rigel coda: January 2012

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Sen. Mark Kirk suffers stroke affecting left side

In this Nov. 1, 2010 photo, U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., looks to a crowd of supporters during a campaign rally in Wheaton, Ill. A spokesperson for Sen. Mark Kirk says the Illinois Republican has suffered a stroke and has undergone surgery early Monday, Jan. 23 2012 to relieve swelling around his brain. The 51-year-old Kirk checked himself into Lake Forest Hospital in Illinois. He was later transferred to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where tests showed that he had suffered a stroke. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)

FILE -- In this April 1, 2011 file photo, Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill. speaks in Springfield, Ill. Kirk's office says he has suffered a stroke, and is undergoing surgery. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)

Dr. Richard Fessler, a neurosurgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital who performed surgery on U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill. after he suffered a stroke, answers questions about the Senator's conditions at a news conference, Monday, Jan. 23, 2012, in Chicago. Kirk, 52, checked himself into Lake Forest Hospital over the weekend before being transferred to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where tests showed he had suffered a stroke. Kirk's office said he had a tear in the carotid artery on the right side of his neck. Carotid arteries carry blood to the brain; carotid tears are a common cause of strokes, which can involve blood clots traveling to the brain and causing bleeding there. The surgery was performed Sunday night. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, talks to the Associated Press by phone after learning that U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill. had suffered a stroke, Monday, Jan. 23, 2012, in Chicago. Kirk, 52, checked himself into Lake Forest Hospital over the weekend before being transferred to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where tests showed he had suffered a stroke. Kirk's office said he had a tear in the carotid artery on the right side of his neck. Carotid arteries carry blood to the brain; carotid tears are a common cause of strokes, which can involve blood clots traveling to the brain and causing bleeding there. The surgery was performed Sunday night. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

CHICAGO (AP) ? U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk was in intensive care Monday after undergoing surgery to relieve swelling on his brain from a stroke that doctors said likely would make it "very difficult" for him to regain movement in his left arm and could result in facial paralysis.

But Dr. Richard Fessler at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where Kirk remained sedated in intensive care, said the Illinois Republican's chances for a full mental recovery are good. Doctors said Kirk appears to recognize those around him and is responding to commands, though it was unclear how long his recovery could take or whether full movement would be restored.

"We are very hopeful that when we get through all the recovery, all those functions will be intact," said Fessler, a neurosurgeon who performed the Sunday night surgery to remove a part of Kirk's skull. "This morning, he is doing quite well. I am very happy with his current status."

Kirk, 52, had reported feeling dizzy over the weekend checked himself into Lake Forest Hospital over the weekend before being transferred to Northwestern. Tests showed he had a tear in the carotid artery on the right side of his neck and had suffered a stroke.

Carotid arteries carry blood to the brain and carotid tears are a common cause of strokes in people in their 50s or younger.

Surgeons at Northwestern removed a 4-by-8-inch piece of Kirk's skull Sunday evening to alleviate pressure said Monday they hoped swelling would go down in the coming days. Fessler said the stroke that affected Kirk's left arm could possibly affect movement of his left leg and cause some facial paralysis.

Fessler said Kirk would undergo rehabilitation to regain movement to affected parts of his body, but added that the "the prospects for his full physical recovery, particularly on the left side of his body, are not great."

Though Fessler could not say when Kirk would be able to return to work, he described the senator as "young, very healthy and in good shape" and said he was hopeful of a full mental recovery.

"Sen. Kirk's job is cerebral, and I believe the functions required to do his job are going to be fine," Fessler said.

Kirk's family said in a statement that Kirk had "always shown great courage and resilience and we are confident that the fighter in him will prevail."

"We are very grateful for the excellent treatment and care provided by the doctors and their medical teams ... We are equally grateful for the love and support of our family and friends," the family said.

Kirk was elected to the Senate in 2010, winning the seat formerly held by President Barack Obama after a hard-fought election that often focused on questions about his own honesty.

Kirk at times exaggerated his record in the Navy Reserves. He incorrectly said he had been named intelligence officer of the year and took part in the invasion of Iraq. He said he came under fire while on a military flight but wouldn't provide details and stopped making the claim when questioned about it.

"I'm not perfect. I made a mistake and then apologized," Kirk said in a 2010 interview with The Associated Press. "Going forward, the question we have and the choice we make as to who our senator is has a lot less to do with what happened in the 20th century and a lot more with what's happening in the 21st century."

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin said Monday he was shocked to learn of Kirk's stroke because kirk appeared to be a picture of health. A Kirk aide said the senator is a regular swimmer and has to pass medical checks every six months in the reserves.

Sen. Joe Manchin, with whom Kirk planned to sit during Tuesday night's State of the Union Address, issued a statement calling Kirk a "dear friend and truly a great American."

He said he's confident Kirk "will make a speedy recovery and I will do everything I can to support him and his family until he is able to join us back here in Washington."

