Rangers fire coach John Tortorella

NEW YORK (AP) ? In a span of five days, John Tortorella went from out of the playoffs to out of a job.

The feisty and combative coach was fired by the New York Rangers on Wednesday after four-plus seasons behind the bench and four trips to the postseason.

Rangers president and general manager Glen Sather was vague when pressed for reasons why Tortorella was let go.

While no specifics were given, Sather made it clear that it wasn't just one thing or particular incident that led to the somewhat unexpected dismissal.

"I am very appreciative of what Torts has done here," Sather said during a conference call. "We had an evaluation at the end of the year like we always do. Our goal is to win the Stanley Cup. I felt that this was the decision that had to be made to go forward.

"I think he was a little bit shocked, but he is a gentleman and he took it very well."

The fiery Tortorella was let go four days after the Rangers' season ended with a Game 5 loss to the Boston Bruins. New York reached the Eastern Conference finals last year and was considered a championship contender in this lockout-shortened season.

Tortorella conducts business on and off the ice with an iron fist, treating players and media members alike. His abrasive style could have been a factor in the decision to make a change.

"Every coach has a shelf life," Sather said. "I've told every guy that I've hired that at some point in time this is going to change.

"Our goal is to win the Stanley Cup and we didn't achieve that goal this year. I had to make a decision, so I did."

Tortorella was dismissed with one year left on his contract.

In 319 regular-season games with New York, including a four-game run at the end of the 1999-2000 season, Tortorella went 171-118-1-29. He was 19-25 in the postseason, and reached the playoffs four times after taking over as coach in February 2009.

"Every time a coach gets fired, it is a surprise for me, because ultimately, we, the players, are responsible for our own play on the ice," Rangers backup goalie Martin Biron told The Associated Press in a text message.

Tortorella, hired to replace Tom Renney with 21 games remaining in the 2008-09 season, achieved some success with the Rangers but couldn't match the Stanley Cup title he earned in 2004 with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Sather said Tortorella's contract status didn't factor into the decision.

A replacement wasn't named immediately, but Sather hopes to have a new coach in place by the NHL draft on June 30.

Former NHL coaches Lindy Ruff and Alain Vigneault could be candidates. Sather wouldn't speculate on them or whether anyone currently employed by the Rangers would be considered.

The fate of assistant coach Mike Sullivan will be decided during the team's organizational meetings in June.

"Hopefully whoever we hire has a lot of the good things that Torts had and a lot of good things that Tom Renney had," Sather said. "There are a number of good coaches around, and a lot of them have different qualities. It is a little tricky sometimes to find someone who has all those qualities.

"I am certain that we're going to find the right person."

Last season, Tortorella led the Rangers to 51 wins ? the second-most in franchise history ? and 109 points before they were beaten in six games by New Jersey. He finished his Rangers tenure in fourth place on the team's coaching wins list.

The 54-year-old Tortorella got the Rangers back into the playoffs, and New York outlasted Washington in seven games in the first round of the playoffs before being knocked out by Boston.

Tortorella made curious comments on Monday when the Rangers packed up for the season, remarks that could have led to his ouster.

In his final meeting with reporters, Tortorella said the Rangers weren't emotionally ready to take on Boston after getting past Washington with back-to-back shutout wins when they faced elimination.

"One of the things, and it falls on my shoulders, is our team's mindset going into another round," Tortorella said. "I don't think our mindset was ready to play another series and to the level you need to be at. It didn't have a playoff atmosphere.

"That's what I struggle with right now. I didn't do a good enough job in correcting and getting their mindset back to not only play at the level of a Game 7 in the first round, but get ready for round 2, which is always going to be tougher."

But Tortorella was defiant in his assessment that this wasn't a down year for the club.

"I know the surrounding feeling here is that it was a negative season, a disappointing season. I don't buy it and I won't," Tortorella said. "There are some good things that happened. I don't think we took a step backward. I think this is a sideways step in our lineup and how things worked out.

"We played really well our last couple of months to get in, found a way to win a big series against Washington, and against Boston I thought we competed right to the end."

Star goalie Henrik Lundqvist disagreed with that assessment. Lundqvist is entering the final year of his contract and would be eligible to be an unrestricted free agent next summer.

"It is a step back," Lundqvist said. "We were in the conference finals last year, we had high expectations on ourselves this year. It didn't go our way, so yeah it is a step back. It's tough to make it there, though. You can't just expect it to happen."

Sather said he hadn't talked to Lundqvist, but added the team's plan is to sign him to a new long-term deal.

The Rangers entered the 48-game season as a prime contender to win the Stanley Cup, especially after the offseason acquisition of top forward Rick Nash in a trade with Columbus.

After a slow start, the Rangers rallied to a 26-18-4 record and the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

New York struggled to score in the postseason, and Nash and Brad Richards were among the biggest offenders. Nash recorded only one goal and five assists in the Rangers' 12 playoff games.

Richards, who has seven years remaining on a nine-year deal, was a bigger disappointment and was a healthy scratch in the final two games against the Bruins. Sather said that move was an organizational decision.

Richards had thrived under Tortorella when they won the Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay, but he managed only one goal and zero assists in his 10 postseason games. Richards also is likely to be gone from the Rangers, who can buy out the remainder of his lucrative deal and remove him from the salary cap that will go down next season.

Tortorella is the career leader in wins by a U.S.-born coach with 410. He was an assistant coach with the Rangers in the 1999-2000 season and took over for John Muckler as head coach for the final four games.

Tortorella was then hired by the Lightning and he was their coach for seven seasons, going 239-222-36-38 and earning the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year in the championship season.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rangers-fire-coach-john-tortorella-172009770.html

Jovan Belcher Charlie Batch Miguel Calero Bret Bielema sons of anarchy adriana lima victoria secret fashion show

Writing the Wonders of Science | Library Journal's Day of Dialog

Take a slightly long table. Cover it in black cloth. Place four chairs along the side that faces out. Invite three men who have published with great success on the endeavors of science. Place one small bottled water, one glass with ice, and one paper napkin on the table in front of each chair.?No bunsen burners need be installed. Add in one well chosen moderator who stirs carefully.

Sit back and enjoy!

The three panelists for ?The Art of Science Writing,? the fourth of five programs making up LJ?s 2013 Day of Dialog, were Richard Dawkins (The Selfish Gene) who publishes the first volume of his memoir, An Appetite for Wonder, this fall (Ecco: HarperCollins, October), Dave Goldberg (physics, Drexel Univ., A User?s Guide to the Universe), who has The Universe in the Rearview Mirror: How Hidden Symmetries Shape Reality (Dutton) coming out in July, and Simon Winchester (The Professor and the Madman), whose next book, due out in October, is The Men Who United the States: America?s Explorers, Inventors, Eccentrics and Mavericks, and the Creation of One Nation, Indivisible (Harper: HarperCollins).

Erin Shea, head of adult programming at Darien Library, CT, had the distinct pleasure of asking these men questions designed to elicit discussion chiefly about the task of writing on technical and scientific matters for a broad audience of lay readers.

Richard Dawkins, of the three, was the one most taken with the potentials of language itself, the writer?s obligation to listen for the cadence of words that best express what the writer seeks to describe. To write for a broad audience, he noted, does not mean that you should limit your language. ?Use language at the full stretch,? he advised, going on to say that it?s fine for readers to need to go to the dictionary now and then. ?Do justice to the science.?

