Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/295835657?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Sunday, March 31, 2013
Rubio: Immigration deal still needs hashing out
Republican Sen. Marco Rubio cautioned that the bipartisan group of senators working on immigration reform legislation still has details to work out. Democrat Chuck Schumer said the group was on track.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 12. On Sunday, Rubio said the eight senators working on immigration reform legislation still had many details to work out, and cautioned against premature celebration.
Susan Walsh/AP/File
EnlargeEven with one of the largest hurdles to an immigration overhaul overcome, optimistic lawmakers on Sunday cautioned they had not finished work on a bill that would provide a path to citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants.
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The AFL-CIO and the pro-business U.S. Chamber of Commerce reached a deal late Friday that would allow tens of thousands of low-skill workers into the country to fill jobs in construction, restaurants and hotels. Yet despite the unusual agreement between the two powerful lobbying groups, lawmakers from both parties conceded that the negotiations were not finished.
"With the agreement between business and labor, every major policy issue has been resolved," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat who brokered the labor-business deal.
But it hasn't taken the form of a bill and the eight senators searching for a compromise haven't met about the potential breakthrough.
"We haven't signed off," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
"There are a few details yet. But conceptually, we have an agreement between business and labor, between ourselves that has to be drafted," he added.
Yet just before lawmakers began appearing on Sunday shows, Sen.?Marco?Rubio?warned he was not ready to lend his name ? and political clout ? to such a deal without hashing out the details.
"Reports that the bipartisan group of eight senators have agreed on a legislative proposal are premature," said?Rubio, a Florida Republican who is among the lawmakers working on legislation.
Rubio, a Cuban-American who is weighing a presidential bid in 2016, is a leading figure inside his party. Lawmakers will be closely watching any deal for his approval and his skepticism about the process did little to encourage optimism.
Rubio, who is the group's emissary to conservatives, called the agreement "a starting point" but said 92 senators from 43 states haven't yet been involved in the process.
The detente between the nation's leading labor federation and the powerful business lobbying group still needs senators' approval, including a nod from Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican whose previous efforts came up short.
"I think we're on track. But as Sen.?Rubio?correctly says, we have said we will not come to final agreement till we look at all of the legislative language and he's correctly pointing out that that language hasn't been fully drafted," Schumer said.
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., also noted the significance of the truce between labor and business but added that this wasn't yet complete.
"That doesn't mean we've crossed every 'i' or dotted every 't,' or vice versa," said Flake, who is among the eight lawmakers working on the deal.
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/NQLoboKklXQ/Rubio-Immigration-deal-still-needs-hashing-out
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Thursday, March 28, 2013
Study: Ore. individual claims costs to rise
Mar 26 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $3,787,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $2,859,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,154,500 4. Steve Stricker $1,820,000 5. Phil Mickelson $1,650,260 6. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 7. John Merrick $1,343,514 8. Dustin Johnson $1,330,507 9. Russell Henley $1,313,280 10. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 11. Keegan Bradley $1,274,593 12. Charles Howell III $1,256,373 13. Michael Thompson $1,254,669 14. Brian Gay $1,171,721 15. Justin Rose $1,155,550 16. Jason Day $1,115,565 17. Chris Kirk $1,097,053 18. ...
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/study-ore-individual-claims-costs-140038580.html
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Wednesday, March 27, 2013
PFT: Te'o reportedly won't be in NYC for draft
Getty ImagesThe 2011 labor agreement included an important provision:? HGH testing is coming to the NFL.? Nearly 20 months later, HGH testing is no closer than it was before the agreement was signed.
The latest evidence comes from the case of Andrus Veerpalu, an Estonian skier whose three-year suspension was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.? Naturally, the NFL and the NFLPA disagree as to the meaning of the ruling, and the incident has caused Albert Breer of NFL Network to learn that the two sides have scrapped an agreement to conduct a so-called ?population study? aimed at gauging the permissible natural levels of HGH in football players.
The details don?t matter, because neither the NFL nor Congress is willing to do anything more than huff and puff about the union?s refusal to honor the agreement to submit to HGH testing.? As a result, the perception is that neither the NFLPA nor the NFL truly want HGH testing.
Since the day the NFL banned the use of HGH, the prohibition has been enforced via the honor system.? The problem with the honor system? ? It works roughly as well as the rhythm method.? So with no way to test for HGH, players will get caught only if a vial of HGH falls out of their letterman jackets, or if the player?s name pops up in the records of an HGH supplier the government is prosecuting.
Surely, the NFL and the NFLPA realize that, if/when HGH testing begins, plenty of players will be caught.? Which will reduce the supply of healthy players.? In turn, players who quit using HGH will not recover as quickly from injuries, likewise reducing the supply of healthy players.
And it won?t be good for the game if players are busted for using HGH, even though most fans presume that they?re using something to get big, to stay big, and/or to rebound from big hits applied by other big men.
If the NFL truly wanted to force the issue on HGH testing, wouldn?t the league unleash the legal hounds and push the issue in court or via an arbitration?? The players already have agreed to submit to testing, and the NFL has more than enough ammunition to argue that the NFLPA deliberately is dragging its feet.? The idea that the NFL doesn?t want to force players to the needle by court order only goes so far.? At some point, the NFL needs to do more than complain about the NFLPA?s refusal to proceed, or the NFLPA will continue to refuse to proceed.
