How owls can survive spinning their heads 270 degrees

Owls don't need eyes in the back of their heads to see what's behind them ? they can just swivel their heads all the way around. In fact, many owl species, such as the barred owl, can rotate their heads 270 degrees in each direction, which means they can look to the left by rotating all the way to the right, or vice versa.

But how do they do it without severing their arteries or preventing blood from reaching the brain? An illustrator and a physician at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine teamed up to find out.

"Until now, brain imaging specialists like me who deal with human injuries caused by trauma to arteries in the head and neck have always been puzzled as to why rapid, twisting head movements did not leave thousands of owls lying dead on the forest floor from stroke," said study author Dr. Philippe Gailloud, in a statement from the university.

If humans tried to rotate our heads so rapidly or far, we'd tear the lining of our arteries, which would cause clots to form and lead to a stroke (besides also breaking our necks), he added. "The carotid and vertebral arteries in the neck of most animals ? including owls and humans ? are very fragile and highly susceptible to even minor tears of the vessel lining."

Looking inside owls

To get a glimpse of the owl's blood vessels when their necks were turning, the duo injected dye into the blood vessels of a dozen dead owls and used a CT scan to visualize the shimmering fluid spreading throughout the birds' arteries like blood, said Fabian de Kok-Mercado, who performed the work while getting a master's in medical illustration at Johns Hopkins. (He is now an illustrator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Chevy Chase, Md.) The researchers then twisted the dead owls' heads to see what happened. [Video: Watch the owls' necks twist.]

After creating the CT scan images, the researchers injected a plastic-like substance into the veins of dead snowy, barred and great horned owls and dissected the animals, drawing the routes and locations of the vessels.

They found a number of previously undiscovered and unique traits, de Kok-Mercado told OurAmazingPlanet. For one, the owls' neck bones, or vertebrae, contain holes that are much larger than those found in other birds or humans. In humans, the hole in the vertebra is about the same size as the artery, but in owls the hole is about 10 times larger than the artery, according to the study, published today (Jan. 31) in the journal Science. These holes, or canals, likely hold air sacks meant to cushion the twisting motion of the head, de Kok-Mercado said.

"We also noticed right away that these canals were absent in the bottom two vertebra of the neck," de Kok-Mercado said. This gives the cord-like vessels some slack when the bird twists its head.

The large holes and "slack" at the bottom of the neck help explain why the vessels don't break. But they don't explain why the supply of blood isn't cut off when an owl turns its head ? with so much twisting, the vessels are bound to become partially blocked.

Blood to the brain

The team noticed that the vertebral artery enlarges slightly as it approaches the brain, which is unusual and not seen in many other animals (like the trunk of a tree, vessels generally get smaller as they get farther from the heart). The authors think that these enlarged areas may function as reservoirs in which blood can pool, so that the brain has extra blood to work with as the head swivels around, de Kok-Mercado said.

The blood vessels near the brain are also highly connected. A vessel called the patent trigeminal artery connects the front and the back of the owl's brain, which helps supply the organ with as much blood as possible.

Why do owls need to crane their necks to such an extreme degree? It's because their eyes are tubular, built almost like telescopes, giving them amazing vision, de Kok-Mercado said. But unlike humans, who have roughly spherical eyes, owls cannot move them about easily, so they have to rotate their heads.

The finding is just another example of how the birds are perfectly adapted to suit their environment, enabling them to see despite having relatively fixed eyes.

"I hope it gives people more of an appreciation of the life on this planet," de Kok-Mercado said.

Reach Douglas Main at dmain@techmedianetwork.com. Follow him on Twitter @Douglas_Main. Follow OurAmazingPlanet on Twitter?@OAPlanet. We're also on?Facebook?and Google+.

Copyright 2013 OurAmazingPlanet, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/biological-twist-owls-spin-heads-around-200313354.html

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Herschel finds past-prime star may be making planets

Jan. 30, 2013 ? A star thought to have passed the age at which it can form planets may, in fact, be creating new worlds. The disk of material surrounding the surprising star called TW Hydrae may be massive enough to make even more planets than we have in our own solar system.

The findings were made using the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Telescope, a mission in which NASA is a participant.

At roughly 10 million years old and 176 light years away, TW Hydrae is relatively close to Earth by astronomical standards. Its planet-forming disk has been well studied. TW Hydrae is relatively young but, in theory, it is past the age at which giant plants already may have formed.

"We didn't expect to see so much gas around this star," said Edwin Bergin of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Bergin led the new study appearing in the journal Nature. "Typically stars of this age have cleared out their surrounding material, but this star still has enough mass to make the equivalent of 50 Jupiters," Bergin said.

In addition to revealing the peculiar state of the star, the findings also demonstrate a new, more precise method for weighing planet-forming disks. Previous techniques for assessing the mass were indirect and uncertain. The new method can directly probe the gas that typically goes into making planets.

Planets are born out of material swirling around young stars, and the mass of this material is a key factor controlling their formation. Astronomers did not know before the new study whether the disk around TW Hydrae contained enough material to form new planets similar to our own.

"Before, we had to use a proxy to guess the gas quantity in the planet-forming disks," said Paul Goldsmith, the NASA project scientist for Herschel at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "This is another example of Herschel's versatility and sensitivity yielding important new results about star and planet formation."

Using Herschel, scientists were able to take a fresh look at the disk with the space telescope to analyze light coming from TW Hydrae and pick out the spectral signature of a gas called hydrogen deuteride. Simple hydrogen molecules are the main gas component of planets, but they emit light at wavelengths too short to be detected by Herschel. Gas molecules containing deuterium, a heavier version of hydrogen, emit light at longer, far-infrared wavelengths that Herschel is equipped to see. This enabled astronomers to measure the levels of hydrogen deuteride and obtain the weight of the disk with the highest precision yet.

"Knowing the mass of a planet-forming disk is crucial to understanding how and when planets take shape around other stars," said Glenn Wahlgren, Herschel program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Whether TW Hydrae's large disk will lead to an exotic planetary system with larger and more numerous planets than ours remains to be seen, but the new information helps define the range of possible planet scenarios.

"The new results are another important step in understanding the diversity of planetary systems in our universe," said Bergin. "We are now observing systems with massive Jupiters, super-Earths, and many Neptune-like worlds. By weighing systems at their birth, we gain insight into how our own solar system formed with just one of many possible planetary configurations."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

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Journal Reference:

1. Edwin A. Bergin, L. Ilsedore Cleeves, Uma Gorti, Ke Zhang, Geoffrey A. Blake, Joel D. Green, Sean M. Andrews, Neal J. Evans II, Thomas Henning, Karin ?berg, Klaus Pontoppidan, Chunhua Qi, Colette Salyk, Ewine F. van Dishoeck. An old disk still capable of forming a planetary system. Nature, 2013; 493 (7434): 644 DOI: 10.1038/nature11805

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/most_popular/~3/Vqb4sehg5j0/130130135905.htm

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Russia's 2012 crackdown worst since Soviet era -rights group

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Authoritarianism increased last year in Russia to levels unseen since the Soviet era with a raft of harsh laws curbing political freedoms and harassment of opposition activists and critics, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday.

