Saturday, December 31, 2011

The Plug Hub Manages Your Mess of Surge Protector Cables [Video]

The Plug Hub Manages Your Mess of Surge Protector Cables We've talked about a lot of cordless workspace solutions here at Lifehacker, but if all you need is a bit of organization around your surge protector, the Plug Hub lets you shorten and organize your cables for clean, easy access.

The Plug Hub is a simple case with three openings in the top for cables and a door that swings open for easy management. Inside, you'll find three anchors on which you can wrap any excess cable so it isn't an eyesore of tangles. You can either stand it on end or use the mounting holes on the back to attach it to a wall behind your desk. The Plug Hub retails for $28.95.

Plug Hub Cable Organizer | Quirky via Unplggd

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/yZOlNrJBbaY/the-plug-hub-manages-your-mess-of-surge-protector-cables

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Friday, December 30, 2011

Rhino Poaching Hits New Record High in South Africa


BBM Explorer/CC BY 2.0

In terms of poaching, elephants had an awful year in 2011, and now we learn that the same thing can be said for rhinos.

Reuters reports that rhino poaching in South Africa increased 33% in 2011, with 443 rhinos killed and half of that poaching occurring in Kruger National Park:

The street value of rhinoceros horn has soared to about $65,000 a kilogram...as a belief?with no basis in science?has taken hold in recent years in parts of Asia that ingesting it can cure or prevent cancer.

South Africa, home to 90% of the African rhino population at about 20,000 individuals, was losing about 15 animals a year a decade ago. But poaching increased dramatically from about 2007 as a growing affluent class in places such as Vietnam and Thailand began spending more on rhino horn for traditional medicine.

I quote those two paragraphs because to the casual follower of the plight of the rhino due to poaching, and the causes of that poaching, it ands a wrinkle to the story as commonly told.

1) Though rhino horn has been removed from the official pharmacopeia of Traditional Chinese Medicine (where it had previously been prescribed for a variety of ailments, though not impotency as sometimes believed), the erroneous belief that rhino horn has anti-cancer properties is part of the reason for the rise in rhino horn prices and therefore poaching; and 2) It's not just Chinese demand, but also Vietnamese and Thai use of rhino horn. Which is all to say, contrary to the verbal finger pointing that I sometimes hear about China this and China that in regards to rhino horn or whatever endangered species (often with a very very thinly veiled bit of xenophobia underneath it all), it's a bigger issue than that, though does not let China off the hook either.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/treehuggersite/~3/HmM3Ra5O1gw/rhino-poaching-new-record-high-south-africa-2011.html

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Faces & Names: Clarkson to lead Carnival parade

Clarkson to lead Carnival parade

Actress Patricia Clarkson will lead the Carnival parade of the Krewe of Muses in her hometown of New Orleans.

The star of the 2010 thriller ?Shutter Island? and the 2003 drama ?Pieces of April? will step into a whimsical limelight by riding on a red fiber-optic-lit float shaped like a high-heeled shoe.

The Krewe of Muses is an all-women?s organization that parades through New Orleans on Feb. 16.

The krewe traditionally selects an honorary rider who exemplifies a muse from Greek mythology, such as dance, poetry or music. For 2012, the club said it chose Clarkson as its honorary ?EveryMuse? because she embodies the spirit of all muses.

Have an event that just happened that you?d like to share? Pictures, perhaps, or other goings-on from the Northland to Hollywoodland? Send them to facesandnames@duluthnews.com.

Tags: arts and entertainment,?life,?news,?updates,?arts,?entertainment

Source: http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/218544/

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Monday, December 19, 2011

Rough week for Browns ends with frustrating loss (AP)

GLENDALE, Ariz. ? A difficult week came to a frustrating end for the Cleveland Browns, and a bad season got worse.

The Browns blew a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter and were beaten in overtime by the Arizona Cardinals 20-17 on Sunday.

Cleveland (4-10) has lost four straight and seven out of eight.

The theme was the same ? playing close but coming up short.

"It always happens," Cleveland cornerback Joe Haden said. "We just have to figure out a way to get it fixed."

Colt McCoy didn't even make the trip to Arizona after sustaining a concussion on a vicious helmet-to-helmet hit from the Steelers' James Harrison. McCoy, as has been well documented, returned to the game a short time later after no concussion test was administered.

Later, he began showing symptoms and didn't practice last week.

Seneca Wallace stepped in for his first start of the season and promptly drove the team downfield for a touchdown after the opening kickoff.

He had Cleveland up 10-0 until the final 19 seconds of the first half.

When he connected with Greg Little for a 76-yard touchdown ? the Browns' longest play in four seasons ? Cleveland led 17-7 with 3:01 left in the third quarter.

Wallace was 18 of 31 for 226 yards.

"We had them on their heels and when it gets to that point, it is about not making mistakes," Wallace said, "not turning the ball over and giving them some easy points, and making plays. They played well on defense and made some plays. I need to help us out a lot more and make some more plays for our team."

Coach Pat Shurmur was asked if he would stay with Wallace, regardless of McCoy's status.

"It's too early to tell," Shurmur said. "That decision is made when you've got both guys healthy."

Arizona (7-7) became the ninth team in NFL history to win three overtime games in a season and just the second to win all three at home.

"We have a flair for dramatics," Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald said. "Today was kind of typical Cardinals fashion."

Little caught five passes for a career-best 131 yards for Cleveland.

A healthy Peyton Hillis gained a season-high 99 yards on 26 carries for Cleveland.

Arizona's offense, so slow to start even through the team's recent success, scored the final 13 points of the game.

John Skelton completed 5 of 7 for 82 yards in the 11-play, 87-yard drive that culminated in Beanie Wells' 1-yard touchdown run that cut the lead to 17-14 with 8:33 remaining in regulation.

A holding penalty on Cleveland's subsequent kickoff return pinned the Browns at their 10 and O'Brien Schofield got Arizona's first sack of the day on the elusive Wallace to push Cleveland back to its 5.

Schofield got through on the next play as well, grabbing Wallace by an ankle and spinning him to the ground as the quarterback lost the ball.

Initially, Wallace was ruled down on the play, but coach Ken Whisenhunt challenged and the call was reversed.

Replays showed the ball coming loose well before Wallace fell backward onto the turf. The Cardinals took over at the Cleveland 5 needing only to punch it in to take the lead.

