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Jesse Jackson adds voice to Grammy protest (Reuters)

2012-01-29T16:31:00.001-08:00

(Reuters) ? Civil rights activist the Rev. Jesse Jackson on Friday urged Grammy organizers to reinstate 31 ethnic and minority musical categories that have been cut from the music industry's top awards.

In a letter to Recording Academy president Neil Portnow, sent three weeks before the February 12 Grammy Awards show, Jackson said the elimination of awards for Native American and Hawaiian musicians, and cuts in Latin Jazz, R&B and other categories were ill-considered and unfair.

Jackson said some of the categories dropped by the Recording Academy in a major overhaul last year "constitute the very heart of the music that nourishes and inspires minority communities."

Writing on behalf of the Rainbow Push Coalition of U.S. civil rights groups, Jackson called for an urgent meeting with Portnow to try and resolve the conflict that has spurred months of protests and a lawsuit by leading musicians.

Portnow said on Friday he was "receptive to meeting with the Rev. Jackson to explain how our nomination process works and to show the resulting diverse group of nominees it produced" for this year's Grammy Awards.

Paul Simon, Carlos Santana, Bonnie Raitt and Bobby Sanabria are among dozens of musicians who have protested the decision, announced last April, to slash the number of Grammy categories to 78 from 109 for the 2012 Grammy Awards.

Some categories, such as Hawaiian and Native American albums were dropped completely, while others including Latin music and R&B saw the number of award categories halved.

Portnow said at the time the changes were necessary to maintain "the prestige of the highest and only peer-recognized award in music."

Sanabria and three other Latin Jazz musicians filed a lawsuit in New York in August saying the cuts would harm their careers financially. They have also called for a boycott of the CBS network, which broadcasts the annual Grammy Awards show in Los Angeles.

The 2012 Grammy Awards take place on February12. Rapper Kanye West leads the field of contenders with seven nominations followed by British singer Adele, Bruno Mars and alternative rock band Foo Fighters.

(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Corrects Jackson name in paragraph 1.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120128/music_nm/us_grammys_protest

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Authorities: Man, 2 toddlers found dead in Va home (AP)

2012-01-29T06:23:00.001-08:00

RICHMOND, Va. ? Authorities say they are investigating the suspicious deaths of a 40-year-old man and two 3-year-old girls ? all related ? whose bodies have been found in a home in central Virginia.

Hanover County Sheriff's spokesman Chris Whitley told The Associated Press the bodies were found Saturday afternoon after investigators were called to a home in Mechanicsville, near Richmond.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch identified the dead as a father and his two twins but Whitley declined to elaborate on their relationship or the cause of death.

Sgt. Whitley says authorities are collecting evidence as part of a "death investigation" and seeking to determine the sequence of events that led to the deaths. He says preliminary information indicates there are no suspects at large. He declined to release their names early Sunday.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_re_us/us_virginia_three_dead

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Where in the cosmos? All over the place!

2012-01-29T03:21:00.001-08:00

By Alan Boyle

Scientists showed off the largest-scale color map of the universe in 3-D this month, as part of an effort to determine how matter has clumped together over the past few billion years. This visualization of the data was last week's "Where in the Cosmos" picture, offered for discussion on the Cosmic Log Facebook page.

It didn't take long for the Facebook folks to figure out what the picture showed. It's a sampling of luminous galaxies that helped astronomers involved in the Baryon Oscillation Spectrographic Survey, or BOSS, analyze the clustering of those galaxies on an incredibly vast scale. The BOSS researchers say their findings are consistent with the view that mysterious dark energy accounts for 73 percent of the density of the universe, with an uncertainty factor of less than 2 percent. The results were presented at the American Astronomical Society's winter meeting this month in Austin, Texas, and have been submitted to the Astrophysical Journal.

For figuring out so quickly what the "Where in the Cosmos" picture was all about, Cosmic Log Facebook friend Linz DeeGee is being sent a copy of John Gribbin's latest book, "Alone in the Universe: Why Our Planet Is Unique." She's also getting a pair of 3-D glasses.

Now there's a new "Where in the Cosmos" picture to chew over, from a nearby cosmic locale that's been in the news lately. Head on over to the Cosmic Log Facebook page to join the discussion, and please hit the "like" button if you haven't done so already. I'll fill you in on the picture and what it's all about next week.

Previously on 'Where in the Cosmos': Stephen Hawking's curios explained

Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter or adding Cosmic Log's Google+ page to your circle. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for other worlds.
Source: http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/27/10255262-where-in-the-cosmos-all-over
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Readers Respond to "Toxins All Around Us" and Other Articles

2012-01-28T17:21:00.001-08:00

October 2011 Image: Scientific American

CHEMISTRY COMMENTARY
In reading ?Toxins All around Us,? by Patricia Hunt [Forum], and the text pertaining to how the environment influences our genes in ?10 Unsolved Mysteries,? by Philip Ball, I wonder about the following: If toxins in the environment are affecting our bodies in a negative way, as Hunt in particular asserts, and if some genes that were heretofore inactive are now being reactivated in response to chemicals in the environment, as Ball refers to, might these newly activated genes allow us to evolve to cope with all these toxic exposures? Perhaps that?s what they are there for. Maybe our bodies of the future will be able to be healthy within this toxic mix.
John Maas Rua Ernesto do Oliveira
S?o Paulo, Brazil

Regarding the discussion of biofuels in ?10 Unsolved Mysteries,? you seem just as unwilling as other publications to discuss the economic law of diminishing returns. I don?t know exactly when this law became taboo, but technology-related reporting is especially notorious in this regard. Given the time and money spent researching biofuels, hybrid engines, hydrogen fuel-cell technology, and the like, it seems reasonable to suppose that, at some point, all this effort could be better spent investing in something like effective mass transit.
David R. Witzling
via e-mail

DARKNESS AND LIGHT
In ?The Dark Side of the Milky Way,? Leo Blitz states that what dark matter consists of ?remains as elusive as ever,? that the most conservative analysis is that it ?consists of an exotic particle not yet detected in particle accelerators? and that it ?reveals itself solely by its gravitational influence.?

A person familiar with the history of physics cannot help but think of the ?ether?: that equally mysterious ?substance? scientists of the 19th century supposed must exist, even though it could not be detected, to explain how light, then thought of exclusively as a wave, could propagate through space. The understanding of the dual nature of light made the ether?s existence unnecessary. We should thus not be surprised if a future, more complete theory of the nature of gravity, space and time will also render dark matter nothing more than a historic construct.
Harvey Smith
Carrollton, Tex.

Blitz replies: It remains possible that modifications to Einstein?s general theory of relativity could be responsible for the various phenomena that dark matter is invoked to explain. Nevertheless, despite the example of the ether, the history of astronomy is replete with dark objects that were later identified by other means. These include Neptune and the companion of Sirius, both of which, like dark matter, were first identified by their gravitational effects alone.

SCENT AND SENSIBILITY
While reading ?The Scent of Your Thoughts,? by Deborah Blum, I was somewhat startled to read a comment on University of Chicago researcher Martha McClintock?s ?friendly face and flyaway hair? and later a description of her clothes (?She wears a tweedy jacket over a bright, patterned shirt?). What has her appearance got to do with her considerable achievements as a scientist? I suspect that if she had been male, such comments would not have been written, and they are irrelevant, irrespective of gender. If I had read this in my local newspaper, I would have just rolled my eyes and sighed. Based on the usual standard of writing in Scientific American, such comments have no place in your journal.
Sam Vincent
Auckland, New Zealand
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=2e19280a62460fd5d398e0b3023469a5
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Arab League halts observer mission due to violence

2012-01-28T14:18:00.001-08:00

AP
This citizen journalism image provided by the Local Coordination Committees in Syria purports to show anti-Syrian regime protesters during a demonstration in Idlib province, Syria Friday.
By NBC News and msnbc.com news services
Updated at 9:25 a.m. ET: The Arab League is in talks with Russia ahead of a meeting at the U.N. Security Council in New York to discuss the escalation of violence in Syria, the deputy secretary-general tells Reuters.
"There are ongoing talks and consultations between the Arab League and Russia over the Syria file," Ahmed Bin Hali says at the League in Cairo Saturday. "Yesterday there was a call between the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with Secretary-General Nabil el-Araby regarding the latest developments in the Syrian situation."
Updated at 8:30 a.m. ET: The Arab League's deputy chief says the observer mission to Syria has been halted because of violence, The Associated Press reports. An official tells NBC News that Arab foreign ministers will meet after the U.N. secretary general returns from the U.N. Security Council meeting to decide whether to withdraw monitors because of the violence.

Published at 7:30 a.m. ET: A Syrian opposition group claimed Saturday that 130 people had been killed across the country in just 24 hours by President Bashar al-Assad's forces.
The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the death toll while speaking to NBC News in London.

Activists also told Reuters Saturday that the bodies of 17 men previously held by Syrian security forces have been found in the city of Hama.
"They were killed execution-style, mostly with one bullet to the head. Iron chains that had tied them were left on their legs as a message to the people to stop resisting," Abu al-Walid, an activist in the city, told Reuters by telephone.
NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin visits Zabadani, Syria, a once beautiful snowcapped resort town that has been deeply scarred by the recent military crackdown and speaks with members of the?anti-regime Free Syria Army.
Another activist said the bodies, their hands tied with plastic wire and some with their legs chained, were dumped in the streets of five Hama neighborhoods on Thursday evening.
Turkey was due to meet Gulf Arab states later Saturday to reinforce support for an Arab call for Assad to quit.
The Arab League and Western countries are pushing for a U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria, resisted by Assad's ally Russia. The U.N. Security Council discussed a new European-Arab draft resolution on Friday aimed at halting the bloodshed.??
The United Nations Children's Fund also said Friday that at least 384 children had been killed and virtually the same number had been jailed during the course of the uprising.
UN Security Council weights action on Syria
The U.N., which estimated in mid-December that more than 5,000 people had been killed, says it can no longer keep track of the total death toll. The Syrian government says insurgents have killed more than 2,000 soldiers and policemen.
'Siding with the Syrian people'
Turkey urged Syria's leadership to comply with an Arab League transition plan that calls on Assad to step down.
"We are siding with the Syrian people and their legitimate demands," Turkish President Abdullah Gul was quoted as saying by the United Arab Emirates newspaper al-Bayan.
Outside Syria capital, suburbs look like war zones
Turkish officials say the number of Syrians seeking sanctuary in Turkey has risen in the past six weeks, with 50 to 60 arriving daily, taking the total living in refugee camps to nearly 9,600 from about 7,000 previously.

More than 6,000 Syrian refugees have fled to Lebanon.
Turkey, which spent years rebuilding relations with Syria, turned against Assad after he ignored its advice to enact reforms to calm what began in March as a peaceful uprising against his rule, inspired by Arab revolts elsewhere.
Russia, which joined China in vetoing a previous Western draft U.N> resolution in October and which has since promoted its own draft, said the European-Arab version was unacceptable in its present form but added that it was willing to "engage" on it.
Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin criticized the draft, which endorses the Arab transition plan.
Moscow, he said, wants a Syrian-led political process, not "an Arab League-imposed outcome of a political process that has not yet taken place" or Libyan-style "regime change."
Reuters contributed to this report.
Source: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/28/10257534-arab-league-halts-observer-mission-due-to-violence
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Are Seal and Heidi on the road to reconciliation?

2012-01-28T04:15:00.001-08:00

It may not be the definitive end for Heidi Klum and Seal's relationship, after all.

Following his split from the "Project Runway" host, Seal has been relatively candid about discussing the break-up, but could reconciliation be on the horizon for the soul singer and Klum?

MORE: Seal Talks Heidi Klum Separation: "We Were Shocked"

"Never say never," Seal said, in a sit-down with Piers Morgan that airs Friday.

"Obviously I can't speak for my wife and I'm not gonna sit here and B.S. you and tell you we haven't had problems," the Grammy-winning artist said. "Of course we've had problems. Otherwise, why are we splitting up? This is not a charade. We have problems. We have issues. But, in our favor, I think that to our credit, we have always been able to talk about it. We have always been able to confront each other."

When asked if he would like to get back together with Klum, Seal said, "I don't know at this point, to be honest. If it were that easy, if there weren't problems, we would still be together. That is the reality."

So, what's up with Seal still wearing his wedding ring in spite of the couple's blatant separation?

MORE: Could Seal's Split From Heidi Klum Actually Help His Album Sales?

"I still wear my wedding ring, because I'm still married to this incredible woman," Seal said. "And you don't all of a sudden one day to the next ? unless you're those type of people ? just say 'I hate you' and take off your wedding ring. What this means to me and what it stands for, it stands for respect. It stands for loyalty, it stands for incredible memories and it stands for these four little miracles and Heidi making five that have come into my life over the past eight years."

And if you're surprised that Seal referred to Heidi as a "miracle," don't be.

PHOTOS: Heidi Klum & Seal: Romance Rewind

The "Kiss From a Rose" crooner has made it no secret that he still loves his wife, and further expressed that on "Piers Morgan Tonight," telling the late-night host, "My love for her has not waned one iota. I love her with all my heart. How can you not love somebody that you have just spent eight years with?"

Sweet. The guy did after all sing "Let's Stay Together" on Ellen Tuesday, right?

? 2012 E! Entertainment Television, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/46145667/ns/today-entertainment/
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Fla. hotel sues BP over oil spill claim (AP)

2012-01-28T01:15:00.001-08:00

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. ? A landmark Tampa Bay area hotel claims BP has failed to pay an oil-spill claim of more than $5 million.

The Don Cesar Resort Hotel on St. Pete Beach filed a lawsuit against BP Exploration and Production Tuesday in Houston, where the oil company is based.

The suit claims BP reneged on an agreement to pay the hotel $5.2 million for lost business after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in April 2010. No oil reached the west-central Florida coast, but businesses suffered because of uncertainty over the spill and the false perception that beaches were fouled.

The suit said the hotel accepted BP's written offer of compensation last fall, but the company has so far failed to pay.

BP officials did not return a call seeking comment Wednesday.
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/energy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_hotel_lawsuit_florida
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Ecologists capture first deep-sea fish noises

2012-01-27T15:13:00.001-08:00

ScienceDaily (Jan. 26, 2012) ? University of Massachusetts Amherst fish biologists have published one of the first studies of deep-sea fish sounds in more than 50 years, collected from the sea floor about 2,237 feet (682 meters) below the North Atlantic. With recording technology now more affordable, Rodney Rountree, Francis Juanes and colleagues are exploring the idea that many fish make sounds to communicate with each other, especially those that live in the perpetual dark of the deep ocean.

Though little is known at present about the significance of sounds made by deep-sea fishes, Rountree and Juanes say that if, as their pilot study suggests, these tend to be low-amplitude, then man-made noise in the oceans may turn out to be a particular problem for some important species.

Their paper appears in the new book, "Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life," from Springer Science+Business Media in its "Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology" series. It compiles papers from an international workshop in Ireland in 2010.

Using hydrophones deployed by fishermen during normal fishing operations, Rountree, Juanes and colleagues obtained a 24-hour recording in Welkers Canyon south of Georges Bank that yielded "a wealth of biological sounds" including sounds of fin, humpback and pilot whales, dolphins and examples of at least 12 other unique and unidentified sounds they attribute to other whales or fish.

Their new paper includes graphics showing the number of these grunts, drumming and duck-like calls recorded per minute by time of day, plus peak volume and frequencies of various noises. Some of the sounds exhibited strong temporal patterns, for example fin whale and dolphin sounds dominated the recording and peaked at night.

Rountree, who makes a collection of fish sounds available on his popular website to engage and educate the public, explains, "We think work to describe underwater sounds is extremely valuable. The importance of sound in the ecology of both freshwater and marine systems is poorly understood. At this point, in fact, most of our work consists of making careful observations, which of course is the first step in the scientific process."

He adds, "If sound is important to these deep sea fishes, it's a whole area of ecology we need to know about. One reason is that fishermen are exploring deeper and deeper water to make their catch, and we need to know such things as the baseline populations of food fish, their requirements for spawning, their essential habitat and other key aspects of their lives. We believe passive acoustic monitoring is an important tool in this study. And, it doesn't harm the fish or their habitat."

Unlike active acoustic studies that bounce sound waves out and back, passive acoustic studies involve just listening. Rountree and Juanes have been promoting underwater passive acoustic studies for more than a decade. They hope to create a census of sounds and behavior observed concomitant with sounds from many different aquatic and marine habitats.

Juanes says some fish use special "sonic muscles" to produce some sounds, and different sounds have different meanings or functions. Many are believed to be related to reproductive behavior. Some fish use a "sound map" for orientation in their immediate environment and may even use sound waves returning from distant beaches to help them navigate over longer distances. "There is a fascinating acoustic soundscape out there just waiting to be explored."

Rountree adds, "It's not only that some fish make sounds, but we think the overall soundscape is interesting and important." This study was supported by MIT Sea Grant.

In addition to their deep-sea recording project, the researchers are conducting pioneering passive acoustic surveys of sound in many different habitats, such as freshwater ponds, rivers and streams and coastal estuaries of New England, as well as on the commercial fishing grounds in the Gulf of Maine.

Publication site: www.springer.com/biomed/neuroscience/book/978-1-4419-7310-8

More at: www.fishecology.org/

And: www.fishecology.org/soniferous/Deep%20Sea%20Sounds/DeepSea.htm

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Massachusetts Amherst, via Newswise.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/ANWEuN-cBKo/120126142908.htm
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How Smartphone Camera Tech Will Evolve in 2012

2012-01-27T12:15:00.001-08:00
Handset manufacturers identified image capture as a key application for mobile devices early on, and have been iterating the sub-webcam-quality cameras that graced the original cellphones ever since. For 2012 and beyond, smartphone cameras will only improve further. Here are four key areas of development to watch.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/_cee9jfQBgA/
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Report: iPhone 5 Will Have 4-Inch Display, Arrive This Summer

2012-01-27T02:18:00.001-08:00
Take it with a big, fat grain of salt, but an unconfirmed report says Apple might release the iPhone 5 as early as this summer, and the phone will have a longer, wider chassis.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/SGmTOzkbsFI/
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Vera Bradley Laptop Travel Tote

2012-01-26T23:14:00.001-08:00
Vera Bradley has a new Laptop Travel Tote that’s designed to make travel with a laptop a bit easier.? This tote is 11 1/4″ x 14 3/4″ x 3″ with a 12″ strap drop.? It’s made of Vera Bradley’s standard quilted cotton fabrics.? There’s a laptop compartment on one side; the other side has a [...]
Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2012/01/25/vera-bradley-laptop-travel-tote/
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3 years after US accident, boat washes up in Spain

2012-01-26T13:30:00.001-08:00

Courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard
A boat that was lost at sea off the coast of Massachusetts in 2008 washed up on the coast of Spain more than three years later.
By Becky Bratu, msnbc.com
NEW YORK -- As he swam toward the coast of Nantucket, Mass. in August 2008, Scott Douglas, 58, watched his yellow fishing boat disappear, carried away by the swelling surf. He thought it would be the last time he'd ever see the Queen Bee.
But yesterday, more than three years after Douglas and his brother-in-law were tossed off the boat by a wave, the U.S. Coast Guard called to say the vessel had washed up on the Spanish coast. It?was rusty and covered in barnacles, but intact.
"It looks entirely different," Douglas said upon seeing the photos. "That's amazing."

Douglas remembers the water was restless on the day he set out to sea, and the fish weren't biting. He tried to keep the boat stationary, bracing himself as huge rollers crashed into it.

"At all times, it's a very sketchy area," Douglas told msnbc.com. "You wouldn't want to be dumped in the ocean there."
But that's exactly what happened when a rogue wave knocked Douglas and his brother-in-law, Rich St. Pierre, off the boat and into a sink-or-swim fight for survival.
Douglas remembers thinking the water was not too cold.?"The only way I was going to survive was just to get started, not tread water," he said.
But swimming didn't come as easy to St. Pierre, 68, who had gone through open heart surgery a year earlier. However,?a survival kit containing an inflatable device had been knocked?off the boat and floated to St. Pierre's side. It was a miracle, Douglas said, noting that the kit was the only item from the boat in the water with them.?
Courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard
Scott Douglas, 58, watched his yellow fishing boat disappear in 2008, carried away by the swelling surf. He thought it would be the last time he'd ever see the Queen Bee.
Douglas swam for about an hour and made it to shore on Smith's Point, a beach off the coast of Nantucket. Dripping wet and exhausted, he walked up to a cabin and asked to use the phone to alert the Coast Guard. Not long after, he saw St. Pierre walking on dry land.
"At the end of the day, it just wasn't our time," Douglas said.?
While that marked the end of their ordeal, the Queen Bee's journey didn't end there.?
Lt. Joe Klinker, a U.S. Coast Guard spokesman, said the most likely scenario is that the boat somehow got across the continental shelf and into the Gulf Stream.
"From there it may drift north off the coast of northern Canada and then east with the North Atlantic currents," Klinker told msnbc.com.
He said it's?rare, but not unheard of for an object off the coastline of the United States to drift across the Atlantic to Europe. But a boat? "I've never heard of anything like this," Klinker said.
", visible: true, offset: new Microsoft.Maps.Point(-35,-46)} var options02 = { htmlContent: "
", visible: true, offset: new Microsoft.Maps.Point(-55,5)} //Define the pins and boxes var pin01 = new Microsoft.Maps.Pushpin(loc01, pinOptions); var pin02 = new Microsoft.Maps.Pushpin(loc02, pinOptions); box01 = new Microsoft.Maps.Infobox(loc01,options01); box02 = new Microsoft.Maps.Infobox(loc02,options02); // Add a handler for the pushpin click event. Microsoft.Maps.Events.addHandler(pin01, 'click', displayInfobox); // Hide the info box when the map is moved. Microsoft.Maps.Events.addHandler(map, 'click', hideInfobox); //Show the pins and boxes map.entities.push(pin01); map.entities.push(box01); map.entities.push(pin02); map.entities.push(box02); } function displayInfobox(e) { box01.setOptions({ visible:true }); box02.setOptions({ visible:true }); } function hideInfobox(e) { box01.setOptions({ visible: false }); box02.setOptions({ visible: false }); }
Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/25/10233719-3-years-after-us-accident-boat-washes-up-in-spain
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THE SWATCH NEW GENT LACQUERED COLLECTION MAKES EVERY MOMENT OF EVERY MINUTE FABULOUS AND FUN

2012-01-26T10:18:00.001-08:00
A fresh collection of ten sensational watch designs from Swatch confirms the gorgeous use of colour and amazing innovation for which the iconic Swiss watch and jewelry maker Swatch is so globally adored. Created to be as eye-catching as possible, the New Gent Lacquered collection combines super-sleek and stylishly-slick lacquered surfaces with a fabulous selection [...]
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Bachmann says she'll seek 4th term in House (AP)

2012-01-26T00:09:00.001-08:00

MINNEAPOLIS ? Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann swept aside doubts about her political future on Wednesday, declaring less than a month after ending her presidential bid that she will seek a fourth term in Congress.

