Wall Street ends down sharply after Fed minutes

DEAR ABBY: My boyfriend, "Doug" (24), and I (22) have been in a long-distance relationship for a year, but we were friends for a couple of years before that. I had never had a serious relationship before and lacked experience. Doug has not only been in two other long-term relationships, but has had sex with more than 15 women. One of them is an amateur porn actress.I knew about this, but it didn't bother me until recently. Doug had a party, and while he was drunk he told one of his buddies -- in front of me -- that he should watch a certain porn film starring his ex-girlfriend. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stock-index-futures-signal-more-gains-103747893--finance.html

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Do Low Doses of BPA Harm People?

Image: EPA

BOSTON ? Are people exposed to doses of bisphenol A in their canned foods and other consumer products that can harm them? Or are the amounts too low to cause any harm?

This is the crux of a vehement debate that is being waged as federal officials are trying to decide whether the chemical, known as BPA, should be regulated.

A group of toxicologists, including some who work for federal agencies, is questioning the likelihood that BPA is harming human health. But biologists studying the chemical?s health effects disagree, saying that what?s been detected in people is comparable to amounts that have harmed lab animals.

BPA is arguably the most controversial chemical in consumer products. It is used to make polycarbonate plastic as well as food and beverage can liners and some paper receipts and dental sealants

What is widely agreed upon is that exposure is ubiquitous. More than 90 percent of Americans tested have traces of BPA in their bodies.

BPA acts like an estrogen, disrupting hormones In laboratory animals. it alters how their reproductive systems and brains develop, and sets the stage for breast and prostate cancer. People with higher levels of exposure have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes, according to some studies.

Nevertheless, the potential for human effects has been highly controversial among scientists who are debating whether the amounts in people?s bodies are in fact too low to be capable of inflicting harm.

On Friday, some of the toxicologists presented their arguments at the American Association for Advancement of Science annual meeting in Boston.

Do the math. Is it harmful?

On one side of this debate are toxicologists who specialize in analyzing data with mathematical models, producing information often used to set regulatory limits on chemical exposures. Their work focuses not on physical effects observed in animals or cells but on developing models that use numbers to make predictions, in this case to describe the amount of a chemical in the human body and how it may behave.

What is widely agreed upon is that exposure to BPA is nearly ubiquitous. It has been found in more than 90 percent of the Americans tested.On the other side are scientists who study BPA?s health effects in animals and people. They include specialists in genetics, endocrinology, physiology and epidemiology from various academic institutions whose work is supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. They have reported health effects in lab animals at very low levels of BPA exposure that they say are comparable to amounts people encounter through consumer products.

This debate, while arcane, is important because the scientific information is being used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Food and Drug Administration in deciding whether to regulate BPA in consumer products, such as canned foods. Reacting to consumer concerns, some manufacturers already have stopped using BPA in plastic baby bottles, receipts and other items.

Justin Teeguarden, senior scientist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Daniel Doerge, research chemist at the FDA?s National Center for Toxicological Research, have produced modeling studies that cast doubt on whether levels of BPA compounds being found in people are having any effects.

At the science conference on Friday, Teeguarden contended that the levels causing effects in animal studies, particularly those caused by BPA?s interaction with estrogen receptors, are much higher than the levels his models suggest are plausible in people. He said he used several methods to examine exposure data from more than 100 studies.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=68de97c21e7720acf65699d085b632f2

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Scott Speed gets energy help at Daytona - Scott Speed | 95

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Dan Dos Santos

• 28 notes
• 14 February 2013

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GOP warns Obama against tax increases, spending

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Republicans dismissed President Barack Obama's State of the Union address as nothing more than big government spending and more tax increases. But a brief sip of water may have gotten more immediate attention than any policy ideas.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's mid-speech swig from a small Poland Spring water bottle during his GOP response generated instant reaction in social media circles and on cable television, even as Republicans offered fresh appeals on the economy and promises to rein in federal spending.

Rubio appeared to wipe away sweat during his rebuttal from the Speaker's conference room in the U.S. Capitol. At one point he stretched out his left hand, grabbed a small plastic water bottle and took a brief swig of water. As the water break gained notice online, Rubio sent a photo of the bottle from his Twitter account.

On ABC's "Good Morning America" Wednesday, Rubio explained: "I needed water. What are you going to do? God has a funny way of reminding us we're human."

In his GOP address, Rubio urged Obama to "abandon his obsession with raising taxes" and said the president had shifted the nation away from free-market economic principles that had helped middle-class families achieve prosperity.

"Presidents in both parties ? from John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan ? have known that our free-enterprise economy is the source of our middle-class prosperity. But President Obama? He believes it's the cause of our problems," Rubio said.

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, in a separate tea party response, said both parties had failed voters by driving up trillion-dollar deficits. "Washington acts in a way that your family never could ? they spend money they do not have, they borrow from future generations, and then they blame each other for never fixing the problem," Paul said.

Republicans sought to characterize Obama as overly reliant on government, even as the president made his case to the nation that he could generate new jobs without raising the federal deficit. Defending his policies against GOP critics, Obama said the nation needed a "smarter government" instead of a bigger one and pledged to boost the minimum wage and increase federal spending to fix roads and bridges.

