Saturday, December 31, 2011

Gameloft sale prices Android games at $0.99 starting Thursday (Digital Trends)

gameloftAndroid gamers, you?re getting some post-Christmas attention from Gameloft. The French game developer says it will be knocking down the price of all its games to a paltry .99 cents.

So that means that those of you stuck with poorly planned New Years Eve events can download some decent distractions. The deal begins December 29 at 10:00AM Pacific time, and lasts until January 5 of the new year.

All of their games, which typically average at $5, are .99 cents; this includes Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation and most likely the popular Gangstar, 9mm, Order & Chaos, N.O.V.A and the Oregon Trail remake. The developer also has a few free games if you?re in the neighborhood already, as well as a current contest for a free Modern Combat 3 copy.

The massive discount extends the love already bestowed upon the iOS users as well as the Amazon Appstore earlier this month. The Amazon sale was Christmas oriented, and ended on Monday of this week.

The Android Market generosity extends to those across the pond as well. UK dwellers will actually be getting it for a little more than us according to Recombu, Gameloft Android games will be going for 69p. However, it?s not clear if all the games will be available at 69p for those in the UK.

Gameloft is in the habit of creating console-like experiences for mobile users. The company?s iOS activity has been significant, reaching a 200 million download milestone from the App Store back in July. Gameloft was also connected to the Sony Tablet S and the Tablet P to create an interesting lineup of games. Android and iOS gaming in general has been growing tremendously, recently beating out the revenue of traditional gaming companies like Sony and Nintendo.

Via Gameloft tweet

?

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/digitaltrends/20111228/tc_digitaltrends/gameloftsalepricesandroidgamesat099startingthursday

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Common Brain Mechanisms Underlie Supernatural Perceptions (preview)

Features | Mind & Brain Cover Image: January 2012 Scientific American MagazineSee Inside

Belief in the paranormal arises from the same brain mechanisms that shape most human thought

Image: Eric Reichbaum/Getty Images

In Brief

  1. Most of us report that we believe in supernatural powers such as clairvoyance and telepathy and in the existence of ghosts.
  2. The widespread reports of paranormal experiences very likely derive from many of the same mechanisms that help us make decisions in daily life.
  3. Research suggests that a highly active right-brain hemisphere may cause someone to be particularly susceptible to improbable beliefs.

You may have never personally caught sight of Jesus Christ?s face in a potato chip, but you have likely succumbed to an equally improbable belief at some point in your life. Many people claim that ghosts exist or that their dreams can predict the future. Some individuals even think they have seen the face of the Virgin Mary in a grilled cheese sandwich and Mother Teresa in a cinnamon bun.


Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=3141758735efe16d12ae9ccc7315a0dd

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Friday, December 30, 2011

lubbockonline: Gala to raise money for new birth center at University Medical Center http://t.co/bjBnVSxM

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Thursday, December 29, 2011

Cancer patients need fuel charity

Cancer patients are becoming increasingly reliant on charity handouts to heat their homes as they struggle to pay rising fuel bills, newly-published figures have shown.

Macmillan Cancer Support said it had made one-off payments totalling ?2,548,563 to 12,669 cancer patients to help with fuel costs during 2011, a sharp increase on the 7,369 patients needing similar help just five years ago.

The charity, which issued fuel grants of around ?1.4 million in 2006, is calling for an ongoing independent review of fuel poverty - which was commissioned by the Government - to prioritise cancer patients for help.

Commenting on the rise in charity payments announced by Macmillan, its campaign manager, Laura Keely, said: "To feel too scared to put the heating on because of soaring energy bills is an unacceptable reality for thousands of vulnerable cancer patients who feel the cold more and spend long periods of time at home.

"When the charity was established 100 years ago, founder Douglas Macmillan helped cancer patients by handing out sacks of coal to keep them warm.

"It is shocking that a century on, people who are diagnosed with this devastating disease are still relying on charity help to heat their freezing homes."

Studies have shown that seven in 10 cancer patients aged under 55 lose income after being diagnosed, often because they are too ill to work.

However, their bills often rise because they need to spend more time at home and feel the chill more because of their treatment.

Research conducted for Macmillan into fuel poverty has also established that certain groups of cancer patients are particularly vulnerable to fuel poverty, including those on housing benefit and council tax benefit or with a low annual household income.

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Source: http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r5665923421

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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Tornado Alley for electrons ? Chasing the aurora borealis

In America ?storm-chasers? are the intrepid types who pursue tornadoes, and sometimes hurricanes. But the Arctic Circle has its aurora chasers ? people who speed around in search of the best views of the aurora borealis, or Northern Lights.

?Last week we saw one that had everything ? spiralling, curtains, ribbons, greens and reds, and the whole sky lit up. We were amazed at what was unfolding before us,? says Andy Keen.

Five years ago he left his job running a charity in the UK to move to Ivalo, a remote village in northern Lapland, Finland, latitude 68 degrees ? two degrees above the Arctic Circle. ?I saw a TV documentary about the Northern Lights. So I went there to have a look. Now I?m absolutely addicted,? he says.

Mr Keen?s company, Aurorahunters, now takes seven tourists a week on hunting trips in the Arctic wilderness to search for the Northern Lights?There are similar companies operating elsewhere in Finland and in neighbouring Norway where the official tourism website describes the aurora as ?a tricky lady?. It adds: ?You never know when she bothers to turn up. This diva keeps you waiting??

When a location has been selected, Mr Keen and his group jump into minibuses and head into the wilderness, sometimes taking to sledges pulled by huskies to reach the most remote areas. They often see moose and bear tracks and have ventured as far north as the Arctic Ocean.

All to get the best vantage point to see the aurora borealis, named after the Roman goddess of dawn (Aurora) and the Greek name for the north wind (Boreas)?

RTFA. Details about the causes, predictions. Suggestions about chasing and photographing the elusive beauty of the aurora. All useful.

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Source: http://eideard.com/2011/12/26/tornado-alley-for-electrons-chasing-the-aurora-borealis/

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iOS 5.0.1 Jailbreak Goes Untethered, Excludes iPhone 4S and iPad 2

Posted 12/27/2011 at 10:00am | by Florence Ion

Glorious jailbreaking news! And during a holiday week, no less. Those developers must've been busy avoiding their families on Christmas day and powering through the iOS jailbreak. Well, that's to your benefit, jailbreaker. The Verge is reporting that the iOS 5.0.1 jailbreak is now untethered thanks to pod2g. Basically, you can now jailbreak your iOS device over the air, without having to connect it to your Mac. It should also be noted that this won't work with the iPhone 4S or the iPad 2.