Likewise, Congress has proven to be impotent on the topic, periodically issuing hollow threats but never taking action.Through it all, the delay has given those who use HGH an opportunity to find better masking agents ? or to develop the next wave of substances that work like HGH but for which testing doesn?t yet exist.
The best news for the NFL, the NFLPA, and Congress is that neither the media nor the fans seem to care that the NFL and the NFLPA have struck a deal to abandon the honor system, but that the honor system has continued to be used for two seasons, and counting.
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Researchers attach Lyme disease antibodies to nanotubes, paving way for diagnostic device
Mar. 26, 2013 ? Early diagnosis is critical in treating Lyme disease. However, nearly one quarter of Lyme disease patients are initially misdiagnosed because currently available serological tests have poor sensitivity and specificity during the early stages of infection. Misdiagnosed patients may go untreated and thus progress to late-stage Lyme disease, where they face longer and more invasive treatments, as well as persistent symptoms.
Existing tests assess the presence of antibodies against bacterial proteins, which take weeks to form after the initial infection and persist after the infection is gone. Now, a nanotechnology-inspired technique developed by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania may lead to diagnostics that can detect the organism itself.
The study was led by professor A. T. Charlie Johnson of the Department of Physics and Astronomy in Penn's School of Arts and Sciences along with graduate student Mitchell Lerner, undergraduate researcher Jennifer Dailey and postdoctoral fellow Brett R. Goldsmith, all of Physics. They collaborated with Dustin Brisson, an assistant professor of biology who provided the team with expertise on the bacterium.
Their research was published in the journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics.
"When you're initially infected with the Lyme disease bacterium, you don't develop antibodies for many days to a few weeks," Johnson said. "Many people see their physician before antibodies develop, leading to negative serological test results. And after an initial infection, you're still going to have these antibodies, so using these serological diagnostics won't make it clear if you're still infected or not after you've been treated with antibiotics."
The research team's idea was to flip the process around, using laboratory-produced antibodies to detect the presence of proteins from the organism. This is an extension of previous work Johnson's lab has done connecting other biological structures, such as olfactory receptors and DNA, to carbon nanotube-based devices.
Carbon nanotubes, rolled-up lattices of carbon atoms, are highly conductive and sensitive to electrical charge, making them promising components of nanoscale electronic devices. By attaching different biological structures to the exteriors of the nanotubes, they can function as highly specific biosensors. When the attached structure binds to a molecule, that molecule's charge can affect the electrical conduction of the nanotube, which can be part of an electrical circuit like a wire. Such a device can therefore provide an electronic read-out of the presence, or even concentration, of a particular molecule.
To get the electrical signal out of these nanotubes, the team first turned them into transistor devices.
"We first grow these nanotubes on what amounts to a large chip using a vapor deposition method, then make electrical connections essentially at random," Johnson said. "We then break up the chip and test all of the individual nanotube transistors to see which work the best."
In their recent experiment, Johnson's team attached antibodies that naturally develop in most animals that are infected with the Lyme disease bacterium to these nanotube transistors. These antibodies naturally bind to an antigen, in this case, a protein in the Lyme bacterium, as part of the body's immune response.
"We have a chemical process that lets us connect any protein to carbon nanotubes. Nanotubes are very stable, so we have a very reactive compound that binds to the nanotube and also has a carboxylic acid group on the other end. For biochemists, getting any kind of protein to bind to a carboxylic acid group is just child's play at this point, and we have worked with them to learn how to perform this chemistry on the side wall of nanotubes. "
After using atomic-force microscopy to show that antibodies had indeed bound to the exteriors of their nanotube transistors, the researchers tested them electrically to get a baseline reading. They then put the nanotubes in solutions that contained different concentrations of the target Lyme bacteria protein.
"When we wash away the solution and test the nanotube transistors again, the change in what we measure tells us that how much of the antigen has bound," Johnson said. "And we see the relationship we expect to see, in that the more antigen there was in the solution, the bigger the change in the signal."
The smallest concentration the nanotube devices could detect was four nanograms of protein per milliliter of solution.
"This sensitivity is more than sufficient to detect the Lyme disease bacterium in the blood of recently-infected patients and may be sufficient to detect the bacterium in fluids of patients that have received inadequate treatment," Brisson said.
"We really want the protein we are looking to detect to bind as close to the nanotube as possible, as that is what increases the strength of the electrical signal," Johnson said. "Developing a smaller, minimal version of the antibody -- what we call a single chain variable fragment -- would be a next step.
"Based on our previous work with single chain variable fragments of other antibodies, this would probably make such a device about a thousand times more sensitive."
The researchers suggested that, given the flexibility of their technique for attaching different biological structure, eventual diagnostic tools could incorporate multiple antibodies, each detecting a different protein from the Lyme bacterium. Such a setup would improve accuracy and cut down on the possibility of false-positive diagnoses.
"If we were to do this type of test on a person's blood now, however, we would say the person has the disease," Johnson said. "The first thought is that if you detect any protein coming from the Lyme organism in your blood, you are infected and should get treatment right away."