Both Obama's address to Congress and the Republican responses around the Capitol sought to position each party as the champion of average Americans in a nation still grappling with high unemployment and a slow economic recovery. Republicans noted that the nation's jobless rate ticked up to 7.9 percent in January and the economy shrank at an annual rate of 0.1 percent in the final months of 2012.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Obama offered the American people "little more than more of the same 'stimulus' policies that have failed to fix our economy and put Americans back to work. We cannot grow the middle class and foster job creation by growing government and raising taxes."

Ohio Sen. Rob Portman accused Obama of promoting "the same big-government policies that have failed to get our economy up and running again."

Paul, a tea party favorite, said both parties had been guilty of "protecting their sacred cows" and engaging in "backroom deals in which everyone up here wins but every taxpayer loses." He said he would propose to balance the budget in five years and urged lawmakers to return to their duty of passing budgets. If not, Paul said, voters should "sweep the place clean. Limit their terms and send them home."

Rubio, a rising star in the Republican party and a potential 2016 presidential contender, pointed to his Miami roots to address Obama's frequent portrayal of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney ? and his party ? as only caring about the wealthiest Americans. Rubio said he still lived in the "same working-class neighborhood I grew up in" and his neighbors "aren't millionaires" but retirees, workers and immigrants.

"His favorite attack of all is that those who don't agree with him ? that we only care about rich people," Rubio said.

Rubio pre-recorded his speech in Spanish for Spanish-language networks, a nod to Republicans who have said that they must do more to address their deficit with Hispanic voters. Obama won 71 percent of Hispanics last year against Romney, prompting concerns about the party's ability to compete with Democrats in future elections.

___

Follow Ken Thomas at: http://twitter.com/AP_Ken_Thomas

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gop-warns-obama-against-tax-increases-spending-034411766--politics.html

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Teaching Jobs That School Teachers Can Sign Up - Article Submitter

Just like students, teachers also look forward to the summer vacation. It's practically the only time of the year when they can recharge, regroup and enjoy themselves away from the demands of the classroom. However, there are some who anticipate the school break to be able to take on other teaching jobs. School teachers- well, some of them- find summer as the perfect opportunity to augment their income by doing what they do best: teaching. A survey conducted among teachers revealed that a large number of them take advantage of the school break to earn extra money to set aside for possible early retirement or as a financial cushion lest another global economic shift transpires again. Apparently, necessity is mainly what propels these teachers to take on summer teaching jobs but there are some who claimed that summer teaching jobs actually revive their joy in what they do.

These "special" teachers who choose to work during the summer vacations not out of necessity claim that the season manages to inject more fun to their classes as typical summer classes are not very formal. Aside from this, they also say that a lot of summer teaching jobs are like moderated play; their presence is required not merely as repositories of knowledge but rather as mere overseers or witnesses to unique learning processes. Such teaching jobs for them are greatly enjoyable and the best thing about them is they get paid while having fun.

Meanwhile, there are other jobs that particularly require teachers. So for those who are looking for enjoyable and non-traditional teaching gigs over the vacation, here are some cool ones to look into.

1. Performing arts instructor - Communities across the country hold summer enrichment programs (SEPs) for young children where they're exposed to the different forms of art. Performing arts like dancing, singing and acting rank high among SEPs as they use up the children's energy in a productive manner. Aside from skills, the only other thing teachers need to bring along with them is patience.

2. Camp counsellor or director - These jobs typically require the strong character of an educator but the relationship teachers forge with campers is definitely more friendly and laidback. There's a lot of teaching done for these jobs especially for arts and crafts, drama, sports, life survival, et cetera.

3. Swim coach - So many parents enrol their children in swimming classes at the local Y or clubhouse. Teachers who know the basics of swimming just need to make sure that kids learn how not to drown and paddle their way to the safe end of the pool. Rates are considerably attractive for swim coaches.

4. Tour guide - It takes a confident and knowledgeable person to provide tours of the city and museum. A lot of teachers go for this summer job because aside from using their teaching skills in providing information to tourists, they get to enjoy the sights and learn as well.

Teachers in London can enjoy other teaching jobs even during the summer time from being a performing arts instructor to swimming coaches as well as being a tour guide.

Source: http://articles.submityourarticle.com/teaching-jobs-that-school-teachers-can-sign-up-for-during-summer-vacations-316731

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Biological connections in microelectronics

Feb. 12, 2013 ? Miniaturization of electronic components is reaching a physical limit. While the solution of three dimensional assembly has the advantage of reducing bulk, the manufacture of electrical connections in these new products remains a technological challenge. Biologists and physicists from the CEA, CNRS, Universit? Joseph Fourier and Inra in Grenoble have developed a system of self-assembled connections using actin filaments for 3D microelectronic structures. Once the actin filaments become conductors, they join the various components of a system together.

The results are published in the February 10, 2013 issue of Nature Materials.

Computers and smartphone performance improves each year due to the increased density of the microelectronic components they contain. This densification is the result of increasingly advanced miniaturization. It is in the process of reaching a technical limit due to the size of certain components that is close to that of some atoms. The microelectronics industry is thus confronting a physical barrier for increasing the integration density of components that only a technological breakthrough can overcome.

One solution may be the integration of microelectronics in three dimensions. Current microelectronic circuits are flat. Stacking components on top of one another is a solution for further densification, improving performance and reducing electric consumption. This poses a new challenge: how to connect the components together once they are stacked. Although manufacture and stacking are based on mature technologies, creating vertical connections to link them together and running a current remains complex. While current 3D microelectronic technologies for these high density connections are effective, alternative methods are worth evaluating.