Unfortunately, this feature doesn't work with the iPhone 4S or iPad 2. The untether exploit is available in redsn0w 0.9.10 and PwnageTool, all in a Cydia package. Those with a tethered jailbreak can search for "Corona" in Cydia to untether. More information is available at the Dev-team Blog.

This should go without saying, but if you jailbreak your phone, all bets are off, so proceed with caution before you do so.

Source: http://www.maclife.com/article/news/ios_501_jailbreak_goes_untethered_excludes_iphone_4s_and_ipad_2

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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Hooked On Golf Blog :: Merry Christmas

? December 25, 2011Category: Miscellaneous

Merry Christmas to all HOG friends, readers, associates and fellow golf bloggers!

About Tony Korologos a.k.a. mediaguru

Tony Korologos is one of golf's original bloggers, covering golf since 2004. Also known as "MediaGuru," Tony is one of the internet's top experts in golf social media and golf social networking. Tony is also apparently very good at writing about himself in the third person... :-)

Source: http://rd.sportsblogs.org/viewEntry.php?id=3414992&src=rss

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Monday, December 26, 2011

Mozilla, Google deal worth $900 million

Published: Dec. 24, 2011 at 2:55 PM

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Dec. 24 (UPI) -- U.S. Internet company Mozilla, a non-profit company, has been set up for an enormous revenue leap with a new deal with Google, sources told Web site AllThingsD.

Mozilla and Google announced Tuesday Google would remain the default search engine in Mozilla's Firefox Web browser for the next three years, but the terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Sources, however, said Mozilla will be paid $900 million over three years, greatly increasing its revenue, which was $123 million for 2010 -- 84 percent of which came from Google.

Google beat out Microsoft's Bing and Yahoo! for the deal, but Mozilla appears to have them to thank, as the competition for the business apparently pushed the price of the deal higher, AllThingsD reported.

Source: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2011/12/24/Mozilla-Google-deal-worth-900-million/UPI-91841324756503/

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Kate & William: Best Wedding Photos

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Source: http://www.life.com/gallery/59711/kate-william-best-wedding-photos?xid=liferss

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Sunday, December 25, 2011

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EBOOK 2: Mengirim tulisan ke Lintas Berita memang bisa menyedot ribuan pengunjung ke blog anda dalam satu hari. Tapi anda harus ingat. Jika strateginya tidak tepat, ibarat membuang air ke laut, sebanyak apapun tulisan yang anda kirim kesana bisa hanya akan menjadi tumpukan sampah yang tak dilirik pengunjung. Apa sebab? Temukan jawabannya DISINI.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogernas/~3/nWx8Qf5JBjU/downloading-themes-windows-7-gambar.html

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A look at various consumer spending reports (AP)

Friday's government data on consumer income and spending came from a monthly report issued by the Commerce Department. That report isn't the only reading on how much Americans are spending. Here are various reports that cover such figures:

_INDUSTRY SURVEYS

Surveys by private groups capture the most up-to-date retail spending patterns. But they don't include as many companies as the government reports do. The International Council of Shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Index tracks sales at stores open at least a year. The index is a proxy for 24 major national stores, including Target Corp, Costco Wholesale Corp. and Macy's.

_RETAIL SALES REPORT

Commerce issues a monthly report on retail sales that covers sales not just at major national chains but at all retailers. It provides a broader look at retail activity. The report includes such categories as specialty clothing stores, hardware stores, furniture stores, sporting goods and hobby stores and electronics and appliance stores. It also covers auto dealerships, restaurants and bars, grocery stores and gasoline stations. The sales figures are seasonally adjusted. That way, the current month can be compared with the previous month. But the figures aren't adjusted for inflation.

_CONSUMER SPENDING

This report is also released monthly by the Commerce Department. It's the most inclusive look at consumer activity. It covers all spending done at retail establishments ? both for durable goods (items such as autos that are expected to last at least three years) and nondurable goods such as food and clothing. What makes this report comprehensive is that it also covers spending on services. Services include items such as doctor's visits, airline and bus tickets, apartment rentals and utility bills. The service category makes up two-thirds of consumer spending and isn't covered in the retail surveys.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111224/ap_on_bi_ge/us_economy_glance

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Saturday, December 24, 2011

New Delhi: Indian Court Summons Google, Facebook and Other Websites

The Intel Hub
December 24, 2011

NEW DELHI (BNO NEWS) ? An Indian court on Friday issued a summons to social networking website Facebook, search giant Google, Yahoo!, video-sharing website YouTube and seventeen other websites to stand trial for allegedly publishing ?objectionable contents.?

New Delhi Metropolitan Magistrate Sudesh Kumar claimed that the websites contain obscene pictures and content offensive to Hindus, Muslims and Christians. The court?s order comes just three days after another court restrained these websites in a civil case from publishing any ?anti-religious? or ?anti-social? content which promotes hatred or communal disharmony.

?It is also evident that such contents are continuously, openly and freely available to everyone who is using the said network, irrespective of their age and even the persons under the age of 18 years have full and uncensored access to such obscene contents,? the court said, as quoted by the Press Trust of India (PTI).

Earlier this month, the Indian government vowed to stop what it calls ?offensive and defamatory? content on internet websites. However, several major websites immediately rejected the plan and Indian officials complained their requests fell on ?deaf ears?.

Telecommunications minister Kapil Sibal said on December 6 that the government does not want to interfere with the freedom of the press. However, he said, if the social networking websites are not willing to cooperate, then it is ?the duty of the government? to ensure ?blasphemous material? does not appear on the internet.

Social networking site Facebook, which has more than 25 million users in the country, said it would remove any content that is hateful, threatening, incites violence or contains nudity from the service. ?We recognize the government?s interest in minimizing the amount of abusive content that is available online and will continue to engage with the Indian authorities as they debate this important issue,? Facebook said in a statement earlier this month.

Google said it would abide by local laws and take any material off if it violates its policies. ?But when content is legal and does not violate our policies, we will not remove it just because it is controversial, as we believe that people?s differing views, so long as they are legal, should be respected and protected,? the company?s spokesperson said, as quoted by PTI.

India has about 100 million internet users, the third-largest number after China and the United States.

??2011. BNO News. All Rights Reserved. Published by The Intel Hub with permission.