But Jabaal Sheard got his second sack, and Cleveland's fourth of the game and Arizona settled for Jay Feely's 33-yard field goal that tied it at 17 with 5:40 to play.

Cleveland won the coin toss to get the ball first in overtime, but the Browns managed only one first down before having to punt. Brad Maynard had artfully kicked the ball away from Patrick Peterson, the spectacular rookie whose four punt returns for scores have tied an NFL record.

"I thought we did a very nice job, even on that last punt," Shurmur said. "We had a guy down in his face and you know we were trying to kick the ball out of bounds or try to pin him down there and the guy in his face thought he saw the fair catch."

He doesn't know Peterson very well, then. The rookie disdains the fair catch, especially with the game on the line.

He fielded it near his left sideline and ran across the field before making a run for it near the right sideline. He took it to the Cleveland 40 and, two plays later, Skelton found Fitzgerald, more open than he'd been all day, far downfield.

Notes: Little's TD catch was his 55th reception of the season, surpassing Eric Metcalf for second-most by a Browns rookie. Kevin Johnson has the team's rookie record with 66 in 1999. ... Cleveland lost three players ? LB Titus Brown (knee), WR Jordan Norwood (concussion) and LB Ben Jacobs (concussion).

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111219/ap_on_sp_fo_ga_su/fbn_browns

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Sunday, December 18, 2011

Turkish mosque collapse kills 1, injures 9

An official says one worker was killed and nine others were rescued after the dome of a mosque collapsed.

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Mayor Hasan Unver told NTV television that the dome of the mosque being built in an industrial area of central Turkish town of Acigol tumbled down during construction, trapping 10 workers under a pile of iron.

He says nine of the workers were rescued with injuries while the other was pulled out dead.

State-run TRT television showed images of rescuers, some carrying a bright orange stretcher, scrambling to rescue one trapped worker amid a pile of rubble and iron rods.

The cause of the accident was under investigation.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45706530/ns/world_news-europe/

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Saturday, December 17, 2011

NASA's RXTE detects 'heartbeat' of smallest black hole candidate

Friday, December 16, 2011

An international team of astronomers has identified a candidate for the smallest-known black hole using data from NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). The evidence comes from a specific type of X-ray pattern, nicknamed a "heartbeat" because of its resemblance to an electrocardiogram. The pattern until now has been recorded in only one other black hole system.

Named IGR J17091-3624 after the astronomical coordinates of its sky position, the binary system combines a normal star with a black hole that may weigh less than three times the sun's mass. That is near the theoretical mass boundary where black holes become possible.

Gas from the normal star streams toward the black hole and forms a disk around it. Friction within the disk heats the gas to millions of degrees, which is hot enough to emit X-rays. Cyclical variations in the intensity of the X-rays observed reflect processes taking place within the gas disk. Scientists think that the most rapid changes occur near the black hole's event horizon, the point beyond which nothing, not even light, can escape.

Astronomers first became aware of the binary system during an outburst in 2003. Archival data from various space missions show it becomes active every few years. Its most recent outburst started in February and is ongoing. The system is located in the direction of the constellation Scorpius, but its distance is not well established. It could be as close as 16,000 light-years or more than 65,000 light-years away.

The record-holder for wide-ranging X-ray variability is another black hole binary system named GRS 1915+105. This system is unique in displaying more than a dozen highly structured patterns, typically lasting between seconds and hours.

"We think that most of these patterns represent cycles of accumulation and ejection in an unstable disk, and we now see seven of them in IGR J17091," said Tomaso Belloni at Brera Observatory in Merate, Italy. "Identifying these signatures in a second black hole system is very exciting."

In GRS 1915, strong magnetic fields near the black hole's event horizon eject some of the gas into dual, oppositely directed jets that blast outward at about 98 percent the speed of light. The peak of its heartbeat emission corresponds to the emergence of the jet.

Changes in the X-ray spectrum observed by RXTE during each beat reveal that the innermost region of the disk emits enough radiation to push back the gas, creating a strong outward wind that stops the inward flow, briefly starving the black hole and shutting down the jet. This corresponds to the faintest emission. Eventually, the inner disk gets so bright and hot it essentially disintegrates and plunges toward the black hole, re-establishing the jet and beginning the cycle anew. This entire process happens in as little as 40 seconds.

While there is no direct evidence IGR J17091 possesses a particle jet, its heartbeat signature suggests that similar processes are at work. Researchers say that this system's heartbeat emission can be 20 times fainter than GRS 1915 and can cycle some eight times faster, in as little as five seconds.

Astronomers estimate that GRS 1915 is about 14 times the sun's mass, placing it among the most-massive-known black holes that have formed because of the collapse of a single star. The research team analyzed six months of RXTE observations to compare the two systems, concluding that IGR J17091 must possess a minuscule black hole.

"Just as the heart rate of a mouse is faster than an elephant's, the heartbeat signals from these black holes scale according to their masses," said Diego Altamirano, an astrophysicist at the University of Amsterdam in The Netherlands and lead author of a paper describing the findings in the Nov. 4 issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

The researchers say this analysis is just the start of a larger program to compare both of these black holes in detail using data from RXTE, NASA's Swift satellite and the European XMM-Newton observatory.

"Until this study, GRS 1915 was essentially a one-off, and there's only so much we can understand from a single example," said Tod Strohmayer, the project scientist for RXTE at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "Now, with a second system exhibiting similar types of variability, we really can begin to test how well we understand what happens at the brink of a black hole."

Launched in late 1995, RXTE is second only to Hubble as the longest serving of NASA's operating astrophysics missions. RXTE provides a unique observing window into the extreme environments of neutron stars and black holes.