___

Associated Press writers Lindsey Tanner in Chicago, Christopher Wills in Springfield and Andrew Taylor in Washington contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-23-US-Kirk-Stroke/id-b6122a8c99ac400b8a2a3ac1a99f6df7

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Monday, January 23, 2012

Macy's sues Martha Stewart Living for breach

NEW YORK?? Macy's Inc is suing Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc, accusing the company of breach of contract for entering into an agreement to sell certain products to J.C. Penney Company Inc.

Macy's says Martha Stewart Living granted it the exclusive right to make and sell certain products under a 2006 agreement, according to a New York state Supreme Court filing Monday.

Macy's is seeking a preliminary injunction stopping Martha Stewart from violating the contract. It also is seeking an order sealing the lawsuit and motion, saying it is prohibited from disclosing certain information.

The court filing does not detail the products in question.

Martha Stewart Living agreed "to grant Macy's the exclusive right to manufacture and sell Martha Stewart branded products in certain exclusive product categories," Robert Micheletto, a partner at Jones Day who represents Macy's, wrote in court papers.

"In direct violation of the terms of the agreement, MSLO recently announced it has entered into an agreement with" J.C. Penney Company Inc to sell Martha Stewart products that fall into Macy's exclusive product categories, the papers claim.

Martha Stewart Living did not immediately return a call for comment. Neither did JC Penney or Macy's.

The case is Macy's Inc. v. Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc., 650197/2012, New York state Supreme Court.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46106570/ns/business-retail/

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Video: Casey Anthony living in church?

>>> now casey anthony . her whereabouts have been the subject of much speculation since she was acquitted last year. since then, florida residents, as well as the paparazzi, have been on the lookout for her. now, there are new clues as to where she may be hiding. nbc's little yeah luciano has details.

>> alexis fredrick says she's certain she saw casey anthony .

>> i know it was her.

>> and she's not alone.

>> there was a white car with what appeared to be casey anthony hiding her face. and she took her hand down for a split second.

>> reporter: anthony 's whereabouts have remained a mystery since the 25-year-old was acquitted last summer of murdering her 2-year-old daughter caylee.

>> very excited.

>> reporter: two online diaries that recently surfaced gave no clues as to her locations. but anthony is still serving probation in florida. now, rumors are spreading that she's been lying low at this church in palm city , two hours south of the orlando. if she's in town, residents haven't exactly laid out the welcome mat .

>> get out of martin town. too many kids, nice quiet place and not so quiet since everyone found out she's been here. a lot of chaos.

>> and there's no greater place --

>> reporter: online reports say she's getting refuge and spiritual guidance from a pastor and award winning christian musician .

>> the table in the back with the pastor of the church.

>> reporter: he has never confirmed nor denied that he's helping anthony . on thursday, a member of the anthony team was spotted in front of the church, placing no trespassing signs. gary lyons was hired as a private investigator by anthony 's defense team and has remained a defender of hers. he wouldn't answer any questions.

>> that was casey anthony .

>> reporter: if true the recent sightings wouldn't be the first time residents have reported seeing anthony in the area. last september, nearby port st. lucie, cassandra jennings said she saw anthony in the car next to her.

>> i know it was her because of that face that she has is a face that you never forget.

>> reporter: once the notorious party girl , possibly living the quiet life . for today, nbc news, atlanta.

Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/46090283/

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Sunday, January 22, 2012

Police: Gunmen kidnap American in north Somalia (AP)

MOGADISHU, Somalia ? Gunmen kidnapped an American man in the northern Somali town of Galkayo on Saturday, officials said, the same day an airstrike killed a senior insurgent leader with ties to al-Qaida in another part of the country.

The gunmen surrounded the man's car shortly after the man left the airport, said policeman Abdi Hassan Nur, who witnessed the incident. He said they then forced the American into another vehicle.

Galkayo is on the border between the semiautonomous northern region of Puntland and a region known as Galmudug. It is ruled by forces friendly to the U.N.-backed Somali government.

A minister from the Galmudug administration said the gunmen severely beat the foreigner's Somali companion when he begged them not to take the man. The minister spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

A staff member at the Embassy Hotel, where the man was staying, said the American had gone to the airport to drop off an Indian colleague. The hotel said that the man had both American and German citizenship. The staff member asked not to be identified because he was not supposed to give out information about guests.

In October, gunmen kidnapped an American woman and a Danish man working for the Danish Demining Group from the same town. They are still being held.

Kidnapping for ransom is has become increasingly common in Somalia over the past five years. Currently at least four aid workers, a French military official, a British tourist taken from Kenya and hundreds of sailors are being held captive.

In a separate incident in the south of the country outside the capital of Mogadishu, a British-Lebanese commander of the al-Shabab militant group was killed along with two others when a missile struck the car they were traveling in, al-Shabab spokesman Sheik Ali Rage said.

Rage identified the British-Lebanese commander as Bilal-Berjawi, saying he was a close associate of late al-Qaida operative Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, the mastermind behind the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania who was killed by a Somali soldier in June 2011.

