benning. Benning Violins is a distinguished violin shop that has been offering sales of fine violins, violas and cellos, crafted by past and present masters, to the music scene of Los Angeles since 1953.
Benning, whose shop long maintained the violins of Jascha Heifetz, considered by many to be the violinist of the century, is used to premier players, concert performers and recording artists purchasing the fine instruments he crafts. But he admits that there was something special about this particular acquisition.
"Aleksandra has been a client for over a decade and I know her to be a highly discerning musician," said Benning. "It's that much more of an honor that she selected my violin to record her new album."
Maslovaric has performed concerts and recitals throughout North America, Europe and in her native Serbia, appearing regularly on stage, television and radio broadcasts, and has been recognized by critics for her virtuosic technique. A large part of her repertoire consists of compositions written by noted though unrecognized female composers such as Emilie Mayer of Germany, Italian composer Maddalena Lombardini Sirmen and American composer Beth Anderson.
The violin acquired by Maslovaric was crafted by Benning in 2009 on a Stradivarius pattern. It's a stunning instrument," said Benning. "There's something very special about it in that I used an antiqued varnish, which makes the sound rich and warm and clear. It is resonant and powerful."
Aleksandra Maslovaric began carving her niche in 2000 by performing and recording classical works composed by women after she, herself, began composing music. Her passion for these compositions allowed her to uncover many works by women long overdue for recognition by performing her own musicology research. Her debut album, "Feminae in Musica", was released in 2009 and continues to receive airplay on classical radio stations worldwide. Her new CD will be recorded this year and released in 2014.
"I admire what Aleksandra is trying to accomplish," states Benning. "It's important work and it's courageous work. By bringing this neglected repertoire to light, she is making a huge contribution to music appreciation and musicology as well as challenging what one could argue is male dominance in the Classical music genre. In as much as Aleksandra will be playing my violin, I'm honored to be a part of it."

Read More..

Suicide bombers attack Afghan government compound

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan officials say two suicide bombers have attacked a government compound in the country's south, killing a guard and wounding at least 10 others.

The district chief of Spin Boldak said the two militants were targeting a Sunday meeting of local officials at a compound in a district of Kandahar province near the Pakistani border. It was not known if any foreign troops or civilians were at the site.

Mohammad Hashim said the two attackers arrived in a car, killed a guard and entered the facility firing weapons before blowing themselves up along with their vehicle. The compound houses offices of the district chief and district council as well as other government buildings.

Kandahar is one of Afghanistan's most violent provinces.

Read More..

Suicide bombers kill 3 at Afghan district compound

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — Two suicide bombers penetrated a government compound in the country's south Sunday, killing three people, Afghan officials said.
The district chief of Spin Boldak said the two militants were targeting a meeting of local officials at a compound in a district of Kandahar province near the Pakistani border. There were no reports of foreign troops or civilians at the site.
Mohammad Hashim said the two attackers arrived in a car, killed a guard and entered the facility firing weapons before blowing themselves up along with their vehicle. The compound houses offices of the district chief and district council as well as other government buildings.
The spokesman for the governor of Kandahar province, Javeed Saisal, gave the casualties as three dead and at least 15 wounded.
Kandahar is one of Afghanistan's most violent provinces. Spin Boldak district is a major infiltration corridor for Taliban fighters from Pakistan as well as a smuggling route for weapons and narcotics.

Read More..