###

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center: http://www.nasa.gov/goddard

Thanks to NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center 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.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116101/NASA_s_RXTE_detects__heartbeat__of_smallest_black_hole_candidate

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Palm-sized baby, 2nd smallest in US, is growing

This undated photo provided by Melinda Guido?s family shows Melinda, with her mother's fingers in the scene, in the neonatal intensive care unit at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center. Melinda was born premature at 24 weeks weighing 9.5 ounces. She?s believed to be the second smallest surviving baby in the United States and third smallest in the world. (AP Photo/Haydee Ibarra)

This undated photo provided by Melinda Guido?s family shows Melinda, with her mother's fingers in the scene, in the neonatal intensive care unit at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center. Melinda was born premature at 24 weeks weighing 9.5 ounces. She?s believed to be the second smallest surviving baby in the United States and third smallest in the world. (AP Photo/Haydee Ibarra)

This undated photo provided by Melinda Guido?s family shows Melinda in the neonatal intensive care unit at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center. Melinda was born premature at 24 weeks weighing 9.5 ounces. She?s believed to be the second smallest surviving baby in the United States and third smallest in the world. (AP Photo/Haydee Ibarra)

Haydee Ibarra, looks at her 14-week-old daughter, Melinda Star Guido, at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011. At birth, Melinda Star Guido tipped the scales at only 9 1/2 ounces, a tad less than the weight of two iPhone 4S. Most babies her size don?t survive, but doctors are preparing to send her home as soon as the end of the month. Melinda is believed to be the second smallest baby to survive in the United States and the third smallest in the world. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

14-week-old Melinda Star Guido holds her mother's little finger while lying in an incubator at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011. At birth, Melinda Star Guido tipped the scales at only 9 1/2 ounces, a tad less than the weight of two iPhone 4S. Melinda is believed to be the second smallest baby to survive in the United States and the third smallest in the world. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

14-week-old Melinda Star Guido holds her mother's little finger while lying in an incubator at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011. At birth, Melinda Star Guido tipped the scales at only 9 1/2 ounces, a tad less than the weight of two iPhone 4S. Most babies her size don?t survive, but doctors are preparing to send her home as soon as the end of the month. Melinda is believed to be the second smallest baby to survive in the United States and the third smallest in the world. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? At birth, Melinda Star Guido was so tiny she could fit into the palm of her doctor's hand. Weighing just 9 1/2 ounces ? less than a can of soda ? she is among the smallest babies ever born in the world. Most infants her size don't survive, but doctors are preparing to send her home by New Year's.

Melinda was born premature at 24 weeks over the summer and spent the early months cocooned in an incubator in the neonatal intensive care unit in Southern California. Almost every day, her 22-year-old mother sits at her bedside and stays overnight whenever she can.

The day before her Thursday due date, Haydee Ibarra visited Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center where her daughter has been since her birth in late August. Melinda is believed to be the second smallest baby to survive in the U.S. and third in the world.

Ibarra caressed Melinda through the portholes of the incubator where nurses pinned up a homemade sign bearing her name. Now weighing four pounds, Melinda gripped Ibarra's pinky finger and yawned.

"Melinda, Melinda," she cooed at her daughter dressed in a polka dot onesie. "You're awake today."

During her pregnancy, Ibarra suffered from high blood pressure, which can be dangerous for both mother and fetus. She was transferred from a hospital near her San Fernando Valley home to the county's flagship hospital, which was better equipped to handle high-risk pregnancies.

There was a problem with the placenta, the organ that nourishes the developing fetus. The fetus, however, was not getting proper nutrition, blood and oxygen. Doctors knew Melinda would weigh less than a pound, but they were surprised at how small and fragile she was.

"The first few weeks, it was touch and go. None of us thought the baby was going to make it," said Dr. Rangasamy Ramanathan, who oversees premature infants.

Even if she survived, doctors told Ibarra and her husband Yovani Guido, children born this extremely premature can have developmental delays and impairments such as blindness, deafness or cerebral palsy.

Ibarra, who previously had a stillborn, told doctors to do whatever necessary to help her baby.

"They said, 'We'll take the chance. Please try.' So we said. 'OK we'll try,'" Ramanathan recalled.

Melinda was delivered by cesarean section at 24 weeks and was immediately transferred to the NICU where a team of doctors and nurses kept watch around the clock. Infants born before 37 weeks are considered premature.

Melinda was kept insulated in an incubator and was hooked up to a machine to aid her breathing. She got nutrition through a feeding tube. Her mother said her skin felt like plastic because it was so thin.

"It takes a lot of good care and a lot of good luck. Most of them don't survive," said pediatrician Dr. Edward Bell of the University of Iowa who keeps an online database of the world's smallest surviving babies who were less than a pound at birth.

The list currently contains 126 babies dating back to 1936. Since submission is voluntary, it does not represent all survivors.

Ten babies weighing less than a pound were born last year and survived. Melinda joins three other tiny survivors delivered this year in Berkeley; Seoul, South Korea; and Iowa City, Iowa. All are bigger than Melinda, who is not eligible to be listed until she gets discharged.

Most tiny babies who survive tend to be female. That's because female fetuses mature faster than males of the same gestational age. Having more developed lungs and other vital organs increases odds of survival.

Bell published a study last year that found many survivors struggle with health and learning problems. For those for whom growth data are available, many are short and underweight for their age.

There are some success stories.

The smallest surviving baby born weighing 9.2 ounces is now a healthy 7-year-old and another who weighed 9.9 ounces at birth is an honors college student studying psychology. Their progress was detailed in a study published this week in the journal Pediatrics by doctors at Loyola University Medical Center in Illinois where the girls were born.

In the past three years, Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center treated two other babies with extremely low birth weight who survived, but Melinda holds the record at the hospital.

A month after she was born, she was treated for an eye disorder that's common in premature babies. She faced her biggest test last month when she underwent surgery to close an artery that usually seals after birth.

Ybarra held Melinda for the first time after the surgery. Before that, she could only touch her through the incubator. The next challenge is learning to bottle feed before discharge. Ramanathan predicted at least another two-week stay, dashing her parents' hopes of taking her home by Christmas.

Ramanathan said it's too early to know how Melinda will fare when she grows up. Since she did not have major complications such as bleeding in the brain, he held out hope.

Melinda can breathe by herself, but still uses an oxygen tube as a precaution. On Wednesday, an ophthalmologist checked out her eyes and said everything looked good.

After the checkup, Ibarra lifted Melinda out of the incubator and sat in a rocking chair, cradling her.