Further south, another airstrike killed six people near the insurgent stronghold of Kismayo on Saturday, according to Sheik Mohamud Abdi, a senior al-Shabab commander. Kenya sent troops into Somalia in October amid concerns that Somalia's 21-year-old civil war was spilling over the countries' joint border.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_re_af/af_somalia_kidnapping

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[OOC] Lux Aeterna: Avenging Monsters

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Some say the world will end in Fire,
Some say in Ice,
From what I've tasted of desire,
I hold with those who favor Fire,
But if I had to Perish twice,
I think I know enough of Hate,
To say for Destruction Ice is also Great,
And would Suffice.
- Robert Frost.

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Saturday, January 21, 2012

Is Coriolanus Shakespeare?s Greatest Tragedy?

To dismiss Hamlet, Eliot must rebut most of the critics who have come before him. But he pays special attention to two fellow poet-critics, Goethe and Coleridge. Those two, he says, used their creative gifts to imagine a Hamlet who doesn?t really exist in the play. Goethe, Eliot says, ?made of Hamlet a Werther,? i.e., a similarly Romantic soul not adequate to his times. And Coleridge ?made of Hamlet a Coleridge,? a man who, in Coleridge?s words, suffers from ?an overbalance in the contemplative faculty,? and thus ?loses his natural power of action.? These attempts to decipher the character founder, according to Eliot, on the play?s fundamental disjointedness: Laying out in detail Shakespeare?s indebtedness to Thomas Kyd?s Spanish Tragedy, he argues that Hamlet is not a coherent work of art by one author, but a never-quite-finished hodge-podge, with a borrowed plot and superimposed set of motivations that don?t quite make sense.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=1590d4e75aac17b5fdc231cfe40f90c3

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Friday, January 20, 2012

Big East NCAA Bids

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brewcity77

I've been thinking about this after the UL game, especially as it seems the Cardinals are starting to be written off. Last year, we got in with an RPI of 64 and SOS of 30. Here are the categories:

The Locks

Syracuse: #1 in the RPI, #1 in both polls, #2 SOS. Lock them in.
Georgetown: Even if they Hoyas tank, they should win 10 Big East games. That'd give them a 24 RPI and 18 SOS. They're in.
Connecticut: UConn has yet to face the meat of their schedule, and losses to UCF and Rutgers aren't very good, but even if they go 9-9 in conference they project as #21 in RPI and #2 SOS. Barring total collapse, they'll be in.

.
Should Be In

Marquette: The Warriors are favored in 10/12 games and even if they only go 10-8 in conference are projected as a top-30 RPI and SOS. That'd be one heck of a snub in the 68-team era.
Seton Hall: The USF loss sucked, but the Pirates already have 4 top-50 wins. It's hard not to see them getting to at least 20 wins, and even with a 9-9 Big East record, that would give them a top-40 RPI and top-30 SOS. Honestly, 22 or 23 wins are more likely.
West Virginia: Many wrote off the 'Neers after losing to Kent State, but they have no bad losses (including the Flashes) and are 6-5 against the RPI top-100. Their only game from here on out when they'll be an underdog is at the Carrier Dome.

.
On The Bubble

Louisville: Critics are banging on the 'Ville and injuries could be their undoing (Rakeem Buckles the latest). Still, they had an excellent non-con schedule, boast 5 top-100 wins, and only 2 heavy RPI drags. Their next 7 games will be critical. If they go 4-3, they will be in good position to get to 9-9 in the Big East. While most will say that isn't good enough, Louisville would have the #36 RPI and #18 SOS. Honestly, if they go 8-10, they could still make the Dance. Their #45 RPI and #18 SOS would both be better than what got MU in last year, and a 20-11 record isn't nearly as bad as some that have made the cut when there were only 65 teams invited.
Cincinnati: Despite winning 9/10 since the fight with Xavier, the Bearcats played a pathetic non-con. 11-7 in the Big East is realistic, but will it offset bad home losses to Presbyterian and St. John's? They only had 1 top-100 non-con win, against #74 Oklahoma. Even with an 11-7 Big East mark, Cincy would project to #74 RPI with the #99 SOS. It's hard to imagine an 11-7 or 12-6 Big East team being snubbed, but if their only top-50 wins are Louisville and Georgetown, that's a possibility.
Rutgers: Usually 5 non-conference losses sinks a team, but none of RU's losses are to any teams below 120 in the RPI. Their wins over Florida and UConn were major feathers in the cap. If they can win 5/6 at home (marking Syracuse as a loss) and steal a couple on the road (Providence and Notre Dame are promising) they could get to 10-8 in the Big East and 18-13 overall. 5-8 against the top-100 isn't horrible, especially with 3 top-20 wins (if they beat SHU at home). That would also give them the #84 RPI and #51 SOS, so they'd probably still need to pull off 2 wins, including one more quality win, in the Big East tournament, but it's not unthinkable.
South Florida: Like Rutgers, hard to see a 5-loss non-con team making it. But the Bulls have been good at home, with wins over Cleveland State and Seton Hall, and a narrow loss to UConn. If they can hold serve at home and steal two roadies out of DePaul, Providence, or Pitt, they will be 11-7 in the Big East. Would a 18-13 record be good enough? Probably not without a Big East Tourney win or two, but they'd be looking at a 66 RPI and 37 SOS, around what got Marquette in a year ago.