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Source: http://theintelhub.com/2011/12/24/indian-court-summons-google-facebook-and-other-websites/

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Approaches To Consider Following To Combine Consumer Debt

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Source: http://www.bzzurkk.com/blog.php?b=44

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Friday, December 23, 2011

Business class airline Odyssey plans London-NYC route

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Source: http://www.charterx.com/resources/article.aspx?id=9375

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Coulson loses case against News Corp; Mulcaire wins (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? Andy Coulson, former editor of Rupert Murdoch's News of the World and once the British prime minister's spokesman, lost a case on Wednesday to force the tabloid's publisher to pay his legal fees relating to phone-hacking charges.

Coulson was arrested in July on suspicion of corruption and trying to intercept communications, and could face charges early next year. He was editor of the now defunct News of the World between 2003 and 2007.

News Corp unit News Group Newspapers, the publisher of the News of the World, stopped paying his legal costs relating to criminal proceedings in August, on the grounds that they were not incurred in the scope of his duties.

News Corp has admitted people working for the News of the World hacked into the phones of celebrities, politicians and others. It paid 2 million pounds ($3 million) to the parents of a murdered schoolgirl whose phone was hacked.

The ever-widening scandal has damaged the reputations of politicians and senior police officers close to Murdoch's media group.

Coulson quit as Prime Minister David Cameron's communications chief in January after Cameron was criticized for his decision to hire him.

Earlier on Wednesday, News Group lost a similar case against Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator used by the News of the World to hack phones, and will have to resume paying his fees as he defends himself against scores of civil claims.

Mulcaire went to jail in 2007 for illegally listening to telephone voice messages, along with Clive Goodman, the former royal reporter at the News of the World.

News Corp Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch and his son James told a British parliamentary committee in July they would stop paying Mulcaire's legal fees, which run at least into the hundreds of thousands of pounds (dollars).

Until early this year News Corp said Goodman had been a "rogue reporter" acting with Mulcaire's help. The company has since acknowledged that the practice of hacking went much wider at the News of the World, and shut the paper down.

A statement released on behalf of Mulcaire by his lawyer said: "As he always said, he was acting on the instruction of News Group Newspapers and he clearly needs legal representation to deal with the numerous cases."

News Group's parent company News International confirmed both rulings but declined to comment on either.

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Andrew Roche)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/enindustry/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111221/media_nm/us_newscorp_mulcaire_fees

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Sunday, December 18, 2011

5 Tips For Mastering Our New Communications Process ? Catholic ...

[unable to retrieve full-text content]The new communication features on CatholicMatch will enable users to better manage their conversations with other users on the sites. Although there are a number of communications tools such as messages, emotigrams, ...

Source: http://www.catholicmatch.com/blog/2011/12/5-tips-for-mastering-our-new-communications-process/

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China to keep "appropriate" investment growth in 2012-planner (Reuters)

BEIJING (Reuters) ? China will keep "appropriate" investment growth in 2012 to help underpin the economy amid the global downturn, the country's top economic planner said in comments published on Sunday.

"The key to maintain steady and relatively fast economic growth is expanding domestic demand," the China News Service quoted Zhang Ping, the head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), as saying.

The government will maintain an "appropriate" level in investment next year while promoting further expansion in consumption, Zhang was quoted as saying.

The government will ensure the completion of state projects under construction while kicking off key projects under the 12th five-year plan (2011-2015) and spending more on cheap housing, education and water conservation, Zhang added.

Zhang reiterated plans to encourage private investment in railways, utilities as well as financial and energy sectors.

Zhang did not reveal targets on investment growth in 2012.

The government aims for an 18 percent annual rise in fixed-asset investment in 2011 and 16 percent increase in retail sales -- a key gauge of consumption.

Beijing has promised to do what it can to foster growth. It concluded its policy-setting conference on Wednesday with a vow to "guarantee" growth in the face of an "extremely grim" outlook for the world economy.

But Chinese officials have cautioned against unveiling fresh fiscal stimulus to boost investment given the hangover from its 4 trillion yuan ($629 billion) stimulus package unveiled in 2008, which has led to piles of local government debt.

Instead, they have pledged to support consumption by lifting household incomes and shoring up social safety nets.

(Reporting by Kevin Yao; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111218/bs_nm/us_china_economy_investment

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Illinois House Republicans Propose Cutting Corporate Income Tax (ContributorNetwork)

According to the Chicago Tribune, Illinois House Republicans have proposed reducing increase on corporate income tax that was initially passed in January by Democrats, which hiked the corporate tax income from 4.8 percent to 7 percent. Alternatively, Republicans are seeking a gradual rollback by dropping the rate to 6 percent in 2013 and dropping it back to 4.8 percent in 2014.

In light of this new proposal, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn stated that cutting the tax rate would create a budget hole of $1 billion and ultimately harm the state's education system. Here are some facts on the recent struggle to keep businesses in the state:

* The Wall Street Journal reported that this week the Illinois General Assembly approved a tax break package for companies in an attempt to keep Sears Holdings Corp., CME Group Inc., and CBOE Holdings Inc. after they threatened to leave the state.

* CME had threatened to leave after the state when the corporate tax was hiked to 7 percent in January, claiming that the increase led to an additional $50 million tax bill.

* A report from the Medill School at Northwestern University indicated that in August, the increase was yielding the state's desired results, specifically a 40 percent increase in revenue to $2.3 billion from $1.7 billion between fiscal years 2010 and 2011.

* The corporate tax enacted within the first few weeks of 2011 is not intended to be permanent and will drop back to 5.25 percent in 2015 and 4.8 percent in 2025, a decline Republicans and businesses claim is too slow.

* Manufacturer Modern Drop Forge left Illinois in August, moving operations and 240 jobs from Blue Island to Merrillville, Indiana, as a result of the rise in corporate income tax, reported WBEZ.

* Indiana took advantage of Modern Drop Forge's interest in leaving Illinois by offering $2 million in performance-based tax credits and up to $200,000 in job training grants.

* Since the hike, the state of Illinois has the third-highest corporate income tax in the country, up from previously claiming the 21st highest spot, according to CNN Money.

* Businesses have spoken out against the tax hike, which is in addition to a 2.5 percent surcharge, saying that it will not allow for them to create more jobs or invest in increasing their production and improving their operations.

* By pushing for a rollback of the tax, House Republicans are looking to stop the state from giving handouts to companies threatening to leave the state and cutting jobs for residents.

