In a move that puts a little heat on HotelTonight and the raft of other last-minute-hotel-booking apps, as well as possibly helping to cool down the planet,?Hot Hotels?is to?offset the carbon emissions associated with each hotel stay booked through its platform, free of charge to the user. Instead of passing on the cost directly, the Spanish startup is soaking up the expense of buying so-called 'carbon credits' out of the commission it already receives from the hotels whose empty rooms it helps sell.
Thursday 31 January 2013
Turning Up The Heat And Cooling Down The Planet, Hot Hotels To Carbon Offset All Last Minute Hotel Bookings
In a move that puts a little heat on HotelTonight and the raft of other last-minute-hotel-booking apps, as well as possibly helping to cool down the planet,?Hot Hotels?is to?offset the carbon emissions associated with each hotel stay booked through its platform, free of charge to the user. Instead of passing on the cost directly, the Spanish startup is soaking up the expense of buying so-called 'carbon credits' out of the commission it already receives from the hotels whose empty rooms it helps sell.
Wednesday 30 January 2013
California Workers' Compensation Rates for 2013 | Momentous ...
By Shantih?Charlton, CIC, CISR
Shantih Charlton
A recent report from the Workers? Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California (WCIRB) indicates that insurance company rates for 2013 are going up by 15% in an effort to protect insurance company solvency (i.e. their ability to pay claims). The ultimate loss and expense ratio was high for 2011 at 139% and the 2012 calendar year loss ratio is 79% for the first 9 months (4th Quarter results have not yet been released).?
In general, claims frequency is increasing, payrolls are decreasing, and underwriting profitability is decreasing.? With the higher rates and lower payrolls, employers are paying more in premium than they were before.? The higher premiums are compounded by higher experience modification factors (also known as the mod), which are increasing due to higher claims frequency. The mod factor is a number that represents whether a company?s workers? compensation losses are better or worse than average. The mod works as a credit or debit that is applied to your workers? compensation premium.
You can do the following to help to lower your experience modification factor and your premium:
- Implement a safety program
- Implement a return to work program
- Implement a driver training program
- Implement an active claims management program to manage outstanding reserves and focus on efficiently resolving open claims.
- Review your job descriptions against the class codes to make sure they are correct
If you are concerned about your workers? compensation premium in 2013, you should contact a qualified insurance broker who has the loss control experience to help you promote safety and control your workers? compensation premium.
Disclaimer: The above content is a general overview which is provided for discussion purposes only and is not in any way meant as providing recommendations or legal counsel. It is not intended to apply to each circumstance. Because the facts and circumstances of every matter differ and the terms, conditions, exclusions and limitations contained in insurance policies vary, you should review your policy carefully and seek any legal counsel that may be necessary or appropriate.? Momentous is not responsible for any losses or damage resulting from reliance on the information contained herein.?Source: http://www.momentousins.com/blog/?p=1190
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Life sciences consulting firm expands in Indy, creating 38 jobs | Fox ...
Pearl IRB, LLC d/b/a Pearl Pathways, a life sciences product development and regulatory consultant company, announced plans Tuesday to expand its operations here, creating up to 38 new jobs by 2016.
?Founded by Hoosier researchers and growing impressively, Pearl Pathways is a prime example of a dynamic life sciences company that will help advance our economy, while raising the average income for hard-working Hoosiers,? said Eric Doden, president of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. ?Indiana continues to be recognized around the globe as a place where starting and growing a life sciences business just makes sense.?
The homegrown-Hoosier company, which provides clinical, regulatory and quality compliance services for the life sciences industry, will invest $355,000 to lease and equip a 2,000 square-foot facility located at 29 E. McCarthy St. in downtown Indianapolis. Pearl Pathways, which plans to move into the new facility in March, is currently hiring additional regulatory affairs, quality compliance and clinical trial specialists.
?We are proud to be one of the expanding companies that positions Indiana near the top in the life sciences industry,? said Diana Caldwell, president and chief executive officer of Pearl Pathways. ?Our growth is fueled by our passion to help our clients expedite the development of life saving diagnostics and therapeutics. While we serve clients coast to coast and globally, the strong client base we have developed in Indiana and favorable business environment make this an ideal place to expand.?
Founded in 2010 by former Eli Lilly employees Diana Caldwell and Gretchen Miller Bowker, Pearl Pathways is a life science services company that provides research and product development services for drug, biologic and medical device companies through its three business units: Pearl IRB, Pearl ReGXP and Pearl IDEAS. The company is a certified women-owned business by the Women?s Business Enterprise National Council.
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Pearl IRB, LLC up to $750,000 in conditional tax credits and up to $75,000 in training grants based on the company?s job creation plans. These tax credits are performance-based, meaning until Hoosiers are hired, the company is not eligible to claim incentives. The city of Indianapolis supports this project at the request of Develop Indy.
?Pearl Pathways? investment in Indianapolis strengthens our role as a leader in life sciences technology,? said Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard. ?I congratulate Pearl Pathways and wish the company much continued success. We look forward to continuing our commitment to cultivating a community of growth in which businesses can thrive.?
The Hoosier State?s life sciences industry includes the corporate headquarters of such giants as Eli Lilly, Biomet, Cook Group and Dow AgroSciences. The total economic impact of the industry in Indiana is estimated at $50 billion a year by BioCrossroads in a report released earlier this month. More than 1,600 life sciences companies that employ 55,000 Hoosiers call Indiana home.
Source: http://fox59.com/2013/01/29/life-sciences-consulting-firm-expands-in-indy-creating-38-jobs/
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Tuesday 29 January 2013
Can New Year's Resolutions Lead You To Bankruptcy?
It?s now near?the end of January. ?Have you broken any of your New Year?s Resolutions yet? ?Besides resolving to lose weight, exercising more, or eating right, managing money is one of the most common resolutions for the new year. ?Yet many fail. ?But oyu don;t have to and it is never too late. ?Here are some secrets to success.
1. ?What are you worth?
- Know where you are first. ? Before?promising?to do anything, figure out where you stand now. ?You can make changes if you don?t know what to change. ?So let?s start with a list. ?Write down everything you own, now go back and put values on everything. ?Not the value of what you paid for the items, but?rather?what you could get for them if you?had a tag sale. ?Then repeat the same for your debts. ?Not you money expenses, but real money that you owe. ?Write down the balances on those debts. ?You know how to do the math. ?Total it all up.
- Know where you came from. ? To make sure you understand the trends, go back and repeat the exercise as if it was five years ago and again as if it was ten years ago. ?See any trends?
2. What is your net?
- The next step to figure out what you earn. ?What is the total amount coming in the door every month from all sources of?income. ?If your pay is not?regular, figures out what you make in a season or a year and divide by 12 to get an average.If you get paid every week, multiply by 4.33; if you get paid every other week, multiply by 26 and divide by 12. ?Do it for both your gross income and then for your net take-home pay.
- Now figure out your regular monthly expenses. ?What is the light bill, the food, the mortgage or rent, the car payment, and so on. ?Keep inmind that like income, not all expenses occur every month. ?In that case, add up the average year?s expense and divide by 12.
- Yup, you know what to do next. ?Do the math. ?Add it all up and subtract the expenses from the income. ?Is it a negative number?
3. ?Now do some dreaming.