.
It's Not (Totally) Impossible

Pittsburgh: Initially I wanted to put them in the bubble club, but they have a long way to go. Pitt probably needs to go 8-4 the rest of the way to get on the bubble, and that might not even be enough. They do have 7 home games, so if they can turn Petersen back into a fortress, maybe they can get back in the mix. Win out at home, steal a road game at USF or Louisville (or better both) and they might get that "hot team" bump come Selection Sunday. An 8-10 league record would give them #63 RPI and #49 SOS.
Notre Dame: Zero non-con wins against the RPI top-175 means ND would probably need to go 10-8 in the league just to be on the bubble. They still have 4 road games against top-20 RPI teams, and 3 more at home. On the plus side, the NIT still counts as postseason play.
Villanova: The Wildcats had a solid non-con, but they lost almost every worthwhile game they scheduled, and took a bad loss to Santa Clara to boot. They probably would need to win every game at home (tall order beating UConn and MU when they got spanked there by USF), and take roadies from USF, Rutgers, and St. John's. Even that would only get their RPI to #59, so another win or two might be needed in the Big East Tournament. Highly unlikely, but not a complete impossibility.

.
No Chance In Hell

DePaul: Their non-con was way too weak, giving them only 3 top-100 opponents and zero top-100 wins. They could win 4-6 Big East games, but that won't be enough. Still, Oliver Purnell has the arrow pointed up.
St. John's: The Red Storm were one of the feel-good stories of last year, but having a losing record already and being favored in only 1 of their remaining 14 games must feel pretty bad.
Providence: If the Friars go 10-2, they will still only have a 60 RPI and 125 SOS. But they won't go anywhere near 10-2.

brewcity77

I'm really curious, people saying 5, who do you think gets left out? If Marquette goes 7-11 in the Big East, they still have a better RPI (58) and SOS (18) than last year. Seton Hall at 7-11 would have a better profile than last year's Marquette team too (59 RPI, 30 SOS0. WVU would have the same RPI (64) as 2010-11 Marquette at 7-11, but a much better SOS (11).

And if one of these teams collapsed, wouldn't that almost automatically mean that a Louisville, Cincinnati, Rutgers, or USF was capitalizing on those losses to snag a bid, getting the league back up to 6?

I know some people will just take the lowest option for the sake of it, I expect 1 or 2 people to say that, but I didn't expect 10% of respondents at this point to be saying that. Is it just trolling or does someone expect a major collapse or two?

Source: http://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=29861.0

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Thursday, January 19, 2012

Republicans vow to fight for Keystone pipeline (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? Republicans in the House of Representatives said on Wednesday they plan to introduce a bill to advance TransCanada's Keystone XL oil pipeline to try to override President Barack Obama's rejection of the $7 billion project.

House Speaker John Boehner told reporters "all options are on the table" to craft a bill to fight for the pipeline, which Republicans say would create thousands of jobs and bolster the economic recovery. "There are legislative vehicles that will be moving in the weeks and months ahead," Boehner said.

House Republicans have not yet decided what kind of legislation they will push, said Lee Terry, a Republican from Nebraska who supports the Canada-to-Texas pipeline.

In November, Terry crafted a bill that would give the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission the authority to approve Keystone XL, an option that he said will be a "focal point" for House Republicans.

House Republicans likely will make up their minds on a strategy after a House Energy and Commerce hearing slated for next Wednesday, where Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been invited to testify about Keystone, Terry said.

Senate Republicans have also promised to try to pass legislation to push forward the project, an effort that may run into legal battles but promises to keep the Keystone battle alive as a political issue during the 2012 election campaign.

"I have drafted legislation that I believe is an effective option and we are already working on that and other options with leadership and fellow senators," said Senator John Hoeven of North Dakota in a statement.

Some Democrats support the project because of the jobs it would create. But others have vowed to try to block any Congressional effort for a quick revival because of concerns about the impact of the project on the environment.

"I will fight to ensure Congress does not overturn the decision," said Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats.

(Additional reporting by Richard Cowan and Timothy Gardner; Editing by Paul Simao)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/energy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120118/wl_canada_nm/canada_us_keystone_decision_boehner

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Wednesday, January 18, 2012

IBM seen posting Q4 growth, headwinds expected in 2012 (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? IBM Corp is expected to report solid fourth quarter results on January 19 under new chief executive Virginia Rometty as investors look for news about the potential impact of the Eurozone crisis and currency headwinds in 2012.

For IBM, a bellwether stock due to its global reach and wide range of corporate and federal customers, analysts on average expect operating earnings per share of $4.62, a more than 10 percent increase from the quarter a year earlier.