Biologists and physicists from the CEA, CNRS, UJF and Inra in Grenoble had the idea of using the extraordinary self-assembly properties of certain biological components so these connections can construct themselves. In human cells, many regular, complex structures are continually assembling and disassembling. This is the case of the filament networks that constitute the cell skeleton (cytoskeleton). Such filaments are primarily composed of actin. They interact to form braids, bundles, layers and columns whose architecture and mechanical properties regulate and control cell shape. The formation of these superstructures follows mechanical and geometrical laws that are studied and understood by a team from the Laboratory of Vegetable Cellular Physiology[1] (CEA/CNRS/UJF/INRA).

These researchers have developed a technique for controlling self-assembly of actin filaments in 3D between two glass plates. Using technologies of the Microelectronics Technologies Laboratory (CNRS/UJF/LTM) and CEA-Leti, the plates were placed 30 microns apart and microstructured with a laser beam. The researchers then injected between the two surfaces a solution containing actin monomers that polymerized due to the microstructure geometry. Actin columns in controlled shapes and sizes thus self-assembled from the two surfaces and joined to establish connections. In the same fashion, the researchers succeeded in making columns grow from a surface and entering in deep cylinders based on the shape of the other, like a male/female connection. Using the expertise of CEA-Leti researchers, these connections were made metallic with gold nanoparticles to run an electric current between the two surfaces.

These results demonstrate that the self-assembly process of actin filaments may have unanticipated industrial applications. They illustrate how fundamental research into basic cell processes may be an extremely rich source of inspiration for engineering processes, even in very far removed fields.

[1] The Laboratoire de Physiologie Cellulaire V?g?tale is part of the Institut de Recherches en Technologies et Sciences pour le Vivant (Life Science and Technology Research Institute).

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique (CEA), via AlphaGalileo.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. R?mi Galland, Patrick Leduc, Christophe Gu?rin, David Peyrade, Laurent Blanchoin, Manuel Th?ry. Fabrication of three-dimensional electrical connections by means of directed actin self-organization. Nature Materials, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nmat3569

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/JOO6Rsg_uO8/130212100432.htm

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Reimburesments but no 'bonus' for Team San Jose (San Jose Mercury News)

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Mini e-commerce platform Getonic lands $1.3M to ... - The Next Web

Getonic, a mini e-commerce platform that can be embedded anywhere on the Internet and shared directly through social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, has announced today that it has raised more than $1.3 million in seed funding.

The company says several leading venture partners were involved, including Rutledge Vine Capital,?Israel-based incubator TheTime ? which we visited in May last year?-?private investor Mortimer Singer and a number of other angel investors.

Getonic, based in Tel-Aviv, Israel offers small businesses and professionals a unique way of creating scaled-down online stores that can be posted directly to the Web or social feeds. These storefronts, called POPshops, are essentially social widgets and offer a simple but direct ?Buy Now? button to encourage readers to make a purchase.

Perhaps more importantly though, each POPshop has three sharing buttons underneath which will republish the storefront either on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. If a user chooses to do so and one of their followers buys the product, Getonic and the relevant business or brand rewards them with money or other incentives.

In some of the examples we?ve seen, Getonic is willing to pay users 20 percent of the sale if their friends complete a purchase. It?s a risky strategy, but one that should ensure each POPshop is distributed far and wide on the Internet.

Getonic believes that by sending the store to the consumer, businesses are far more likely to sell a significant amount of their products or services. ?Currently, businesses can post offers to their Facebook pages or Twitter accounts but these provide only very basic experiences,??the company said in a press release issued today.??Users are sent outside of the platforms and making a purchase is still a convoluted process.?

Getonic says its service is an end-to-end solution, allowing businesses to create their own POPshop in a matter of seconds through an online dashboard. Users simply need to select the product or service they want to sell, specify the price and tweak the appearance of the POPshop ? but otherwise it?s good to go. With a single click it can then be posted to Facebook, Twitter, email or a company blog.

Although it?s still early days for the company, the Getonic website shows that large companies such as Warner Music, Groupon, PayPal and Wix are already taking advantage of the service.

?We built Getonic with millions of SMBs in mind. These are businesses that look to the power of the social web to find new customers and generate new revenue,? said Adi Eyal CEO of Getonic. ?Our platform gives these businesses a powerful tool, not only to create visually attractive stores, but also the ability to tap into the social power of platforms like Facebook.?

Image Credit: fotologic/Flickr

Source: http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/02/13/mini-e-commerce-platform-getonic-lands-1-3m-in-seed-funding-to-develop-its-online-popshops/

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William and Kate Hit the Polo Field in California

The Royal Couple felt right at home during their California visit Saturday as Prince William hit the polo fields in Santa Barbara.

William led his Royal Salute polo team to victory at the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club while his wife, Kate, cheered him on, according to RadarOnline.com.

Before the match, William addressed the eager crowd, telling them what an honor it was to be celebrating the California polo club's 100th anniversary.

"I was so delighted when Ambassador [Glen] Holden asked me to play polo here ... My father, The Prince of Wales, and my brother, Harry, were as green as that grass out there when I told them I'd be here."

William went on to score four goals during the match, leading his team to a 5-2 victory. The event, in which the players shelled out $100,000 each to play, raised $4 million for the royals' foundation.

"Catherine and I have had a busy few days -- so the prospect of being able to let loose this afternoon is wonderful for me," William continued in his speech. "But that's what sport is all about -- be it polo or football -- more specifically how sport helps young people to find purpose in life -- is a key element to the [American Friends of the Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry] that Catherine, Harry and I have established."

