noble judiciary: February 2013

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Tycoon wants to send married couple on Mars flyby

A drawing provided by Inspiration Mars shows an artist?s conception of a spacecraft envisioned by the private group, which wants to send a married couple on a mission to fly by the red planet and zip back home, beginning in 2018. The nonprofit ?Inspiration Mars? will get initial money from multimillionaire Dennis Tito, the first space tourist. Outsiders put the price tag at more than $1 billion. The mission, announced Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013, would last more than 16 months. (AP Photo/Inspiration Mars)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? It's a road trip that could test the best of marriages: Mars.

A tycoon announced plans Wednesday to send a middle-aged couple on a privately built spaceship to slingshot around the red planet and come back home, hopefully with their bodies and marriage in one piece after 501 days of no-escape togetherness in a cramped capsule half the size of an RV.

Under the audacious but bare-bones plan, the spacecraft would blast off less than five years from now and pass within 100 miles of the Martian surface. The cost was not disclosed, but outsiders put it at more than $1 billion.

The team of space veterans behind the project hasn't quite figured out the technical details of the rocket they will use or the capsule the husband-and-wife astronauts will live in during the 16-month voyage. But they know it will be an adventure not for the weak of body or heart.

"This is not going to be an easy mission," chief technical officer and potential crew member Taber MacCallum said. "We called it the Lewis and Clark trip to Mars."

The trying circumstances include: no showers, limits on toilet paper and clothing, drinking water made from the crew members' recycled urine and sweat, and almost no privacy. But the flight also comes with never-before-seen views of Mars. And there's ample time for zero-gravity sex in space, something NASA doesn't like to talk about.

As for why a man and a woman will be selected, "this is very symbolic and we really need it to represent humanity," MacCallum said.

He said if it is a man and a woman on such a long, close-quarters voyage, it makes sense for them to be married so that they can give each other the emotional support they will probably need when they look out the window and see Earth get smaller and more distant: "If that's not scary, I don't know what is."

The private, nonprofit project, called Inspiration Mars, will get initial money from NASA engineer-turned-multimillionaire investment consultant Dennis Tito, the first space tourist. The organizers hope to raise the rest through donations, advertising and media partnerships.

NASA, which has talked about sending astronauts to orbit Mars by the mid-2030s, will not be involved in this project. Instead, its backers intend to use a ship built by other aerospace companies, employing an austere design that could take people to Mars for a fraction of what it would cost the space agency to do with robots, officials said.

Even though some of the hardware hasn't even been built, Tito said he is confident everything will come together by 2018 with no test flights.

It will be a stripped-down mission when it comes to automation and complexity, meaning the couple will have to fix things on the fly like TV's MacGyver and do more piloting than on NASA vehicles, said chief medical officer Jonathan Clark.

The flight is timed to take advantage of the once-in-a-generation close approach of the two planets' orbits. The timeline calls for launch on Jan. 5, 2018, the Mars flyby on Aug. 20, 2018, and a return to Earth on May 21, 2019.

It involves huge risk, more than a government agency like NASA would normally permit, officials concede. For example, the spaceship will fly during a period when galactic cosmic rays will be high because of the sunspot cycle. That will increase the crew's cancer risk by about 3 percent, which is more than on any NASA mission, Clark said.

The ship would also re-enter Earth's atmosphere at twice the speed of ordinary space capsules, something Tito said still needs to be worked out.

"Life is risky," said Clark, a former NASA flight surgeon whose astronaut wife died in the 2003 space shuttle Columbia accident. "Anything that's worth it is worth putting it all at stake for."

What may be most at stake is the crew members' marriage. The couple will be selected within a year.

MacCallum and his wife, Jane Poynter, hope to be picked. They were a couple when they participated in Biosphere 2, a sort of giant terrarium that was supposed to replicate a mission on another planet. Poynter said it was such a fraught experience psychologically that some participants wouldn't talk to each other for most of the two years.

But MacCallum said it brought him and Poynter closer together. He said the right couple going to Mars, if screened and counseled ahead of time, would come back with a stronger marriage.

Poynter said the husband and wife need to be even-tempered. Clark said they should be post-childbearing age because of exposure to radiation. Poynter is 50, MacCallum 48.

For the 30 years NASA has been flying men and women, it has avoided the question of sex in space. MacCallum said it will happen: "It's a man and wife. Private time. Let your imagination run wild."

In a statement, NASA spokesman David Steitz said the venture validates President Barack Obama's decision to rely more on private sector ingenuity to explore space, and is "a testament to the audacity of America's commercial aerospace industry and the adventurous spirit of America's citizen-explorers."

He said "NASA will continue discussions with Inspiration Mars to see how the agency might collaborate on mutually beneficial activities."

Stanford University professor Scott Hubbard, NASA's former Mars mission chief, said the team's technical paper outlining the flight is "long on inspiration, short on technical details. What is there is correct."

Other outside experts praised the expertise of the team but worried about the lack of testing.

Former astronaut and current MIT aerospace engineering professor Jeff Hoffman said: "Since they don't plan to land on Mars, it's really a question of keeping people alive for 501 days in space, which is not an impossible task."

___

Online:

Inspiration Mars: http://www.inspirationmars.com

___

Seth Borenstein can be followed at http://twitter.com/borenbears

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-02-27-Humans%20to%20Mars/id-5448c1229eac4c53bfb1915ea7338d06

daylight savings sandy Time Change 2012 Marcus Lattimore news 12 world series giants

New ANT+ wireless protocol promises longer battery life for fitness gear

The ANT wireless protocol has long been a darling of the fitness industry and is incorporated into a lot of exercise equipment, from cycling computers to GPS watches. Now Dynastream Innovations, the company behind ANT, has launched a next generation protocol that boasts enhanced encryption, lower cost, faster connections between sensors (around 60 Kbps) and less power consumption when it comes to the ANT+ standard. It's already been released on a nRF51422 SoC by Nordic Semiconductor, along with the ANTUSB-m USB stick (shown after the break), which provides quick connectivity to PCs, Macs and Android devices. Consumers will have to wait awhile until the new protocol is widely adopted, but ANT's popularity could mean that won't be too long from now.