___

Online:

Tiniest Babies Registry: http://www.healthcare.uiowa.edu/tiniestbabies/index.htm

___

Follow Alicia Chang's coverage at http://www.twitter.com/SciWriAlicia

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-12-15-Tiny%20Baby/id-1e4a500f016f428d94bd0f68197e8164

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Friday, December 16, 2011

Thousands of birds make crash landing in Utah

In this photo provided by Utah Division of Wildlife Services, a Utah Division of Wildlife Resources employee frees some surviving grebes on Dec. 13, 2011 at Stratton Pond in Hurricane, Utah after thousands of the birds crash landed throughout Southern Utah on Monday night. Officials say storm clouds above city lights Monday night probably confused thousands of grebes, which are a duck-like aquatic bird that migrates south for the winter. Thousands of the birds were killed, but more than 2,000 had been rescued by Tuesday evening. The survivors were released into Washington County bodies. (AP Photo/Utah Division of Wildlife Services, Lynn Chamberlain)

In this photo provided by Utah Division of Wildlife Services, a Utah Division of Wildlife Resources employee frees some surviving grebes on Dec. 13, 2011 at Stratton Pond in Hurricane, Utah after thousands of the birds crash landed throughout Southern Utah on Monday night. Officials say storm clouds above city lights Monday night probably confused thousands of grebes, which are a duck-like aquatic bird that migrates south for the winter. Thousands of the birds were killed, but more than 2,000 had been rescued by Tuesday evening. The survivors were released into Washington County bodies. (AP Photo/Utah Division of Wildlife Services, Lynn Chamberlain)

In this photo provided by Utah Division of Wildlife Services, surviving grebes swim across the waters of Stratton Pond in Hurricane, Utah following their release by Utah Division of Wildlife Resources employees Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011 after thousands of the birds crash landed throughout Southern Utah on Monday night. Officials say storm clouds above city lights Monday night probably confused thousands of grebes, which are a duck-like aquatic bird that migrates south for the winter. Thousands of the birds were killed, but more than 2,000 had been rescued by Tuesday evening. The survivors were released into Washington County bodies. (AP Photo/Utah Division of Wildlife Services, Lynn Chamberlain)

In this photo provided by Utah Division of Wildlife Services, a surviving grebe huddles in the snow Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011 after thousands of the birds crash landed throughout Southern Utah on Monday night. Officials say storm clouds above city lights Monday night probably confused thousands of grebes, which are a duck-like aquatic bird that migrates south for the winter. Thousands of the birds were killed, but more than 2,000 had been rescued by Tuesday evening. The survivors were released into Washington County bodies. (AP Photo/Utah Division of Wildlife Services, Lynn Chamberlain)

In this photo provided by Utah Division of Wildlife Services, a surviving grebe waddles across the snow Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011 after thousands of the birds crash landed throughout Southern Utah on Monday night. Officials say storm clouds above city lights Monday night probably confused thousands of grebes, which are a duck-like aquatic bird that migrates south for the winter. Thousands of the birds were killed, but more than 2,000 had been rescued by Tuesday evening. The survivors were released into Washington County bodies. (AP Photo/Utah Division of Wildlife Services, Lynn Chamberlain)

In this photo provided by Utah Division of Wildlife Services, a surviving grebe huddles in the snow Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011 after thousands of the birds crash landed throughout Southern Utah on Monday night. Officials say storm clouds above city lights Monday night probably confused thousands of grebes, which are a duck-like aquatic bird that migrates south for the winter. Thousands of the birds were killed, but more than 2,000 had been rescued by Tuesday evening. The survivors were released into Washington County bodies. (AP Photo/Utah Division of Wildlife Services, Lynn Chamberlain)

(AP) ? Thousands of migratory birds were killed or injured after apparently mistaking a Wal-Mart parking lot, football fields and other snow-covered areas of southern Utah for bodies of water and plummeting to the ground in what one state wildlife expert called the worst mass bird crash she'd ever seen.

Crews went to work cleaning up the dead birds and rescuing the injured survivors after the creatures crash-landed in the St. George area Monday night.

By midday Wednesday, volunteers had helped rescue more than 3,000 birds, releasing them into a nearby pond. There's no count on how many died, although officials estimate it's upwards of 1,500.

"They're just everywhere," said Teresa Griffin, wildlife program manager for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resource's southern region. "It's been nonstop. All our employees are driving around picking them up, and we've got so many people coming to our office and dropping them off."

No human injuries or property damage have been reported.

Officials say stormy conditions probably confused the flock of eared grebes, a duck-like aquatic bird likely making its way to the Mexican coast for the winter.

The birds plunged into a Cedar City Wal-Mart parking lot, football fields, highways and over miles of property that had been blanketed by about 3 inches of gleaming snow.

"The storm clouds over the top of the city lights made it look like a nice, flat body of water. All the conditions were right," Griffin told The Spectrum newspaper in St. George (http://bit.ly/rYpQbJ). "So the birds landed to rest, but ended up slamming into the pavement."

Kevin McGowan, who studies birds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, N.Y., said grebes rely on starlight to navigate during their nighttime migration.

"Before there were (artificial lights), the sky was always paler than the ground," he told The Associated Press. "When all of a sudden there's light all over the place, they don't know which way is up anymore."

McGowan said it's not uncommon for birds to crash en masse, especially if they confuse the ground for water.

A high-profile crash in Arkansas in January killed about 4,500 birds, mainly red-winged blackbirds. The National Wildlife Heath Center concluded the birds were startled by loud noises in the area, including celebratory fireworks on New Year's Eve, and crashed amid their poor night-vision.

More than 175 mass death events, in which more than 1,000 birds died, have been reported to the National Wildlife Heath Center in the past 10 years. Causes for those die-offs included disease, weather, poisoning, trauma and starvation.

But Griffin said the Utah downing was notable among the ones she's seen because it was so widespread. Downed flocks were reported all over Cedar City, and as far as 30 miles south.

"I've been here 15 years, and this was the worst downing I've seen," she told the newspaper.

Wildlife officials said they were continuing the rescue effort that started Tuesday afternoon and included residents collecting grebes ? which weigh about a pound ? and delivering them in cardboard boxes to the wildlife department's office.

Officers said once they dropped the birds into bodies of water in southern Utah's Washington County, including a pond near Hurricane, the water-loving creatures were "very active."

Many of the birds had broken wings or other injuries from the accident. Wildlife agency spokesman Lynn Chamberlain said the birds' hollow bones can heal, although humans can't do much to help the process.

Keeping them in water ? where they have food and won't have to fly ? improves their chances.