Bachmann's decision ended speculation that she might be ready to move on from the House, perhaps leveraging her popularity among some conservatives into a career in talk media. Despite her high profile, Bachmann has been only a marginal player in Congress.

"I'm looking forward to coming back and bringing a strong, powerful voice to Washington, D.C.," Bachmann said in an interview with The Associated Press. She said a formal announcement would come later.

Unless redistricting radically changes Minnesota's Republican-leaning 6th District, Bachmann figures to be a heavy favorite. Other Republican hopefuls had stood aside awaiting her decision. No Democrats have yet declared for the race.

Bachmann is a potent fundraiser who brought in $13.5 million in her last House race, but she would likely start from scratch after the presidential campaign. A campaign finance report that would show how much money she can bring to the race isn't due until the end of the month.

Ken Martin, chairman of Minnesota's Democratic-Farmer Labor Party, said the announcement wasn't a surprise. He said Democrats would attack Bachmann for being absent from the district and for missing votes in Washington during months chasing the presidential nomination.

"Anyone who thinks that they're unbeatable is fooling themselves, and particularly once you hand us these issues on a silver platter," Martin said.

Martin said he's talked with several potential candidates who were waiting for a special redistricting panel to issue new maps late next month. He said some were also waiting for Bachmann's decision.

Bachmann captured some early momentum in the chase for the GOP presidential nomination by winning the Iowa straw poll in midsummer, but she eventually faded. Bachmann said she will not be working for any GOP candidate still in the race ahead of Minnesota's caucuses Feb. 7.

Bachmann also addressed President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech. As she did on the campaign trail, Bachmann criticized Obama for "doubling down on failures that didn't work."

She said she "chose to lay everything on the line this last year" because she saw a better way.

"I know how to create jobs and I am a job creator," Bachmann said. "I do have a formula for success. I have lived that formula. ... We need that voice here in Congress."
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_el_ho/us_bachmann_house
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Stumble Around Like One of Those Dumb Helper Bots With the ASIMO Costume [Video]

2012-01-25T21:10:00.001-08:00

Sure, we all laugh when Honda's ASIMO robot trips and falls, but walking around in plasic armor can't be that easy. Don't believe me? This ridiculous ASIMO costume will let you experience it for yourself. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/N3AaGKm9_zo/asimo-costume-lets-you-stumble-around-like-a-toddleradvanced-robot
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Oil near $100 as Middle East tension simmers (AP)

2012-01-25T11:17:00.001-08:00

BANGKOK ? Oil inched toward $100 a barrel after Iran threatened to block shipments of crude from the Persian Gulf in the wake of the European Union's widely expected decision to embargo imports of Iranian oil.

Benchmark oil for March delivery was up 39 cents at $99.98 a barrel at late afternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.25 to settle at $99.58 a barrel in New York on Monday.

Brent crude was down 13 cents at $110.45 on the ICE futures exchange in London.

Tanker traffic out of the Persian Gulf has concerned oil traders for weeks, with Iran saying it could close the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's crude is transported, in response to sanctions by the West.

On Monday, the EU said its refineries will stop buying Iranian crude after July. It also froze assets of Iran's central bank. The sanctions are meant to force Iran to talk with the West about its nuclear program. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful, but Western nations suspect it is trying to build nuclear weapons.

The embargo itself isn't expected to affect world supplies, although markets would get reshuffled. Analysts say China, which is one of the biggest buyers of Iranian crude, probably will buy more Iranian oil at below-market prices when the embargo begins. China would reduce imports from other oil-producing countries, which would then sell more to Europe.

"Iran needs to sell its oil to someone," independent analyst and trader Stephen Schork said. "Outside the West, Iran really has only one buyer: China. That means China's probably going to get some sweetheart deals."

Experts say Iran doesn't have the firepower to close off the strait, which is the only way to get from the Persian Gulf to the open sea. But a conflict there could clog the waterway with military vessels and force the world's refineries to wait for crucial oil shipments.

In other energy trading, heating oil rose 1.4 cents to $3.02 a gallon and gasoline futures added 0.7 cent to $2.79 a gallon. Natural gas futures were up 5.7 cents at $2.58 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/energy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_bi_ge/oil_prices
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New U.N. council no more favorable to Palestinians: U.S. (Reuters)

2012-01-25T03:59:00.001-08:00

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Security Council dynamics are no more favorable now to a Palestinian U.N. membership bid than they were last year despite a partial change in the council makeup, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said on Monday.

In the teeth of strong opposition from the United States and Israel, the Palestinian Authority applied to the council last September for U.N. membership. But a committee to consider the application failed to reach consensus, and the Palestinians have not so far requested a formal vote in the council.

Addressing a Jewish audience in New York, Ambassador Susan Rice said that since the committee's report, the application had "essentially stayed there for the time being."

"I presume that is because the Palestinians decided that, given the voting likely outcome in the council, it wasn't timely to push it to a vote," she told the governing board of the American Jewish Committee, or AJC. "The fact is, nobody knows for sure what the Palestinians will choose to do."

Asked whether the replacement of five members of the 15-nation council as of January 1 might affect the issue, Rice said, "I think that we are roughly in the same place now as we were last year, and potentially even in a better position."

The issue for the Palestinians last year was not whether their application would get council approval - since the United States was considered certain to veto it - but whether they could score a moral victory and force Washington to use its veto by winning nine votes in favor from other members.

In the absence of a veto, a council resolution needs nine votes to pass. But diplomats said at the time the Palestinians would get only eight votes in support, with other countries voting against or abstaining.

Diplomats say that situation remains despite the changes in the council membership. Newcomer Azerbaijan is thought likely to support the Palestinian application, whereas its predecessor, Bosnia, was expected to abstain. But Guatemala is unlikely to follow its predecessor, Brazil, in backing the Palestinians. The other three newcomers represent no change.

The Palestinian choice is whether to push for a Security Council vote anyway, take the issue to the U.N. General Assembly - which cannot confer membership but can upgrade their status as observers - or do nothing as contacts continue with Israel over a possible resumption of peace talks.

Rice reaffirmed the U.S. line that a Palestinian state would come only through direct negotiations with Israel, not "through a short-cut at the United Nations."

In her remarks to the AJC, Rice stressed U.S. backing at the United Nations for Israel. Some U.S. Republicans have accused President Barack Obama of being insufficiently supportive of the Jewish state.

With the U.S. election campaign heating up, one of Rice's deputies spoke publicly last week on the need for reforming U.N. practices, addressing another concern of Republicans who charge the Obama administration is too close to the world body.

(Reporting By Patrick Worsnip; Editing by Peter Cooney)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120123/ts_nm/us_palestinians_israel_usa_un
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Decide on an Automotive Oscilloscope Fit to you | Edimaster

2012-01-24T22:11:00.001-08:00
Posted by publish on January 22, 2012
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Source: http://www.edimaster.org/decide-on-an-automotive-oscilloscope-fit-to-you/
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Senator Kirk suffers stroke, undergoes surgery (Reuters)

2012-01-24T14:54:00.001-08:00

CHICAGO (Reuters) ? Senator Mark Kirk underwent surgery to relieve pressure from brain swelling on Monday after suffering a stoke, and his surgeon expressed hope that the cognitive functioning of the 52-year-old Illinois Republican would remain intact.

Surgeons at Chicago's Northwestern Memorial Hospital removed a portion of Kirk's skull to relieve pressure from post-stroke brain swelling, and his surgeon Dr. Richard Fessler said the senator had "tolerated that surgery very well." The neurosurgeon

told reporters that some facial paralysis is possible.

Kirk was a five-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives before winning election in 2010 to take President Barack Obama's former Senate seat that he vacated when elected president.

The ischemic stroke in which blood flow was impeded by a blockage - in this case through the carotid artery - impacted the right side of Kirk's brain, according to Fessler, who performed the surgery.

"It will affect his ability to move his left arm, possibly his left leg, and possibly will involve some facial paralysis," Fessler told a news conference at the hospital.

Had it happened on the left side of his brain, Fessler said, "it would have affected his ability to speak, understand, and think. So we're very hopeful that when we get through his recovery, all of those functions will be intact."

"We're happy with his current status," Fessler told reporters. The doctor said the senator was under sedation in a neurological intensive care unit and that he can recognize people when not sedated.

Kirk checked into a hospital in the northern Chicago suburb of Lake Forest, Illinois, on Saturday, suffering from headache and dizziness, and was transferred to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, the senator's office said.

"Due to his young age, good health and the nature of the stroke, doctors are very confident in the senator's recovery over the weeks ahead," Kirk's office said in a statement.

Kirk aide Richard Goldberg said, "We are confident that the fighter in him will prevail."

Kirk, a U.S. Navy Reserve pilot who has flown missions over Iraq, is viewed as a moderate Republican. He has pressed the Obama administration on enforcing strict sanctions on Iran aimed at thwarting that country's nuclear ambitions.

Kirk recently endorsed former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in the race to pick a Republican presidential nominee to challenge Obama in the November 6 election.

"I am extremely distressed by the news that my friend Mark Kirk is hospitalized for emergency medical treatment. I wish him a speedy recovery and a swift return to the U.S. Senate chamber," Romney said in a statement.

Kirk, a native of Champaign, Illinois, was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2000 and narrowly beat Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, a Democrat, for the Senate seat.

(Reporting By Eric Johnson and Andrew Stern in Chicago; Editing

by Will Dunham)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120123/pl_nm/us_usa_senator_stroke
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Pakistan rejects U.S. report on NATO attack (Reuters)

2012-01-24T09:13:00.001-08:00

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) ? Pakistan's military Monday rejected U.S. findings on a November 26 NATO cross-border air attack that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, reducing the chances of a resolution of the dispute and an improvement in ties which are at their lowest in years.

"Pakistan does not agree with several portions and findings of the investigation report, as these are factually not correct," the military said in a statement after a detailed review of the U.S. investigation.

The U.S. report released on December 22 found both American and Pakistani forces were to blame for the incident near the Afghan border, inflaming already strained ties.

"Affixing partial responsibility of the incident on Pakistan is therefore unjustified and unacceptable," said the Pakistani military.

Pakistan responded to the attack by shutting down ground routes to supply U.S.-led NATO forces in Afghanistan and forced the United States to vacate an air base used to launch drone flights.

"This is going to affect the relationship. The relationship was already in the doldrums, it was in bad shape. I don't know if it has the capacity to get any worse," said Mahmud Durrani, a retired Pakistan army major general.

"It's very unusual because normally allies fight side by side."

Last week, a senior Pakistani security official told Reuters the routes would be reopened, but heavy tariffs would be imposed.

"The fundamental cause of the incident of 26th November, 2011, was the failure of U.S./ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) to share its near-border operation with Pakistan at any level," said the military.

The death of the Pakistani soldiers dug in along the mountainous, isolated border area, along with the initial NATO response, has incensed Pakistanis and marked yet another setback in the Obama administration's efforts to improve chronically troubled ties with an uneasy ally.

The U.S. military blamed Pakistani soldiers for firing at NATO forces as they prepared for a mission in the remote corner of eastern Afghanistan.

The U.S. investigation also conceded a critical error by U.S. troops, who told Pakistan the cross-border shooting was taking place about 9 miles away due to mapping error. Pakistan responded by saying it had no troops there.

Pakistan admitted that its posts engaged in "speculative "fire," including the use of mortar bombs, which the U.S. interpreted as hostile fire.

But it denies that it fired in the direction of the Afghan and NATO forces and was instead firing at "suspected militant movement."

(Additional reporting by Rebecca Conway and Chris Allbritton; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120123/wl_nm/us_pakistan_usa
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Nicki Minaj Spills Beauty Secrets (omg!)

2012-01-24T01:50:00.001-08:00

Let's face it -- Nicki Minaj is almost as much known for her fabulously zany style as her chart-topping hits (you know you've made it when they start selling "Nicki" wigs at Party City before Halloween).
But the always put-together Nicki reveals some surprising beauty secrets to Elle.com -- for one, that she doesn't know how to put on eye makeup!
"I don't have the patience, my hands shake, and I mess everything up," Nicki says about the most high-maintenance part of her beauty routine -- her often dolled-up eyes. "So my makeup artist has to do my brows and lids and lashes. Everyone knows I'm a lash girl by now. When I don't have my lashes, I feel naked."
Pics: The Outrageous and Colorful Nicki Minaj
And what's her absolute must-have beauty item?
Not surprisingly, it's pink lipstick.
"I can't see myself without pink lipstick. I can go without it for a couple days, but if there was no more pink lipstick in the world, I'd be useless. Seriously," she says. "And a good white pencil for under the eye, just inside the rim. It helps you look like you're on."
Nicki and Ricky's Steamy Campaign
She also reveals a particularly painful incident that has her vowing to never keep her nails long again.
"My nails used to be, like, a mile long, with all these crazy designs on them. The reason I stopped doing that was because one time, when I was driving from New York to Atlanta, I hit my hand on something and it ripped off the nail and the skin," she recounts. "I had to pull over I was in so much pain and stay in a $50 motel where the truckers sleep. I vowed I would never get long nails again."
Click here to check out Nicki's surprisingly affordable beauty must-haves, which includes items from both her famed collaborations with M.A.C. and OPI.
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_nicki_minaj_spills_beauty_secrets151000191/44273127/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/nicki-minaj-spills-beauty-secrets-151000191.html
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Carnival Offers AMAZING 30 Percent Discount to Costa Condoria Cruise Ship Survivors

2012-01-23T20:04:00.001-08:00

Carnival Corp. is offering the passengers on the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia a very special 30 percent discount to stay loyal to their brand, according to reports.

One stipulation: You must not be dead or missing to receive the deal.

“The company is not only going to refund everybody, but they will offer a 30 percent discount on future cruises if they would like to stay loyal,” a spokesman said.

We're sure people are absolutely blown away by such a deal.

Costa Concordia Passengers Escaping

The spokesman added that they've been contacting the survivors via phone after the vessel, captained horrendously by Francesco Schettino, capsized this month.

Schettino was released from jail last week and is currently under home arrest near Naples, Italy. He is being charged with manslaughter and abandoning ship.

'Of the 4,200 on board, 120 were Americans. In all, 13 people have died, and another 19,- including a retired Minnesota couple, remain missing early Monday.
Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/carnival-offers-amazing-30-percent-discount-to-costa-condoria-cr/
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Euro zone finance ministers to rule on Greek debt talks (Reuters)

2012-01-23T12:47:00.001-08:00

BRUSSELS/ATHENS (Reuters) ? Euro zone finance ministers will decide on Monday what terms of a Greek debt restructuring they are ready to accept as part of a second bailout package for Athens after negotiators for private creditors said they could not improve their offer.

Resolving the issue of a Greek debt swap is key to putting Athens' debt on a sustainable path and avoiding a chaotic default that could threaten the whole currency bloc.

After several rounds of talks, Greece and its private creditors are converging on a deal in which private bondholders would take a real loss of 65 to 70 percent on their Greek bonds, officials close to the negotiations said.

But some details of the debt restructuring, which will involve swapping existing Greek bonds for new, longer-term bonds to bring Greek debt down to a more sustainable 120 percent of GDP in 2020 from 160 percent now, are unresolved.

"What I am confident of is that our offer, that was delivered to the prime minister, is the maximum offer consistent with a voluntary PSI deal," Institute of International Finance chief Charles Dallara, who is negotiating on behalf of banks and insurers holding Greek debt, told Antenna TV on Sunday.

"We are at a crossroads and I remain quite hopeful," said Dallara, who left Athens on Saturday without a deal in place.

Once the guidance from the finance ministers, known as the Eurogroup, is clear, talks on the restructuring could be finalized later in the week.

"It is a very delicate moment," Greek government spokesman Pantelis Kapsis told Greek state radio.

"The only thing that I can say as a government spokesman is that tonight, there is a very important meeting at the Eurogroup and we hope that serious steps will be made towards a deal."

Talks on the extent of Private Sector Involvement (PSI) in the Greek debt restructuring are a vital part of a second financing plan for Athens that would keep it funded until 2014.

"We will listen to the report on the negotiations, see how far they have gotten and have the ministers say what is acceptable and what is not in terms of outcome of the negotiations," one Eurogroup official said.

Without the second bailout from the euro zone and the International Monetary Fund, Greece will not be able to pay back 14.5 billion euros in maturing bonds in March, triggering a messy default that would hurt the whole euro zone economy.

"We are working for a deal in time for the January 30 summit of EU leaders. The restructuring offer needs to be made in the course of February," the official said.

"Obviously there is a clear link between the PSI and the next program and what we will be focusing on in the Eurogroup is making the next program operational."

STICKING POINT

There are doubts that even with a new bailout Greece's mountainous debt can be reduced to a still-painful 120 percent of GDP by 2020.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Sunday the crucial factor was that Athens should have a level of debt that was sustainable by then. "This goal must be achieved," he told German public broadcaster ARD.

Euro zone leaders agreed in October that the second bailout would total 130 billion euros, if private bondholders forgave half of what Greece owes them in nominal terms.
But Greek economic prospects have deteriorated since then, which means either euro zone governments or investors will have to contribute more than thought. [ID:nL1E8CBE7W]
The main sticking point is coupon, or interest rate, the new Greek bonds would carry. Officials said the new bonds are likely to be 30 years in maturity and carry a progressively higher coupon, which would average out at around 4 percent.
"The euro zone ministers will examine the proposal and say whether we have a deal. If they say we don't, we're back to the negotiating table," a banking source close to the talks said.
Progress will be presented to euro zone ministers by Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos.
"We then expect a discussion about the coupon," a senior Greek banker close to the negotiations told Reuters.
"I believe that the private sector can accept a lower coupon than the 4 percent average, but the question then is: will the PSI still be on a voluntary basis?" he said.
The voluntary character of the debt restructuring is important to avoid triggering the pay-out of insurance against a Greek default.
While the sums of such insurance appear relatively small, euro zone officials said, such a "credit event" could trigger a chain reaction of events that would entail rapid and large scale contagion in euro zone debt markets, and is thus best avoided.
NEW RESCUE FUND
After dealing with Greece, euro zone ministers will choose a replacement for European Central Bank Board member Jose Manuel Gonzales Paramo, whose term ends in May.
The 17 ministers of the euro zone will then be joined by 10 ministers from the other European Union countries to finalize a treaty setting up the euro zone's permanent bailout fund - the 500 billion euro European Stability Mechanism (ESM). Its predecessor, the EFSF, is widely viewed as insufficient.
The ESM is another crucial element in the bloc's efforts to end the sovereign debt crisis that threatens to engulf Spain and Italy after claiming Greece, Ireland and Portugal.
The fund should boost market confidence in euro zone defenses should Spain or Italy need emergency financing. Separately, the IMF has launched a proposal to boost its war chest by $600 billion.
IMF head Christine Lagarde is to discuss this during a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday. She will make a speech on Monday in which she is expected to urge euro zone leaders to act quickly while acknowledging it is not merely Europe's problem because "innocent bystanders" will also be hit by a worsening debt crisis.
The 27 EU finance ministers will also prepare the final draft of another treaty to sharply tighten fiscal discipline in the euro zone, called the fiscal compact, that is designed to ensure another sovereign debt crisis cannot happen in future.
EU leaders are to sign off on both treaties on January 30, allowing the ESM to become operational in July.
To prepare for the January 30 summit, Merkel will meet European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy on Monday evening.
(Additional reporting by Lefteris Papadimas and Ingrid Melander in Athens; Reporting By Jan Strupczewski, editing by Mike Peacock)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/religion/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120123/ts_nm/us_eurozone_ministers
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Carnival-themed gala aids cancer research | CJOnline.com

2012-01-23T07:37:00.001-08:00
[unable to retrieve full-text content]CJOnline.com is the website of the Topeka Capital-Journal newspaper. It's the Number One source of news, sports, weather and entertainment information, as well as cars, jobs and real estate advertising for the northeastern ...
Source: http://cjonline.com/news/2012-01-20/carnival-themed-gala-aids-cancer-research
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Attacks in Nigeria's Kano kill over 100: security source (Reuters)

2012-01-23T07:01:00.001-08:00

ABUJA (Reuters) ? More than 100 people were killed in bomb attacks and gunfights in Nigeria's second largest city Kano late on Friday, a senior local government security source told Reuters, in the deadliest coordinated strike claimed by Islamist sect Boko Haram to date.

"Definitely more than 100 have been killed," the source, who could not be named, said. "There were bombs and then gunmen were attacking police and police came back with attacks." Hospital staff said there were still bodies arriving at morgues in Kano.

Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the attack. The sect has killed hundreds in the north of Africa's most populous nation in the last year.

(Reporting by Mike Oboh; Writing by Joe Brock; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120121/wl_nm/us_nigeria_blast
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Schlumberger profit beats expectations (Reuters)

2012-01-22T23:43:00.001-08:00

(Reuters) ? Oilfield services leader Schlumberger (SLB.N) reported a higher-than-expected rise in fourth-quarter earnings and remained cautiously optimistic about 2012 despite the potential for Europe's debt crisis to hurt economic growth and oil demand.

Schlumberger shares were up less than 1 percent, coming off a six-week high earlier in the day, after Chief Executive Officer Paal Kibsgaard warned that analysts' first-quarter profit expectations were on the "optimistic side."

