After the final installment of The Twilight Saga was released in November, we finally had to say goodbye to the characters of Bella (Kristen Stewart) Edward (Robert Pattinson) and Jacob (Taylor Lautner) -- but it's not quite over yet!
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The Holy Father is scheduled to "meet and personally greet" Dolan and all of the other cardinals in Rome at 11 a.m. on Thursday in Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace.
The Vatican has strongly but obtusely denied all the scandalous rumors that have been reported in the media regarding the reasons for Benedict being the first pope to resign in almost 600 years.
"It is deplorable that, as we draw closer to the moment that the Conclave will begin and the Cardinal electors will be held -- in conscience and before God -- to freely express their choice, there is a widespread distribution of often unverified, unverifiable, or even completely false news stories that cause serious damage to persons and institutions," according to an official statement from the Vatican.
"Now as never before, Catholics are focusing on what is essential: praying for Pope Benedict, praying that the Holy Spirit might enlighten the College of Cardinals, and praying for the future Pope, confident that the future of the barque of Peter is in God's hands."
According to the Associated Press, Italian newspapers have been rife for days with anonymous reports about the contents of the secret dossier that three cardinals investigating leaks of information to the media prepared for Benedict. Some rumors are that they involve a gay sex scandal within the Vatican. The "Vatileaks" scandal began after papers taken from the pope's desk were published in a blockbuster book. The pope's butler was convicted in October of aggravated theft, and later pardoned.
The Vatican has refused to comment on the reports, which have claimed the contents of the dossier, delivered to Benedict in December, were a factor in his decision to resign. Benedict himself has said he simply no longer has the "strength of mind and body" to carry on.
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, has indicated that Benedict would meet with the three cardinals before stepping down Feb. 28, in one of his final private audiences.
Given the rivalries, turf battles and allegations of corruption exposed by the leaks themselves, there is some speculation that cardinals entering the conclave might want to know the contents of the dossier before choosing a new pope.
Perhaps it is no coincidence that Pope Benedict reportedly is clearing the decks of his pontificate, tweaking the rules of the conclave, finessing the religious rites used to launch the next papacy and making some eyebrow-raising final appointments before he retires next week.
The Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano said in editions published late Friday that Benedict had signed a decree earlier in the week making some changes to the papal installation Mass, separating out the actual rite of installation from the liturgy itself.
He is also studying the text of a separate document governing the rules of the conclave, though it's not known if it will address the thorny issue of whether the election can begin earlier than March 15, by some interpretations the earliest the vote can start under the current rules.
And on Friday, the Vatican announced Benedict had transferred a top official in the secretariat of state, Monsignor Ettore Balestrero, to Colombia -- an appointment that came amid swirling media speculation about the contents of a confidential report into the Vatican's leaks scandal.
Balestrero was head of the Holy See's delegation to the Council of Europe's Moneyval committee, which evaluated the Vatican's anti-money laundering and anti-terror financing measures. He has had a hand in the efforts by the Vatican bank to be more transparent and is close to Benedict's No. 2, the Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.The Vatican submitted itself to Moneyval's evaluation in a bid to improve its reputation in the financial world.
The Vatican passed the test on the first try in August, and Moneyval said it had made great progress in a short amount of time. But the Holy See received poor or failing grades for its financial watchdog agency and its bank, long the source of some of the Vatican's more storied scandals.
Some of the documents leaked in the midst of the "Vatileaks" scandal concerned differences of opinion about the level of financial transparency the Holy See should provide about the bank, the Institute for Religious Works. However, Balestrero himself wasn't named in any significant way in the leaks.
Lombardi said Balestrero's transfer had been months in the works, was a clear promotion and had nothing to do with what the Vatican considers baseless reporting.
Lombardi noted that the nunciature in Bogota is one of the most important in Latin America, with the headquarters for the Latin American bishops' conference as well as the regional organization for religious orders, and is usually headed by someone who has had experience as a nuncio in at least two other postings.
Asked if the transfer had anything to do with the broader Vatileaks investigation, Lombardi said he was declining comment in line with the Vatican's decision not to confirm or deny any specifics of the investigation.
Associated Press materials are used in this story.
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Source: http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2013/02/cardinal_dolan_1.html
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All those photos that you posted to Facebook a few years back are fun to revisit every now and then, right? But chances are you probably don't look at them every day.
With more than 240 billion user photos taking up space on Facebook's servers, and another 350 million uploaded every day, the social network is now taking action to more efficiently store and manage photos that aren't in heavy rotation. According to a report from The Oregonian, Facebook is gearing up to launch three new "cold storage" data centers in Prineville, Ore. to store these older and rarely viewed images.
Unlike its traditional "hot servers," which are always on and ready to deliver data, the servers at these cold storage facilities will be asleep, awaiting a request for old material. There are a number of benefits to this approach. For starters, the cold-storage data centers will cost a third less than a standard data center.
Plus, while the facility itself will be smaller than a live data center, each rack of servers has eight times more storage, and is five times more energy efficient. Facebook already has two massive data centers in Prineville, which together used 71 million kilowatts of power in nine months ? equivalent to the consumption of roughly 6,000 homes.
It will, however, take a bit longer than normal to access these older photos. But Facebook said most users won't notice the delay. ?
"The principle will be so that it doesn't impact the user experience ? so think about a matter of seconds, or milliseconds," Michael Kirkland, a Facebook communication manager, told The Oregonian.
Facebook is aiming to have the first of three facilities operational by fall. Each of the 16,000 square-foot data centers will be able to hold an Exabyte of data, or about one million PC hard drives.
Source: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2415772,00.asp?kc=PCRSS05079TX1K0000993
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In the world of NFL linemen, it's always nice to have a large rump.
The NFL Scouting Combine makes for some uncomfortable moments, with large men in tight outfits running with slow motion cameras clicking away.
One example of this pure awkwardness is the constant excitement of grown men when they see an offensive or defensive linemen with a large backside. Mike Mayock is on NFL Network, and he highlighted this point Saturday morning by exalting "See that big butt?"