"We're giving them the best shot they can," Chamberlain said. "The likelihood is that most of them will survive."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/aa9398e6757a46fa93ed5dea7bd3729e/Article_2011-12-14-Bird%20Crash%20Landing/id-2525568bb64a4452848701945488456a

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Video: Reality check in Iraq

South Pole feat remembered, 100 years later

Polar adventurers, scientists and the prime minister of Norway gathered at the bottom of the world Wednesday to mark the 100th anniversary of explorer Roald Amundsen becoming the first to reach the South Pole.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/45660589#45660589

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Wednesday, December 7, 2011

FAA chief on leave after drunken driving arrest

This handout provided by Fairfax County, Va. Sheriff's Office shows FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. Babbitt was placed on a leave of absence Monday and U.S. officials said his employment is under review following his arrest for drunken driving in suburban Northern Virginia. (AP Photo/Fairfax County, Va. Sheriff's Office)

This handout provided by Fairfax County, Va. Sheriff's Office shows FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. Babbitt was placed on a leave of absence Monday and U.S. officials said his employment is under review following his arrest for drunken driving in suburban Northern Virginia. (AP Photo/Fairfax County, Va. Sheriff's Office)

(AP) ? Transportation Department officials are deciding how to handle Federal Aviation Administration chief Randy Babbitt's weekend arrest on charges of drunken driving in suburban northern Virginia.

Babbitt was placed on a leave of absence Monday, and Transportation officials are in "discussions with legal counsel" about his employment status, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's office said in a statement Monday afternoon.

The Federal Aviation Administration is part of the Transportation Department. Babbitt is about halfway through a five-year term.

Babbitt, 65, was charged with driving while intoxicated after a patrol officer spotted him driving on the wrong side of the road and pulled him over around 10:30 p.m. Saturday in Fairfax City, Va., police in the Washington suburb said.

Babbitt, who lives in nearby Reston, Va., was the only occupant in the vehicle, police said. He cooperated and was released on his own recognizance.

Babbitt apparently delayed telling administration officials about the arrest. White House spokesman Jay Carney said President Barack Obama and Transportation Department officials learned of the arrest Monday afternoon, about an hour before a 1:30 p.m. statement was released saying Babbitt had been placed on leave at his request.

Separately, Fairfax City police issued a statement on the arrest to the media at about noon Monday, which their policies require in cases where a public official has been arrested. Police refused to disclose the results of Babbitt's blood alcohol test. The legal limit is .08.

LaHood has aggressively campaigned against drunken driving, and is working with police agencies and safety advocates on an annual holiday crackdown on drinking and driving later this month. Safety advocates credit LaHood with doing more to raise the visibility of human factors in highway safety ? including drunken driving, drivers distracted by cell phone use, and parents who fail to buckle in their children ? than any previous transportation secretary.

Deputy FAA Administrator Michael Huerta will serve as acting administrator, the Transportation Department statement said. In recent months Huerta has been leading the FAA's troubled NextGen effort to transition from an air traffic control system based on World War II-era radar technology to one based on satellite technology.

Babbitt was a former airline captain and internationally recognized expert in aviation and labor relations when Obama tapped him in 2009 to head the FAA. He was a pilot for the now-defunct Eastern Airlines for 25 years, and had served as president of the Air Line Pilots Association. As head of ALPA, he championed the "one level of safety" initiative implemented in 1995 to improve safety standards across the airline industry.

Babbitt's nomination in 2009 was warmly received by both industry officials and airline unions. His easy manner and insider's knowledge of the airline industry generated respect in Congress, where he regularly testified on safety issues and in support of NextGen.

Babbitt took over at the FAA when the agency was still reeling from the exposure of widespread safety gaps in the regional airline industry. The problems were revealed by a National Transportation Safety Board investigation of the February 2009 crash of a regional airliner near Buffalo, N.Y., that killed 50 people.

Babbitt and LaHood promised to immediately implement a series of safety initiatives. At Babbitt's urging airlines adopted a series of voluntary safety measures, although safety advocates say voluntary measures aren't enough. The FAA under Babbitt has also initiated several efforts to craft major new safety regulations, ranging from preventing pilot fatigue to boosting experience levels and training of airline pilots.

But Babbitt has struggled to realize several of those safety proposals. Some proposals have stalled as industry opponents lobbied White House officials against the proposed regulations, saying they would cost too much or be too burdensome.

The biggest crisis of Babbitt's FAA tenure occurred last spring over a period of several weeks when nine air traffic controllers were allegedly caught sleeping on the job or were unresponsive to radio calls while on duty. The head of the FAA's Air Traffic Organization was forced to resign during the ensuing uproar.

As the FAA's top official, Babbitt has the final say in disciplinary proceedings involving controllers who violate the agency's drug and alcohol regulations.

___

Barakat reported from Fairfax, Va.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-12-06-FAA%20Chief-Drunken%20Driving/id-2fbf80a99da94808abd5865f583f93ca

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Tuesday, December 6, 2011

2 nations' leading universities to collaborate in the stars

2 nations' leading universities to collaborate in the stars [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 5-Dec-2011
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Contact: George Hunka
ghunka@aftau.org
212-742-9070
American Friends of Tel Aviv University

Tel Aviv University and Harvard University announce joint astrophysics initiative

Tel Aviv University and Harvard University have launched the new Raymond and Beverly Sackler HarvardTel Aviv Astronomy Initiative, a collaboration between the Department of Astrophysics at TAU's Raymond and Beverly Sackler School of Physics and Astronomy and the Institute for Theory and Computation (ITC) at the HarvardSmithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Funded by renowned philanthropist Dr. Raymond Sackler, the program will support research across all areas of astrophysics. "This important new collaboration builds on the world-renowned research infrastructures at Harvard and TAU. It provides a framework for a mutually beneficial and productive collaboration between two of the world's great universities," says Prof. Amiel Sternberg, director of the program at TAU. The initiative includes not only joint projects among the faculty, but also student exchanges, a lecture series, and workshops held in Tel Aviv every two years.

As part of the new program, TAU will also be offering a prize post-doctoral position called the Sackler Prize Fellowship in Astrophysics, with shared time at both institutions, to support and promote the independent projects of outstanding young researchers.

"We are grateful to Dr. Sackler for establishing this program," says Prof. Avi Loeb, Director of the ITC and Chair of the Astronomy Department at Harvard, "and we look forward to building a productive relationship with TAU."

###

The Department of Astronomy at TAU is internationally recognized as a leading research group. Two of its faculty members were recently awarded prestigious European Council Research grants of more than $2,000,000 each, to support the studies of the physics of cosmic explosions and searches for extrasolar planets. An Israel-Germany science partnership grant, $1,500,000 for astronomers at TAU and Max-Planck-Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, supports observational and theoretical studies of galaxy formation and black hole growth in the early Universe.