The crackdown coincided with the return of Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin and the appointment of his predecessor and prot?g?, Dmitry Medvedev, as prime minister, according to the New York-based group.

"Since Putin's return ... not only has the tentative shift towards liberalization of the Medvedev era been totally reversed, but also authoritarianism in Russia has reached a level unknown in recent history," said Rachel Denber, deputy director of the group's Europe and Central Asia Division.

Speaking at a news conference in Moscow accompanying the publication of its annual report on human rights worldwide, Denber also criticized the government's stance toward the West.

Since Putin started a six-year term in May, he has signed laws restricting protests, demanding foreign-funded non-governmental organizations register as "foreign agents," and setting new rules on treason that critics say could place almost anyone who associates with foreigners at risk of prosecution.

Several opposition leaders and activists face potential prison terms if convicted on charges Putin's critics say are trumped up. The president's spokesman has denied the Kremlin uses courts and police to pressure critics.

"Measures to intimidate critics and restrict Russia's vibrant civil society have reached unprecedented levels," Hugh Williamson, director of HRW's Europe and Central Asia Division, said in a statement.

"Pressure and reprisals against activists and non-governmental organizations need to stop."

"This has been the worst year for human rights in Russia in recent history," he said of 2012. The statement said the Kremlin "unleashed the worst political crackdown" since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.

On Thursday evening, Moscow police dispersed protesters and detained about 30 activists who tried to demonstrate for the right to free assembly, which they say is routinely violated by the government.

HRW: CONCERNS ABOUT ARAB SPRING AFTERMATH

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said he had not read the report but that Russia would probably comment later and "show that the human rights situation in Russia is not the worst."

He said the Russian ministry's own annual reports have shown that "there are serious systemic problems in the sphere of human rights in the United States and many European Union countries."

"Before you criticize others, you should look at yourself," Lukashevich said at a weekly briefing.

The Human Rights Watch annual report also looked at developments in the Middle East and North Africa in the aftermath of the Arab Spring uprisings. It raised concerns about a possible return to non-democratic rule in some countries.

"The uncertainties of freedom are no reason to revert to the enforced predictability of authoritarian rule," said the group's director, Kenneth Roth. "The path ahead may be treacherous, but the alternative is to consign entire countries to a grim future of oppression."

The report criticized Egypt's new constitution, saying vague provisions on speech, religion, and the family had dangerous implications for women's rights and the exercise of social freedoms protected under international law.

The constitution also reflects a seeming abandonment of efforts to exercise civilian control over the military, it added.

Elsewhere in the region, it said, Libya has become a "weak state" and the situation in Syria, where over 60,000 people have been killed in a nearly 2-year-long civil war, has deteriorated. Human Rights Watch urged the U.N. Security Council to overcome its impasse and refer the Syrian conflict to the International Criminal Court to investigate possible war crimes.

(Additional reporting by Steve Gutterman in Moscow and Louis Charbonneau in New York; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Doina Chiacu)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rights-group-says-russias-2012-crackdown-worst-since-170251793.html

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White House blames Republican "brinkmanship" for GDP contraction

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Wednesday blamed the surprising contraction of the economy at the end of last year at least partly on Republican "political brinkmanship" for threatening to let defense cuts take effect.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said similar threats over a looming March 1 deadline when defense and other cuts take effect absent a broader budget deal could similarly hurt the U.S. economy and taxpayers.

"This is political brinkmanship with one primary victim, and that is American taxpayers and the American middle class," Carney said at a briefing.

"Our economy is facing a major headwind ... and that's Republicans in Congress."

Carney referred to comments by former vice presidential candidate and House of Representatives Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, who said Sunday he believes the automatic spending cuts will go into effect because Democrats have not offered alternatives, and remarks made by House Speaker John Boehner.

Boehner said in a January 6 interview that he had the spending cuts "in my back pocket" for use as a bargaining chip in budget talks with the White House.

"It's not a game. It's the American economy," Carney said. "The American people - those who pay attention to this issue in detail - are rightly appalled by those kind of tactics that, you know, do harm to their lives, do harm to the economy in the name of ... achieving some political objectives here in Washington."

Despite a temporary truce over the "fiscal cliff" and raising the debt ceiling, the White House and congressional Republicans remain at odds over tax and spending measures, with both sides agreeing that reducing the nation's massive budget deficit is desirable but at loggerheads over how and how fast.

Obama and lawmakers were able to avoid a year end "fiscal cliff" of deep automatic spending cuts known as the sequester and tax increases at the end of 2012. Republicans agreed to extend temporarily the U.S. capacity to borrow without demanding spending cuts in return.

However the two sides still face the prospect of painful across-the-board spending cuts in a month if they do nothing.

Carney cast the 0.1 pct decline in U.S. economic output in the fourth quarter of last year - which was driven by the deepest plunge in defense spending in 40 years - as an example of how uncertainty over the government's fiscal plans hurt economic growth.

"The GDP number we saw today was driven in part by, in large part by a sharp decrease in defense spending," he said. "And at least some of that has to do with the uncertainty created by the prospect of sequester."

Republican aides responded by noting that the very idea of sharp automatic cuts as a way to force negotiators to come to terms was reportedly the White House's idea.

"These arbitrary, automatic cuts were a creation and demand of the White House in 2011," Boehner spokesman Brendan Buck said.

(With additional reporting by Steve Holland and Roberta Rampton; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/white-house-accuses-republicans-brinkmanship-spending-cuts-181022857--business.html

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Apple Unveils 128GB iPad 4

The revamped iPad 4 will cost consumers a pretty penny

Apple announced on Tuesday it?s launching a 128GB iPad. The new device is virtually identical to the fourth-generation iPad, but has way more memory. It?s the largest storage-offering on a tablet to date.

For consumers interested in purchasing the device, this iPad will cost you. The 128GB iPad 4 is priced at $799 for the Wi-Fi model and $929 for the Wi-Fi + LTE version. It features everything that debuted with the fourth-generation iPad back in October: Retina display, Lighting connector and iOS 6, reports HuffPost Tech.

The new iPad will become available starting Feb. 5.

Read more at HuffPost Tech?

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Source: http://www.blackenterprise.com/technology/apple-unveils-128gb-ipad-4/

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Ted Cruz Has 'Deep Concerns' With Immigration Reform Deal | TPM ...

Igor Bobic

6:31 PM EST, Monday January 28, 2013

Newly elected Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said on Monday that he has "deep concerns" with a newly announced bipartisan deal in the Senate to reform the nation's immigration system. Cruz took particular issue with a proposed path to citizenship:

?I appreciate the good work that senators in both parties have put into trying to fix our broken immigration system," said Cruz in a statement. "There are some good elements in this proposal, especially increasing the resources and manpower to secure our border and also improving and streamlining legal immigration. However, I have deep concerns with the proposed path to citizenship.?To allow those who came here illegally to be placed on such a path is both inconsistent with rule of law and profoundly unfair to the millions of legal immigrants who waited years, if not decades, to come to America legally.?