The Royal Couple has had a whirlwind North American trip -- leaving Canada on Friday after a nine-day stay to get a taste of the California sunshine.

The couple attended Variety's Venture Capital and New Media Summit at The Beverly Hilton hotel Friday night, where they chatted with esteemed guests, including British Ambassador Sir Nigel Sheinwald, California Governor Jerry Brown and pal David Beckham.

Following the polo match, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended the star-studded British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Brits to Watch 2011 Gala.

Source: http://www.popeater.com/2011/07/10/william-kate-polo-field-california/

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Is Catholic Church about to change?

Fun. Make It Rain At The Grammys With 'Carry On'

Rock trio drenched in a downpour as triumphant song hits its climax.
By Luke O'Neil

Fun. win at the 55th annual Grammy Awards
Photo: Getty Images

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1701705/fun-grammys-performance-rain-carry-on.jhtml

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New US commander takes the helm in Afghanistan

U.S. Marine Gen. Joseph F. Dunford, right, shakes hand with outgoing NATO commander U.S. Gen. John Allen, left, during a change of command ceremony at the ISAF headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013. Dunford takes charge at a critical time for President Barack Obama and the military as foreign combat forces prepare to withdraw by the end of 2014. (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini, Pool)

U.S. Marine Gen. Joseph F. Dunford, right, shakes hand with outgoing NATO commander U.S. Gen. John Allen, left, during a change of command ceremony at the ISAF headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013. Dunford takes charge at a critical time for President Barack Obama and the military as foreign combat forces prepare to withdraw by the end of 2014. (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini, Pool)

U.S. Marine Gen. Joseph F. Dunford, center, receives a flag from outgoing ISAF commander, U.S. Gen. John Allen, left facing away from camera, after taking over as new commander of NATO in Afghanistan during a change of command ceremony at the ISAF headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013. Dunford takes charge at a critical time for President Barack Obama and the military as foreign combat forces prepare to withdraw by the end of 2014. (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini, Pool)

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford took over Sunday as the new and probably last commander of all U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan.

The American-led NATO coalition is entering the final stretch of its participation in a war that will have lasted more than 13 years when most foreign combat troops pull out at the end of 2014.

Dunford took over leadership of the International Security Assistance Force, and a smaller but separate detachment of American troops, from Marine Gen. John Allen, who had led them for the past 19 months.

"Today is not about change, it's about continuity," Dunford told a gathering of coalition military leaders and Afghan officials. "What's not changed is the growing capability of our Afghan partners, the Afghan national security forces. What's not changed is our commitment, more importantly, what's not changed is the inevitability of our success."

He takes charge at a critical time for President Barack Obama and the military. NATO decided at its 2010 summit in Lisbon to withdraw major combat units, but to continue training and funding Afghan troops and leave a residual force to hunt down al-Qaida and other terrorist groups.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said "much work lies ahead" for Dunford as he tries to meet those objectives while at the same time withdrawing about 100,000 foreign troops, including 66,000 from the United States.

Dunford, from Boston, Massachusetts, will face serious challenges as he tries to accommodate an accelerated timetable for handing over the lead for security responsibility to Afghan forces this spring ? instead of late summer as originally planned.

"I told him our victory here will never be marked by a parade or a point in time on a calendar when victory is declared. This insurgency will be defeated over time by the legitimate and well-trained Afghan forces that are emerging today and who are taking the field in full force this spring," Allen said.

He added that success would be described as an "Afghan force defending Afghan people, and enabling an Afghan government to serve its citizens. This is victory; this is what winning looks like."

Although the Afghan security forces are almost at their full strength of 352,000, it is unclear if they are yet ready to take on the fight by themselves.

Before departing, Allen admitted that the Afghans still need much work to become an effective and self-sufficient fighting machine, but he said a vast improvement in their abilities was behind a decision to accelerate the timetable for putting them in the lead nationwide this spring when the traditional fighting season begins.

Obama said last month that the Afghans would take over this spring instead of late summer ? a decision that could allow the speedier withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan.

It is also unclear when the remaining 66,000 U.S. troops would return home, or how many American soldiers will remain after the end of 2014.

Obama may use his State of the Union address on Tuesday to announce the next steps for concluding the war and a timetable for withdrawal along with plans for a residual force post-2014.

Much of that depends on the U.S. negotiating a bilateral security agreement with the government that includes the contentious issue of immunity from Afghan prosecution for any U.S. forces that would remain here after 2014. President Hamid Karzai has said he will put any such decision in the hands of a council of Afghan elders, known as a Loya Jirga.

Although Dempsey said earlier in the week that the United States had plans to leave a residual force, a failure to strike a deal on immunity would torpedo any security agreement and lead to a complete pullout of U.S. forces after 2014 ? as it did in post-war Iraq. It is widely believed that no NATO-member nation would allow its troops to remain after 2014 to train, or engage in counterterrorism activities, without a similar deal.

The head of NATO joint command in Europe, German Gen. Hans-Lothar Domrose, said the alliance was already making plans for a post-2014 presence, plans he said that were "all well advanced."

Allen, 59, of Warrenton, Virginia, was the longest serving ISAF commander so far. Nearly two dozen generals have commanded troops from the United States and ISAF since the American invasion in late 2001 ? with six U.S. generals including Dunford running both commands in the past five years alone.