Rachel Bogart provides an in-depth look at current environmental issues and local Chicago news stories. As a college student from the Chicago suburbs pursuing two science degrees, she applies her knowledge and passion to both topics to garner further public awareness.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20111215/us_ac/10687337_illinois_house_republicans_propose_cutting_corporate_income_tax

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Pa. deputy attorney general cites PSU 'inaction' (AP)

HARRISBURG, Pa. ? A graduate student waited a day after allegedly seeing a child being sexually assaulted on Penn State's campus before telling his supervisor, football coach Joe Paterno.

Paterno waited another day before calling the university's athletic director, who looped in a school vice president.

"It was a Saturday morning and I didn't want to interfere with their weekends," Paterno told a grand jury this year, recalling the unusual visit from graduate assistant Mike McQueary.

McQueary said he had seen former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky doing something "extremely sexual" with a young boy in a locker room shower.

On Friday, McQueary testified at a preliminary hearing for two Penn State officials ? athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz ? accused of covering up the story. He offered the most detailed public account yet of the child sex abuse allegations that have upended the university's football program and the entire central Pennsylvania campus.

Curley and Schultz are headed to trial on perjury charges after Friday's preliminary hearing, accused of lying to a grand jury about what McQueary told them.

Curly and Schultz waited another 10 days before meeting with McQueary to get more facts. Instead of calling police, they talked to two people: Sandusky and the executive director of his children's charity.

"I think it's a sad, sad, sad day, when you think about all of these victims, and you saw the inaction by a number of supposedly important, responsible adults. And there's a lot of inaction in this case," Marc Costanzo, a senior deputy attorney general, said after the preliminary hearing.

Besides the perjury charges, and the dozens of sex assault charges pending against Sandusky, Paterno and university president Graham Spanier have lost their jobs over the scandal.

Defense lawyers argued that McQueary "minimized" the alleged sexual assault when he talked to Paterno, ultimately leading their clients to believe that Sandusky's behavior was "inappropriate," but not criminal.

They say McQueary never relayed the seriousness of what he saw, leading them to think Sandusky was merely "horsing around."

"I didn't see any reason because I didn't think at the time it was a crime," Curley told the grand jury, according to testimony read into the record on Friday.

Curley, Schultz and Paterno have been criticized for not telling law enforcement about the 2002 charges. Prosecutors say Sandusky continued to abuse boys for six more years.

In about two hours on the witness stand, McQueary said again and again that what he saw was a sexual act, although he stopped short of saying he was sure that Sandusky, now 67, had raped the boy.

"I believe Jerry was sexually molesting him and having some type of sexual intercourse with him," McQueary said on Friday. He said later he "can't say 100 percent" that Sandusky and the boy were having intercourse because he was seeing Sandusky from behind.

He said after talking to his father, he went over to Paterno's home the next morning and said that what he had seen "was way over the lines, it was extremely sexual in nature." He said he would not have used words like sodomy or intercourse with Paterno, out of respect for the coach.

Paterno told the grand jury that McQueary said he saw Sandusky doing something of a "sexual nature" with the youngster but that he didn't press for details.

"I didn't push Mike ... because he was very upset," Paterno said. "I knew Mike was upset, and I knew some kind of inappropriate action was being taken by Jerry Sandusky with a youngster."

Paterno told McQueary he would talk to others about what he'd reported.

McQueary said he met about 10 days later with Curley and Schultz and told them he'd seen Sandusky and a boy, both naked, in the shower after hearing skin-on-skin slapping sounds.

"I would have described that it was extremely sexual and I thought that some kind of intercourse was going on," said McQueary.

McQueary said he was left with the impression both men took his report seriously. When asked why he didn't go to police, he referenced Schultz's position as a vice president at the university who had overseen the campus police

"I thought I was talking to the head of the police, to be frank with you," he said. "In my mind it was like speaking to a (district attorney). It was someone who police reported to and would know what to do with it."

The square-jawed, red-haired assistant coach spoke in a steady voice in his first public account of the alleged abuse, sometimes turning his seat and leaning in toward defense lawyers to answer questions. His voice rose a few times and he blushed once when describing the sexual encounter in the shower.

Defense lawyers for Curley and Schultz argued that a perjury charge in Pennsylvania cannot be based solely on one person's oath versus another's. The defense said uncorroborated testimony from McQueary is not enough, and sought to pick apart the ways he described the shower scene differently to different people.

The defense noted that McQueary admitted changing his description of the shower encounter when speaking with Paterno.

McQueary said he had stopped by a campus football locker room to drop off a pair of sneakers the Friday night before spring break, a quiet night on campus, when he saw Sandusky with a boy who looked to be 10 or 12 years old.

McQueary, 37, said he has never described what he saw as anal rape or anal intercourse and couldn't see Sandusky's genitals, but that "it was very clear that it looked like there was intercourse going on."

In its report last month, the grand jury summarized McQueary's testimony as saying he "saw a naked boy ... with his hands up against the wall, being subjected to anal intercourse by a naked Sandusky."

McQueary said he peeked into the shower three times ? the first via a mirror, the other two times directly. The last time he looked in, Sandusky and the boy had separated, he said. He said he didn't say anything, but "I know they saw me. They looked directly in my eye, both of them."

McQueary said the entire encounter ? from when he first entered the locker room to when he retreated to his office ? lasted about 45 seconds.

Curley told the grand jury that he couldn't recall his specific conversation with McQueary, but said McQueary never reported seeing anal intercourse or other sexual conduct. He said he spoke to Sandusky about it, who first denied having been in the shower with a boy, but later changed his story.

Schultz said he remembered McQueary and Paterno describing what the younger coach saw only in a very general way.

"I had the impression it was inappropriate," Schultz told the grand jury. "I had the feeling it was some king of wrestling activity and maybe Jerry might have grabbed a young boy's genitals."

Under cross-examination, McQueary said he considered what he saw a crime but didn't call police because "it was delicate in nature."

"I tried to use my best judgment," he said. "I was sure the act was over." He said he never tried to find the boy.

Paterno, Schultz and Curley didn't testify, but their entire grand jury testimony from January was read at the Dauphin County hearing.

Curley's attorney, Caroline Roberto, said prosecutors "will never be able to reach their burden of proof at a trial," in part because McQueary "minimized" the alleged assault to Paterno.

Schultz's attorney, Tom Farrell, predicted his client would be acquitted.