Source: http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/ted-cruz-has-deep-concerns-with-immigration-reform

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Defense nominee Hagel plans to shed some holdings

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Secretary of Defense nominee Chuck Hagel has told Pentagon officials he plans to divest some of his financial holdings and resign from several corporate boards and public interest groups to avoid potential conflicts of interest if he wins Senate confirmation.

Hagel told Defense Department officials in a letter last week that he would resign his corporate board post at Chevron Corp. and shed investments in the energy firm, a major government contractor. He would also cut ties and investments with the McCarthy Group LLC, an Omaha-based private equity firm.

A new personal financial disclosure filed with the Office of Government Ethics lists Hagel's assets at between $2.8 million and $6 million, according to an Associated Press analysis. Hagel made earnings of more than $1 million last year, including board fees from Deutsche Bank, Zurich Insurance Group and Corsair Capital. Hagel said he would also server ties to those firms.

Hagel's Pentagon nomination has run into heavy fire from conservatives and Republicans who question whether he is sufficiently supportive of Israel. They also question his support for reductions in the nuclear arsenal. Some of his wide-ranging corporate and activist roles have also drawn criticism that his decision-making could be swayed by prior relationships. Hagel's letter to defense officials indicates he is willing to sell off possible conflict holdings and end his directorships to mute those concerns, but would still retain the ability to make his own investments.

In a letter sent last week to Robert Taylor, the Pentagon's acting general counsel, Hagel said that if he wins the defense post, he and his wife would not "invest in any company identified as a Department of Defense contractor or any other entity that would create a conflict of interest with my government duties." Hagel also pledged that if any firm that he has holdings in wins a defense contract, he would sell off those investments.

Some previous nominees for top government positions, such as former Bush administration Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, have placed their holdings in federally approved blind trusts so that they have no direct role in private investments during their tenure. Others have not used blind trusts because of their minimal investments or their preference to keep control over their holdings. Former Reagan administration Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger was among those who avoided blind trusts.

Sen. John Kerry, President Barack Obama's pick for secretary of state, has holdings worth more than $184 million, and is also not using a blind trust. Most of Kerry's investments are made through family trusts, which limit his direct involvement but are not as segregated as blind trusts qualified by the Office of Government Ethics.

Marie Harf, a White House spokesman, said Hagel worked with the OGE and Pentagon lawyers "to ensure he is in compliance with all applicable ethics laws and regulations." She added that his decision to shed any investments and directorships was "typical protocol."

In his letter, Hagel said he would not participate in any decision that "has a direct and predictable effect on my financial interests" and would request a waiver from the ethics office if he planned any move that could affect him financially.

Hagel's decision to sever his dealings and investments with Chevron were clearly dictated by the firm's extensive dealings with the Pentagon. According to government figures, Chevron received more than $500 million in defense contracts in 2012, ranking 78th among the department's largest corporate beneficiaries.

Hagel joined Chevron's board of directors in 2010 and made $116,000 in fees in 2012. He also has Chevron common stock worth between $100,000 and $250,000 according to his disclosure.

Activists from both the left and right have questioned Chevron's recent involvement with repressive governments, including its plans to develop natural gas reserves in Turkmenistan and its pipeline work in Burma.

One conservative non-profit interest group, the American Future Fund, took aim at Hagel's relationship with Chevron, asking in an attack ad: "How can Chuck Hagel run the Pentagon with so many ethical questions about his own record?"

That broadside came before Hagel's letter outlining his divestment plans. In addition to Hagel's pledge, the Senate Armed Services Committee also has some of the most stringent rules for nominees for senior civilian positions in the Defense Department, requiring nominees to divest all financial interests in any company contracting with the Pentagon. The committee bases its rules on a 330-page list of firms with any Defense contract exceeding $25,000.

Hagel also said he would cut ties to the McCarthy Group, headed by a former campaign treasurer, Michael McCarthy. In 2009, Hagel was named a senior adviser at McCarthy Capital Corporation, a subsidiary of McCarthy's company. The firm's investments include HDR and Vornado, which both have defense contracts.

And Hagel also agreed to step down as an adviser to M.I.C. industries, where he earned $120,000 last year. The firm's business includes making temporary structures under contract for the U.S. military.

His role as a member of Deutsche Bank's America's Advisory Board could also have posed problems because of reports that the German bank was among several global lenders under investigation by the Justice Department for allegedly helping to skirt U.S. trade sanctions on Iran's energy industry. The German-based bank has denied the allegations.

In his letter, Hagel also pledged to cut ties with several academic and public interest groups, including Georgetown University, the Atlantic Council, the Center for the Study of the Presidency, the America Security Project and the Ploughshares Fund. The latter group has pressed for nuclear non-proliferation and Hagel's outspoken views on that issue has also raised complaints from some Senate conservatives.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/defense-nominee-hagel-plans-shed-holdings-163951628--politics.html

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Work-in-Progress: Do Writers Need an MFA?

While busy with something else, I ended up re-reading this post I wrote in?January 2011, about whether a writer needs an MFA. It seemed surprisingly smart to me and still relevant, so I'm reposting it:

I'm often asked, do you need an MFA to be a writer? Of course you don?t; to be a writer, you need to write. That?s misleadingly simple. I like to answer the question with a list (naturally) that also includes some questions to ponder and some unsolicited advice. So, here goes:

What to think about when you think about a graduate program in writing:
--I had some amazing teachers that saved me a lot of time by showing me a path through the thicket of writing. Not all of those teachers were in my MFA workshops, so there are excellent teachers everywhere. But, yes, teachers really can teach you quite a bit!

--While many graduate programs have ?famous? writers you revere and admire on the faculty, being a ?famous? writer doesn?t automatically make one a good teacher. So when you?re considering plunking down the $$ to go to a graduate program, do your homework and check out the faculty.

--Doing your homework means:
A) Reading the work by the core faculty. If everyone on the faculty is writing in a traditional style and your writing is more experimental, it probably isn?t a good match.
B) Speaking to students who are in the program or who recently graduated. This is how you can find out about the teaching. Facebook can be a good resource for finding students, or you can ask the program director for some students to chat with.
C) Show up, if you can. Go to a reading sponsored by the program and get a feel for the place: is the atmosphere friendly and welcoming? Do the faculty attend the reading? Are the questions in the Q&A lively? Or, if you?re at a conference, talk to the writers who teach and ask them about their schools.

--Don?t expect that you?ll automatically get a teaching job after you graduate. If you want to teach?and be sure that you really do want to; it?s not a requirement to being a writer, and may even be a detriment!?you will need a graduate degree. But, to teach creative writing, you will most likely also need a published book (or some amazing, New Yorker-like publications). The degree is no guarantee, and don?t make a mistake imagining that it is. (If you want to teach, try to get some experience while you?re in school. And expect that you?ll be teaching mostly comp while a TA and probably after you graduate and perhaps even for the rest of your life.)

