Taxi-hailing apps like Uber and its competitors have been hitting stop sign after speed bump in their journey to actually, you know, being able to operate. Uber even had to shut down a beta in the Big Apple before the authorities gave such services the green light (with various caveats), and earlier this month, a similar win was scored in California when officials lifted local restrictions. As a result of the Golden State's leniency, Uber has started its UBERx program in San Francisco to recruit drivers who don't possess a specific taxi or limo license. That means everyone and your neighbor Bob can potentially start exchanging rides for cash, and are being promised decent compensation, completely flexible working hours, and access to a large number of clients. Luckily for fare-payers, those that wish to repurpose their whip will have to pass several tests before ferrying passengers, including a "city knowledge exam," so hopefully you won't end up on Alcatraz when you just asked Bob for a lift to Chinatown.
Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, learned an important skill when dealing with other people: try to make them laugh, even if you're bad at it, because it distracts everyone from the negative aspects of your personality. Craig explains:
I'm a nerd, seriously hard-core, and sometimes that translates into being a know-it-all. People got tired of that while I worked at an IBM branch office in Detroit in the eighties.??My boss told that that it had become a real problem with about half my co-workers. However, he said that my saving grace was my sense of humor. When trying to be funny, well, didn't matter if I was funny of not, at least I wasn't being an asshole. The advice was to focus on my sense of humor and worry less about being exactly right. For sure, don't correct people when it matters little.
The good news is that in Craig's experience, you don't actually have to be funny because it's the attempt that matters. As with many things, trying is often more important than success. For more about Craig's experiences, check out the full post over on LinkedIn.
Best Advice: Make 'em Laugh ? or They'll Kill You | LinkedIn
Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert, right, skirmishes with Golden State Warriors forward David Lee during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. Lee received a technical foul; Hibbert received two technical fouls and was ejected from the game. The Pacers won 108-97. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert, right, skirmishes with Golden State Warriors forward David Lee during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. Lee received a technical foul; Hibbert received two technical fouls and was ejected from the game. The Pacers won 108-97. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert, center, is pushed by Golden State Warriors guard Jarrett Jack (2) during an altercation with Warriors forward David Lee (10) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. Lee received a technical foul; Hibbert received two technical fouls and was ejected from the game. The Pacers won 108-97. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
Indiana Pacers guard Orlando Johnson, left, pulls down a rebound in front of Golden State Warriors center Festus Ezeli during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, right, drives in front of Indiana Pacers guard George Hill during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ? If the Indiana Pacers learned anything from their 108-97 win over the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, it's exactly how close they are as a team.
Team unity and having each other's back has been a theme for the Pacers, and they had a chance to show it when center Roy Hibbert got involved in a fourth-quarter scuffle.
Hibbert was ejected following the skirmish that began when he and David Lee exchanged shoves under the basket after a missed shot.
"There were two or three guys coming after (Hibbert)," Pacers forward David West said. "We preach and talk about togetherness, so that's part of what we're going to do. We're going to defend one another. They came after him too many times."
West, who had 28 points and seven rebounds, also was called for a technical foul, along with the Warriors' Lee, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, for the altercation.
No players left the bench.
Curry tried to push Hibbert away and was shoved twice to the court as the fight went from the key to the baseline.
"Seriously, I didn't even feel him," Hibbert said of Curry. "I saw some light-skinned guy. I don't know if it was Klay Thompson or Steph Curry, I just knew there was a light-skinned guy by me."
Hibbert believes he will face a suspension.
"Indiana's a very physical team," Lee said. "They're one of the most physical teams, if not the most physical team in the East."
George Hill had 23 points and seven assists, and Paul George had 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Pacers (36-21), who have won five straight.
Curry scored a season-high 38 points and Thompson had 13 for the Warriors (33-24), who had a three-game winning streak snapped.
"It was just physical play," Curry said. "Teams are gearing up for playoff basketball and amping up the intensity a little bit."
The Pacers built a 95-85 lead midway through the fourth quarter and not even the scuffle shook them up as they ended a three-game skid against Western Conference teams.
When play resumed, Ian Mahinmi made a free throw and later West had three baskets, Lance Stephenson hit a 3-pointer and George scored on a jumper to give the Pacers a 104-87 lead with 3:28 left to play.
"We knew we had to (close it out) with Roy going out," George said. "We knew we had to close that game. We're happy about this, but it's one game."
Indiana's Danny Granger played 18 ? minutes and scored five points off the bench in his first home game this season.
He wasn't in the locker room for media availability after the game.
Pacers coach Frank Vogel said he wants to get Granger back in the starting lineup and is looking at a possible two-week timetable, but said he will review it week-by-week.
"My expectations are that we'll get him back into the starting lineup as soon as possible," Vogel said.
Curry hit a jumper and a 3-pointer and the Warriors took a 5-0 lead to start the game. Hill, who had 15 points in the first quarter, hit two 3-pointers, including one to tie the game with 4:19 left in the period.