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Pennsylvania.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Mitchell B. Lerner, Jennifer Dailey, Brett R. Goldsmith, Dustin Brisson, A.T. Charlie Johnson. Detecting Lyme disease using antibody-functionalized single-walled carbon nanotube transistors. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 2013; 45: 163 DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2013.01.035
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/genes/~3/jKHfAQDeP-s/130326194140.htm
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Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Simpler Raises $1.2M From Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins, Khosla To Make Employee Onboarding Paperless
Simpler, a new startup that wants to disrupt employee onboarding, is launching today and announcing $1.25 million in funding from Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins, Khosla Ventures, SV Angel, Data Collective, and Formation8.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/5JT7IQ-AaZ8/
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Clean electricity from bacteria? Researchers make breakthrough in race to create 'bio-batteries'
Mar. 25, 2013 ? Scientists at the University of East Anglia have made an important breakthrough in the quest to generate clean electricity from bacteria.
Findings published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) show that proteins on the surface of bacteria can produce an electric current by simply touching a mineral surface.
The research shows that it is possible for bacteria to lie directly on the surface of a metal or mineral and transfer electrical charge through their cell membranes. This means that it is possible to 'tether' bacteria directly to electrodes -- bringing scientists a step closer to creating efficient microbial fuel cells or 'bio-batteries'.
The team collaborated with researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Washington State in the US.?
Shewanella oneidensis is part of a family of marine bacteria. The research team created a synthetic version of this bacteria using just the proteins thought to shuttle the electrons from the inside of the microbe to the rock.
They inserted these proteins into the lipid layers of vesicles, which are small capsules of lipid membranes such as the ones that make up a bacterial membrane. Then they tested how well electrons travelled between an electron donor on the inside and an iron-bearing mineral on the outside.
Lead researcher Dr Tom Clarke from UEA's school of Biological Sciences said: "We knew that bacteria can transfer electricity into metals and minerals, and that the interaction depends on special proteins on the surface of the bacteria. But it was not been clear whether these proteins do this directly or indirectly though an unknown mediator in the environment.
"Our research shows that these proteins can directly 'touch' the mineral surface and produce an electric current, meaning that is possible for the bacteria to lie on the surface of a metal or mineral and conduct electricity through their cell membranes.
"This is the first time that we have been able to actually look at how the components of a bacterial cell membrane are able to interact with different substances, and understand how differences in metal and mineral interactions can occur on the surface of a cell.
"These bacteria show great potential as microbial fuel cells, where electricity can be generated from the breakdown of domestic or agricultural waste products.
"Another possibility is to use these bacteria as miniature factories on the surface of an electrode, where chemicals reactions take place inside the cell using electrical power supplied by the electrode through these proteins."
Biochemist Liang Shi of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory said: "We developed a unique system so we could mimic electron transfer like it happens in cells. The electron transfer rate we measured was unbelievably fast -- it was fast enough to support bacterial respiration."
The finding is also important for understanding how carbon works its way through the atmosphere, land and oceans.
"When organic matter is involved in reducing iron, it releases carbon dioxide and water. And when iron is used as an energy source, bacteria incorporate carbon dioxide into food. If we understand electron transfer, we can learn how bacteria controls the carbon cycle," said Shi.
The project was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the US Department of Energy.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of East Anglia.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Thomas A Clarke, Gaye White, Julea N Butt, David J Richardson, Zhri Shi, Liang Shi, Zheming Wang, Alice C Dohnalkova, Matthew J Marshall, James K Fredrickson and John M Zachara. Rapid electron exchange between surface-exposed bacterial cytochromes and Fe(III) minerals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, March 25, 2013
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/C9b9oM-guKU/130325183900.htm
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We're live from GDC in San Francisco!
The show season's just heating up, and we're live this week from sunny (or is it soggy? Or foggy? Whatever -- just wait 10 minutes) San Francisco for the Game Developers Conference, otherwise known as GDC. Full Mobile Nations coverage is in effect here, with Simon Sage rocking things for Android Central, Rene Ritchie hitting things up for iMore, and Paul Acevedo for WPCentral.
The coverage starts now, Now, NOW! Get ready for more gaming gamage than should legally be allowed by law!
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/ZbgLdin6cFc/story01.htm
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T-Mobile's Contract-Free Plans Are a Real Thing Now
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Monday, March 25, 2013
13 South African troops killed in CAR
JOHANNESBURG (AP) ? South Africa's president says 13 South African soldiers were killed and 27 were wounded in fighting in the Central African Republic.
President Jacob Zuma also said Monday that one soldier is missing.
South African troops came under attack on Saturday in the Central African Republic as rebels advanced on the capital, Bangui. The rebels have overthrown the country's president and seized the presidential palace.
South Africa had deployed several hundred soldiers to the Central African Republic to assist national forces there.
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Friday, March 22, 2013
United app lands on Windows Phone 8, hopes to become your preferred travel companion
The United Airlines application's been available on Android and iOS for ages, and, after months of being nowhere to be found, it's now (finally) time for the Windows Phone 8 crowd to also get to experience what the mobile ware has to offer. Naturally, this means being able to access and peek many things from within the app, including, but not limited to, booking trips, checking flight status, Live Tile notifications and, of course, viewing your digital boarding pass -- which is good news for those who prefer a mostly paperless voyage. There's plenty more goodies where that came from (such as account access and a feature that pinpoints United Club locations), but you'll have to download the app in order to dig a little deeper -- link to do just that is down below.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Microsoft
Via: WMPoweruser
Source: Windows Phone
Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/I3XwhLZejMI/
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Second Child on the Way for Eli Manning
The New York Giants quarterback and wife Abby are expecting their second child in June, PEOPLE confirms.
Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/bgBRhefBSSk/
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Roadside bomb kills Afghan district official
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? Police say a roadside bomb has killed a district administrator and two of his bodyguards in northern Afghanistan.
Thursday's attack in Takhar province came as Afghans were celebrating the first day of the Persian new year, or Nowruz.
Police spokesman Abdul Khalil Asir says the bomb went off as the official drove over a bridge near his home in Ishkamish district.
He says Abdul Manan Hakimi was heading out in the morning to make preparations for the holiday celebration.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack in an email to reporters.
Afghan officials are common targets for Taliban insurgents, who say they are collaborating with Western occupiers and do not consider them civilians. Last year saw a surge of assassinations of Afghans connected to the government.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/roadside-bomb-kills-afghan-district-official-071309695.html
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YouTube counts more than a billion unique users each month
What's ten times more popular than the Super Bowl? YouTube, apparently. According to the YouTube blog, more than a billion folks visit the streaming site every month -- and not just views, but unique users. The announcement didn't touch on specifics, but it did provide some fun numbers to put the terrifyingly huge total into context, noting that it would take ten Super Bowl audiences to match its monthly viewership. Almost half of all internet users visit YouTube each month, the team writes, and the numbers would peg the site as the third largest country in the world if traffic numbers could be given statehood. Suddenly, PSY's billion view milestone makes a bit more sense.
Filed under: Internet
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/20/youtube-counts-more-than-a-billion-unique-users-each-month/
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Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Jordan Mein gets to put smiley face on his list of fighters after UFC 158 win
Jordan Mein had an excellent UFC debut on Saturday night. In one round, he knocked out Dan Miller, who had never been knocked out before. Now he gets to put a smiley face next to Miller's name on the list he keeps.
"I wrote down every single welterweight in the UFC," Mein said to MMA Junkie. "You've got to know who you're going to fight. You've got to have goals set in mind. You've got to know what's up, what's next. I look at that list every day. Dan Miller was in there. I look at his name and I'm like, OK, I'm ready. I've got to train every day, look at it when you wake up every day."
Do you think Mein uses stickers or markers for the smiley face? Does he put a gold star when he finishes the fight? Jokes aside, Mein isn't the only fighter who is known to put his goals in writing. UFC bantamweight Urijah Faber is known to keep his goals on the wall in his bedroom, so he is looking at them every morning.
It's going to be fun to watch how Mein tackles the rest of the names. Though he's just 23, he's put together a record of 27-8. He has both youth and experience on his side.
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Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Bad reason to invade Iraq No. 3: 'We can trust Ahmed Chalabi'
Ahmed Chalabi poured sweet words into the ears of powerful Washington insiders for years. For some reason, they thought it was a good idea to believe him.
Ahmed Chalabi pictured in 2010.
Saad Shalash/Reuters/File
EnlargeI covered the Iraq war from the summer of 2003 until 2008, and saw at first hand the consequences of the decision to invade. Skeptical of the wisdom of the war before the invasion, living and working in Iraq solidified that into certainty. I'll be putting out some of my thoughts on the war in a series of posts in the next few days. Click here for bad reason No. 1 and bad reason No. 2.
Skip to next paragraph Dan MurphyStaff writer
Dan Murphy is a staff writer for the Monitor's international desk, focused on the Middle East.?Murphy, who has reported from Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, and more than a dozen other countries, writes and edits Backchannels. The focus? War and international relations, leaning toward things Middle East.
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Ahmed Chalabi ? charmer, convicted embezzler, inveterate political schemer ? was the Bush administration's go-to Iraqi exile in the run up to the Iraq war.
He'd spent years urging the US to take direct action to topple Saddam Hussein's regime, and in the atmosphere of fear?that swept the US after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, he finally found the opportunity he'd been dreaming of. Almost anything he said, any promise he made, was treated as gospel by an official Washington that had found in Chalabi an Iraqi who could wave away warnings about the difficulty of invasion.
"Won't Iraq's people resent a US invasion?"
"Iraqi people will welcome U.S. troops in Iraq," Chalabi said in February 2003. "They would see them as liberators. They believe they are liberators."
"But what about the chance for sectarian bloodshed?"
Chalabi, a Shiite, reassured questioners that Iraq had no major sectarian tensions and that the people would be united after Saddam fell.
"How can we be sure there are really lots of chemical weapons?"
Chalabi repeatedly trotted out "informants" or claims of "informants" that asserted over, and over, that Saddam had vast chemical weapons stockpiles and he was preparing to use them (In 2004, when the US finally came to the official conclusion that there were no WMD's in Iraq, Chalabi was unapologetic. "We are heroes in error," he told the UK's Daily Telegraph. "As far as we're concerned we've been entirely successful. That tyrant Saddam is gone and the Americans are in Baghdad. What was said before is not important."
Etcetera.