--Think about money. Will attending graduate school put you in debt for the rest of your life? Are you okay with that? There's value to the idea of devoting time/energy/resources to learning to be a better writer--good teachers can help you leapfrog ahead of yourself in terms of writing progress. Will knowing that you?re spending all this money (and time and making the other sacrifices needed) make you take your writing more seriously? There is always going to be a higher standard for critique and study in a graduate program?not to mention the more rigorous reading requirements. Do you want/need someone else to impose those standards upon you; at what price?

--Perhaps the greatest benefit of a graduate writing program is the community, during and after. Maybe you will meet people who will be friends for life, or who will read and comment on your work for life, or who will become high-powered editors/writers who can help you. Maybe. At the least, you?ll be surrounded by a group of people who care deeply about writing/literature and who want to follow the same path of artful pursuit you do.

--Probably this should be a whole separate discussion because I won?t do it justice here, but think about what you want to write. If all you want to write is science fiction (or romance) or some other genre, you WILL learn to be a better writer in a graduate writing program. But your path may be rougher and more challenging than if your interests were more literary. Again, do your homework: How does the program feel about less ?literary? writing?

Unsolicited advice I have for all MFA students:
--Read the books your teachers have written. Ask your teachers questions about their work: how did you handle dialogue? Why did you decide to give the main character 6 brothers? Etc. Talk!

--Make the most of every opportunity. If your teacher offers individual meetings/office hours, go. If your teacher/peers hang out after class for booze or coffee, and it?s within your realm to attend, go. If your teachers/peers are reading their work, go. If the ?famous? visiting writer needs a ride somewhere and you can offer one, go. In short, just go-go-GO!

--Write things down. If your teacher mentions a book/journal/article that was influential to him/her, write it down. Look it up. Think seriously about reading it, if not immediately, at some point. Teachers don?t say these things for no reason, you know!

--Be organized and timely. Get your work done. Try not to be a problem.

--Don?t suck up. Instead, be a nice, interested, interesting person, and you won?t need to suck up. Ask questions instead, and don?t talk only about yourself and your own projects. Be involved in the larger world.

--Be the person in your program who organizes, whether it?s a potluck or a new online literary journal or a fun night bowling. It takes effort to keep your community connected, so pull an oar.

--Thank your teachers at the end of the semester, even the teachers you didn?t like. You probably learned more from them than you think you did.

--Don?t race your way through the program. This is probably the only time in your life where you have all these smart people devoted to you and your writing?take your time and enjoy it.

What about the Low-Res MFA?
Unique advantages to the low-res:
--You don?t need to move and/or uproot your life to go to school.
--There?s a nice mix between workshop interaction and individual, devoted attention to your work.
--Speaking as a fiction teacher, I think it's easier to work on the novel form since you have one mentor for a solid chunk of time who can read a good amount of your work in a sustained way.
--The residency location can be a plus: i.e. if you like the mountains, choose a low-res program located in/near the mountains!
--The reading list can be self-directed so you're reading materials that resonate with you.

Disadvantages to the low-res:
--That word above, "self-directed": this type of program would be a disaster for a certain type of person, who's a totally disorganized procrastinator. In the low-res, you really have to make yourself do the work.
--Things are changing, but typically there are fewer fellowship and funding opportunities available at low-res programs, so the onus of finding a way to pay for the program comes from the student: savings, student loans
--There may be limited TA opportunities.

Disclosure: I teach at the Converse College Low-Residency MFA Program and at the more traditional Johns Hopkins Master of Arts in Writing Program.

Source: http://www.workinprogressinprogress.com/2013/01/do-writers-need-mfa.html

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College Fund Raisers Predict a Return to Prerecession Levels of ...

Charitable donations to colleges and universities increased by 5.5 percent in 2012, fund raisers at higher-education institutions reported in a twice-yearly survey that was released on Monday by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, or CASE. The fund raisers predicted additional growth of 5.8 percent in 2013.

?The recession continues to recede,? said John Lippincott, president of CASE, who added that the survey signals a return to levels of giving equal to those of the 2007-8 academic year, when donations reached a record $31.6-billion. Gifts to higher education plunged after the global economic downturn but were back up to $30.3-billion in 2010-11.

?Anecdotally we are hearing from our members and from fund raisers of growing confidence among their donor community,? he said. ?The donors themselves are feeling better about their own personal financial circumstances and the overall economic environment, where in the past they were reluctant to make commitments.?

Mr. Lippincott cited a $350-million gift by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York to the Johns Hopkins University, announced on Sunday, as ?one more welcome reminder? of rising donor confidence.

According to CASE, some donors made large gifts in late 2012 because of proposals during the ?fiscal cliff? negotiations in Washington that would have reduced the value of the charitable-gift tax deduction. The deduction remains tied to a donor?s marginal tax rate, Mr. Lippincott said, which continues to be a boon for philanthropy in the United States.

He cautioned, however, that the short-term nature of the fiscal repairs leaves philanthropists nervous.

?If we see significant changes being discussed in the tax code in the coming months as part of future negotiations in Congress,? Mr. Lippincott said, ?it could cause some concern among the donors.?

Community colleges were the biggest gainers in higher education last year, reported the fund raisers, who reported a 7-percent increase for 2012 and predicted a 6.8-percent increase for 2013.

?A lot of what that reflects is that, as the community-college sector as a whole has invested more in their advancement operations, they?re actually seeing a payoff from it,? Mr. Lippincott said. ?We?re just delighted to see that because, roughly speaking, community colleges educate about 50 percent of undergraduates in this country, and they raise about 1 percent of the philanthropic support for higher education.?

The survey, conducted online in January among fund raisers at more than 2,100 institutions in the United States that are members of CASE, had a response rate of 11.7 percent.

Source: http://chronicle.com/blogs/bottomline/college-fund-raisers-predict-a-return-to-prerecession-levels-of-giving/

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Scientists identify four mechanisms that contribute to gastric cancers

Jan. 27, 2013 ? Scientists at A*STAR's Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) headed a study that discovered four processes by which gastric cancer is formed. This is extremely important since gastric cancer is the second most common cause of cancer deaths worldwide, claiming almost 750,000 lives annually, 60% of which are Asians.

Using what is known as next-generation sequencing technologies, GIS scientists were able to provide a comprehensive view of the gastric cancer genome, characterizing micro- and macro-scale mutations. This led to the identification of four distinct processes that cause mutations in gastric cancer. One of these was found to have a targeted impact on genes and is potentially triggered by bacterial infection. The other processes were found to have impact throughout the genome, and included oxidative damage processes and the failure of DNA proof-reading mechanisms.

The discovery of the mutative actions of these processes provides essential clues to the formation of gastric cancers, paving the way for diagnostics and targeted therapy.

The findings were published online in the December 2012 issue of Genome Biology.

First author and GIS Principal Investigator Dr Niranjan Nagarajan said, "Cancers are constantly evolving, and therefore understanding how they do so is important for finding new treatments. Mutational processes in cancer had not previously been shown to have a targeted impact on the genome and on genes. With this study, we show evidence of this for the very first time. This is truly exciting since it moves us a critical step towards understanding and finding a cure for gastric cancer."