Also attending the ceremony were U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James N. Mattis, Commander, U.S. Central Command, and Gen. James Amos, head of the Marine Corps. Karzai did not attend.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-02-10-Afghanistan/id-48e16c02efc7409b8a1f3d43b1d79d83

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Family cries: no justice, no peace ? The Collegian : The student ...

CRY FOR JUSTICE: The family of Ernest Duenez Jr. gathers to protest the actions of the Manteca Police Department. PHOTO COURTESY OF DEVIN VALDEZ

Staff writer shares personal story of loved one lost at the hands of those who ?protect and serve?

By society?s perspective, my uncle Ernest Duenez Jr. wasn?t a model citizen. He made mistakes. But those mistakes weren?t who he was to my family.

Need help fixing your car? He was there in minutes. Need someone to protect you? He was your guardian angel. Need someone to make your long days shorter? He was there with his infamous jokes and pranks, with his dumb laugh.

To me, he was the golden child of the family. He was a family man who lived for his loved ones and would lay down his life for them in a heartbeat.

He was a man searching for redemption and hunting for the path to an upswing in his life.

That search was cut short on June 8, 2011.

That day, Jr. was killed in an officer-involved shooting. He was shot 11 times by a Manteca Police Officer John Moody.

I remember where I was and what I was doing the moment I heard he died. I remember the immense pain and confusion my family and I were left with. We had been robbed the life of a loved one. Not a chance to say goodbye was given.

We were angry that one man could be judge, jury, and executioner; deciding another person?s fate in a matter of 4.2 seconds.

The hurt and confusion, though, only grew when the person who killed our loved one was a person who is supposed to protect and serve.

Before this, I never thought about the issue of alleged police brutality or officers manipulating the law for their own interests. Now, it weighs heavy on the hearts of my family and I everyday.

In December 2012, a year and a half after my uncle?s death, the San Joaquin County District Attorney?s office issued its findings on the murder. They told us that it was justified.

In response, my family released the dash-cam video from the patrol car of the officer who fired the fatal shots. The video reveals the officer approaching, yelling ?put your hands up? followed by a quick succession of other commands.

My uncle is shown trying to get out of the vehicle. Multiple shots ring out. Out of 13 total shots, 11 strike Jr?.s body and head. As he lay on the ground, his wife comes out of the house, screaming at the cops. ?Help my husband, he?s dying.? No attempt to help by police was made. Instead, the cops turned their guns toward her.

To our family, the video shows Jr., a man we all loved, being treated like an animal. Manteca Police took his dying body and threw him from his back onto his face before handcuffing him.

To us, the report wasn?t justice.

To us, the Manteca Police have played the victim, taking no responsibility for what we feel are the unlawful acts committed by one of their own.

Instead, our family has seen the department change its story multiple times.

This gruesome, graphic, and personal video was released in hopes of receiving a larger investigation into the shooting, as well as find the true story that lead to Jr.?s death.

Nearly two months later, the video is on multiple websites.

It is also now in the hands of the United States Department of Justice. Still, we have yet to see any kind of response.

A column in The Modesto Bee by Ralph Shaffer, a retired professor from Cal Poly Pomona, on Dec. 17 called my uncle?s death ?only one in a staggering death toll racked up by police and sheriff?s deputies.? The ?body count? in a six-year period was 700, according to the article.

Shaffer writes: ?As usual, the justification was that the officer ?feared for his life.??

This was a hard truth I had never realized or paid attention to until the issue hit close to home.

The number of police officers taking advantage of their power continues to end in unjustified deaths, and they get away with it because of the power they have as officers of the law.

Consider the case of Oscar Grant in Oakland, or that of local teenager James Rivera who was shot by Stockton Police in 2010 after stealing a vehicle and leading police on a chase through North Stockton. His family is still seeking answers.

It upsets me that our justice system now seems anything but just.

My family is disturbed everyday by the fact that the man who killed our son, brother, uncle, husband, father and friend is still patrolling the streets as a man of peace.

It saddens me that people on the streets are more willing to help and protect one another, than the officers who are paid to do just that.

When is enough, enough? I now realize that Jr. wasn?t the first victim of police brutality. It worries me that he won?t be the last.

It?s an overwhelming thought that today it was my loved one. Tomorrow it can be yours.

All of this happened because of a parole violation, a domestic dispute call to police and the assumption that he had a knife on him .

The report provides inconclusive details about the knife.

Regardless, no accusations made and/or previous records pulled against my uncle give a man the right to empty a whole clip on another man.

Let us remember that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

Source: http://www.deltacollegian.net/2013/02/10/family-cries-no-justice-no-peace/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=family-cries-no-justice-no-peace

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Obama salutes Panetta as he prepares to retire

Outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, left, and his wife Sylvia, center, applaud as they stand with President Barack Obama during Armed Forces Farewell Ceremony to honor Panetta, Friday, Feb. 8, 2013, at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt)

Outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, left, and his wife Sylvia, center, applaud as they stand with President Barack Obama during Armed Forces Farewell Ceremony to honor Panetta, Friday, Feb. 8, 2013, at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt)

President Barack Obama hugs outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta during a Farewell Tribute for Panetta, Friday, Feb. 8, 2013, at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Barack Obama attends an Armed Forces Farewell Ceremony to honor outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, left, Friday, Feb. 8, 2013, at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Va. Joint Chiefs Chairman Army Gen. Martin Dempsey is at right. (AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt)

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) ? Calling it "the honor of my life," Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said farewell to the U.S. military Friday, capping a venerated public service career that spanned four decades and included stints as a lawmaker, a top White House official and the spy chief who oversaw the killing of Osama bin Laden.