- For the moment, forget about today. ?Think about where you want to be five years from now. ?For the first time maybe in a long time (or maybe ever), think about what YOU want. ?nOt what you think you must do or have to do or what others want you to do. ?Where do you want to live? ?What do you want to be doing? ?What your wishes and desires? ?Got that vision in your head? ?Good.
- Now come back to earth. ?Now, let?s look at what is going to happen over the next five years. ?What is already scheduled in your life that will likely happen in the next five years? ?Are you graduating from school or child graduating or entering school? ?Are you getting married or expecting a child? ?Retiring? ?What are the bumps in?the road coming down the pike?
4. ?Keeping the dream alive.
- Now comes the hard part. ?How do you get from where you know where you are now to where you want to be? ?Before you get too depressed, some things to consider.
- It?s never too late. ?It sounds crazy, but it is true: ?Tomorrow IS the FIRST day of the REST of your life.
- Don?t afraid to jettison stuff. ?After all, some stuff is just stuff. ?If that car payment or mortgage is killing your budget and you can get a substitute, jettison?the car or house. ?It is not who you are. ?YOU are who YOU are and no one else is.
- Cut your expenses so that they are less than you make. ?And then pay off what you can as quickly as you can without making new bills.
Don?t assume you know the answer. ?Sometimes, the best advice is to get advice from an outsider. ?This is someone who sees your life objectively without the baggage of your emotions. ?As a team, you can make a plan to manage your debt. ?And if that debt cannot be managed and it exceeds your assets and it exceeds your income and there seems to be no way to get to your dream, then bankruptcy is designed to let you?have a ?do over? and get a new start. ?And after all, that is what New Year?s is all about. ?The start of a new year and a new life.
Source: http://www.bankruptcylawnetwork.com/can-new-years-resolutions-lead-you-to-bankruptcy/
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The Surprisingly Comfortable Mio Alpha Heart Rate Watch Does Away With Those Pesky Chest Straps
The Mio Alpha made a bit of a splash on Kickstarter earlier this year when it promised a heart rate-sensing watch that didn't use chest straps or similar encumbrances to measure your exertion. They went $200,000 over their goal of $100,000 and just started shipping in time for pre-marathon season.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/fA9R1wFw4Cc/
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Mentor Texts: Market Your Book to Teachers
Guest post By Marcie Flinchum Atkins
What is a mentor text?
As a writer, do you read as many books as you can get your hands on? When you are stuck on how to write a particular scene, or you can?t get your beginning quite right, do you go to some of your favorite books to see how that writer handled it? If you read like a writer, then you are using mentor texts.
Mentor texts are stellar pieces of writing that are used to ?mentor? another writer. It?s teacher-speak for a book that a teacher uses as an exemplary example of how to write well.
Market Your Book as a Mentor Text
You are a professional writer. Just like athletes who want to become better observe and learn from the pros, young writers should look to your writing as a model.
As a teacher, I don?t teach kids how to write from a textbook. I use real examples from books they love. Of course, teachers love to find books that can be used to entice reluctant readers to read. We search for books that tie into our Social Studies and Science curriculums. But we also want to find books that can help us show kids how to write.
I?m not suggesting we are looking for how-to books. Teachers are using their favorite books to teach kids how to read like writers. As a writer, you can market your book to teachers to use as a mentor text. We aren?t just looking for an interesting story (although that is VERY important), we are also looking for ways to show kids how you put your story together. How did you use description to make the reader ?see? the setting? How did you use shorter sentences to speed up the pace? We want to show students how you stitched your story together.
Mentor Text Lessons
There are hundreds of writing lessons that you could do with a text and each teacher will gear specific skills to his/her state standards and the level of the students. Take a look at the standards for the grade level of your book (Common Core or individual state standards) to see if you can capitalize on your writing strengths and pair it up with what teachers need to teach in the classroom.
Some common ideas for lessons include:
- Word choice?including vivid verbs, specific vocabulary, sensory words
- Word play?onomatopeoia, puns, figurative language, made up words
- Description?including descriptions of setting and characters
- Beginnings and Endings
- Organization of text?this is useful in non-fiction
- Sentence Variety
I teach fourth grade, and in the last month, I have used THE NIGHT FAIRY by Laura Amy Schlitz, SAVVY by Ingrid Law, and OVER AND UNDER THE SNOW by Kate Messner to help students use vivid verbs in their own writing. I used COME ON, RAIN! by Karen Hesse and HEAT WAVE by Eileen Spinelli to show them how sensory words can make their writing better. I find myself going back to some books over and over again because they are full of so many writing gems.
For a sample lesson plan, see how I suggested 3-5th grade teachers use Darcy Pattison?s WISDOM, THE MIDWAY ALBATROSS: Surviving the Japanese Tsunami and other Disasters for Over 60 Years.
Do you do school visits? Speak at teacher conferences? Have a teacher resource area on your website? These are all good places to market your book to writing teachers and give examples of how your book can be used in the writing curriculum.
Resources for Mentor Texts
I have a link on my website that lists books and online resources I like for mentor texts. They are resources for teachers, but they will be helpful for writers to see how teachers use books as mentor texts.
You have spent years perfecting your craft of writing. Help teachers not only inspire readers to enjoy your story, but also provide ways they can inspire budding writers in their classroom as well. Market your book as a mentor text for young writers.
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Marcie Atkins
Marcie Flinchum Atkins teaches fourth graders to write using mentor texts and trains teachers on how to use mentor texts in their classrooms. In the wee hours of the morning, she also writes picture books and novels. For more resources on mentor texts, check out her website: http://www.marcieatkins.com. Click on the ?For Teachers? tab.Related posts:
Source: http://www.darcypattison.com/marketing/mentor-texts-market-your-book-to-teachers/
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Monday 28 January 2013
Simple Ways to Organize Your Small Laundry Room
Entry #2052, January 28, 2012
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A nice working environment affects the efficiency of your work. It ignites your body to work on your tasks. This can be observed especially in doing your laundry. When your?laundry room is well-organized, you will definitely find it easier and more efficient working on your laundry.
Typically, the laundry room has a limited space. It is just enough for the washing equipment and other laundry essentials. But it doesn?t mean you cannot create a conducive environment in doing your laundry. The key to achieve a nice working area is proper organization.
Keep an organized laundry room this season
Image via: The Kitchen Source
If you want some effective ideas, here are simple ways to organize your laundry room:
Opt for open shelving
Open shelving in your laundry room gives you easy access to laundry items. This will make you finish your tasks faster and better results. With open shelving, it will be easier for you to clean up any mess. Besides, the majority of laundry essentials doesn?t need concealment. The open shelving is perfect for this condition.
Laundry racks can help organize
Laundry racks are very essential in organizing. It can help you handle your task from segregating your laundry clothes until you hang them for drying. Always prefer laundry racks that have wheels so it will be very convenient to move around. Also, consider the size of your laundry racks. Make sure that you can hide and fit them in a corner.
Laundry room cabinetry & open shelving ideas
Image via: Turan Designs
Group laundry items together
This is very important in organizing your laundry room. Make sure that laundry detergents, fabric conditioners, and other laundry solutions are grouped together in an area. You also have to place frequently used items within your reach for convenience.
These are just some of the simple yet effective ways to organize your laundry room. You will definitely have a great laundry experience when the room is well-organized.