Dave Goldberg noted that accessible science books will have a readership of those ?thirsting to understand,? and yet he feels the necessity, even an obligation, not to steer his readers far away from their inherent sense of wonder at the universe, and at all that remains unknown.

Simon Winchester, along with Dawkins, noted more than once that science is not merely useful; it is ?poetic.? Each man spoke of the ?wonder? that remains at the heart of scientific exploration. (Wonder was this session?s watchword!) There is not, to them, any contradiction between seeking to make science comprehensible and simultaneously evoking the marvels of the grand unknown.?Dawkins sees his task as ?an almost evangelical mission.? Winchester turned to a Philip Larkin poem, ?First Sight,? that describes ?Lambs that learn to walk in snow,? knowing nothing of ?earth?s immeasurable surprise??that will bring forth the Spring.

All three panelists had academic training in the sciences. While Dawkins and Goldberg continued in their special fields in biology and physics, Winchester left geology for trade and then journalism, covering current affairs and eventually writing about matters related to science. His preference, he explained, is to write of particular people behind?intrepid?pursuits, noting their eccentricities and their epiphanies.?He said that?there are academics who see him as ?vulgarizing? science. Dawkins has been quite satisfied with the response of his colleagues to his work, while Goldberg noted that in many universities it still holds that?academics must not write popular science until after they have achieved tenure: there is some pushback in academia against writing about one?s field for a popular, rather than a specialized, audience.

In closing, Erin Shea asked the panelists each to name a scientist or scientific writing that they have most enjoyed reading. Winchester, with Goldberg in agreement, named Dawkins?s own The Selfish Gene, as well as the writings of Richard Feynman, although technically most of Feynman?s?published work originated as lectures. Goldberg named Kip S. Thorne?s Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein?s Outrageous Legacy, while Dawkins cited ?anything by Carl Sagan,? who was denied membership in the American Academy of Sciences precisely because he was a popular writer, and the essays of British biologist P.B. Medawar.

The program, a bit over an hour, passed by at a fast clip,?with?charming anecdotes and good sound discussion, leaving those in attendance inspired to become scientists, poets, raconteurs, and writers.

Source: http://reviews.libraryjournal.com/2013/05/books/nonfic/sci-tech/writing-the-wonders-of-science/

clippers lisa lampanelli lisa lampanelli bronx zoo bronx zoo crash grizzlies april 30

What is a health care subsidy? | InsuranceQuotes.com

Leah Shepherd

Two kinds of health care subsidies will be available soon to help middle- and low-income Americans pay for health insurance: tax credits and cost-sharing assistance. They?ll be available after the new health insurance exchanges open in every state

Enrollment will start on the exchanges on Oct. 1, 2013 for coverage to take effect on Jan. 1, 2014.

Who qualifies for a health care tax credit?

You will be eligible for a health care tax credit if your annual income is between 133 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty line. That means between $15,281 and $45,960 for a single person, or between $31,321 and $94,200 for a family of four, in most states.

Starting on Jan. 1, 2014, Americans who qualify can immediately receive the tax credit in the form of advance payments to lower their monthly health insurance premiums. The amount of the tax credit depends on your income. When you choose a health plan through one of the exchanges, you will see whether you are eligible for a tax credit, and the amount. The government will send the appropriate credit amount directly to your insurer, which will apply that payment to your monthly premium.

For example, a 40-year-old making $28,783 per year who buys single coverage with a premium of $4,500 would get a yearly tax credit of $2,185, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health policy non-profit.

In most cases, you will not qualify for a tax credit if you are eligible for an employer?s health plan or a government plan, such as Medicaid, Medicare or military coverage. However, you still may be eligible for a tax credit if your employer?s health plan does not pay for at least 60 percent of the cost of medical care, or if your share of the insurance premium exceeds 9.5 percent of your total income.

About 26 million Americans will be eligible for the new premium tax credits, according to Families USA, a nonprofit organization that advocates for health care consumers. The tax credit is designed to make coverage less expensive for middle- and low-income Americans.

?The tax credit subsidies are a game changer. They will make health coverage affordable for huge numbers of uninsured families who would have been priced out of the health coverage and care they need,? says Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA.

The Affordable Care Act requires that all Americans have health insurance or pay a penalty, starting on Jan. 1, 2014.

Who qualifies for health care cost-sharing assistance?

The second type of health care subsidy gives you assistance with out-of-pocket costs, such as copays and deductibles. When you see a doctor or buy a prescription, you often have to pay a copay, which is a flat fee?(usually around $15 or $25). Some plans have a deductible, which is the amount of money you must pay before your insurer starts paying for medical services.

You will qualify for a subsidy to lower your copays and deductibles if your annual income is 250 percent of the federal poverty line or less. That means $28,725 for a single person or $58,875 for a family of four in most states?(Alaska and Hawaii have different standards.)

Tax credits and cost-sharing assistance are two types of new health care subsidies designed to reduce the cost of health care and keep patients from avoiding necessary medical treatments.

Other health insurance links you might like:

Will my health care costs go up under Obamacare?

Who can shop the health insurance exchanges?

Obamacare and Medicaid ? What will change?

Source: http://www.insurancequotes.com/health-care-subsidy/

jennie garth space needle nashville predators king arthur king arthur there will be blood there will be blood

S.Africa's Tiger Brands H1 profit flat

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Africa's biggest consumer foods group, Tiger Brands, barely increased first-half profit as debt-laden consumers cut back on spending, while higher input costs and tougher competition hit margins.

South Africa-based Tiger Brands, which makes bread, breakfast cereal and energy drinks, said headline earnings per share totalled 818.3 cents in the six months to end-March, up 4 percent from 786.5 cents a year earlier.

Headline EPS, South Africa's most widely used profit gauge, strips out some one-off items.

Tiger Brands products are facing tough competition as international companies such Procter & Gamble bulk up their presence across Africa and grocers launch more cut-price private label products.

The company, which makes about 16 percent its sales outside its home market, said revenue rose 20 percent to 14 billion rand, helped in part by favourable currency swings and contribution from an acquisition.

Tiger Brands is among the worst performing stocks on the JSE this year, reflecting growing concerns about personal debt levels and rising unemployment in Africa's biggest economy.

Its shares are down about 10 percent this year, underperforming a 5 percent rise in Johannesburg's All-share index.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/africas-tiger-brands-h1-profit-flat-064944725.html

Michelle Obama Oscars Wissam Al Mana seth macfarlane oscar winners anne hathaway Castel Gandolfo Silver Linings Playbook

Cassini finds hints of activity at Saturn moon Dione

May 29, 2013 ? From a distance, most of the Saturnian moon Dione resembles a bland cueball. Thanks to close-up images of a 500-mile-long (800-kilometer-long) mountain on the moon from NASA's Cassini spacecraft, scientists have found more evidence for the idea that Dione was likely active in the past. It could still be active now.

"A picture is emerging that suggests Dione could be a fossil of the wondrous activity Cassini discovered spraying from Saturn's geyser moon Enceladus or perhaps a weaker copycat Enceladus," said Bonnie Buratti of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., who leads the Cassini science team that studies icy satellites. "There may turn out to be many more active worlds with water out there than we previously thought."