He also took a shot at Paterno, saying, "I'm an Italian from Brooklyn, and he may not have called the police but he may have done what I would have done, which is get the boys in the car with a few baseball bats and crowbars and take it to the fellow."

Sandusky says he is innocent of 52 criminal charges stemming from what authorities say were sexual assaults over 12 years on 10 boys in his home, on Penn State property and elsewhere.

Curley, 57, was placed on leave by the university after his arrest. Schultz, 62, returned to retirement after spending about four decades at the school, most recently as senior vice president for business and finance, and treasurer.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111217/ap_on_sp_ot/us_penn_state_abuse

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Saturday, December 17, 2011

The story behind John Cena's salute

Every night before he enters the ring, John Cena, clad in camouflage shorts, stands at attention and salutes as though a commanding officer were standing in front of him barking orders. Most think that Cena is simply acknowledging his devoted fans, which the leader of the Cenation will not deny.

?It?s a salute of loyalty to those that stand by me, that have been doing it for years,? Cena explained to WWE.com.

However, for the 10-time WWE Champion, there is also a much deeper meaning behind his gestures.

?Every night when I do that salute, it?s also a sign of respect to the men and women that don the uniform of the Armed Forces,? he declared.

John Cena holds the Armed Forces in the highest esteem and has implemented many aspects of the military way into his attitude. It goes beyond camo shorts and a salute.

?When it came my time to slowly redefine who I was from wrestler to hip hop thug, to the next step in my career, I basically took the ideologies of discipline from the Armed Forces,? Cena said. ?I took honor, code and country and came up with hustle, loyalty and respect. I think exactly like they do.?

The leader of the Cenation also has one very personal ritual related to the Armed Forces. Those who pay close attention to Cena right before a match begins will see him remove a pair of dog tags from around his neck and kiss them before handing them to the referee or ringside attendant for safe keeping. But the Superstar prefers to keep the meaning behind the tags to himself.

?That?s secret information that I?ve told a few Make-A-Wish families and those people who need to know. [WWE.com] doesn?t need to know,? Cena lightheartedly explained.

As evidenced by his passionate speech at Fort Bragg during Tribute to the Troops, John Cena is extremely reverent toward the men and women of the United States Armed Forces and will continue to do whatever he can to honor their ultimate sacrifice.

Source: http://www.wwe.com/shows/tributetothetroops/story-behind-cena-salute

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Democrats' tough choice: shut down government or swallow GOP's bills

GOP-led House has approved a payroll tax cut for workers in 2012 and is poised to vote on an omnibus spending bill for this fiscal year. Democrats want changes to both, but they appear to have lost much leverage.?

As Washington braces for a possible government shutdown, House Republicans are racing toward a Friday vote on a $1 trillion omnibus spending bill. But make no mistake: This is political hardball, fast and furious.

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?The 1,219-page bill, if also approved by the Senate and signed by President Obama, would avert a government shutdown after Friday, when a stop-gap measure for fiscal year 2012 spending, which began Oct. 1, runs out.

The snap vote also gives House Republicans a way out of town, leaving a gridlocked Senate and a president facing reelection in 11 months to accept this spending bill ? and its controversial policy riders ? or to shut out the lights.

?Winning a spending vote on Friday would also give House Republicans more leverage in negotiations with the Senate over extending a payroll tax cut that would benefit 160 million workers. The GOP-led House on Tuesday passed a bill that Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D) has declared ?dead on arrival? in the Senate ? and that Mr. Obama has already pledged to veto. Democrats don't like how the bill would pay for extending the payroll tax cut through 2012, nor an oil pipeline project attached to the legislation.

Here's the advantage to the GOP strategy: Once House members leave Washington for recess, and hence are not available for future votes, the heat is on the Senate to accept the House version of the fiscal 2012 omnibus spending bill.?A darkened House also leaves the Senate with no option for extending the Social Security payroll tax cuts but to approve the House-passed version, which blocks key environmental regulations, forces an early decision on an oil pipeline that the White House had put off, and avoids raising taxes on the highest-income Americans.

The White House says Congress should pass another stop-gap measure, as it has seven times already this year.

?The president continues to have significant concerns about a number of provisions that have been reported to be in the Republican agreement on the omnibus,? said White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer, in a Dec. 14 statement. These include provisions that would undercut Wall Street reforms and environmental protections, as well as the president?s foreign policy prerogatives, he added.

?The omnibus spending bill completes work on the nine remaining annual appropriations bills, including Pentagon spending as well as controversial Labor-Health and Interior-environment bills.

It?s not clear that House GOP leaders can muster the votes in their own caucus to pass the giant spending bill. On Nov. 17, 101 House Republicans broke with GOP leaders to oppose a package of three fiscal 2012 spending bills, forcing GOP leaders to pass them with Democratic votes. These conservatives, mainly members of the Republican Study Committee, said the bills included too much spending.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/g72pt3RdXOM/Democrats-tough-choice-shut-down-government-or-swallow-GOP-s-bills

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U.S. leaps ahead, Europe debt woes touch Asia (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? U.S. jobless claims on Thursday fell to a 3-1/2-year low and a survey showed New York factories picked up speed this month, bucking gloomy economic trends set by Europe and Asia.

Stock index futures added to gains after the Labor Department revealed initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped by 19,000 to 366,000 last week, the lowest level since May 2008.

And a business survey of New York factories provided more evidence that the U.S. economy is weathering the festering sovereign debt crisis in Europe, which is starting to crimp growth in emerging trade partners like China.

While the pace of decline in the euro zone's business economy unexpectedly slowed in December, surveys earlier on Thursday confirmed the region is almost certainly stuck in recession.

That leaves the United States as perhaps the only major Western power currently making a significant contribution to global economic growth.

"The data is all very in line with a modestly improving overall economy here in the United States," said Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Capital in New Jersey.

"Stability in the U.S. economy is going to be a vital part of stabilizing global GDP. This comes at a very good time."

The New York Federal Reserve's "Empire State" general business conditions index rose to 9.53 from 0.61 the previous month. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a reading of 3.00.

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's business activity indicator, another early gauge of private sector activity, is due at 1500 GMT and economists also expect it to rise sharply.

In the euro zone, Markit's flash composite purchasing managers' index (PMI), which corresponds closely with economic growth, rose unexpectedly in December to 47.9 from 47.0 last month.

But it has now lingered below the 50 line that divides growth from contraction for four months.