Fourth quarter revenue is seen at $29.7 billion compared with $29.0 billion in the last quarter of 2010, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Barclays was expecting a modest EPS upside for IBM's fourth quarter, but that "aging product cycles in hardware, currency headwinds and decelerating global economies should likely limit any upside to IBM's top-line" in 2012.

The euro hit a 16-month low last week, but rose against the dollar after two days of losses.

Poor results from software maker Oracle Corp last month and a cautious quarterly outlook by consulting firm Accenture Plc have spooked investors already worried about the ramifications of economic problems in Europe.

But last week, SAP AG, the biggest maker of business software, cheered investors with better than expected sales and profits thanks to strong demand for software and data analytics products.

Investors will also be keen to get a feel for new chief executive Rometty, a long-time IBM manager who succeeded Sam Palmisano on Jan 1.

Rometty is credited with the smooth integration of PriceWaterhouseCoopers' consulting arm, which IBM bought nearly a decade ago in June 2002 as it transformed itself to focus on higher-margin businesses such as data analytics and services that help customers solve business problems with technology.

Rometty is expected to continue to implement Palmisano's growth strategy aimed at reaching an operating EPS of at least $20 by the end of 2015.

Investors will also be looking for the number of signings of services contracts, an early indicator of future business revenue.

The shares of the Armonk, N.Y.-based company, closed with a 0.84 percent gain on Tuesday at $180.

According to equity research firm StarMine, which gives more weight to forecasts from the historically most accurate analysts, IBM trades at 12.3 times its estimated 12-month forward earnings, a premium to peers Oracle and Hewlett Packard Co, which are valued at multiples of 10.8 and 6.4 times, respectively.

(Reporting By Nicola Leske; editing by Andre Grenon)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/enterprise/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120117/bs_nm/us_ibm

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Technological and communications deprivation ? Rob Jackson's Blog

I currently have two PhD students funded by AWE. Their projects are not weapons-based, and I am very grateful for the funding, especially at a time when the EPSRC are trying to leave people like myself high and dry. An important part of a research collaboration is, of course, meetings. Not everything can be done by e-mail, chat (e.g. IM, Skype etc) or telephone, and face-to-face discussions are vital. But, here as they say, is the rub. The AWE don?t allow laptops or mobile phones onsite. You can see the rationale in terms of protecting secret information, but it?s rather hard to apply this to our particular projects! Nevertheless, rules are rules.

We have our next meeting on Thursday. I planned the date because I have another meeting tomorrow in London, so I can stay over and travel the comparatively short distance to Reading on Thursday morning. But I wasn?t thinking clearly at the time! It means 2 days, yes, 2 days without a mobile phone or a laptop, which for a connected (OK and internet-addicted) individual like me is almost impossible to contemplate. Internet cafes will have to provide some respite, but they are not my favourite locations. And my diary and contacts are all on my phone ?

I should of course say that you can take mobile phones and laptops and leave them at AWE?s reception. But I?m not prepared to do that, as anything is left at the owner?s risk, and it is not a risk I am prepared to take.

Of course I?ll survive, but I do think it is ridiculous that in the 21st Century there are still places that have these restrictions.

But it?s time to stop wingeing and get back to the marking!

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This entry was posted on 17/01/2012 at 16:46 and is filed under science research, travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Source: http://boomnet.wordpress.com/2012/01/17/technological-and-communications-deprivation/

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Tuesday, January 17, 2012

TD Ameritrade fiscal 1Q profit up 5 percent (AP)

OMAHA, Neb. ? TD Ameritrade said Tuesday that its fiscal first-quarter net income grew 5 percent and its revenue was almost unchanged as the online brokerage's trading activity slowed amid worries about the economy.

The Omaha-based company posted $152 million in net income, or about 27 cents per share, in the October-December quarter. That's up from $145 million, or 25 cents per share, in the same quarter in 2010, and topped the 26 cents per share profit that analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting.

But revenue fell less than 1 percent to $653.4 million from $656.2 million. Analysts expected revenue to grow to $671.5 million.

One of the key drivers of Ameritrade's revenue is the fees it charges for transactions it handles, but trading slipped during the last three months of 2011 due to growing worries about the European debt crisis. The average number of trades per day dipped to 367,479 from 371,916 in the same period a year earlier. In the July-September quarter, there was an average of 415,739 trades per day.

And average commissions and transaction fees per trade fell to $11.90 during the quarter from $12.39 in the last three months of 2010.

"While volumes have improved over December, clients continue to hesitate in their trading and investing in the face of all of the uncertainty in the markets right now," said Fred Tomczyk, Ameritrade's president and CEO. He said that while there are signs the U.S. economy is improving, it will be a slow recovery, and there remains a "cloud of uncertainty" for Europe.

Tomczyk said he thinks trading will improve once the situation in Europe stabilizes and the market starts to move consistently, either up or down.

Ameritrade also makes money from fees based on clients' assets, but the current low interest rates are limiting what TD Ameritrade earns on its clients' deposit accounts and other investment products.