Other bodies in the solar system thought to have a subsurface ocean -- including Saturn's moons Enceladus and Titan and Jupiter's moon Europa -- are among the most geologically active worlds in our solar system. They have been intriguing targets for geologists and scientists looking for the building blocks of life elsewhere in the solar system. The presence of a subsurface ocean at Dione would boost the astrobiological potential of this once-boring iceball.

Hints of Dione's activity have recently come from Cassini, which has been exploring the Saturn system since 2004. The spacecraft's magnetometer has detected a faint particle stream coming from the moon, and images showed evidence for a possible liquid or slushy layer under its rock-hard ice crust. Other Cassini images have also revealed ancient, inactive fractures at Dione similar to those seen at Enceladus that currently spray water ice and organic particles.

The mountain examined in the latest paper -- published in March in the journal Icarus -- is called Janiculum Dorsa and ranges in height from about 0.6 to 1.2 miles (1 to 2 kilometers). The moon's crust appears to pucker under this mountain as much as about 0.3 mile (0.5 kilometer).

"The bending of the crust under Janiculum Dorsa suggests the icy crust was warm, and the best way to get that heat is if Dione had a subsurface ocean when the ridge formed," said Noah Hammond, the paper's lead author, who is based at Brown University, Providence, R.I.

Dione gets heated up by being stretched and squeezed as it gets closer to and farther from Saturn in its orbit. With an icy crust that can slide around independently of the moon's core, the gravitational pulls of Saturn get exaggerated and create 10 times more heat, Hammond explained. Other possible explanations, such as a local hotspot or a wild orbit, seemed unlikely.

Scientists are still trying to figure out why Enceladus became so active while Dione just seems to have sputtered along. Perhaps the tidal forces were stronger on Enceladus, or maybe the larger fraction of rock in the core of Enceladus provided more radioactive heating from heavy elements. In any case, liquid subsurface oceans seem to be common on these once-boring icy satellites, fueling the hope that other icy worlds soon to be explored -- like the dwarf planets Ceres and Pluto -- could have oceans underneath their crusts. NASA's Dawn and New Horizons missions reach those dwarf planets in 2015.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. JPL designed, developed and assembled the Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras. The imaging team consists of scientists from the United States, England, France and Germany. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.

Hammond's work was funded through a NASA Outer Planets Research grant.

For more information about Cassini, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/cassini and http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov .

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_technology/~3/yIxu0pcbpI8/130529215144.htm

mega millions march 30 lucky numbers odds of winning mega millions mary mary sag aftra merger dj am bully

Bachmann Won't Seek Re-Election in 2014 (WSJ)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/309067628?client_source=feed&format=rss

joe budden notre dame notre dame football Bcs Bowl Chuck Hagel ncaa football CES

Want to move up at work? Be a true believer

Public release date: 29-May-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Todd Hollingshead
toddh@byu.edu
801-422-8373
Brigham Young University

It's not just who you know anymore

New research is tweaking an old adage about how to get ahead in a competitive workplace: It's not just who you know, but what you believe in.

A recently published BYU business study finds that employees who are "true believers" in the mission of their organization are more likely to increase in status and influence than non-believers.

"Many organizations today have a well-defined mission with enduring principles that matter, not only to employees, but to other stakeholders," said John Bingham, BYU professor of organizational leadership and strategy. "It's a shift from the old paradigm. In these companies, it's less about who you know."

Patagonia, Whole Foods Market, The Body Shop and Intel are a few well-known mission-based companies that may fit the mold.

The study found those who exhibit a strong belief in a brand's mission or cause become more influential in important company circles, while those simply focused on punching the clock become more peripheral players regardless of formal company position or overall performance.

For the study, which appears online in management journal Organization Science, Bingham and his colleagues surveyed employees at organizations with mission-based cultures.

One of those organizations was an outdoor footwear manufacturer founded on principles of environmental sustainability that engages in several green policies, such as subsidizing employees who ride bikes to work and buying electricity generated by wind power.

"Those who were true believers in this company's cause were considered idea leaders and influenced how other employees viewed their work," Bingham said. "If the mission is a legitimate part of an organization's identity, that tends to be the case."

Past research looking at status in a company has focused on the personal traits of individuals height, gender, race and structural factors, such as the formal positions one occupies.

While those factors still remain strongly influential in many organizations especially those without well-defined missions, Bingham believes a growing number of people entering the workforce are passionate about causes and are looking for employers that both "do good and do well."

He and his colleagues are now testing how much of a pay cut executives at top public companies are willing to take to work for a socially responsible firm.

"Having a mission-based organization has great potential to recruit and retain talent," Bingham said. "But it has to be legitimate. If top management doesn't believe it or is simply using it as a ploy, it doesn't work."

###

Study co-authors include Marriott School professor Jeffery Thompson, incoming BYU business professor Jeffrey Bednar, James Oldroyd of the Fisher College of Business at Ohio State University, and Stuart Bunderson at Washington University's Olin Business School.

Both Bunderson and Oldroyd are alums of the Marriott School of Management.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 29-May-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Todd Hollingshead
toddh@byu.edu
801-422-8373
Brigham Young University

It's not just who you know anymore

New research is tweaking an old adage about how to get ahead in a competitive workplace: It's not just who you know, but what you believe in.

A recently published BYU business study finds that employees who are "true believers" in the mission of their organization are more likely to increase in status and influence than non-believers.

"Many organizations today have a well-defined mission with enduring principles that matter, not only to employees, but to other stakeholders," said John Bingham, BYU professor of organizational leadership and strategy. "It's a shift from the old paradigm. In these companies, it's less about who you know."

Patagonia, Whole Foods Market, The Body Shop and Intel are a few well-known mission-based companies that may fit the mold.

The study found those who exhibit a strong belief in a brand's mission or cause become more influential in important company circles, while those simply focused on punching the clock become more peripheral players regardless of formal company position or overall performance.

For the study, which appears online in management journal Organization Science, Bingham and his colleagues surveyed employees at organizations with mission-based cultures.

One of those organizations was an outdoor footwear manufacturer founded on principles of environmental sustainability that engages in several green policies, such as subsidizing employees who ride bikes to work and buying electricity generated by wind power.

"Those who were true believers in this company's cause were considered idea leaders and influenced how other employees viewed their work," Bingham said. "If the mission is a legitimate part of an organization's identity, that tends to be the case."

Past research looking at status in a company has focused on the personal traits of individuals height, gender, race and structural factors, such as the formal positions one occupies.

While those factors still remain strongly influential in many organizations especially those without well-defined missions, Bingham believes a growing number of people entering the workforce are passionate about causes and are looking for employers that both "do good and do well."

He and his colleagues are now testing how much of a pay cut executives at top public companies are willing to take to work for a socially responsible firm.

"Having a mission-based organization has great potential to recruit and retain talent," Bingham said. "But it has to be legitimate. If top management doesn't believe it or is simply using it as a ploy, it doesn't work."

###

Study co-authors include Marriott School professor Jeffery Thompson, incoming BYU business professor Jeffrey Bednar, James Oldroyd of the Fisher College of Business at Ohio State University, and Stuart Bunderson at Washington University's Olin Business School.