A similar warning from the new CEO three months ago knocked 10 cents off fourth-quarter estimates. The current average first-quarter earnings estimate for Schlumberger is $1.07 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company gave no full-year earnings forecast despite requests from an analyst on a conference call.

The International Energy Agency cut its oil demand forecast this week, saying the possibility of a credit crunch in Europe could set off a recession that would cut energy consumption.

European gloom also weighed on the minds of the management at General Electric Co (GE.N), which posted lower-than-expected revenue on Friday.

Oilfield service companies have benefited from strong oil prices, which have prompted their energy-producing customers to hike spending by about 10 percent this year, according to a survey by Barclays Capital.

"Against this backdrop, we are planning for growth in 2012, although we are building significant flexibility into our plans, given the uncertainties," Kibsgaard said on the conference call.

So while Schlumberger expects 2012 capital spending to rise 12 percent to nearly $4.5 billion this year, it said it was building the "required flexibility" into those plans.

"This is code for throttling back on spending, at a minimum, if warranted," according to Simmons & Co analyst Bill Herbert.

Fourth-quarter net profit rose to $1.4 billion, or $1.05 per share, from $1.0 billion, or 76 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, earnings per share of $1.11 topped the $1.09 that analysts had expected on average.

Revenue rose 21 percent to $11 billion.

North American growth was driven by work in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, where activity is increasing after the 2010 BP Plc (BP.L) oil spill brought drilling there to a standstill.

Kibsgaard expects about one deepwater rig per month, on average, to move in to the Gulf of Mexico in 2012, with the rig count there topping the level seen prior to the BP disaster later in the year.

Ensco Plc (ESV.N) said late on Thursday that one of its deepwater rigs would return to work in the Gulf of Mexico for BP after its sublet contract in Angola runs out in July.

Offshore activity in Africa and land business in the Middle East and North Africa were also strong, Schlumberger said.

Analysts at Pritchard Capital said positive commentary on Iraq was a surprise, given recent chatter about activity there. "We think these results internationally augur well for other companies with large exposure outside North America, specifically Weatherford (WFT.S)," they added.

Rivals Halliburton Co (HAL.N) and Baker Hughes Inc (BHI.N), which are more U.S.-focused, report results on Monday and Tuesday, respectively. Weatherford's numbers are due on February 21.
Schlumberger said recent price rises that boosted the North American onshore business had slowed from the third quarter, but it was sticking with plans to build more hydraulic fracturing capacity, for now.
U.S. drilling has boomed in recent years with increased production from shale rock formations through "fracking," which has been a boon for Schlumberger, Halliburton and Baker Hughes.
But apart from the political fallout due to environmental concerns, all that drilling has also created a glut of natural gas. This has pushed prices for the fuel to its lowest levels in a decade, causing drilling activity to decline.
Kibsgaard expected the onshore North American rig count to remain about flat this year, with growth in oil basins offsetting the decline in natural gas drilling.
Schlumberger shares were up 0.6 percent at $73.31 in midday trading after rising as high as $75.75 early on Friday.
(Reporting by Matt Daily in New York, Krishna N Das in Bangalore and Braden Reddall in San Francisco; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120120/bs_nm/us_schlumberger
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Recommended: Science on Ice: Four Polar Expeditions (preview)

2012-01-22T18:01:00.001-08:00
Recommended | More Science See Inside
Books and recommendations from Scientific American

By Anna Kuchment and Michael Moyer ?| January 20, 2012

Image: Jeff Wilson, used with permission from Frozen Planet, by Alastair Fothergill and Vanessa Berlowitz, 2011 Firefly Books

Science on Ice: Four Polar Expeditions

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=385f16da429e5c91587c4bb25e11d5ac
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Power of Europe's boardooms captured in new book (Reuters)

2012-01-22T10:46:00.001-08:00

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? For 15 years, New York-based Dutch photographer Jacqueline Hassink has been making her mark with global art projects, covering subjects as diverse as Haute Couture fitting rooms in Paris, the gardens of Kyoto and the boardrooms of Europe's leading corporations.

Magnum photographer Martin Parr declared Hassink's "The Table of Power" (1996), in which she photographed the boardrooms of 40 multinational companies, one of the most important photo books of the 20th century. Her new sequel "The Table of Power 2," revisits companies from the 2009 Fortune Global 500 list, documenting the impact of the economic downturn.

Hassink recently spoke to Reuters about "The Table of Power 2" and another book "View, Kyoto." Publisher Hatje Cantz released "The Table of Power 2" in Europe and Asia on January 17. D.A.P. will publish the book in the U.S. in March 2012..

Q: You made "The Table of Power" sixteen years ago. What drew you to this topic and why did you revisit the subject?

A: "I took part in a photography workshop in Oslo in 1993 and I was asked to pick a Norwegian book and choose one word to work with. I chose "table" in Ibsen's play "Peer Gynt." I projected this taxonomy as a map onto the city of Oslo, then looked for other tables in Norwegian society. That led to the idea of creating a map of Europe, by photographing its most potent meeting places: the meeting tables of the boards of directors of Europe's largest corporations. I wanted to reveal the centers of economic power, the meeting tables where top executives were seated, making decisions upon which millions of people depend. In 2008 with the onset of the worst recession since the 1930s, I decided to look once again at Europe's economic landscape."

Q: What do tables reflect in business and society?

A: "Tables symbolize the core of our society. They are a fascinating symbol of how we organize our private and public lives. Within families, tables show a hierarchy. The father heads the table and the mother sits closest to the kitchen. In corporations, boardroom tables represent a similar power play. CEOs usually sit at an oval or rectangular table at the head, or in the middle of the longest stretch. Ideally they face the entrance, which is the most secure place in the room."

Q: How does the value of these companies compare with 16 years ago?

A: "The top 40 in Europe in the first project had total revenues of $1,194,368.2 million. The top 40 from Europe in the second project had total revenues of $5,252,710.9 million.

Q: What else has changed in boardrooms since the last visit?

A: "The technology and the lack of ashtrays. Boardrooms can be highly complex these days with a lot of built-in technology. A striking new feature is the presence of BlackBerry trays."

Q: Which companies are still on the original list?

A: "BASF, BP, Daimler, EDF, ENI, Fiat, Nestl?, PSA Peugeot Citro?n, Royal Dutch Shell, Siemens, Total and Volkswagen. I only visited three companies twice -- ENI, Siemens, and Volkswagen -- where the same spokesperson accompanied me.

Q: Your project represents the first time in Europe that boardrooms have been photographed and made public. Do you consider this a journalistic endeavor?

A: "I consider it an artistic endeavor, simply because it is an artistic project and not a journalistic project."

Q: Why did you decide to include in "The Table of Power 2" the banks and financial institutions?

A: "Since major banks and financial service companies have played an enormous role in the economy's downward spiral, and thus our immediate social coexistence, they too were included in 'The Table of Power 2,' alongside industrial, multinational corporations. I simply observed the economic landscape of Europe in the year 2009, and I could not do the project without adding the banks nor not include Russian corporations in the project."

Q: Your work covers spiritual and material ideas, and you recently filmed the monks and their gardens in Kyoto. Why?
A: "My work develops over time. I travel extensively and ideas develop usually while traveling. Something catches my eye, which I observe in several continents. That is usually how a new body of work starts. I am interested in the relationship between private and public space in Zen Buddhist temples and gardens. I have been working with these monks since 2004 on a photography project called "View, Kyoto" and over time I have learned a lot from them. ... I talked with them about the meaning of space and their relationship to nature. As a person I have become more balanced. They taught me how to live life in a Buddhist way.
Q: What was your most challenging project?
A: "The hardest project was by far 'Arab Domains' (2005-06). Over two years I visited 18 Arab countries, portraying 36 top female executives. For almost every country I needed to get a visa and I traveled for weeks through the Middle East and North Africa."
Q: What are you working on?
A: "I just finished 'View, Kyoto' (2004-11) and I am making another film in Kyoto in 2012. In 2013, my book "View, Kyoto" will be published. I am planning to continue working on fashion world projects, like "Haute Couture Fitting Rooms, Paris" (2003-10) and a new project in China."
(Reporting by Liza Foreman; Editing By Bob Tourtellotte)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120120/lf_nm_life/us_boardrooms_book
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Nicholas Hoult Is 'Beautiful' In 'Warm Bodies'

2012-01-22T05:01:00.001-08:00

Teresa Palmer gushed to MTV News about her co-star's zombie performance.
By Josh Wigler, with reporting by Josh Horowitz

Teresa Palmer and Joel Edgerton
Photo: MTV News

If Hollywood can turn vampires and werewolves into sex icons, what's keeping zombies from entering that same sexy stratosphere? Well, there's the whole feasting-on-human-flesh thing to consider, we suppose, not to mention the endless groaning and decaying to boot.
Despite their brain-craving reputation, the walking dead are about to undergo a serious makeover in "Warm Bodies," director Jonathan Levine's adaptation of the Isaac Marion novel set in a post-apocalyptic world where a zombie named R (played by "X-Men: First Class" actor Nicholas Hoult) inexplicably falls in love with Julie Grigio, whose father is a general in the dwindling human resistance.

Teresa Palmer, who plays Julie, spoke with MTV News at the Sundance Film Festival about her work on "Warm Bodies" and why she can't wait to fall in love with a zombie on the big screen.
"I'm just excited to see how Nicholas Hoult comes across on the screen," said Palmer, who's attending Sundance to support her drama "Wish You Were Here." "He was so beautiful to work with. He does such an incredible performance. He's playing a zombie, so he can't say much, but he's very expressive with his eyes."

It's not just Hoult's "beautiful" zombie performance that Palmer fell in love with, but the "Warm Zombies" universe as a whole.
"The world that Jonathan Levine has set up is so epic and so interesting," she said. "It's always very cool when Jonathan Levine does something. I'm really excited to see it."
Are you excited to see zombie love story "Warm Bodies"? Let us know in the comments.
The 2012 Sundance Film Festival is officially under way, and the MTV Movies team is on the ground reporting on the hottest stars and the movies everyone will be talking about in the year to come. Keep it locked with MTV Movies for everything there is to know about Sundance.

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Sundance 2012: MTV Celebrity Photo Booth

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1677682/warm-bodies-movie-nicholas-hoult.jhtml
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Storm blankets Northeast with a few inches of snow (AP)

2012-01-21T21:47:00.001-08:00

PHILADELPHIA ? A weekend storm blanketed the Northeast with a few inches of snow Saturday, creating slippery conditions and some delays at airports, though the storm was expected to move out to sea overnight.

The National Weather Service predicted 4 to 6 inches in New York City before the snow stops in the afternoon. Early Saturday morning flurries and freezing rain showers were expected for the Washington area. Philadelphia is under a winter weather advisory and could receive up to 4 inches of snow.

Up to 7 inches was predicted for southeastern Massachusetts, not much by the standards of a New England winter but noteworthy in a season marked by a lack of snow.

The storm was just the second significant snowfall of the season for some Northeasterners, including in New York City and Philadelphia. A rare October snowstorm knocked out power to nearly 3 million homes and businesses in the region.

Road conditions were fair Saturday morning, officials said. Crews in Pennsylvania and New Jersey began salting roads around midnight and plowing soon after. By midmorning, the snow had turned to sleet in Philadelphia north through central New Jersey.

Few accidents were reported on the roads, helped by the weekend's lack of rush hour traffic, but New Jersey transportation spokesman Joe Dee cautioned drivers to build in more time for trips. Though temperatures will warm up this afternoon he said, forecasters expect the wet ground to freeze again overnight.

Flights arriving at Philadelphia Airport were delayed up to two hours because of snow and ice accumulation, but most departing flights were leaving on time, a spokeswoman said.

New York City had 1,500 snow plows at the ready, each equipped with global positioning systems that will allow supervisors to see their approximate location on command maps updated every 30 seconds, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a morning news conference.

The equipment was installed last year following a disaster of a storm that struck the day after Christmas of 2010, when even the city's plows were stuck and stranded in drifts, and streets remained impassable for days. Bloomberg said the GPS system has already led to "vastly improved communication" between supervisors and plow operators.

As always, some welcomed the snow.

Enough accumulated through the week for snowmobiling and ice fishing in New Hampshire, where cross-country ski trails and snowshoeing were open at Bretton Woods and other trails.
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_re_us/us_winter_weather
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Compression garments reduce muscle fatigue

2012-01-21T16:07:00.001-08:00

COMPRESSION garments worn by athletes to keep muscles warm may improve performance by reducing muscle fatigue.

Dale Lovell and colleagues at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia, measured lactate levels in 25 rugby players after they'd exercised wearing either spandex-like compression garments or regular shorts.

Lactate levels were significantly lower in players kitted out in the compression garments, possibly because they stimulate blood flow that clears the substance. Lactate is associated with muscle fatigue, quick removal may improve performance (Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e31821764f8).

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A Q&A on contested Internet anti-piracy bills (AP)

2012-01-21T09:01:00.001-08:00

WASHINGTON ? Online piracy costs U.S. copyright owners and producers billions of dollars every year, but legislation in Congress to block foreign Internet thieves and swindlers has met strong resistance from high-tech companies, spotlighted by Wikipedia's protest blackout on Wednesday, warning of a threat to Internet freedom.

House and Senate bills that once seemed to be on a path toward approval now face a rockier future. House Speaker John Boehner on Wednesday said it was "pretty clear to many of us that there is a lack of consensus at this point."

Here are some of the some of the questions being raised about the bills being considered:

Q. Why is legislation needed?

A. There's no argument that more needs to be done to protect artists, innovators and industries from copyright thieves and shield consumers from products sold on the Internet that are fake, faulty and unsafe. Creative America, a coalition of Hollywood studios, networks and unions, says content theft costs U.S. workers $5.5 billion a year. The pharmaceutical industry loses billions to Internet sellers of drugs that are falsely advertised and may be harmful.

Q. What is Congress trying to accomplish?

A. The two main bills are the Protect Intellectual Property Act, or PIPA, in the Senate, and the similar Stop Online Privacy Act, or SOPA, in the House. There are already laws on the books to combat domestic websites trafficking in counterfeit or pirated goods, but little to counter foreign violators.

The bills would allow the Justice Department, and copyright holders, to seek court orders against foreign websites accused of perpetrating or facilitating copyright infringement. While there is little the United States can do to take down those websites, the bills would bar online advertising networks and payment facilitators such as credit card companies and PayPal from doing business with an alleged violator. It also would forbid search engines from linking to such sites.

The original bills would have let copyright holders and Internet service providers block access to pirate websites. Critics and Internet engineers complained that would allow copyright holders to interfere in the behind-the-scenes system that seamlessly directs computer users to websites. They said that causing deliberate failures in the lookup system to prevent visits to pirate websites could more easily allow hackers to trick users into inadvertently visiting websites that could infect their computers. The White House also took issue with that approach, saying "We must avoid creating new cybersecurity risks or disrupting the underlying architecture of the Internet."

Responding to the critics, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said he is taking the blocking measure out of his bill. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., also is reworking his bill to address those cybersecurity issues.

Q. What are other concerns with the bills?

A. Critics say they would constrain free speech, curtail innovation and discourage new digital distribution methods. NetCoalition, a group of leading Internet and technology companies, says they could be forced to pre-screen all user comments, pictures and videos ? effectively killing social media. Search engines, Internet service providers and social networks could be forced shut down websites linked to any type of pirated content.

In addition, critics contend that young, developing businesses and smaller websites could be saddled with expensive litigation costs. And, they contend existing rights holders could impede new investment in the technology sector.

The White House said it would "not support any legislation that reduces freedom of expression ... or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet."

Leahy responded that there is nothing in the legislation that would require websites, Internet service providers, search engines, ad networks, payment processors or others to monitor their networks. He said his bill protects third parties from liability that may arise from actions to comply with a court order.

Michael O'Leary, a senior vice president at the Motion Picture Association of America, a key supporter of the legislation, said his industry is built upon a vibrant First Amendment. "We would never support any legislation that would limit this fundamental American right," he said. Neither PIPA nor SOPA "implicate free expression but focus solely on illegal conduct, which is not free speech."

Q. Who else supports the bills?

A. The most visible supporters are entertainment-related groups such as the MPAA and the National Music Publishers' Association. But the bills also enjoy support from the pharmaceutical industry, which is trying to shut down illegal online drug operations, and electronic and auto industries concerned about people going online to buy counterfeit parts that may be substandard. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and several law enforcement groups also back the legislation.
Q. Who are the opponents?
A. In addition to Wikipedia, many major Internet and technology companies, including Google, Yahoo!, Amazon.com and eBay, are part of the NetCoalition group opposing the bills. Disparate political groups such as the liberal Democracy for America and the conservative Heritage Action have also voiced concerns about censorship.
Q. What is the status of the bills?
A. Momentum for the bills has slowed, giving the edge to Silicon Valley over Hollywood. The Senate, as its first major business when it returns to session next Tuesday, is to vote on whether to take up the bill. Sixty votes are needed to clear that legislative hurdle. It's unclear whether supporters have the votes.
Six Republicans on the Judiciary Committee last week wrote Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., saying that while the problem of intellectual property theft must be addressed, "the process at this point is moving too quickly" and a vote on moving to the bill "may be premature."
Reid replied that the vote will occur as scheduled, saying that while the bill was not perfect and he had urged Leahy to make changes, the issue was "too important to delay."
In the House, Judiciary Committee Chairman Smith said his panel would resume deliberations on SOPA in February. Meanwhile, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and an ally of the high-tech industry, said he had received assurances from GOP leaders that anti-piracy legislation would not move to the House floor this year unless there is a consensus on it.
Issa, and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., are pushing an alternative to SOPA and PIPA that would make the International Trade Commission, which already is in charge of patent infringements, responsible for taking steps to prevent money and advertising from going to rogue sites.
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120118/ap_on_go_co/us_internet_piracy_q_a
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Environmentalism and the Leisure Class (Powerlineblog)

2012-01-21T03:17:00.001-08:00

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.
Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/189067401?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Scientists pause research with lab-bred bird flu (AP)

2012-01-20T14:28:00.001-08:00

WASHINGTON ? The scientists who created easier-to-spread versions of the deadly bird flu say they're temporarily halting more research, as international specialists debate what should happen next.

Last month, U.S. officials had urged two labs not to publicly reveal how they brewed the new viruses, for fear would-be bioterrorists might copy them. Critics also worried a lab accident might allow the strains to escape.

The viruses are held in high-security labs in the U.S. and the Netherlands. They were created to help learn how bird flu might mutate to become a bigger threat to people. But in a letter Friday to the journals Science and Nature, the scientists said they would "pause" additional research for 60 days as world health officials debate how to learn from the work, safely.
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_on_he_me/us_med_bird_flu
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Former Google CIO Raises $73 Million To Reform Payday Loans With Data-Driven Startup ZestCash

2012-01-20T01:38:00.001-08:00
ZestCash, a company founded by former Google CIO and VP of engineering Douglas Merrill to legitimize the payday loan industry, has raised $73 million round of funding. The company raised $23 million in an equity round led by Matrix Partners. Existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, GRP Partners, Flybridge Capital Partners, and Lighthouse Capital Partners also fully participated in the round. The company also raised a separate $50 million line of debt financing from Victory Park Capital to fund its loan portfolio. ZestCash takes an entirely different approach to underwriting by combining Google-style machine learning techniques and data analysis, combined with traditional credit scoring. As a result, the company can offer credit to many people who historically would have been turned away.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/RrK44cP71AY/
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TheAtlantic: The story of the Nazi leader who became the Oskar Schindler of China in 1937 http://t.co/ot3rNr15 #history #longreads

2012-01-19T12:45:00.001-08:00

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Call Congress. (Theagitator)

2012-01-18T23:42:00.001-08:00

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.
Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/188010768?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Philly Writer Says NBA Players Don?t Know Who Their Fathers Are

2012-01-18T20:49:00.001-08:00

Posted by kmarko from Emory U.

http%3A%2F%2Fwww.barstoolu.com%2Frandom-thoughts%2Fphilly-writer-says-nba-players-dont-know-who-their-fathers-are%2F

HFBoards

Surprise, surprise this dude is from Philly!? Typical Philly scumbag just being blatantly racist on live TV.?? Dude had like 20 seconds to think it through in his head too before he said it.? Like you can see the gears turning in his brain and that goofy smile on his face.?? Should I say NBA players don?t know who their fathers are because they are all black?? Or should I not say it out loud on this Tv show?? Ahhh fuck it!
Source: http://www.barstoolu.com/random-thoughts/philly-writer-says-nba-players-dont-know-who-their-fathers-are/
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iPhone 4S bites into Android U.S. smart phone sales

2012-01-18T19:26:00.001-08:00

January 18, 2012, 10:14 AM ?
Due either to pent-up demand or Siri, Apple's iPhone 4S sold 44.5 percent of all U.S. smartphones in December.

New sales data from Nielsen confirmed earlier reports of a big bump in Apple iPhone sales and surge in market share against still-leading Android phones. The combined market share of Android phones from multiple makers still lead Apple iPhone's share, 46.9 to 44.5 percent, but that is the narrowest the gap has been in a long time.

Reasons for the surge point to pent-up demand for a new phone from Apple (despite the disappointment in not seeing an iPhone 5), Siri's popularity, and the higher number of Apple iPhone carriers. Sprint and Verizon both made big pushes with their new iPhones. Whether the upcoming Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) devices will widen the gap back in Android's favor remains to be seen. These have just hit the market, starting in mid-December with the Galaxy Nexus.