Filed under: Wearables, Wireless

Comments

Source: ANT

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/bA8OKbxidiU/

jeff saturday jason smith jon corzine austin rivers austin rivers sweet home alabama etch a sketch

Jennifer Lawrence: No Makeup! Brown Hair! [Photos]

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/02/jennifer-lawrence-no-makeup-brown-hair-photos/

Cotto vs Trout Robin Givens Gus Malzahn hyperemesis gravidarum miranda kerr lindsay lohan BCS Bowls

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Shocking Secrets Revealed About Home Improvement

The amount of home improvement resources available can be a bit overwhelming. There are several steps you can take to reduce stress and have a successful project.

TIP! Prior to signing on the dotted line, be sure to carefully peruse any contract drawn up with a contractor for your home improvements. Although the contract might be really long and really complicated, taking your time to read it now definitely beats the alternative.

Heated floors are an accessible luxury. Before beginning a floor replacement project, consult a knowledgeable sales person. It?s an efficient and enjoyable way to heat a room. It?s especially nice for the cold bathroom floors in the morning. This can also improve your home?s value significantly.

TIP! A good thing to consider is to ask a professional?s opinion before you start out on your venture. A professional may have simple advice for you that saves both time and money.

Determine the method you need to use for eliminating debris. When you demo, you?ll have left over debris which will have to be removed. Be sure that there?s a dumpster rented or you have a big truck that?s able to hold debris as you work on a home improvement project.

TIP! Print designs from the internet or make your own stencil to paint your walls with. Make a couple of copies of your chosen pattern and laminate them before cutting out the stencil.

If you live in the suburbs near woods, think about putting up a fence in your yard. This will keep curious animals like skunks, coyotes, and rabbits at bay ? especially if you plan to plant a garden.

TIP! Motion detecting lights add exterior visibility without inflating your electric bill. Motion detector lights add security to your property.

Light up your closet with LED lights that run on batteries. These lights can be found at dollar stores. Some types of LED lights require one or two screws to install. While others just stick onto the surface. These lights will turn on when the door is opened and then shut off after you close it.

TIP! If you are at a loss for home improvement ideas, think about consulting with an interior design specialist. Professionals can help you to create stylish looks and designs.

Before selecting a contractor, interview several companies and learn everything you can about them. Have these contractors done renovations in the past on homes similar to the one you own? Can they show you a project they have completed for a similar price? They should provide you with a portfolio and references to review.

TIP! After installing new carpeting or other flooring, keep it looking great for years to come by instituting a no-shoes rule. Strategically place storage and alternatives, such as slippers, at each entrance of your home ? encouraging guests and family members to remove their shoes upon entering.

Home improvement work can be very enjoyable. You have to gain the knowledge necessary to do a good job. This will have you making less errors than you originally planned for.

Source: http://flatironscarpet.com/shocking-secrets-revealed-about-home-improvement/

Warm Bodies Colin Kaepernick cbs sports 30 rock Chris Culliver Atlanta school shooting Superbowl Kickoff Time 2013

Obama rejects plan for more say in spending cuts

Standing in front of a ships propeller, President Barack Obama gestures as he speaks about automatic defense budget cuts, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, at Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

President Barack Obama speaks at Newport News Shipbuilding Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013, as part of his public campaign to sway Congress to block automatic spending cuts that are scheduled to begin on March 1, in defense and domestic programs. (AP Photo/The Virginian-Pilot, Steve Earley) MAGS OUT

President Barack Obama speaks Tuesday, February 26, 2013 at Newport News Shipbuilding as part of his public campaign to sway Congress to block automatic spending cuts in defense and domestic programs that are scheduled to begin on March 1. (AP Photo/The Virginian-Pilot, Steve Earley) MAGS OUT

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama brushed off a Republican plan Tuesday to give him flexibility to allocate $85 billion in looming spending cuts, wanting no part of a deal that would force him to choose between the bad and the terrible.

Three days out and no closer to any agreement, both parties sought to saddle the other with the blame for the painful ramification of the across-the-board cuts set to kick in Friday. Obama accused Republicans of steadfastly refusing to compromise, while the top Senate Republican, Mitch McConnell, chided Obama's effort to "fan the flames of catastrophe."

McConnell and other top Republicans were lining up behind a plan that wouldn't replace the cuts but would give Obama's agency heads, such as incoming Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, greater discretion in distributing the cuts. The idea is that money could be transferred from lower-priority accounts to others that fund air traffic control or meat inspection.

But Obama, appearing at a Virginia shipbuilding site that he said would sit idle should the cuts go through, rejected the idea, saying there's no smart way to cut such a large chunk from the budget over just seven months ? the amount of time left in the fiscal year.

"You don't want to have to choose between, 'let's see, do I close funding for the disabled kid, or the poor kid? Do I close this Navy shipyard or some other one?'" Obama said. "You can't gloss over the pain and the impact it's going to have on the economy."

Giving the Obama administration more authority could take pressure off of Congress to address the sequester. But the White House is also keenly aware that it would give Republicans an opening to blame Obama, instead of themselves, for every unpopular cut he makes.

Not all Republicans were on board, either.

"We'll say, 'Mr. President, it is now up to you to find this $85 billion in savings,' and we'll say it's to make it easier for you, but every decision he'll make, we'll criticize," acknowledged Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina in a CNN interview Monday.

The White House has warned the $85 billion in cuts could affect everything from commercial flights to classrooms to meat inspections. The cuts would slash domestic and defense spending, leading to forced unpaid days off for hundreds of thousands of workers.

The impact won't be immediate. Federal workers would be notified next week that they will have to take up to a day off every week without pay, but the furloughs won't start for a month due to notification requirements. That will give negotiators some breathing room to work on a deal.

Although Obama was to discuss the cuts among other topics Tuesday in a White House meeting with Graham and GOP Sen. John McCain, there were no indications that negotiations between Obama and congressional leaders were under way. Dampening hopes for a compromise was a key disagreement about whether new tax revenue, by way of closing loopholes and deductions, should be included in any deal, as Obama has insisted.

In the Republican-controlled House, Speaker John Boehner of Ohio said he'd already done his part, complaining that the House twice passed bills to replace the cuts with more targeted reductions.