Both Bunderson and Oldroyd are alums of the Marriott School of Management.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-05/byu-wtm052913.php

Miami Heat Harlem Shake Harlem Shake Miami Heat dr seuss mariah carey History Channel The Bible alex smith alex smith

3 Ways to Drastically Improve Your Social Media Skills | Best Web ...

Being adept at social media is an advantage to anyone. An article in McKinsey Quarterly says that few domains in society and business have not been impacted by the social media revolution. Many businesses and organizations recognize the transformational power of social media and have responded to this change. Social media platforms are now being utilized to generate sales leads, create sophisticated viral campaigns, increase brand loyalty, and more.? Even individuals benefit from social media ? we see amateur performers being catapulted to instant popularity through YouTube, professionals finding their dream jobs on LinkedIn, and writers turning their self-published works into best-selling ebooks through social media promotion.? If you?re not as social media-savvy as you would like to be, consider these tips:

Learn the craft of image manipulation and video production

The creation of compelling content is a must for anyone who wants to master social media. Nowadays, YouTube videos are uploaded in a blink of an eye and infographics, memes, and other images have become staples in catching followers? attentions. You can start off by learning the basics of video editing, and don?t worry if what you come up with is not as perfect as you would like it to be. The McKinsey Quarterly article also says that, ?Too much perfection is actually a barrier to collaboration and co-creation, as it disinvites participation.?? The raw and unpolished feel is actually acceptable, since it invites your audience to engage with your material.

A lot of online tools can now help you learn more about multi-media production. To make animated videos, you can also use sites such as Xtranormal and GoAnimate. There are also hundreds of Photoshop tutorials on YouTube and other free resources such as Adobe tutorials. If you need a quick image upload, then simply use image-filtering apps like Instagram.

Brush up on your writing skills

Responding to comments, coming up with regular blog posts, creating simple infographics ? all of these require decent, if not exceptional, writing skills.? If you?re not that comfortable with the written word, you can build your confidence level by doing two important things: reading and writing.? The only way you can learn excellent writing is to read excellent writing. So throw away that copy of 50 Shades of Gray, and substitute it with classics such as Strunk and White?s Elements of Style and more contemporary but awesome novels like Ender?s Game or even Harry Potter.? There are also online sources you can use to guide you in basic grammar like the easy-to-read explanations of Grammar Girl, the humorous albeit sarcasm-laden The Oatmeal, and the Marvel/DC-inspired Grammarman.

The next thing you can do to practice writing is to put up a blog. It can be about any topic that interests you. Your own blog site will not only motivate you to write, it will also give you hands-on experience in promoting your blog posts on social media. You can also sharpen your writing skills by participating in online forums and commenting on the blogs of others.

Follow the social media experts

Learn social media from the experts themselves.? You can follow recognized social media gurus like Guy Kawasaki, Pam Moore, and Mari Smith on Twitter. You can also read blogs like Social Media Examiner and Social Media Today and experiment on the tips they give.

Of course, your social media skills won?t improve if you don?t use social media yourself. Focus on a few networks you would like to master and start learning their distinct characteristics.? It may take a bit of time, but you?ll be able to gain more confidence as you use social media more and more.

Source: http://www.thegrizasonline.com/3-ways-to-drastically-improve-your-social-media-skills

Election results 2012 exit polls Presidential Polls California Propositions Electoral College chuck pagano A Gay Lesbian

Foster injured at Texans practice

HOUSTON (AP) ? Houston running back Arian Foster has strained his right calf during the Texans' organized training activities.

Foster, who ran for 1,424 yards last season, was injured on the first play of team drills on Tuesday. Coach Gary Kubiak says they will know more about the injury after Foster sees a doctor.

It was unclear exactly how he was injured, but he was taken off the practice field on a cart.

Kubiak says it is "always concerning" when a player in injured in practice, but that he has to work everybody in order for the team to improve.

Receiver Andre Johnson says he saw Foster limping off the field after a running play. Johnson says: "I think if it was real bad, I think we would've known about it by now. I don't think that it's (anything) real bad."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/foster-injured-texans-practice-233043707.html

sean payton saints bounty program toulouse france ny jets ny jets the situation tim tebow jets

Will justices take note of new gay marriage laws?

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Three U.S. states and three countries have approved same-sex unions just in the two months since the Supreme Court heard arguments over gay marriage, raising questions about how the developments might affect the justices' consideration of the issue.

In particular, close observers on both sides of the gay marriage divide are wondering whether Justice Anthony Kennedy's view could be decisive since he often has been the swing vote on the high court.

It is always possible that Justice Kennedy is reading the newspapers and is impressed with the progress," said Michael Klarman, a Harvard University law professor and author of a recent book on the gay marriage fight.

In earlier cases on gay rights and the death penalty, Kennedy has cited the importance of changing practices, both nationally and around the world.

The court is expected to rule by late June in two cases involving same-sex marriage. One is a challenge to California's voter-approved Proposition 8 that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman. The other seeks to strike down a portion of the federal Defense of Marriage Act that denies to legally married same-sex couples a range of benefits that generally are available to married heterosexuals.

The justices took an initial vote in the days after hearing arguments in the two cases in late March. The senior justice on the winning side and the senior justice in dissent assigned opinions based on those votes. But while that first vote is important, it is not the end of the process; justices' assessments of a case can shift subtly or, in some cases, dramatically.

In 1992, Kennedy initially drew the assignment to write a majority opinion for five justices allowing prayers at public school graduations. In the end, he ended up writing the opinion for a different five-justice majority striking down the graduation prayers. According to several accounts, Kennedy simply changed his mind during the writing process.

Current events also can find their way into opinions. Last year, Justice Antonin Scalia's fiery dissent from a court ruling that watered down Arizona's crackdown on immigration included a reference to comments President Barack Obama made at a news conference that took place between the argument in the case in April and the announcement of the decision in June.

There is no way to know at this point whether anything similar will happen in the gay marriage cases, either of which could be decided on technical legal grounds that would say little about the court's view of the issue. But there has been no shortage of action.

In a 10-day span earlier this month, lawmakers in Delaware, Minnesota and Rhode Island gave final approval to bills to legalize same-sex marriages. Minnesota was the last of the three to act, on May 13, and when Gov. Mark Dayton signed the bill into law the following day, Minnesota became the 12th state, plus the District of Columbia, to approve same-sex unions. The other nine are: Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont and Washington.

Internationally, French President Francois Holland signed a law this month making France the 14th country to recognize gay marriages. Uruguay and New Zealand took similar steps in April.

And further change could come soon. The Illinois Senate has approved a gay marriage bill that now is pending in the state House in advance of the May 31 end of the legislative session. Gov. Pat Quinn has said he would sign it.

In Great Britain, a bill to legalize same-sex weddings in England and Wales easily cleared the House of Commons and will be debated in the House of Lords beginning in July.

Both sides in the high court gay marriage debate say the recent events reinforce arguments they made to the court in March.

Defenders of limiting marriage to heterosexuals say the justices need only look at the change in marriage laws to see that there is no reason for them to step in and declare a national rule in favor of gay marriage that would upend constitutional bans in 30 states and laws prohibiting same-sex unions in roughly half a dozen others.

"These developments provide yet further evidence...that the claim that gays and lesbians are politically powerless and that the courts therefore have some special role in subjecting classifications affecting them to strict scrutiny is baseless," said Ed Whelan, an opponent of same-sex marriage who is president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center.