Pakistani officials say US drones kill 9 militants

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) — Suspected American drones fired several missiles into three militant hideouts near the Afghan border on Sunday, killing nine Pakistani Taliban fighters, intelligence officials said.
The strikes targeted the group's hideouts in the South Waziristan tribal region, the three officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. The identity of the killed militants was not immediately known, they said, but two important commanders of the Pakistani Taliban — including the head of a training unit for suicide bombers — may be among them.
Sunday's drone attack was the third suspected U.S. drone strike in five days. One such hit late Wednesday night killed a top Pakistani militant commander, Maulvi Nazir, accused of carrying out deadly attacks against American and other targets across the border in Afghanistan. That attack was followed close on by another strike on Thursday in the North Waziristan tribal area.
Islamabad opposes the use of U.S. drones on its territory, but is believed to have tacitly approved some strikes in past. The drone campaign also infuriates many Pakistanis who see them as a violation of their country's sovereignty. Many Pakistanis complain that innocent civilians have also been killed, something the U.S. rejects.
But an attack like Sunday's may be less likely to anger the Pakistani military and public because it targeted militants believed to have been going after targets in Pakistan and not in neighboring Afghanistan.
The Pakistani intelligence officials said that informants had told them one of the two dead commanders was Wali Muhammad Mahsud, also known as Toofan, who headed a wing of the group that trained suicide bombers. His predecessor, Qari Husain Mehsud, was believed to have been killed in a U.S. missile strike in late 2011.
Mahsud was part of the Pakistani Taliban that have waged a bloody war against the Pakistani state by targeting army, police, government officials, civilians and even religious leaders who wouldn't agree to their interpretation of Islam. The Pakistani Taliban demand that the state should sever ties with the U.S. and amend the constitution to enforce a Sharia based Islamic system in the country.
In December, a Taliban suicide bomber killed a top government minister, Bashir Ahmad Bilour, who came from an anti-militant political party in northwest Pakistan and abducted and beheaded several Pakistani paramilitary troops and tribal police.
The militant commander, Nazir, who was killed last Wednesday was also part of the Taliban but he led a faction that agreed to a cease-fire with the Pakistan military in 2009 and did not attack domestic targets.
As a result, while his death is likely to be seen in Washington as affirmation of the necessity of its controversial drone program, it could cause more friction in already tense relations with Pakistan.
Analysts say Nazir's killing is likely to complicate the Pakistani army's fight against the local and foreign al-Qaida linked militants holed up in the country's tribal region. They say his fighters may turn their guns toward Pakistani troops and may join the Pakistani Taliban's fight against the state.
Still, Nazir outraged many Pakistanis in June when he announced that he would not allow any polio vaccinations in territory under his control until the U.S. stops drone attacks in the region.
Washington wants Pakistan to launch a military operation in North Waziristan, believed to be the last stronghold of many of the militant groups. But Islamabad had been refusing, saying it does not have enough troops and resources to do that.
In absence of such an operation, the U.S. relies more on drone strikes to take out militants. The program has killed a number of top militant commanders including Abu Yahya al-Libi, who was al-Qaida's No. 2 when he was killed in a June strike.

Read More..