Every general manager and scout wants to see a large rear end for a few reasons, the main one being power. A big butt says that the lineman has good lower body strength that can really help with push in the trenches.
Another reason is explosion off the line of scrimmage. While upper body strength is terrific, all the leverage a lineman needs is created from the waist down.
And that's the bottom line.
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? Should QBs throw at the Combine? We asked an agent
? The List: 20 sentences guaranteed to start an Internet argument
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Source: http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2013/2/23/4020966/2013-nfl-combine-offensive-lineman-butt-size
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The Luxi incident light meter for iPhone has arrived on Kickstarter and is looking for funding to help it to get into mass production. The Luxi is a clip on accessory for your iPhone that when working alongside a companion app becomes a professional grade incident light meter which helps you to take awesome pictures with your DSLR camera.
Luxi is a small diffusion dome that fits securely over your iPhone?s front-facing camera. When attached and used with a light meter app, Luxi will help you determine the best settings for your DSLR or other camera so that you can take perfectly exposed pictures. With Luxi, your iPhone becomes a convenient and easy to use incident light meter. Professional light meters with the same features can cost several hundred dollars and require you to carry a whole separate device.
Incident light meters, like Luxi, measure the amount of light falling on the subject you are photographing, not the light reflected by the subject. Incident light meter readings are independent of the subject's reflectance and cannot be fooled by tricky lighting situations like back-lit subjects (e.g. sunset portraits).
The Luxi has been compared with many high end hand held light meters that cost hundreds of dollars and according to the developers, it stands up against them all with similar results. If you fancy picking one of these up as early as possible, should they make it into production; you can back the project through its Kickstarter page. Pledges starting from just $14 will get you one of the first off the line including free shipping across the U.S. The project is already over its rather small target of $10,000 and currently sits at just over $12,500 with 44 days of the campaign still to run.
Photographers, what do you think of the Luxi incident light meter for iPhone? Could you see yourself using a product like this?
Source: Kickstarter
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/t5LiVnxCqkc/story01.htm
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James Harden and Carlos Delfino each scored 22 points, and the visiting Houston Rockets tied their longest winning streak against any opponent by beating the Brooklyn Nets for the 13th straight time, 106-96 on Friday night.
Houston blew most of a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter before Delfino hit a big 3-pointer with 1:54 left. He later made another jumper before Harden followed with a 3-pointer to put it away.
Delfino made six 3-pointers. Harden, coming off a career-high, 46-point game Wednesday against Oklahoma City, made four 3s.
Brook Lopez scored 27 points for the Nets, who played without starting guard Joe Johnson for the first time this season because of plantar fasciitis in his left foot.
The Rockets haven't lost to the Nets since March 13, 2006, in Houston.
Lakers 111, Trail Blazers 107: Kobe Bryant scored 40 points, Dwight Howard had 19 points and 16 rebounds, and host Los Angeles beat slumping Portland.
Hours after longtime Lakers owner Jerry Buss was buried in a private ceremony, the team got back to basketball. Bryant scored 11 points in the final 5? minutes, and the Lakers won for the seventh time in 10 games.
Thunder 127, Timberwolves 111: Russell Westbrook scored 37 points, Kevin Durant added 27 and host Oklahoma City snapped a three-game losing streak.
Wizards 119, Nuggets 113: Host Washington put seven players in double
figures while taking down another contending team. Emeka Okafor had 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Wizards.Raptors 100, Knicks 98: Rudy Gay scored a season-high 32 points, DeMar DeRozan had 18 and host Toronto handed slumping New York its season-worst fourth straight loss.
Carmelo Anthony had 32 points and J.R. Smith added 19 for the Knicks, winless since beating Minnesota on Feb. 8.
"I thought our shot selection was awful," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said.
Anthony and Raymond Felton both missed 3-pointers in the final minute.
"We didn't play smart coming down the stretch," Woodson said.
Grizzlies 88, Magic 82: Marc Gasol had 19 points and 13 rebounds, Zach Randolph added 16 points and 14 boards, and host Memphis beat Orlando for its sixth straight win. The Magic, which dropped its 16th in its last 17, had only seven players available because of injuries and trades.
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Source: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20130220/SPORTS/302200031/1009/RSS01
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If you use a smartphone on a regular basis, you know the daily chore of searching for a power outlet or cable to charge up your phone's battery during the day. Otherwise you're probably going to find yourself with a dead battery before you get home that evening.
Companies such as Mophie, Energizer and PowerSkin make phone cases that hold an extra charge you can use to power up your phone during the day. But what if you want to charge up more than one phone? Or perhaps a phone and a tablet?
For that you need a portable external battery pack. myCharge and Innergie make portable batteries in different capacities and Jackery just released its new line of power packs.
The Mini and the Bar external batteries are small and portable and loaded with fast-charging power. Their size makes them convenient to throw into a bag for on-the-go charging. Because you supply your own USB cable, you can charge whatever device you have, even an iPhone 5 if you have a Lightning-to-USB cable. Jackery says the batteries are also compatible with Windows phones, tablets and gaming devices, and MP3 players.
The Bar touts 5,600mAh and sells for $39.95, while the Mini provides 2,600mAh for $29.95. The company says the Mini can charge up a dead iPhone more than once, and can charge a dead iPad back up to 50% power.
Do you carry an extra battery around with you to charge up devices during the day? Does this method seem convenient? Let us know in the comments.
Images courtesy of Jackery
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(Ramallah) ? Israel?engaged in discriminatory practices and other rights violations against Palestinians during 2012, while Palestinian authorities committed abuses against their own population, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2013.
Both Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups committed serious violations of the laws of war during eight days of fighting in November. Neither side made meaningful progress in providing justice for abuses committed during the 2008-2009 conflict, which could be addressed by giving the International Criminal Court (ICC) jurisdiction over the situation in the West Bank and Gaza.