Co-author and GIS Principal Investigator Dr Patrick Tan said, "This is the first time gastric cancers have been analyzed at the whole genome level. This work further showcases the reputation of Singapore as a world-leader in gastric cancer research."

"Our study demonstrates that sequencing gastric tumours not only allows the identification of mutations in the human genome but also reveals micro-organisms and their pathogenic gene content," added Dr Axel Hillmer, GIS Principal Investigator.

GIS Executive Director, Prof Ng Huck Hui said, ""This is a very exciting study that probed into the genomic signature of gastric cancers. Through the analysis of somatic mutations occurring in gastric cancers, this team has identified several interesting genes which have profound implications in cancers."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore.

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

---

Journal Reference:

1. Niranjan Nagarajan, Denis Bertrand, Axel M. Hillmer, Zhi Jiang Zang, Fei Yao, Pierre-Etienne Jacques, Audrey S.M. Teo, Ioanna Cutcutache, Zhenshui Zhang, Wah Heng Lee, Yee Yen Sia, Song Gao, Pramila N. Ariyaratne, Andrea Ho, Xing Yi Woo, Lavanya Veeravali, Choon Kiat Ong, Niantao Deng, Kartiki V. Desai, Chiea Chuen Khor, Martin L. Hibberd, Atif Shahab, Jaideepraj Rao, Mengchu Wu, Ming Teh, Feng Zhu, Sze Yung Chin, Brendan Pang, Jimmy B.Y. So, Guillaume Bourque, Richie Soong, Wing-Kin Sung, Bin Tean Teh, Steven Rozen, Xiaoan Ruan, Khay Guan Yeoh, Patrick B.O. Tan, Yijun Ruan. Whole-genome reconstruction and mutational signatures in gastric cancer. Genome Biology, 2012; 13 (12): R115 DOI: 10.1186/gb-2012-13-12-r115

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/Wa1EOc30RyE/130128104743.htm

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Primates, too, can move in unison

Jan. 28, 2013 ? Japanese researchers show for the first time that primates modify their body movements to be in tune with others, just like humans do. Humans unconsciously modify their movements to be in synchrony with their peers. For example, we adapt our pace to walk in step or clap in unison at the end of a concert. This phenomenon is thought to reflect bonding and facilitate human interaction. Researchers from the RIKEN Brain Science Institute report that pairs of macaque monkeys also spontaneously coordinate their movements to reach synchrony.

This research opens the door to much-needed neurophysiological studies of spontaneous synchronization in monkeys, which could shed light into human behavioral dysfunctions such as those observed in patients with autism spectrum disorders, echopraxia and echolalia -- where patients uncontrollably imitate others.

In the research, recently published in the journal Scientific Reports, the team led by Naotaka Fujii developed an experimental set-up to test whether pairs of Japanese macaque monkeys synchronize a simple push-button movement.

Before the experiment, the monkeys were trained to push a button with one hand. In a first experiment the monkeys were paired and placed facing each other and the timing of their push-button movements was recorded. The same experiment was repeated but this time each monkey was shown videos of another monkey pushing a button at varying speeds. And in a last experiment the macaques were not allowed to either see or hear their video-partner.

The results show that the monkeys modified their movements -- increased or decreased the speed of their push-button movement -- to be in synchrony with their partner, both when the partner was real and on video. The speed of the button pressing movement changed to be in harmonic or sub-harmonic synchrony with the partners' speed. However, different pairs of monkeys synchronized differently and reached different speeds, and the monkeys synchronized their movements the most when they could both see and hear their partner.

The researchers note that this behavior cannot have been learnt by the monkeys during the experiment, as previous research has shown that it is extremely difficult for monkeys to learn intentional synchronization.

They add: "The reasons why the monkeys showed behavioral synchronization are not clear. It may be a vital aspect of other socially adaptive behavior, important for survival in the wild."

The study was partly supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas 'Neural creativity for communication' (22120522 and 24120720) of MEXT, Japan.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by RIKEN.

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Journal Reference:

1. Yasuo Nagasaka, Zenas C. Chao, Naomi Hasegawa, Tomonori Notoya, Naotaka Fujii. Spontaneous synchronization of arm motion between Japanese macaques. Scientific Reports, 2013; 3 DOI: 10.1038/srep01151

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/top_science/~3/AMbAPs6-r80/130128081952.htm

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Absent Fathers: 'I Promised Never To Tell My Siblings The Real Reason My Father Left'

This is a teen-written article from our friends at Youth Communication, a nonprofit organization that helps marginalized youth develop their full potential through reading and writing.

By Juana Campos

When I was seven, my father taught me how to ride a horse. It was the most beautiful experience of my entire life.

My family still lived in the Dominican Republic then, and one day my father took a day off from work to go with me to my uncle?s farm. The horse he chose for me to ride was dark brown and her name was Susanne, but I couldn?t pronounce that, so I called her chucale, which later became my nickname.

It was a beautiful sunny, breezy day, and the green field was full of flowers. The wind was moving my curly hair and all I could hear were the birds singing. I rode Susanne while my father guided me.

?Gather the rope around her neck,? he said.

?OK, Daddy.?

I accidentally grabbed Susanne?s mane instead of the rope and she reared up. I was going to scream for help but then I realized I was pulling her hair so I let it go and she stopped. I was worried that I might fall, but I had fun, too, as though I was going up and down on a roller coaster.

?Are you having fun with Susanne?? my father asked me. He was really excited that I didn?t fall off the horse and he seemed happy.

?Her name is Chucale,? I yelled at him, rolling my eyes.

?Fine, however you want to call her. Just don?t hit her so she won?t get angry.?

I kept going in circles with Susanne until it started raining. We got wet and then my father took me inside so I wouldn?t catch a cold. My dad had taken a picture of me riding Susanne, and he wanted to give it to me but I refused to accept it.

?It?s OK, Daddy, you keep it. After all, I had a great time with Chucale and I don?t need a photo to remember this moment.?

Two years later, my father left our home and I haven?t seen him since. But I?m pretty sure he remembers that day as much as I do.

A Desert Inside

The day I went from living with both of my parents to live with only my mother, I felt like a desert, empty and like everyone had abandoned me. I was 9, and I?d arrived home early from school. The front door was open so I entered the house unnoticed. I heard my mom and dad talking in their bedroom. I couldn?t hear what they were saying, but my mother sounded as if she was about to cry so I got closer and listened.

?Why did you do this to me?? my mother asked.

?I don?t know. It was an impulse,? my father replied.

?What impulse? What are you talking about? How many times have you cheated on me?? she yelled at my father.

?Is this how much you ?love? me?? she asked. Mom started crying.

?Don?t cry,? Dad said.

?How am I supposed to tell the kids about this?? she said with a sad voice.

They stopped talking for a second but then my father said that they should divorce because he wanted to marry the other woman. He told her he was sorry for her and the kids, and that he was sorry for not telling her before.