"(It) reinforces the notion that the euro zone economy is slipping into a mild recession rather than falling off a cliff," said Martin van Vliet, senior economist at ING.

The survey compilers warned against viewing its latest gauge of euro zone business as a turning point, especially since there is still a strong risk the euro zone sovereign debt crisis could spiral out of control.

RESOLUTION NEEDED

EU leaders last week took a historic step towards fiscal union last week, but pressure is building on reluctant euro zone paymaster Germany to take immediate, radical steps to solve the crisis.

A resolution to the crisis is all the more important as its repercussions spread through global economy. China saw its first year-on-year drop in foreign direct investment in 28 months in November.

The HSBC flash manufacturing purchasing managers' index, the earliest indicator of China's industrial activity, rose modestly to 49.0 in December from 47.7 but pointing to a monthly contraction in activity nonetheless.

Most economists gave a cautious welcome to the euro zone PMI data, which measures changes in the activities of thousands of businesses across the euro zone.

"All in all, despite the further pick-up in December, the PMI data still suggest that euro zone real GDP saw a marked contraction in the fourth quarter," said ING's van Vliet.

The Markit Eurozone Composite PMI, which looks at both the manufacturing and services sectors,

Furthermore, only France and Germany were responsible for the upturn in the index, while the euro zone's peripheral economies continued to struggle.

Markit said its data pointed to a quarterly economic decline of 0.6 percent in the euro zone in the final quarter of this year.

That would be twice as deep as the contraction expected by economists in a Reuters poll on Wednesday, which also forecast a 0.2 percent fall in the first three months of the new year.

An escalation of the debt crisis could cause a far steeper contraction next year -- a scenario the Swiss National Bank warned on Thursday could not be ruled out, after holding its exchange rate cap on the franc against the euro for now.

There was one bright note on Thursday. The risk premium on benchmark Spanish bonds fell following a well-received bond auction that raised more than the government had targeted.

(Additional reporting by Aileen Wang and Koh Gui Qing in Beijing, Editing by Ross Finley and Hugh Lawson)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111215/bs_nm/us_global_economy_wrapup

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Sky apples stun English motorists

Sky Apples? Motorists in England were pelted by apples falling from the sky, and were left to speculate as to the cause.

In the make-believe town of Chewandswallow, it rains soup and juice, and sometimes it snows ice cream. But who would have imagined that the world created by Judi Barrett in her bestselling children's book "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" would come true one evening in Coventry, England?

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On Monday night, it started raining apples.

?I honestly don?t know where the apples could have come from,? Brian?Meakins, a retired truck driver told UK?s Daily Mail.?

More than 100 apples fell from the sky onto car roofs and windshields of motorists who were traveling through a busy intersection?in the English city.? The bizarre phenomenon caused traffic congestion, left many wondering what had happened.? ??

A motorist told the Daily Mail that the apples fell out of nowhere.? ?They were small and green and hit the bonnet hard,? she added.? ?Everyone had to stop their cars suddenly.??

Bewildered by the incident, Mr. Meakins speculated:? ?At first I assumed kids must have thrown them because we do get the occasional egg and apple thrown.? ?But there?s way too many for that,? he continued.

British media also puzzled over the rain of apples.

Some speculated that a mini-tornado sucked up the apples from an orchard and deposited the fruit over Coventry. Another theory was they the fell from a cargo crate in an passing aircraft.

BBC ?s Magazine reported that this is not the first time it has precipitated something other than H20. The site said that frogs had fallen from the sky in the past in Llanddewi, Powys as well as in Croydon, south London.? The? BBC also reported that back in 2000 scores of dead silver sprats dropped from the sky in the coastal resort of Great Yarmouth.

Paul Sieveking, co-editor of the Fortean Times, a magazine devoted to the analysis of strange global phenomena, told BBC that 300 apples came down in 1984? in Accrington, Lancashire.

However, Dr. Lisa Jardine-Wright, a physicist at Cambridge University described the event as unusual but not inexplicable.

?A tornado which has swept through an orchard will be strong enough to 'suck up' small objects like a vacuum [cleaner]. These small objects would then be deposited back to earth as 'rain' when the whirlwind loses its energy," she told BBC.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/d00M0-Q6YEc/Sky-apples-stun-English-motorists

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Friday, December 16, 2011

How granular materials become solid: Discovery may be boon to engineers, manufacturers

ScienceDaily (Dec. 14, 2011) ? A stroll on the beach can mean sinking your toes into smooth sand or walking firm-footed on a surface that appears almost solid. While both properties are commonplace, exactly what it is that makes granular materials change from a flowing state to a "jammed," or solid, state? Whether it's sand on a beach or rice grains in a hopper, being able to predict the behavior of granular matter can help engineers and manufacturers of a wide range of products.

In a study out this week in the journal Nature, researchers at Brandeis in collaboration with Duke University explain how granular materials are transformed from a loose state to a solid state when force is applied at a particular angle, in a process known as shearing. "Traditionally people thought of shearing as a mechanism for breaking up materials," says Dapeng Bi, a graduate student in the Martin Fisher School of Physics. "In this case, we find shear actually drives solidification."

Bulbul Chakraborty, the Enid and Nate Ancell Professor of Physics, and Bi, analyzed an experiment performed at Duke which used photo-elastic discs of two different sizes to represent granular materials such as rice or sand. The discs were placed into a plastic box whose shape could be precisely manipulated and measured. The box was illuminated from the bottom, forcing light through the discs. A polarized lens placed on top of the box revealed the photo-elastic discs creating colorful patterns -- called force chains -- caused by the pressure they received when the sides of the box were moved to create a rectangle. Using a computer program the Duke researchers were able to determine the amount of force that was exerted by the discs on each other.

"The polarized light changes the index of refraction of the materials and makes the patterns non-uniform," says Bi. "We then use those numbers to calculate the forces and the geometry of the contact ?network that the discs formed."

The researchers found that when the shape of the box changed due to shear, the discs exhibited a solid state even without the density changing. This, Chakraborty says, is remarkable because usually it is an increase in density that transforms loose material to a solid. "For theorists like us, these experiments are wonderful because we can see exactly what this system is doing," says Chakraborty. "How these patterns change as the discs are pushed and altered gives us information such as how many contacts each grain makes, and the force at every contact."

Chakraborty says that using this data she and Bi constructed a theory that explains how the solid is being formed. "It's possible that if there was no friction between the discs that they would have been able to slide past each other and not get jammed," says Chakraborty. "We now are performing computer simulations to see if shear jamming will occur without friction."