Jim Campbell, a lawyer for Alliance Defending Freedom, said the court should not short-circuit a vigorous national debate.

"The vast majority of the states have decided to retain the traditional view of marriage that has existed throughout Western civilization. This decision belongs to the people and should be decided by the people," Campbell said.

Mary Bonauto, the director of the Civil Rights Project at Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, said the assessment of the political clout of gays and lesbians is misleading. The number of states allowing same-sex weddings has doubled in less than a year and now represents 18 percent of the U.S. population. If Illinois joins in and the court were to affirm a lower court decision that struck down the California ban, just over a third of the population would live in 14 states and the District of Columbia where gay marriage would be legal.

That's not nearly enough, especially in the context of a decades-long struggle by gays and lesbians to win the right to marry, Bonauto said. "These states moving in the direction of marriage is a far cry from all states doing it," she said.

Klarman said gays and lesbians have made huge political strides in "deep blue" Democratic states.

"It is absolutely true that the political process continues to work and it is working with extraordinary rapidity," he said. By some estimates, in roughly 10 years majorities in all but a handful of Southern states will favor gay marriage.

"The only argument against this position is, what about the gay couple in Mississippi?" Klarman said, pointing to a state where the prohibition on same-sex unions is likely to endure.

The same argument could have been made, and was, during the court's deliberations over the Brown v. Board of Education case that outlawed segregation in public schools, he said.

Justice Stanley Reed, a Southerner, suggested that the court "let things play themselves out," although he eventually joined in the unanimous opinion in Brown.

During argument in the California case, Kennedy strongly suggested that he was not about to give gay marriage proponents what they are asking for, a decision that would allow same-sex couples to wed everywhere in the United States.

But Klarman wonders whether Kennedy might consider his legacy and the fact that at 76 years old, he might not be on the court for the next big gay marriage case. "He knows that today, he can write the opinion that would be the Brown of the gay rights movement," Klarman said.

___

Follow Mark Sherman on Twitter at www.twitter.com/shermancourt

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/justices-note-gay-marriage-laws-124418742.html

Steve Sabol Yom Kippur 2012 Aaron Paul packers Dancing With The Stars All Stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt space shuttle

Americans gather to honor fallen service members

ATLANTA (AP) ? Americans planned to gather at cemeteries, memorials and monuments nationwide to honor fallen military service members on Memorial Day, at a time when combat in Afghanistan approaches 12 years and the ranks of World War II veterans dwindles.

President Barack Obama was expected to lay a wreath Monday at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery across the Potomac River from Washington. Earlier in the morning, he and first lady Michelle Obama planned to host a breakfast at the White House with "Gold Star" families of service members who have been killed.

In one of several ceremonies honoring Americans killed in Afghanistan, the city of South Sioux City, Neb., planned to unveil a statue honoring Navy Petty Officer 1st Class John Douangdara, a dog handler for the SEALs killed in a 2011 helicopter crash. His service dog was also killed in the crash and is memorialized beside him in the statue.

At the American Airpower Museum on Long Island, N.Y., a program was planned to honor Women Air Service Pilots, or WASPs, who tested and ferried completed aircraft from factories to bases during World War II. Thirty-eight died during the war, including Alice Lovejoy of Scarsdale, N.Y., who was killed on Sept. 13, 1944, in a midair collision over Texas.

"It's very important that we recognize not only their contribution to American history, but women's history," said Julia Lauria-Blum, curator of the WASP exhibit at the museum. "These women really blazed a path; they were pioneers for women's aviation. And most important, they gave their lives serving their country and must be honored like anyone else on Memorial Day."

Another wreath-laying ceremony was planned at Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park on the southern tip of Roosevelt Island in New York City. The park is a tribute to President Roosevelt's famous speech calling for all people to enjoy freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear.

The holiday weekend also marked the traditional start of the U.S. vacation season. AAA, one of the nation's largest leisure travel agencies, expected 31.2 million Americans to hit the road over the weekend, virtually the same number as last year. Gas prices were about the same as last year, up 1 cent to a national average of $3.65 a gallon Friday.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/americans-gather-honor-fallen-members-091220037.html

breitbart dead db cooper fafsa branson missouri davy jones dead monkees last train to clarksville

Senator: Fire commanders allowing sex assault

WASHINGTON (AP) ? From Congress to the White House, pressure is mounting to hold military commanders accountable for the rising number of sexual assaults in the armed services.

"This needs to end," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and a member of the Armed Services Committee, said Sunday. "When a victim comes forward, they should have an advocate to walk them through the military justice system, and commanders who allow this to continue to allow this to flourish quite frankly should be fired."

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said the military's future includes both men and women in leadership, and cultural changes are needed "when it comes to the command structure" to make sexual assault and harassment "unacceptable, intolerable; and those who engage in it should pay a price."

But the U.S. military's top officer, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, is urging Congress to exercise caution as it crafts legislation to combat the growing epidemic of sexual assaults in the armed forces.

The extent of the assaults came to light when the Pentagon released a report earlier this month estimating that as many as 26,000 military members may have been sexually assaulted last year and that thousands of victims are unwilling to come forward despite new oversight and assistance programs. That figure is an increase over the 19,000 estimated assaults in 2011.

Retired Gen. John Allen, who left the Marines in February after 19 months commanding allied forces in Afghanistan, encouraged commanders to address the issue and tell subordinates exactly what was expected.

"Commanders can't be ambiguous about this. We can't not talk about that," Allen said Sunday. "Commanders (have) got to stand in front of their units and tell the people what they expect. Because silence isn't good enough. This is an opportunity to lead, and we should be seizing it."

Several recent arrests have added to the military's embarrassment. A soldier at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point was charged with secretly photographing women, including in a bathroom. The Air Force officer who led the service's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response unit was arrested on charges of groping a woman. And the manager of the Army's sexual assault response program at Fort Campbell, Ky., was relieved of his post after his arrest in a domestic dispute with his ex-wife.

The comments from Durbin, Graham and Allen capped a week of attempts to address the Pentagon's findings. President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel raised the issue separately in graduation speeches at the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

"Those who commit sexual assault are not only committing a crime; they threaten the trust and discipline that makes our military strong," Obama said Friday. "That's why we have to be determined to stop these crimes, because they've got no place in the greatest military on Earth."

Hagel called on the graduating West Point cadets Saturday to use their leadership to address the epidemic.

"This scourge must be stamped out," Hagel said. "We are all accountable and responsible for ensuring that this happens. We cannot fail the Army or America. We cannot fail each other, and we cannot fail the men and women that we lead."

Members of a House panel on Wednesday approved legislation that would strip commanding officers of their longstanding authority to unilaterally change or dismiss court-martial convictions in rape and assault cases. The bill would also require that service members found guilty of sexual offenses be dismissed or dishonorably discharged. The legislation will be folded into a broader defense policy bill that the full House will consider in the coming weeks.

Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has acknowledged the severity of the problem. He said recently that military leaders are losing the confidence of the women who serve that they can come up with solutions.

But Dempsey said in a May 20 letter to the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee that any legislative remedies must maintain the commander's role in the military justice process. Cutting them out or limiting them too severely would undercut their authority to enforce discipline and execute their duties, he wrote.