With the Warriors trailing 52-43, Curry hit a 3-pointer and two more field goals before Lee scored on a layup to get them within 54-53 at halftime.
Web browser company Opera Software, now 300 million users strong, caught the world off guard the other week when it announced that it would be ditching its own Presto framework and moving instead to Google's WebKit to power its mobile and desktop browsers. In an interview with TechCrunch today, Opera's CEO Lars Boilesen said that the decision has freed up the company to innovate in a way that it hadn't for years. "By moving, it meant that we no longer had to have to have 200 engineers working on the core-level product," he said in an interview with TechCrunch. "That meant they could work on new stuff. We could go on the offensive."
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Senator John McCain on Sunday said his former colleague Chuck Hagel was not qualified to be U.S. defense secretary but the Senate would likely vote on his nomination rather than hold it up with procedural hurdles.
Before going on a weeklong recess, Republican lawmakers succeeded in delaying a Senate vote on Hagel's nomination earlier this month. Hagel is expected to win confirmation if a vote is held because Democrats control 55 votes in the 100-seat Senate.
"I do not believe that Chuck Hagel, who is a friend of mine, is qualified to be secretary of defense," McCain of Arizona said on CNN's "State of the Union" show.
"I believe that when the questions are answered, and I believe they will be by this coming week that the president deserves an up or down vote" on Hagel, said McCain, who is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Hagel's nomination was likely to go for a vote in the Senate "barring some additional revelation," he said.
Hagel, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, angered Republicans when as senator he broke from his party by opposing former President George W. Bush's handling of the Iraq war.
Republicans are demanding more information from the administration related to the attacks on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, last year.
The Senate confirmation vote on John Brennan for CIA director also faces delay over the request by Republicans for more information related to Benghazi.
"I don't want to put a hold on anybody, but the American people deserve answers about Benghazi. There are so many questions that are still out there, including what was the president doing the night Benghazi happened?" McCain said.
(Reporting by Tabassum Zakaria; Editing by Eric Walsh)
Two people were slightly injured and roughly 20 people arrested Saturday when a melee broke out at the Ford City Mall following a promotional appearance by the popular boy band Mindless Behavior, police said.
The band had recently concluded the event, catered to their primarily tween girl fan-base, when a ?group of youths? entered the mall intent on creating ?chaos and havoc,? said mall general manager, John Sarama, who claims the disturbance was not related to the event, which ended around 4 p.m.
Some of the teens ran through the mall. A planter box was broken. One boy threw a wad of about $100 in small bills into the air, causing those nearby to scramble for the cash.
?I don?t understand what the purpose of that was other than it caused a bit more commotion,? Sarama said when asked about the money.
The mall was evacuated and police closed South Cicero Avenue to traffic in the vicinity of the West Lawn neighborhood mall, police said. Chicago Transit Authority buses were rerouted to avoid the area.
By the time it was all over several people were arrested, two were injured and a sizable force of police and paramedics had descended on the mall, according to authorities and Sarama.
Even after the mall was evacuated and the doors were locked, the chaos continued outside.
Police late Saturday said those arrested were mostly juvenile and will be charged mostly with misdemeanors.
Mindless Behavior appeared at the mall, signing autographs to promote their upcoming release ?All Around the World,? according to social media websites run by the band?s management.
The band?s manager Keisha Gamble did not respond to a request for comment.
?There was some sort of a rap group either performing or signing autographs and a large group of teens caused a disturbance,? said police News Affairs Officer Veejay Zala.
Sarama said he was just glad it was all over.
?Everything is fine and we?re looking forward to opening back up at 11 a.m. (Sunday),? Sarama said.
(NaturalNews) Researchers at the Georgia Regents University Cancer Center have identified an India-based plant which has been used for centuries to treat inflammation, fever and malaria that could be used to help kill cancer cells.
Dr. Ahmed Chadli, a researcher in the Molecular Chaperone Program at the GRU Cancer Center and senior author of the study named the Journal of Biological Chemistry's "Paper of the Week," said cancer cells typically survive by hijacking so-called molecular chaperones that in turn guide and protect the proteins that ensure normal cellular function, then tricking them into assisting mutated versions of those proteins to stay alive, according to a press release published by the university.
Therefore, development of drugs has focused largely on the chaperone Hsp90 (heat shock protein 90) "because it plays a key role in assisting mutating proteins, making it an attractive cancer drug target," the release said.
'In the future, this research could have applications in other cancers'
But the clinical efficacy of Hsp90 inhibitors has been less than stellar; most current small molecules that target Hsp90 have inadvertently resulted in the expression of proteins that protect cancerous cells from cell death, thereby compromising the Hsp90 inhibitors in the clinical setting.
In the current study; however, Chaitanya Patwardhad, a graduate student in Dr. Chadli's laboratory, discovered that gedunin, an Indian plant compound, attacks a helper protein, or co-chaperone, of Hsp90 known as p23.