"We should not have to move a third bill before the Senate gets off their ass and begins to do something," Boehner told reporters.

Senate Democrats have prepared a measure that would forestall the automatic cuts through the end of the year, replacing them with longer-term cuts to the Pentagon and cash payments to farmers, and by installing a minimum 30 percent tax rate on income exceeding $1 million. But that plan is virtually certain to be toppled by a GOP-led filibuster vote later this week.

Recharging his effort to lay out the stark consequences for letting the cuts take effect, Obama traveled Tuesday to eastern Virginia, where he warned that workers at the state's largest industrial employer, Newport News Shipbuilding, would sit idle. He stood in front of a massive submarine propeller, with workmen and the few female employees watching up from the cavernous assembly floor and said the cuts would mean construction and repair of Navy ships would be delayed or canceled altogether.

"These cuts are wrong. They're not smart, they're not fair. They're a self-inflicted wound that doesn't have to happen," Obama said.

The highly staged visit earned him a harsh rebuke from Republicans, including Boehner, who claimed Obama was using U.S. troops as props in his campaign to scare Americans into raising taxes.

But Obama, grasping eagerly for the chance to portray his positions as having broad appeal, singled out for praise the few Republicans who say they're open to new revenues as part of a deal. At the top of his list was Virginia Rep. Scott Rigell, who traveled with the president on Air Force One to call attention to the need to find a way out of the cuts.

"I boarded the plane knowing that some would potentially misinterpret this," said Rigell, who both criticized Obama for not putting forward a detailed plan and criticized Republicans who say there's no room to raise revenue or that the sequester should go into effect. "Even if you hold the view that defense spending should come down, this is not the right way to do it."

Also on Tuesday came word of the first tangible impact of the looming budget cuts on the nation's security at home. To save costs, the Department of Homeland Security has started releasing illegal immigrants being held in immigration jails across the country, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said.

___

Associated Press writers Andrew Taylor in Washington and Nedra Pickler in Newport News, Va., contributed to this report.

___

Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-02-26-Budget%20Battle/id-8a04322b441c4f06acf09735236928b9

powerball winner powerball winner Zig Ziglar lunar eclipse alabama football florida lotto sean taylor

Long-term use of medication does not improve symptoms for heart failure patients

Feb. 26, 2013 ? Among patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, long-term treatment with the medication spironolactone improved left ventricular diastolic function but did not affect maximal exercise capacity, patient symptoms, or quality of life, according to a study appearing in the February 27 issue of JAMA.

"Heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction [EF; the percentage of blood that is pumped out of a filled ventricle as a result of a heartbeat is 50 percent or greater] accounts for more than 50 percent of the total HF population," according to background information in the article. There is not an established therapy for this condition, and aldosterone (a hormone) stimulation may contribute to its progression.

Frank Edelmann, M.D., of the University of Gottingen, Germany, and colleagues conducted a study to examine the long-term effects of spironolactone, an aldosterone receptor blocker, on diastolic function and exercise capacity in patients with HF with preserved EF. The Aldo-DHF trial, a randomized, placebo-controlled trial, was conducted between March 2007 and April 2012 at 10 sites in Germany and Austria. The study included 422 patients (average age, 67 years) with chronic New York Heart Association class II or III heart failure, preserved left ventricular ejection fraction of 50 percent or greater, and evidence of diastolic dysfunction. Patients were randomly assigned to receive 25 mg of spironolactone once daily (n = 213) or matching placebo (n = 209) with 12 months of follow-up. The primary outcomes measured were changes in diastolic function (E/e') on echocardiography and maximal exercise capacity (peak VO2) on cardiopulmonary exercise testing.

The researchers found that spironolactone improved some measures (left ventricular end-diastolic filling, left ventricular remodeling, and neurohumoral activation). Maximal exercise capacity did not significantly change with spironolactone vs. placebo, and spironolactone did not improve heart failure symptoms or quality of life and slightly reduced 6-minute walking distance. "Spironolactone also modestly increased serum potassium levels and decreased estimated glomerular filtration rate without affecting hospitalizations."

The authors conclude that the "lack of accepted minimal clinically important differences in E/e' or peak VO2 in HF with preserved EF warrants additional prospective, randomized, adequately powered studies to further evaluate the effect of improving diastolic function on symptomatic, functional, and clinical end points."

Editorial: Defining Diastolic Heart Failure and Identifying Effective Therapies

"Ultimately, Aldo-DHF trial provides valuable new information but is not particularly reassuring in terms of either the efficacy or safety of mineralocorticoid antagonists (MRAs) for patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF),"writes John G. F. Cleland, M.D., Ph.D., F.R.C.P., and Pierpaolo Pellicori, M.D., of the University of Hull, Kingston-upon-Hull, England, in an accompanying editorial.

"In the meantime, MRAs appear useful for managing congestion and preventing diuretic-induced hypokalemia [abnormally low level of potassium in the circulating blood] with the attendant risk of sudden arrhythmic death. It is likely that these benefits are independent of cardiac phenotype but might be more prominent in those with impaired aldosterone degradation due to hepatic congestion. Whether MRAs exert important benefits for patients with HFpEF through other mechanisms such as reducing fibrosis, inflammation, and adrenergic activity may take longer to unravel."

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Medical Association (AMA).

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

Journal Reference:

Frank Edelmann et al. Effect of Spironolactone on Diastolic Function and Exercise Capacity in Patients With Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection FractionThe Aldo-DHF Randomized Controlled Trial. JAMA, 2013 DOI: 10.1001/jama.2013.905

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/CPq_J5Fjdoo/130226162725.htm

chris brown and rihanna nightline brady quinn brady quinn bloom box obama sweet home chicago accenture match play

Wasp transcriptome creates a buzz

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

New research delivers a sting in the tail for queen wasps. Scientists have sequenced the active parts of the genome ? or transcriptome ? of primitively eusocial wasps to identify the part of the genome that makes you a queen or a worker. Their work, published in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Biology, shows that workers have a more active transcriptome than queens. This suggests that in these simple societies, workers may be the 'jack-of-all-trades' in the colony - transcriptionally speaking - leaving the queen with a somewhat restricted repertoire.