?I?ll leave next week and when the kids ask you where am I, just tell them that Daddy found a new job and had to move to the city for a few months.?

I felt a lump rising in my throat, but if I cried, my parents would notice I was listening.

The next few days were agony. When mom told me and my siblings that our dad was leaving for a few months because he found a new ?job? in the city, my siblings believed what my mother was saying. But I knew the truth, and later I told my mom that I?d overheard their conversation.

He Never Came Back

She hugged me. She tried to deny it, but then she realized she had to be honest with me. ?Oh honey, I wish you hadn?t heard that, but things aren?t going well between Mommy and Daddy so we have to divorce,? she said in a quiet, comforting voice. She gave me a kiss on my forehead.

I felt angry but tears flooded my eyes. I rolled my eyes and they disappeared. I didn?t want to look weak in front of Mom. I wanted her to see I was a brave girl. I promised never to tell my siblings the real reason my father left.

After that, I saw my father twice and then he never came back. The last time I saw him, he took me to a park in the city of Santiago and bought me ice cream. I understood that I wasn?t going to see him frequently after that, but I never thought that was going to be the last time.

At first, my brother and sister believed what Mom said about him and his new ?job,? but soon they noticed that he didn?t keep in touch with us. They were sad but they weren?t so close to my father, so I don?t think it affected them as much as it affected me.

My sister and I talked a lot about how we felt. My sister said that she was sad that our dad had left but she said she understood that he?d found someone else and maybe that person made him happier than my mom had. She was 14, so maybe it was easier for her to take that in.

Click here to read the rest of the story on YCTeenmag.org.

Reprinted with permission from Youth Communication.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/26/absent-fathers-i-promised_n_2553210.html

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DRM in HTML5 | The Beautiful, Tormented Machine

A few days ago, a new proposal was put forward in the HTML Working Group (HTML WG) by Microsoft, Netflix, and Google to implement DRM in HTML5. This triggered an uproar about the morality and ethics behind DRM and building it into the Web. There are good arguments about morality/ethics on both sides of the debate but ultimately, the HTML WG will decide whether or not to pursue the specification based on technical merit. I am a member of the HTML WG. I was also the founder of a start-up that focused on building a legal, peer-to-peer, content distribution network for music and movies. It employed DRM much like the current DRM in HTML5 proposal. During the course of 8 years of technical development, we had talks with many of the major record labels. I have first-hand knowledge of the problem, and building a technical solution to address the problem.

TL;DR: The Encrypted Media Extensions (DRM in HTML5) specification does not solve the problem the authors are attempting to solve, which is the protection of content from opportunistic or professional piracy. The HTML WG should not publish First Public Working Drafts that do not effectively address the primary goal of a specification.

The Problem

The fundamental problem that the Encrypted Media Extensions (EME) specification is attempting to solve is to find a way to reduce piracy (since eliminating piracy on the Web is an impossible problem to solve). This is a noble goal as there are many content creators and publishers that are directly impacted by piracy. These are not faceless corporations, they are people with families that depend on the income from their creations. It is with this thought in mind that I reviewed the specification on a technical basis to determine if it would lead to a reduction in piracy.

Review Notes for Encrypted Media Extensions (EME)

Introduction

The EME specification does not specify a DRM scheme in the specification, rather it explains the architecture for a DRM plug-in mechanism. This will lead to plug-in proliferation on the Web. Plugins are something that are detrimental to inter-operability because it is inevitable that the DRM plugin vendors will not be able to support all platforms at all times. So, some people will be able to view content, others will not.

A simple example of the problem is Silverlight by Microsoft. Take a look at the Plugin details for Silverlight, specifically, click on the ?System Requirements? tab. Silverlight is Microsoft?s creation. Microsoft is a HUGE corporation with very deep pockets. They can and have thrown a great deal of money at solving very hard problems. Even Microsoft does not support their flagship plugin on Internet Explorer 8 on older versions of their operating system and the latest version of Chrome on certain versions of Windows and Mac. If Microsoft can?t make their flagship Web plugin work across all major Operating Systems today, what chance does a much smaller DRM plugin company have?

The purpose of a standard is to increase inter-operability across all platforms. It has been demonstrated that plug-ins, on the whole, harm inter-operability in the long run. The one shining exception is Flash, but we should not mistake an exception for the rule. Also note that Flash is backed by Adobe, a gigantic multi-national corporation with very deep pockets.

1.1 Goals

The goals section does not state the actual purpose of the specification. It states meta-purposes like: ?Support a range of content security models, including software and hardware-based models? and ?Support a wide range of use cases.?. While those are goals, the primary goal isn?t stated once in the Goals section. The only rational primary goal is to reduce the amount of opportunistic piracy on the Web. Links to piracy data collected over the last decade could help make the case that this is worth doing.

1.2.1. Content Decryption Module (CDM)

When we were working on our DRM system, we took almost exactly the same approach that the EME specification does. We had a plug-in system that allowed different DRM modules to be plugged into the system. We assumed that each DRM scheme had a shelf-life of about 2-3 months before it was defeated, so our system would rotate the DRM modules every 3 months. We had plans to create genetic algorithms that would encrypt and watermark data into the file stream and mutate the encryption mechanism every couple of months to keep the pirates busy. It was a very complicated system to keep working because one slip up in the DRM module meant that people couldn?t view the content they had purchased. We did get the system working in the end, but it was a nightmare to make sure that the DRM modules to decrypt the information were rotated often enough to be effective while ensuring that they worked across all platforms.

Having first-hand knowledge of how such a system works, it?s a pretty terrible idea for the Web because it takes a great deal of competence and coordination to pull something like this off. I would expect the larger Content Protection companies to not have an issue with this. The smaller Content Protection companies, however, will inevitably have issues with ensuring that their DRM modules work across all platforms.

The bulk of the specification

The bulk of the specification is what you would expect from a system like this, so I won?t go into the gory details. There were two major technical concerns I had while reading through the implementation notes.

The first is that key retrieval is handled by JavaScript code, which means that anybody using a browser could copy the key data. This means that if a key is sent in the clear, the likelihood that the DRM system could be compromised goes up considerably because the person that is pirating the content knows the details necessary to store and decrypt the content.

If the goal is to reduce opportunistic piracy, all keys should be encrypted so that snooping by the browser doesn?t result in the system being compromised. Otherwise, all you would need to do is install a plugin that shares all clear-text keys with something like Mega. Pirates could use those keys to then decrypt byte-streams that do not mutate between downloads. To my knowledge, most DRM?ed media delivery does not encrypt content on a per-download basis. So, the spec needs to make it very clear that opaque keys MUST be used when delivering media keys.

One of the DRM systems we built, which became the primary way we did things, would actually re-encrypt the byte stream for every download. So even if a key was compromised, you couldn?t use the key to decrypt any other downloads. This was massively computationally expensive, but since we were running a peer-to-peer network, the processing was pushed out to the people downloading stuff in the network and not our servers. Sharing of keys was not possible in our DRM system, so we could send the decryption keys in the clear. I doubt many of the Content Protection Networks will take this approach as it would massively spike the cost of delivering content.