?Israeli and Palestinian authorities have committed serious rights abuses, and their allies and supporters have failed to press hard enough for change,? said Tom Porteous, deputy program director at Human Rights Watch. ?In the coming year, leaders in the region and beyond should work much harder to end the cycle of impunity and abuse, not least by supporting, instead of trying to block, Palestinian access to the International Criminal Court.?
In its 665-page report, Human Rights Watch assessed progress on human rights during the past year in more than 90 countries, including an analysis of the aftermath of the Arab uprisings. The willingness of new governments to respect rights will determine whether the Arab uprisings give birth to genuine democracy or simply spawn authoritarianism in new clothes, Human Rights Watch said.
Israel engaged in discriminatory practices in the occupied West Bank, Human Rights Watch said. During 2012, Israeli security forces unlawfully demolished hundreds of Palestinian homes and buildings in areas under sole Israeli control. They denied West Bank Palestinian communities access to natural resources and basic utilities, displacing nearly 900 people, according to the United Nations. Meanwhile, Israel?s provision of preferential services and planning ? such as the approval of thousands of new settlement housing units and the retroactive ?authorization? of settlement outposts ? encouraged and facilitated civilian settlement in occupied territory in violation of the Geneva Conventions.
Israeli forces also suppressed nonviolent Palestinian protests and used excessive force against demonstrators, arbitrarily banned the travel of human rights defenders, and unlawfully limited the ability of Palestinian farmers to access their lands. In December, Israeli forces raided the offices of several civil society groups in Ramallah. Israel?s military justice system, from which settlers are exempt, subjected Palestinians, including human rights defenders, to prolonged arbitrary detention, coercive interrogations, and unfair trials. In the majority of cases, Israeli authorities failed to indict anyone for attacks apparently carried out by Israeli settlers that harmed Palestinians or damaged their property.
The Palestinian Authority?s security services were responsible for serious rights violations in the West Bank during 2012, Human Rights Watch said. They carried out arbitrary arrests, harassed journalists and bloggers, and beat and assaulted peaceful demonstrators. In more than 150 cases documented by the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights, they allegedly tortured or mistreated detainees. Despite strong evidence of torture in some cases, no security officials were convicted.
In Gaza, Hamas authorities carried out six judicial executions in 2012, some after unfair trials. Hamas authorities have not prosecuted anyone for seven extrajudicial executions committed in November, after the killers were able to take the victims from jails. Security forces conducted arbitrary arrests, frequently denied detainees access to their lawyers, and tortured detainees with impunity. The authorities permitted some local human rights organizations to operate, but repeatedly suppressed free association and peaceful assembly.
?Palestinians suffer not only from harmful Israeli policies, but also from serious abuses at the hands of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas,? Porteous said. ?Palestinian leaders in the West Bank and Gaza should publicly acknowledge violations by their respective security services, and take concrete steps in 2013 toward ending impunity.?
Israeli and Egyptian policies toward the Gaza Strip impede Gaza?s economic recovery, Human Rights Watch said. Israel, with the assistance of Egypt, bans almost all exports. After the November fighting, Israel eased its restrictions on Palestinian access to some farmlands and to fishing waters, but continued to threaten Palestinian civilians with lethal force in areas close to the Israeli perimeter fence and beyond six nautical miles off the coast. Israel also barred Gaza residents from traveling or moving to the West Bank, where many have families and other close ties.
The renewal of fighting between Israel and Gaza from November 14 to 21 resulted in numerous laws-of-war violations by both sides. Human Rights Watch documented unlawful airstrikes that killed at least 44 Palestinian civilians, including children, in Gaza. Palestinian armed groups launched hundreds of rockets at Israeli population centers in violation of the laws of war, killing three Israeli civilians. Rockets that fell short of their intended targets in Israel apparently killed at least two Palestinians in Gaza.
In January 2012, Israel?s Supreme Court upheld a law that barred Israeli citizens from living inside Israel with their spouses from Palestine and other countries in the region, which had the practical effect of discriminating against Palestinian citizens of Israel. Israeli authorities demolished the homes of dozens of Bedouin families in the Negev, and refused to provide adequate infrastructure to tens of thousands of inhabitants in ?unrecognized? villages. In some cases, planning authorities have approved plans for Jewish communities that would be built on the sites of existing Bedouin villages.
On November 29, the UN General Assembly voted to admit Palestine as a ?non-member observer state.? This provides Palestine the opportunity to ratify the core human rights treaties and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Despite the need for greater accountability for war crimes, including illegal population transfers, the UK and Italy publicly called on Palestine not to use its new UN status to pursue the jurisdiction of the ICC.
?Ending impunity for violations by all sides is an important goal for 2013,? Porteous said. ?Influential governments should encourage Palestinian access to the ICC, not oppose it.??
Source: http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/02/14/israelpalestine-new-abuses-no-justice
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"I follow your stories on Facebook and I enjoy reading your news feed, and It would be fun to have my profile on the news feed and have that recognition for one day."
Thanks for following 11Alive on Facebook Nicole!
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You must be an experienced Business Analyst with very strong knowledge of the full project lifecycle. You will have strong requirements gathering, analysis and Target operating model skills. You must also have a good knowledge of Basel 2 and an understanding of Trade Finance.
To apply, please send your CV Specialist Recruitment Limited acts as an employment agency for permanent recruitment and employment business for the supply of temporary workers. By applying for this job you accept the T&C's, Privacy Policy and Disclaimers which can be found at hays.co.uk
Source: http://jobs.telegraph.co.uk/job/4145920/business-analyst-basel-2/?TrackID=53
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Energy Secretary Steven Chu is the "Designated Survivor" of tongight's SOTU (AP)Should tragedy strike on a massive scale, get ready for President Steven Chu. The outgoing energy secretary is the ?Designated Survivor? cabinet member not in attendance at tonight?s State of the Union address.