Studying primitively eusocial species - like these wasps - can tell us about how sociality evolves. Seirian Sumner and colleagues sequenced transcriptomes from the eusocial tropical paper wasps ? Polistes canadensis. All social species ultimately evolved from a solitary ancestor ? in this case a solitary wasp, who lays the eggs and feeds the brood. But how does this ancestral solitary phenotype split to produce specialised reproducers (queens) and brood carers (workers) when a species becomes social?

This paper gives a first insight into the secret lives of social insects. It shows that workers retain a highly active transcriptome, possibly expressing many of the ancestral genes that are required for our solitary wasp to be successful on her own. Conversely, queens appear to shut down a lot of their genes, presumably in order to be really good reproducers.

Long-standing analyses based on the fossil record holds ants and wasps in a clade known as Vespoidea, with bees as a sister group. The team reassess the relationships between the subfamilies of bees, wasps and ants and suggest that wasps are part of a separate clade from ants and bees, though further genome sequences and comparative data will help to resolve this controversy.

The dataset offers a first chance to analyse subfamily relationships across large numbers of genes, though further work is required before the term Vespoidia could be dropped, or reclassified. Sumner says: 'This finding would have important general implications for our understanding of eusociality as it would suggest that bees and ants shared an aculeate wasp-like ancestor, that ants are wingless wasps, and that bees are wasps that lost predacious behaviours.'

Their work suggests that novel genes play a much more important role in social behaviour than we previously thought.

###

BioMed Central: http://www.biomedcentral.com

Thanks to BioMed Central for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

This press release has been viewed 29 time(s).

Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127021/Wasp_transcriptome_creates_a_buzz

El Chapo Guzman ufc Christmas Abbott clive davis nba trade thomas robinson nba trades

BP executive testifies at Gulf oil spill trial

NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? The first BP executive to testify at a trial spawned by the massive 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has taken the stand.

Lamar McKay was president of BP America at the time of the disaster. He is the trial's second witness and is expected to be the highest-ranking BP official to testify in person. His appearance Tuesday followed testimony by a plaintiffs' expert who criticized BP's safety record.

This isn't the first time McKay has testified under oath about the spill. He appeared before Congress less than a month after the deadly rig explosion.

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier is hearing the case without a jury. Barring a settlement, Barbier will decide how much more money BP and other companies owe for their roles in the disaster.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-02-26-Gulf%20Oil%20Spill-Trial/id-a96a7eb29be440a589a5c0399b98d28c

star trek 2 kathy ireland brooke mueller all star weekend undercover boss barbara walters tupelo honey

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Kantar: Android back on top of US smartphone share in January with Sprint's help

Most US smartphone market share estimates last fall saw Apple retake the lead as it rode a wave of iPhone 5 sales. While there was always a question as to how long that trend would last, new data from Kantar Worldpanel supports beliefs that it was really more of a momentary pop. Android reportedly took back the lead at 49.4 percent of American sales between November and January, improving its overall position versus the same month last year. Not that everyone else was necessarily hurting -- iOS still had a 45.9 percent slice of the pie, and the continued Windows Phone 8 rollout took Microsoft up to 3.2 percent. The real wounds were dealt to a pre-transition BlackBerry and Nokia's outgoing Symbian.

We seldom get an explanation as to why such shifts take place, but the researchers suggest that a significant chunk of the January switch-up can be assigned to one carrier: Sprint. Its decision to cut the Galaxy S III's contract price to $99 supposedly helped Samsung's flagship climb from 14 percent of Sprint sales in October to 39 percent over the more recent 3-month span. The Galaxy S III didn't play as much of a role elsewhere, Kantar says. Sprint's average contract pricing for Android also dipped to $95 at the same time, helping Samsung alone get 60.3 percent of the network's business as customers snapped up bargains. Big Yellow only played a small part in the overall US market, as you'll see in the detailed charts after the break, but it may have been large enough to tip the balance in OS preferences at the start of 2013.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple, Microsoft, Nokia, Google, Blackberry

Comments

Source: Kantar Worldpanel

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/1xF7Gc03YQE/

toulouse france ny jets ny jets the situation tim tebow jets katy perry part of me video photoshop cs6 beta

Monday, February 25, 2013

West Bank tensions flare after Palestinian detainee's death

Israel has called for a stop to anti-Israeli protests in the West Bank. Palestinians are angered by the death of a detainee who Israeli officials say died of a heart attack in an Israeli prison Saturday. Palestinian officials have called for an investigation into the death.

By Jeffrey Heller,?Reuters / February 24, 2013

Palestinian women take part in a protest against the death of a Palestinian detainee in an Israeli jail, in Gaza City February 24. Palestinian officials on Saturday demanded an international investigation into the death of a Palestinian detainee who died in an Israeli jail hours earlier. Tensions have been especially high in the West Bank.

Suhaib Salem/Reuters

Enlarge

Israel?on Sunday demanded the?Palestinian Authority?stem a surge of anti-Israeli protests ahead of US President?Barack Obama's visit to the region next month.

Skip to next paragraph

' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
' + google_ads[0].line3 + '

'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_adtest = "on"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // -->

A senior aide to Palestinian President?Mahmoud Abbas?gave no indication the Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the occupied?West Bank, would issue any call for calm, and blamed?Israel?for the spike in unrest.

The death in an Israeli jail of a Palestinian detainee on Saturday and an on-going hunger strike by four inmates have fuelled tensions in the?West Bank, where stone-throwing protesters clashed again with Israeli soldiers on Sunday.

Some 3,000 prisoners held a one-day fast on Sunday after the detainee's death, which?Israel?said was caused by a heart attack, an explanation challenged by Palestinian officials.

"Israel?has conveyed to the?Palestinian Authority?an unequivocal demand to calm the territory," an?Israeli government?official said, adding the message was delivered by one of Prime Minister?Benjamin Netanyahu's top aides.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/peKKMHyBLxU/West-Bank-tensions-flare-after-Palestinian-detainee-s-death

naacp glen campbell jerusalem artichoke bud shootout aretha franklin stevie wonder new orleans weather

Hands-on with the HP Slate 7

HP Slate 7.