Go Apple

Shareholder smiley time.
Ireland on appleinsider.com

I?d wager a guess and say that the reasoning here is that people are simply unimpressed with Android, which matches my own observations
Wayne Smallman on gigaom.com

The numbers Apple pulled off are remarkable given the breadth of the Android handsets variations.
Aizmov on appleinsider.com

Go Android

clearly as the Android line is always above the iOS it is clear that Android sold more.
p0kes on endgadget.com

wordwide
1. Android
2. Symbian
3. iOS
peacekeeper05 on endgadget.com

Please remember that this uptick is in direct relation to a new product release. Mark my words. As 1st and 2nd quarter approaches, iOS share will quickly return to its proper levels, and will continue to drop year to year.
slapppy on appleinsider.com

Keep fighting, fellas

All in all, I welcome the existence of both operating systems as they push one another to provide consumers with better and better technology.
Jon on gigaom.com

Article screams "fanboy catfight below".
rattyuk on endgadget.com

Only interesting story in all of this coming year will be how many Windows 7 Mobile phones sell
Marc Telesha on gigaom.com

If Apple iPhone and Android are the fighting elephants, are RIM and Windows Mobile the ones getting trampled?
Source: http://www.itworld.com/networking/242393/iphone-4s-bites-android-us-smart-phone-sales
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Great quotes from the Golden Globes

2012-01-18T08:00:00.001-08:00

Handout / Getty Images
Ricky Gervais got in a few witty digs during the awards.
By The Associated Press
Notable quotes from the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards, announced Sunday in Beverly Hills, Calif.:
__
"Golden Globes are just like the Oscars without all that esteem. The Golden Globes are to the Oscars like Kim Kardashian is to Kate Middleton, bit louder, bit drunker, bit trashier, and more easily bought. Allegedly. Nothing's been proved." ? Host Ricky Gervais, as he opens the show.
__
"The only thing worse than not hearing your name as a nominee is hearing it from the host." ? Gerard Butler, as he presents first award of night, referring to host Ricky Gervais' sharp digs at various stars.
__
"If I'm still a virgin, Ricky, why don't you come over here and do something about it. I haven't kissed a girl in a few years...on TV." ? Madonna, as she presents best foreign language film after being introduced by Ricky Gervais, who referred to her hit song title "Just Like a Virgin" with a loud cough.

__
"I thank HBO for being absent when we needed you to be and for being present when we needed a bit more shooting." ? Kate Winslett, winning best actress/TV miniseries for the lead role in "Mildred Pierce," aired on HBO.
__
"Right now, if I were to write a song, it would be a tap dance number." ? composer Ludovic Bource, as he accepts the award for best original score for "The Artist."
__
"I'm just trembling here. Oh my God, I'm going to fall off these high heeled shoes." ? Octavia Spencer, accepting best supporting actress/motion picture, who played a maid in "The Help."
__
"I'd like to thank Michael Fassbender for taking over the frontal nude responsibility I had." ? George Clooney, accepting best actor, motion picture drama, for "The Descendants," referring to the actor who plays a sex addict in "Shameless."
__
"They write a Matt LeBlanc who, let's be honest, is way more interesting and fun than the real thing. I wish I was him." ? Matt LeBlanc, accepting best actor/TV comedy-musical, for "Episodes" in which he plays a character named "Matt LeBlanc."
__
"Why don't you make a film our daughter can see for once?'" --- Martin Scorsese, accepting best director for "Hugo," referring to how his wife, Helen, urged him to make a children's movie.
__
"Oh boy, he's so much fun." ? Johnny Depp, referring to show host Ricky Gervais who took digs at Depp's box-office dud "The Tourist," and referred to "recreational drug use" by Depp.
?
Related content:
Source: http://todayentertainment.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/15/10163560-great-quotes-from-the-golden-globes
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Andy Dick Sought By Cops For Roughing Up Tourist

2012-01-18T06:36:00.001-08:00

Andy Dick is back in the news, as is wont to happen every so often.

Predictably, the reason is not positive. The alleged comedian was accused of roughing up a tourist in Hollywood, according to law enforcement sources.

A male tourist recently filed a battery report with police, claiming a seemingly intoxicated Dick went off on him when he tried to snap the actor's photo.

After spotting the guy walking around in the famous Hollywood and Highland area, the tourist claims Andy grabbed him by his collar and tried to take his camera.

Police believe the fight was captured on tape and are interested in checking out the footage. Point is: Could be another Andy Dick mugshot coming our way.

Luckily, the tourist claims he managed to beat the Dick off, and it retreated.

So to speak.

[Photo: WENN.com]
Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/andy-dick-sought-by-cops-for-roughing-up-tourist/
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Patriots rout Broncos 45-10 in AFC playoff rout (AP)

2012-01-17T19:11:00.001-08:00

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. ? Tom Brady silenced Tebowmania with a record-shattering performance.

Brady threw six touchdown passes, five in the first half, putting the New England Patriots into the AFC championship game after roughing up Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos 45-10 Saturday night.

The Patriots (14-3), winners of nine straight games, will host either Baltimore or Houston next Sunday for a spot in the Super Bowl. Saturday night's romp snapped a three-game postseason losing streak, two of those at Gillette Stadium, and lifted the Patriots to the verge of their fifth Super Bowl appearance in 11 seasons. They've won three of those.

"We came in and started fast and it was a big win for us," said Brady, who even got off a 48-yard punt on third down.

From the first snap, this was a mismatch. The Patriots were not going to make the same mistakes the Steelers made against this team.

"He's been around the block a few times," cornerback Champ Bailey said of Brady. "He knows how to win games. If you're not ready to punch him in the mouth he's going to eat you up all night."

A nation transfixed by Tebow's play, if not his principles, tuned in Saturday to see if he had more heroics in store for Brady and company. He had nothing left as the Patriots made this must-see TV only for those who live in New England.

With New England up 42-7, the fans began their derisive Teeee-bow chants. On the next play, the Broncos quarterback was sacked for an 11-yard loss ? one of five sacks for New England's 31st-ranked defense.

"We went out and played very hard and good things happened," defensive tackle Vince Wilfork said. "A great team win."

And so ended one of the season's most exciting story lines ? one that began when Denver was 1-4 and made Tebow a starter. The one-time third-stringer promptly won six in a row and seven of eight, with a string of stunning comebacks.

"A lot of ups and downs," Tebow said of his second NFL season. "Overall, it's been a very special opportunity for me, something I'm really thankful for. There's a lot of things we're proud of. Obviously, it's hard to see them all right now."

That winning surge ended with a 41-23 home loss to New England, and the Broncos dropped their next two, backing into the AFC West title.

But they rebounded nicely in their first playoff game since the 2005 season with the longest overtime touchdown in playoff history, an 80-yard catch and run by Demaryius Thomas against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Like everyone else on the Broncos' offense, Thomas was invisible against the Patriots.

Denver couldn't cover or tackle All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski, who tied a postseason mark with three touchdown catches, all in the opening half. Brady toyed with the Broncos (9-9), throwing more TD passes than Tebow had completions (three) in the first 30 minutes.

"We were playing complementary football, and it was awesome," Gronkowski said. "Obviously, you can't start off the game any better than that."

Brady's sixth TD was to his other tight end, Aaron Hernandez, as the quarterback tied Steve Young and Daryle Lamonica for the most in a postseason game.

The two-time league MVP threw for 5,235 yards during the season, second in NFL history to Drew Brees' 5,476 in 2011. He looked ready to get that much against the Broncos as he moved to third place in career touchdown passes in the playoffs with 36, trailing Joe Montana (45) and Brett Favre (44).

Brady was 26 for 34 for a team playoff record 363 yards and Gronkowski made 10 catches for 145 yards as the Patriots gained 509 yards in all. In stark contrast, Tebow was 9 for 26 for 136 yards.
The Broncos won the coin toss and elected to defer. Bad idea: They never were in the game after that.
Brady hit his first eight passes for 79 yards and two touchdowns. Offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien, who's leaving to become Penn State's coach once the Patriots are done, threw in a wrinkle by using Hernandez as a running back. On one of those plays, Hernandez broke free down the left sideline for a 43-yard gain, the team's longest run this season.
But with the ball in his hands and a 14-0 lead, Brady momentarily stumbled. His throw over the middle for Julian Edelman sailed directly to safety Quinton Carter, whose weaving return set up Denver at the New England 24.
Willis McGahee scored on a 5-yard run.
Carter left the game moments later with a neck injury; Denver was already without strong safety Brian Dawkins with a neck problem. And it's secondary had no chance without them.
Yes, Brady had cooled off in the 24-degree temperature (wind chill of 12), but only for a while.
Using the no-huddle, and aided by an effective running game, Brady hit three passes for 31 yards, with Gronkowski getting free over the middle this time for the 12-yard score. Several times, and not just on his romps into the end zone, Gronkowski simply shoved aside would-be tacklers to tack on yards after catches.
Brady's TDs covered 10, 12 and 19 yards to Gronkowski, 7 to Wes Welker, 61 to Deion Branch and 17 yards to Hernandez early in the third quarter. Coach Bill Belichick wasn't about to back off at that point, but the Patriots stalled inside the Denver 5 early in the four period and Stephen Gostkowski made a 21-yard field goal to conclude New England's scoring.
Hernandez left in the fourth quarter with a head injury.
"He's feeling great," Gronkowski said. "Hernandez is a beast and I love playing with him and everything."
On Brady's surprise punt, which Belichick said they had worked on for years without using, Broncos rookie linebacker Von Miller slammed into the back of New England's Dan Connolly, who wasn't looking. Matt Light then shoved Miller, Connolly turned around and got into a pushing match with Miller as several players joined in and shoved each other, spilling onto the Patriots' sideline.
Miller drew an unnecessary roughness penalty.
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120115/ap_on_sp_fo_ga_su/fbn_broncos_patriots
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Coast Guard told captain: go back aboard (AP)

2012-01-17T17:47:00.001-08:00

ROME ? "You go on board! Is that clear? Do you hear me?" the Coast Guard officer shouted as the captain of the grounded Costa Concordia sat safe in a life raft and frantic passengers struggled to escape after the ship rammed into a reef off the Tuscan coast.

"It is an order. Don't make any more excuses. You have declared 'Abandon ship.' Now I am in charge."

The dramatic recording made public Tuesday shows Capt. Francesco Schettino resisted orders to return to his ship to direct the evacuation, saying it was too dark and the ship was tipping perilously.

The exchange came to light as the death toll nearly doubled to 11 after divers pulled the bodies of four men and a woman, all wearing life vests, from the wreckage. Some two dozen people remain missing.

The Costa Concordia had more than 4,200 passengers and crew on board when it slammed into the reef Friday off the tiny island of Giglio after Schettino made an unauthorized maneuver from the ship's programmed course ? apparently to show off the luxury liner to the island's residents.

Schettino has insisted that he stayed aboard until the ship was evacuated. However, the recording of his conversation with Italian Coast Guard Capt. Gregorio De Falco makes clear he fled before all passengers were off ? and then defied De Falco's repeated orders to go back.

"Listen Schettino," De Falco can be heard shouting in the audio tape. "There are people trapped on board. ... You go on board and then you will tell me how many people there are. Is that clear?"

But Schettino resisted, saying the ship was listing and he was with his second-in-command in the lifeboat.

"I am here with the rescue boats. I am here. I am not going anywhere. I am here," he said. "I am here to coordinate the rescue."

"What are you coordinating there? Go on board! Coordinate the rescue from aboard the ship. Are you refusing?" came the response.

Schettino said he was not refusing, but he still did not return to the ship, saying at one point: "Do you realize it is dark and here we can't see anything?"

De Falco shouted back: "And so what? You want to go home, Schettino? It is dark and you want to go home? Get on that prow of the boat using the pilot ladder and tell me what can be done, how many people there are and what their needs are. Now!"

The exchange also indicates that Schettino did not know anyone had died, with De Falco telling him at one point: "There are already bodies now, Schettino."

"How many bodies?" Schettino asks in a nervous tone.

"You are the one who has to tell me how many there are!" De Falco screams in response.

Schettino was finally heard on the tape agreeing to reboard. But the Coast Guard has said he never went back, and police arrested him on land several hours later.

The audio, first made available on the website of the Corriere della Sera newspaper and authenticated by the Coast Guard, was broadcast throughout the day on Italian television to a stunned nation.

Jailed since the accident, Schettino appeared before a judge Tuesday and was ordered held under house arrest, his lawyer, Bruno Leporatti, told reporters. Criminal charges including manslaughter and abandoning ship are expected to be filed by prosecutors in coming days. He faces 12 years in prison for the abandoning ship charge alone.
At the hearing, Leporatti said the captain gave his version of events, insisting that after the initial crash into the reefs he had maneuvered the ship close to shore in a way that "saved hundreds, if not thousands, of lives."
Tanned and looking younger than his 52 years, Schettino has worked for 11 years for the ship's Italian operator, Costa Crociere SpA, achieving the rank of captain in 2006. He hails from Meta di Sorrento in the Naples area, which produces many of Italy's ferry and cruise boat captains. He attended the Nino Bixio merchant marine school near Sorrento.
The five bodies discovered Tuesday were adults in their 50s or 60s, each wearing the orange vests that passengers use, indicating they were not crew members, said a Coast Guard spokesman, Cmdr. Filippo Marini. Their nationalities were not immediately released.
They were discovered after Italian naval divers exploded holes in the hull of the grounded cruise ship, trying to speed up the search for the missing. Navy spokesman Alessandro Busonero told Sky TV 24 the holes would help divers enter the wreck more easily. "We are rushing against time," he said.
Before the grim finding, authorities had said 25 passengers and four crew members were missing. They include Americans Jerry and Barbara Heil of White Bear Lake, Minn., as well as 14 Germans, six Italians, four French, a Hungarian, an Indian and a Peruvian.
Mediterranean waters in the area were relatively calm Tuesday with waves just a foot high, but they were expected to reach nearly 6 feet (1.8 meters) Wednesday, according to meteorological forecasts.
A Dutch shipwreck salvage firm said it would take its engineers and divers two to four weeks to extract the 500,000 gallons of fuel aboard the ship. The safe removal of the fuel has become a priority second only to finding the missing, as the wreckage site lies in a maritime sanctuary for dolphins, porpoises and whales.
Preliminary phases of the fuel extraction could begin as early as Wednesday if approved by Italian officials, the company said.
Smit, based in Rotterdam, Netherlands, said no fuel had leaked and the ship's tanks appeared intact. While there is a risk the ship could shift in larger waves, it has so far been relatively stable perched on top of rocks near Giglio's port.
Smit's operations manager, Kees van Essen, said the company was confident the fuel could safely be extracted using pumps and valves to vacuum the oil out to waiting tanks.
"But there are always environmental risks in these types of operations," he told reporters.
The company said any discussion about the fate of the ship ? whether it is removed in one piece or broken up ? would be decided by Costa Crociere and its insurance companies.
Miami-based Carnival Corp., which owns the Italian operator, estimated that preliminary losses from having the Concordia out of commission through 2012 would be between $85 million and $95 million, along with other costs. The company's share price slumped more than 16 percent Monday.
It was not yet clear if the ship ? which made its maiden voyage in July 2006 ? would ever be able to return to service.
Carnival said its deductible on damage to the ship was approximately $30 million. In addition, the company faces a deductible of $10 million for third-party personal injury liability claims.
Carnival said other costs related to the grounding can't yet be determined.
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120117/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_italy_cruise_aground
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Engadget Podcast 275: CES 2012 Day 5 - 01.13.2012

2012-01-17T06:30:00.001-08:00

We're almost there. Ride with us on this penultimate CES podcast wave, Engadget surfers, as the sun starts to dip down below the desert skyline.

Hosts: Tim Stevens, Brian Heater
Guests: Michael Gorman (@numeson), Jon Fingas (Electronista)
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Music: Where Is My Mind?

00:01:10 - Live from the Engadget CES Stage: an interview with Texas Instruments
00:04:20 - Sprint Samsung Galaxy Nexus with LTE hands-on (video)
00:10:20 - Behind the scenes with live ESPN 3D boxing at CES 2012
00:10:50 - Live from Dish Network's CES 2012 press conference
00:14:50 - BlackBerry Porsche Design P'9981 hands-on (video)
00:19:15 - Ainovo $79 Novo7 Paladin Ice Cream Sandwich tablet hands-on
00:23:35 - Engadget Distro
00:24:30 - Quad Core
00:27:35 - Acer Aspire S5 hands-on, revisited (now with video)
00:27:50 - Lenovo's IdeaPad U310 and U410 Ultrabooks start at an inexpensive $699, weigh a little more than the competition
00:29:50 - Spotify CEO shows off iPhone voice integration hack, love for Siri, Coldplay
00:37:45 - Mirasol based e-readers
00:38:30 - Qualcomm shows off new Hanvon Mirasol e-reader, juggles video and text
00:39:45 - Mirasol 5.7-inch eReader hands-on, courtesy of Kyobo and Shanda Bambook
00:40:55 - Hanvon C-18 Mirasol e-reader hands-on (video)
00:44:00 - SpareOne cellphone claims 15-year battery life, we go hands-on
00:54:10 - AT&T Nokia Lumia 900 Hands-on at CES 2012 (video)
00:54:45 - Nokia Lumia 900 official: 4.3-inch ClearBlack AMOLED, 4G LTE, exclusive to AT&T
00:57:10 - HTC Titan II with LTE for AT&T hands-on (video)
01:00:20 - OLED Panels
01:00:30 - LG's 55-inch 'world's largest' OLED HDTV eyes-on
01:02:50 - Pepcom
01:11:30 - Chaotic Moon shows Xbox Kinect / Windows 8-powered electric skateboard (video)
01:12:58 - Acer Iconia Tab A200 hands-on (video)
01:14:10 - Ceton previews multi-room DVR and Echo extender (hands-on)

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Continue reading Engadget Podcast 275: CES 2012 Day 5 - 01.13.2012
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Engadget Podcast 275: CES 2012 Day 5 - 01.13.2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 Jan 2012 20:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Newsmaker: Long trek from clerk to chairman of China's AgBank (Reuters)

2012-01-17T05:00:00.001-08:00

SHANGHAI (Reuters) ? The new chief of Agricultural Bank of China (601288.SS) (1288.HK) brings no-nonsense flair and a strong track record in bank overhauls to the helm of the lumbering Chinese lender where he started out years ago as a filing clerk.

Jiang Chaoliang, President of China Development Bank (CHDB.UL) since 2008, is to become chairman of AgBank.

He returns to lead a company that was his first employer in banking, having worked his way up from a clerk distributing files and newspapers two decades ago to head its international business by the late 1990s.

During Jiang's three-year reign at China Development Bank, he transformed it from a lender that solely granted loans under government directives into a largely commercial bank, expanding into private equity businesses and with a series of international cooperation deals.

Jiang's efforts to revitalize CDB were capped late last year, when the bank launched its Hong Kong operations and signed a strategic partnership with private equity giants including TPG Capital (TPG.UL), KKR (KKR.UL) and Permira.

It is not the first time the 54-year-old drove changes at a state-owned bank.

During Jiang's four-year stint as Chairman of Bank of Communications (BoCom) (3328.HK) (601328.SS) from June 2004, he transformed China's fifth-biggest lender from a struggling operation laden with bad debts into a dual-listed company with HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA.L) as strategic investor and partner.

BoCom's successful reincarnation paved the way for the listings of China's "Big Four" state lenders, including AgBank, and built Jiang's reputation as a decisive man with superb negotiation skills.

"Jiang hardly conceals what he loves and hates," said a BoCom official who worked with Jiang but declined to be identified. "He wants things to be done quickly and neatly, and hates lengthy meetings that generate no results."

QUICK TURNAROUND

His drive has paid off. When Jiang landed at BoCom headquarters in Shanghai's Lujiazui financial district with Beijing's mandate to turn the company around, it was suffering from inefficiency and a bad debt ratio of nearly 13 percent.

Within months, Jiang helped seal a slew of state-backed restructuring deals that saw BoCom dispose of 53 billion yuan ($8.31 billion) of bad assets, slash its bad loan ratio to 3.4 percent and introduce new government shareholders.

Jiang, who is often seen at public occasions in a dark suit and a red tie, played a crucial role in striking the deal with HSBC, which paid $1.7 billion for a 19.9 percent stake in BoCom in the biggest foreign investment in a Chinese bank at the time.

At one point during the lengthy and arduous talks, HSBC, worried about some newly unveiled scandals at BoCom, decided to leave the negotiating table, according to "Two Decades of Reforms," a book about BoCom's history.

In a last-ditch effort that eventually saved the deal, Jiang invited then-HSBC CEO Stephen Green for a lunch in Beijing, during which he expressed a keen desire to cooperate with HSBC and painted a rosy picture of China's rapidly expanding economy, luring HSBC back to the table, according to the book.

STRUGGLE FROM POVERTY

Jiang is no stranger to hardship. Born in 1957 in a farmer's family in central Hunan province and the eldest of five children, he had to take care of other family members in his early years, according to local media reports.

Jiang dropped out of middle school to make money early, and as China resumed university education in 1977 after disruptions due to the Cultural Revolution, he pounced on the opportunity and was recruited by Hunan Finance Institute as a finance major student.
He later joined AgBank. After working his way to head of the international business there, Jiang developed an understanding of financial risk and crisis management experience during his stint from 1998-1999 at the Guangzhou branch of the People's Bank of China, successfully tackling financial bankruptcies in southern China amid the Asian financial crisis.
Jiang's crisis-management skills were honed several years later during the 2002-2003 SARS outbreak, as vice governor of central Hubei province responsible for public sanitation.
AgBank, already listed, is unlikely to see major reforms in the short term. Its challenges lie with balancing its vast rural network against pressure to expand overseas to keep up with its rivals including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (1398.HK) (601398.SS).
"Jiang is rich in resources and is good at driving some symbolic changes," said Jin Lin, analyst at Orient Securities Co in Shanghai.
(Additional reporting by Kelvin Soh; Editing by Brian Rhoads and Helen Massy-Beresford)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120116/bs_nm/us_china_agbank_jiang
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Danbury school employees raise cancer concerns | The Associated ...

2012-01-16T17:34:00.001-08:00

Teachers and staff members of a Danbury school are asking local and state officials to review what they consider an unusually high number of cancer cases among their ranks.
Employees at Rogers Park Middle School want to know whether the building or something surrounding it might have been a factor in the 32 cancer cases they have documented in the last 10 years.
A state epidemiologist says their preliminary review shows no red flags, and that the cancers are different enough that they don't suggest a common environmental cause.
About 150 people work in the building.
The News-Times of Danbury reports (http://bit.ly/wf73CD ) that state officials toured the school last week and will advise the city about any environmental issues they find that need to be addressed.
Source: http://www.sfexaminer.com/news/health/2012/01/danbury-school-employees-raise-cancer-concerns
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Gene Hackman injured while riding bicycle, OK (AP)

2012-01-16T11:54:00.001-08:00

MIAMI ? Gene Hackman's publicist says the veteran Oscar-winning actor was briefly hospitalized after a truck bumped him from behind while he was riding a bicycle in the Florida Keys.