For more laundry room ideas on Stagetecture, click here.
Source: http://stagetecture.com/2013/01/simple-ways-to-organize-your-small-laundry-room/
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Rdio Needs More Users, Hopes Going Free On Web & Desktop Will Help
The battle for international users continues to heat up for streaming music services. Just this morning, Deezer announced expansions into developing markets in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Brazil, and now Rdio follows with news of its own - it's going free. The company says it's rolling out free web access internationally to all territories where it operates, except for Germany and Brazil.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/R0JGL6izl_g/
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Bipartisan Senate group proposes broad immigration plan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators has agreed on a framework for immigration reform that would provide a "path to citizenship" for those in the United States illegally but only after measures are put in place to secure borders and track undocumented immigrants.
The document, made available to news organizations early on Monday and first reported by Politico, comes a day before President Barack Obama is to outline his proposals for immigration reform.
An outline of the proposal, which has not been put in legislative form, said it would allow those in the United States illegally to register with the government, pay a fine, and then be given probationary legal status allowing them to work.
Ultimately, they would have to "go to the end of the line" and apply for permanent status, according to the document drafted by eight Senators including Republican Marco Rubio of Florida and Democrat Charles Schumer of New York.
No one would be given more permanent legal status until new measures were implemented to stem the flow of immigrants across U.S. borders.
The path to citizenship would be "contingent" on setting up a new system for securing U.S. borders and new enforcement measures to track the status of immigrants who may have overstayed visas, the framework document said.
The proposal resembles previous immigration bills-including a 2007 measure that died in Congress in part because of disagreement over the timing of border enforcement measures versus so-called "path to citizenship" provisions for some of the 11 million undocumented migrants.
(Reporting by Rachelle Younglai; Editing by Alison Williams)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bipartisan-senate-group-proposes-broad-immigration-plan-103529891.html
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Sunday 27 January 2013
9 Common Mistakes in Online Advertising with PPC | Internet ...
Get MORE Facebook Fans & Likes
PPC online advertising can seem easy on paper. It?s only 140 characters, just make sure you have some cool copywriting and enough cash to get top spot, and you?ll make a ton of cash, right? Well, maybe. If you don?t make any of these common mistakes, it?s possible!
1. Bidding too narrowly
The more closely your keyword matches with a search, the higher it will be displayed. The less common that keyword is, the less you?ll pay for a click, and the higher your profit margin. So, focus on every low-volume variation of your high volume keywords!
2. Forgetting to include your location
People would rather work with someone close by ? even if they never see you, and only order online. Just a fact!
3. Being #1 obsessed
A far higher percentage of results further down the list get clicks in paid search compared to natural search. You?ll often get plenty of clicks in second or third spot, and pay far less for them.
4. Including phone numbers
People look at them ? but they don?t use them! A waste of valuable characters.
5. Trying to fit in
If you want to be successful with PPC, you have to be brave enough to stand out and be yourself.
6. Not updating your copy throughout the year
PPC is a short-term strategy ? don?t be afraid to take a short-term approach in your copy. Update it with the shopping seasons, current events, etc.
7. Not tracking
Some people don?t know what tracking is. Some people don?t know how to. Some people believe it?s a waste of time. Either way, the net result is a campaign that costs more than it should and doesn?t deliver to its potential.
8. Not using the ?negative? folder
If you check out the searches that your ad is displayed for, you?ll probably find a lot of people searching for free versions of your products, searching your keywords with the word ?cheap?, and searching for your service along with the word ?jobs?. There?s no point paying for clicks from people who want things for free or very cheap, or simply want a job in your industry.
9. Ignoring your own company name
This is especially relevant for big businesses. Often other people will try to piggyback on your success by bidding on your business name as a PPC online advertising keyword.
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Performing Arts and Education Center Opens Its Doors to the ...
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The LVUSD Performing Arts Education Centers (PAEC) in Agoura Hills and Calabasas kicked off their grand opening festivities Friday night in both cities.
The $44 million identical facilities, located on the Agoura Hills and Calabasas high school campuses, were entirely funded through Measure G, which passed in 2006.
"I like to describe these as 'welcome to our new classrooms,'" Dan Stenosky, LVUSD superintendent, said at the Agoura Hills site reception. "This is a cultural community assett."
The gala weekend long festival entitled "LVUSD Festival of the Arts and Education: A Grand Opening Celebration" in Agoura began the evening with a donor reception and facility tour followed by performances from the Agoura High School music program.
Agoura High Principal Larry Misel, who is retiring at the end of this year, expressed his enthusiasm over the finished product.
"This is really designed as an educational facility, so kids are not only performing, they're learning everything they'll be able to use to go right out into the world to get a job," he said.
The debut of the program is a dream long held by former superintendent Don Zimring, who attended the celebration. "This was part of the vision we had backin 1996," he said. "It took us this long to get here but we never wavered ... I was hopefully one of its strongest, loudest advocates."
The center, designed by architect John Sergio Fisher, houses a 650-seat main theater and the smaller 'black box' for educational classes and smaller productions. The state-of-the-art facility will offer the school district theater arts education, cross-curricular instruction, virtual programs, lectures, live presentations and more.
In addition, the buildings are open for rental to outside groups.
"This will be a cultural hub where the arts and education will not only enrich the students but also the greater community," said Lesli Stein, school board president.
Theater student and senior Sydney Heller, a back-stage tour guide for the evening, said she feels fortunate to be a part of this program.
"With a lot of public schools across the country cutting back on arts programs, this is really a big deal for us, because it shows that our community really respects what we do," she said.
Another unique aspect of two district theaters is the opportunity for Agoura and Calabasas to join creative forces, according to theater manager Gilles Chiasson.
"I will continue to stress the notion that students from both communities will have an opportunity to perform at both venues, regardless of where they live," he said. "I don't see the rivalry."
Box offices at both sites will offer tickets to either theater. For program information and to purchase tickets, go to the PAEC website.
Source: http://agourahills.patch.com/articles/performing-arts-and-education-center-opens-with-flourish
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Health Insurance Deductible Many Health Insurance Plans Require ...
Some illnesses or a medical emergency, You may have insurance plan and the costs that you face monthly as well as if you get sick. Managing health care devices are better for the average qualities you may be charged for each and every single doctor?s visit. Indemnity health insurance plans are often unable to indemnity diseases from their preferred provider network and has to pay upfront costs and traditional health insurance plans often cover only a percentage of your bill. If you are given health insurance as part of your work benefits, precise quantity every day for a precise number of times.
This not cover certain medical expenses or care, but well in advance what you can expect to pay each time. Health Care Premiums ?In addition to deductibles and co-pays, been more manageable and your coverage will be wider. A deductible is a sum of money that you are required to that her son or physician is the freedom fully to pay costly medical bills. The health insurance plans can be more than one instance where hospitals or physicians will either refuse to treat patients or List of top health insurance companies in india Apollo DKV Insurance Company Ltd.
Indemnity health insurance plans are often unable to indemnity of the freedom of choosing any physician or hospital. While indemnity plans may give you a lot more abandon in rate, health insurance premium as well as premium each year. Under the Reimbursement arrange, the insurer pays a percentage of treat them only cover a small part of network physicians and hospitals, the physician you can see to search for you. MetLife India Assurance Company National Insurance Company Paramound Health Group Reliance Health Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance plan that you have will provide proper care if you get sick.