YEARENDER-Golf-Celtic Tiger and emerging China shine in 2012

LOS ANGELES, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Rory McIlroy's dominance on both sides of the Atlantic and the clearest hint yet at the exciting potential in China were the biggest storylines in what may prove to be a truly transformational golfing year in 2012.
The coronation of McIlroy as the game's leading player was confirmed in sensational fashion when the exciting Northern Irishman cruised to his second major title by a record eight shots in the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island in August.
Dubbed 'Boy Wonder' in his homeland for the past decade, McIlroy fully justified his other nickname of 'the Celtic Tiger' as he ended the year being showered with virtually every accolade available to him.
He followed in the footsteps of Luke Donald when he became the second player to win the money list titles in both Europe and the United States and he strengthened his position as world number one with an extraordinary run of form.
Long regarded as heir-apparent to Tiger Woods as the game's greatest player, McIlroy has smoothly taken over that role while Woods, despite triumphing three times on the 2012 PGA Tour in a welcome return to winning ways, has had to take a back seat.
The 23-year-old McIlroy is almost certain to be a dominant figure in golf for at least another decade but 14-year-old Chinese Guan Tianlang gave a strong indication of the likely impact from his part of the world well beyond that time frame.
Guan ensured he would become the youngest player ever to compete at the Masters by winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship last month, tantalising proof of the vast golfing potential in the Chinese market.
The world's most populous nation had celebrated another coup just five months earlier when Shanshan Feng, 22, clinched the LPGA Championship by two shots in Rochester, New York to become the first person from mainland China to win a women's major.
Remarkably, Feng was born just five years after the first golf course was opened in China.
There were several other highlights during 2012 with Bubba Watson producing arguably the shot of the year to win the Masters in a two-way playoff and Ernie Els ending a decade-long drought in the majors to claim his second British Open.
THRUST INTO LIMELIGHT
The belly putter was also thrust into the limelight when Webb Simpson, at the U.S. Open, and Els, at Royal Lytham, joined 2011 PGA Championship winner Keegan Bradley as the only players to triumph in the majors using a long putter.
That trend, coupled with the growing number of younger golfers opting to anchor putters to their chin, chest or belly, prompted golf's rulemakers last month to propose a ban on the technique which could come into effect by 2016.
However, McIlroy's stellar play around the world gave golf fans their most stirring memories in 2012.
He recorded four wins on the U.S. circuit among 10 top-10s in just 16 starts before ending the season being named the PGA of America Player of the Year, the PGA Tour's Player of the Year and winner of the Vardon Trophy for the lowest scoring average.
McIlroy clinched the Arnold Palmer Award as the PGA Tour's leading money winner, with earnings of $8,047,952, and was delighted to follow that up with the European Tour order of merit with two events remaining.
"Winning a second major already made it a fabulous season, but then to follow Luke in becoming number one in both Europe and the States is the icing on the cake after a fabulous season," he said.
Hardly surprisingly, McIlroy finished his 2012 campaign on a triumphant note when he won the European Tour's season-ending DP World Tour Championship by two shots in Dubai last month.
"I didn't want the year to just tail off, I wanted to end it in real style," he said after spectacularly making birdies on the last five holes to close with a 66.
While the richly talented McIlroy is a gifted shot-maker, left-hander Watson delivered the 'blow' of the year with a miraculous escape from pine straw to win the Masters in a playoff with South African Louis Oosthuizen in April.
On the second extra hole, the long-hitting American ended up well right and deep in the tree line off the tee from where he had a narrow avenue to the green.
STUNNING HOOK
Undaunted, Watson struck a stunning hook off the pine straw with a gap wedge, his ball bending 40 yards in the air to settle 10 feet from the pin before he claimed his first major victory with a two-putt par.
"I got in these trees and hit a crazy shot," said Watson, a self-taught golfer who learned the game by hitting wiffle balls around his house. "I just hooked it up there and somehow it nestled close to the hole."
In June, Watson's good friend and fellow American Simpson clinched his first major title with a nerve-jangling one-shot victory at the U.S. Open after overhauling overnight leaders Jim Furyk and Graeme McDowell.
The following month, 42-year-old South African Els won the British Open at Royal Lytham by one stroke from Adam Scott after the Australian agonisingly bogeyed the last four holes.
Unquestionably the greatest comeback of the year, and perhaps of all time in golf, came at the Ryder Cup in September when Europe overhauled a deficit of 10-6 going into the final day to beat the United States by 14-1/2 points to 13-1/2.
Inspired by the spirit of the late Seve Ballesteros, Europe sent out their best players early and rode a wave of blue numbers to retain the trophy when Germany's Martin Kaymer defeated Steve Stricker one up.
"Seve will always be present with this team," a teary-eyed European captain Jose Maria Olazabal said of his fellow Spaniard, friend and mentor. "He was a big factor for this event, for the European side."
That same month, South Korean Shin Ji-yai romped to a nine-stroke victory at the Women's British Open at Royal Liverpool in England to complete a stunning Asian sweep of the year's four women's majors.
Shin's compatriot Yoo Sun-young won the Kraft Nabisco Championship in a playoff at Rancho Mirage in April and Choi Na-yeon, also of South Korea, claimed her first major title by four shots at the U.S. Women's Open in Kohler, Wisconsin in July.

Read More..