"Good order and discipline is essential to military efficiency and effectiveness," Dempsey said in the letter to Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. "Removing commanders from the military justice process sends the message to everyone in the military that there is a lack of faith in the officer corps and the serving commanders. Conveyance of a message that commanders cannot be trusted will only serve to undermine good order and discipline."

Dempsey and the chiefs of the military services are scheduled to testify June 4 before the Senate Armed Services Committee on legislation to prevent sexual assaults.

Sharon Disher graduated from the Naval Academy in 1980 in the first class that included women. She said Friday she's disappointed the military is still grappling with sexual assault issues but applauded the president for raising the subject.

"The more we talk about it, the more we're going to do something about it, and that's the thing we never did," she said. "I guess we've just got to keep the conversation going until we fix the problem."

Durbin and Graham spoke on "Fox News Sunday." Allen appeared on ABC's "This Week."

___

Associated Press writer Richard Lardner contributed to this report.

___

Follow Michele Salcedo on Twitter: https://twitter.com/michelesalcedo

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senator-fire-commanders-allowing-sex-assault-151700317.html

zack greinke jackie robinson Coachella 2013 Scary Movie 5 MTV Movie Awards 2013 masters masters leaderboard

94% Stories We Tell

All Critics (53) | Top Critics (26) | Fresh (50) | Rotten (3)

Sarah might have wrapped up this documentary after her parentage is revealed about 70 minutes in, yet it continues for another 50 as she ruminates over the tale,... her engrossing personal story gradually devolving into an exercise in self-regard.

Stories told again and again have a way of neatening things up. Stories have a way of ironing out the wrinkles. Polley lets the wrinkles remain.

Sarah Polley's documentary is a startling mixture of private memoir, public inquiry, and conjuring trick.

Polley was right to follow her instincts, though, in not attempting to tie everything up. She recognizes that family histories are necessarily contradictory, crazymaking, and essentially unfathomable.

What unfolds is a riveting drama that grows even more so as it plays out.

Don't be fooled by its deceptively simple title or the hesitant, unassuming way it begins. Writer-director Sarah Polley's "Stories We Tell" ends up an invigorating powerhouse of a personal documentary, adventurous and absolutely fascinating.

With Stories We Tell, actress-turned-director Sarah Polley has proven herself a consummate filmmaker, transforming an incredible personal story into a playful and profound investigation into the nature of storytelling itself.

Eventually, the formalistic strictures of the documentary fall away and Polley - her entire family, really - is left facing the reality of the past as the cameras roll.

Polley imaginatively fills in the past through a hybrid of documentary and fiction [for] knowing relevance to oral history, testimonial evidence, and what makes a family.

What I can say is that the movie is dramatically compelling, journalistically fascinating, cinematically profound, and intellectually challenging.

Sheds fascinating light on Polley's art.

Polley mines her own life to strip naked the essence of storytelling, and what it is about folklore that makes it so essential in shaping our perceptions about who we are and where we come from.

Stories We Tell starts out as a simple investigation into the life of a mother that director Sarah Polley barely knew and slowly turns into a documentary that is as good as any movie you will see this year.

Where Polley's work goes from mere family movie to something much greater is in how she uses her own quest for answers to illuminate why & how we tell stories in the first place, especially in the form of film.

Polley's compassion and curiosity again mark her as both a heartfelt and unforgiving filmmaker.

Suspenseful, unpredictable, mature, tender and funny. A triumph.

The movie is convincingly built around the essential truth that we are ultimately defined by our loved ones' memories and perceptions.

No quotes approved yet for Stories We Tell. Logged in users can submit quotes.

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

Psy Gentleman Angel Cabrera Jay Z Open Letter glee glee masters live frozen four

Google buzz, the social network no one cared ... - Business Insider

Remember the days of Buzz?

It was Google's kinda-sorta social network that made Google Reader into a Twitter-type platform for sharing cool stuff online.

Not too many people cared to use it, and in October 2011 Google announced that it'd eventually discontinue the service.

Finally and at long last, Google's determined that the time has arrived. Doors are closing on Buzz forever, and you'll receive a backup data file of all your posts saved to your Google Drive on or after July 17, 2013.?For everyone else, you can go about continuing to live your lives.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/google-buzz-discontinued-2013-5

steve jobs fbi file suge knight obama birth control mortgage settlement macauly culkin joe namath stefon diggs

Palme d'Or race wide open at Cannes Film Festival

CANNES, France (AP) ? After two weeks, 20 films and parade after parade down the red carpet, the Cannes Film Festival has not produced a clear-cut frontrunner for the Palme d'Or.

The prestigious award, given to the best film in competition, will be handed out Sunday night, decided upon by a jury headed by Steven Spielberg. And while this year's festival has boasted a cinematic feast, no single film is believed to have clearly set itself apart from the pack.

At least half a dozen films seem to have a realistic chance of winning Cannes' top prize, including the Coen brothers' 1960s folk tale "Inside Llewyn Davis," Paolo Sorrentino's rollicking Roman party "The Great Beauty," Asghar Farhadi's domestic drama "The Past," James Gray's 1920s Ellis Island melodrama "The Immigrant" and Abdellatif Kechiche's lesbian coming-of-age tale "Blue is the Warmest Color."

Consensus is always hard to come by in Cannes, but it does happen. Last year, Michael Haneke's "Amour" was the far-and-away favorite, and went on to win best foreign language film at the Oscars and earn the rare best picture nomination for a non-English film.

In 2011, Terrence Malick's cosmic rumination "The Tree of Life" too was obvious Palme material. But the year before, Cannes was fairly shocked when Tim Burton's jury picked the existential Thai film "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives."

Palme d'Or oddsmaker Neil Young currently has Farhadi in the lead with 5-to-2 odds to win. The Iranian director, whose film is in French, was honored as the best foreign language film two years ago at the Academy Awards for another domestic drama, "A Separation." Having grown into an internationally renowned filmmaker, Farhadi could be in position for the Palme.

But some found his film, with its succession of reveals of past misdeeds, more a feat of mystery novel-like plotting than revealing drama. Certainly, its star, Berenice Bejo ("The Artist"), as a single-mother balancing an ex-husband and a new fianc?, is a possible best actress winner.

So, too, is the star of "Blue is the Warmest Color," Adele Exarchopoulos. The 19-year-old actress was one of the breakout stars of the festival in the three-hour French film.

But the American entries this year have been very strong. Perhaps no film was better received at Cannes than "Inside Llewyn Davis," along with its newcomer star, Oscar Isaac, who performed live songs for the film. The Coens won the Palme in 1991 for "Barton Fink."

Gray's "The Immigrant," starring Marion Cotillard and Joaquin Phoenix, divided critics between those hailing it as a classically made masterpiece and those unmoved by its operatic emotions. But the handsomely photographed, finely acted New York period piece may have played well with Spielberg's jury.

"I'm trying to live in the bubble as best I can," Gray said Saturday. "If a film's reception is great, then you believe your own hype. If it goes poorly, then you think of yourself as a bum ? neither of which is usually the case. Usually the case is you're either hostage to or a beneficiary of a certain kind of festival gestalt."

Alexander Payne's father-and-son story "Nebraska," starring Bruce Dern and Will Forte, could also stir the jury with its austere, black-and-white Midwest road trip.