"This compound binds directly to p23, leading to inactivation of the Hsp90 machine - without production of anti-apoptotic proteins - thus killing cancer cells," said Chadli. "The idea here is that this will open a door for new ways of targeting Hsp90 by targeting its helper proteins, which may be used in combination with established Hsp90 inhibitors that are ongoing clinical trials."
"In the future, this research could have applications in drug development for hormone-dependent cancers, including breast, prostate and endometrial cancers," he said.
"One of the major areas of scientific emphasis of the GRU Cancer Center is to develop therapeutic approaches to cancer targeting specific molecules within the cancer cell, including chaperones," added Dr. Samir N. Khleif, director of the GRU Cancer Center. "This finding is an important piece of the puzzle, bringing us closer to our goal of helping patients with cancer."
Gedunin, according to Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc., "is a naturally occurring Hsp90 inhibitor. In vitro, Gedunin induces Hsp90-dependent client protein degradation and displays antiproliferative activity."
It is obtained from the Indian neem tree and has been used for centuries in Asia as a natural remedy for malaria. It has also been used as an insecticidal and, most recently, as an anti-cancer agent.
Gedunin may be useful in treatment of neurological disorders too
In 2009, researchers found a nearly 80 percent decrease in the cell proliferation in ovarian cancer cells after in-vitro treatment with gedunin. (http://saypeople.com)
A separate study by Emory University found that gedunin and its derivatives looked promising in the treatment of Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, HIV-related dementia, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, stroke, and Huntington's disease.
As for Chadli, he says that this research could have applications in drug development for hormone-dependent cancers, including breast, prostate, and endometrial cancers.
FILE - In this Sunday, Jan. 6, 2008, file photo, Republican presidential hopeful former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks with Chris Wallace on FOX News Sunday in Manchester, N.H. Wallace said on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013, that he has landed the first post-election interview with Romney and his wife, Ann. The interview will air on his show next week (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)
FILE - In this Sunday, Jan. 6, 2008, file photo, Republican presidential hopeful former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks with Chris Wallace on FOX News Sunday in Manchester, N.H. Wallace said on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013, that he has landed the first post-election interview with Romney and his wife, Ann. The interview will air on his show next week (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Fox's Chris Wallace has landed the first postelection interview with defeated Republican nominee Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann.
Wallace said on "Fox News Sunday" that the interview will air on his show next week. Additional portions will be on Fox News Channel the next day. Wallace says he'll ask Romney how he has dealt with the defeat, what he plans to do and his thoughts about President Barack Obama's second-term agenda.
Fox News spokeswoman Ashley Nerz says the interview will be taped this week in southern California, where Romney has spent much of his time since the election.
Romney has also said he will speak March 15 to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, an annual event that draws leading Republican voices.
WOODSTOCK, Ga. -- Officials from the Georgia Department of Labor will be in Woodstock on Thursday for a job fair, looking for potential workers for a new retail outlet mall.
The job fair, according to GDOL, is set to help fill 1,000 positions for the new The Outlet Shoppes at Atlanta mall opening in July in Woodstock.?
The fair will be held at Etowah High School on Putnam Ford Drive, from 2:00 - 8:00 Thursday afternoon. Those who attend are advised to dress professionally and bring several copies of resumes and cover letters.
Officials from the Cobb-Cherokee Career Center are available for additional questions at (770) 528-6100.
We've arrived in Catalonia's capital city, where snow, apparently, has marked the start of this year's Mobile World Congress. That's right, the hills surrounding this typically warm Mediterranean metropolis have been blanketed in a thin layer of flurries, but we're nonetheless optimistic about this week's smartphone show in Barcelona. As MWC 2013's massive new venue begins to take shape, we're preparing to deliver the hottest hands-ons, directly from Fira Gran Via. Some manufacturers, such as HTC and LG, have already demoed their latest handsets, and other devices have made an early debut, but there's plenty of excitement still to come, as you'll discover in our show preview. We'll be sharing our liveblog lineup in a few hours -- for now, it's time to bookmark our event page, and check back often throughout the next week.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) ? Daytona International Speedway President Joie Chitwood said "We'll be ready to go racing" and is confident the track will be repaired in time Sunday for the Daytona 500.
At least 28 NASCAR fans were injured Saturday when large chunks of debris, including a tire, sailed into the grandstands when a car flew into the fence on a frightening last-lap accident in the second-tier Nationwide Series race.
Chitwood says he doesn't anticipate moving any fans from those affected seats for Sunday's race. He says the fence that separates the track from the seats will be repaired. The grandstands where fans were injured are about 200 feet from the start-finish line.
This will be the third time in four years the track has needed major repairs on Daytona 500 weekend. The 2010 race was interrupted for more than two hours because of a pothole on the track. Juan Pablo Montoya slammed into a jet dryer in last year's race that caused a raging inferno that stopped the event for two hours.