In an abstract written in 2008 in Jamming of Granular Matter, Chakraborty and Robert P. Behringer of Duke University explained that jamming is the extension of the concept of freezing to the transition from a fluid state to a jammed state. Understanding jamming in granular systems, they say, is important from a technological, environmental, and basic science perspective. A jamming of grains in silos can cause catastrophic failures. Avalanches are examples of unjamming, which need to be understood in order to prevent and control, such as the avalanche that killed pro skier Jamie Pierre on November 13, 2011.

Shearing is a major force in nature, explains Chakraborty. When wind blows over the earth, shearing occurs in the sand. Understanding what shear does, she says, is very important.

"We have a very good theoretical framework as to how water behaves, or ice or air," says Chakraborty. "We don't have any fundamental theoretical framework to predict how sand behaves when the wind is blowing fast or slow."

This information could potentially be used to further understand? things like avalanches and earthquakes and erosion. "Those are effects of shearing of granular materials," says Chakraborty. "What we're trying to do is get at a basic understanding of how sand responds to shear. Most natural forces are shearing forces."

The behavior seen here is similar to "shear thickening," which has been used when manufacturing bulletproof vests that present as a soft material when worn, but hardens upon impact of a bullet.

"The research shows that friction can fundamentally change the nature of granular materials in intriguing ways," says Daryl Hess, program director for condensed matter and materials theory at the National Science Foundation. "Friction and shear reveal the richness of possible states of granular matter, pointing us down a road paved with new discoveries. These may expose deeper connections between jamming and seemingly unrelated phenomena spanning from earthquakes to transformations occurring in other kinds of matter, like water to ice."

In industries where hoppers are used, like loading rice grains onto a truck for example, jamming can be a problem. One possible solution, says Chakraborty, is to change the traditional shape in order to both prevent and break up jams.

"We need these sort of laboratory-based experiments to construct and test theories," says Chakraborty. "Once you get into an industrial situation things are not controlled enough to understand."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Brandeis University. The original article was written by Susan Chaityn Lebovits.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Dapeng Bi, Jie Zhang, Bulbul Chakraborty, R. P. Behringer. Jamming by shear. Nature, 2011; 480 (7377): 355 DOI: 10.1038/nature10667

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://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111214135816.htm

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Are Sheep Better at Botany than the US Government?

Botanically, a tomato is a fruit: a seed-bearing structure that grows from the flowering part of a plant. In 1893, however, the highest court in the land ruled in the case of Nix v. Hedden that the tomato was a vegetable, subject to vegetable import tariffs.

Unfortunately, the vegetal confusion did not end in 1893. Indeed, confusion over botanical categorization has a proud history in America.

Just recently, the US Congress mistook pizza (or, specifically, the tomato paste found on what passes for pizza in school lunchrooms) for a vegetable! And a Fox News anchor apparently had trouble distinguishing between peppers and military-grade pepper spray.

Sheep can do better.

It turns out that many animals possess some basic abilities to distinguish among different types of plants. After all, one wrong bite could mean the difference between a tasty meal and a painful death. Large grazing herbivores, like cows or sheep, however, are faced with a smorgasbord of potential food sources. Having to distinguish among such a large diversity of plants is no small task, and would theoretically place heavy demands on the information processing capabilities of the herbivorous brain. Cecile Ginane and Bertrand Dumont, two French animal behavior researchers, reasoned that such animals could be more efficient at foraging, and the information-processing burden could therefore be reduced, if they were able to assign potential food items to categories.

There are two main types of plants that are found in the fields in which grazers graze: grasses and legumes. In general, legumes are preferred over grasses by grazing herbivores: they are digested faster, contain more nitrogen, and their proteins can be more completely digested. What Gigane and Dumont wanted to know was if sheep (Ovis aries) categorize plants on the basis of botanical grouping. If they learned to avoid a particular grass or legume species, would that aversion generalize to other plants within the same botanical family?

They began by arranging an experimental field that included two grass species and two legume species. The grass species were cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata) and tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea), and the legumes were alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia). They knew, due to prior research, that sheep are able to distinguish these particular within-category plants from each other: that is, they can distinguish cocksfoot from fescue, and alfalfa from sainfoin. Would the sheep categorize these plants at any higher-order levels? In other words, do they form hierarchical categories for plants?

On the first day of the week, one group of lambs was conditioned against tall fescue (grass), and a second group of lambs was conditioned against sainfoin (legume). This was done by pairing the plants with the vomit-inducing lithium chloride. They were given a day to recover, and then on the third day of the week, each group?s food preferences were assessed by offering them either cocksfoot (grass) or alfalfa (legume). This pattern was repeated each week for a month, resulting in four testing periods. Combined with baseline preferences, the researchers had data for food preferences at five timepoints.

Initially, all sheep preferred alfalfa (legume) to cocksfoot (grass), which was expected, as legumes are more nutritious than grasses. Therefore, rather than simply measuring the straight preference for each type of plant, the researchers calculated the relative proportions eaten among the different plant types. In other words, the sheep conditioned against sainfoin could still eat more legumes than cocksfoot ? but it is possible that the legumes could account for a smaller proportion of their total food intake, following conditioning.

Indeed, as the experiment progressed, the sheep that were conditioned against sainfoin (legume) consumed proportionally less alfalfa (legume) than they did at baseline. That is, the proportion of alfalfa eaten relative to total food consumption decreased for the sheep conditioned against sainfoin. And, the sheep that were conditioned against fescue (grass) ate proportionally more alfalfa (legume) than they did at baseline.

As expected, the total volume in grams (rather than proportion) of alfalfa eaten by either group did not change much over the course of the experiment. However, the sheep did diverge in terms of the volume of cocksfoot that they ate, with those conditioned against fescue consuming less than those conditioned against sainfoin.

Taken together, preferences between alfalfa and cocksfoot differed between each group of sheep, according to the type of plant against which they were conditioned. However, the divergence seemed mainly due to changes in the amount of cocksfoot consumed, rather than the amount of alfalfa consumed. This is probably due to the preference for legumes over grasses in the first place.