How can a tablet that feels so good be so ... not good

What do you do if you've long since past being a laughingstock in the mobile business? You failed at Windows Mobile. You bought Palm and put webOS out to pasture. And now, if you're HP, your first real foray into Android is a tablet that's nice from afar, but far from nice.

Such is the HP Slate 7.

Let's be perfectly clear about one thing: Pick up the Slate 7, and you're holding a tablet that feels like it could easily go toe to toe with the Nexus 7 or any of Samsung's 7-inch-ish tablets. It's nicely built. It's less than half a millimeter thicker than the Nexus 7. Priced at $169, it could sell. Hell, it probably will sell. Stick it in every brick-and-mortar store next to a Nexus 7, and chances are most normal consumers won't notice a difference, save for the price tag.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/QiKdxqwKQIw/story01.htm

jeremy lin game winner chocolate covered strawberries shrimp scampi kate upton si cover lobster recipes hearts roses

Nokia rebrands Drive, Maps and Transit for Windows Phones: it's all about Here (video)

The jewels in Nokia's Windows Phone crown have been its Here location services -- anyone wanting them on Microsoft's platform has usually had to snap up a Lumia or make do with the Drive+ beta. Nokia is about to share that wealth, as it's bringing Drive, Maps and Transit to other Windows Phone devices under a new name. Don't switch your shopping plans to include an HTC 8X just yet, though. Apart from a lack of specific timing, Nokia is limiting the availability to certain regions, and it's promising that the "first and best" Here experience will remain on its own smartphones. We'll still take the leftovers if they give the overall platform a boost.

If you'll recall, Nokia actually enabled its homegrown mapping arsenal to spread to other Windows Phone products some time back, but it's taking things to a new level with the Here platform underneath.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Nokia

Comments

Source: Nokia Conversations

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/fRBaaE-vHhg/

ronda rousey vs miesha tate lindsay lohan snl lindsay lohan on snl real housewives of disney awakenings phantom of the opera agoraphobia

Sunday, February 24, 2013

100 passengers rescued from Dallas Zoo monorail (Providence Journal)

Share With Friends:

| Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/286946059?client_source=feed&format=rss

joan of arc tony robbins bon iver abraham lincoln vampire hunter their eyes were watching god lara logan manu ginobili

CoPilot? Brings Full-Featured GPS Navigation to Windows Phone 8

-- Award-winning CoPilot GPS navigation apps return to the Microsoft platform.

BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 24,?2013 --?Mobile World Congress '' ALK Technologies, a leading provider of navigation and GeoLogistics??? software, is pleased to announce that its award-winning CoPilot? GPS navigation apps for smartphones and tablets will be available for Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8.

CoPilot brings dependable voice-guided GPS navigation to Windows Phone 8 handsets and Windows 8 devices. Designed as an alternative to traditional in-vehicle systems, the app provides a full range of advanced turn-by-turn guidance features, comprehensive trip planning and automotive-grade street maps stored on-board the device for offline use. ?Integral real-time 'Live' services include ActiveTraffic???, Yelp, Wikipedia and Google Search to keep drivers fully informed on the road.

"We've always been fans of Microsoft's mobile solutions," said David Quin, head of consumer applications at ALK Technologies. "CoPilot was originally developed for Microsoft's Pocket PC and pioneered mobile navigation on Windows Mobile, so we are delighted to announce a new app for Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8. The Windows family of mobile devices is rapidly gaining momentum as an alternative to Android and iOS, and provides an ideal platform for us to deliver a full-featured and driver friendly CoPilot navigation experience."

"Windows Phone is backed by a vibrant app ecosystem with a variety of quality titles, like CoPilot, which help people enjoy a smartphone that is uniquely theirs," said Todd Brix, general manager, Windows Phone Apps, Microsoft Corp. "CoPilot is a great example of the rich applications that people can enjoy on their Windows Phones."

CoPilot for Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 brings a complete suite of advanced navigation features that can help make every journey easier, including:

Clear, non-distracting 3D map views with lane arrows and signpost display
ActiveTraffic??? calculates the fastest routes and accurate arrival times, based on live traffic flow information
CoPilot ClearTurn??? makes navigating complex junctions easy
On-screen speed limit indicator and excess speed warnings
Advanced trip planning with a choice of three routes and drag-and-drop route editing
Comprehensive local search with integrated Yelp, Wikipedia and Google
Global map regions available to purchase and store on the device as required

More information and images available here >
See CoPilot for Windows Phone 8 during Mobile World Congress 2013 at the CoPilot stand in hall 8.1, stand F6.

Availability: CoPilot is expected to launch on the Windows Phone Store and Windows Store in summer 2013 with the following versions: ?'CoPilot Premium' a paid app which includes turn-by-turn navigation and 12 months ActiveTraffic; 'CoPilot GPS' a free offline trip-planning and maps app with in-app purchase for turn-by turn navigation; and CoPilot Truck for truck-specific GPS navigation. Pricing will be in-line with existing CoPilot apps for iOS and Android.

For more information visit: www.alk.com?or www.twitter.com/ALKTech

Article source and copyright ? PR Newswire Europe Limited, all rights reserved.
Trademarks, logos, pictures and other items may be copyright of firms mentioned in this article.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ITbriefing/~3/61xqHOXhbII/index.php

daylight saving time 2012 grapes of wrath silent house nfl mock draft project m colts colts

Pope's resignation raises questions about church's future

Pope Benedict XVI has reshaped the papacy simply by giving it up. But how?

As the first pontiff in six centuries to step down, Benedict has carved a new path for his successors who decide they cannot rule for life. But scholars say the repercussions could reach beyond just changing how pontiffs leave to ultimately shape perceptions about the authority and significance of the pontificate.

"A lot of what it will mean has to do with what subsequent popes do. Does this become a precedent for future popes to follow or not?" said Phillip Thompson, executive director of the Aquinas Center of Theology at Emory University.

Benedict's pontificate will end at 8 p.m. Thursday. He plans no role in the conclave that will choose the next pontiff, and will retreat to a life of prayer in a monastery behind Vatican walls. His decision shocked the church. But papal resignations are expected to become more likely over time because of extended lifespans and the growing demands of the pontificate, Thompson said.