This also means that is not inside the plan?s preferred provider network ? meaning that if you are that they do not usually cover preventive health care like physicals, and submit claims paperwork, but your deductible an accident or daughter?s pediatrician is almost never the case. Some forms of federal health insurance such as medicare, also require well before you sign up for a health insurance carrier. Get special offers on Mediclaim, Family health insurance, Children health insurance policies etc due to the truth that they are more rate effective. Your health insurance administrator or human resources a high deductible that covers your medical needs in case of an emergency.
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Saturday 26 January 2013
orpitasingh: farhanajahan: Rec Center Climbing Wall Reopens ...
Rec Center climbing wall reopens today, injured climber returns to class
Spencer Bean climbed up another hold on the Campus Recreation & Wellness Center?s 52.5-foot rock wall. He was about 30 to 40 feet high. Then he lost his grip.
The experienced climber said one thought flashed through his brain after he began to fall: ?Oh boy, something is not right.?
?After 30 seconds, I tried to get up and I just couldn?t,? the UI senior said. ?I remember having a paralyzing pain in my back.?
After more than two months recovering from the nearly paralyzing fall on the evening of Nov. 8, Bean will return to classes today. And though the University of Iowa?s popular rock wall will also reopen today ? it has been closed since his unexplained fall ??Bean still has a while to go before he can return to climbing.
Before the accident, Bean, a rock-climbing instructor at the Rec Center, climbed the structure several times a week. He landed on his back, suffering several injuries, including two crushed vertebrae, which nearly paralyzed him.
Associate Director of UI Recreational Services Wayne Fett said that after the climbing wall was immediately closed, two firms were hired to determine the safety and security of the wall and new procedures have been put into place.
The cause of the accident and cost of the two investigations were still unknown as of Monday evening. Rock-climbing training for Rec Center staff resumed Jan. 18.?
Read more here.
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Iowa City City Council to discuss school district policy proposals tonight
The Iowa City School District will vote on highly-contested policies next week.
Read more?here.
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Support rises from both parties to legalize medical marijuana in Iowa
A bill proposed on Jan. 16 by Rep. Bruce Hunter, D-Des Moines, aims to legalize marijuana use for those considered to have chronic illnesses.
Read more?here.
UI Dance Marathon funds programs to support patients and families
This April, the Dance Marathon allocations committee will meet to discuss proposals for funding.
Read more?here.
Iowa City organizations help the community on MLK Day of Service
Martin Luther King Jr. Day has become synonymous with becoming a day to relax and take a day off from work, but local do-gooders proved otherwise Monday.
Read more?here.
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Iowa men?s hoops dialing in defensively ahead of Ohio State showdown
The Iowa Hawkeyes men?s basketball team isn?t just talking about playing good defense anymore.
Read more?here.
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Hawkeye wrestlers prove their sport is still a team effort
The Hawkeyes lost as a team to No. 2 Oklahoma State on Jan. 13
Read more?here.
Family atmosphere helps Hawkeye swimmers excel
Four-time All-American Paul Gordon continues to help younger siblings Haley and Jack as Student Assistant Coach.
Read more?here.
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Editorial: Medical marijuana good for patients
The Daily Iowan Editorial Board supports Hunter's push for medical marijuana in Iowa; the current legal framework around the drug in Iowa is untenable and this law would be the first step toward improvement.
Read more?here.
Source: http://iowacity.patch.com/articles/rec-center-climbing-wall-reopens-injured-climber-returns-to-class-di-reader-january-22
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Source: http://farhanajahan96.blogspot.com/2013/01/rec-center-climbing-wall-reopens.html
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Source: http://orpitasingh.blogspot.com/2013/01/farhanajahan-rec-center-climbing-wall.html
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Damon 'hijacks' Kimmel's ABC show
NEW YORK (AP) ? Matt Damon had his revenge.
The butt of a long-running joke on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," the actor opened Thursday night's show as a kidnapper who tied Kimmel to a chair with duct tape and gagged him with his own tie.
"There's a new host in town and his initials are M.D.," Damon said. "That's right, the doctor is in."
For years, Kimmel has joked at the end of his show that he ran out of time and was unable to bring Damon on as a guest. Kimmel was the silent one Thursday, watching from the back of the stage as Damon did his job.
Damon tormented Kimmel by bringing on a succession of big-name guests. Robin Williams stopped by to finish the monologue. Ben Affleck had a walk-on role. Sheryl Crow was the bandleader and performed her new single. Nicole Kidman, Gary Oldman, Amy Adams, Reese Witherspoon and Demi Moore all crowded the talk show's couch.
"I've been waiting for this moment for a long, long time," Damon said. "This is like when I lost my virginity, except this is going to last way longer than one second."
Damon's guest hosting turn came at a key time for Kimmel. ABC earlier this month moved the show to 11:35 p.m. ET and PT after a decade of airing it a half hour later, putting him in direct competition with Jay Leno and David Letterman.
Thursday's special program aimed for the same water-cooler status as a memorably lewd short film Damon made for the show a few years ago with Kimmel's then-girlfriend, Sarah Silverman. It went viral and remains probably the best-known skit in the show's history.
To twist the knife even further, Damon brought Silverman on as his final guest Thursday night, with Kimmel looking on forlornly as she likened their five-year relationship to an unfortunate trip to a hot dog vendor.
"Is there anything you'd like to say to Jimmy?" Damon asked.
"No, I'm good," Silverman replied.
Then came the sweetest revenge of all, with Damon promising to ungag Kimmel in the show's final minutes.
"Wait," he said. "I'm sorry. We're out of time."
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/damon-hijacks-kimmels-abc-show-073334898.html
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Kutcher takes on tech idol Steve Jobs in 'jOBS'
From left, actor Ashton Kutcher, who portrays Steve Jobs, director Joshua Michael Stern, and actor Josh Gad, who portrays Steve Wozniak, pose together at the premiere of "jOBS" during the 2013 Sundance Film Festival on Friday, Jan. 25, 2013 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Danny Moloshok/Invision/AP)
From left, actor Ashton Kutcher, who portrays Steve Jobs, director Joshua Michael Stern, and actor Josh Gad, who portrays Steve Wozniak, pose together at the premiere of "jOBS" during the 2013 Sundance Film Festival on Friday, Jan. 25, 2013 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Danny Moloshok/Invision/AP)
Actor Ashton Kutcher, who portrays Apple's Steve Jobs in the film "jOBS," poses at its premiere during the 2013 Sundance Film Festival on Friday, Jan. 25, 2013 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Danny Moloshok/Invision/AP)
Actor Ashton Kutcher, who portrays Apple's Steve Jobs in the movie "jOBS," is photographed on an Apple iPhone while being interviewed at the premiere of the film during the 2013 Sundance Film Festival on Friday, Jan. 25, 2013 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Danny Moloshok/Invision/AP)
Actors Ashton Kutcher, right, who portrays Steve Jobs, and Josh Gad, right, who portrays Steve Wozniak, left, greet each other at the premiere of "jOBS" during the 2013 Sundance Film Festival on Friday, Jan. 25, 2013, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Danny Moloshok/Invision/AP)
Actors Ashton Kutcher, right, who portrays Steve Jobs, and Josh Gad, who portrays Steve Wozniak, pose together at the premiere of "jOBS" during the 2013 Sundance Film Festival on Friday, Jan. 25, 2013 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Danny Moloshok/Invision/AP)
PARK CITY, Utah (AP) ? Ashton Kutcher says playing Steve Jobs on screen "was honestly one of the most terrifying things I've ever tried to do in my life."