Susan Madore says the 81-year-old Hackman was airlifted to a Miami hospital Friday afternoon.

She characterized his injuries as minor bumps and bruises. She says he was released from the hospital several hours later after routine tests.

The Florida Highway Patrol reports that Hackman was riding on an Islamorada street around 3 p.m. when the pickup hit the back of his bicycle, throwing him onto the grassy shoulder. No charges were immediately reported.

Hackman won an Academy Award for "The French Connection" in 1971 and another for "Unforgiven" in 1992. He received Oscar nominations for three other films.
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120113/ap_en_ce/us_gene_hackman_injured
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Friday Candidate Schedule (TIME)

2012-01-16T04:47:00.001-08:00

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Live from the Engadget CES Stage: an interview with Red (update: video embedded)

2012-01-15T23:01:00.001-08:00

If you've been to the movies lately, you've seen through Red eyes. This is some of the tastiest cinematic tech around -- some people like them so much, they've even been known to name them. Ted Schilowitz from Red swings by our stage at 5:30PM ET, and we can't wait.

Update: Interview video is now embedded.
Continue reading Live from the Engadget CES Stage: an interview with Red (update: video embedded)
Live from the Engadget CES Stage: an interview with Red (update: video embedded) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Experts Urge Public Action to Aid Cancer Prevention (HealthDay)

2012-01-15T15:49:00.001-08:00

FRIDAY, Jan. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Community support is essential for healthy behaviors that can reduce cancer risk, according to updated guidelines on nutrition and physical activity for cancer prevention released this week by the American Cancer Society.

"Our guidelines have always stressed what people can do themselves to lower their risk of cancer, and that's important," report co-author Colleen Doyle, director of nutrition and physical activity, said in a society news release.

"But we must also take public action to make those behaviors easier for all Americans. We can't just tell people to eat more fruits and vegetables and get more exercise when there are so many forces working against them being able to do that easily, and on a regular basis," she added.

"We've got to work together to ensure that worksites and schools have healthy food options; that our neighborhoods are designed so that our children can safely ride their bikes or walk to school; that people have the information they need to help them make healthier food choices, whether at the grocery store or when eating out," Doyle explained.

Along with four major recommendations on how individuals can reduce their cancer risk, the Guidelines on Nutrition and Physical Activity for Cancer Prevention also outline community actions that can support those personal cancer prevention behaviors.

The four major recommendations for individuals include: achieving and maintaining a healthy weight throughout life; being physically active; eating a healthy diet, with an emphasis on plant foods; and limiting alcohol consumption.

Each of the major recommendations includes several supporting recommendations.

Weight

Try to remain lean throughout life without being underweight.

Take steps to avoid extra pounds at all ages.

For people who are overweight or obese, losing even a small amount of weight is a good start and has health benefits.

Key strategies for maintaining a healthy weight include regular physical activity and limiting consumption of high-calorie foods and beverages.
Physical activity

Adults should get at least 150 minutes or moderate intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity physical activity a week, or an equivalent combination. Children and teens should get at least an hour of moderate or vigorous intensity physical activity a day, with vigorous intensity activity at least three days a week.

Make a point of limiting sedentary behavior, such as sitting, lying down, watching television and other types of screen-based entertainment.
Diet

Eat at least 2.5 cups of vegetables and fruits a day.

Avoid eating processed and red meat.

Select whole grains instead of refined grain products.
Alcohol

Men should have no more than two drinks per day and women should have no more than one drink per day.
The guidelines also include recommendations for community action to support individual cancer prevention lifestyle behaviors. Public, private and community organizations should work together at national, state and local levels to achieve policy and environmental changes that:

Increase access to affordable, healthy foods in communities, workplaces and schools.

Reduce promotion of and access to foods and beverages with low nutritional value, particularly to youth.

Create safe, enjoyable and accessible settings for physical activity in schools and workplaces, and for recreation and transportation in communities.
"The environments in which we live, work, learn and play have a tremendous impact on our ability to make and sustain healthy lifestyle choices. So if we're not working to change those environments so that the healthier choice is the easier choice, we're missing the boat," Doyle said.
More information
The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about cancer prevention.
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/diseases/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20120114/hl_hsn/expertsurgepublicactiontoaidcancerprevention
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Critics' Choice Movie Awards Celebrate 'The Help'

2012-01-15T10:13:00.001-08:00

'The Artist,' George Clooney and Martin Scorsese among the other big winners at the show.
By Ryan J. Downey

Octavia Spencer and the cast of "The Help" at the 2012 Critics' Choice Movie Awards
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images

Donald Glover wagged his tongue at Charlize Theron, George Clooney talked Naugahyde leisure suits, Patton Oswalt drank scotch, and a pair of Muppets chimed in via satellite as "The Help" and "The Artist" cleaned up at the 2012 Critics' Choice Movie Awards.
Funnymen hosts Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer jokingly called it "the ninth most exciting night in Hollywood," but while it may not be as prestigious as the Academy Awards, the Critics' Choice Awards are traditionally the strongest indicator of who will get Oscars. All four winners from the major acting categories last year — Colin Firth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale and Melissa Leo — later won Oscars.
"The Artist" won Best Picture and earned Best Director for Michel Hazanavicius, who noted, "There are so many beautiful people here, I have to force myself not to ask [for] autographs." And he wasn't kidding. The beautiful people on-hand included Clooney, Theron, Brad Pitt, Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kirsten Dunst, Michelle Williams and countless more stars from the screen and behind-the-scenes.

Broadcast live on VH1 from the Hollywood Palladium, the Critics' Choice Awards included three wins for "The Help": Best Actress (Viola Davis), Best Supporting Actress (Octavia Spencer) and Best Acting Ensemble. Clooney won Best Actor for his role in "The Descendants." The awards are voted on by the Broadcast Film Critics Association, made up of more than 250 television, radio and Web critics.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Olivia Harrison, widow of late Beatles guitarist George Harrison, presented the Music + Film Award to DiCaprio's longtime collaborator, filmmaker Martin Scorsese. Bob Dylan, whom Scorsese called "the great one," performed. Fitz and the Tantrums were present throughout the night, playing as the house band in and out of commercial breaks. Sean Penn accepted the Joel Siegel Award live via satellite from Haiti, where he's been continuously busy with the type of humanitarian work for which he was being honored.
The show kicked off with a sketch featuring Huebel and Scheer as "inanimate object actors," as folks like Jon Favreau, Michael Bay and Ray Liotta satirically praised their green-screen work as lamps, guns and spare tires in movies like "Transformers" and "Horrible Bosses." The bit included a cameo from Martin Starr, who astute observers/ comedy fans love from "Party Down" and "Freaks and Geeks."
The hosting pair emerged onstage looking like the "Men in Black" with matching suits and launched into a monologue and faux Q&A that took lighthearted shots at the show itself ("there are no technical awards, because they are boring"), Vin Diesel and Adam Sandler. "Since this show started," Scheer said, "seven more movies with Ryan Gosling have been released."
Dunst and Owen Wilson offered a toast to film critics ("Your words influence millions of movie lovers everywhere," Dunst said) before presenting the first televised award of the night. Octavia Spencer was visibly moved as she accepted Best Supporting Actress. "Well, I'm not prepared. I wasn't a Girl Scout," she said. "Oh my God, this is kind of crazy. Whoo!"
Wilson and Dunst returned ("Do you think the critics bought our toast a minute ago?" Wilson said dryly) to hand Best Supporting Actor to Christopher Plummer for his role as a gay man who comes out late in life in "Beginners." "I'm completely turned on," the 82-year-old screen legend said. "I feel terribly young tonight suddenly, and at my age, I need all the help I can get in that department. Thank you!"
Next came a word from the "BFCA presidents" — Statler and Waldorf from "The Muppets"! The curmudgeonly duo from the Muppet Theater balcony said the show thus far "has more of a plot than 'Tree of Life' " and "three times the laughs of 'Contagion' and 'The Descendants' put together!"
During her first acceptance speech, Spencer had said, "I guess the operative word here is 'Best Supporting,' because I was truly supported by the most amazing cast and crew." And not long after, she was elected by her castmates to speak as they accepted the Best Acting Ensemble Award together, which was presented by "Bridesmaids" costar Maya Rudolph and newcomer Elizabeth Olsen.
Director Gore Verbsinski accepted the Best Animated Feature award for "Rango." "Having never made an animated movie before — it is so incredibly difficult," he acknowledged. "My respect and admiration for my fellow nominees this evening is tremendous."
Patton Oswalt, whose role in "Young Adult" had put him up against Plummer in the Best Supporting Actor category, swigged from a small bottle of scotch when he took the stage to introduce Best Comedy. He implored the audience not to feel sorry for him, however. "There are plenty of nuanced roles for schlubby actors out there. And the ones that [Paul] Giamatti and Philip Seymour Hoffman don't take are all mine!" Producer Judd Apatow dropped two F-bombs as he spoke on behalf of the team behind Best Comedy "Bridesmaids."
"Jerry Lewis once said that he didn't think women were funny," he pointed out. "So I would just like to say, with all respect: F--- him!"
The next section of the show saw Best Foreign Film awarded to the Iranian movie "A Separation" and a sketch parodying Steven Spielberg's "War Horse," complete with an "interview" with the horse from the movie and a scene featuring Michael Cera. Later in the night, the hosts saluted "fictional characters we lost in movies," including (spoiler alert!) "this girl" and "some ninjas" in movies like "13 Assassins," "Shark Night," "Fast Five" and "Scream 4" as a montage that played to the sounds of Boyz II Men's "Say Goodbye to Yesterday."

Paul Rudd presented the award for Best Young Actor/Actress to Thomas Horn from "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close." "Thank you film critics," the former "Jeopardy Kids" champion gushed, "This is amazing!" Former child actor DiCaprio gave a long introduction to his friend and collaborator Scorsese before a series of clips from the filmmaker's classic movies played. DiCaprio was joined by Harrison, and then Marty took the stage himself, shouting out the Hot Club of France, whom he listened to growing up in New York City in the '40s.
NBC sitcom stars Donald Glover ("Community") and Mindy Kaling ("The Office") gave out both of the screenplay awards. Kaling professed her adoration of versatile actor Michael Fassbender ("This is why I came here tonight, to meet him") and Glover acted out what making out with Charlize Theron might look like. Best Adapted Screenplay went to "Moneyball." Best Original Screenplay went to Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris." "We accept this award on his behalf," Kaling said of the absent Allen. "That's awesome!"
Muppet revivalist Jason Segel called all the guys in the Best Director category "my future directors" and told all of them, "I was really honored to learn that I'll be making films with all of you this year" before he handed out the award to Hazanavicius for "The Artist."
"It feels like 'The Help' table is having more fun than us. Here's a fun transition," began Clooney, as he began to talk about continuing earthquake relief efforts in Haiti. "Very few have committed themselves as completely to the people of Haiti as Sean Penn. And he didn't just dip his toe into the humanitarian pool, he dove in. ... Sean isn't here tonight because he's in Haiti, but we have him live by satellite."
Penn thanked "the example" of Joel Siegel and of Clooney. "I was reminded that great filmmaking is truly a humanitarian act," said Penn, referencing the earlier Scorsese montage. "The people of Haiti embrace the work that the committed among you do."
Penn's ex-wife Robin Wright called 2011 "definitely the year of the woman" as she introduced the Best Actress category. "Everything beautiful and complicated about us was onscreen this year," she said. Davis said she was "absolutely so humbled" by her win.
Clooney hugged one of his competitors, buddy Brad Pitt, on the way up to accept his award from Dustin Hoffman, before sharing a story with the crowd about the time his father reminded him of his grandfather's work as a sharecropper, which included a mention of the Naugahyde leisure suit his mother made for him in the sixth grade. "If you're not proud of what you're doing, then do it better," Clooney said his father told him. "I have to say that I am very proud to be in this film."
After "The Artist" won best picture, Heubel and Scheer said their goodbyes. With a wide grin, Scheer advised: "Now let's all get on Twitter and see who's ripping us apart!"
Stick with MTV News all night for the 2012 Critics' Choice Awards winners, and don't miss all the fashion from the red carpet!

Related Videos

2012 Critics' Choice Awards Red Carpet Highlights

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Backstage At The 2012 Critics' Choice Movie Awards

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1677250/critics-choice-movie-awards-2012-the-help-george-clooney.jhtml
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Wandering albatross alters its foraging due to climate change

2012-01-15T03:00:00.001-08:00

ScienceDaily (Jan. 12, 2012) ? Wandering albatrosses have altered their foraging due to changes in wind fields in the southern hemisphere during the last decades. Since winds have increased in intensity and moved to the south, the flight speed of albatrosses increased and they spend less time foraging. As a consequence, breeding success has improved and birds have gained 1 kilogram. These are the results of the study of an international research team published in the latest issue of the Science journal. However, these positive consequences of climate change may last short if future wind fields follow predictions of climate change scenarios, researchers warn.

For this study, biologists had combined data on the duration of foraging trips and breeding success over the last 40 years, as well as foraging and body mass over the last 20 years of wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) breeding in Crozet Islands. This archipelago lies approximately in the heart of the southern Indian Ocean (halfway between Madagascar and Antarctica). It belongs to the French Southern Territories and it is located in the windiest part of the Southern Ocean. The new findings are the result of an international research team from the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS-CEBC) and the German Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ).

Thanks to miniaturised tracking devices, researchers were able to track the foraging movement of albatrosses at a distance of 3500 kilometers from the colony. They found that albatross have altered their search patterns following changes in wind conditions over the past two decades. Females used increasingly more poleward and windy areas for foraging. As a consequence their travel speed increased while the total distance covered during foraging flights did not change. "This means that they spend less time at sea while incubating the egg and thus the breeding success increases" explains Dr. Henri Weimerskirch of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS-CEBC). Researchers were surprised that both females and males have increased their body mass in one kilogram, which corresponds approximately to one tenth of their total body weight. This could be not only a result of shorter incubation periods on the nest, but also an adaptation to windier conditions.

"The wandering albatross Crozet population has decreased as a result of adult mortality on longline fishing in subtropical waters, especially females since they favour warmer subtropical waters in the north compared to the more southerly distribution of males" says Dr. Maite Louzao Arsuaga, who has been modelling albatross movement from 2009 to 2011 at the UFZ. "Due to the changing wind conditions, females are now foraging in more southward areas where such fishing is not that widespread." However, the positive effects of changing environmental conditions of the last decades will not last in the future. Climate scenarios predict that westerly winds will move even further south by 2080 and wandering albatrosses might have to fly further to find optimal conditions for flying.

The total population of the wandering albatross is currently estimated at around 8,000 breeding pairs. All populations have shown a decrease at some stage over the last 25 years. This endangered species is threatened primarily by incidental catch in fisheries, especially longline fishing at sea, whereas the introduction of alien species (such as rats or cats) are a key conservation threat for the species on breeding colonies. Additionally, the accumulation of anthropogenic debris such as plastic and fishing hooks on albatrosses have negative effects on their populations. Thus, it is important to continue with monitoring programs of population trends and distribution at sea, as well as to undertake effective conservation measures. The foraging habitat of wandering albatrosses is managed by more than one Regional Fisheries Management Organisations, which makes it difficult to implement conservation measures for the species.

The wandering albatross has fascinated people for centuries. With a wingspan of over three meters and a half, it is the largest seabird in the world, surpassing just the Andean condor (Vultur fulvus). This elegant sailor, which spends most of its life flying, breeds on remote subantarctic islands over the Southern Ocean. They travel thousand of kilometers searching for fish and cephalopods like squids, often following ships and feeding on offal. The plumage of wandering albatrosses is variable, whitening with age. The maximum known age is 55 years old. Since the rearing of chicks takes a whole year, they breed only every second year

Apart from the study published in the latest Science issue, the research team has identified the key marine areas for the conservation of wandering albatrosses in the southern Indian Ocean published in 2011 in the Journal of Applied Ecology. This study provided the first map to support the future development of a network of priority protected areas in the southern part of the Indian Ocean, which are based on habitat predictions. "Because the species has no natural enemies and is at the top of the food web, it is particularly well suited as an indicator of the health of marine ecosystems," says Dr. Thorsten Wiegand from the UFZ, who supervised the work of Dr. Maite Louzao. "This could help not only a single species, but the underlying biodiversity associated with pelagic key habitats to protect Southern Ocean. Moreover, we have developed methods of habitat modelling broadly applicable and can be used to assess changes in species distribution within the current global change scenario."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, via AlphaGalileo.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal References:

H. Weimerskirch, M. Louzao, S. de Grissac, K. Delord. Changes in Wind Pattern Alter Albatross Distribution and Life-History Traits. Science, 2012; 335 (6065): 211 DOI: 10.1126/science.1210270

Maite Louzao, David Pinaud, Clara P?ron, Karine Delord, Thorsten Wiegand, Henri Weimerskirch. Conserving pelagic habitats: seascape modelling of an oceanic top predator. Journal of Applied Ecology, 2011; 48 (1): 121 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2664.2010.01910.x

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120112142241.htm
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S&P cuts credit ratings for France, Italy, Spain

2012-01-14T21:16:00.001-08:00

A homeless person sleeps outside the headquarters building of the Bank of Greece as pedestrians pass by in Athens, on Friday, Jan. 13, 2012. The Greek government held a second day of talks Friday with private bondholders on a crucial debt relief deal, with global banking representatives warning that time for reaching an agreement is running out. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

A homeless person sleeps outside the headquarters building of the Bank of Greece as pedestrians pass by in Athens, on Friday, Jan. 13, 2012. The Greek government held a second day of talks Friday with private bondholders on a crucial debt relief deal, with global banking representatives warning that time for reaching an agreement is running out. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Italian Premier Mario Monti attends a debate at the lower chamber in Rome, Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012. Monti says he would support a new tax on financial transactions so long as it applies to the European Union as a whole. Speaking after meeting Wednesday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Monti indicated his preference for such a tax for the whole 27-nation bloc, rather than just the 17 countries that use the euro as their currency. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos delivers a speech during a Greek-German Chamber of Commerce meeting in Athens, Friday, Jan. 13, 2012. Crucial negotiations between the Greek government and its private creditors on a bond swap deal needed to avoid default appeared close to collapse Friday, with representatives of the bondholders saying they had been "paused for reflection." (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos leaves the office of Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, after their meeting with Charles Dallara, the head of the Institute of International Finance that represents Greece's private bondholders in Athens on Friday, Jan 13, 2012.The Greek government held a second day of talks Friday with private bondholders on a crucial debt relief deal, with global banking representatives warning that time for reaching an agreement is running out.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

PARIS (AP) ? Standard & Poor's swept the debt-ridden European continent with punishing credit downgrades Friday, stripping France of its coveted AAA status and dropping Italy even lower. Germany retained its top-notch rating, but Portugal's debt was consigned to junk.
In all, S&P, which took away the United States' AAA rating last summer, lowered the ratings of nine countries, complicating Europe's efforts to find a way out of a debt crisis that still threatens to cause worldwide economic harm.
Austria also lost its AAA status, Italy and Spain fell by two notches, and S&P also cut ratings on Malta, Cyprus, Slovakia and Slovenia.
The downgrades on more half of the countries that use the euro could drive up yields on European government debt as investors demand more compensation for holding bonds deemed to be riskier. Higher borrowing costs would put more financial pressure on countries already contending with heavy debt burdens.
"In our view, the policy initiatives taken by European policymakers in recent weeks may be insufficient to fully address ongoing systemic stresses in the eurozone," S&P said in a statement.
Stocks fell Friday as downgrade rumors reached the trading floors of Europe and the United States. But the declines were nothing like the wrenching swings of last summer and fall, when the debt crisis threw the markets into turmoil.
The Dow Jones industrial average in New York was down 0.5 percent. Stocks fell 0.6 percent in Germany, 0.5 percent in Britain and 0.1 in France, but each of those markets closed before French Finance Minister Francois Baroin gave first word of the country's downgrade on French television.
Earlier Friday, the euro hit its lowest level in more than a year and borrowing costs for European nations rose.
Some analysts downplayed the impact of the downgrades.
"It's going to create bad headlines for a day or two," said Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, research fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. But "there's no underlying new information ... This will be quickly forgotten."
Still, the cut in the French credit rating may lead bond traders to raise borrowing costs for the financial rescue fund, said Guy LeBas, chief fixed income strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott, a financial firm.
"There's a legitimate reason to be concerned," he said. "A weaker France means a weaker bailout fund."
France's downgrade to AA+ lowers it to the level of U.S. long-term debt, which S&P downgraded last summer. S&P had warned 15 European nations in December that they were at risk for a downgrade.
France is the second-largest contributor behind Germany to Europe's financial rescue fund. The fund still has a rating of AAA. That means that it can borrow on the bond market at low rates.
Borrowing costs for the French government rose before the announcement. The yield on France's 10-year government bond rose to 3.1 percent from 3 percent earlier. That is still less than the 3.36 percent rate on the same bond last week and far below the 6.6 percent that Italy has to pay to borrow money from bond investors for 10 years.
Germany, the strongest economy in Europe, pays a yield of just 1.76 percent. The United States 10-year Treasury note paid 1.85 percent Friday, down 0.08 percentage points ? a sign that investors were seeking safety in U.S. debt.
Speaking on France-2 Television, Baroin said the downgrade of France's AAA sovereign debt rating was not "a catastrophe." He underscored that France still had a solid rating.
"The United States, the world's largest economy, was downgraded over the summer," Baroin said. "You have to be relative, you have keep your cool. It's necessary not to frighten the French people about it."
Some affected countries took issue with S&P's conclusions. Portugal's Finance Ministry said there were "significant methodological shortcomings" in the agency's appraisal because it overlooked the bailed-out country's debt-reduction and economic reform efforts.
European Commission Vice President Olli Rehn called S&P's actions "inconsistent." He said countries affected by the euro crisis have taken "decisive action in all fronts of its crisis response" to push reforms and strengthen banks.
Fears of a downgrade brought a sour end to a mildly encouraging week for Europe's heavily indebted nations and were a stark reminder that the 17-country eurozone's debt crisis is far from over.
Earlier Friday, Italy had capped a strong week for government debt auctions, seeing its borrowing costs drop for a second day in a row as it successfully raised as much as euro4.75 billion ($6.05 billion).
Spain and Italy completed successful bond auctions on Thursday, and European Central Bank president Mario Draghi noted "tentative signs of stabilization" in the region's economy.
The downgrades could drive up the cost of European government debt as investors demand more compensation for holding bonds deemed to be riskier than they had been. Higher borrowing costs would put more financial pressure on countries already contending with heavy debt burdens.
In Greece, negotiations Friday to get investors to take a voluntary cut on their Greek bond holdings appeared close to collapse, raising the specter of a potentially disastrous default by the country that kicked off Europe's financial troubles more than two years ago.
The deal, known as the Private Sector Involvement, aims to reduce Greece's debt by euro100 billion by swapping private creditors' bonds with new ones with a lower value, and is a key part of a euro130 billion international bailout. Without it, the country could suffer a catastrophic default that would send shock waves through the global economy.
Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos met on Thursday and Friday with representatives of the Institute of International Finance, a global body representing the private bondholders. Finance ministry officials from the eurozone also met in Brussels Thursday night.
At Friday's Italian auction, investors demanded an interest rate of 4.83 percent to lend Italy three-year money, down from an average rate of 5.62 percent in the previous auction and far lower than the 7.89 percent in November, when the country's financial crisis was most acute.
While Italy paid a slightly higher rate for bonds maturing in 2018, which were also sold in Friday's auction, demand was between 1.2 percent and 2.2 percent higher than what was on offer.
The results were not as strong as those of bond auctions the previous day, when Italy raised euro12 billion and demand was strong for a sale of Spanish debt.
"Overall, it underscores that while all the auctions in the eurozone have been battle victories, the war is a long way from being resolved (either way)," said Marc Ostwald, strategist at Monument Securities. "These euro area auctions will continue to present themselves as market risk events for a very protracted period."
Italy's euro1.9 trillion in government debt and heavy borrowing needs this year have made it a focal point of the European debt crisis.
Italy has passed austerity measures and is on a structural reform course that Premier Mario Monti claims should bring down Italy's high bond yields, which he says are no longer warranted.
Analysts have said the successful recent bond auctions were at least in part the work of the ECB, which has inundated banks with cheap loans, giving them ready cash that at least some appear to be using to buy higher-yielding short-term government bonds.
Some 523 banks took euro489 billion in credit for up to three years at a current interest cost of 1 percent.
___
Contributing to this report were Associated Press writer Nicole Winfield in Rome, Associated Press writer Gabriele Steinhauser in Brussels and AP Business writers David McHugh in Frankfurt, Paul Wiseman in Washington and Matthew Craft in New York.
Associated Press
Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-14-EU-Europe-Financial-Crisis/id-351a0809236440fca910f755adff9fdd
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Robot surgeons may get upgraded