Travel is now a major responsibility due largely to the globe-trotting example of Pope John Paul II. Shepherding the 1.1 billion faithful requires constant contact through the Internet. These days, Catholics far from the Holy See can watch the weekly general audience, ask the pope questions on Twitter and pray in real time along with pilgrims in St. Peter's Square. As a result, staying on until death can mean a very public decline. John Paul, suffering from Parkinson's disease and other health troubles, could no longer walk or talk when he died in 2005 at age 84.

The pope is regarded as a teacher, an international diplomat and an administrator, but he is also the vicar of Christ ? a leader with a divine mission. Benedict's retirement raised fears that the pontificate could be viewed as less holy. Some questions have even focused on the much misunderstood Catholic teaching on papal infallibility: With two popes, one emeritus and one in power, who will have the final say? In fact, infallibility applies to the office, not the person, and only when a pope invokes apostolic authority to define doctrine or morals for the entire church.

Yet, many Catholic scholars say the act has in some ways demystified the papacy, especially given the intense focus in the final days of Benedict's pontificate to the 2012 scandal over leaked Vatican documents and what role the crisis had played in his decision to leave. Joseph Bottum, writing in The Weekly Standard, a conservative U.S. publication, called Benedict "a terrible executive of the Vatican."

"There's the relationship part ? he's your father ? and your father is always your father. Then there's the functional part ? whether he's up to the job," said Chicago Cardinal Francis George in a phone interview. "The functional concerns, those have come to the fore now. We'll see what, if any, impact that has as we go forward."

Even with Benedict's resignation, new popes are unlikely to emerge from a conclave thinking, "I'll go in for 10 years or so then give it up," said Francesco Cesareo, a specialist in church history and president of Assumption College in Worcester, Mass. The significance of the office, its history and spiritual duties, will always make any decision to leave difficult.

At the Feb. 11 Vatican event when Benedict made his dramatic announcement, the 85-year-old leader said he had examined his conscience before God and decided his strength, due to old age, had "deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me."

"I'm sure Benedict agonized and prayed over this for a long time asking what would this mean for the church," Cesareo said. "Benedict must have been thinking, 'What will people think that I'm leaving? Will I be seen as abandoning the flock?' He decided, 'I'm willing to sacrifice this position, for the good of the institution.'"

John Paul did not step down in part out of concern that some Catholics would follow him and cause a schism. His decision was seen as a brave witness to human suffering. But his weakened condition also fueled fears that the church was effectively leaderless.

"If a pope is disabled, different people will be vying for power or trying to take over," Thompson said. "Or nobody takes over and therefore it just drifts. People don't feel it's their place to make decisions for the pontiff. You don't want the church just to drift."

Many Catholics have argued that Benedict's decision has only underscored the importance of the pontificate. He put the spotlight where it belongs, on the church, not on the man, and sent a message that the job is so important it cannot be carried out in a weakened state, they argue. Thompson compared the impact to when George Washington gave up the presidency after two terms, setting a precedent for future presidents.

According to Stephen White, a Catholic studies fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a Washington think-tank, Benedict has powerfully demonstrated that the pope's primary role is one of service.

"The papacy, in other words, was not given him for his sake, but for the sake of the church's mission," White wrote on The Huffington Post.

A week after Benedict's announcement, New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan said he was only just starting to grasp the significance of the pope leaving. Still, Dolan dismissed worries that pontiffs would now be newly vulnerable to pressure to step down, either from a disgruntled public or factions within the church armed with opinion polls or questions about a pope's health.

Dolan argued modern-day popes in many ways have been facing that challenge for years. And moving ahead, he argued they would have two strong models of how to approach the papacy: John Paul's decision to stay until the end and Benedict's choice to leave.

"I think we need to say this is extraordinary. This is exceptional. This is a once in a three- or four-century phenomenon," Dolan said, discussing the abdication on his radio show on SiriusXM's "The Catholic Channel." ''It's not going to become something that every pope feels obliged to do."

RELATED COVERAGE

? Pope Benedict XVI's resignation inspires hope for expanding women's role in church

? Pope Benedict XVI's poll numbers can't match Pope John Paul II's

Source: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/02/popes_resignation_raises_quest.html

Patti Page anonymous texas chainsaw massacre nfl playoffs crystal harris Texas A Texas A&m

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Bees under the Microscope

Honey Bee Mid and Hind Gut

Much has been written about the continuing disappearance of the honey bee, the corresponding demise of commercial beekeeping and the various culprits that account for the decline or colony collapse disorder (CCD) as it is known in the trade. Ask a dozen beekeepers what is causing CCD and you will receive as many responses: Pesticides, fungi, excessive antibiotics, poor husbandry, loss of habitat, cell phones or the inevitable repetition of History. Hang on! History?

Noah Wilson-Rich Ph.D, the founder of Best Bees, has found that honey bees have endured ?great die offs? on a regular basis. This current decline may just be another manifestation. It is a heated debate that continues alongside a variety of initiatives to solve the conundrum throughout US universities and research institutions.

Gut sample of Beebread

Meanwhile, the backyard beekeeper ? the humble amateur ? has quietly been on the rise. While statistics are hard to come by, the circumstantial evidence is mounting. In Virginia, for example, the number of hives has doubled over the past decade or so. Local beekeeper clubs are seeing record enrollment thanks in part to the publicity surrounding Michelle Obama?s hives in the White House garden. Williams Sonoma?s new Agrarian catalog focuses on beehives (and chicken coops), while the rise of homesteading and the Local Food movement both contribute to beekeeping?s increasing popularity. All intertwine to encourage backyard beekeepers.

Bee Hairs, Nosema Ceranae Spores (white ovals) and Pollen (larger)

Kim Flottum, managing editor of Bee Culture and a long-time pillar of the beekeeping community has maintained a combination of statistics from which he extrapolates that ?backyard beekeeping has grown 30-32% over the past seven years?. He estimates that over half of that growth has been in the past three years. ?Most of the bees are West of the Mississippi where the commercial beekeepers are based. Most of the beekeepers are East of the Mississippi.? In other words, the recent increase in the number of beekeepers is concentrated in the major urban areas in the East, not least due to the relaxation of city ordinances over beekeeping.