One member of the president?s cabinet sits out each SOTU address in case a catastrophe incapacitated the president and other key members of his administration.
Chu was recently the target of a story from the Onion, which jokingly accused him of having a romantic tryst with a solar panel. Showing he?s a good sport, Chu responded directly to the ?allegation? via Facebook, writing:
"I just want everyone to know that my decision not to serve a second term as Energy Secretary has absolutely nothing to do with the allegations made in this week's edition of the Onion. While I'm not going to confirm or deny the charges specifically, I will say that clean, renewable solar power is a growing source of U.S. jobs and is becoming more and more affordable, so it's no surprise that lots of Americans are falling in love with solar."
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by Janey and Bibi
Got a healthy recipe that you?d like to share? Head over to our Submit a Recipe page!
We all deserve a treat now and again. These easy to make vegan truffles fit the bill perfectly. For that someone special in your life. Or maybe just for yourself ? because you?re worth it 
Ingredients
Directions
Got a healthy recipe that you?d like to share? Head over to our Submit a Recipe page!
Source: http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2013/02/13/reader-recipe-dark-chocolate-vegan-aztec-truffles/
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Embedded in Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's rhetoric of Iran's soaring greatness and the collapse of the West ? typical themes on the Islamic Republic's 34th birthday party ? was a renewed political challenge to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and lesser pillars of the regime, as Iran prepares for presidential elections in June.
Four months before the vote, the highest echelons of Iran's Islamic regime are embroiled in political infighting and a power struggle, have taken steps to quell potential dissent, and fear a repeat of the post-election violence that engulfed Iran in 2009 after the last disputed presidential vote.
Analysts say the recent arrest and harassment of journalists and questioning this week of a son and daughters of key opposition leaders, who remain under house arrest, are just some of the signs of deep insecurity and uncertainty now afflicting the regime.
RECOMMENDED: How much do you know about Iran? Take our quiz to find out.
"Everybody expected some kind of loosening and opening up [before the election], but exactly the opposite is happening," says an analyst in Tehran who could not be named for fear of retribution. "It comes from a panicky feeling that things are breaking apart."
"The Islamic Republic has had a lot of elections, every year ... and all of a sudden this became so sensitive," says the analyst. "What is so different about it this time? It is not so clear, [except] that infighting has grown bigger and bigger."
'ENGINEERING' ELECTIONS
Ahmadinejad, who has served two full terms, cannot run for office again. But his past challenges to Ayatollah Khamenei's authority have prompted key conservative power centers in Iran to gang up against him, painting his inner circle as a dangerous "deviant current."
Khamenei ? who intervened to shore up Ahmadinejad's fraud-tainted 2009 reelection by calling his victory a "divine assessment" ? has made clear that he wants calm before the vote. He praised the large turnout at weekend anniversary rallies, saying "the people caused the enemy to become disappointed and hopeless through their presence."
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The result, Iran's top political authority said, was that the West "reach[ed] the conclusion that this nation cannot be confronted."
But in the run-up to the June election, the bigger risk appears to come from inside. And Ahmadinejad's warnings from the flower-encircled podium seemed designed to sow more political chaos and demonstrate that he remains an unpredictable player. He described the people's "right to pick their rulers" and declared that "no one should think they can decide" in their stead.
"It was heard, some people have said they want to engineer the election," said Ahmadinejad, referring to recent words of an official representative of Khamenei that it was a "duty" of Iran's Revolutionary Guard to "engineer" elections.
"I would say proudly that the great nation of Iran know[s] what to do, they know which path to take, and they don't need any such groups or individuals," Ahmadinejad said, according to a simultaneous translation on state-run PressTV.
"You can notify people about your plans, but destroying other's reputation to prove yourself ? this is not the right thing to do," said Ahmadinejad. "The late Imam [Ayatollah Khomeini, father of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution] said that the nation has become divine, and that no one can impose his opinions on the people."
The Revolutionary Guard quickly backtracked on the "engineer" quote, saying its job is only to ensure a large turnout, not to rig the result. But guardsmen who defected after the 2009 election and crackdown said that they had been ordered to do exactly that back then ? ironically to ensure and then secure the declared victory for Ahmadinejad.
FAMILY FEUD
In the speech, Ahmadinejad's last and most high-profile platform before the end of his term, he warned "some individuals" that they should "not act or speak in a way" that that will play into the hands of the treacherous enemies of the Iranian nation."
Yet in the eyes of many of Iran's political elite, it is the president who has done just that ? for years. Despite Khamenei's calls for unity months ago, Ahmadinejad has repeatedly butted heads with, among others, the Larijani family, one of the most powerful in Iran.
His fight with them erupted again in parliament last week when he played a video recording that appeared to show one Larijani brother, Fazel, peddling influence. Brother Ali Larijani is speaker of Parliament, while Sadegh Larijani is head of the judiciary.
The dispute took on a more overt form on Feb. 10, when, as Ahmadinejad was speaking to crowds in Tehran, his raucous supporters brought to an end a speech by Ali Larijani in the religious center of Qom by throwing clay prayer disks and shoes.
"Ahmadinejad was declaring political war" in his speech, wrote analyst Scott Lucas on his website EAWorldView.
"Ahmadinejad, the man whose reelection was disputed in 2009 by millions amid claims of electoral manipulation and intimidation, had just acknowledged that Iran's elections ? the same elections that the Supreme Leader had hailed last month as the free-est in the world ? can be rigged," said Mr. Lucas, a professor at the University of Birmingham in the UK.
ON EDGE
The events of the revolutionary anniversary are just one facet of many pre-election adjustments.
Arrests in recent weeks of more than a dozen journalists accused of links to Western media organizations signals to other journalists to beware of any outside contact, says the Tehran analyst. The arrests are a "pre-emptive" step by the regime which shows its concerns about outside "conspiracy," and also how carefully it is trying to manage the election process this time.