2012-01-14T14:09:00.001-08:00

Mary Levin / UW Photography
The latest version of the Raven has mechanical wrists that hold tiny pincers. Coming soon is a piece that will allow research groups to attach the same tools used by commercial surgical robots.
By John Roach
Surgical robots named Ravens are flocking to university labs around the U.S. where researchers will be encouraged to hack their software.
This reprogramming could accelerate innovation in surgical robotics, which is stifled due in part to a lock on the market held by the only company with a FDA-approved robot, according to Blake Hannaford, the director of the Biorobotics Laboratory at the University of Washington in Seattle.
That robot, da Vinci from Intuitive Surgical, has successfully performed more than 200,000 procedures ? mostly hysterectomies and the removal of prostate glands ? in hospitals around the world.
In these types of procedures, surgeons use the robots to make small incisions and wield tiny instruments that are difficult to handle with their own hands. The result is shortened recovery times and less post-operative pain, which increases the demand for robot-assisted surgery.
Academic researchers would like to innovate in this space, but "da Vinci costs $1.8 million and it's a closed system, you're not allowed to program it," Hannaford told me Friday.
This makes sense given that the da Vinci has FDA approval and Intuitive Surgical owns the patents, he added, but until now researchers wanting to experiment had to build their own robots from scratch or come up with enough funds to buy a da Vinci for research purposes.
The Raven program overcomes these hurdles. The robots were purchased with a $1.1 million grant from the National Science Foundation. They are being shipped to five universities with an open-source software license.?
"The [researchers] will modify that software, invent their cool things, and then share them within this community so that we can build off of each other's advances," Hannaford said.?
Similar to da Vinci, each two-armed Raven has mechanical wrists with tiny pincers that can wield surgical tools. A person sitting at a screen can look through Raven's cameras and guide the instruments to do tasks such as suturing.
Unlike da Vinici, the Raven platform lacks FDA approval, which means that it will not be removing a human prostate gland any time soon.?
But innovations created using the platform could be licensed by an existing medical robotics company or used to start a new one, Hannaford noted.
And since some?of Intuitive Surgical's key patents are soon to expire, many medical companies that have been sitting on the sidelines "waiting for the right time to jump in" may find the time is ripe to do so, he added.
To see Raven in action, check out the video below:
More stories on surgical robots:

John Roach is a contributing writer for msnbc.com. To learn more about him, check out his website. For more of our Future of Technology series, watch the featured video below.
Ten years of war have given robot developers a chance to refine and improve their bots. Now the robots are finding all sorts of new jobs on the homefront.
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Source: http://futureoftech.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/13/10150612-robot-surgeons-may-get-upgraded
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'Saturn on Steroids': Alien world may have rings

2012-01-14T08:26:00.001-08:00

AUSTIN, Texas?? An enigmatic object detected five years ago in space may be a ringed alien world comparable to Saturn, the first such world discovered outside our solar system, scientists now say.

The finding, announced here on Wednesday at the 219th meeting of the American Astronomical Society, came from studying an unsteady eclipse of light from a star near the mysterious body.

"After we ruled out the eclipse being due to a spherical star or a circumstellar disk passing in front of the star, I realized that the only plausible explanation was some sort of dust ring system orbiting a smaller companion ? basically a Saturn on steroids," said study co-author Eric Mamajek at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile.

The find occurred as astrophysicists investigated the Scorpius-Centaurus association, the nearest region of recent massive star formation to the sun, using the international SuperWASP (Wide Angle Search for Planets) and All Sky Automated Survey (ASAS) projects. Specifically, the researchers analyzed how light from sunlike stars in Scorpius-Centaurus varied over time.???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

One star in particular showed dramatic changes in the intensity of its light during a 54-day period in early 2007, suggesting it was getting eclipsed by an orbiting body.

"I knew we had found a very weird and unique object," Mamajek said. [Photos:? Saturn's Rings & Moons]

Weird star clues
The star in question is technically known as 1SWASP J140747.93-394542.6. It has a mass similar to the sun but, at about 16 million years of age, is much younger, just 1/300th as old as the sun. It lies about 420 light-years away. ?

Whatever is eclipsing it is relatively close to the star, 1.7 times or so the distance from Earth to the sun. The Earth-sun distance is about 93 million miles (150 million kilometers).

If a simple spherical object had passed in front of the star, the intensity of the star's light would have steadily dimmed and reached a low point before gradually increasing. Instead scientists saw a long, complex eclipse with significant on-and-off dimming. At the deepest parts of the eclipse, at least 95 percent of light from the star was getting blocked by dust.

The nature of these shifts in light ? the "light curve" ? was very similar to that of EE Cephei, a hot, giant star occasionally eclipsed by a companion star that is surrounded by a thick protoplanetary disk. However, instead of just one dip in light, as one would expect of a single disk, Mamajek and University of Rochester graduate student Mark Pecaut saw several dips.

More space news from msnbc.com

Planet hunters are amazing even themselves
Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: Even the astronomers on the science team for NASA's Kepler planet-hunting mission are marveling at the new worlds they're finding.

Zoom in on the black hole next door

How a black hole throws fastballs

Updated 96 minutes ago 1/13/2012 4:29:20 AM +00:00 'Saturn on Steroids': Alien world may have rings

The eclipsing body seems to be an object "with an orbiting disk that has multiple thin rings of dust debris," Mamajek said.

This would be the first system of discrete, thin dust rings detected around a very low-mass object outside our solar system, he noted.

So far Mamajek and his colleagues have discovered one dense inner disk and three tenuous outer disks, respectively named Rochester, Sutherland, Campanas and Tololo, after the sites where the eclipsed star was first detected and analyzed.

"Each of these rings is probably made of thousands and thousands of rings," Mamajek told Space.com.

Alien rings around another world
The outermost ring stretches up to 37 million miles (60 million kilometers) away from the body it encircles. If the rings are similar to Saturn's, their combined mass is probably as much as eight times that of Earth's moon. ?

"Amateur astronomers can really look at this star with a backyard telescope and help us learn more about this system through monitoring it for more eclipses from the ring system," Mamajek said.

Many questions remain about the nature of the ringed body: for instance, whether or not it is a planet, a very low-mass star, or a kind of failed star known as a brown dwarf. [Gallery: The Strangest Alien Planets]

If it is less than 13 times the mass of Jupiter, it would probably be a planet similar to Saturn. If it is between 13 and 75 times Jupiter's mass, it would be a brown dwarf. If larger still, it would have enough mass to sustain nuclear fusion, making it a star.

Future telescope observations can determine how much of a gravitational tug this object exerts on its star, and thus reveal its mass.

Mind the gaps
Just as interesting as the rings themselves are the gaps between the rings; gaps usually are signs that massive bodies are sculpting the ring edges. If this mysterious object is a planet, moons could be carving these rings; if it is a star, it could be newborn planets that are responsible.

"One might imagine rings around the smallest stars, like rings one sees around Saturn," Mamajek said. "Our inner solar system could've looked like this long ago in its first tens of millions of years."

The planet boom

Hunt for new worlds goes into overdrive

Looking for alien Earths? Here they come

Interactive: The new solar system

Pluto debate is about more than one little world

Cosmic Log: Planets on the Web

Interactive: The search for extrasolar planets

Future all-sky monitoring projects such as the proposed Large Synoptic Survey Telescope being built in Chile could discover even more ringed systems eclipsing stars.

"I think these rings are how we're going to study moon-forming disks around gas giants," Mamajek said.

The findings, detailed by Mamajek, Pecaut and their colleagues, are scheduled for publication in an upcoming issue of the Astronomical Journal.

Follow Space.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

? 2012 Space.com. All rights reserved. More from Space.com.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45980916/ns/technology_and_science-space/
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Syria's president says he won't leave power (AP)

2012-01-14T01:19:00.001-08:00

BEIRUT ? Syrian President Bashar Assad said Tuesday he will not step down, insisting that he still has his people's support despite a 10-month-old uprising against him.

In his fourth speech since the Syrian revolt began in March, Assad also lashed out at the Arab League and accused the Cairo-based bloc of failing to protect Arab interests.

The League has suspended Syria and sent a team of monitors into country to assess whether the regime is abiding by an Arab-brokered peace plan that Assad agreed to on Dec. 19. The moves were humiliating for Syria, which considers itself a powerhouse of Arab nationalism.

"The Arab League failed for six decades to protect Arab interests," Assad said in the speech at Damascus University, where he stood at a podium flanked by Syrian flags. "We shouldn't be surprised it's failed today."

Assad repeated claims that a conspiracy is behind the unrest, but he said it is failing.

"We will declare victory soon," Assad said. "When I leave this post, it will be also based upon the people's wishes," he added.

The president has made few public appearances since the anti-government uprising began in March, inspired by the revolutions sweeping the Arab world. The regime's crackdown on dissent has killed thousands and led to international isolation and sanctions.

Assad also accused hundreds of media outlets of working against Syria to "push us toward ... collapse."

"They failed, but they have not given up," he said in the speech, which was broadcast live on state television.

Since the start of the uprising, Assad has blamed a foreign conspiracy and media fabrications for the unrest ? allegations that the opposition and most observers dismiss. The regime has banned most foreign news outlets and prevented independent reporting.

In recent months, Syria's conflict has turned increasingly violent as army defectors turn their weapons on the regime and some protesters take up arms to protect themselves.

Syria agreed in December to an Arab League-brokered plan that calls for an end to the military crackdown on protesters, but killings have continued.

About 165 Arab League monitors are in Syria to determine whether the regime is abiding by the plan to stop violence and pull heavy weapons out of the cities.

The U.N. estimated several weeks ago that more than 5,000 people have been killed since March. Since that report, opposition activists say hundreds more have died.

Adnan al-Khudeir, head of the Cairo operations room that the monitors report to, said more observers will head to Syria in the coming days and the delegation should reach 200. He said the mission then will expand its work in Syria to reach the eastern province of Deir el-Zour and predominantly Kurdish areas to the northeast.
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120110/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_syria
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Kelly Ayotte, Nikki Haley Provide Post-Debate Spin for Mitt Romney (ContributorNetwork)

2012-01-13T19:34:00.001-08:00

COMMENTARY | U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley showed their support for Mitt Romney after the ABC/Yahoo! News presidential debate by manning the spin room to tout Romney's candidacy to the press.

Haley was endorsed by Romney in 2010, according to her gubernatorial campaign site. She returned the favor by endorsing him for president and by campaigning with him in New Hampshire and back home.

A tea party favorite, her support was critical. Before Christmas, Newt Gingrich was leading South Carolina polls, according to RealClearPolitics, by 12 to 17 points. Romney now leads by 10.6 points, a remarkable turnaround in a state expected to go for a social conservative rather than a Massachusetts moderate.

When asked whether Romney could maintain his lead, Haley responded, "I know in the end he's going to do very well in South Carolina. He's going to do very well in South Carolina because he cares about the things that South Carolinians care about. And that's jobs and getting the federal government out of the way."

Asked whether a Romney loss in the South Carolina primary would injure her politically, she quickly became serious: "I am not worried about me. What I'm worried about is the future of this country. I know I want him to win South Carolina," she declared, "and I'm going to ensure that I do everything to make that happen.

The junior senator from New Hampshire, Kelly Ayotte, has been an enthusiastic supporter of Romney. She has proved to be a hard campaign worker, appearing with him at numerous campaign events across the Granite State. Romney has even mentioned her as a possible running mate, according to the Huffington Post.

Saying Romney delivered a very strong performance, she declared him the "clear winner" of the debate.

"Tonight, no one laid a hand on him and he was able to articulate a very strong vision for America," she said, "and I think that will really appeal to Republican voters."

When asked whether Romney would score a big victory in New Hampshire, Ayotte claimed he has the strongest grass-roots organization in the Granite State.

"I've seen the enthusiasm of the crowd," she said. "I was with him in Derry and there was over a thousand people there and I think that shows you he has the people to get the vote out on Tuesday."
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120109/pl_ac/10808815_kelly_ayotte_nikki_haley_provide_postdebate_spin_for_mitt_romney
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The Late Great Newt Gingrich is Not Going Down Alone (ContributorNetwork)

2012-01-13T12:25:00.001-08:00

COMMENTARY | Newt Gingrich is not content to go down in flames all by himself.

He is attempting to bring the GOP with him, causing upset among conservatives and keeping company with Rick Perry, who has already lost plenty of credibility.

According to the Washington Post, Gingrich's latest attacks on Mitt Romney for his stewardship of Bain Capital are providing all the fuel the Democrats need to attack the Romney in the future. In a race where it has been unclear what the actual Republican platform is, Democrats can now align themselves squarely with Republican candidates, labeling what Romney has called legitimate capitalism as unbridled greed and corruption.

"They're vultures that are sitting out there on the tree limb, waiting for the company to get sick, and then they sweep in, they eat the carcass, they leave with that, and they leave the skeleton," according to (yes, you guessed it) our proud conservative candidate Rick Perry, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.

It doesn't take numbers to see Gingrich is going down, although the numbers tell a stark tale of Gingrich's meteoric rise and fall. The graph I found on M.J Perry's blog is a stunning visual. It only reflects what has to be obvious by observing Gingrich's tactics.

He made a show of declining to fight dirty until he became truly desperate. Now the two candidates who are near the bottom of the polls are joining forces for a desperate last stand, creating unrest in the GOP conservative camp, according to a blog on the Washington Post.

This would be very disturbing if Gingrich and Perry were still likely nominees. They have shown at different times they act before they think. Gingrich has the ability to appear very smart when he's on, and utterly tactless when he's not. Perry has put his foot in his mouth more than a few times. "Pulling a Perry" has become vernacular for dropping your brain. Oops.

A disturbing hallmark of this presidential campaign is the "us and them" mentality that I have heard from all but one of the GOP candidates. Romney is going to whip China into shape. Perry is going to make us energy independent so we can tell the oil sheiks to go away. Gingrich and Perry are accusing Romney of being "one of them" (um, capitalists ... oops, one of us). Paul says we should just forget about "them" (the rest of the world) and do our own thing. Romney accused Huntsman of being "one of them" in Saturday's debate because he had the gall to accept and fulfill an appointment for the Obama administration.

If "us vs. them" is the main strategy for the GOP, Gingrich and Perry have undermined that strategy very nicely. They have aligned themselves with the party that the Republican candidate will have to conquer.

Nicely done, Newt.
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/oped/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120111/cm_ac/10819417_the_late_great_newt_gingrich_is_not_going_down_alone
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Video: SportsTalk: Pick Broncos to upset Patriots

2012-01-13T06:43:00.001-08:00

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/21134540/vp/45949866#45949866
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4 farmworkers, 4 children slain in Honduras (AP)

2012-01-12T17:50:00.001-08:00

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras ? Officials in Honduras say men armed with AK-47 rifles and machetes killed four adults and four children in a part of the country torn by a land dispute between workers and landowners.

Police Chief Osmin Bardales says the farm workers were taken from their homes Tuesday night, hacked with machetes and shot at close range by four men in the village of Regaderos on Honduras' Atlantic coast.

Among the victims were a 1-year-old boy and three girls ages 7, 12 and 15. The other victims were two men and two women.

Bardales says the ears were severed on some of the bodies.

Regaderos is in the Aguan River valley where farmworkers have been demanding ownership of thousands of acres of oil palm plantations that they say were illegally seized by landowners.
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120111/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_honduras_land_violence
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University of Houston opens Sleep and Anxiety Center for Kids

2012-01-12T05:02:00.001-08:00
University of Houston opens Sleep and Anxiety Center for Kids Public release date: 10-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Melissa Carroll
mcarroll@uh.edu
713-743-8153
University of Houston

Clinical research center provides low-cost evaluation, treatment for children and adolescents

Children who have chronic sleep problems may be much more likely to develop mental health disorders as adolescents and adults, according to Candice Alfano, associate professor in clinical psychology at the University of Houston (UH) and director of the new Sleep and Anxiety Center for Kids (SACK).

To address this problem and further research in the area, Alfano opened SACK, a clinical research center at UH that provides low-cost, empirically based evaluation and treatment services for children and adolescents who struggle with anxiety and/or sleep disorders. "Several research studies also are being conducted at SACK, which means that many of the families calling (on behalf of their children) will qualify to participate in a study where they will get top-of-the-line treatment at no cost," Alfano said.

"We know from previous research that anxiety and sleep problems are among the most common in kids, affecting up to 30 percent of youth," she said. "Despite their high prevalence, there is little research taking place to teach us how exactly sleep and mental health disorders are related. What we do know is that this relationship is much more complex than simply saying these problems co-occur. If we can identify the kids who are most likely to be anxious or depressed, perhaps based on the earlier emergence of sleep problems, then we can intervene before these disorders take hold."

In addition to the possibility of developing mental health problems later, chronically insufficient sleep in children has been found to have negative effects on performance in school, extracurricular activities and social functioning. Inadequate sleep may interfere with a child's ability to concentrate and follow directions, and is continually linked with behavior problems, irritability, accidents and injuries, and conflict in relationships with family and friends.

"There are some kids who have a tough time 'shutting off' at night and blocking out different types of stimuli in the environment," Alfano said. "Sleep masks and earplugs are a good way to help some kids settle into sleep. Other kids, however, need more help."

"We teach families about the importance of sleep and that it should be made a priority, the same way eating right and exercising are important. We teach children about sleep hygiene, which includes things like keeping the same bedtime and wake time every day, not having caffeinated drinks after lunch, and sleeping in your own bed every night. We also teach kids self-imagery and relaxation skills to deal with intrusive thoughts and feelings of restlessness when trying to fall asleep."

As a recipient of a Mentored Career Development Award from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Alfano enters year four of a five-year research study that is examining sleep disturbances in children with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). "We are studying a total of 80 children, ages 7 to 11 years, based on several measures of sleep," Alfano said. She completed the first half of recruitment for the project previously at the Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and will be completing data collection over the next two years in Houston.

"We in the process of submitting preliminary findings from the study for publication," Alfano said. "What is exciting is that we are finding the same objective sleep patterns in children with GAD that we see in depressed adults. This is particularly intriguing because we know that having GAD as a child is a huge risk factor for developing depression later on, but we don't yet understand exactly why this is. This data suggests it's more than just a co-occurring problem, sleep abnormalities could be a mechanism through which anxiety and depression develop."

Alfano uses a range of methods to assess children's sleep, including clinical interviews with parents and children, polysomnography and actigraphy. An actigraph is a watch-like device worn on the wrist to measure sleep patterns. "It collects data continuously for up to two weeks," she said. "A computer-generated algorithm is then used to score sleep and wake periods. It's a nice, non-invasive way to get a picture of what's going on with a child's sleep without having them sleep in a laboratory with electrodes and wires all over them."

For more detailed questions about sleep (e.g., sleep stages including rapid eye movement sleep) she uses polysomnography, a comprehensive recording of the complex, internal changes in the brain and body that occur during sleep. Polysomnography is often used to diagnose or rule out sleep disorders such as narcolepsy, periodic limb movement disorder and obstructive sleep apnea.

The type of award Alfano received, the Career Development Award from NIMH, requires mentorship and led her to collaborate with Dr. Daniel Glaze, a neurologist and chief of the Texas Children's Sleep Center at Texas Children's Hospital.