American Friends of Tel Aviv University (http://www.aftau.org) supports Israel's leading, most comprehensive and most sought-after center of higher learning. Independently ranked 94th among the world's top universities for the impact of its research, TAU's innovations and discoveries are cited more often by the global scientific community than all but 10 other universities.

Internationally recognized for the scope and groundbreaking nature of its research and scholarship, Tel Aviv University consistently produces work with profound implications for the future.



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


2 nations' leading universities to collaborate in the stars [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 5-Dec-2011
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: George Hunka
ghunka@aftau.org
212-742-9070
American Friends of Tel Aviv University

Tel Aviv University and Harvard University announce joint astrophysics initiative

Tel Aviv University and Harvard University have launched the new Raymond and Beverly Sackler HarvardTel Aviv Astronomy Initiative, a collaboration between the Department of Astrophysics at TAU's Raymond and Beverly Sackler School of Physics and Astronomy and the Institute for Theory and Computation (ITC) at the HarvardSmithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Funded by renowned philanthropist Dr. Raymond Sackler, the program will support research across all areas of astrophysics. "This important new collaboration builds on the world-renowned research infrastructures at Harvard and TAU. It provides a framework for a mutually beneficial and productive collaboration between two of the world's great universities," says Prof. Amiel Sternberg, director of the program at TAU. The initiative includes not only joint projects among the faculty, but also student exchanges, a lecture series, and workshops held in Tel Aviv every two years.

As part of the new program, TAU will also be offering a prize post-doctoral position called the Sackler Prize Fellowship in Astrophysics, with shared time at both institutions, to support and promote the independent projects of outstanding young researchers.

"We are grateful to Dr. Sackler for establishing this program," says Prof. Avi Loeb, Director of the ITC and Chair of the Astronomy Department at Harvard, "and we look forward to building a productive relationship with TAU."

###

The Department of Astronomy at TAU is internationally recognized as a leading research group. Two of its faculty members were recently awarded prestigious European Council Research grants of more than $2,000,000 each, to support the studies of the physics of cosmic explosions and searches for extrasolar planets. An Israel-Germany science partnership grant, $1,500,000 for astronomers at TAU and Max-Planck-Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, supports observational and theoretical studies of galaxy formation and black hole growth in the early Universe.

American Friends of Tel Aviv University (http://www.aftau.org) supports Israel's leading, most comprehensive and most sought-after center of higher learning. Independently ranked 94th among the world's top universities for the impact of its research, TAU's innovations and discoveries are cited more often by the global scientific community than all but 10 other universities.

Internationally recognized for the scope and groundbreaking nature of its research and scholarship, Tel Aviv University consistently produces work with profound implications for the future.



[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


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


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-12/afot-tnl120511.php

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Astronomers look to neighboring galaxy for star formation insight

An international team of astronomers has mapped in detail the star-birthing regions of the nearest star-forming galaxy to our own, a step toward understanding the conditions surrounding star creation. Led by University of Illinois astronomy professor Tony Wong, the researchers published their findings in the December issue of the Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series.

The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is a popular galaxy among astronomers both for its nearness to our Milky Way and for the spectacular view it provides, a big-picture vista impossible to capture of our own galaxy.

"If you imagine a galaxy being a disc, the LMC is tilted almost face-on so we can look down on it, which gives us a very clear view of what's going on inside," Wong said.

Although astronomers have a working theory of how individual stars form, they know very little about what triggers the process or the environmental conditions that are optimal for star birth. Wong's team focused on areas called molecular clouds, which are dense patches of gas - primarily molecular hydrogen - where stars are born.

By studying these molecular clouds and their relationship to new stars in the galaxy, the team hopes to learn more about the metamorphosis of gas clouds into stars.

"When we study star formation, an important question is, what is the environment doing? How does the location of star formation reflect the conditions of that environment? There's no better place to study the wider environment than the LMC."

Using a 22-meter-diameter radio telescope in Australia, the astronomers mapped more than 100 molecular clouds in the LMC and estimated their sizes and masses, identifying regions with ample material for making stars. This seemingly simple task engendered a surprising find.

Conventional wisdom states that most of the molecular gas mass in a galaxy is apportioned to a few large clouds. However, Wong's team found many more low-mass clouds than they expected - so many, in fact, that a majority of the dense gas may be sprinkled across the galaxy in these small molecular clouds, rather than clumped together in a few large blobs.

"We thought that the big clouds hog most of the mass," Wong said, "but we found that in this galaxy, it appears that the playing field is more level. The low-mass clouds are quite numerous and they actually contribute a significant amount of the mass. This provides the first evidence that the common wisdom about molecular clouds may not apply here."

The large numbers of these relatively low-mass clouds means that star-forming conditions in the LMC may be relatively widespread and easy to achieve. The findings raise some interesting questions about why some galaxies stopped their star formation while others have continued it.

To better understand the connection between molecular clouds and star formation, the team compared their molecular cloud maps to maps of infrared radiation, which reveal where young stars are heating cosmic dust.

For the comparison, they exploited a carefully selected sample of newborn heavy stars compiled by U. of I. astronomy professor You-Hua Chu and resident scientist Robert Gruendl, who also were co-authors of the paper. These stars are so young that they are still deeply embedded in cocoons of gas and dust.

"It turns out that there's actually very nice correspondence between these young massive stars and molecular clouds," Wong said. "That's not entirely surprising, but it's reassuring. We assume that these stars have to form in molecular clouds, and it tells us that the molecular clouds do hang around long enough for us to see them associated with these massive young stars."

Wong hopes to continue to study the relationship between molecular clouds and star formation in greater detail. If researchers can determine the relative ages of young stars, they can correlate these against molecular clouds to figure out which clouds have star formation, how long the clouds live and what eventually leads to their destruction.

They also plan to use a newly constructed array of telescopes in Chile to see the cloud environment in higher resolution, pinpointing exactly where inside the molecular cloud star formation will occur.

"This study provides us with our most detailed view of an entire population of clouds in another galaxy," Wong said. "We can say with great confidence that these clouds are where the stars form, but we are still trying to figure out why they have the properties they do."

Source: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Astronomers_look_to_neighboring_galaxy_for_star_formation_insight_999.html

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Monday, December 5, 2011

Jewish Jobs: JFCS Hiring Full-Time "Editorial and Electronic ...