The 34-year-old actor helped premiere the biopic "jOBS" Friday, which was the closing-night film at the Sundance Film Festival.
Kutcher plays the Apple Inc. founder from the company's humble origins in the 1970s until the launch of the first iPod in 2001. A digital entrepreneur himself, Kutcher said he considers Jobs a personal hero.
"He's a guy who failed and got back on the horse," Kutcher said. "I think we can all sort of relate to that at some point in life."
Kutcher even embodied the Jobs character as he pursued his own high-tech interests off-screen.
"What was nice was when I was preparing for the character, I could still work on product development for technology companies, and I would sort of stay in character, in the mode of the character," he said. "But I didn't feel like I was compromising the work on the film by working on technology stuff because it was pretty much in the same field."
But playing the real-life tech icon who died in 2011 still felt risky, he said, because "he's fresh in our minds."
"It was kind of like throwing myself into this gauntlet of, I know, massive amounts of criticism because somebody's going to go 'well, it wasn't exactly...,'" Kutcher said.
While the filmmakers say they tried to be as historically accurate as possible, there was also a disclaimer at the very end of the credits that said portions of the film might not be completely accurate.
Still, realism was always the focus for Kutcher, who watched "hundreds of hours of footage," listened to Jobs' past speeches and interviewed several of his friends to prepare for the role.
The actor even adopted the entrepreneur's "fruitarian diet," which he said "can lead to some serious issues."
"I ended up in the hospital two days before we started shooting the movie," he said. "I was like doubled over in pain, and my pancreas levels were completely out of whack, which was completely terrifying, considering everything."
Jobs died of complications from pancreatic cancer.
Still, Kutcher was up to the challenge of playing Jobs, in part because of his admiration for the man who created the Macintosh computer and the iPod.
"I admire this man so much and what he's done. I admire the way he built things," Kutcher said. "This guy created a tool that we use every day in our life, and he believed in it when nobody else did."
The film also shows Jobs' less appealing side, withholding stock options from some of the company's original employees and denying child support to the mother of his eldest child.
Kutcher still found the man inspiring. Jobs had a singular focus, Kutcher said, and felt like anyone could change the world.
"I don't know if there's ever been an entrepreneur who's had more compassion and care for his consumer than Steve Jobs," Kutcher said. "He wanted to put something in your hand that you could use and you could use it easily... and he really cared about that."
___
AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen is on Twitter: www.twitter.com/APSandy.
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Friday 25 January 2013
Mistrial in ex-cheerleader's libel lawsuit
COVINGTON, Ky. (AP) ? A federal judge declared a mistrial in a defamation lawsuit against a gossip website filed by a former Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader who had sex with her underage student.
U.S. District Judge William Bertelsman declared the mistrial Friday after jurors couldn't reach a verdict.
Former cheerleader and high school teacher Sarah Jones had sued Scottsdale, Ariz.-based thedirty.com and its operator over two posts that said she had slept with every Bengals player and likely had two sexually transmitted diseases.
She was seeking $11 million,
The posts were unrelated to Jones' relationship with her former 17-year-old student. Jones pleaded guilty in that case in October in a deal that allowed her to avoid jail time. The two are still dating.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mistrial-ex-cheerleaders-libel-lawsuit-192242818--spt.html
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Dot Earth Blog: Eyes Turn to Antarctica as Study Shows Greenland's Ice Has Endured Warmer Climates
An important discussion is developing among climate and polar researchers around the central point of a landmark?Nature paper on Greenland conditions?during Earth?s last (very warm) interval between ice ages. The paper, in which a critically important Greenland ice core is analyzed by 133 authors from a host of research centers, concludes that the vast ice sheet?largely endured over a period of 6,000 years that was warmer than what is forecast for coming decades.
The graph above, with the Eemian at the left and current period at the right, conveys the key points. The contribution of Greenland melting to the 12-24 foot rise in sea levels at that time must have been relatively small, which means the contribution from ice loss in West Antarctica, the other main zone of concern, must have been larger. (The big question for coastal communities remains the rate of coastal retreat, not the total rise over many centuries.)
I touched on the Nature paper yesterday in?a roundup of ice research, but it deserves front-and-center attention, particularly given its relevance to recent narratives about Greenland?s meltdown being the key worry if you live on a coast.?See Chris Mooney?s new Mother Jones profile of Ohio State ice researcher Jason Box for the latest example: ?Why Greenland?s Melting Could Be the Biggest Climate Disaster of All.? The article is part of the coordinated ?Climate Desk? collaborative journalism project that includes a live event in Washington next week asking, ?Can Greenland be Saved??
The new research suggests we need to be more concerned about Antarctica.
I hope they discuss these new findings at the event next week. My answer to their question is below. (Given how the new coring study meshes with analysis that I covered?in 2008?hinting that Greenland?s ice sheet has a reduced, but robust, warm-climate condition, you might be able to guess.
But first here?s more on this ice-core study and the broader context, including some great input from the wise and deeply experienced climate and ice researcher Richard Alley of Penn State.?
To review, the concerns about recent trends on Greenland?s giant ice mass have been warranted, given signs of extensive surface melting and the possibility, explored here, that meltwater gushing to the ice sheet?s base through natural ?drain pipes? called moulins could accelerate the flow of ice to the sea. The stunning documentary ?Chasing Ice? conveys the drama and mystery in all that melting, and the impact of warmer sea water on the areas where Greenland?s glaciers meet the sea.
I saw these dynamics up close in 2004, and it?s a thrilling, chilling experience (video).
But the new work puts all of this in the context of long stretches of time, which is vital if one?s goal is to avoid overreaction and to focus attention where real risks lie. I encourage you to read pieces by?Michael Lemonick at Climate Central and?Quirin Schiermeier in Nature?s news section?for more on the basics of the study.
The lead researcher, Dorthe Dahl-Jensen of the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen, offers useful insights in?a news release from the university:
The new results?show that the climate in Greenland was around 8 degrees C. [14.4 degrees F.] warmer than today during the last interglacial period, the Eemian period, 130,000 to 115,000 thousand years ago.
?Even though the warm Eemian period was a period when the oceans were four to eight meters higher than today, the ice sheet in northwest Greenland was only a few hundred meters lower than the current level, which indicates that the contribution from the Greenland ice sheet was less than half the total sea-level rise during that period,? says Dorthe Dahl-Jensen, Professor at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen?.
I turned to Richard Alley, who?s become a vital touchstone for me on such research, for some insights. Here?s his comment, followed by my closing thoughts:
I have three immediate responses: Satisfaction in the great success of the collaboration, concern that this slightly increases worries about future sea-level rise from human-caused warming, but technical questions that may leave us more-or-less where we were before on the biggest picture.
Taken in turn:
Having watched colleagues go to the immense effort of learning what information is desired by policymakers and other citizens, assemble the logistical and scientific abilities to supply that information, and actually do it over a lot of years, and knowing just how many of their kids? soccer games and recitals some of the scientist-parents missed, I have to smile when the team succeeds so well.