Even though the results are not as straightforward as they could have been, this experiment does convincingly suggest that sheep can categorize among the second-order botanical categories of grasses and legumes in addition to the first-order species-level categories. However, the difference between legumes and grasses is not only botanical, but may also be visual (such as leaf arrangement), chemical (such as scent or taste), or tactile (such as texture). In other words, the distinction that sheep make between grasses and legumes could be perceptual rather than conceptual. As always, more research is needed to see just how abstract the categorization capabilities of sheep may be. Still, the ability of sheep to categorize plants at two levels is impressive.

Still no word on whether sheep consider pizza a vegetable.

Ginane C, & Dumont B (2011). Do sheep (Ovis aries) categorize plant species according to botanical family? Animal cognition, 14 (3), 369-76 PMID: 21203791

Images: Sheep via FreeFoto.com. Fescue via Flickr/Tredway. Cocksfoot via Flickr/WixPix. Alfalfa via Flickr/johnnyalive. Sainfoin via Flickr/inklaar.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=9fe6f906d5104c3ae14bb2dd677cacdf

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HBT: Rollins, Phillies not close to deal

Last night we learned that [insert ominous music] a Mystery Team was talking to Jimmy Rollins. Maybe they?re making mystery headway, because Scott Miller of CBS says today that the Phillies and Rollins are nowhere close to a deal.

The Phillies and Rollins are still talking, but it may be a while. ?Unless there?s real mystery here, the market for Rollins has shrunk a bit in the past week, and it seems like he?s inevitably going back to Philly. Which, for purely subjective reasons, I hope is the case. ?There aren?t many active players in baseball who would look more out of place in a different uniform than Rollins.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/12/14/jimmy-rollins-and-the-phillies-are-not-close-to-a-deal/related/

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Putin rejects any redo of fraud-tainted vote (AP)

MOSCOW ? Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Thursday rejected opposition calls for a rerun of the parliamentary election, accusing those who organized massive protests against vote fraud of working to weaken Russia at the West's behest.

In blustery remarks likely to further fuel anger against his 12-year rule, Putin insisted the Dec. 4 parliamentary election, which drew allegations of fraud and triggered the largest protests in Russia in 20 years, was a genuine reflection of the people's will. He sought to put a positive spin on the protests that dented his power and threatened his bid to reclaim presidency in next March's vote, saying they reflected a rise in public activity that he welcomes.

But in a characteristic move, he accused protest organizers of working to destabilize the country on orders from the West.

"That's a well-organized pattern of destabilizing society," Putin said in a call-in TV show.

Last week, Putin dismissed criticism of the vote by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as part of U.S. efforts to weaken Russia.

"They still fear our nuclear potential," he said. "We also carry an independent foreign policy, and, of course, it's an impediment for some."

Previous editions of the annual national call-in show have been largely an opportunity for Putin to brag for hours about improvements in the country, but this one was unusually confrontational. Both callers and studio participants repeatedly raised questions about the election, the anti-fraud protests and the country's repression of opposition groupings.

In the vote, Putin's United Russia party lost about 20 percent of its seats in the election and no longer has the two-thirds majority that allowed it to change constitution at will in the previous parliament. It barely retained a majority in the State Duma, and opposition parties and some vote monitors said even that result was inflated by ballot-stuffing and other violations.

The opposition is calling for the parliamentary election to be annulled and rerun. Putin's insistence the election was valid indicates no immediate resolution to Russia's political tensions is in sight.

The unprecedented wave of protest poses a significant challenge to Putin less than three months before presidential elections in which he seeks to return to the Kremlin.

Putin alleged the organizers of Saturday's demonstration by tens of thousands in Moscow had paid some participants, calling them sheep. He also unleashed his occasional penchant for dismissive and earthy remarks, when asked about the white ribbons that have been adopted by many as a protest symbol.

Putin said when he saw the protest footage on television, he thought the demonstrators "put some condoms" on their sleeves to promote safe sex.

The harsh comments and his insistence that the Dec. 4 election was valid will likely fuel anger and may draw even bigger crowds for protests later this month.

Putin also lashed out at U.S. Sen. John McCain, who had goaded him with a Twitter post saying "the Arab Spring is coming to a neighborhood near you."

"He has the blood of peaceful civilians on his hands, and he can't live without the kind of disgusting, repulsive scenes like the killing of Gadhafi," Putin said, referring to McCain's role as a combat pilot and prisoner of war in Vietnam.

"Mr. McCain was captured and they kept him not just in prison, but in a pit for several years," he said. "Anyone (in his place) would go nuts."

Putin said the results of Russia's parliamentary election properly reflected the people's will, and that the opposition had alleged vote fraud purely to strengthen its position.

"The results of this election undoubtedly reflect the real balance of power in the country," he said on the TV show. "It's very good that United Russia has preserved its leading position."

He added that a drop in support for his party was a natural result of the global financial crisis of 2008, which has taken its toll on Russians.

Putin brushed off the vote fraud claims as part of the opposition's maneuvering ahead of the presidential election, and said any complaints should go to the courts. He alleged that some protest leaders have been acting at Western behest to weaken Russia.

"The opposition goal's is to fight for power, and it's looking for every chance to advance," he said, insisting the vote results genuinely reflected the people's will.

The opposition has been energized by the huge Moscow protest and simultaneous rallies in some 60 other cities. It also senses a new weakness in United Russia ? blamed for a good amount of the corruption that plagues Russia ? that has dented Putin's power.

Putin sought to counter public discontent with the alleged fraud by proposing Thursday to place web cameras at each of Russia's more than 90,000 polling stations by the March 4 presidential vote.

"Let them be there next to every ballot box to avoid any falsifications," he said.

Asked about the presidential bid by one of Russia's richest tycoons, Mikhail Prokhorov, Putin said he would welcome a strong competitor. The 46-year-old Prokhorov, estimated to be worth $18 billion, made his fortune in metals, banking and media. He also owns 80 percent in the New Jersey Nets.

Prokhorov said Thursday that his first move if elected will be to pardon jailed tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who has been in jail since 2003 on tax evasion and fraud charges widely seen as a punishment for defying Putin's power. Khodorkovsky was once Russia's richest man.

Prokhorov also vowed to allow free registration of opposition parties and restore popular elections of provincial governors if he wins the March vote.

Putin has marginalized opposition forces, tightened election rules and abolished direct elections of governors.

Putin defended those moves as necessary to prevent criminal clans and separatist forces from dominating the gubernatorial elections, but suggested that he may allow their election in the future. He said candidates for governors still should be nominated by the president, but could then be put to a direct popular vote.

___

Nataliya Vasiyeva in Moscow contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/russia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111215/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_putin

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