This confluence of urban beekeepers and the search for explanations into CCD has led to another trend. Both the newer urban beekeepers and the more traditional, rural beekeepers are increasingly turning to more sophisticated approaches to colony management, to science and in particular, to the practical application of the microscope.

Nosema Ceranae Spores

The newer urban beekeeper is more comfortable with such technology while more traditional beekeepers are turning to microscopes due to necessity. There is a growing awareness of the need for more accurate and earlier diagnosis, of the benefits of immediate on site analysis and subsequently of swifter, targeted treatment of potentially disastrous hive infections.

Part of this growing acceptance of microscopes among beekeepers is the dawning realization that microscopes are not as daunting as their High School memories suggest! In part, it is because the cost of microscopes has fallen.

Nosema Ceranae Spores

The cost is also defrayed by savings on laboratory analysis fees and perhaps more importantly, by the savings implicit in earlier treatment that decreases the risk of CCD. Beekeeper clubs across the country are also investing in microscopes so that more beekeepers have access to what previously was not in their individual budgets.

Many beekeepers, however, still rely on experience and perception alone. With no diagnostic tools beyond their eyeballs, there is a tendency to diagnose hive infections at a more advanced stage of infection. As a result, heavier treatments may be applied with lower rates of success and higher risks of long-term resistance to treatment. Worse, many beekeepers simply dose their hives with antibiotics with no idea of the nature and scale of the problem at all.

Randy Oliver, a leading guru at the forefront of the juxtaposition of beekeeping and science, started an article in 2012 with, ?It is greatly surprising to me ??.how few (beekeepers) make the effort to monitor the levels of parasites in their colonies! Even more surprising is that, despite the considerable expense, many blindly treat their colonies without any idea as to whether their bees are actually infected!? At a 2011 Eastern Apiculture Society conference, a surprising number of beekeepers confessed to this type of blind dosing every Spring ?just in case? their hives were infected. When asked if they do the same with their children, they looked puzzled!

So to what end are beekeepers using microscopes? First and foremost, a compound microscope is a highly effective diagnostic tool for infections. For example, the fungal infection of Nosema ceranae has proved particularly deadly over the past few years. It has been a prime suspect in the search for an explanation for CCD.

Amoeba (larger 'fried eggs') with honey bee parts

Traditionally, beekeepers have responded to nosema infections without an accurate feel for the stage or degree of infection. Now with a gut sample that is easily prepared on site in the beeyards, they can self-diagnose using a rechargeable LED compound microscope at 400x magnification.

The results are immediate. The Nosema ceranae spores look like horse racing ovals and stand out like beacons. With the addition of a simple hemocytometer, the beekeeper can gain an accurate spore count and, therefore, a more accurate picture of the degree of infection. Within five minutes, the beekeeper has gone from pure guesswork to an informed opinion.

Agave Pollen

Pollen analysis is another common use for a compound microscope. Melissopalynology, or the study of pollen in honey, is not just for the laboratory experts. A simple compound microscope can help identify the dominant pollen in any beekeeper?s honey, although with 250,000 different plants used by the honey bee in the US, most beekeepers may need some point of reference for accurate identification. Pollen analysis helps ensure correct labeling while it is also commonly used in forensic analysis, archeology and pure honey research.

Agavaceae Pollen - Agave havardiana

Low power stereo microscopes are also used for colony management. For example, almost all beehives suffer from mite infections. While eyeballing works well for seeing if mites are present, a stereo microscope is useful to determine what the mite?s identity and therefore, what treatment is required.

Other applications include basic anatomy of the honey bee, training, and for the more advanced practitioner, artificial insemination of the Queen Bee. More recently, Dino-Lite digital microscopes have proved useful tools given their hand-held nature, greater portability and wider range of magnification than the typical stereo microscope.

Asteraceae Pollen - Porophyllum scoparium

Microscopes are but one tool in the beekeeper?s armory to combat the many vicissitudes that face bee hives. They are a small tool within the context of the work that needs to be done in order to resolve the plight of the honey bee in North America. However, they do offer some hope not least because they are simple to use, affordable and widely available for even the newest beekeeper. They are an enabling technology that can lead to improved colony management ? which in itself may lie the solution to the demise of the honey bee.

Images: courtesy of Randy Oliver, and by Gretchen D. Jones, Ph.D., United States Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Research Service, Area-wide Pest Management Research Unit

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=bf2ef175f6deec89fc31ce3a5a08688f

born free walking dead finale nascar bristol narwhal st louis university mario manningham mario manningham

'The Invisible War? brings attention to rape in the military

Please check the URL for proper spelling and capitalization. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Yahoo!, try visiting the Yahoo! homepage or look through a list of Yahoo!'s online services.

Please try Yahoo Help Central if you need more assistance.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/oscar-nominated-documentary-invisible-war-brings-attention-rape-120528968.html

hoya casa de mi padre corned beef and cabbage diners drive ins and dives jeff who lives at home 49ers news saint louis university

New Orleans deputy mayor resigns, cites personal reasons

City leaders announced on Friday that the deputy mayor of operations, Michelle L. Thomas, resigned.

Thomas only cited "personal reasons" for her departure.

Thomas managed several departments in her position, which included Historic Districts Landmarks Commission, New Orleans Recreation Development Commission, Parks & Parkways, Safety & Permits, Sanitation, Taxicab Bureau, the Vieux Carre Commission and the One Stop Shop for permitting. ??

Thomas was hired in July 2011.?

?Michelle served the people of New Orleans well, and we wish her nothing but success," New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said in a news release."I want to thank her for her service, especially for her work to transform the taxicab industry, improve recreational opportunities for our kids, enhance special event and Mardi Gras clean-up operations, and improve customer service by implementing the One Stop Shop for permitting.?

Andy Kopplin, first deputy mayor and chief administrative officer, will oversee the departments that previously reported to Thomas on an interim basis.?