"We're very confident that we'll be ready for tomorrow's event with the 55th running of the Daytona 500," Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR's senior vice president of racing operations, said. "As with any of these incidents, we'll conduct a thorough review and work closely with the tracks as we do with all our events, learn what we can and see what we can apply in the future."
Chitwood said there where was not enough time to put back the crossover gate, which allows fans to walk from the grandstands to the infield.
He stressed proper safety protocols were met.
"Our security maintained a buffer that separates the fans from the fencing area," he said. "With the fencing being prepared tonight to our safety protocols, we expect to go racing tomorrow with no changes."
The accident happened the day before the Daytona 500, the season-opening race in the Sprint Cup series and NASCAR's biggest race. The horror in the stands marred what had been a week of celebration that kicked off with Danica Patrick becoming the first woman to win a pole in the premier series.
Wreckage flew into the upper deck and emergency crews treated fans on both levels. There were five stretchers that appeared to be carrying fans out, and a helicopter flew overhead. A forklift was used to pluck driver Kyle Larson's engine out of the fence, and there appeared to be a tire in the stands.
Across the track, fans pressed against a fence and used binoculars trying to watch. Reporters were threatened to leave the area.
Hours after the wreck, the fence was down and soft walls were being repaired as TV news helicopters hovered overhead
Otherwise, it was business as usual as the track underwent its makeover for "The Great American Race." The stages for driver introductions and the pre-race concert were already in place, as were the generators on pit road. The Daytona 500 logo was being painted on the grass and other track logs got a touch up. If not for the steady buzz from the welding done on the fence, it would look like any other late Saturday night at Daytona.
Fans seated in the area of the wreck uploaded videos on YouTube that showed fans feeing in horror and covering their heads as tires and an engine hurled their way. Most of the videos were soon removed from YouTube.
The scene was similar to a 2009 race at Talladega Superspeedway ? Daytona's sister track in Alabama ? when Carl Edwards' car went sailing into the fence on a last-lap accident.
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A man has been given a warning letter for harassing a sperm whale that died while languishing off Florida's Pompano Beach two months ago, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday.
In the written warning issued earlier this month, NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement told Anthony Armento that he violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which prohibits people from harassing, capturing, hunting or killing whales and other marine mammals.
The alleged harassment occurred the morning of Dec. 16 in the waters off Pompano Beach, when a man was seen getting on top of a sperm whale by a witness, who photographed the bizarre encounter from afar.
The whale, pronounced dead hours later that day, was thought by marine scientists to have been ailing at sea long before the whale was harassed. Still, responding to reports of the man harassing the whale, NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement investigated and said it identified Armento as the violator.
Video on NBCMiami.com:?NOAA slaps warning on man for harassing whale
Armento couldn't be reached for comment Thursday, despite a visit to a listed address. The letter stated that he was eligible to appeal the finding within 30 days of receiving the letter, NOAA said.
The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), enacted in October 1972, was established to protect and conserve marine mammals, according to Erin Fougeres, a marine mammal scientist with NOAA.
"The MMPA is the primary mechanism that we have to manage and conserve marine animals in the United States," Fougeres said. "It does make it illegal to harass, hunt, capture, kill or attempt to do any of those things to a marine mammal."
Also on NBCMiami.com:?NOAA to look into report of swimmer getting on whale that died
Violations can result in a civil penalty up to $11,000, as well as criminal penalties up to $100,000 and imprisonment of up to a year or both. Violators include those who approach the marine mammals too closely to watch, feed or swim with them.
"We recognize that these are important animals in the marine environment, and also animals that the public enjoys seeing in the wild," Fougeres said. "And the act is really primarily to protect them so that we have them around for future generations."
Also on NBCMiami.com:?Dead sperm whale towed out to sea from Deerfield Beach
Despite people's fascination with marine mammals, they should not near them for everyone?s safety, Fougeres said.
"You want to make sure that as you're observing them, you're observing them from a safe distance and in a manner that would not change their natural behavior," Fougeres said.
In Armento's case, the purpose of NOAA's issuing him a written warning was to document the violation, NOAA said. It also could be used to justify a more severe penalty if any future violations involving him occur, NOAA said.
"When proceeding with investigations and prosecutions, NOAA considers such things as the violator's intention or state of mind, the effect of a violation on the resource, the need for specific and general deterrence, etc.," NOAA said in a statement. "In this case, after considering the facts of the case, NOAA determined that a written warning was an appropriate outcome."
Photos provided to NBCMiami.com by a witness showed two swimmers nearing the whale the day of the incident, though only one person was seen in a picture on top of the whale. NOAA on Thursday did not say whether the second swimmer was cited.
The day of the incident, witness Margie Casey told NBCMiami.com that she saw two swimmers twice go up to the whale. She said she watched them from her fifth-floor balcony and snapped photos of the one swimmer getting on the whale.