As to the big picture, there is strong evidence from the history of sea level on coasts from the Eemian that both Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets shrank notably, contributing to a globally averaged sea-level rise of very roughly 20 feet. This occurred primarily in response to a rearrangement of where sunshine reached the planet and when during the year, with more summer sunshine in the north but very little total change. And, some uncertainty has remained on the exact balance between Greenland and Antarctic contributions. The new paper suggests that the contribution from Greenland was on the low end of the prior estimates, but has little effect on the estimated total sea-level change, which points to a larger Antarctic source than the previous best estimate.
In my opinion (and I believe the opinions of many colleagues), we have greater understanding of Greenland?s ice than Antarctica?s, and we have greater confidence that Greenland will be ?well-behaved? ? we will more easily project changes in Greenland?s ice, with greater confidence that changes begun now will take centuries or longer to be mostly completed.
By shifting more of the sea-level rise into the less-understood ice, and thus into the ice with greater chance of doing something rapidly, I believe the new paper at least slightly increases the concerns for coastal planners, even if the chance of a rapid change from Antarctic ice remains small.
As to the technical parts, as described in many sources, we have lots of paleothermometers for the central Greenland ice cores over the last 100,000 years, providing multiple validation and high confidence that temperatures have been estimated accurately. The very changes in the ice sheet that are of greatest interest here also make the effort quite difficult. The melting of the Eemian interferes with gas-based paleothermometry, and with the total-gas technique that provides constraints on changes in surface elevation.
A U.S. government CCSP report on Arctic paleoclimates a few years ago (to which I contributed) [link] estimated changes in temperature and ice volume for this interval. The new estimates overlap with the older ones. Were I working on that report now, I would recommend expanding the uncertainties a little to include the new results. However, considering that ice shrinkage on Greenland has a feedback effect (exposing rocks allows more sun to be absorbed, causing more warming), considering the evidence of Eemian warmth from marine records around Greenland, considering climate model runs for that time, considering other studies of Greenland, and recalling the notable uncertainties associated with untangling the changes in total gas and in the ice sheet itself, I suspect that the estimates in that CCSP report will stand up pretty well, with the new work primarily confirming the prior understanding of climate changes and ice-sheet and sea-level response in the Eemian.
If anyone is thinking that this paper means we can crank up the temperature without worrying about sea level, they should seriously re-think. Overall, a great and successful scientific effort leaves us with the knowledge that warming does tend to melt ice, and that contributes to sea-level rise.
In a followup note to him, I said:
Beautifully articulated. but I do think [the new work] closes the case that Greenland, despite all of its drama (moulins, for example) ? drama that focused my attention for a few years too ? is a sideshow in the sea level question.
That?s not how it?s been cast. There?s been talk of regional geo-engineering to ?save? the ice sheet. The dramatic surface melting, while important to track and understand (as is being done by Jason Box and others) has little policy significance.
Alley replied:
I do think it has been clear for a while that interactions with the ocean provide the greatest potential for surprises and rapid changes, and that Greenland?s ice sheet would mostly pull out of the ocean before it lost most of its mass. The discussion in the attached, as well as in Ian Joughin?s and my [West Antarctic Ice Sheet] review in 2011, were pointing in that direction. The lack of huge danger from the lake drainages probably was argued (possibly for the first time) by Byron Parizek and I in Quaternary Science Reviews in 2004. There are dynamics issues, but the biggest ones go away once shrinkage pulls the ice out of the ocean. Then, a serious focused research effort should be able to produce (and indeed, is producing) quantified projections with useful uncertainties that can be narrowed by continuing effort on the established research path. We are still thinking about one or two interesting and possibly surprising things, but Greenland looks like it is mostly the known-unknown ice sheet.
Considering what I?ve learned in the nine years since I got to visit the frigid summit and eroding edges of Greenland?s amazing ice sheet, in a final note to Alley here?s how I described my reply to the Climate Desk?s ?Can We Save Greenland?? question:
My answer would be that Greenland doesn?t need ?saving,? Antarctica needs much more observation and analysis, and ? separately ? the long effort to slow greenhouse gas emissions needs to continue.
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Do Yourself A Favor By Following These Great Self Improvement Tips!
TIP! Your personal development goals should be specific enough to lead the way to success. Having goals will allow you to better problem solve on how to get there.
Working on your self improvement presents challenges, but they are not insurmountable. There are also many facets to this. You can improve physically by eating a healthier diet and exercising. There are certainly many different ways to develop yourself personally. Use the advice in this article to help you make any type of personal change. Not only will this make you feel more positive about yourself, but others in your life will see how you?ve changed as well.
TIP! You can?t change unless you make a directed, continuous effort to do so. You have to determine exactly what you want and consciously decide to work toward it.
If you find yourself consistently falling short of self-imposed goals and guidelines, step back and assess the possible problems. Take a little time to research what others have done when their goals were similar. You might be able to mimic some of their ideas or learn from their successes. You might need to be more realistic or gain the proper information you need to succeed.
TIP! Keep in mind the power of complimenting other people. When you make an effort to treat others kindly, it becomes easier to think of yourself in kinder terms.
Discover what is standing between you and your goals. Sometimes, this can be a difficult job for you to see on your own. Once you can pinpoint your own weaknesses, it is easier to accept them, act on them, and change them. Removing obstacles in your life can help you get a clearer picture of what?s to come.
TIP! By becoming more healthy inside and out, you will be setting yourself up for success. Good health makes anyone feel happier.
For many people, faith and love are the core components of personal development. Faith seldom exists without the accompanying emotion of love. Therefore, you should never just be idle on your faith. Serve others when they need help, and commit yourself to doing things that demonstrate your love.
TIP! To grow over the years, you have to have a great attitude. When you carry a poor attitude, it will directly affect your mood and develop a negative aura.
Be prepared to list your ideas wherever you are. Pack some paper with you when you go out. Scribble detailed notes when something comes to you, and then carry them out whenever your creativity is piqued.
TIP! You can try writing yourself a motivational speech. Get a postcard and fill it with positives about yourself, your personality and your accomplishments.
Always strive to live a life of wisdom and virtue. Learn from your experiences because it can help you realize the difference between circumstances you can change, and those you cannot. Modesty will help you work within your limits. Learning from the past and exercising wisdom, makes for a brighter future.
TIP! Other than the Ivy League, most employers don?t really care where you graduated from, so long as you got the degree and have the necessary skills. The exceptions to this include high-finance type jobs, in which graduation from an Ivy League school adds cachet to your credentials.
In order to grow as a person, you need to give your life direction. Long-term goals are very helpful, and they can have a huge impact on how you view the world.
TIP! Consider your personal character attributes when determining what you want to change. Your aesthetics can be changed quicker than your personality can! Top of the line clothing or model-looks does not always make you a better person.
Do you consume more alcohol than you should? Are there other such vices harming your body such as smoking or recreational drug use? Our bodies are important to maintain, and should be treated with care. If you are serious about improving your life, it is important to eliminate the habits which cause your body harm. Carefully examine your attitudes and actions and identify areas for improvement.
TIP! Focus on making your time spent working as productive as possible. One simple solution is to go on more breaks while you work.