President Barack Obama, honoring his first-term Pentagon chief at a ceremony at a military base outside Washington, said Panetta would be remembered for welcoming more Americans into the military by opening combat roles to women and overseeing the repeal of a ban on gays serving openly ? "In short, for making our military and our nation that much stronger."

"Every decision he has made has been with one goal in mind: taking care of our sons and our daughters in uniform and keeping America safe," Obama said.

Panetta, the son of immigrants and self-described son of Italy, said he hoped in some small way to have helped to fulfill the dreams of his parents. As he spoke, row upon row of U.S. troops stood behind him, rifles and bayonets at their sides.

"It's been, for me, a hell of a ride," said Panetta, who served in Congress and in the Clinton administration before becoming Obama's CIA director and ultimately serving a brief but pivotal term as defense secretary.

"I will never forget the pride and exhilaration when I walked out of the White House after the president announced the success of the bin Laden operation," he recalled. "I could hear the chants of those people who were gathered around the White House and in Lafayette Park yelling, 'U.S.A. U.S.A.'"

Looming awkwardly over the formal farewell ceremony was the ongoing uncertainty about Panetta's replacement.

Obama has nominated former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Republican, to take over for Panetta, but Republicans have expressed deep misgivings about his previous statements about Iran, Israel and other issues. Days after postponing a vote on Panetta's confirmation amid GOP demands for more information, the Democratic chairman of the Senate's military panel said Friday he will press ahead with a vote.

Making no reference to the political hurdles, Obama said Hagel's mission would be to keep the U.S. military prepared and described Hagel as "a combat veteran with the experience, judgment and vision that our troops deserve."

Panetta has said he will remain on the job until the Senate confirms a successor. Then he will finally leave the Pentagon, returning home to his walnut farm in Carmel, Calif., after more than 40 years in Washington.

Panetta's tenure at the Pentagon was marked both by major milestones and a series of obstacles he and the military had to work to overcome. He oversaw the military's formal exit from Iraq and the start of the last drawdown of troops in Afghanistan, plus the end of a successful NATO campaign to rid Libya of Moammar Gadhafi.

But his attention was also diverted by prostitution scandals, spikes in sexual assaults and suicides, and ethical lapses by a handful of senior military leaders. An ongoing battle over spending cuts prompted Panetta to warn continually of the dire consequences of an underfunded military. Even as Panetta continued the efforts against al-Qaida, the threat from the terrorist group expanded in places like North Africa.

"We've overcome wars. We've overcome disasters. We've overcome economic depressions and recessions. We've overcome crises of every kind," Panetta said. "And throughout our history, the fighting spirit of our fellow Americans has made clear that we never, never, never give up."

___

Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-02-08-US-Obama-Panetta/id-91212d74769342e9b74449ed4ee0feeb

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For though his might was greatest of all things in this world, Morgoth alone of the Valar knew fear (Unqualified Offerings)

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How to create a list in Reminders for iPhone and iPad

While creating reminders in the default Reminders list on iPhone and iPad serves it's purpose, we've all got different tasks and things to remember on a regular basis. For most, that will be a combination of tasks between home, work, volunteer organizations, and more. The default Reminders app allows you create custom lists outside of the default ones just for this reason.

Here's how...

1. Launch the Reminders app from the Home screen of your iPhone or iPad.
2. Tap on the menu button in the upper left hand corner.
3. Once in the main list screen, tap on the Edit button in the upper right hand corner.
4. Tap on the option for Create New List...
5. Give the list you're creating a name and then tap Done in the upper right hand corner.
6. That's all there is to it. You'll now see the new list appear when swiping back and forth between lists.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/hr0egPUEwOA/story01.htm

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Maybe long-term unemployment isn't the new normal

Allison Linn , NBC News ? ? ? 1 hr.

Long-term unemployment may not be the stubborn problem we thought it was.

Some economists say there are signs it could ease in the next few years as the economy improves, raising hopes for the millions of Americans who have spent months or even years looking for work.

?There have been some improvements in the job prospects for the long-term unemployed, and while it remains a very severe social and economic problem in this country, it?s not an intractable problem,? said Rob Valletta, research advisor with the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. ?There are glimmers of hope.?

About 4.7 million American jobseekers, or 38.1 percent of all unemployed people, had been out of work for six months or more in January, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That?s more than four times the number of people who had been out of work that long five years ago, just as the Great Recession was getting under way.

The recession officially ended in June of 2009, but job growth has remained painfully slow during the weak economic recovery. That?s meant that people who lose a job are often in for an arduous task when it comes to landing a new position.

The median duration of unemployment is currently 16 weeks, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That?s down from a high of more than 24 weeks in mid-2010, but still around double what it was in 2007.

The large number of people who are out of work for months or even years has caused some people to wonder whether long-term unemployed workers will ever find new jobs.

Related:Are you struggling in the suburbs? We want to hear from you.

But Valletta said his analysis of government data shows that as the job market slowly improved, even some who have been out of work for a long time finally landed a new position. The problem may have more to do with cyclical economic issues, therefore, and less to do with structural changes in the economy, such as a big shift in how many workers are needed in certain fields.

Valletta thinks that long-term unemployment will likely still be a problem for at least several more years. But, he doesn?t think it will last forever.