6. Simple Decryption

The ?org.w3.clearkey? Key System indicates a plain-text clear (unencrypted) key will be used to decrypt the source. No additional client-side content protection is required.

Wow, what a fantastically bad idea.

1. This sends the decryption key in the clear. This key can be captured by any Web browser plugin. That plugin can then share the decryption key and the byte stream with the world.
2. It duplicates the purpose of Transport Layer Security (TLS).
3. It doesn?t protect anything while adding a very complex way of shipping an encrypted byte stream from a Web server to a Web browser.

So. Bad. Seriously, there is nothing secure about this mechanism. It should be removed from the specification.

9.1. Use Cases: ?user is not an adversary?

This is not a technical issue, but I thought it would be important to point it out. This ?user is not an adversary? text can be found in the first question about use cases. It insinuates that people that listen to radio and watch movies online are potential adversaries. As a business owner, I think that?s a terrible way to frame your customers.

Thinking of the people that are using the technology that you?re specifying as ?adversaries? is also largely wrong. 99.999% of people using DRM-based systems to view content are doing it legally. The folks that are pirating content are not sitting down and viewing the DRM stream, they have acquired a non-DRM stream from somewhere else, like Mega or The Pirate Bay, and are watching that. This language is unnecessary and should be removed from the specification.

Conclusion

There are some fairly large security issues with the text of the current specification. Those can be fixed.

The real goal of this specification is to create a framework that will reduce content piracy. The specification has not put forward any mechanism that demonstrates that it would achieve this goal.

Here?s the problem with EME ? it?s easy to defeat. In the very worst case, there exist piracy rigs that allow you to point an HD video camera at a HD television and record the video and audio without any sort of DRM. That?s the DRM-free copy that will end up on Mega or the Pirate Bay. In practice, no DRM system has survived for more than a couple of years.

Content creators, if your content is popular, EME will not protect your content against a content pirate. Content publishers, your popular intellectual property will be no safer wrapped in anything that this specification can provide.

The proposal does not achieve the goal of the specification, it is not ready for First Public Working Draft publication via the HTML Working Group.

Source: http://manu.sporny.org/2013/drm-in-html5/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=drm-in-html5

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Liberty Ross Files For Divorce After Husband?s Fling With Kristen Stewart

Liberty Ross Files For Divorce After Husband’s Fling With Kristen Stewart

Liberty Ross has filed for divorce from her director husband, Rupert Sanders, after he cheated on her with Kristen Stewart. The model/actress is divorcing the 41-year-old director after ten years of marriage and two children together. Liberty’s husband was caught having a fling with his “Snow White and the Huntsman” star Stewart and couldn’t get ...

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Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2013/01/liberty-ross-files-for-divorce-after-husbands-fling-with-kristen-stewart/

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Friar accused of abuse in two states kills self

PHILADELPHIA (AP) ? A Franciscan friar accused of sexually abusing students at Catholic high schools in Ohio and Pennsylvania killed himself at a western Pennsylvania monastery, police said Saturday.

Brother Stephen Baker, 62, was found dead of a self-inflicted knife wound at the St. Bernardine Monastery in Hollidaysburg on Saturday morning, Blair Township Police Chief Roger White said. He declined to say whether a note was found.

Baker was named in legal settlements last week involving 11 men who alleged that he sexually abused them at a Catholic high school in northeast Ohio three decades ago. The undisclosed financial settlements announced Jan. 16 involved his contact with students at John F. Kennedy High School in Warren, Ohio from 1986-90.

The Youngstown diocese previously said it was unaware of the allegations until nearly 20 years after the alleged abuse.

"Let us continue to pray for all victims of abuse, for Brother Baker's family and the repose of his soul," Youngstown Bishop George Murry said in a statement Saturday.

After the settlements were announced, the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese in central Pennsylvania said it received complaints in 2011 of possible abuse by Baker at Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown, about 60 miles east of Pittsburgh.

Bishop McCort High School hired an attorney to investigate after several former students alleged they were molested by Baker in the 1990s. Attorney Susan Williams said three former students had talked to her in detail about the alleged abuse.

Baker taught and coached at John F. Kennedy High School in the late 1980's and early 1990's and was at Bishop McCort from 1992-2000.

Bishop Mark Bartchak of the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese said in a statement that he was saddened by the news of Baker's death, but declined further comment citing pending legal action involving the diocese.

A message left for Father Patrick Quinn, the head of Baker's order, the Third Order Regular Franciscans, was not immediately returned.

Judy Jones, assistant Midwest director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said the organization still hopes people who know about other abuse allegations against Baker will continue to come forward.

"We feel sad for Br. Baker's family but even sadder for the dozens of boys who Baker assaulted," she said in a statement.

___

Dan Sewell in Cincinnati contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/friar-accused-abuse-2-states-kills-self-212548348.html

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92% Silver Linings Playbook

All Critics (210) | Top Critics (50) | Fresh (185) | Rotten (16)

It's a rom-com that succeeds in revitalizing that discredited genre where so many others have failed, injecting it with the grit and emotion of realist drama rather than with amped-up whimsy or social satire or montages of people walking on the beach.

Silver Linings Playbook tells us that happily-ever-after may depend on finding people who coexist with our lunacy, not ones who can lead us out of it. In any case, it's crazy good.

A crazy beaut of a comedy that brims with generosity and manages to circumvent predictability at every turn.

An edgy romantic dramedy that suits our anxious times.

This meaningful film keeps the laughs, giddy anxiousness and warm butterflies from the trailer and sustains it all through two full hours of a love story.

If there's one reason why you should see this film, it's to admire the wonderful performances from Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence.

Cooper and Lawrence Shine in Linings.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/silver_linings_playbook/

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Adopting Anger Management Skills that Work | Personal ...

Adopting Anger Management Skills that Work

There are many, many positive techniques and skills related to anger management. Since anger management seems to affect so many people in society, it is imperative to design and create techniques, teach skills, provide counseling and provide appropriate care and support. Since anger issues affect individuals from childhood to adulthood, obviously it is necessary to teach anger management skills that work for every age group. For the person who is dealing daily with anger problems, it is important to learn skills that will be effective in coping.

One skill that tends to help people deal with negative emotions is acupressure. This technique used as an anger management skill is achieved by tapping or rubbing the body. Using this skill, briskly massaging the body when feeling tense and upset, causes an individual?s energy to move around their body which results in relaxation. An anger management skill or techniques known as the Emotional Freedom Technique of EFT can be combined with acupressure to fight against negative emotions. EFT works to balance the brain hemispheres to help an individual admit to their problem and find forgiveness. This anger management skill would be very beneficial in helping a person release feelings of anger and relax.

Adopting positive anger management skills might involve keeping a journal. When an individual writes about the situations which upset them, it helps to get the negative thoughts and emotions out of their head. By journaling about feelings and emotions, a person is able to rid their minds of unhealthy thinking and put them on paper. This anger management activity would provide specific details and perhaps triggers which usually set the individual off. Being able to read and review reactions to situations, a person might be capable of making changes in their behavior.