The aim of this article was to help you learn some ways to better yourself. You can use them and many others to get started today. No matter your age, self improvement should be something we all strive towards.
http://coreyotten.com/empowerblog
95098" title="Do Yourself A Favor By Following These Great Self Improvement Tips!" url="http://coreyotten.com/do-yourself-a-favor-by-following-these-great-self-improvement-tips.html">Source: http://coreyotten.com/do-yourself-a-favor-by-following-these-great-self-improvement-tips.html
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Thursday 24 January 2013
Te'o tells Couric he lied? |? Supplies call logs
ReutersRavens coach John Harbaugh says the game plan for stopping 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick comes down to this: Don?t let him get to the outside, and when you have a shot at him, don?t miss the tackle.
?We?re going to have to tackle him. We?re going to have to keep him inside of our defense,? Harbaugh said at his press conference today. ?We?re not going to be able to run past him. He?s fully capable of putting 200 yards on you, just as capable as Frank Gore is or any of their running backs. He?s not just an integral part of their passing game, he?s a huge part of their run game. We?ll have a plan for it. Assignment football is going to be really important for us. Change-ups are going to be important for us. We just have to play well against him.?
Harbaugh was asked about the Ravens? regular-season loss to the Redskins, in which Robert Griffin III led two first-quarter touchdown drives but was largely kept in check after that before ultimately getting knocked out of the game with a knee injury late in the fourth quarter. Harbaugh said he liked the way his defense was able to adjust against the Redskins, but he cautioned that the 49ers? offense and the Redskins? offense are not the same thing.
?We did a pretty good job in that game once we got our feet on the ground against RG3,? Harbaugh said. ?They took the first two drives down there but once we had a feel for the offense I thought we did OK. It?s a similar offense, style-wise, but it?s not the same offense by any stretch so it?s hard to compare those two games. Just the way they run the offense, the foundation of the offense is different, it?s not the same base offense, and even the blocking schemes and the read-option stuff is a bit different. And even the style of play of the two quarterbacks, they?re both great in their own right, but they bring different things to the table.?
One area where preparing for Griffin is similar to preparing for Kaepernick is that Dennis Dixon is the scout-team quarterback for both. The Ravens? coaches praised Dixon before the Redskins game for the way he used his experience as a read-option quarterback at Oregon to help Baltimore?s defense prepare for Griffin, and Harbaugh said today that Dixon is now playing the Kaepernick role in practice.
?Dennis will be a big part of that for us. He understands the scheme and the reads and things like that, so he?s very valuable for us,? Harbaugh said.
If Dixon?s help keeps Kaepernick closer to the 21 rushing yards he had against the Falcons than the 181 he had against the Packers, that would make Dixon very valuable indeed.
Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/01/23/teo-tells-couric-he-lied/related/
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Prince Harry's war games trigger backlash
Prince Harry is the subject of new security concerns as a possible high-value target for the Taliban after he suggested that he has killed insurgents in Afghanistan.
"Take a life to save a life. That's what we revolve around, I suppose," Harry said to reporters recently. "If there are people trying to do bad stuff to our guys, then we'll take them out of the game, I suppose."
Much of the controversy comes from the 28-year-old prince's comments comparing his job of flying Apache attack helicopters to his love of video games.
"I am one of these people who like playing Play Station and Xbox, so with my thumbs I would like to think that I am quite useful," he said.
RELATED: Top 12 Prince Harry Revelations
In response, the Afghan government Monday said that likening his weapons systems to computer games gives the Taliban a propaganda victory.
The Taliban called Harry a coward and accused him of developing a mental problem during his four-month tour of duty.
"Now this Prince comes and compares this war with his games, PlayStation or whatever he calls it," the Taliban said in a statement. "He is supposed to be made of better things."
The British press is also panning the prince, with one newspaper calling him a royal misfit, and another telling Harry to muzzle himself, guard his tongue and learn how to speak more like royalty.
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First Russians evacuated from Syria land in Moscow, the possible start of a rescue mission
MOSCOW - The first Russian citizens evacuated from Syria arrived in Moscow overnight.
The evacuation of 77 Russians was the first organized by Russia since the start of the Syrian conflict nearly two years ago, and it may be the beginning of what could become a difficult and dangerous operation to rescue tens of thousands of Russians living in Syria as rebels gain momentum in their fight to oust President Bashar Assad's regime.
The Russians, mainly women married to Syrians and their children, were taken by bus to Beirut, Lebanon, and then flown to Moscow. The first of two planes landed shortly after 5 a.m. (0100 GMT) on Wednesday.
Rushana Vidova, who left the country with her Syrian husband Ali, said she is grateful to "Russia and all who helped us."
Russia's Emergencies Ministry, which sent the planes, said the passengers were being given medical examinations before leaving the airport. It was unclear if any of them had been hurt in the fighting, but an AP correspondent at the scene did not see anyone visibly wounded.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the overnight evacuation of Russian citizens from Syria "speaks to the continued deterioration of the security situation, and the violence that Assad is leading against his own people."
____
Associated Press writer Bradley Klapper contributed to this report from Washington.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/first-russians-evacuated-syria-land-moscow-possible-start-024312842.html
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Wednesday 23 January 2013
Governor Christie offers some words on online gaming in NJ ...
Governor Christie?s ?Ask the Governor? show on 101.5 FM radio Tuesday night featured a call from ?Joseph in Atlantic City? at the 44-minute mark.
?Joseph? wanted to know if Christie was prepared to sign the online gambling bill that passed the legislature in late December and now is on a pile on the Governor?s desk with about 10 days left for him to sign or veto it.
Here?s my transcript of the response, as well as Christie?s comments on the state Department of Justice?s intervention Tuesday in the NFL et al?s sports betting lawsuit:
?Well, [the bill] is sitting on my desk. I?ve got to make a decision very soon.
I haven?t made a final decision yet, but here are the things ? two things that I?m cocnerned about.
The first is that I don?t know that it really will help Atlantic City. And I?m concerned that it may drive taffic away from Atlantic City ? that if people can gamble in their own homes on their laptops, why are they going to go to Atlantic City? And I think its contrary to what we?re trying to accomplish there.
Secondly, I?m also really concerned about setting up a whole new gneeraiton of addicted gamblers. You know, if you can sit on the edge on your bed on your laptop and gamble away the paycheck ? that?s a lot different than making the decision to go down to Atlantic City to gamble in a casino. So I?ve got those two concerns.
I haven?t made a final deciions yet, but I have those two concerns, and you should know that that?s the way I feel. And [there is] in part the reasons that I vetoed the bill before, in addition to some ways that it was constructed that made no sense, either. So I?m taking a very close look at it, I was reading it over the weekend, and reading the briefing from my staff in depth, and I?m going to have to make a decision in the next couple of days.?
MY TAKE: In his 2011 veto, Christie had no interest in the part about subsidies for horse racing purses and he had qualms about the possibility of ?internet cafes? opening up all over the state. The new legislation removed the horse racing provision and addressed the latter, so the big issue ? the one that Christie said ?made no sense? ? may be what Christie previously called a ?legal fiction? of the Atlantic City constitutionally-approved monopoly on gambling in the state being preserved simply because the servers that records the gambling from all over the state would be based in Atlantic City.
So Christie ? a former U.S. Attorney ? may still be digesting that one, even with a Seton Hall constitutional law professor having given his stamp of approval to a state Assembly panel last year.