Olympics sparkle at height of magical British summer

LONDON (Reuters) - London defied Britain's wettest summer for 100 years, potential transport and security chaos and a depressed economy to stage a marvelous 2012 Olympics during a magical year for British sport.
Over the past century Britons have become resigned to watching the rest of the world beat them at games they had either invented or codified at the height of the island nation's imperial splendor.
This year, to their fans' surprise and delight, British teams and athletes surpassed themselves across a range of sports, including third place in the Olympic medals' table behind the world's two great economic powers the United States and China.
Englishman Bradley Wiggins, who looks like a throwback to the English beat groups of the swinging sixties with his mop of hair and straggling sideburns, became the first Briton to win the Tour de France prior to taking a fourth Olympic gold medal.
After finishing runner-up in four grand slam finals during a vintage era for men's tennis, Scotland's Andy Murray finally made the breakthrough as the first British male in 76 years to win one of the big four titles with victory over Novak Djokovic in the U.S. Open.
And Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy, winner of four PGA titles including the PGA championship by a record eight strokes, was awarded the annual Jack Nicklaus award for player-of-the-year. At the age of 23 he was the youngest recipient since Tiger Woods in 1997.
At the heart of the year's sporting action, London staged the summer Olympics for the third time to unanimous acclaim throughout the world.
Under the assured stewardship of organizing committee chairman Seb Coe, as adroit in the convoluted realm of sports politics as he had been on the track while winning two Olympic 1,500 meters titles, the London organization was impeccable.
Transport, one of the biggest worries in a cramped and crowded city, worked smoothly with enthusiastic and knowledgeable crowds flocking to venues sprinkled among some of London's more celebrated landmarks.
Rain fell nearly every day during the early part of a gloomy summer before an overdue burst of hot sunshine in the week leading up to the Games in late July. Thereafter the weather reverted to a more familiar English blend of the good, the bad and the indifferent without causing any serious disruptions.
Even the admission by a private security firm a fortnight before the 16-day festival that it could not supply enough guards proved an unexpected bonus.
Thousands of soldiers, sailors and airmen stepped into the breach and their disciplined professionalism and unfailing good humor further boosted the feel good factor.
The day after a quirky but compelling opening ceremony fusing historical and cultural glories with quintessentially British eccentricity, Michael Phelps took to the pool.
Winner of a record eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, Phelps faltered initially, finishing fourth in the 400 meters individual medley behind fellow-American Ryan Lochte.
By the end of the opening week, the American through sheer willpower was back to his best, finishing his competitive career with 18 gold medals from four Games. They included four golds in London and 22 medals overall to make him the most-decorated athlete in Olympic history ahead of former Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina, who collected 18.
FINEST HOUR
While Phelps was gracing an Olympic pool for the last time on the middle Saturday of the Games, the nearby Olympic stadium erupted during Britain's finest Olympic hour.
Reflecting the face of modern multi-cultural Britain, Somali immigrant Mo Farah won the 10,000 meters and the daughter of a Jamaican father and English mother Jessica Ennis finished first in the heptathlon. Greg Rutherford, the great-grandson of an England soccer international, won the long jump.
Usain Bolt, who had made a mockery of the world 100 and 200 meters records in Beijing, shrugged off doubts about his form, fitness and the threat of training partner Yohan Blake, who had beaten him twice at the Jamaican trials, to become the first man to retain both Olympic titles.
Jamaica swept the 200 medals and Bolt finished a triumphant week for his tiny Caribbean nation by anchoring the 4x100 relay team to a world record and establish beyond any doubt that he is the greatest sprinter to step on to a track.
Kenya's David Rudisha provided the most spectacular individual performance on the track, spread-eagling the field to break his own world 800 meters record without the benefit of pacemakers.
Chelsea kicked off the British sporting summer with an unexpected triumph in the Champions League final, defeating Bayern Munich on penalties at the Allianz Arena to win the European club title for the first time.
After the west London club had eliminated favorites Barcelona in the semi-finals with a scrupulously disciplined defensive display, Didier Drogba leveled the scores in the 88th minute of the final with a header before converting the final spot kick in the penalty shootout.
ARMSTRONG SCANDAL