"Obviously, Ahmadinejad is doing his own thing and disregarding all the advice from higher people to slow down, reach some harmony," says the Tehran analyst. "Rumors have been around that Ahmadinejad will be impeached, that he won't finish his term. I think it's too costly [for the regime] to do that."
The infighting comes as Green Movement activists note on Feb. 15 the two-year anniversary of the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, two former regime heavyweights who challenged their "loss" to Ahmadinejad in 2009.
There were weeks of violent protests in the aftermath of the vote. On one day alone, as many as three million Iranians turned out in the streets of Tehran. Many held placards that read "Where is my vote?"
Months of episodic unrest followed. Though brutally suppressed by the regime, barely a day has passed in the years since that officials have not spoken about "the sedition" ? and that it will never be allowed to happen again.
Perhaps inadvertently keeping a spotlight on that event, authorities detained two of Mr. Mousavi's daughters on Feb. 11, and one of Mr. Karroubi's sons, and ransacked their Tehran residences.
"Look at how the system is sensitive about the simplest things," another Karroubi son, Mohammad, told Al-Monitor's Barbara Slavin from London.
He said the interrogations were prompted by an open letter requesting access to their parents, and that in the last four months his father "has not seen the sun or smelled fresh air" except for three hospital visits, escorted by security agents.
"They are so afraid that when [Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi] are back into the society, if they started to talk and criticize the system, the government doesn't have enough confidence to tolerate that," said Mohammad Karroubi.
Therefore the dilemma can be solved only one way, Karroubi's son suggests: "The system has decided to engineer the election and fix the result."
RECOMMENDED: How much do you know about Iran? Take our quiz to find out.
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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/irans-ahmadinejad-going-rogue-term-ends-164013301.html
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Researchers from North Carolina State University have found that one of the most aggressive invasive ant species in the United States ? the Argentine ant ? appears to have met its match in the Asian needle ant. Specifically, the researchers have found that the Asian needle ant is successfully displacing Argentine ants in an urban environment, indicating that the Asian needle ant ? with its venomous sting ? may be the next invasive species to see a population boom.
In the world of invasive species, the Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) is a success story. Its aggressive, territorial behavior and ability to create huge "supercolonies" ? consisting of thousands of queens and millions of workers ? have enabled the Argentine ant to spread across the United States, displacing native species and changing ecosystems to suit its needs. No other ant species had been seen successfully pushing back ? until now.
In 2008, while watching a supercolony of Argentine ants in an urban environment, former NC State Ph.D. student Dr. Eleanor Spicer Rice noticed that Asian needle ants (Pachycondyla chinensis) were living and working in the area. This was surprising because Argentine ants normally do not tolerate any other ant species in their territory, so Spicer Rice decided to investigate further.
Over the next four years, Spicer Rice found that Argentine ants appeared to ignore Asian needle ants, and the Asian needle ants took advantage of the situation to displace a significant portion of the Argentine ant population. In 2008, Argentine ants had populations in 99 percent of the sites within the study area, while only 9 percent of the sites were home to Asian needle ant populations. By 2011, Argentine ants were found in only 67 percent of the sites ? while the Asian needle ants had expanded to occupy 32 percent of the sites. The two ant species shared 15 percent of the sites in common.
"This is the first time we've seen another ant species take territory from Argentine ants," says Spicer Rice, lead author of a paper on the research.
The researchers think that the Asian needle ant's ability to tolerate cooler temperatures may play a significant role in its ability to push out Argentine ants. During cold weather, both ant species become fairly dormant and cease reproducing, limiting their activity and driving their populations down. However, the Asian needle ants become active again much earlier ? beginning to reproduce and build new nests in Argentine ant territory as early as March, while the Argentine ants remain inactive until late April or early May. "The Asian needle ants essentially get a head start," Spicer Rice says.
"If the Asian needle ant is effective at displacing a dominant species ? and it is ? then it could be the next major invasive ant species," says Dr. Jules Silverman, a professor of entomology at NC State and co-author of the paper.
"The Asian needle ant is moving into forests and urban environments at the same time," Spicer Rice says. "And because it is active at cooler temperatures, it could move into a very broad range of territory." The Asian needle ant has already been found in areas ranging from Alabama to New York City to Oregon.
The rise of the Asian needle ant is bad news. Asian needle ants have venomous stings, which can cause allergic reactions in some humans. Asian needle ants also appear to be driving out native ant populations in forests ? including native species that play important roles in ecosystem processes, such as dispersing seeds.
###
The paper, "Propagule pressure and climate contribute to the displacement of Linepithema humile by Pachycondyla chinensis," was published online Feb. 8 in PLOS ONE. The research was supported by the Blanton J. Whitmire Endowment at NC State. Spicer Rice and Silverman are currently working on a paper that addresses why the Argentine ants are not attacking the Asian needle ants.
North Carolina State University: http://www.ncsu.edu
Thanks to North Carolina State University for this article.
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Monitor readers share their favorite book picks.
By James E. Davis, Dexter, Mich. / February 11, 2013
I am thoroughly enjoying A Terrible Glory by James Donovan and also "The Last Stand" by Nathaniel Philbrick, two works on the Little Big Horn campaign. Both works try to explain some unresolved issues concerning Custer, the men under his command, and the roles of Indians. A really great work, "Lakota Noon" by Gregory Michno, gives very helpful understandings of how Indians saw the battle unfold and participated in it. All three works address uncertainties and contradictions in the campaign, leaving the reader with far a better understanding of the battle and the complex issues associated with the battle.
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Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/_AuyCVQVmgE/Reader-recommendation-A-Terrible-Glory
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Associated Press
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 9:00 AM
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House and outside supporters of President Barack Obama are launching simultaneous social media, public outreach and fundraising campaigns tied to Tuesday's State of the Union address.
The efforts will concentrate on key issues Obama will raise in his prime-time address to a joint session of Congress: jobs and the budget, gun control, immigration and climate change. The wide-ranging outreach reflects a decision by the president and his advisers to focus more on using public support to pressure Congress rather than getting bogged down in partisan fights with lawmakers.