Casey said the whale had been drifting north along the shore, just south of a stretch of beach near the Northeast 14th Street Causeway. Casey said she considered the whale to be alive at the time, because it was flapping its tail. Perhaps the whale was on its "last leg," Casey said in a Dec. 16 interview. "So sad."
A specialist went into the water later that day and determined the sperm whale had died, officials said. The next day, the dead whale washed up around Deerfield Beach's fishing pier. It then was towed more than five miles out to sea to dispose of its carcass, officials said.
The Pompano Beach whale case is among the latest in a series of cases in Florida involving the harassment of animals.
Sunday, a?Fort Pierce, Fla., man was arrested?on the charge he violated Florida law by illegally playing with and handling a manatee calf, then posting Facebook pictures of the encounter, authorities said. And in November last year, a?St. Petersburg, Fla., woman was arrested?on a misdemeanor charge of violating state law by riding a manatee, officials said.
NOAA encourages anyone who sees possible violations of the Marine Mammal Protection Act to report it to NOAA's enforcement hotline at 1-800-853-1964. Anyone who sees a stranded, injured or entangled marine mammal may report it to the Southeast Regional Marine Mammal hotline at 1-877-942-5343.
Android and Apple's iOS mobile operating systems account for more than 91 percent of the smartphone market according to IDC, but there's an open question about whether that domination will continue. Why? BlackBerry and Microsoft will vie for the No. 3 spot in market share.
IDC's stats echo what most tech watchers already know: Android and iOS are a duopoly. Here's a look at the standings:
The big question here is whether Android and iOS dominance are due to an open field. Can Windows Phone and BlackBerry 10 do anything to grab some share. IDC noted in a statement:
The two horse race between Android and iOS has collectively accounted for more than 50% share of the smartphone OS market over the past two years. At the same time both BlackBerry and Microsoft have been working on competing platforms that have recently launched and are poised for competition. Microsoft launched Windows Phone 8 in 4Q12, and BlackBerry more recently released BB10 in January, marking the first time two new platforms have been introduced to the smartphone space in the past several years.
What are the chances BlackBerry and Microsoft can garner any kind of momentum?
IDC noted that Nokia has 76 percent of Windows Phone market share shipments. The problem: Microsoft needs more than Nokia to carry the day. Most vendors have Windows Phone devices and Android ones with an emphasis on the latter. Nevertheless, Windows Phone shipments were up 150 percent in the fourth quarter from a year ago.
On the BlackBerry front, the company unveiled its Z10 and BlackBerry 10 platform but needs to convince its base to stay and trade up to the new OS. BlackBerry also has to recruit new users.
The bottom line here is that Microsoft and BlackBerry only have to get a little traction to make a dent in the Android-iOS duopoly.
Kentucky animal advocates lobby lawmakers for greater protections for pets
Citizens from across Kentucky converged on the state capitol Thursday to lobby for better animal welfare laws. Humane Lobby Day is sponsored by The Humane Society of the United States, the Kentucky Animal Welfare Alliance and the ASPCA? (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals?).
?It?s wonderful to see so many advocates from across the state speaking up for animals,? said Pam Rogers, The HSUS?s Kentucky state director. ?The people of Kentucky want stronger laws on the books to protect animals from cruelty, and they have come here to show it. The Humane Society of the United States is proud to stand with them and urge lawmakers to support animal protection issues.? ?
?Lobby days provide legislators the opportunity to meet face to face with their constituents to address the importance of providing a voice for the animals, who cannot speak for themselves,? said Vicki Deisner, state director of ASPCA Government Relations for the Midwest. ?The ASPCA is encouraged by the support for animal welfare in Kentucky, and we look forward to continuing to work with these passionate citizen lobbyists to further enhance protections for animals throughout the state.?
Humane Lobby Day participants met with their state legislators to lobby in support of HB 195, which will help protect pets in domestic violence situations. The measure is sponsored by Rep. Joni L. Jenkins, D-Shively. Citizens lobbied for a second bill, HB 235, which would require persons convicted of animal cruelty to forfeit any abused animals. HB 235 is sponsored by Rep. Ron Crimm, R-Louisville. ?
In 2012, The Humane Society of the United States helped pass 74 new laws nationwide to help protect animals.
Guests who made special appearances at Humane Lobby Day included Karma, a Maltese recovering from injuries after he was sealed in a garbage bag and tossed from a moving car in Louisville last October, and Louisville TV and radio personality Tara Bassett, who served as emcee for the day?s press conference and rally.
Media Contacts: The HSUS: Rebecca Basu: 240-753-4875, rbasu@humanesociety.org ASPCA: Maureen Linehan: 646-706-4602, maureen.linehan@aspca.org
My good buddies Tom Trento and his cameraman, Mark Campbell, of ?The United West? get thrown out by police as they attempt to go into a public University to tape an event for students which was supposed to be ?opened to the public??.