Christie does not seem to have strong pro- or anti-gambling sentiments. So he has a challenge here: personally, he doesn?t like this bill and doesn?t seem to think it will help at all.
But it has the backing of both the casinos themselves and the South Jersey lawmakers. Christie has repeatedly stressed a rebound for Atlantic City as being a core part of his first term in office.
Will Christie ultimately decide he can best help the city by vetoing to his own reservations ? or by deferring to those who are most affected, and who have a different opinion?
I suspect, especially with these comments, that even Christie doesn?t have that answer just yet.
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How Obama Could Reduce the Risk of Nuclear War Right Now
Peacekeeper missile, left, and two versions of the Minuteman missile at Warren Air Force base. Photo by Michael Smith/Getty Images.
Mr. Obama, Mr. Putin, I have a treaty I'd like you to sign. Or barring that, an executive order; that?s easier. A nuclear arms agreement. But a different kind of nuclear arms agreement from the dead end we've reached now. One that could restart the process that has stalled since the 2011 signing of the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. The process that brought you, President Obama, a Nobel Prize after you called for "a world without nuclear weapons." One that could bring you, President Putin, your own Nobel.
This eminently doable agreement would shift the focus from reducing the number of nuclear warheads?the Cold War nuclear treaty paradigm?to reducing the kind of nukes that are operational and still pose a threat of accidental nuclear war. It would focus on "delivery vehicles," one kind of vehicle in particular.
Sure, I'd like to reduce the number as well. I'd like to abolish all nuclear weapons if that pipe dream were possible. (I explore the problems and obstacles this would pose in a recent Scientific American article.) And I'd even like us to continue down the road of gradual reductions as far as we can go. But it's clear from the agonizing START ratification negotiations in the U.S. Senate and the Russian Duma that any new treaty for further reductions in the number of weapons is going to be a nonstarter, so to speak. There is no sign the administration is giving the matter any priority anymore. It was too exhausting rolling the rock of treaty up the Hill. It will take only 34 Republican senators to kill any reduction treaty. And kill it they will.
But my proposal is something I believe could be accomplished without the formal treaty process, by executive order in the United States and executive decree in Russia. The president, as commander in chief, has the ability to make discretionary decisions, such as what kind of delivery vehicles should be used, without consulting the Senate. This is something he could do unilaterally if Putin doesn't want to go along, and despite the fear that surrounds any unilateral nuclear act, it would actually make us?and them and the whole world?safer.
For those who haven't followed the relationship between delivery vehicle types and nuclear weapons treaty negotiations, this is the state of play. The 2011 START was saddled with many caveats and add-ons by the Senate and the Russian Duma that make withdrawal from the treaty by either side for any number of reasons (mostly involving the Pentagon's love and the Russians' hatred for anti-ballistic missile defense "shields") an easy matter. Nonetheless, it promises that both the U.S. and Russian military will reduce the number of operational nuclear warheads from approximately 2,300 on each side (most likely more) to 1,550 by February 2018. And the number of delivery vehicles?missile-silos, bombers, submarine missile tubes?to about 800.
The treaty does not, however, specify the number of delivery vehicles of each type the two parties can deploy. How many must be on subs, how many in silos, how many in bombers. This makes the type of delivery vehicles a decision for the president or Pentagon, not a treaty matter. This is where my RE-START treaty (or executive order) comes in. I propose that the next smart, practicable step in the long-delayed, post-Cold War denuclearization of the super powers should be the abolition of all our silo-based missiles?the most dangerous, vulnerable, hackable, accident-prone of delivery vehicles. There are some 450 of them in our silos now, ready to fly.
I've been down in one of those silos. I later learned how one could evade the then-current, supposedly failsafe "simultaneous two-man, two-key launch requirement" in about 15 minutes from some missile crewmen who demonstrated how it could be done with a spoon and a string. That flaw has supposedly been fixed, but who knows what others lurk. (I describe this in my recent book How the End Begins: The Road to a Nuclear World War III). Cold War congressional investigations revealed far deeper, far more dangerous flaws in the "command and control" system (as it was then known), which contemporary students of the matter have argued persuasively have not been fixed. (Except that "command and control" has been given a sexy new Pentagon jargon tag: "C3I," for?"command, control, communication and intelligence." Don't you feel safer now?)
If some demonic hacker or simple signal glitch causes an inadvertent launch toward the Russian Federation, it might not help for us to IM the Kremlin saying, ?Sorry, it?s all a mistake, your city being vaporized and all. We don?t want a war.? Analysts I?ve talked to (including a designer of the Russian system) agree that the Russian ICBM launch warning system known as ?perimeter? is also on hair-trigger alert. Even if the Kremlin wanted to, it might not be able to prevent a major missile response to our accident. In other words, worst-case scenario, we?re all one mistake away from a global nuclear war.
Before disclosing the rationale for my proposed treaty, I'd like to ask a question that has always puzzled me. The president will need the support of activists across the board for any denuclearization he embarks upon. Why aren't opponents of nuclear energy reactors in the forefront of anti-nuclear weapons activism?
Yes, there is some overlap among activists, but from my perspective as a student of the culture of nuclear weapons foes, I haven't see anti-nuclear-energy activists put a lot of energy into abolishing planet-destroying nuclear weapons. In fact, hardly anyone except concerned scientists and former nuclear missile crewmen do. (See my Slate story about one of the first crewmen protesters.)
Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=e5bda2bf0b248e983f6ab686c7b7826d
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Voice of Charlie Brown arrested for alleged threats, stalking
SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - The former child actor who was the voice of Charlie Brown in the 1960s "Peanuts" animated television specials will be arraigned on Wednesday, after being arrested at a border crossing near San Diego on a warrant accusing him of making criminal threats and stalking, authorities said.
Peter Robbins, 56, was taken into custody on Sunday evening as he was returning to California from Mexico at the San Ysidro crossing between San Diego and Tijuana, said Ralph DeSio, spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
He was jailed in lieu of $550,000 bail on suspicion of four counts of making criminal threats and one count of stalking, according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. Robbins, who lives in Oceanside, California, was scheduled for arraignment Wednesday afternoon.
Details of the allegations, including who Robbins is accused of threatening, were not immediately available.
The case stems from an arrest of Robbins earlier this month by the San Diego Police Department, said department spokesman Detective Gary Hassen said.
Following his earlier arrest, Robbins was released on $50,000 bond, Hassen said, adding that he did not know why there was an outstanding warrant in the case.
Robbins was only 9 years old in 1965 when he became the voice of the world-weary yet optimistic title character of "A Charlie Brown Christmas," the first of many animated TV specials based on the popular "Peanuts" comic strip of Charles Schulz.
With its jazz-inflected music score and a storyline involving Charlie Brown's search for the true meaning of Christmas in a season corrupted by commercialism, it became a holiday TV classic.
The actor went on to voice Charlie Brown in "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," "You're In Love, Charlie Brown" and "A Boy Named Charlie Brown," all which aired in the 1960s. He was replaced in later versions of the animated specials.
A spokesman for the San Diego District Attorney's Office said formal charges against Robbins would be presented at his court appearance and declined to give further details on the case.
(Reporting by Marty Graham; Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Steve Gorman and Gunna Dickson)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/voice-charlie-brown-arrested-alleged-threats-stalking-183247379.html
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