It's unclear whether the tactics -- many of which were successful in helping Obama win two presidential elections -- will be effective in pushing the president's second-term agenda. Many of the proposals he will press for Tuesday night, including using increased revenue to bring down the deficit and banning military-style assault weapons, face strong opposition from congressional Republicans, as well as some Democrats.
The White House will focus on using social media to engage the public on the proposals Obama will outline during the annual State of the Union address. Officials invited 100 people who follow the administration on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook to watch the speech from the White House and then participate in an online panel when Obama wraps up.
The White House will also stream an enhanced version of the address online that will incorporate graphics and data to complement Obama's rhetoric. Senior administration advisers on the economy, climate change and other issues will also answer questions online following the speech and throughout the week.
Immediately following Tuesday's address, Obama will hold a conference call with supporters attending State of the Union watch parties hosted by Organizing for Action, an outside group backing the president. The president will personally join the social media effort Thursday during an online discussion on Google, known as a "hangout."
Organizing for Action is an offshoot of Obama's presidential campaign and is run by several of his former campaign advisers. The newly formed organization, which has access to the Obama campaign's coveted donor and voter database, is using the State of the Union as a fundraising opportunity and will send out its first email to supporters asking for money following the address.
OFA officials outlined their State of the Union plans during a conference call with former staffers and volunteers Sunday night.
They said they would be particularly focused in the coming weeks on building support for the president's proposals for reducing gun violence and averting automatic spending cuts, known as the sequester.
OFA officials are planning two "national days of action," one focused on gun violence on Feb. 22 and another centered on the budget in early March. Jon Carson, the group's executive director, told supporters that Obama would also issue a "call to action on climate change" during the State of the Union, though he offered no specific details on what that would entail.
The president will still embark on the traditional post-State of the Union travel, with trips planned Wednesday to Asheville, N.C., Thursday to Atlanta, and Friday to Chicago. The stops are expected to center on Obama's proposals for boosting jobs and the economy, though officials said he would also discuss gun violence in his hometown of Chicago.
Source: http://www.kvue.com/news/politics/190677621.html
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AMMAN (Reuters) - Jordan's king on Sunday called for electoral changes to make parliament more representative, after Islamists boycotted last month's national poll saying rules were skewed against urban areas where they have most support.
Independents and candidates allied to Jordan's powerful tribal establishment, which is strongest in the countryside, won most seats in the national elections January 23, after the Islamic Action Front, the Muslim Brotherhood's political wing in Jordan and the country's largest opposition party, shunned the vote.
King Abdullah, who has close relations with the United States, told the opening session of the 150-member assembly, the first to be elected since the Arab Spring, that electoral rules must change to nurture multi-party democracy.
"The elections were held under a law that was not ideal ... Therefore I call for revisiting this law and reviewing the electoral system in a way that wins consensus, promotes fair representation," the monarch told the assembly.
The elections were the first since the king enacted constitutional changes last year devolving some of his powers to parliament, which critics said had become sidelined as powers shifted to the palace and security forces.
But Jordan's tribal political establishment resisted the king's efforts to grant a higher proportion of parliamentary seats to cities dominated by Jordanians of Palestinian origin, who make up a majority of the population of seven million.
Jordanians of native descent enjoy preferential access to state jobs and government funds, although businesses owned by citizens of Palestinian origin are pillars of the economy.
Constitutional change came after protests against corruption and critical of King Abdullah. Though inspired by the Arab Spring, they were not on the scale of those that toppled rulers in Egypt and Tunisia and sparked civil war in Libya and Syria.
Jordan's native elite is wary of Islamists, especially the Muslim Brotherhood, with its demand for political reform.
The electoral law as it stands gives disproportionate representation to sparsely populated rural tribal and Bedouin areas - the bedrock of support for the Hashemite dynasty.
Only twenty percent of seats were won by Jordanians of Palestinian origin and their resentment could strengthen the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood, which has a strong following among poor Palestinians living in camps.
The Muslim Brotherhood says it is not turning its back on democracy but protesting what it called meaningless elections.
Abdullah said he hoped the emergence of parliamentary blocs in the next few days would allow him to consult with deputies for the first time before he appoints a new prime minister.
The king remains for many citizens the ultimate guarantor of stability in Jordan, whose neighbors include Israel, civil-war torn Syria, and an Iraq also riven by sectarian strife.
(Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by Jason webb)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/jordans-king-wants-more-representative-parliament-boycott-154605920.html
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Cases of homeowners struggling against their banks to fend off foreclosure are a dime a dozen these days. But Michelle Hansen of Aurora, Colo., is upping the ante against JPMorgan Chase, which she says is refusing to grant her a loan modification after she became delinquent on her mortgage. What's her tactic? She's using her own house to publicly shame the bank, scrawling a message across her garage door that says: "JPMorgan Chase is stealing this home."
"They think everyone's just going to go away," Hansen (pictured below) told KMGH-TV in Denver of her bank. "I think they picked the wrong house." Hansen is doing anything but going away -- she's fighting back. The entirety of the message addressed to JPMorgan and its CEO, Jamie Dimon, that Hansen spray painted on her home reads: "Jamie Dimon & JPMorgan Chase, JPMorgan Chase is stealing this home. Ignores homeowner for 21 months!! I will not violate federal law on your behalf as a condition of communication from you! Call me. Chase Me!!" Hansen ends the note with a heart sign.
According to Hansen, she notified JPMorgan in May 2011 that she had fallen on hard times and would not be able to pay her mortgage payments. She said the bank promised to work with her on getting a loan modification, then refused to do so two months later. "You're told, 'We need A, B and C,' so you give them A, B and C, and then, 'No, we need this and then we'll talk to you,'" Hansen said. "So you did it, and they keep lying."