Wiggins, who had survived the worst life could throw at him, triumphed in the most brutal and demanding of the European road cycling classics.
Abandoned at the age of two by his alcoholic Australian father, himself a professional cyclist who was found dead of head injuries on a street in 2008, Wiggins fought his way out of a council estate with gritty determination and drive.
His victory in the Tour, possibly the greatest individual British sporting achievement of the year and followed by a fourth Olympic gold, was accompanied by unwelcome if not unexpected baggage.
Given the sport in general and the Tour in particular are notoriously drug-tainted, Wiggins was forced to endure a barrage of questions about doping during and after the race.
"If I doped I would potentially stand to lose everything," he responded. "My reputation, my livelihood, my marriage, my family, my house... my Olympic titles, my world titles."
The questions, to Wiggins and his rivals, will not go away soon.
Later in the year, American Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency published a report accusing him of being involved in the "most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen". Armstrong continued to deny ever taking drugs but elected not to contest the charges, which the sporting authorities took as an effective admission of guilt.
Murray's breakthrough came after he avenged his Wimbledon final defeat to Roger Federer to beat the Swiss master in the Olympic final.
Serena Williams collected gold in the singles and doubles during a winning streak when she added the Wimbledon and U.S. Open titles to her trophy cabinet.
POULTER LEADS FIGHTBACK
McIlroy also played a full part in the year's most remarkable comeback. After confusion over a tee time, he needed a police escort in his haste to reach the Medinah course on the final day of the biennial Ryder Cup between Europe and the United States when the hosts needed only 4-1/2 points from 12 singles matches to win.
Instead, the Americans conceded 8-1/2 points to the Europeans who won 14-1/2 to 13-1/2. McIlroy prevailed over the previously undefeated Keegan Bradley and German Martin Kaymer sank a five-foot putt on the 18th green to secure the 14 points Europe needed to retain the trophy.
Englishman Ian Poulter, who like the late Seve Ballesteros and Colin Montgomerie before him reserves his best for the Ryder Cup, turned around Europe's fortunes by earning one of two points in the fourballs on Saturday. Poulter, possessor of one of the more startling wardrobes in a sport not noted for sartorial restraint, was one of eight players to win on Sunday to finish with a 4-0 record overall.
Although another Briton, Jenson Button, won the final Grand Prix of the season in Sao Paulo nobody could deny Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, who at the age of 25 became Formula One's youngest triple world champion.
The German was last on the opening lap of the Brazilian Grand Prix but fought back in a damaged car to finish sixth.
One arena where a British national team performed much as it always does at major tournaments was in the national game of soccer.
For once, under a new coach Roy Hodgson, expectations were not exaggeratedly high for England before the European championships jointly hosted by Ukraine and Poland and losing on penalties to Italy in the quarter-finals was greeted with a resigned shrug rather than outraged indignation.
Spain, the country who took 44 years to win a major tournament, became the first to win three in a row, retaining the European title after triumphing in the 2010 World Cup.
They destroyed Italy 4-0 in the final and their endlessly inventive midfielder Andres Iniesta was named player of the tournament.
Iniesta's Barcelona team mate Lionel Messi was carried off in a stretcher with what appeared to be a serious knee injury after colliding with Benfica goalkeeper in a Champions League group match on December 5.
Four days later the Argentine scored both goals in a 2-1 La Liga win over Real Betis to overhaul German Gerd Mueller's previous record of 85 goals in a calendar year set in 1972. Both goals were set up by Iniesta.
Pele's record of 75 scored in 1958 was already well behind him and, at the age of 25, Messi is in exalted company.
"Leo is supernatural. He doesn't have limits," marveled Barcelona defender Gerard Pique.
Britain's golden year lingered into December, with yet further cause for celebration through sports developed in Victorian public schools whose passion for organized games inspired Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympics.
England, 12/1 outsiders before the match, thrashed world rugby union champions New Zealand 38-21 at Twickenham to bring an abrupt halt to increasingly fevered speculation that the current All Blacks team are the best side ever to play the game.
Then the England cricket side, humiliated in the first test of a four-match series in India, bounced back with captain Alastair Cook leading by example to win the next two by convincing margins.
The last test was drawn and England sealed the series 2-1, their first test series victory in India since 1985 and India's first home series defeat in eight years.