It's hard to blame Chalabi for his line of palaver. After all, he had no loyalty to the US, his interests and objectives were not ours, and you can't fault the guy for trying to get what he wants out of gullible foreigners. The problem was that he was given so much credence by US officials and war boosters, who failed to recognize (or pretended they failed to recognize) why he shouldn't be trusted.
His Iraqi National Congress opposition umbrella group was heavily financed by the US, receiving at least $100 million between 1991 and 2003 and he was a prime influence on the views and arguments of Iraq war architects like Doug Feith, Paul Wolfowitz, and Richard Perle. These men, eager for war, argued that Chalabi was a reliably pro-American Iraqi whose family background (his father was a senior aide to the Iraqi monarch overthrown in 1958) would lead him to the top of the heap at home.
There were many in official Washington ? at the State Department, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Defense Intelligence Agency ? who warned against trusting Chalabi because of his apparent ties to Iran and the apparently fraudulent WMD sources he fed to the US, like Curveball. As far back as 1995, CIA case officers were warning that he seemed to have too-cozy relations with Iran. Their concerns were brushed aside.
Typical of the tone of his supporters was Danielle Pletka, a neocon war supporter at the American Enterprise Institute, who was asked by Robert Dreyfus of The American Prospect in Oct. 2002 if the large number of Middle East experts, and Middle East residents, who warned Chalabi was not to be trusted, gave her pause. "I don't think their point of view is relevant to the debate any longer," she told him."Sor-ry!"
At the time of the invasion, the Pentagon had Chalabi on a $340,000 monthly retainer and sought to shepherd an "army" of his into southern Iraq (Chalabi had informed the US that he was a wildly popular figure in his homeland, and the US had visions of installing him as the country's new leader). His hapless followers brandished guns for show as US forces drove on to Baghdad, and were then ushered into the capital.
He was given a seat in the US-created governing council, but it didn't take long for things to sour. The below paragraphs are from the top of a story I wrote about Chalabi on June 15, 2004:
A year ago, he was the man who could be president of the new Iraq. For decades, Ahmed Chalabi had crafted and pursued a vision ? an exile's dream ? of ousting Saddam Hussein with Washington's help.
Now, Mr. Chalabi has fallen far from the graces of his American backers. His home and office in Baghdad were raided by coalition forces, and he is excluded from Iraq's transitional government...
The story of how Chalabi charmed his way to the top and became the Iraq guru to key advisers around President Bush goes a long way to explaining why the administration both overestimated Mr. Hussein's weapons of mass destruction programs and underestimated the difficulties of occupation.
Indeed, a template for the experience that US officials now say they've undergone with Chalabi can be found in the 500-year-old words of Machiavelli. "How dangerous a thing it is to believe" exiles, he wrote. "Such is their extreme desire to return home, that they naturally believe many things that are false."
After the end of Chalabi's financial relationship with the US ? prompted by concerns Chalabi was passing information to Iran ? his ties to the neighboring country deepened. While he never obtained the kind of power he predicted for himself in his homeland, Chalabi has continued to pop up now and again, pursuing his interests.?
In 2010, Gen. Ray Odierno complained that both Chalabi and his close aide Ali al-Lami, who had been held by the US for a year on suspicion of directing an attack against US forces by members of the militia loyal to anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, were collaborating closely with Iranian intelligence agencies. Chalabi, meanwhile, was advocating a regional alliance between Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Iran.
The US was unwise to outsource its own interests to him.
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Judge Throws the Book at AT&T Hacker 'Weev'
Andrew Auernheimer, a hacker known as "Weev," was sentenced Monday to 41 months in prison for obtaining the personal data of more than 100,000 iPad owners from AT&T's publicly accessible website and sending the information to the media. The ruling immediately sparked an outcry from a digital rights group that claims the punishment does not fit the crime.
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Parents: Former Oklahoma QB had pilot's license
TULSA, Okla. (AP) ? The parents of former Oklahoma quarterback Steve Davis say their son had a pilot's license.
Jim and Patsy Davis of Sallisaw, Okla., said Monday their 60-year-old son was one of two people killed Sunday when a small aircraft smashed into three homes in northern Indiana.
They said Davis, Oklahoma's starting quarterback when it won back-to-back national titles in the 1970s, had a pilot's license and started learning to fly before he attended college.
The St. Joseph County Coroner said 58-year-old Wesley Caves also died in the crash in South Bend, Ind. The Davises say their son and Caves were good friends.
Steve Davis' pastor in Tulsa said earlier Monday that he relished any opportunity he could to get up in the air.
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Couch Player Is An iPad Music App That Puts The Playlist Front And Center
Swiss mobile development and design firm Clever & Son bills itself as a "maker of premium apps," and judging by Couch Player, its latest creation, the startup lives up to its name. Couch Player is essentially a replacement for the built-in Apple Music app on the iPad, but it manages to be much more with just a few simple tweaks.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/FnCvWkfgnHo/
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Monday, March 18, 2013
UW-Eau Claire men's hockey team wins NCAA D3 national championship
Posted: Sat 8:09 PM, Mar 16, 2013
Updated: Sun 2:50 AM, Mar 17, 2013
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The UW-Eau Claire men's hockey team won the NCAA Division 3 National Championship Saturday night in Lake Placid, New York, beating Oswego State 5-3 for the programs's first-ever NCAA D3 hockey title. The Blugolds fell behind 2-0 in the first period, but scored two goals at the end of the period, Jordan Singer and Andrew Wilcox with the goals. In the second period, UWEC got the go-ahead goal from Daniel Olszewski to make it 3-2. In the third period, the Blugolds would take a 4-2 lead on a breakaway goal from Devin Mantha. After the Lakers made it a 4-3 game, the Blugolds got a empty-net goal from Kurt Weston for the game-clinching goal. UW-Eau Claire finishes their championship season 24-5-1.