Hansen's attorney, Keith Gantenbein, said many Colorado homeowners find themselves in situations similar to Hansen's because the state's foreclosure practice is "very one-sided for lenders." He told KMGH, "There isn't a lot of due process protections for borrowers to say, 'Hey, I don't feel like I'm being treated fairly.'" The Gantenbein Law Firm estimates that about 20 percent of borrowers are underwater in Colorado. Nationally, 28.2 percent of borrowers were underwater in the third quarter of 2012, according to Zillow.
Hansen said her message to Chase was a last-ditch effort to save her home. "Doing this and making it personal, writing to Jaime Dimon was hard," she said. "I never wanted to pick a fight with the bank, but you can make a choice. You can make a choice to stand up for what you believe in."
See more:
Man Tags Own Home With Expletives, Enrages Neighbors
Homeowner's Mortgage Modification Saved Her Only $1.61 a Month
6 Steps to Nailing a Loan Modification
More on AOL Real Estate:
Find out how to calculate mortgage payments.
Find homes for sale in your area.
Find foreclosures in your area.
Find homes for rent in your area.
Follow us on Twitter at @AOLRealEstate or connect with AOL Real Estate on Facebook.
Source: http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/02/09/michelle-hansen-jpmorgan-chase-stealing-home/
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I was watching the news about the big blizzard in the Northeast and wanted to share this fun family craft activity that is perfect for a blizzard!
We rarely get snow in Dallas, but the one time we were all snowed in the house, I came up with a family craft challenge. It was a ton of fun!
Gather items you have around the house, such as markers, glue, candy, cupcake wrappers, paper, glitter, etc. Then set the timer and craft! Even my husband and son got into the challenge.
According to all of you, my husband won the challenge with this wild looking Love Bird! ha! See the rest of our crafts here and leave a comment with your vote.
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Source: http://www.livinglocurto.com/2013/02/snow-craft/
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Make hosting a special dinner party for a couple of friends more special by serving pre dinner Chocolate Martini?s! Having a slight sip pre-dinner whets the appetite and gets the taste buds going and personally I think pre dinner martini drinks are best served in small 3oz-4oz martini glasses! A line quoted from Shakespeare?s Henry IV play sums that up?
Falstaff said? ?Come, I will go drink with you, but I cannot tarry dinner.?
Cr?me de Cacao is a cacao (chocolate bean) flavoured?liqueur with hints of vanilla and comes in clear or dark varieties, both taste the same! This is not the same as a chocolate liqueur which is much sweeter and more syrupy! Rimming the glass with a touch of honey and chopped chocolate adds a touch of sweetness and a richer chocolate taste which counters the bitter taste of alcohol! You could also try using the clear cr?me de cacao and rim the glass with chopped white chocolate!
Ingredients:
How to make: Take two small plates and spread a light layer of honey on one and sprinkle the chopped chocolate over the other plate. Lightly stamp the rim of each martini glass into the honey and then into the chocolate, making sure the rim of the glass is coated with chocolate.?Pour the vodka and cr?me de cacao into a cocktail shaker with a few ice cubes and shake vigorously for a few seconds. Strain the drink into prepared glasses and serve immediately.?Serves ?2.
Source: http://foodandtools.com/2013/02/09/chocolate-martini/
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A new study may lead to treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS), which is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that can progress to severe disability and death. Researchers affiliated with the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, N.Y. have converted human skin cells into brain cells and used them to treat mice with myelin disorders, which are a family of diseases that includes MS. They reported their findings on February 7 in the journal Cell Stem Cell.
Multiple sclerosis is the most common myelin disorder. It is an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system attacks the myelin sheath, which surrounds nerve fibers. Loss of myelin results in the disruption of communication between cells and can cause problems related to muscle movement, balance, and vision. The new study represents an advancement in a procedure known as cell reprogramming. The technique returns mature cells a pluripotent state; these are embryonic-like cells, which have the potential to develop into many types of mature cells.
Myelin is made in cells known as oligodendrocytes. These cells are derived from oligodendrocyte progenitor (OPCs). One treatment for diseases such as MS is to transplant healthy, lab-made OPCs into the diseased brain, which could restore the lost myelin and reverse the damage from the disease. The researchers first reprogrammed human skin cells into embryonic-like stem cells. They then identified the cascade of chemical signals used by the body to turn pluripotent cells into OPCs; subsequently, they replicated that process in a laboratory dish. It took six years for the researchers to identify the chemical signals and then produce and purify enough OPCs that would yield sufficient myelin.
Leukodystrophy is a congenital condition in which the body is incapable of producing myelin. Each year, thousands of children are born in the US with some form of leukodystrophy. For the study, the researchers transplanted the OPCs into mice with leukodystrophy. A control group of mice did not receive the OPC treatment. These untreated mice displayed the typical symptoms of myelin loss as they grew older: They developed tremors, lost their sense of balance, and died prematurely, often from seizures. The treated group initially also developed tremors and other symptoms. However, once the transplanted cells began to produce sufficient myelin (a four month process), their symptoms improved and they did not die of seizures. Thus, the reprogramming technique developed by the researchers led to the re-myelination of the complete nervous system of diseased animals, improving their symptoms and prolonging their life.
The study falls on the heels of another study with pluripotent cells by UCLA stem cell researchers. The study was published on December 7, 2012 in the early online edition of the inaugural issue of the peer-reviewed journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine. The researchers reported that, by using a specially designed facility, they had reprogrammed human skin cells to be pluripotent and then differentiated them into neurons, using animal origin-free reagents and feeder conditions throughout the process. Researchers at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA also developed a set of standard operating procedures for the process, so other scientists can benefit from the derivation and differentiation techniques performed under Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) protocols. GMP protocols are tightly controlled and regulated so the cells created meet all the standards required for use in human beings.
Reference: Cell Stem Cell
Source: http://www.emaxhealth.com/11306/reprogramming-skin-cells-offers-new-hope-multiple-sclerosis-patients
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Fish is great for you, but once you're finished eating, there's no reason to throw out the bones: they're great for a lot of things. In this case, keep the fish bones from your last meal and use them to make a delicious savory salt that'll add umami flavor to any dish you sprinkle it over.