"It's a great situation to work with Dr. Glaze and the Texas Children's Sleep Center, one of the few accredited centers in the country specializing in pediatric sleep disorders," Alfano said. "I look forward to a long and productive relationship working with Dr. Glaze and other sleep experts as Texas Children's Hospital."

Alfano is co-author of the book, "Child Anxiety Disorders: A Guide to Research and Treatment," and co-editor of the book, "Social Anxiety Disorder in Adolescents and Young Adults: Translating Developmental Science into Practice." She also serves as associate editor of the Journal of Anxiety Disorders.

###
About the Sleep and Anxiety Center for Kids (SACK)

The Sleep and Anxiety Center for Kids (SACK) is a clinical research center in the department of psychology at the University of Houston dedicated to understanding the connections between children's sleep at night and their behavior and emotions during the day. Research at SACK focuses on helping school-aged children manage and overcome their anxieties, fears and sleep-related problems. Both research opportunities and low-cost clinical services based on the latest scientific evidence are offered to families. For more information about research opportunities and clinical services at SACK, please call 713-743-8600 or visit the SACK website, http://www.uh.edu/SACK
About the University of Houston

The University of Houston is a Carnegie-designated Tier One public research university recognized by The Princeton Review as one of the nation's best colleges for undergraduate education. UH serves the globally competitive Houston and Gulf Coast Region by providing world-class faculty, experiential learning and strategic industry partnerships. Located in the nation's fourth-largest city, UH serves more than 39,500 students in the most ethnically and culturally diverse region in the country.

[ | E-mail | Share ]
?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

University of Houston opens Sleep and Anxiety Center for Kids Public release date: 10-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Melissa Carroll
mcarroll@uh.edu
713-743-8153
University of Houston

Clinical research center provides low-cost evaluation, treatment for children and adolescents

Children who have chronic sleep problems may be much more likely to develop mental health disorders as adolescents and adults, according to Candice Alfano, associate professor in clinical psychology at the University of Houston (UH) and director of the new Sleep and Anxiety Center for Kids (SACK).

To address this problem and further research in the area, Alfano opened SACK, a clinical research center at UH that provides low-cost, empirically based evaluation and treatment services for children and adolescents who struggle with anxiety and/or sleep disorders. "Several research studies also are being conducted at SACK, which means that many of the families calling (on behalf of their children) will qualify to participate in a study where they will get top-of-the-line treatment at no cost," Alfano said.

"We know from previous research that anxiety and sleep problems are among the most common in kids, affecting up to 30 percent of youth," she said. "Despite their high prevalence, there is little research taking place to teach us how exactly sleep and mental health disorders are related. What we do know is that this relationship is much more complex than simply saying these problems co-occur. If we can identify the kids who are most likely to be anxious or depressed, perhaps based on the earlier emergence of sleep problems, then we can intervene before these disorders take hold."

In addition to the possibility of developing mental health problems later, chronically insufficient sleep in children has been found to have negative effects on performance in school, extracurricular activities and social functioning. Inadequate sleep may interfere with a child's ability to concentrate and follow directions, and is continually linked with behavior problems, irritability, accidents and injuries, and conflict in relationships with family and friends.

"There are some kids who have a tough time 'shutting off' at night and blocking out different types of stimuli in the environment," Alfano said. "Sleep masks and earplugs are a good way to help some kids settle into sleep. Other kids, however, need more help."

"We teach families about the importance of sleep and that it should be made a priority, the same way eating right and exercising are important. We teach children about sleep hygiene, which includes things like keeping the same bedtime and wake time every day, not having caffeinated drinks after lunch, and sleeping in your own bed every night. We also teach kids self-imagery and relaxation skills to deal with intrusive thoughts and feelings of restlessness when trying to fall asleep."

As a recipient of a Mentored Career Development Award from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Alfano enters year four of a five-year research study that is examining sleep disturbances in children with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). "We are studying a total of 80 children, ages 7 to 11 years, based on several measures of sleep," Alfano said. She completed the first half of recruitment for the project previously at the Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and will be completing data collection over the next two years in Houston.

"We in the process of submitting preliminary findings from the study for publication," Alfano said. "What is exciting is that we are finding the same objective sleep patterns in children with GAD that we see in depressed adults. This is particularly intriguing because we know that having GAD as a child is a huge risk factor for developing depression later on, but we don't yet understand exactly why this is. This data suggests it's more than just a co-occurring problem, sleep abnormalities could be a mechanism through which anxiety and depression develop."

Alfano uses a range of methods to assess children's sleep, including clinical interviews with parents and children, polysomnography and actigraphy. An actigraph is a watch-like device worn on the wrist to measure sleep patterns. "It collects data continuously for up to two weeks," she said. "A computer-generated algorithm is then used to score sleep and wake periods. It's a nice, non-invasive way to get a picture of what's going on with a child's sleep without having them sleep in a laboratory with electrodes and wires all over them."

For more detailed questions about sleep (e.g., sleep stages including rapid eye movement sleep) she uses polysomnography, a comprehensive recording of the complex, internal changes in the brain and body that occur during sleep. Polysomnography is often used to diagnose or rule out sleep disorders such as narcolepsy, periodic limb movement disorder and obstructive sleep apnea.

The type of award Alfano received, the Career Development Award from NIMH, requires mentorship and led her to collaborate with Dr. Daniel Glaze, a neurologist and chief of the Texas Children's Sleep Center at Texas Children's Hospital.

"It's a great situation to work with Dr. Glaze and the Texas Children's Sleep Center, one of the few accredited centers in the country specializing in pediatric sleep disorders," Alfano said. "I look forward to a long and productive relationship working with Dr. Glaze and other sleep experts as Texas Children's Hospital."

Alfano is co-author of the book, "Child Anxiety Disorders: A Guide to Research and Treatment," and co-editor of the book, "Social Anxiety Disorder in Adolescents and Young Adults: Translating Developmental Science into Practice." She also serves as associate editor of the Journal of Anxiety Disorders.

###
About the Sleep and Anxiety Center for Kids (SACK)

The Sleep and Anxiety Center for Kids (SACK) is a clinical research center in the department of psychology at the University of Houston dedicated to understanding the connections between children's sleep at night and their behavior and emotions during the day. Research at SACK focuses on helping school-aged children manage and overcome their anxieties, fears and sleep-related problems. Both research opportunities and low-cost clinical services based on the latest scientific evidence are offered to families. For more information about research opportunities and clinical services at SACK, please call 713-743-8600 or visit the SACK website, http://www.uh.edu/SACK
About the University of Houston

The University of Houston is a Carnegie-designated Tier One public research university recognized by The Princeton Review as one of the nation's best colleges for undergraduate education. UH serves the globally competitive Houston and Gulf Coast Region by providing world-class faculty, experiential learning and strategic industry partnerships. Located in the nation's fourth-largest city, UH serves more than 39,500 students in the most ethnically and culturally diverse region in the country.

[ | E-mail | Share ]
?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/uoh-uoh011012.php
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I'll play until mid-50s, says Laura Davies (Reuters)

2012-01-11T15:56:00.001-08:00

LONDON (Reuters) ? Laura Davies turns 50 next year but the former world number one has no plans to hang up her spikes and believes she is capable of mixing it with golf's elite for several more seasons.

"I can really see myself going on into my mid-50s especially on the Ladies European Tour," the 48-year-old Briton told Reuters in an interview Monday. "I think I've got another four or five good years left in America as well.

"I just love competing, love mixing with the youngsters and spending time with them. My whole life has been competitive sport and I don't want to turn my back on it yet.

"I still think I am good enough. I had five wins in 2010 so clearly I'm good enough."

Davies, widely regarded as England's finest female golfer, has accumulated 77 victories around the world including 20 on the LPGA Tour.

She has picked up at least one trophy every season as a pro, except for 2005, and the enthusiasm she has for the game is as infectious as ever.

"When you wake up in the morning and you're no longer genuinely excited and nervous about the day ahead on the course, on the range or the practice green, that's the day you want to hang up your spikes," Davies said.

"It happens to everyone some day but so far it hasn't happened to me. Being as stubborn and as competitive as I am, I can't see it happening for a good four or five years or maybe more," the four-times major winner added.

"I wake up every day nervous and looking forward to it all."

WATSON INSPIRATION

Davies needs one more major victory, or two regular LPGA Tour triumphs, to enter the World Golf Hall of Fame and is using American great Tom Watson's exploits at the 2009 British Open as inspiration.

"He was 59 when he nearly won the Open," she explained. "I'm not saying I'm any Tom Watson but I've won a lot of tournaments over the years.

"Golf is a unique sport, you can play when you're 10 and when you're 80. We are very lucky as pros that we can play so long."

Davies is the only player to have featured in the Solheim Cup -- the women's equivalent of the Ryder Cup -- in each of the 12 editions of the biennial team event.

The Englishwoman was a member of Europe's triumphant side last season but it proved a rare high point in a generally disappointing personal campaign.

"I won a small tournament in Perth at the start of the year and I played well generally but my short game wasn't up to scratch," said Davies, who has a nine-hole course at her home on the outskirts of London.

"I didn't putt very well overall although I putted really well at the Solheim Cup. I don't normally practise much but I've been going to the local driving range recently and doing a bit of putting at the house.

"I just hope I can make enough putts this year to be competitive."
World number one Yani Tseng certainly made her share of putts in 2011, winning the LPGA Championship and British Open to take her haul of major victories to five, and Davies said the 22-year-old Taiwanese was on the road to greatness.
"I put Lorena Ochoa and Annika Sorenstam at the very top of our tree of modern-day players, with Karrie Webb, Beth Daniel and possibly myself on the next level," said Davies.
"Yani is in between those two levels at the moment. She's surpassing the great players and coming up to the elite two.
"I only see more success for her."
(Editing by Sonia Oxley)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120109/people_nm/us_golf_women_davies
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Apollo Astronauts Meet with NASA to Clear Claims on Space Mementos (SPACE.com)

2012-01-10T11:56:00.001-08:00

Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell and a few of his fellow Apollo astronauts were in Washington, D.C. on Monday, where they met with NASA to address "misunderstandings" over the ownership of the mementos they kept from their missions.

Their meeting at NASA Headquarters with Administrator Charles Bolden, a former shuttle astronaut himself, came after the space agency questioned the $388,375 sale of one of Lovell's Apollo 13-flown checklists last December.

NASA's request for the proof of ownership for the 70-page, ring-bound book, along with other artifacts ? including two pieces of equipment offered by Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart ? resulted in Dallas-based Heritage Auctions halting the transfer of the items to their winning bidders.

"These are American heroes, fellow astronauts, and personal friends who have acted in good faith," Bolden said of Lovell, Schweickart and the other astronauts who joined them at the meeting. "We have committed to work together to find the right policy and legal paths forward to address outstanding ownership questions." [NASA's 17?Apollo?Moon Missions in?Pictures]

NASA's inquiry and the resulting hold that it placed on the checklist's record-setting sale was first reported by collectSPACE.com last Tuesday (Jan. 3). The space agency's general counsel first informed the auction house of its concerns on Dec. 1, 2011, the day after the sale had been held.

Joining Lovell and Schweickart at Monday's meeting were moonwalkers Charlie Duke and Gene Cernan, as well as other former astronauts' representatives.

Fundamental misunderstandings

Although the former astronauts and Bolden did not reach a solution during the meeting, they recognized the need to work together to resolve this issue.

"We discussed how to resolve the misunderstandings and ownership questions regarding flight mementos and other artifacts," Bolden said in a statement released Monday. "I believe there have been fundamental misunderstandings and unclear policies regarding the items from the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Skylab programs."

"NASA appreciates the position of the astronauts, learning institutions, museums, and others who have these historic artifacts in personal and private collections," he said.

At potential issue are not just the four artifacts that NASA questioned from the November auction but all of the flight-used equipment that the astronauts retained after their missions in the 1960s and '70s. In the decades since, the retired astronauts have donated some of their mementos to museums and sold others to private collectors.

Those donations and sales went largely unchallenged by NASA until recently. If NASA's independent investigative arm, the Office of Inspector General, were to decide that Lovell's and Schweickart's artifacts were still government property, it could raise concerns about all the artifacts that were previously transferred by the astronauts.

Bolden said that he recognized the need to clarify NASA's artifact policies as promptly as is possible.

"We [will] explore all policy, legislative and other legal means to resolve these questions expeditiously," he said, "and clarify the ownership of these mementos, and ensure that appropriate artifacts are preserved and available for display to the American people."

Exploring the evidence

That this has become an issue now, four decades later, is due in part to the way in which mission-used equipment was given to the astronauts soon after their missions. In many cases, no formal title transfer was ever drafted as NASA's policies concerning the mission mementos were largely unwritten at the time.

Since the news broke last week about NASA's inquiry into the astronauts' auctioned items, collectSPACE.com, its readers and others have been searching for information that supports either the astronauts' or NASA's ownership of the artifacts.

Continue reading at collectSPACE.com about the evidence supporting ownership of the astronauts? artifacts.
Follow collectSPACE on Facebook and Twitter @collectSPACE and editor Robert Pearlman @robertpearlman. Copyright 2011?collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved.
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/space/20120110/sc_space/apolloastronautsmeetwithnasatoclearclaimsonspacemementos
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Schlafly: Why not. Let's win this! "@Melissa_Evans11: @Schlafly rocks! Give 2 #STL Fans a RT to win a wedding! Text Couple3 to 59898"

2012-01-09T23:08:00.001-08:00

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Awana Bible Quiz Practice @ Church

2012-01-09T10:24:00.001-08:00

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2012-01-09T02:37:00.001-08:00

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Theophilus London is basically having a free show today

2012-01-08T19:30:00.001-08:00

--
Theophilus London - Tour Dates
Wed 01/11/12 Grog Shop Cleveland Heights OH w/ LUNICE
Thu 01/12/12 Magic Stick Detroit MI w/ LUNICE
Fri 01/13/12 Lincoln Hall Chicago IL w/ LUNICE
Sat 01/14/12 The Loft Minneapolis MN
Tue 01/17/12 Neumos Seattle WA w/ Thee Satisfaction
Wed 01/18/12 Fortune Sound Club Vancouver BC
Thu 01/19/12 Wonder Ballroom Portland OR
Sat 01/21/12 Mezzanine San Francisco CA
Sun 01/22/12 El Rey Theatre Los Angeles CA
Mon 01/30/12 Club Downunder Tallahassee FL
Tue 01/31/12 Grand Central Miami FL
Wed 02/01/12 The Social Orlando FL
Fri 02/03/12 The Earl Atlanta GA
Sat 02/04/12 Cats Cradle Carrboro NC
Mon 02/06/12 9:30 Club Washington DC
Tue 02/07/12 Johnny Brenda's Philadelphia PA
Thu 02/09/12 Webster Hall New York NY
Fri 02/17/12 Wrong Bar Toronto ON
Sat 02/18/12 Club Soda Montreal QC
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BrooklynVeganFeed/~3/uvFl9l_qwZE/theophilus_lond_2.html
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unwiredtweets: Blog: The real white Samsung Galaxy Nexus isn't completely white http://t.co/4HjWLg3f

2012-01-08T09:38:00.001-08:00

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Sports Briefs: Illinois Hoopla Basketball to host tryouts

2012-01-08T06:48:00.001-08:00

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December 30, 2011 | 01:06 AM