Psychological guesswork of jury presidents is de rigueur at Cannes. This year, many expect Spielberg will steer away from rewarding a filmmaker from his native country. He leads a starry, international group of eight others: Ang Lee, Nicole Kidman, Christoph Waltz, Romanian director Cristian Mungiu, Scottish filmmaker Lynne Ramsay, Japanese director Naomi Kawase, French actor Daniel Auteuil and Bollywood star Vidya Balan.

One of the boldest, most ambitious films in competition was Sorrentino's "The Great Beauty," which stars Toni Servillo as a Rome journalist who begins to question a lifetime of late nights. Wildly stylistic but also emotionally personal, it was one of the biggest critical hits at Cannes.

On the outside are wild cards like Steven Soderbergh's Liberace melodrama "Behind the Candelabra," Kore-eda Hirokazu's switched-at-birth drama "Like Father, Like Son" and Chad-born Mahamat-Saleh's disabled dancer tale "Grigris."

Soderbergh's film, starring Michael Douglas, will air on HBO in the U.S. just hours after the Cannes closing ceremony. The director is withdrawing from moviemaking, so a win at Cannes would be fitting symmetry. His first film, "Sex, Lies, and Videotape," won the Palme d'Or in 1989.

On the first day of the festival, jury member Lee said he was praying the jury would be overwhelmed by a self-evident Palme winner, so they wouldn't need to "rationalize" their choice through debate. Perhaps the jury was hit by a thunderbolt that didn't resound as clearly for festivalgoers. But most likely, Lee's prayers went unanswered.

___

Follow AP Entertainment Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jake_coyle

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/palme-dor-race-wide-open-cannes-film-festival-121202726.html

unlv sam young ramon sessions portland trail blazers blagojevich new mexico state kevin rose

Lap Band Surgery Is A Simple Yet Effective Treatment Of Obesity ...

Laparoscopic surgery (or lap-band surgery) is a form of bariatric surgery, which means it?s designed to help a dangerously obese patient lose weight. Bariatric surgeries are generally performed on people who are dangerously obese and those who?s obesity is negatively effecting their overall health. For instance, obesity can lead to other illness? like diabeties, high blood pressure and sleep apnea. After bariatric surgery is done, many of these associated health issues are fixed.

How Does It Work?

Lap bands are different from other weight loss surgeries because the digestive track is not cut or sutured or rearranged in any sort of drastic way. This reduces the risk of the surgery. In lap-band San Diego a band is placed around the higher section of the patients stomach. This band creates a small pouch in the stomach, this pouch fills up when the patient eats and fools the patients brain into thinking their whole stomach is full. This causes the patient to cease consuming food. The food from the pouch eventually empties into the stomach, where it?s digested, but slowly.

Lap bands also have an advantage over other weight loss surgeries because they can be adjusted.

The Operation

Prior to the surgery, the patient is given a general anesthetic. Then the surgeon makes tiny cuts in the abdomen that are just big enough to insert a tiny camera and surgical instruments. The video camera?s picture is shown on a TV screen to allow the surgeon to perform the operation. Without incisions or sutures, the surgeon places the band around the patients stomach.

The Next Phase

After lap-band san diego the patient will be given a strict diet to adhere to, this consists of liquids initially, then soft foods and finally they can resume eating solid foods. Their physician and dietitian will monitor their intake. The patient will also be require to undertake a gentle exercise regime post surgery.

Following discharge a patient needs to visit their physician 1-2 times a week to monitor their progress. In 1-2 months the doctor will fill the pouch with a saline solution, via a port that lies under the patients skin. The lap band will usually have to be adjusted till the patient finds their Green Zone, which is where they?re both comfortable and lose weight at a rate that?s not too fast, nor too slow.

People who undergo lap-band surgery will need to monitor their diet and lifestyle for the rest of their lives, but most patients are very satisfied with lap band surgery and the improvements in their health.

The physicians at LAP-BAND San Diego specialize in weight loss surgery and lap bands, so if you are someone who is concerned about their health and wants to know more about diet and weight loss, contact the team today at lap-bandsandiego.com.

Source: http://hotarticledepot.com/lap-band-surgery-is-a-simple-yet-effective-treatment-of-obesity/

2012 nfl schedule dishonored april 18 delonte west vanessa williams nicklas backstrom discovery shuttle

Obama to visit Oklahoma, tour Jersey Shore with Gov. Chris Christie

(Reuters) - A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck Northern California on Thursday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The epicenter of the quake was 6 miles northwest of the town of Greenville, and near the smaller community of Canyondam, the USGS said. There were no immediate reports of injuries. Allen Shephard, a hunting and fishing guide at Quail Lodge at Lake Almanor in Canyondam, said the quake knocked him "right off the couch and onto the floor." The floor of the lodge was littered with broken dishware, and cabinets were in disarray, said Shephard, 62. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-visit-oklahoma-tour-jersey-shore-chris-christie-203429952.html

los angeles kings timothy leary jonathan frid pujols watchmen hitch justin beiber

Intel Says Haswell Will Extend Laptop Battery Life by 50 Percent

Intel has just made one very, very big claim: it reckons that its new Haswell chip will boost the battery life of laptops by a staggering 50 percent.

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/3tG3bNAmfIE/intel-says-haswell-will-extend-laptop-battery-life-by-5-509677186

Martin Luther King, Jr. Mlk Quotes Elder Scrolls Online joe biden michelle obama lupe fiasco jason wu

Why early human ancestors took to two feet

May 24, 2013 ? A new study by archaeologists at the University of York challenges evolutionary theories behind the development of our earliest ancestors from tree dwelling quadrupeds to upright bipeds capable of walking and scrambling.

The researchers say our upright gait may have its origins in the rugged landscape of East and South Africa which was shaped during the Pliocene epoch by volcanoes and shifting tectonic plates.

Hominins, our early forebears, would have been attracted to the terrain of rocky outcrops and gorges because it offered shelter and opportunities to trap prey. But it also required more upright scrambling and climbing gaits, prompting the emergence of bipedalism.

The York research challenges traditional hypotheses which suggest our early forebears were forced out of the trees and onto two feet when climate change reduced tree cover.

The study, "Complex Topography and Human Evolution: the Missing Link," was developed in conjunction with researchers from the Institut de Physique du Globe in Paris. It is published in the journal Antiquity.

Dr Isabelle Winder, from the Department of Archaeology at York and one of the paper's authors, said: "Our research shows that bipedalism may have developed as a response to the terrain, rather than a response to climatically-driven vegetation changes.

"The broken, disrupted terrain offered benefits for hominins in terms of security and food, but it also proved a motivation to improve their locomotor skills by climbing, balancing, scrambling and moving swiftly over broken ground -- types of movement encouraging a more upright gait."

The research suggests that the hands and arms of upright hominins were then left free to develop increased manual dexterity and tool use, supporting a further key stage in the evolutionary story.

The development of running adaptations to the skeleton and foot may have resulted from later excursions onto the surrounding flat plains in search of prey and new home ranges.

Dr Winder said: "The varied terrain may also have contributed to improved cognitive skills such as navigation and communication abilities, accounting for the continued evolution of our brains and social functions such as co-operation and team work.