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About the author: Tom Trento
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Tom Trento is one of the leading academic activists in the United States. A highly skilled debater and dynamic public speaker, Tom frequently goes toe to toe with Muslim Brotherhood representatives exposing their radical agenda to the public and elected officials. Mr. Trento with earned degrees in Law Enforcement and Philosophy and Theology was awarded the The Carnegie Hero Medal Award for saving a man from a burning car.
Mr. Trento has traveled extensively throughout the US and Europe lecturing and exposing Islamic violence and infiltration in government, law enforcement and academic institutions. He is one of the co-authors of Shariah: The Threat To America and appears frequently on major media outlets and talk shows as an authority on Islamic ideology.
Read more articles by Tom Trento.
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Screenshot of the Octopus and Seagull's date (Google)
The first couple on our list is sure to bring back fond memories of John Cusack and boom boxes. This octopus and seagull appear to be a strange pairing but octopus knows how to bring it?s A-game. Maybe it was the boneless body?or maybe seagull?s father just didn?t approve of his octopus lifestyle -- either way, the seagull was won over with not one, not two, but three boom boxes.
That?s right: Our octopus took a page out of Cameron Crowe?s hit film "Say Anything"?for this romantic gesture. Armed with all three boom boxes, Octopus has caused Seagull to faint. Will Seagull end up with Octopus? Who knows? But what is certain is that you can almost hear Peter Gabriel?s ?In Your Eyes? playing.
Google Doodles are known for their surprises and Easter eggs. This year?s Valentine's Day doodle shows all side of dating -- the good, the bad, the ugly, and the apathetic.
We?ve counted 10 couples for this year?s V-day doodle and the celebration doesn?t stop there. The doodle, which also commemorates George Ferris, has these odd couples falling in love while onboard his great invention: the Ferris wheel. Ferris created the Ferris wheel for the 1893 World Columbian Exposition in Chicago. He was tasked with creating something new, something big, and above all else, something that could rival the Eiffel Tower. At first, expo organizers?called him a "crackpot," dismissing the idea of a giant, vertical, spinning wheel. But he?persevered.?Ferris unveiled his wheel at the fair and the rest, as they say, is history.
Sadly, Ferris would only live until the age of 37.
So here?s to the lovers, the best friends, the?octopi?and seagulls, to those who are single, and especially to George Ferris.
Click the blue arrow to see our next animal odd couple.
An Albuquerque woman who disappeared in January has contacted her family to tell them she's in Mexico.
Aaron Alexis said he read the email from his mother, Heather Alexis, over and over.
"'Hey guys, I'm OK. I'm in Acapulco. I was having an emotional crisis,'" said Aaron Alexis, reading the letter from his mother.
The Albuquerque mother told family members she was with a friend in Mexico and she has no plans to return home.
"I am sorry it has to be this way. I don?t know when I'm coming back," said Alexis.
Albuquerque police said Heather Alexis, 42, was last seen by her daughter, Aaliyah, on Jan. 22. The 14-year-old reported her mother missing to police the next day.
In the email, Heather Alexis provided a number in Mexico for her children to call.
According to the missing persons report, 20-year-old Aaron Alexis relies on food stamps and a disability check to get by each month. He told Action 7 News his father is in Puerto Rico, and now, without his mother, he's helping to look after his sister.
The family's church pastor is also stepping in to help.
"We're focusing on the kids' health and welfare," said Rev. Brian W. Winter, of St. Chad's Episcopal Church.
A mall was evacuated in suburban New York after snow accumulation on the roof ? up to 7 feet in snow drifts ? led to fears of imminent collapse. Rain and melting snow leaked into at least two dozen stores in Long Island's Smith Haven?Mall, prompting the evacuation.
By Frank Eltman,?Associated Press / February 11, 2013
A man shovels snow from his car along the Long Island Expressway in the Suffolk County area of New York, February 9. The Smith Haven Mall, located nearby, was evacuated today after dozens of roof leaks led to worries of imminent roof collapse.
Shannon Stapleton / Reuters
Enlarge
One of the biggest?malls?on Long Island was?evacuated?Monday because of major roof leaks after a rainstorm followed nearly 3 feet of snow, police said.
Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition
The Smith Haven?Mall?in Suffolk County was cleared by 4 p.m. Monday after significant leaks were detected in more than two dozen stores. Police worried the roof could collapse.
Smithtown Building Department Director John Bongino said that in one of the stores it looked "almost as if there was an open ceiling and it was raining."
The Smith Haven?Mall?has more than 140 stores. It took about an hour to?evacuate?it, said Paul Llobell, deputy fire coordinator for Suffolk County.
Llobell said that in one location on the roof there was a 7-foot snow drift.
The?evacuation?went smoothly, and no injuries were reported, he said.
Fifteen fire and police departments from around the county responded to the scene.