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Sunday, March 17, 2013
This Week's Winners On Mom Knows It All
To select the winner of these giveaways I used the ?And The Winner Is? plugin. I did confirm each winner randomly selected by the plugin was eligible.
Thomas & Friends Full Steam Ahead 3-DVD Set winner ? Marci
Barney: Barney Loves You 3-DVD Set winner ? Jackie V
Angelina Ballerina: The Mouseling Mysteries DVD winner ? Et P
Barney: Play With Barney DVD winner ? Emily
Thanks to all who entered the giveaways! Please consider subscribing to my feed so you don?t miss out on the latest posts, reviews and giveaways.
Category: Winners
Source: http://www.valmg.com/index.php/2013/this-weeks-winners-87/
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The Pope's Rome
"SILENZIO!" says the sign just past the massive bronze doors marking the entrance to St. Mary and the Martyrs Catholic Church in Rome, one of the two or three most important churches in Christian history. The sign reminds all that this is a church, and visitors from around the globe flock to the Piazza della Rotonda to see the austere, columned portico.
But the true beauty of the building is inside, where a geometrically perfect sphere could fit between ceiling and floor. A thick shaft of light flows into the space from a large circular hole ? called an oculus ("eye") ? at the apex of the domed roof. It's a design copied around the world. Two Italian kings and the artist Raphael are entombed along the walls.
Hundreds of well wishers including these nuns wave goodbye to Pope Benedict XVI as the helicopter he is riding in takes him over St. Peter's Square and into retirement on February 28th 2013.
MICHAEL GOULDING., ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
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Yet, if you got into a Roman cab and asked to go to the St. Mary and the Martyrs, you'd likely get a blank stare from the driver. No one uses the name of the church. This is the Pantheon, and despite the altar at the back, it is revered not as a Catholic church, but as the great temple to all gods built by the pagan Emperor Hadrian in 126 A.D. Though Hadrian built it, Pope Boniface IV is the man who ensured we can see it today. In the seventh century, he ordered the temple cleansed of its "pagan filth" and consecrated as a church to Christian martyrs. The practical impact was to halt the stripping away of marble and stone, saving the Pantheon from the fate of hundreds of ancient treasures torn apart to build new churches, homes, shops and roads.
The newest pope, Francis I, ruling from nearby Vatican City, won't hold the power of his predecessors in the Middle Ages, who were the spiritual leaders of a great empire and later the temporal rulers of a state that stretched across much of northern Italy. All that is left is Vatican City, one of the smallest countries in the world. But from the throne of St. Peter, the pope continues to wield great influence upon Rome, spiritual home of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.
There is little in Rome that has not been influenced by popes. But for me there are a few key sites ? some famous, some more obscure ? that link the papacy and the city. As a new era begins for the church, visitors can trace history by visiting places important to the men who have worn "The Shoes of the Fisherman."
The Inheritance
The apostle St. Peter was the first pope, a position that like so many in the first three centuries of Christianity led to his martyrdom. By the end of the fourth century, Christianity was the official religion of the Roman Empire and the popes sat atop the spiritual world of the West. All around them were the creations of the old empire, which met with a mixed fate.
PANTHEON It's known as the best-preserved ancient building in the world, a space that still captivates thousands of visitors a day. Originally built as a temple to "all gods" (pan theos), it's renowned for the perfect spherical dimensions of its interior. It was ordered shut, along with Rome's other pagan temples, in 356. The temple was saved by Pope Boniface's edict converting it to a church. This lucky intervention might have been based on the erroneous belief that the space had been used to torture and execute Christians.
Whatever the reason, the decision allows modern visitors to see the brilliance of classic Roman Empire design.
Inside are the tombs of kings Victor Emmanuel II and III, along with that of the artist Raphael, whose decoration of the papal apartments in the Vatican is second only to Michelangelo's Piet? sculpture, the Vatican dome and the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel as artistic treasures of the church in Rome.
Look for: A thunderstorm. There are few sights as dramatic as going to the Pantheon in heavy rain, the water flowing through the oculus onto the marble floor and down into the recessed drains. When lightning flashes, the walls are illuminated in blue light.
COLOSSEUM Unlike the Pantheon, there is little doubt that the Colosseum was the site of Christian martyrdom. Beginning in 80 A.D., the Colosseum was home to spectacles in which tens of thousands, including likely some Christians, were killed in games or public executions. But in the early Middle Ages, it was not considered a sacred Christian place, as evidenced by the large amount of masonry carted away for use on other projects. By the 16th century, though, popes had declared it the site of martyrdom and it was included on pilgrimage routes.
Today, the pope each year leads a "Way of the Cross" procession on Good Friday at the Colosseum. The site is remarkably well-preserved compared with the other great "bread and circuses" site, the Circus Maximus. The once-great racetrack (it's the site of the chariot race in "Ben-Hur") has been reduced over the centuries to little more than a grassy bowl.