"Our hypothesis offers a new, viable alternative to traditional vegetation or climate change hypotheses. It explains all the key processes in hominin evolution and offers a more convincing scenario than traditional hypotheses."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/1WII83Kyhys/130524104041.htm

camilla belle instagram Robert Bork mark sanchez Mayan End Of The World Olivia Black World Ending 2012

Two volcanoes erupting in Alaska: Scientists are monitoring and providing alerts on Pavlof and Cleveland volcanoes

May 24, 2013 ? Two of Alaska's most active volcanoes -- Pavlof and Cleveland -- are currently erupting. At the time of this post, their activity continues at low levels, but energetic explosions could occur without warning.

Located close to the western end of the Alaska Peninsula, Pavlof is one of the most active volcanoes in the Aleutian arc, having erupted more than 40 times since the late 1700's.

Pavlof has been erupting since May 13, 2013, with relatively low-energy lava fountaining and minor emissions of ash, steam, and gas. So far, volcanic ash from this eruption has reached as high as 22,000 feet above sea level. The ash plume has interfered with regional airlines and resulted in trace amounts of ash fall on nearby communities. The ash plume is currently too low to impact commercial airliners that fly between North America and Asia at altitudes generally above 30,000 feet.

Cleveland, located on Chuginadak Island in the Aleutian Islands, is also one of Alaska's most persistently active volcanoes. It has exhibited some sign of unrest almost annually since the early 1980's, with at least 19 confirmed eruptive events since then.

The current episode of eruptive activity at Cleveland has been characterized by single, discrete explosions, minor ash emissions, and small flows of lava and debris on the upper flanks of the volcano. On several occasions, ash-producing explosions have occurred reaching as high as 35,000 feet.

A small lava dome formed in the summit crater of Cleveland volcano in late January, 2013. At that time, the dome was about 300 feet in diameter and remained that size until a brief eruption on May 4 explosively removed a portion of the dome. The presence of a lava dome increases the possibility of an explosive eruption, but it does not necessarily indicate that one will occur.

Start with Science

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is responsible for monitoring and issuing timely warnings of potential volcano activity. The USGS and its partners operate five volcano observatories, and monitoring of these two volcanoes is coordinated through the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO).

AVO is a joint program of the USGS, University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, and the State of Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys.

Scientists at AVO were able to detect unrest at both Pavlof and Cleveland volcanoes that confirmed eruptive activity was occurring. AVO immediately sent notifications out to emergency-management authorities and those potentially affected.

When Will the Eruptions Stop?

Volcanic eruptions can last weeks to months, and sometime years, so the exact timing is unknown for when these two volcanoes will rest. AVO will continue to monitor them and provide updates in the event of future activity.

Detecting Signs of Unrest

Signs that the volcanoes were becoming restless were determined through a combination of monitoring data.

At Pavlof, a strong thermal signal was observed in satellite data at the summit that coincided with elevated seismic levels. Soon after these observations were made, more satellite data and pilot reports indicated that ash emissions were occurring.

At Cleveland volcano, explosions from the summit vent were detected by an infrasound array and seismic instruments on Umnak Island about 80 miles to the east, and later a thermal feature was observed at the summit in satellite imagery, which indicated hot material at or near the surface. The pressure sensors in the infrasound array pick up air waves generated by volcanic explosions. Because of the relatively slow speed of these waves, it took nearly 40 minutes to detect the explosion from that distance and issue an alert.

Ash Cloud Forecasts

AVO's analysis of the eruption, including the amount of ash and the duration of the explosive phases, are key inputs into the forecasts by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service (NWS) of where the ash cloud will form and drift. These forecasts by NWS are used by the aviation industry to avoid flying into the ash.

The USGS developed a new ash cloud dispersal and fallout tool -- a computer model known as Ash3d -- that is being employed by AVO. The tool details where, when, and the amount of ash fall that is expected to occur. This information helps guide decisions on whether planes can safely land or depart, health warnings, potential impacts to infrastructure, and even when ash will stop falling and cleanup can begin.

Monitoring Tools

Pavlof is monitored with on-the-ground seismic stations (although only three of the seven instruments are currently operational), satellite remote sensing, and web cameras operated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). A regional infrasound network operated by the University of Alaska Geophysical Institute has also helped detect explosions from Pavlof and Cleveland volcanoes.

Cleveland does not have a local seismic network and is monitored using only distant seismic and infrasound instruments and satellite data. Without local seismic instrumentation, scientists cannot forecast eruptions and smaller eruptions can be missed, especially because in the Aleutians, clouds commonly obscure the volcanoes in satellite data.

Updated Alerts and Webcams

Visit the AVO website (http://avo.alaska.edu/) for updated alerts and activity reports on Pavlof (http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Pavlof.php) and Cleveland (http://avo.alaska.edu/activity/Cleveland.php) volcanoes. Virtually travel to these locations through an AVO webcam of Cleveland volcano (http://avo.alaska.edu/webcam/Cleveland.php) and a FAA webcam located in Cold Bay about 37 miles west of Pavlof (http://akweathercams.faa.gov/sitelist.php).

Alaska has 31% of all Active Volcanoes in the United States

Alaska's volcanoes make up about 31% of all active volcanoes in the United States. There are 52 that have been active within the last 10,000 years and can be expected to erupt again. At present, 28 are monitored with ground-based instrumentation, and all are monitored daily using satellite remote sensing.

See a full list (http://www.avo.alaska.edu/volcanoes/) of all volcanoes in Alaska and view an interactive map (http://www.avo.alaska.edu/map/index.php?monvolcs=on&othervolcs=on) of their location.

Although most of the volcanoes in Alaska are remote and not close to populated areas, millions of dollars of air freight and 20,000-30,000 people fly over active Alaskan volcanoes daily traveling between North America and Asia. In fact, the Anchorage International Airport is ranked the fifth busiest air cargo hub in the world based on tonnage. In addition to the threat that volcanic ash poses for aviation safety, the economic impacts due to disruption of air traffic can be substantial. One study estimated costs of five billion dollars from the week-long closure of European airspace caused by the eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallaj?kull volcano in 2010.

USGS Science for Volcano Hazards

USGS science is helping keep what are natural events from turning into major disasters.

The United States has approximately 169 active volcanoes, and more than half of them could erupt explosively. When the violent energy of a volcano is unleashed, the results can be catastrophic. Lava flows, debris avalanches, and explosive blasts have devastated communities. Noxious volcanic gas emissions have caused widespread lung problems. Airborne ash clouds from explosive eruptions have caused millions of dollars damage, including causing engines to shut down in flight.

To keep communities safe, it is essential to monitor volcanoes so that the public knows when unrest begins and what hazards can be expected. USGS efforts have improved global understanding of how volcanoes work and how to live safely with volcanic eruptions.

The USGS Volcano Hazards Program (http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/) operates a total of five volcano observatories in cooperation with universities and state agencies. They are the Cascades Volcano Observatory, Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, California Volcano Observatory, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, and Alaska Volcano Observatory. USGS also monitors and reports on volcanoes in the northern Marianas Islands.

In April, 2013, AVO celebrated 25 years of monitoring and studying Alaska volcanoes.

Learn More

Find out about the National Volcano Early Warning System (NVEWS) (http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/publications/2009/nvews.php), which is a proposed national-scale plan to ensure that volcanoes are monitored at appropriate levels given their associated threats.

Watch a video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X64IhvYYlw) about USGS science on volcano hazards.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_science/~3/Ylh9qmVdgkc/130524180252.htm

marie colvin cm punk cm punk lint buenos aires train crash argentina train crash nancy pelosi