Illinois Hoopla Basketball to host tryouts
Illinois Hoopla Basketball will be conducting Travel Season Tryouts for girls and boys in third through eighth-grade Jan. 9 and 11.
For more information, visit www.illinoishoopla.com or contact Coach Rick at Hooplamr@aol.com or (708) 460-6513.
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Cliquez ici m.twitter.com!</li> <li>Passer cette ?tape</li> <li>Connexion</li> </ul> <ul class="top-navigation round"><li>Connexion</li> <li class="signup-link">Rejoignez Twitter !</li> </ul> YBH! blog post: Sony to name Kazuo Hirai president: Nikkei yesbuthowever.com/sony-to-name-k? Il y a environ 1 heure via yesbuthowever <ul class="meta-data clearfix"></ul> yesbuthowever YBH! - John Romano <h3 class="offscreen">Pied de page</h3> <ul class="footer-nav"><li class="first">? 2012 Twitter</li> <li>? propos de nous</li> <li>Contact</li> <li>Blog</li> <li>Statut</li> <li>Ressources</li> <li>API</li> <li>Entreprises</li> <li>Aide</li> <li>Offres d'emploi</li> <li>Conditions</li> <li>Confidentialit?</li> </ul> Source: <a href="http://twitter.com/yesbuthowever/statuses/155351664017162241">http://twitter.com/yesbuthowever/statuses/155351664017162241</a><a href="http://www.fitnessblogforall.com/?p=345">joe paterno scandal</a> <a href="http://gtcaliforniaweddings.com/blog/?p=3083">election day 2011</a> <a href="http://www.bloggingandmarketing.info/?p=119">mississippi</a> <a href="http://edmontons-business-directory.com/wordpress/?p=3147">personhood</a> <a href="http://www.dexterwingate.info/get-the-most-from-your-jump-manual-affiliation/">herman cain press conference</a> <a href="http://www.shortyjames.info/give-the-gift-of-the-very-best-beef-jerky-and-biltong-australia-gives">joe frazier dead</a> <a href="http://articles.schizandra.org/ugg-boots-uk-organizations/">joe frazier dead</a> <div class="blogger-post-footer"></div> </article> <article> <h1>'Dark Knight Rises' Vocals, 'Star Trek' Villain Spark Nerdy Debates</h1> 2012-01-07T05:14:00.001-08:00 'Talk Nerdy to Me' returns with an all-new episode about Bane's hard-to-decipher voice, 'Star Trek 2' and the MTV Movie Brawl 2012 tournament. By Josh Wigler <a href="http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676841/dark-knight-rises-stark-trek-2-movie-brawl.jhtml"> </a> Benedict Cumberbatch Photo: Getty Images Welcome to 2012, fellow nerds! With return trips to Middle-earth and Gotham City in the cards, not to mention sightings of Earth's Mightiest Heroes and <a href="http://www.mtv.com/movies/person/97929/personmain.jhtml">Ridley Scott</a>'s return to sci-fi on the horizon, the coming months are sure to usher in one of the most geek-friendly years of all time. It's only appropriate then that "Talk Nerdy to Me" (the MTV News one-stop shop for all things comic books, movies and television) rises to the size and stature of the new year. That means more Hulk hands, light-sabers and action figures, more punch-out sound effects and — most importantly — more heated nerdy debate to come all throughout 2012 ... and it all starts now! <div class="player-placeholder right" id="vid:723288.id:1673762" width="240" height="211"></div> Watch the embedded video for the latest episode of "Talk Nerdy to Me," and read on for a synopsis of what we discussed this week on the show! <big>The Bane Problem</big> <a href="http://www.mtv.com/movies/movie/448785/moviemain.jhtml">"Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol"</a> has been kicking ass and taking names at the box office for weeks now, thanks in no small part to the <a href="http://www.mtv.com/movies/movie/454627/moviemain.jhtml">"Dark Knight Rises"</a> prologue attached to IMAX prints of the Tom Cruise action vehicle. Fans are raving about the first look at Christopher Nolan's last Batman movie, except for one teensy, tiny problem: <a href="/news/articles/1676664/dark-knight-rises-banes-voice.jhtml">Bane's voice</a>. The Caped Crusader's newest nemesis' mask-muffled muttering has left some viewers scratching their heads, and Nolan's apparent insistence on not improving the clarity of Bane's dialogue has only led to further bewilderment. But should fans really be so worried about the so-called "Bane problem," or is it all much ado about nothing? Find out what Team Nerdy thinks in this week's episode. <big>"Sherlock" Goes to Space</big> Between playing Britain's greatest detective and Middle-earth's most fearsome dragon, how many more iconic roles does Benedict Cumberbatch need to plop on his plate? Why not give him one more: The "Sherlock" and "War Horse" actor is beaming aboard J.J. Abrams' <a href="http://www.mtv.com/movies/movie/423423/moviemain.jhtml">"Star Trek 2"</a> as the film's lead villain, ending a long search that's seen actors Benicio del Toro and Edgar Ramirez circling the role. But the question remains: Who is Cumberbatch playing? "Nerdy's" Brian Phares expects a new character, while the rest of the team feels like screaming "KHAAAAAAAN!" Who do you think Cumberbatch is playing? <big>The Brawl for It All</big> Finally, nothing like a shameless plug to start the new year right! Team Nerdy took some time to talk about <a href="http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2012/01/03/mtv-movie-brawl-2012-round-one/">MTV Movie Brawl 2012</a>, our current tournament to decide which movie you guys are most excited to see in the coming year. Some flicks like "Hunger Games" and "Breaking Dawn" are dominating as expected, but others — namely "The Dark Knight Rises," "Skyfall" and "The Amazing Spider-Man" — are underperforming, so much so that some so-called "shoo-ins" might not even make it into the March Madness-style bracket kicking off on Monday. We already put the question to <a href="/news/articles/1676744/avengers-spider-man-movie-brawl-2012.jhtml">"Avengers" and "Spider-Man" fans</a>, but it bears repeating to the Batman and Bond crowd: Where are you guys? Time's running out! For breaking news and previews of the latest <a href="http://splashpage.mtv.com">comic book movies</a> — updated around the clock — visit <a href="http://splashpage.mtv.com" rel="nofollow">SplashPage.MTV.com</a>. <CENTER></CENTER> Related Videos <ul> <li> <a type="relatedVideo" href="http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1673762">Talk Nerdy To Me</a> </li> <li> <a type="relatedVideo" href="http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1676396">'Dark Knight Rises': The Year In Review</a> </li> <li> <a type="relatedVideo" href="http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1676578">Get Ready For MTV Movie Brawl 2012!</a> </li> </ul>Source: <a href="http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676841/dark-knight-rises-stark-trek-2-movie-brawl.jhtml">http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676841/dark-knight-rises-stark-trek-2-movie-brawl.jhtml</a><a href="http://www.websitedesignarticles.co.uk/2011/11/have-you-ever-thought-about-unique-psychology/">elisabeth hasselbeck</a> <a href="http://onlinereview.info/wordpress/2011/11/private-jet-expense-analyzed-renting-a-private-jet-is-just-not-pricey/">roger craig</a> <a href="http://www.surfingholidaystrip.com/ice-machines-for-business.html">roger craig</a> <a href="http://blogsarefun.info/?p=204">cadillac xts</a> <a href="http://keywordtentacles.com/gucci-sneakers-also-have-instead-a-spread-or-which-you-settle-on-from/">rambus</a> <a href="http://goodonni.com/colorful-jordan-shoes-for-basketball">rambus</a> <a href="http://theh0menewsblog.info/?p=14">pabst blue ribbon</a> <div class="blogger-post-footer"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Europe woes hit shares, euro; U.S. job data eyed (Reuters)</h1> 2012-01-06T17:14:00.001-08:00 LONDON (Reuters) ? The euro was under pressure and safe-haven assets in demand on Friday on signs that fallout from the euro zone's debt crisis is hitting its banks, but hopes U.S. jobs data later in the day would brighten the economic outlook lifted stocks. The euro was down slightly on the day versus the dollar at $1.2776, having dropped as low as $1.2763, its weakest since September 2010 It was also a 16-month lows against the British pound and near an 11-year low versus the yen. "There is a general tendency to sell the euro on any rallies," said Ankita Dudani, currency strategist at RBS. "Even if we get a strong non-farm payrolls print it would be supportive for risk sentiment but not so for euro/dollar," he said. Fears over the outlook for the single currency region's banks have grown since Italy's UniCredit (CRDI.MI) was forced to offer deep price discounts to sell new shares to shore up its crisis ravaged balance sheet. UniCredit stock has fallen around 30 percent in the previous two sessions and opened on Friday down about 5 percent, while the STOXX Europe 600 banking index (.SX7P) has dropped about 5 percent in the same period. The FTSEurofirst 300 (.FTEU3) index of top European shares rose nearly 0.5 percent in low volumes ahead of the U.S. jobs data. Banking stock rose 0.15 percent. Non-farm payrolls data due later on Friday is expected to show 150,000 jobs were added in December. If the figures come in as expected, near-term market sentiment could tip to positive. Those hopes were given a boost on Thursday when weekly data showed U.S. private-sector hiring surged in December and claims for unemployment benefits fell. Euro-denominated assets are also being undermined by deep-rooted concerns about a possible default by the region's strugglers, notably Greece, expectations for credit downgrades of top-rated euro zone economies including France and worries over whether highly-indebted countries such as Italy and Spain can successfully refinance maturing debts. Little relief was in sight with next week's Italian and Spanish government bond sales likely to keep the market on edge and the euro under pressure, market players said. Yields on both countries' bonds rose on Friday. "Europe's still the main determinant," said Simon Burge, portfolio manager at ATI Asset Management in Sydney. "It comes down to seeing some bottoming in these global growth expectations, which I don't know if we've seen yet." As the vulnerable euro and the European shares whetted appetite for safe-haven assets, gold was on course for its best week in a month at around $1,620 an ounce. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ECB bond buying: http://link.reuters.com/pax23s Euro zone debt crisis: http://r.reuters.com/hyb6 US ADP vs non-farm payrolls: http://link.reuters.com/wuk85s ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ (Additional reporting by Jessica Mortimer and Atul Prakash)Source: <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120106/bs_nm/us_markets_global">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120106/bs_nm/us_markets_global</a><a href="http://sketchcast.com/channel/courtneyneal923">st. nicholas</a> <a href="http://libcom.org/user/557138">st. nicholas</a> <a href="http://www.southwestvasectomyreversal.com/forum/member/415027/">heisman finalists</a> <a href="https://advice.thisoldhouse.com/member.php?u=368146">heisman finalists</a> <a href="http://www.howcast.com/users/lonstuart11">kepler 22 b</a> <a href="http://www.fishlinkcentral.com/user_detail.php?u=lonstuart11">kepler 22 b</a> <a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/u/3583802/">rosie o donnell</a> <div class="blogger-post-footer"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder Is Often Flawed</h1> 2012-01-06T16:30:00.001-08:00 Image: Stuart Bradford This past June renowned clinical psychologist Marsha M. Linehan of the University of Washington made a striking admission. Known for her pioneering work on borderline personality disorder (BPD), a severe and intractable psychiatric condition, 68-year-old Linehan announced that as an adolescent, she had been hospitalized for BPD. Suicidal and self-destructive, the teenage Linehan had slashed her limbs repeatedly with knives and other sharp objects and banged her head violently against the hospital walls. The hospital?s discharge summary in 1963 described her as ?one of the most disturbed patients in the hospital.? Yet despite a second hospitalization, Linehan eventually improved and earned a Ph.D. from Chicago?s Loyola University in 1971. Many psychologists and psychiatrists were taken aback by Linehan?s courageous admission, which received high-profile coverage in the New York Times. Part of their surprise almost surely stemmed from an uncomfortable truth: people with BPD are often regarded as hopeless individuals, destined to a life of emotional misery. They are also frequently viewed as so disturbed that they cannot possibly achieve success in everyday life. As a consequence, highly accomplished individuals such as Linehan do not fit the stereotypical mold of a former BPD sufferer. But as Linehan?s case suggests, much of the intense pessimism and stigma surrounding this disorder are unjustified. Indeed, few psychological disorders are more mischaracterized or misunderstood. Fuzzy Borders New York psychoanalyst Adolf Stern coined the term ?borderline? in 1938, believing this condition to lie on the murky ?border? between neurosis and psychosis. The term was a misnomer because BPD bears little relation to most psychotic disorders. The name may have perpetuated a widespread misimpression that the disorder applies to people on the edge of psychosis, who have at best a tenuous grasp of reality. Not surprisingly, the popular conception of BPD, shaped by such films as the 1987 movie Fatal Attraction (featuring actress Glenn Close as a woman with the condition), is that of individuals who often act in bizarre and violent ways. An error committed by some clinicians is presuming that patients who do not respond well to treatment or who are resistant to therapists? suggestions are frequently ?borderlines.? Some mental health workers even seem to habitually attach the label ?borderline? to virtually any client who is extremely difficult to deal with. As Harvard University psychiatrist George Valliant observed in a 1992 article, the BPD diagnosis often reflects clinicians? frustrated responses to challenging patients. In reality, BPD is meant to apply to a specific subgroup of individuals who are emotionally and interpersonally unstable. Indeed, Linehan has argued that a better name for the condition is ?emotion dysregulation disorder.? Much of the everyday life of individuals with BPD is an emotional roller coaster. Their moods often careen wildly from normal to sad or hostile at the slightest provocation. As Linehan pointed out in a 2009 interview with Time magazine, ?Borderline individuals are the psychological equivalent of third-degree-burn patients. They simply have, so to speak, no emotional skin.? Their perceptions of other people are inconsistent, and they often vacillate between worshipping their romantic partners one day and detesting them the next. Their identity is similarly unstable; patients may lack a clear sense of who they are. And their impulse control is poor; they are prone to explosive displays of anger toward others?and themselves. [For more on the symptoms, causes and treatment of BPD, see ?When Passion Is the Enemy,? by Molly Knight Raskin; Scientific American Mind, July/August 2010.] Source: <a href="http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=cfb3be9e44f5818081dcd57affa87821">http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=cfb3be9e44f5818081dcd57affa87821</a><a href="http://www.thedailycomments.com/all-about-cute-boyfriend-quotes/">cabin in the woods</a> <a href="http://hollywoodlook.net/2011/11/23/more-about-tatyana-berkovich/">dan quayle</a> <a href="http://answerexploder.com/blog/2011/11/best-areas-to-uncover-hairstyles-for-long-hair-suggestions/">brett favre</a> <a href="http://www.waspcontrol.info/?p=1843">packers stock</a> <a href="http://www.debtconsolidationtoronto.org/discovering-incredible-psychology.html">packers stock</a> <a href="http://travelleraddict.info/have-you-ever-thought-about-expressive-psychology">mastectomy</a> <a href="http://sportstagsarein.info/your-coach-diaper-bag-with-this-12-months-has-a-token/">st. nicholas</a> <div class="blogger-post-footer"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Tanier: Sunday's games have a style for everyone</h1> 2012-01-06T04:30:00.001-08:00 <h2>Second day of wild card games features multiple strategies</h2><cite>Julio Cortez / AP</cite>The Giants scheme to get Victor Cruz matched against nickel defenders and safeties over the middle of the field.ANALYSISupdated 4:37 p.m. ET Jan. 5, 2012<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" align="left"><tr><td><table width="102" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="boxB_3315906 cbx-content"><tr valign="top"><td></td></tr><tr valign="top"><td class="boxBI_3315906">Mike Tanier </td></tr></table></td></tr></table>Which do you prefer: wide-open passing, or old-fashioned running and tough defense?Don?t worry, because you won?t have to choose Sunday. The Falcons and Giants will bring the bombs. The Broncos will make your high school coach smile with some option plays. And the Steelers will do what the Steelers do. Sunday?s wild-card matchups provide something for everyone, and so do the following signature play diagrams.For those who crave even more inside analysis, check out these detailed breakdowns of the matchups.Atlanta Falcons Last season, the Falcons were one playmaker from a truly dangerous offense. Roddy White is one of the league?s best receivers, but with pokey Michael Jenkins lined up on the other side of the field, it was too easy for opponents to double-cover White or roll the safeties in his direction. That?s why the Falcons traded a warehouse full of draft picks to move up and select Julio Jones. Jones has been an excellent deep threat in his own right, catching 54 passes for 959 yards, but he also has opened opportunities for White and the other Falcons playmakers. Jones and White allow Atlanta to stretch the defense vertically, making it possible for Matt Ryan to get the most from his arm strength and deep accuracy.The graphic at the left shows the Falcons on first down in the second quarter against the Jaguars. Atlanta has had problems on its offensive line this season, and as you can see by the crowd of defenders at the line of scrimmage, Jacksonville is blitzing. Blitzes often mean man-to-man coverage, and Ryan knows he can exploit a mismatch between White (84) and defender Ashton Youboty (31) ? if he has time to throw.The route combination on the right side makes excellent use of the speed of White, Jones (11), and third wideout Harry Douglass (83). Jones? go-route immediately threatens not just his cornerback, but the deep safety. White crosses in front of Douglass, who runs a corner route. Douglass? route also keeps the deep safety on the offensive right side of the field, while Youboty gets caught in congestion when White and Douglass cross. White has a full two steps on Youboty as he crosses behind the linebackers, and the safety is too late to be of much help. It is an easy 21-yard gain.What about the blitz? Tony Gonzalez (88) chips the defensive end before running a crossing route, making life easier for left tackle Will Svitek, one of the weak links on the Falcons line. Running back Jason Snelling also stays in to block, picking up the crossing action of the Jaguars? stunt. Atlanta will have to use blocking schemes like this frequently Sunday, with Gonzo or another tight end slowing Jason Pierre-Paul down so Ryan does not get flattened. But the speed of the Falcons receivers also helps the pass protection: White and the others get deep into the secondary in a hurry, so Ryan does not need to wait long in the pocket for this play to develop.New York Giants Where would the Giants be without Victor Cruz? That?s easy: They would be watching the Cowboys face the Falcons on Sunday. Cruz more-than-adequately filled Steve Smith?s old role as the slot receiver in Kevin Gilbride?s offense. Gilbride schemes to get Cruz matched against nickel defenders and safeties over the middle of the field. When Eli Manning sees that kind of mismatch, he is willing to wait the extra second for Cruz to flash open before pulling the trigger, even if it means scrambling for his life.The figure at the left shows the Giants facing second-and-10 in the fourth quarter against the Cowboys. Dallas is blitzing as usual, and although teams often use man coverage behind a blitz, the Cowboys are actually in zone, as shown by the gray circles. Manning has no way to determine this before the snap: The Cowboys do an excellent job of disguising their intentions.The Giants use a seven-man protection scheme to stop the Cowboys blitz. The offensive line fans to the left while both Travis Beckum (47) and Ahmad Bradshaw (44) provide extra blocking on the right side, where DeMarcus Ware roams. Despite the extra blockers, a linebacker turns the corner on left tackle David Diehl, who has gotten too old and slow to handle faster defenders. Manning appears to be in big trouble. Receivers Hakeem Nicks (88) and Mario Manningham (82) were both jammed at the line, so they are slow to get into their pass routes. Two zone defenders clog the passing lane to Cruz, making it dangerous for Manning to throw to his favorite target.Manning has a surprising ability to slip away from danger, ane he reads coverages well enough to know where the weaknesses are. Cruz slips into a seam between the Cowboys' zone defenders and slows down a bit to give Manning a clear target. Manning spots him and fires. The 20-yard reception comes on the heels of a 44-yard catch by Cruz, also from the slot, and sets up a field goal that puts the game out of reach.The Falcons hope to have star cornerback Brent Grimes back, and while Grimes is usually more comfortable in outside coverage, his presence should allow fellow cornerback Dunta Robinson to move around the formation and find Cruz?s hiding places. If the Falcons try to cover Cruz with a nickel back or safety, they will learn what the Cowboys and Jets already know: it doesn?t work.Denver Broncos Now that Tebowmania has calmed a bit, we can stop raving about his intangibles and focus soberly on what he provides as a quarterback. As a passer, Tebow has a lot of work to do, and he is not going to get it done in the next few days. As a runner, Tebow is enough of a threat to give the Broncos an option-style ball control attack that can keep games close enough to turn on one or two big plays.The figure at the left shows the Broncos on second-and-long early in the first quarter against the Bills. For the Broncos, second-and-long is a running situation: they are in a spread formation, but only so they can thin out the defense and create more running room. The zone-read option, a staple of college offenses, has become a bread-and-butter play for the Broncos.Tebow (15) takes the shotgun snap and leans forward to hand off to Willis McGahee (23). The time when Tebow and McGahee are in the process of exchanging the football is called the ?mesh,? and Tebow uses this time to observe the behavior of defender Chris Kelsay (90). If Kelsay crashes inside to stop the running back, Tebow can pull the ball away and run a sweep. On this play, Kelsay stays to the outside in anticipation of a Tebow keeper. So McGahee takes the handoff, but Tebow still feigns the sweep. The fake works perfectly, as Kelsay is so focused on Tebow that McGahee runs right past him and ends up with a 24 yard gain.Note the blocking scheme. Two Broncos linemen execute combo blocks, double teaming defenders on the line before the right guard slips out to nail the middle linebacker. No one blocks Kelsay. That is the beauty of a read-choice option: the fake replaces a blocker, essentially giving the Broncos an extra lineman on running plays. While every defender has seen this play hundreds of times at the prep and college level, the Broncos have much more practice at running it than NFL opponents have at stopping it.These option plays are no substitute for a functional passing game, and they may have limited effect against the Steelers defensive line, which was built to fend off double-teams while linebackers and safeties crash through any and all gaps. The option plays do allow Tebow to play to his strengths and let the Broncos play field-position football, the type of game that the Steelers have traditionally mastered. Just who is playing into whose hands remains to be seen.? Pittsburgh Steelers You are probably expecting some wild-and-crazy Steelers blitz for our final diagram, with linebackers and Polamalus flying all over the place. There is only one problem: you don?t want to blitz Tebow that often. Send too many rushers, and you are begging him to break a tackle, escape danger, and either run for glory or find a receiver who got open in all the confusion. Opponents such as the Bills had success against the Broncos by rushing three or four defenders while showing odd looks in coverage. The Steelers can also play that style of defense, and they got some extra practice at it in Week 17, when agile-but-inaccurate Seneca Wallace was the Browns quarterback.The figure at the left shows the Steelers trying to stop the Browns on third-and-5 in the fourth quarter of a close game. As usual, the Steelers have seven defenders bunched near the line of scrimmage, and the Browns must be ready for any or all of them to blitz. But Wallace had several long scrambles earlier in the game, and the Steelers want him to throw the football in this situation: they are better off facing Wallace?s arm than his legs.At the snap, only four Steelers defenders rush the passer. One of them, Ziggy Hood (96), is a rusher in name only. He really occupies a zone behind the center and guards, making sure the middle of the field is clogged with big guys and defending a scramble up the gut. The other Steelers lineman, Brett Keisel (99), drops with a linebacker into what are called the ?hitch? zones. They are supposed to stop any short passes to running backs or crossing receivers, but stopping any Wallace scrambles is also high on their agenda.The Browns are playing it safe: with a weak receiving corps and a backup quarterback, their best bet to gain five yards is to dump the ball to Peyton Hillis (40) and hope he can break a tackle in the flat. Against a conventional blitz, the Hillis pass might work. But Keisel reads the play, as does Ike Taylor (24), who knows he has deep safety support. Taylor lets the receivers clear through his zone and focuses on Wallace and Hillis. He breaks on Hillis before Wallace is finished throwing, and he helps Keisel clean up the tackle. The Browns lose three yards, and nearly lose the football: Hillis fumbles, but the ball rolls out of bounds.Taylor and Keisel are veteran role players in a scheme that has not changed for years. In fact, just about every Steelers starter has years of experience in his role, and for every Polamalu or James Harrison, there is a Keisel or Taylor who understands that his job is to clean up after plays and limit some of the consequences that come from relying on the blitz. The Broncos want to threaten with Tebow, work the edges with their backs and receivers, and cause breakdowns. The Steelers need smart play calls ? and smart play ? like this to keep it from happening.Mike Tanier writes for NBCSports.com and Rotoworld.com and is a senior writer forFootball Outsiders. advertisementMore news<cite>Justin K. Aller / Getty Images</cite>Source: <a href="http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45889625/ns/sports-nfl/">http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45889625/ns/sports-nfl/</a><a href="http://www.kzndurban.co.za/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=83453">meteor shower</a> <a href="http://l2mafia.net/smf/index.php?action=profile;u=137801">mitt romney</a> <a href="http://www.lampang.go.th/smf/index.php?action=profile;u=147906">bachmann</a> <a href="http://legitearnings.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=154722">bachmann</a> <a href="http://www.lejdesigns.com/tdh/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=43478">jon huntsman</a> <a href="http://www.linebattles.com/forums/index.php?action=profile;u=112844">iowa caucus results</a> <a href="http://lloydmotorsport.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=111956">dan savage</a> <div class="blogger-post-footer"></div> </article> <article> <h1>India?s Low-Cost Aakash Tablet Pre-Orders Hit 1.4 Million</h1> 2012-01-06T03:46:00.001-08:00 The low-cost Indian tablet known as the Aakash, which we have followed in its career over the last year, is finally shipping. In late December they opened up orders for the first batch of 30,000 units, and brought so much traffic to their retail site that an Indian cyber regulation agency called to inform them they were possibly under attack. And in the last two weeks, <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/news/hardware/Aakash-tablets-14-lakh-booked-in-14-days/articleshow/11347895.cms">they've racked up over 1.4 million pre-orders</a> — iPad-scale numbers. It's being sold for Rs2500, which translates to <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/14/35-indian-tablet-to-get-release-this-month-for-50/">just under $50</a>. The government then subsidizes sales to students, bringing the cost down to $35. But while the government originally suggested a million devices would be on the ground before the end of 2011, the Indian manufacturer won't be pushing out devices at a decent rate until this coming April, and at that point the Aakash may find itself an orphan device.Source: <a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/FdaMZ1JmmyU/">http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/FdaMZ1JmmyU/</a><a href="http://www.nice-photo.info/2011/11/23/help-me-with-debt-i-am-drowning-in-debt/">pumpkin seed recipe</a> <a href="http://ww3.firstgraycells.com/?p=2906">mark madoff</a> <a href="http://runrogerspecs.com/?p=310">disturbia</a> <a href="http://nassau-suffolk-county-carpet-cleaners.com/Business/invest-in-employed-lighthouse-for-sale/">nick diaz</a> <a href="http://blacknessd.info/?p=19">michael myers</a> <a href="http://thehomenewsbl0g.info/2011/11/california-marriage-records-and-other-legal-reports-online/">power outage</a> <a href="http://www.plentyofchat.com/?p=145">snow storm</a> <div class="blogger-post-footer"></div> </article> <article> <h1>Terry mulls legal action over cigarette packets</h1> 2012-01-05T15:49:00.001-08:00 Associated Press Sportsupdated 8:52 a.m. ET Jan. 3, 2012LONDON (AP) -England captain John Terry is considering taking legal action over the apparent use of his image on cigarette packets in India.The slightly blurred image of the Chelsea defender has appeared as part of anti-smoking warnings created by the Indian government."It's been brought to our attention that an image of our client has been used on some cigarette packaging without our consent or knowledge," Terry's management company said Tuesday in a statement. "We've now instructed our legal team to investigate this matter."The Gold Flake cigarette packets with Terry's apparent image were on sale in Delhi on Tuesday.Gold Flake's manufacturer ITC and Indian government officials could not be reached for comment.But an ITC official told the Indian Express newspaper that the company had simply used anti-smoking warnings prepared by the Indian government.? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. advertisementMore news<cite>Robert Cianflone / Getty Images</cite><h5>Beckham set to stay in LA</h5>David Beckham is set to stay with the Los Angeles Galaxy after turning down a chance to join Paris Saint-Germain, the French club said Tuesday.<cite>Glyn Kirk / AFP - Getty Images</cite><h5>Fulham rallies past Arsenal</h5>Roundup: Steve Sidwell tied the score in the 85th minute and Bobby Zamora got the go-ahead goal in the second minute of stoppage time, giving Fulham a 2-1 victory over Arsenal on Monday that knocked the Gunners from the Premier League's top four.Source: <a href="http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45855188/ns/sports-soccer/">http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45855188/ns/sports-soccer/</a><a href="http://www.flashboot.ru/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=57274">western black rhino</a> <a href="http://217145.webtest.goneo.de/smf/index.php?action=profile;u=37553">western black rhino</a> <a href="http://66.147.235.156/index.php?action=profile;u=928">jefferson county alabama</a> <a href="http://911books.net/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=94317">marine corps</a> <a href="http://96thid.com/forums/index.php?action=profile;u=25153">marine corps</a> <a href="http://alexedu.com/hug1/index.php?action=profile;u=98705">veterans day 2011</a> <a href="http://alsdirtbikegear.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=269165">veterans day 2011</a> <div class="blogger-post-footer"></div> </article> </main></body></html>