Ameritrade said its net new assets grew 11 percent to $10.2 billion from $9.7 billion. The total client assets Ameritrade holds grew 7 percent to $406.3 billion at the end of the quarter from $386.4 billion.

Severance costs for laying off 145 people were $7 million from October through December. But the company also benefited from a lower-than-expected tax rate, so there was a net gain of one cent per share from those two factors.

Ameritrade said it spent about $107 million during the quarter to repurchase 6.7 million shares of its own stock, and plans to pay a dividend of 6 cents per share in February.

Ameritrade's stock declined 25 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $16.05 in morning trading, while broader markets were higher. The Dow Jones industrial average rose nearly 1 percent.

___

Online:

TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.: http://www.amtd.com

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120117/ap_on_bi_ge/us_earns_td_ameritrade

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Afghan official: 3 killed in helicopter crash (AP)

KABUL, Afghanistan ? An Afghan official says a civilian helicopter has crashed in southern Afghanistan, killing all three people on board.

Marjan Haqmal, police chief of Nad Ali district in Helmand province, says the Russian-made aircraft probably went down because of a technical malfunction.

NATO confirmed that a civilian helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan on Monday. It said the site of the crash has been secured and that coalition forces are trying to gather more information about what happened.

NATO did not provide information about casualties.

Dozens of Russian-built cargo helicopters are used by contractors working for the NATO-led coalition.

The coalition relies heavily on helicopters to avoid using roads that are frequently mined by the insurgents.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120116/ap_on_re_as/as_afghanistan

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Monday, January 16, 2012

I recognise you! But how did I do it?

ScienceDaily (Jan. 13, 2012) ? Are you someone who easily recognises everyone you've ever met? Or maybe you struggle, even with familiar faces? It is already known that we are better at recognising faces from our own race but researchers have only recently questioned how we assimilate the information we use to recognise people.

New research by the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus has shown that when it comes to recognising people the Malaysian Chinese have adapted their facial recognition techniques to cope with living in a multicultural environment.

The study 'You Look Familiar: How Malaysian Chinese Recognise Faces' was led by Chrystalle B.Y. Tan, a PhD student at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus. The results have been published online in the scientific journal PLoS One, This research is the first PhD student publication for Nottingham's School of Psychology in Malaysia.

Chrystalle Tan said: "Our research has shown that Malaysian Chinese adopt a unique looking pattern which differed from both Westerners and Mainland Chinese, possibly due to the multicultural nature of the country."

The ability to recognise different faces may have social and evolutionary advantages. Human faces provide vital information about a person's identity and characteristics such as gender, age, health and attractiveness. Although we all have the same basic features we have our own distinguishing features and there is evidence that the brain has a specialised mental module dedicated to face processing.

Recognition techniques

Previous research by a group at Glasgow University in Scotland showed that Asians from mainland China use more holistic recognition techniques to recognise faces than Westerners.

Chinese focus on the centre of the face in the nose area
Westerners focus on a triangular area between the eyes and mouth
British born Chinese use both techniques fixating predominantly around either the eyes and mouth, or the nose

Chrystalle said: "The traditional view is that people recognise faces by looking in turn at each eye and then the mouth. This previous research showed us that some Asian groups actually focus on the centre of the face, in the nose area. While Westerners are learning what each separate part of the face looks like -- a strategy that could be useful in populations where hair and eye colour vary dramatically, mainland Chinese use a more global strategy, using information about how the features are arranged. Meanwhile British born Chinese use a mixture of both techniques suggesting an increased familiarity with other-race faces which enhances their recognition abilities."

Eye tracking technology

The study by the School of Psychology at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus set out to investigate whether exposure and familiarity with other cultures affects our recognition accuracy and eye movement strategies.

The team used specialised eye tracking technology to investigate the visual strategies used to recognise photographs of faces. They recruited 22 Malaysian Chinese student volunteers from across Nottingham's Malaysia campus. The results showed that Malaysian Chinese used a unique mixed strategy by focusing on the eyes and nose more than the mouth.

Chrystalle said: "We have shown that Malaysian Chinese adopt a unique looking pattern which differed from both Westerners and mainland Chinese. This combination of Eastern and Western looking patterns proved advantageous for Malaysian Chinese to accurately recognise Chinese and Caucasian faces."

The study was supervised by Dr Ian Stephen, an expert on face processing and Dr Elizabeth Sheppard, an expert in eye tracking. Dr Stephen said: "We think that people learn how to recognise faces from the faces that they encounter. Although Malaysia is an East Asian country its ethnic composition is highly diverse. The intermediate looking strategy that Malaysian Chinese use allows them to recognise Western faces just as well as Asians."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Nottingham, via AlphaGalileo.