Making salt from your fish bones is easy: just scrape off as much meat as possible, boil the bones until the rest of the meat between the bones falls off. Let the bones dry for a day or two, then grind it up as fine as possible in a spice or coffee grinder. The result should be extremely powdery, and you can mix it with an equal amount of salt. That's all there is to it, and the video above even shows you how to clean the grinder when you're finished, a method we can vouch for.
When I hang on to fish bones, I usually keep them in order to make stock or to add a little richness to a seafood stew or soup, but this tip from the folks at CHOW is a different but equally fun application of what many people trash without a second thought.
Why You Should Turn Fish Bones Into Salt | CHOW
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(Phys.org)?Conventional wisdom holds that strong copyright and patent laws are necessary to encourage creativity. Without such protections, the thinking goes, competitors are free to steal ideas, create knockoffs and drain profits from innovators.
Yet a number of major industries ? fashion, cuisine, open-source software, finance, font design, stand-up comedy and more ? manage to thrive and innovate in the absence of legal protections for intellectual property.
In many of these industries, copying is widespread. And, in many cases, that's actually a good thing, according to University of Virginia law professor Christopher Sprigman.
Sprigman is the co-author of "The Knockoff Economy: How Imitation Sparks Innovation," a new book that explores how certain industries prosper without copyright and patent law, even amidst pervasive imitation.
"I'm not interested in intellectual property law. I'm interested in innovation. I'm interested in creativity," Sprigman said. "The typical story about IP law is that it's the handmaiden of innovation and creativity. That it's the way we incentivize people to engage in creative labor.
"But there's a whole world of creativity out there that is motivated by different things. The question is, can you sustain creativity at high levels without intellectual property, or with less IP than we have now? The answer for the book is 'Yes.'"
The book's inspiration arose from a conversation several years ago between Sprigman and co-author Kal Raustiala, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, about how the fashion industry manages to thrive despite the prevalence of knockoffs.
"Copyright doesn't cover fashion designs," Sprigman said. "And so fashion designers are free to copy and take inspiration from their rivals' designs. And there is lots of copying in the fashion industry, but there's lots of innovation and there's lots of profits. We wanted to understand how that was possible."
Sprigman and Raustiala figured out that copying actually allows the fashion industry to set trends and motivate consumers to buy more clothes.
"We don't know a trend until there are lots of copies. That's what makes a trend," Sprigman said. "Copying helps spread a trend and then it helps kill it when there's too much copying. The early adopters flee the trend and they adopt the next trend. So the trend cycle is fueled, in a sense, by copying, and this helps the industry as a whole, though it might in some instances hurt individual designers."
Other industries, such as cuisine, also thrive despite wide freedom to copy.
"You can't really copyright a recipe," he said. "You can't really copyright a dish as prepared, or patent it for that matter. But there's lots and lots of copying. Also lots and lots of innovation in cuisine."
A similar situation can be found in professional football, he said.
There's "lots of innovation in football offenses and defenses ? wide freedom to copy," he said. "In fact, these offenses and defenses are knocked off all the time. But that doesn't stop coaches from innovating, and we explore why."
The book also delves into the world of stand-up comedy, building on an earlier article written by Sprigman and U.Va. colleague Dotan Oliar. Without intellectual property law to prevent joke theft, comedians police themselves.
"In stand-up comedy, copyright doesn't really provide effective protection for jokes or comedic routines," Sprigman said. "But comedians have developed a system of social norms that discourages joke stealing."
Sprigman cited a 2007 incident at a Los Angeles comedy club in which comedian Joe Rogan publicly accused Carlos Mencia of stealing material from other comics. A video of the confrontation went viral.
"That is a rather public example of what comedians do a lot, which is, they confront each other when they think a joke has been stolen," Sprigman said. "It effectively reduces joke stealing to a level low enough that there is no market failure and comedians feel secure enough in their rights that they will author new material all the time."
One of the biggest proponents of copyright law has been the music industry, which Sprigman says has witnessed a "collapse of social norms against stealing" in little over a decade, with the rise of Napster in 1999 and its successor peer-to-peer networks in subsequent years.
"This has hurt the record companies tremendously. I have no doubt about that," Sprigman said. "The question is, has it hurt music? There's a huge amount of music these days, of very high quality, available to people at a relatively low price. So in some ways we're living in a very fertile period for music even as the record industry is declining."
The book suggests a path forward for the music industry that relies less on tough copyright law and more on some of the strategies employed by other industries covered in the book. One possibility, Sprigman said, would be to rely more on social norms. There is a model for this in the music industry, one pioneered by the Grateful Dead.
The Grateful Dead allowed fans to record their concerts and trade the recordings for free. In return, fans agreed not to share the studio recordings. Other jam bands and their fans followed this model.
"When fans share live recordings on peer-to-peer networks, they actually police the sharing of recordings ? typically studio recordings ? that the band has reserved for themselves for sale."
As a result, fans enforce a social norm that the bands would have a difficult time enforcing through copyright, Sprigman said.
"The music community, as a whole, as it changes, might become more like the jam-band community," he said. "The record label executives would certainly be wise to start looking into that."
While some, including the music industry, argue that more copyright laws are needed, Sprigman said the "world is shifting against them."
As evidence, he pointed to the recent defeat of the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act in the United States and the European Union Parliament's rejection last month of an international treaty to crack down on digital piracy and counterfeiting.
"There's a growing awareness around the world that copyright and patent aren't a one-way street, that more copyright and patent aren't always good for society, that there are costs associated with copyright and patent," he said. "There are those who argue that more copyright and patent are necessary. I'm open to these arguments. If I see empirical evidence of it, I'm open to it. I just haven't seen it."
Provided by University of Virginia
Source: http://phys.org/news/2013-02-knockoffs-boost-economy-law-professor.html
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