The martyrdom of Christians at the Colosseum is commemorated by a large, plain cross on the first level of the stadium, as well as a plaque in Latin affixed above the main entrance commemorating it as a place where the faithful paid the ultimate price.
Look for: missing marble. The Colosseum was once clad in travertine marble, giving it a white sheen. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the marble was used for other buildings. The front steps of St. Peter's Basilica include marble from the Colosseum.
CASTEL SANT'ANGELO The Christians liked to appropriate what Emperor Hadrian built. This was opened in 139 as a mausoleum for Hadrian and his family, but by medieval times Hadrian had been evicted and his cylindrical tomb towering over the Tiber River turned into a convenient fortress for pope-fleeing invaders descending on Rome or urban riots welling up within the city walls. An elevated walkway was built from the papal apartment in St. Peter's to Castel Sant'Angelo, allowing pontiffs to flee to a stronghold without having to set foot on city streets. Today, it is a museum with a popular rooftop caf? that's the perfect setting to gaze out at Rome on a warm day.
Look for: Pons Aelius. The second-century bridge that stretches from Castel Sant'Angelo across the Tiber to the old city of Rome. Known today at Ponte Sant'Angelo, it's a much simpler space than in the distant past. Homes and a triumphal arch once stood on the bridge, until its foundations began to crack and the extra structures were stripped away in the 17th century. Today, it is a pedestrian-only space popular with artists and newlyweds.
Glories past
For more than 1,500 years, the papacy wasn't just a spiritual power but a temporal one. It was the church of a great empire. By the late Middle Ages, the popes were rulers of the Papal States, which covered thousands of miles of land in and around Rome. With an estimated 800 churches in the city, as well as dozens of convents, schools, fountains, towers and other sites, there is little that was not touched by the papacy. It all changed in 1870 when the unification of Italy secularized all of the papal holdings except for the area immediately around St. Peter's. It would take another half-century and the intervention of a dictator to end the squabble between church and state.
ARCHBASILICA OF ST. JOHN LATERAN Well outside the tourist areas of Rome is the most overlooked historic attraction in the Eternal City. It is the seat of the bishop of Rome, aka the pope, making it the official home church of the leader of Catholicism.
Built on the site of a palace from the time of Emperor Nero, the complex that included a palace and chapels was built over the decades to house the popes, most of whom lived here until the 14th century. A basilica has stood on the site since the fourth century, though the current baroque-style facade dates to 1735. The oldest element of the complex is the largest obelisk in the world ? an Egyptian treasure dating to the 15th century B.C. that was taken to Rome and stood in the Circus Maximus until 1870.
The church was where popes were crowned. But with the occupation of Rome by Italian forces uniting the kingdom, popes refused to use the church ? Pius XI refused to even leave the Vatican, claiming that he was a prisoner. An uneasy truce was maintained for 59 years until dictator Benito Mussolini hammered out the Lateran Treaty in 1929 between the Kingdom of Italy and the Holy See. It created the Vatican State and exempted church holdings outside of the Vatican from taxes. Though much of the statesmanship of the Fascist era was later repealed, the Lateran Treaty remains in force and is the reason the Vatican has a nonvoting seat in the United Nations.
Look for: the bronze doors. These massive, second-century doors were taken from the ancient Roman Senate building, an example of the frequent "repurposing" of classic architectural and design elements onto new buildings.
THE SACRED STEPS Among the greatest holy relics of the church, the Sacred Steps are believed by the faithful to be the marble stairs that Jesus climbed to see Pontius Pilate on his way to crucifixion. Helena, the mother of the first Christian emperor, Constantine, visited the Holy Land from 326 to 328 and returned with several relics, including the 28 steps.
Today, the steps are housed in a chapel used by the pope just across the street from the Lateran cathedral. They are covered in wood, except for small holes left to show spots believed to be the blood of Christ. The faithful climb the steps on their knees. At the top is the Sanctum Sanctorum, the personal chapel of the popes when they resided at the nearby Lateran Palace.
Look for: a warning. A sign at the bottom reminds penitents that it is not enough to simply make the journey to the top ? confession to a priest is required for the full benefits of the arduous climb to be fulfilled.
PIAZZA DEL POPOLO Rome is roughly halfway down the peninsula of Italy. For most pilgrims and dignitaries, the city was entered from the north gate, via this imposing early 19th-century plaza, the last of a series of triumphant entryways to the city. The name has nothing to do with popes, but rather the poplar trees. Yet it was as important as any symbol of the power of the papacy.
On one side of the north gate were the villages and farms of rural Italy. On the other, a massive piazza with a 3,300-year-old Egyptian obelisk at its center, flanked by two large churches. Radiating out from the plaza were three roads, which led to the Vatican, the city center and the riverside of the Tiber. It was a place meant to startle those arriving with the power and majesty of the popes. Until 1826, it was the spot for public executions of criminals. Today, most visitors arrive in Rome via Leonardo da Vinci Airport to the south, essentially entering through the historical back door of Rome.