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

Journal Reference:

Chrystalle B. Y. Tan, Ian D. Stephen, Ross Whitehead, Elizabeth Sheppard. You Look Familiar: How Malaysian Chinese Recognize Faces. PLoS ONE, 2012; 7 (1): e29714 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0029714

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/~3/PNUYnoOiGIQ/120113205448.htm

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Washington state gay marriage proposal gets strong support (Reuters)

SEATTLE (Reuters) ? A bipartisan group of lawmakers on Friday introduced a bill to legalize same sex marriage in Washington state, which gay rights groups hope will be the next state to approve nuptials after two-term governor Christine Gregoire announced her support.

The bill was introduced in the Democrat-controlled Senate and has the backing of 21 Democrats and two Republicans, just two votes short of a majority in the 49-member chamber.

It may take months to come to a vote in the Senate because of public hearings and committee debate.

If successful, it would then go to a vote in the state House, where Democrats have a larger majority, before heading to Gregoire, who drew national attention recently by announcing her support of same sex marriage.

"It is time for marriage equality," Gregoire, a Democrat in her final year in office, said in her state of the state address Tuesday.

"Let's tell the children of our same-sex couples that their parents' relationship is equal to all others in the state," she added.

Last year, New York state became the most populous state to legalize same sex marriage, delighting gay rights advocates. Five other states allow it: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Iowa. Gay marriage is also legal in the District of Columbia.

Some 40 state explicitly ban gay marriage.

A University of Washington poll of state voters last October found that 44 percent of respondents said gays and lesbians should have the right to marry.

It found that 22 percent said they should have the same legal rights as married couples - although their partnerships should not be defined as marriage - while 17 percent said there should be no legal recognition for same sex partnerships.

Although Democrats hold majorities in both of Washington state's chambers, a bill is not certain to pass because some conservative Democrats have sided with Republicans on the issue.

The drive's principal sponsor, Democratic Sen. Ed Murray, 56, remains cautious about the bill's chances, even with bipartisan support from Republican Senators Steve Litzow and Cheryl Pflug.

"Our gay and lesbian civil rights bill, which took 29 years to pass (in 2006), was always one vote short and I believe this situation is pretty much the same," said Murray, a gay man who hopes to wed his long-term partner in the state.

"We are grandchildren of people who immigrated and homesteaded this state," he said. "We hope that after 20 years of basically being engaged together that we would be able to legally marry in our native state."

But opponents of same-sex marriage aren't taking any chances.

Stephen Pidgeon, 57, an Everett attorney, has filed a ballot initiative with the secretary of state's office to define marriage as between one man and one woman.

To qualify for the November ballot, his measure must collect at least 241,153 signatures of registered voters by the close of normal business hours July 6.

"That's a pretty large number, but we will succeed," Pidgeon said, adding that he plans to start collecting signatures next week. "We expect a lot of participation from the churches."

(Editing By Tim Gaynor)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120114/us_nm/us_marriage_samesex_washington

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Sunday, January 15, 2012

Russian space probe to crash to Earth within hours (AP)

MOSCOW ? A failed Russian probe designed to travel to a moon of Mars but stuck in Earth orbit will come crashing down within hours, likely in a shower of fragments that survive the fiery re-entry.

The unmanned Phobos Ground is one of the heaviest and most toxic space derelicts ever to crash to Earth, but space officials and experts say the risks are minimal as its orbit is mostly over water and most of the probe's structure will burn up in the atmosphere anyway.

Russia's space agency Roscosmos said the Phobos-Ground will crash between 1750 and 1834 GMT (1:50 p.m. and 2:34 p.m. EST). It said the probe could come down anywhere along its orbit that would place it over southern Europe, the Atlantic Ocean, South America and Pacific. The rest of the world, including the U.S. and Canada, is outside the risk zone.

"The resulting risk isn't significant," said Prof. Heiner Klinkrad, Head of The European Space Agency's Space Debris Office that is monitoring the probe's descent.

He wouldn't say where exactly the probe may enter the atmosphere, but said that "most of Europe is excluded from an impact risk."

Roscosmos predicts that only between 20 and 30 fragments of the Phobos probe with a total weight of up to 200 kilograms (440 pounds) will survive the re-entry and plummet to Earth.

Klinkrad agreed with that assessment, adding that about 100 metric tons of space junk fall on Earth every year. "This is 200 kilograms out of these 100 tons," he said.

Thousands of pieces of derelict space vehicles orbit Earth, occasionally posing danger to astronauts and satellites in orbit, but as far as is known, no one has ever been hurt by falling space debris.

The Phobos-Ground weighs 13.5 metric tons (14.9 tons), and that includes a load of 11 metric tons (12 tons) of highly toxic rocket fuel intended for the long journey to the Martian moon of Phobos. It has been left unused as the probe got stuck in orbit around Earth shortly after its Nov. 9 launch.

Roscosmos says all of the fuel will burn up on re-entry, a forecast Klinkrad said was supported by calculations done by NASA and the ESA. He said the craft's tanks are made of aluminum alloy that has a very low melting temperature, and they will burst at an altitude of more than 100 kilometers.

"These tanks are expected to release the fuel above 100 kilometers, and then the fuel is going to burn in the atmosphere and later the tanks are going to burn up themselves as well," Klinkrad said in a telephone interview from his office in Berlin.