?It?s not a permanent problem,? he said.

Not everyone is so optimistic. Sylvia Allegretto, a research economist with the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment at UC Berkeley, noted that despite several years of tepid economy recovery, the job market has continued to grow at a snail?s pace. That means there are still millions fewer jobs out there for people who want a job.

The unemployment rate was at 7.9 percent in January, and 12.3 million people were unemployed and actively looking for a job.

With unemployment still at crisis levels, she argued that it may be premature to say whether the problem of long-term unemployment will work itself out as the labor market improves.

?It?s far too early in the labor market recovery to separate out whether this is now a structural problem,? she said.

Valletta?s research also delved into who has been out of work for a long time, part of an effort to understand whether the long-term unemployed are suffering from a structural problem that is keeping them from finding new work. His research found that workers of all walks of life, from construction workers to those in financial services, have had a tough time immediately finding a job.

?They?re a very diverse group, and what that suggests is that there?s not some lump of long-term unemployed out there that are different from all the other unemployed,? he said. ?Instead, the long-term unemployed are long-term unemployed largely because of bad luck and a very hard labor market.?

Related: Long-term unemployed losing benefits as jobs picture improves

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/economywatch/maybe-long-term-unemployment-isnt-new-normal-1B8290979

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What killed the dinosaurs? New evidence strengthens asteroid hypothesis.

Evidence for the idea that non-avian dinosaurs were driven to extinction by an asteroid or comet impact is stronger than ever, thanks to a new radiometric analysis.

By Charles Choi,?LiveScience Contributor / February 7, 2013

Artist?s impression of a 6-mile-wide asteroid striking the Earth. Scientists now have fresh evidence that such a cosmic impact ended the age of dinosaurs near what is now the town of Chixculub in Mexico.

Don Davis

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The idea that a cosmic impact ended the age of dinosaurs in what is now Mexico now has fresh new support, researchers say.

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The most recent and most familiar mass extinction is the one that finished the reign of the dinosaurs ? the end-Cretaceous or Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event, often known as K-T. The only survivors among the dinosaurs are the birds.

Currently, the main suspect behind this catastrophe is?a cosmic impact from an asteroid or comet, an idea first proposed by physicist Luis Alvarez and his son geologist Walter Alvarez. Scientists later found that signs of this collision seemed evident near the town of Chicxulub (CHEEK-sheh-loob) in Mexico in the form of a gargantuan crater more than 110 miles (180 kilometers) wide. The explosion, likely caused by an object about 6 miles (10 km) across, would have released as much energy as 100 trillion tons of TNT, more than a billion times more than the atom bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

However, further work suggested?the Chicxulub impact?occurred either 300,000 years before or 180,000 years after the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. As such, researchers have explored other possibilities, including other impact sites, such as the?controversial Shiva crater in India, or even massive volcanic eruptions, such as those creating the Deccan Flats in India.

Timing of an impact

New findings using high-precision radiometric dating analysis of debris kicked up by the impact now suggest the K-T event and the Chicxulub collision happened no more than 33,000 years apart. In radiometric dating, scientists estimate the ages of samples based on the relative proportions of specific radioactive materials within them. [Wipe Out: History's Most Mysterious Mass Extinctions]

"We've shown the impact and the mass extinction coincided as much as one can possibly demonstrate with existing dating techniques," researcher Paul Renne, a geochronologist and director of the Berkeley Geochronology Center in California, told LiveScience.

"It's gratifying to see these results, for those of us who've been arguing a long time that there was an impact at the time of this mass extinction," geologist Walter Alvarez at the University of California at Berkeley, who did not participate in this study, told LiveScience. "This research is just a tour de force, a demonstration of really skillful geochronology to resolve time that well."

The fact the impact and mass extinction may have been virtually simultaneous in time supports the idea that the cosmic impact dealt the age of dinosaurs its deathblow.

"The impact was clearly the final straw that?pushed Earth past the tipping point," Renne said. "We have shown that these events are synchronous to within a gnat's eyebrow, and therefore, the impact clearly played a major role in extinctions, but it probably wasn't just the impact."

The new extinction date is precise to within 11,000 years.

"When I got started in the field, the error bars on these events were plus or minus a million years," added paleontologist William Clemens at the University of California at Berkeley, who did not participate in this research. "It's an exciting time right now, a lot of which we can attribute to the work that Paul and his colleagues are doing in refining the precision of the time scale with which we work."

Final blow

Although the cosmic impact and mass extinction coincided in time, Renne cautioned this does not mean the impact was the only cause of the die-offs. For instance,?dramatic climate swings?in the preceding million years, including long cold snaps in the general hothouse environment of the Cretaceous, probably brought many creatures to the brink of extinction. The volcanic eruptions behind?the Deccan Traps?might be one cause of these climate variations.

"These precursory phenomena made the global ecosystem much more sensitive to even relatively small triggers, so that what otherwise might have been a fairly minor effect shifted the ecosystem into a new state," Renne said.

The cosmic impact then proved the deathblow.

"What we really need to do is to understand better what was going on before the impact ? what was the level of ecological stress that existed that allowed the impact to be the straw that broke the camel's back?" Renne said. "We also need better dates for the massive volcanism at the Deccan Flats to better understand when it first started and how fast it occurred."

The scientists detailed their findings in the Feb. 8 issue of the journal Science.

Follow LiveScience on Twitter?@livescience. We're also on?Facebook?&?Google+.