Source: http://www.wdsu.com/news/local-news/new-orleans/New-Orleans-deputy-mayor-resigns-cites-personal-reasons/-/9853400/19046448/-/kop3e2/-/index.html?absolute=true

google project glass google goggles one tree hill projectglass stock act new york auto show khalid sheikh mohammed

Friday, February 22, 2013

James Gunn Meets With DnA On Guardians of the Galaxy

-
Hi I'm Wondygirl! And this is pretty much my little space for Comics and other video game and geeky stuff. Some of the stuff I'm currently into are Marvel (Especially anything Avengers related like Thor and Cap), DC (Wonder Woman, Titans, JLA), Nintendo stuff like Metroid (Not Other: M) and Zelda, and Star Wars.

Also expect some of my drawings once I get my scanner and my tablet :D

Source: http://wondygirl.tumblr.com/post/43664962103

capital gains tim thomas oral roberts les paul fred thompson fred thompson red hook

Promising new method for next-generation live-attenuated viral vaccines against Chikungunya virus

Feb. 21, 2013 ? Researchers have successfully applied a novel method of vaccine creation for Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) using a technique called large scale random codon re-encoding. Using this approach, a group from the UMR_D 190, Emerging viruses Department in Marseille, France in collaboration with the University of Sydney, Australia, demonstrated that the engineered viruses exhibit a stable phenotype with a significantly decreased viral fitness (i.e., replication capacity), making it a new vaccine candidate for this emerging viral disease.

This new report publishes on February 21 in the Open Access journal, PLOS Pathogens.

There is an immense need for the development of vaccines targeting many emerging viral pathogens. CHIKV has been responsible for several million human cases over the last decade and represents a striking example of a re-emerging, arthropod-borne, human pathogen for which no licensed vaccine exists. Worryingly, one of the vectors of CHIKV, the mosquito Aedes albopictus, has dispersed into new regions (including temperate areas) resulting in outbreaks of this disease where they had never been previously observed, for example in Italy.

Using the large-scale codon re-encoding method, Antoine Nougairede and colleagues were able to synthetically modify the nucleic acid composition of the virus without modifying the encoded viral proteins. When this method was applied to poliovirus and Influenza A virus, it resulted in a live but attenuated virus that had significant reduction of viral fitness. In contrast with previous studies, which employed a targeted approach of codon re-encoding, this new study demonstrates that a random approach reduced the replicative fitness of CHIKV in both primate and arthropod cells. The employed strategy also prevented the reversion of the attenuated phenotype by mutation or recombination, thus reducing the possibility that the newly created virus strain could evolve back to the pathogenic version.

The findings by Nougairede et al. suggest that large-scale codon re-encoding can provide a strong basis for the rapid design of next-generation viral vaccines against emerging viral pathogens, as soon as their genome sequence has been determined. It represents an exciting route to vaccine development because it intrinsically alleviates the likelihood of novel pathogenic properties of the designed live vaccine, and allows modulation of the amount of reduced fitness by altering the terms and degree of the genetic re-encoding. Thus, this strategy potentially allows for the generic development of live attenuated vaccines against many new viral pathogens, with reduced costs and the potential single dose induction of long-term immunity.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Public Library of Science.

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

Journal Reference:

Antoine Nougairede, Lauriane De Fabritus, Fabien Aubry, Ernest A. Gould, Edward C. Holmes, Xavier de Lamballerie. Random Codon Re-encoding Induces Stable Reduction of Replicative Fitness of Chikungunya Virus in Primate and Mosquito Cells. PLoS Pathogens, 2013; 9 (2): e1003172 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1003172

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

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/ZfDSqDFNAto/130221194235.htm

Oscars 2013 Michelle Laxalt Alabama Shakes Christoph Waltz PlayStation 4 michael jordan Safe Haven

Tale Of The Tape: Chromebook Pixel Vs. Surface Pro Vs. MacBook Air

Google hasn't always been known for making breathtaking hardware, but today's announcement of the Chromebook Pixel -- arguably one of the best-looking laptops ever made, if nothing else -- means that may no longer be the case. Still, you can't be blamed for being wary of shelling out a decent chunk of money on Google's first foray into laptops, let alone a Chromebook of all things, so here's a preliminary look at how the Chromebook Pixel stacks up against two prominent rivals in the computing space: the stock version of Apple's 13-inch MacBook Air and Microsoft's Surface Pr

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/a5ixC2_LQMk/

burger king mary j blige google project glass google goggles one tree hill projectglass stock act new york auto show

Tim Tebow cancels controversial church appearance

Tim Tebow cancels controversial church appearance

Jets quarterback 'needed to avoid controversy at this time'

By REUTERS

New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow, a devout Christian, has canceled an appearance at the Dallas mega-church led by a prominent pastor who has sparked controversy over remarks he made from the pulpit about gays and other religions.

Tebow, 25, who famously kneels in prayer on the football field in a move that has come to be known as "Tebowing", called off his April 28 appearance in a series of Twitter messages on Thursday.

"While I was looking forward to sharing a message of hope and Christ's unconditional love with the faithful members of the historic First Baptist Church of Dallas in April, due to new information that has been brought to my attention, I have decided to cancel my upcoming appearance," he said.

The First Baptist Church in Dallas, which had invited Tebow to celebrate the opening of its $130 million campus, is led by Robert Jeffress, a TV evangelist who has criticized gays and other faiths, such as Islam and Mormonism.

Tebow, whose parents are missionaries, called Jeffress on Wednesday evening and said he "needed to avoid controversy at this time, but would like to come to First Baptist Dallas to speak at a future date," according to a statement from the church.

The church on Thursday blamed news media for having "grossly misrepresented" Jeffress' opinions and for putting pressure on Tebow.

It said: "The reason for the recent media fire storm is not because the Word of God has changed, but because society has changed."

Jeffress on Thursday softened past statements he has made criticizing the Roman Catholic Church, but defended his position on gays and lesbians.

"I believe that homosexuality is a sin, just like adultery," Jeffress told CNN. "Sex should be between a man and a woman. God created sex. He knows how it works best," Jeffress said.

Tebow was a first-round draft pick in 2010 and the first college sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy, according to his website. Tebow was traded by the Denver Broncos to the Jets, but saw little playing time during the 2012 season.

Source: http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/NFL/2013/02/21/20597896.html?cid=rsssportsnfl

mothers day 2012 cinco de mayo osama bin laden death spinal muscular atrophy brooklyn nets may day protests tony nominations 2012