When considering anger management skills, there?s one which is quite easy to adopt. Removing themselves from a threatening situation might eliminate the problem. If a person realizes they have difficulties controlling their temper, they might consider staying away from situations which may cause heated arguments. If a person has a regular pattern of lashing out during specific conversations, they ought to avoid those incidents. Some people who have anger issues seem to go looking for a reason to get upset. If aiming to adopt anger management skills, these people should attempt to change this way of thinking. Instead of going to the problem, they ought to run from the problem.

Adopting anger management skills that work is definitely an essential step when striving to cope with feelings of rage and anger. There are many suggestions and recommendations offered on Internet sites related to anger management skills. It would certainly help to visit these sites and read the information and advice. It is unreasonable to think that a person will use all of the anger management skills suggested. However finding one that works may mean trying each of them at least once. When an individual is attempting to gain control and eliminate the negative feelings normally dictating their life, exploring anger management skills is necessary to find a technique or skill which works for them.

Jackie is a writer and has a great interest in health and mental health issues.

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Beverley Mitchell?s Blog: Is There Anything Better than Belly Watching?

In her latest blog, Mitchell admits that the first trimester wasn't her favorite - but that the kicks of the second trimester more than made up for it.

Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/91qBZeq4oKM/

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Microsoft's 2Q earnings dip despite Windows 8 lift

In this Monday, Jan. 7, 2013, file photo, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, left, and Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs speak during Jacobs' keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show, in Las Vegas. Microsoft's latest quarterly earnings for the last quarter of 2012 slipped, even as the world's largest software maker showed modest progress adjusting to a shift away from the personal computers that have been its financial foundation for decades. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson, File)

In this Monday, Jan. 7, 2013, file photo, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, left, and Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs speak during Jacobs' keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show, in Las Vegas. Microsoft's latest quarterly earnings for the last quarter of 2012 slipped, even as the world's largest software maker showed modest progress adjusting to a shift away from the personal computers that have been its financial foundation for decades. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson, File)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? Microsoft's latest quarterly earnings slipped, even as the world's largest software maker showed modest progress adapting to a shift away from the personal computers that have been its financial foundation for decades.

The results announced Thursday are the first to include Windows 8. The program is a dramatic overhaul of the Microsoft Corp. operating system that powers most PCs. Windows 8 came out Oct. 26 with slightly more than two months left in Microsoft's fiscal second quarter.

Microsoft is counting on Windows 8 to help the company extend its franchise into tablet computers while still reaping revenue from a new breed of PCs. The redesigned software displays applications in a mosaic of interactive tiles instead of a staid menu. It can be controlled by touching on a display screen, as well as the traditional method of using a keyboard and a mouse.

Although sales of Windows 8 haven't been as impressive as investors hoped, revenue in Microsoft's Windows division climbed 24 percent from the previous year. That includes sales that had to be deferred from earlier quarters because the purchases were made before Windows 8's release.

When Windows 8 finally hit the market, Microsoft also unveiled its own tablet computer, Surface, as a showcase for the operating system. Microsoft didn't disclose Thursday how many Surface devices were sold in the October-December period.

"I don't think they want to provide that because it won't be impressive," technology analyst Patrick Moorhead said.

Analysts have estimated Microsoft sold 750,000 to 1 million of the Surface units during the quarter, far below the nearly 23 million iPads that Apple said it shipped during the same period.

Microsoft booked its Surface sales in the Window division, accounting for some of the gains from the previous year. The Redmond, Wash., company is trying to get the Surface into more hands by releasing the device in 14 more countries and coming out with a more sophisticated version that can handle all Microsoft programs. The new model, called Surface Pro, will debut Feb. 9. The one already out runs a streamlined version of Windows 8 called RT.

Analysts say it's still far too early to reach any definitive conclusions about Windows 8 prospects because it will take time for people to get used to the new system. What's more, the companies that buy most Windows machines typically wait a year or two before changing to a new version of the operating system to ensure all the bugs are worked out.

"I kind of like the Windows segment," BGC Financial analyst Colin Gillis said, adding that the 24 percent growth was "a little stronger than expected."

But another Microsoft division that includes another big moneymaker ? the company's Office suite of software ? didn't fare also well. Revenue in the Office division declined 10 percent, a shortfall that may have spooked some investors. Analyst Josh Olson of Edward Jones said he believes many of Microsoft's corporate customers may have held off on buying Office because a new version of that program is scheduled to come out early this year. Microsoft ended December with $788 million in deferred Office revenue. Most, if not all, that money is expected to be booked before the end of Microsoft's fiscal year in June.

Microsoft earned $6.4 billion, or 76 cents per share, during the final three months of 2012. That was down 4 percent from $6.6 billion, or 78 cents per share, a year earlier.

The company's total revenue rose 3 percent from the previous year to $21.5 billion.

The earnings were a penny above the average estimate of analysts surveyed by FactSet, while the total revenue fell below analysts' projections by about $100 million.

Microsoft's stock shed 44 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $27.19 in Thursday's extended trading, after the release of results. The stock has remained stuck below its price before Windows 8 and Surface came out, signaling that investors aren't pleased with the products' performance so far.

"This is going to be a 'show-me' year for Microsoft, and there was nothing to really shout about in this quarter," Olson said. "So what we are seeing is sort of a shrug from investors."

Microsoft is still trying to working with device makers to come up with the proper mix of machines at different prices to appeal to consumers and corporate customers, said Peter Klein, the company's chief financial officer.

"This is a big, ambitious reimagining of Windows and this quarter was the first step in that process," Klein told analysts in a Thursday conference call.

Besides debuting Windows and Surface during the most recent quarter, Microsoft also released a new version of its operating system for smartphones.

If Microsoft's revamped software for tablets and smartphones catches on, it would help the company overcome a downturn in PC sales, which has reduced licensing revenue during the past year. Worldwide PC shipments fell 3.5 percent last year, marking the industry's first annual decline since 2001, according to the research firm Gartner Inc.

Despite Microsoft's high hopes and an elaborate marketing campaign, Windows 8 appears to have gotten off to a tepid start. Technology reviews have panned the software as too confusing and cumbersome to navigate, and none of the hundreds of devices running on Windows 8 emerged as a breakout hit during the holiday season.

A big chunk of Microsoft's Windows revenue in the holiday-season quarter came from sales that were made before the new operating system's release. Excluding revenue that had been deferred from previous quarter, Windows revenue increased 11 percent from the same period in 2011.

Reiterating information released earlier this month, Microsoft said it has licensed more than 60 million copies of Windows 8. That puts the redesigned system on the same early sales trajectory as its predecessor, Windows 7, after it came out in 2009. It's unclear how many of the devices that have licensed Windows 8 are still sitting on store shelves.

___

AP Technology Writer Barbara Ortutay in New York contributed to this story.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2013-01-24-US-Earns-Microsoft/id-9ef7025ba9394bc4b2e4d0a94c49d7a6

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