The space era has seen far larger spacecraft to crash. NASA's Skylab space station that went down in 1979 weighed 77 metric tons (85 tons) and Russia's Mir space station that de-orbited in 2001 weighed about 130 metric tons (143 tons). Their descent fueled fears around the world, but the wreckage of both fell far away from populated areas.

The $170-million Phobos-Ground was Russia's most expensive and the most ambitious space mission since Soviet times. The spacecraft was intended to land on the crater-dented, potato-shaped Martian moon, collect soil samples and fly them back to Earth, giving scientists precious materials that could shed more light on the genesis of the solar system.

Russia's space chief has acknowledged the Phobos-Ground mission was ill-prepared, but said that Roscosmos had to give it the go-ahead so as not to miss the limited Earth-to-Mars launch window.

Its predecessor, Mars-96, which was built by the same Moscow-based NPO Lavochkin company, also suffered an engine failure and crashed shortly after its launch in 1996. Its crash drew strong international fears because of some 200 grams of plutonium onboard. The craft eventually showered its fragments over the Chile-Bolivia border in the Andes Mountains, and the pieces were never recovered.

The worst ever radiation spill from a derelict space vehicle came in January 1978 when the nuclear-powered Cosmos 954 satellite crashed over northwestern Canada. The Soviets claimed the craft completely burned up on re-entry, but a massive recovery effort by Canadian authorities recovered a dozen fragments, most of which were radioactive.

The Phobos-Ground also contains a tiny quantity of the radioactive metal Cobalt-57 in one of its instruments, but Roscosmos said it poses no threat of radioactive contamination.

The spacecraft also carries a small cylinder with a collection of microbes as part of an experiment by the Pasadena, California-based Planetary Society that designed to explore whether they can survive interplanetary travel. The cylinder is attached to a capsule that was supposed to deliver Phobos ground samples back to Earth.

Igor Marinin, the editor of Russia's Novosti Kosmonavtiki magazine, said on Russia's NTV television that it will likely be destroyed in the fiery re-entry.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120115/ap_on_sc/eu_russia_falling_spacecraft

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Friday, January 13, 2012

DearShirley: ?@The_Mudshark: @DearShirley What about Methodists, Church of England etc?? Same RUN FROM THEM! Hell follows!

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?@The_Mudshark: @DearShirley What about Methodists, Church of England etc?? Same RUN FROM THEM! Hell follows! Il y a environ 3 heures via Tweetbot for iPhone

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Source: http://twitter.com/DearShirley/statuses/156155851122548736

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Friday, January 6, 2012

ronlieber: Wouldn't it b fun (and fair) if we picked states randomly each time 2 have 1st caucus? There could b a selection show, like w NCAA tourney.

Twitter / Ron Lieber: Wouldn't it b fun (and fai ...

Wouldn't it b fun (and fair) if we picked states randomly each time 2 have 1st caucus? There could b a selection show, like w NCAA tourney. Il y a environ 16 heures via web

Source: http://twitter.com/ronlieber/statuses/154373688534384641

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Thursday, January 5, 2012

Polish art student hangs own painting in museum

A mom and child appreciate a small painting by art student Andrzej Sobiepan at the caf? of the National Museum in Wroclaw , Poland on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012. Sobiepan covertly hung the painting at the museum last month to campaign for galleries to open to young artists but also to promote himself. The museum treated his action as a joke and kept the picture on display - at the caf? and will offer it for a charity auction on Sunday. (AP Photo/Bartlomiej Kudowicz) Poland Out

WARSAW, Poland (AP) ? Art student Andrzej Sobiepan didn't want to wait decades for his work to appear in museums. So he took matters in his own hands, covertly hanging one of his paintings in a major Polish gallery.

By Wednesday, the young artist was getting plenty of attention after a nationwide TV channel reported on his stunt at the National Museum in the southwestern city of Wroclaw. He told reporters he hoped galleries would give more exhibition space to young artists as a result.

"I decided that I will not wait 30 or 40 years for my works to appear at a place like this," Sobiepan told TVN24. "I want to benefit from them in the here and now."

Sobiepan, a Wroclaw Fine Arts Academy student whose last name means "his own master," said he was inspired by the elusive British graffiti artist known only as Banksy. His own painting is small, white and green, and partly uses swine leather to show a drooping acacia leaf.

On Dec. 10, Sobiepan put it up in a room with contemporary Polish art when a guard at the museum was looking the other way. Museum officials didn't notice the new painting for three days.

Museum director Mariusz Hermansdorfer told TVN24 on Wednesday that the action revealed some security breaches, but that he also considered it a "witty artistic happening."

"It has shown that the young generation of artists, unlike their predecessors, wants to see their works in museums," Hermansdorfer said.

The museum has kept the painting on display ? in its cafe. It will be offered for sale at Poland's biggest charity auction on Sunday.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-04-EU-ODD-Poland-Sneaky-Art/id-c6accd1307f54f55a339743e0ac5e2cc

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