Jewish Family and Children?s Service of Minneapolis is hiring a Full-Time Editorial and Electronic Communications Specialist. Do you have what it takes?

5863884809 7dcbcea2e5 1 300x225 Jewish Jobs: JFCS Hiring Full Time Editorial and Electronic Communications SpecialistJewish Family and Children?s Service of Minneapolis is seeking a full-time Editorial and Electronic Communications Specialist. The purpose of this position is to serve as manager for electronic and key print materials in an effort to increase the community?s use and support of JFCS and communicate JFCS?s mission, programs, services and accomplishments.

Responsibilities include:

  • Establishes and manages social media and electronic communications planning calendar, creating a process and consistent voice for social media postings. Implements social media best practices/policy.
  • Works with the Communication Director to create and manage an editorial calendar for materials with large distribution, serving as project manager to keep materials on deadline.
  • Project manager, writer and designer of Directions newsletter; project manager and writer for Endowment newsletter and Annual Report.
  • Reviews key print and electronic communications before publication.
  • Monitors and creates website copy and develops additional content (videos, photo albums, etc.) for program pages.

Job Requirements:

EDUCATION:??Bachelor?s degree in communications, public relations or related field.

EXPERIENCE:??Minimum of three years experience in public relations related position.

SKILLS:?Proficient in Adobe Creative Suite and be competent in use of Mac platform computer applications. Must be able to work with staff and vendors and to manage several projects at once. Must possess strong design and writing skills. Must be able to multitask and meet fixed deadlines. Knowledge of Jewish culture is preferred.

Benefits:

This position offers a competitive salary and benefits package.

How to apply:

Please submit cover letter and resume to Tammy Cohen, Director of Human Resources. Email HumanResources@jfcsmpls.org or fax to 952.593.1778. Please specify the position you are applying for. For more information on this position, see www.jfcsmpls.org.?AA/EEO

(Photo: bgottsab)

Filed Under: Jewish Jobs

Tags: featured, Jewish Family and Children's Service of Minneapolis, Jewish Jobs Minneapolis, Jewish Jobs MInnesota, Minnesota Marketing Job

Source: http://tcjewfolk.com/jewish-jobs-jfcs-editorial-electronic-communications-specialist/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=jewish-jobs-jfcs-editorial-electronic-communications-specialist

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Sunday, December 4, 2011

"Hugo" named National Board of Review's best film of 2011 (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? "Hugo," Martin Scorsese's 3D drama about an orphan boy in 1930s Paris, was named best film of 2011 on Thursday by the National Board of Review, which also named Scorsese best director.

George Clooney won best actor for "The Descendants," while Tilda Swinton took the best actress prize for "We Need to Talk About Kevin," in which she plays a grieving mother struggling in the aftermath of her teenage son's school shooting spree.

" 'Hugo' is such a personal film by Martin Scorsese," said Annie Schulhof, NBR president in a statement. "It is a tribute to the early years of cinema that uses today's cutting edge technology to bring the audience into a completely unique and magical world," she said.

The somewhat surprising choice boosted the fortunes for "Hugo," the story of a boy living in a Paris train station who maintains the station's clocks, in the run-up to the Oscars, the film world's highest honors.

The group praised the film, which is based on the book "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" and won strong reviews, as "visually stunning and emotionally engaging."

Other early film awards announced in recent days have focused on a handful of movies including "The Artist," "The Descendants" and "Beginners."

Christopher Plummer won best supporting actor from the National Board of Review for his role as an elderly man coming out of the closet in "Beginners," while Shailene Woodley took the best supporting actress honor for "The Descendants," the story of a man trying to connect with his daughters while his wife is comatose following an accident.

The National Board of Review, a U.S.-based group of movie industry watchers and film professionals, gave its original screenplay award to Will Reiser for cancer comedy "50/50."

Alexander Payne won for adapted screenplay, along with Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, for "The Descendants."

The National Board of Review gave its best animated feature prize to "Rango," while "The Help" was named best ensemble.

The group was formed more than 100 years ago as a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting movies as an art form and entertainment.

Each year the board also issues a list of top 10 movies, which this year included "The Artist," a black-and-white silent film about the advent of the talkies in Hollywood, and two other presumed Oscar contenders, director Terrence Malick's mystical period piece "The Tree of Life," which stars Brad Pitt, and "The Descendants."

Steven Spielberg's World War I drama "War Horse," Clint Eastwood's film about FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, "J. Edgar," and the Ryan Gosling thriller "Drive" also made the top 10.

"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," a remake of the hit Swedish crime film, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" and "The Ides of March" rounded out the list.

Absent from the list were some films that have been touted ahead of awards season, including "Take Shelter" and Lars von Trier's "Melancholia."

In other key categories, the National Board of Review gave its best documentary award to "Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory," and chose the Iranian film "A Separation" as best foreign language film.

English actress Felicity Jones was given the award for breakthrough performance for "Like Crazy," as was Rooney Mara for "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo."

J.C. Chandler received the award for best debut director for "Margin Call" while "Pariah" and "Crime After Crime" were both honored with the Freedom of Expression award.

The Harry Potter franchise was cited for special achievement in filmmaking for the transition from book to film, while actor Michael Fassbender received the spotlight award for several films including "Shame" and "A Dangerous Method."

(Reporting by Chris Michaud; editing by Jill Serjeant)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111201/en_nm/us_nationalboard_films

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Saturday, December 3, 2011

FACT CHECK: GOP field flubs, big and small (AP)

GREENVILLE, S.C. ? Newt Gingrich didn't know when he would take office if he wins the presidency. Rick Perry got the voting age and the date of Election Day wrong. Herman Cain didn't realize the president does not sign amendments to the Constitution.

In ways large and small, Republican presidential hopefuls are proving on multiple occasions to be "factually challenged," as Gingrich rather haughtily described a rival, despite getting some things wrong himself.

Campaigns are long and tough, candidates are often tired and flubs happen. But they are adding up and at some point could give Republican voters pause as they look for the candidate best able to take on the highly polished ? though hardly factually infallible ? President Barack Obama.

In submitting to what is, in effect, America's toughest job interview, there may be only so much leeway in getting matters of current affairs and history plain wrong.