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

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/x41xdWbyXwU/What-killed-the-dinosaurs-New-evidence-strengthens-asteroid-hypothesis

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Alcohol mixed with diet drinks may increase intoxication more than alcohol and regular drinks

Feb. 5, 2013 ? An individual's breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) following alcohol intake is influenced by several factors, including food. While it is known that food delays the stomach emptying, thus reducing BrAC, only recently has the role of nonalcoholic drink mixers used with alcohol been explored as a factor influencing BrAC. A new comparison of BrACs of alcohol consumed with an artificial sweetener versus alcohol consumed with a sugared beverage has found that mixing alcohol with a diet soft drink can result in a higher BrAC.

Results will be published in the April 2013 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View.

"More attention needs to be paid to how alcohol is being consumed in the 'real world,'" said Cecile A. Marczinski, assistant professor of psychology at Northern Kentucky University. She referenced an earlier field study of bar patrons. "Researchers found that, one, individuals who reported consuming alcohol with diet beverages had the highest BrACs, as compared to all other bar patrons, and two, that women tended to be more frequent consumers of diet mixers with their alcohol. These good naturalistic observations give researchers many ideas to explore in a controlled laboratory setting."

Dennis L. Thombs, professor and chair of the department of behavioral and community health at UNT Health Science Center, was the author of the field study referenced by Marczinski. "Research on artificially sweetened drink mixers is new," he said. "I believe this might be only the third study published to date on this issue, and the findings are quite consistent with ours."

"I am really interested in drinking and driving as a problem, so I wanted to know if the simple choice of mixer could be the factor that puts a person above or below the legal limit," added Marczinski. "I also wanted to determine if any BrAC difference would be something that subjects would notice, since this has implications for safe drinking practices, including decisions to drive."

Study authors had 16 participants (8 females, 8 males) attend three sessions where they received one of three doses -- 1.97 ml/kg vodka mixed with 3.94 ml/kg Squirt, 1.97 ml/kg vodka mixed with 3.94 ml/kg diet Squirt, and a placebo beverage -- in random order. The participants' BrACs were recorded, as well as their self-reported ratings of subjective intoxication, fatigue, impairment, and willingness to drive. Their objective performance was assessed using a cued go/no-go reaction time task.

"Alcohol consumed with a diet mixer results in higher BrACs as compared to the same amount of alcohol consumed with a sugar-sweetened mixer," said Marczinski. "The subjects were unaware of this difference, as measured by various subjective ratings including feelings of intoxication, impairment, and willingness to drive. Moreover, their behavior was more impaired when subjects consumed the diet mixer."

When asked why mixing alcohol with a diet drink appears to elevate BrACs, Thombs explained that the stomach seems to treat sugar-sweetened beverages like food, which delays the stomach from emptying. "The best way to think about these effects is that sugar-sweetened alcohol mixers slow down the absorption of alcohol into bloodstream," he said. "Artificially sweetened alcohol mixers do not really elevate alcohol intoxication. Rather, the lack of sugar simply allows the rate of alcohol absorption to occur without hindrance."

Both Marczinski and Thombs were concerned about the risk that diet mixers can pose for alcohol-impaired driving. "In this study, subjects felt the same whether they drank the diet or regular mixed alcoholic beverage," said Marczinski. "However, they were above the limit of .08 when they consumed the diet mixer, and below it when they drank the regular mixed beverage. Choices to drink and drive, or engage in any other risky behavior, often depend on how people feel, rather than some objective measurement of impairment. Now alcohol researchers who are interested in prevention have something new to consider when developing or modifying intervention programs."

Thombs agreed. "Research on alcohol mixers is critically important for improving serving practices in on-premise drinking establishments," he said. "About one-half of all drinking and driving incidents are estimated to occur in persons leaving these settings. This type of research can provide guidance to policy-makers interested in improving the safety of bars and nightclubs."

"We have an obesity crisis in this country," added Marczinski. "As such, individuals tend to be conscious about how many calories they are consuming, and they might think that mixing alcohol with diet drinks is a healthy choice. Yet the average reader needs to know that while mixing alcohol with a diet beverage mixer may limit the amount of calories being consumed, higher BrACs are a much more significant health risk than a few extra calories."

"In natural drinking settings, such as bars and nightclubs, young women are significantly more likely than young men to order drinks mixed with diet cola," said Thombs. "I suspect this occurs because young women tend to be more weight conscious than young men. Thus, from a public health perspective, artificially sweetened alcohol mixers may place young women at greater risk for a range of problems associated with acute alcohol intoxication."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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

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Journal Reference:

1. Cecile A. Marczinski, Mark T. Fillmore. Letter to the Editor in Response to The Alcohol Mixed with Energy Drinks Debate: Masking the Facts!. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 2013; DOI: 10.1111/acer.12019

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/nutrition/~3/ggHW3Fh-JAc/130205162524.htm

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Personal Finance Daily: Which tax breaks could get axed? - Wall ...

From: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories - 6:00pm - February 5, 2013

The tax hikes Congress passed to solve the fiscal-cliff mess won?t raise enough revenue to keep the nation?s budget woes in check. See which deductions are on the chopping block. Also in Personal Finance Daily, read about browser add-ons that could save time and money, the rise of gluten-free toys, and the online privacy protections that would let you delete your Internet footprint.

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Source: http://ewallstreeter.com/personal-finance-daily-which-tax-breaks-could-get-axed-5141/

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