Bongino said?mall?management will have to call in a structural engineer to determine the?mall's?structural safety and when it can be reopened. He said it will be done in coordination with the Town of Smithtown Building Department.
Saturday's snowstorm buried parts of the island and stranded motorists. Cleanup was still under way Monday when heavy rains hit.
Roofs collapsed over the weekend at a bowling alley in the county and a home.
Online credit card processing services is a new niche in the market that offers reliable and accurate processing of payments done through credit card payments by businesses that has started using merchant accounts. Among the top tier companies that specialize in this field is Securus Payments. Founded by entrepreneurs Steven Lemma and Mike Robirds, the fledgling company started within a relatively small office space but gradually expanded to be one of the leading service providers for processing businesses? online credit card payments. Quick and dependable, the company that was once located within a very cramped office space with only a handful of employees have grown into a well-respected company comprised of over 150 professional employees and is already expanding their reach to the better half of Latin America in order to offer their quality services to help businesses with their credit card billing process.
While undoubtedly already established as one of the leading credit card processing service companies in the United States, they still offer packages that are affordable for small businesses to purchase without any lowered quality in the services given. This is one of the reasons why they are one of the leading choices for both starting businesses and reputable companies alike to handle all the online billing procedures. The process involved in handling the credit card payments includes tracking and making sure that mandatory finance guidelines are followed. This is why more businesses are opting to use online billing services to lessen the workload and focus on the sales and productivity of their company. In this sense, an affordable yet reliable online processing company is invaluable to small businesses as not only will they increase the possibility of sales and income but also quicken the transfer process with the help of a company that will only require a small sum to aid in the procedure. This means that business productivity will not be affected by hiring the credit card processing company.
With an impressive A-rating by the Better Business Bureau, Securus Paymentshas proven the quality of their company and continues to strive in the still fresh business industry of online credit card processing services.
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FILE - In this Jan. 31, 2013 file photo, former Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel, President Obama's choice for defense secretary, testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. said Friday he will press ahead with a vote on Hagel?s nomination to be defense secretary, rejecting Republicans demands for more financial information from President Barack Obama?s choice as setting an unprecedented new standard. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
FILE - In this Jan. 31, 2013 file photo, former Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel, President Obama's choice for defense secretary, testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. said Friday he will press ahead with a vote on Hagel?s nomination to be defense secretary, rejecting Republicans demands for more financial information from President Barack Obama?s choice as setting an unprecedented new standard. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? A moderate Republican senator said Wednesday she'll oppose the confirmation of Chuck Hagel to become President Barack Obama's secretary of defense, while other GOP senators signaled they may delay a floor vote on the nomination unless the White House provides more information about the deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, had been viewed as a possible supporter of Hagel, but she said Wednesday that his views on the most critical threats facing the United States are "unsettling."
In a four-page statement, Collins said Hagel was unwilling to ask the European Union to designate Hezbollah a terrorist organization in 2006, and he has been hesitant to back the use of all non-military options, such as unilateral sanctions, to pressure Iran into ceasing its nuclear program.
As Collins voiced her opposition, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., set the stage on Wednesday for a full Senate vote on Hagel's nomination. Reid filed a motion to limit debate and force a vote, which is expected to be held on Friday. Democrats hold a 55-45 edge in the Senate and have the numbers to confirm Hagel on a majority vote, but would need the support of five Republicans to clear the way for an up-or-down vote on Hagel.
A bitterly divided Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday voted to approve Hagel by a 14-11 vote, with all the panel's Democrats backing him to succeed Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. The committee's Republicans were unified in their opposition to their onetime colleague, a former two-term Republican senator from Nebraska and twice-wounded Vietnam combat veteran.
"I am unable to support Senator Hagel to be the next secretary of defense because I do not believe his past positions, votes, and statements match the challenges of our time, and his presentations at his (confirmation) hearing did nothing to ease my doubts," Collins said. "I regret having to reach that conclusion given our personal relationship and my admiration for Senator Hagel's military service. But I have concluded that he is not well-suited for the tremendous challenges our country faces during this dangerous era in our history."
Collins said she would not join in a filibuster to block a final vote.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Wednesday that he would vote against ending debate on Hagel's nomination to be defense secretary because he wants more information on Obama's actions on the night of the Sept. 11 raid on the mission in Benghazi. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans died in the Sept. 11 raid.
Graham, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., wrote to Obama on Tuesday and asked whether he spoke to any Libyan government official during the assault.
"There seems to not be much interest to hold this president accountable for a national security breakdown that led to the first ambassador being killed in the line of duty in over 30 years," Graham said. "No, the debate on Chuck Hagel is not over. It has not been serious. We don't have the information we need. And I'm going to fight the idea of jamming somebody through until we get answers about what the president did personally when it came to the Benghazi debacle."
McCain declined to say Wednesday whether he would try to filibuster or delay Hagel's confirmation if Obama did not provide an answer. "My position right now is I want an answer to the question," he said.