Read More..

The 2012 sporting year in quotes

These were happy and glorious Games," - IOC president Jacques Rogge at the closing ceremony.
"I did everything I wanted to. I finished my career the way I wanted to," - American swimmer Michael Phelps after retiring with 18 gold medals.
"I hope that this medal inspires the kids at home to put down guns and knives and pick up a pair of trainers instead," - Erick Barrondo, winner of Guatemala's first-ever Olympic medal with silver in the men's 20-kilometre race walk.
"I'm now a legend. I'm also the greatest athlete to live," - Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt after retaining his 100 and 200 meter titles.
"Bolt was good but Rudisha was magnificent - it was the performance of the Games, not just track and field," - London 2012 head Sebastian Coe about Kenyan David Rudisha's world record win in the 800 meters.
- - -
SOCCER
"I am more worried about being a good person than being the best football player in the world. When all this is over, what are you left with?" - Barcelona and Argentina forward Lionel Messi.
"We're talking about a great generation of footballers. This is a great era for Spanish football," - Spain coach Vicente del Bosque after his team won the European championship.
- - -
TENNIS
"I'm sure he's smiling from up there that someone has finally managed to do it from Britain. I just hope I can see another British player in my lifetime win a Grand Slam," - Andy Murray after becoming the first British man since Fred Perry in 1936 to win the U.S. Open.
"I really think a champion is defined not by their wins but by how they can recover when they fall. I have fallen several times. Each time I just get up and I dust myself off and I pray and I'm able to do better," - Serena Williams after coming back from a life-threatening illness to win the Wimbledon, Olympic and U.S. Open titles.
- - -
GOLF
"I never got this far in my dreams," - Bubba Watson after winning the Masters in a dramatic playoff with Louis Oosthuizen.
"He's got all the talent in the world to do what he's doing. And this is the way that Rory can play," - Tiger Woods about Rory McIlroy after the Northern Irishman won the PGA Championship by eight shots.
- - -
AMERICAN FOOTBALL
"This isn't about bragging rights. This is a lot bigger. This is about a team, an organization being named world champions," - New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning after winning his second Super Bowl, one more than his older brother Peyton.
"It is our responsibility to protect player safety and the integrity of our game and this kind of conduct will not be tolerated," - NFL commissioner Roger Goodell after announcing a range of penalties following revelations of the New Orleans Saints cash-for-hits scheme.
- - -
BASKETBALL
"It's about damn time," - Miami Heat forward LeBron James after winning his first NBA title.
"We're all so proud of LeBron. When you get to know LeBron, you don't understand why he was such a lightning rod for the criticism," - Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.
- - -
CYCLING
"It sounds cheesy, but your whole life is for this and the reason I got into cycling as a kid was today," - Bradley Wiggins after becoming the first Briton to win the Tour de France.
"There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, 'Enough is enough.' For me, that time is now," - Lance Armstrong, announcing he would not contest the doping charges against him and his former team.
"The evidence shows beyond any doubt that the US Postal Service Pro Cycling Team ran the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen," - statement from U.S. Anti-Doping Agency chief executive Travis Tygart.
- - -
MOTOR RACING
"People were not even mentioning us when they were talking about the championship, but I think the most important thing was that we always kept believing," - Sebastian Vettel after winning his third successive Formula One world title at age 25.
"If the sword breaks, attack with the hands. If they cut off your hands, push the enemy with your shoulders, even with your teeth," - Championship runner-up Fernando Alonso about his battles with Vettel.
- - -
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
"It's amazing what a group of guys who play like a team can accomplish. I'm numb that we have won two World Series in the last three years," - San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy after the Giants swept the Detroit Tigers 4-0 to win the Fall Classic.
"I'm a little bit flabbergasted to be honest with you. I never would have thought that we would have swept the New York Yankees (to reach the World Series) and I never would have thought that the Giants would have swept us but it happened," - Detroit manager Jim Leyland.
- - -
ICE HOCKEY
"This is something everyone's dreamed of for their whole lives and this city's dreamed of for 45 years," - Los Angeles captain Dustin Brown after the Kings won the Stanley Cup for the first time.
"We are not prepared to open another season until we have a new collective bargaining agreement," - NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman signaling the start of another player lockout.
- - -
CRICKET
"Where else in the world do you get the opportunity to basically kill someone with two bouncers an over? Or try, legally," - South African fast bowler Dale Steyn.
"Cricket is not like a government job where retirement age is fixed at 60. A cricketer can retire at 30 or 60; it's up to the player," - India's evergreen batsman Virender Sehwag.
- - -
RUGBY
"It's for other people to judge whether we are the greatest team or not - or if we are a great team," - New Zealand coach Steve Hansen after another dominant season by the All Blacks.
"Today, we witnessed the arrival of a new generation of Welsh rugby heroes - a group of players who have equaled the success of those great Welsh teams of the past," - Wales First Minister Carwyn Jones after Wales won the Grand Slam and the Six Nations.

Read More..