Look for: the quitting queen's door. The resignation of Pope Benedict XVI was not the first to roil Rome. The north gate, or porta, of the city just off the Piazza del Popolo was grandly rebuilt by Pope Alexander VII as a welcoming present to Christina, the queen of Sweden who was forced to abdicate after she converted from Protestant to Catholic in 1654. She moved to Rome, where she was royally treated, including her interment in the grotto of the Vatican, usually reserved for popes.
The Capital of Catholicism
Though the term "Rome" is still used to signify the Catholic Church, the modern center is in Vatican City, since 1929 a separate country from Italy. Just two-tenths of a square mile on the opposite side of the Tiber from most of the historic center of Rome, it nonetheless squeezes monumental symbols of power into a small space.
The term "Vatican" predates the papal period. The Ager Vaticanus was an area that included the Circus of Nero. Its importance to the church derives from being the site where St. Peter, the disciple of Jesus and first pope, was martyred. Peter was to be crucified but said he was unworthy to die as Jesus had and was nailed to the cross upside down.
ST. PETER'S BASILICA Pope Francis I was first seen as the new leader of the church from a balcony next to the cathedral in Vatican City. The earlier St. Peter's Basilica was in danger of falling down in the 15th century, when the Catholic Church embarked on creating the largest church in the world. Begun in 1506, it was an epic undertaking that would not be officially consecrated for more than a century, in 1626. It remains the largest church in the world ? and is twice the size of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. The square in front of the cathedral can hold more than 150,000 people, as it did during Pope Benedict XVI's final audience in February. Its greatest art treasure is the Piet? , the sculpture by Michelangelo of the Virgin Mary holding the dead Jesus after he was taken off the cross. The sculpture is behind a protective clear barrier after a crazed man attacked it with a hammer in 1972.
Look for: his right foot. A 13th-century bronze statue of St. Peter is a popular pilgrimage spot for the faithful, who touch his extended right foot. The toll of so many hands over so many centuries has worn the foot smooth, so that the toes have all but disappeared.
SISTINE CHAPEL The glorious chapel covered from wall to ceiling by frescoes created by Michelangelo was where the 115 cardinals met to select the new pope. The cardinals placed their votes in a chalice in front of "The Last Judgment." The frescoes, painted between 1508 and 1512, are one of the top attractions in Rome. It was off limits during the voting, but Vatican workers moved rapidly after the election of Francis I to get it ready for visitors. Just in time for the lines of tourists waiting to gain entry for Holy Week, which begins next Sunday.
Look for: The small external chimney that expelled a torrent of white smoke March 13, signaling Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as the 266th pope.
Contact the writer: travel@ocregister.com
Source: http://www.ocregister.com/travel/church-500093-rome-pope.html
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Saturday, March 16, 2013
Inspired by deep sea sponges: Creating flexible minerals
Mar. 15, 2013 ? Scientists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPI-P) in Germany have created a new synthetic hybrid material with a mineral content of almost 90 percent, yet extremely flexible. They imitated the structural elements found in most sea sponges and recreated the sponge spicules using the natural mineral calcium carbonate and a protein of the sponge. Natural minerals are usually very hard and prickly, as fragile as porcelain.
Amazingly, the synthetic spicules are superior to their natural counterparts in terms of flexibility, exhibiting a rubber-like flexibility. The synthetic spicules can, for example, easily be U-shaped without breaking or showing any signs of fracture This highly unusual characteristic, described by the German researchers in the current issue of Science, is mainly due to the part of organic substances in the new hybrid material. It is about ten times as much as in natural spicules.
Spicules are structural elements found in most sea sponges. They provide structural support and deter predators. They are very hard, prickly, and even quite difficult to cut with a knife. The spicules of sponges thus offer a perfect example of a lightweight, tough, and impenetrable defense system, which may inspire engineers to create body armors of the future.
The researchers led by Wolfgang Tremel, Professor at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, and Hans-J?rgen Butt, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, used these natural sponge spicules as a model to cultivate them in the lab. The synthetic spicules were made from calcite (CaCO3) and silicatein-?. The latter is a protein from siliceous sponges that, in nature, catalyzes the formation of silica, which forms the natural silica spicules of sponges. Silicatein-? was used in the lab setting to control the self-organization of the calcite spicules. The synthetic material was self-assembled from an amorphous calcium carbonate intermediate and silicatein and subsequently aged to the final crystalline material. After six months, the synthetic spicules consisted of calcite nanocrystals aligned in a brick wall fashion with the protein embedded like cement in the boundaries between the calcite nanocrystals. The spicules were of 10 to 300 micrometers in length with a diameter of 5 to 10 micrometers.
As the scientists, among them chemists, polymer researchers, and the molecular biologist Professor Werner E. G. M?ller from the Mainz University Medical Center, also write in their Science publication, the synthetic spicules have yet another special characteristic, i.e., they are able to transmit light waves even when they are bent.
Related link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNleh50Ug_k
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Universit?t Mainz.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- F. Natalio, T. P. Corrales, M. Panthofer, D. Schollmeyer, I. Lieberwirth, W. E. G. Muller, M. Kappl, H.-J. Butt, W. Tremel. Flexible Minerals: Self-Assembled Calcite Spicules with Extreme Bending Strength. Science, 2013; 339 (6125): 1298 DOI: 10.1126/science.1216260
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/WXBtktH-6W8/130315074513.htm
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