Frequent flubber Michele Bachmann's suggestion many months ago that the Revolutionary battles of Lexington and Concord took place in New Hampshire was an opening shot, of sorts, in a volley of misfires by the candidates. Those battles were fought in Massachusetts in 1775.

And on Wednesday, she offered another: She would support the United States shutting down its embassy in Tehran ? but there is no U.S. Embassy in Iran's capital.

Never mind the facts, her top spokeswoman said. "Congresswoman Bachmann is a member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence and is fully aware that we do not have an embassy in Iran and have not had one since 1980," Alice Stewart said in a statement.

It's the latest but hardly the worst.

Cain promoted Chile's retirement system as one that gives workers the option of having private accounts, when in fact they have no choice. Mitt Romney accused Obama of "peacetime spending binges" as if there were no wars going on. Bachmann accused Obama of canceling a Canadian pipeline project that has only been delayed.

On Wednesday, Gingrich told voters packed into Tommy's Country Ham House in Greenville, S.C., that he would sign legislation repealing health care and Wall Street overhauls when he takes office on Jan. 21, 2013.

"My intent will be to ask the new Congress to stay in session when they are sworn in on Jan. 3 and to pass ? and hold at the desk until I'm sworn in on the 21st ? to pass the repeal of Obamacare and the repeal of Dodd-Frank and the repeal of Sarbanes-Oxley so that I can sign them on the 21st," Gingrich told the packed restaurant.

One problem: the Constitution that Gingrich constantly cites during his presidential campaign says the transition of power after an election takes place on Jan. 20.

Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond said Gingrich would assume powers at noon on Jan. 20, 2013, following the 20th Amendment of the Constitution. Because that day is a Sunday, the Inauguration's festivities would be scheduled on Jan. 21 of that year. Ronald Reagan followed a similar schedule for his second inaugural on Monday, Jan. 21, 1985.

Even so, Gingrich was wrong to say "I'm sworn in on the 21st."

A day earlier, Texas Gov. Rick Perry suggested the voting age is 21 and got the date wrong for Election Day.

"Those of you that will be 21 by November the 12th, I ask for your support and your vote," he told students at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire.

The voting age is 18. And New Hampshire is scheduled to be the first state in the nation to host a Republican presidential primary on Jan. 10; the general election is scheduled for Nov. 6, 2012.

And Cain said he would back an amendment to the Constitution to ban abortion.

"If we can get the necessary support and it comes to my desk, I'll sign it," he told the Christian Broadcasting Network.

Except presidents don't sign amendments. Congress passes them and the states ratify them. The president could champion them, but the Constitution doesn't give him or her any formal role.

Since the campaign's start, each candidate has had a turn explaining errors as either the side effects of an exhausting schedule or simple foot-in-mouth syndrome. Under the intense media scrutiny, each misstep or error draws questions whether each candidate is up for the job.

Romney, too, stepped in it. The former Massachusetts governor said Obama engaged in "one of the biggest peacetime spending binges in American history." He overlooked the United States' role in conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.

Yet not all errors are created equal, said Eric Dezenhall, an aide in the Reagan administration and now an image consultant who has worked with everyone from Hollywood stars to business moguls.

"The key factor in whether a gaffe catches on is whether or not it validates a pre-existing prejudice," he said.

"When Perry says that the voting age is 21, it validates the pre-existing suspicion that he's not in command of the basics," he said. "When Newt or Obama say something that is either misguided or incorrect, it doesn't resonate because everybody knows they are smart guys, so they get a break."

And it's not as if Obama hasn't had his doozies. For instance, Obama said during the 2008 campaign that he had visited 57 states. The United States only has 50.

"The flubs that stick are those that fit with a storyline about the candidate," said Doug Hattaway, a Democratic consultant who helped Hillary Rodham Clinton's 2008 presidential bid. "Gingrich isn't a flubber. He's known for being full of himself and making wacky statements, not flubbing the facts. So the misstatements are less likely to stick to him."

And voters might not care about factual details, Hattaway said.

"Best case of that is George W. Bush, who couldn't pass a civics quiz to save his life. Emotional intelligence is more important in politics than factual knowledge," Hattaway said.

Gingrich might be playing that to his own political advantage.

Before he seemed to reschedule the constitutional transition of power, he criticized Bachmann for stretching the facts about his record on abortion.

"Some people are just factually challenged and it's unfortunate," Gingrich told reporters. "In the eyes of a teacher, occasionally I'd have a student who couldn't figure out where things were, or what things were, or what the right date was. When that happens, you feel sorry that they're so factually challenged."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111201/ap_on_el_pr/us_candidate_flubs

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The Bong Show

The latest additions to Discovery?s roster of renegade workplaces deliver the same takeaway. Weed Wars, which debuts Thursday at 10 p.m. ET, and Moonshiners, which launches next Tuesday, Dec. 6, at 10 p.m. ET, both focus on strange people working hard in dubious professions. Weed Wars tells the story of Harborside Health Center in Oakland, Calif., the world?s largest medical cannabis dispensary, which boasts an executive named Dave Wedding Dress. Moonshiners follows a Virginian named Tim, who, with the help of his good friend Tickle, works to preserve the family tradition of brewing illegal hooch.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=8f492682c9d9b3fe67b1d6bd7f29fa1d

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Friday, December 2, 2011

Kindle Fire gets first taste of CM7, needs work on its hand-eye coordination

CM7 on Kindle Fire
Well, with source code and root firmly in hand, it was only a matter of time before someone got a custom ROM up and running on the Fire. Of course, the first contestant for your hacked Kindle dollar is the reliable, and damn-near ubiquitous CM7. XDA Developers Forum member JackpotClavin posted a pair of images showing the Gingerbread-based ROM booted up on his 7-inch Amazon tablet. He isn't offering the code for download yet, primarily because there are still a host of bugs to work out -- including a severely mixed up touch panel thats about 90-degrees out of sync with actual display. On the plus side, it does appear that WiFi is working. We suppose if you're impatient you can join the frothing masses begging Clavin to release the code, but we'll be waiting for something a little more polished before risking our shiny new slate. One more pic after the break.

[Thanks, Matthias]

Continue reading Kindle Fire gets first taste of CM7, needs work on its hand-eye coordination

Kindle Fire gets first taste of CM7, needs work on its hand-eye coordination originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Nov 2011 17:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceXDA Developers Forum  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/29/kindle-fire-gets-first-taste-of-cm7-needs-work-on-its-hand-eye/

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