After the committee vote, McCain said he did not want a filibuster of Hagel's nomination. "We have not filibustered a Cabinet appointee in the past and I believe that we should move forward with his nomination, bring it to the floor and vote up or down," he said.
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said he's confident the White House will supply the information and that Hagel will be confirmed.
Southwest regional warming likely cause of pinyon pine cone decline, says CU study Public release date: 12-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Miranda Richmond Mirandaredmond@gmail.com 415-300-6901 University of Colorado at Boulder
Creeping climate change in the Southwest appears to be having a negative effect on pinyon pine reproduction, a finding with implications for wildlife species sharing the same woodland ecosystems, says a University of Colorado Boulder-led study.
The new study showed that pinyon pine seed cone production declined by an average of about 40 percent at nine study sites in New Mexico and northwestern Oklahoma over the past four decades, said CU-Boulder doctoral student Miranda Redmond, who led the study. The biggest declines in pinyon pine seed cone reproduction were at the higher elevation research sites experiencing more dramatic warming relative to lower elevations, said Redmond of CU's ecology and evolutionary biology department.
"We are finding significant declines in pinyon pine cone production at many of our study sites," said Redmond. "The biggest declines in cone production we measured were in areas with greater increases in temperatures over the past several decades during the March to October growing season."
Temperature and precipitation were recorded at official long-term weather stations located near each of the nine sites. Overall, average temperatures in the study areas have increased by about 2.3 degrees Fahrenheit in the past four decades, she said.
A paper on the subject by Redmond, Assistant Professor Nichole Barger of CU-Boulder and Frank Forcella of the United States Department of Agriculture in Morris, Minn., appeared in a recent issue of the journal Ecosphere, published by the Ecological Society of America. The new study was funded primarily by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to Redmond.
The cones in which the pinyon seeds are produced are initiated two years prior to seed maturity, and research suggests the environmental stimulus for cone initiation is unseasonably low temperatures during the late summer, said Redmond. Between 1969 and 2009, unseasonably low temperatures in late summer decreased in the study areas, likely inhibiting cone initiation and development.
The study is one of the first to examine the impact of climate change on tree species like pinyon pines that, instead of reproducing annually, shed vast quantities of cones every few years during synchronous, episodic occurrences known as "masting" events. Redmond said such masting in the pinyon pine appears to occur every three to seven years, resulting in massive "bumper crops" of cones covering the ground.
In the new Ecosphere study, the researchers compared two 10-year sequences of time. In addition to showing that total pinyon pine cone production during the 2003-2012 decade had declined from the 1969-1978 decade in the study areas, the team found the production of cones during masting events also declined during that period.
Some scientists believe masting events evolved to produce a big surplus of nut-carrying cones -- far too many for wildlife species to consume in a season -- making it more likely the nuts eventually will sprout into pinyon pine seedlings, she said. Others have suggested masting events occur during favorable climate conditions and/or to increase pollination efficiency. "Right now we really don't know what drives them," Redmond said.
"Across a range of forested ecosystems we are observing widespread mortality events due to stressors such as changing climate, drought, insects and fire," said CU's Barger. "This study provides evidence that increasing air temperatures may be influencing the ability of a common and iconic western U.S. tree, pinyon pine, to reproduce. We would predict that declines in pinyon pine cone production may impact the long-term viability of these tree populations."
Wildlife biologists say pinyon-juniper woodlands are popular with scores of bird and mammal species ranging from black-chinned hummingbirds to black bears. A 2007 study by researchers at the University of Northern Arizona estimated that 150 Clark's Nutcrackers cached roughly 5 million pinyon pine nuts in a single season, benefiting not only the birds themselves but also the pines whose nuts were distributed more widely for possible germination.
For the new study, Redmond revisited nine pinyon pine study sites scattered throughout New Mexico and Oklahoma that had been studied previously in 1978 by Forcella. Both Forcella and Redmond were able to document pinyon pine masting years by counting small, concave blemishes known as "abscission scars" on individual tree branches that appeared after the cones have been dropped, she said.
Since each year in the life of a pinyon pine tree is marked by a "whorl" -- a single circle of branches extending around a tree trunk -- the researchers were able to bracket pinyon pine reproductive activity in the nine study areas for the 1969-1978 decade and 2003-2012 decade, which were then compared.
Pinyon pines take three growing seasons, or about 26 months, to produce mature cones from the time of cone initiation. Low elevation conifers including pinyon pines grow in water-limited environments and have been shown to have higher cone output during cool and/or wet summers, said Redmond. In addition to the climate-warming trend under way in the Southwest, the 2002-03 drought caused significant mortality in pinyon pine forests, Redmond said.
"Miranda's ideas and accompanying results will be of value to ecologists and land managers in the deserts of the Southwest and beyond," said Forcella, now a research agronomist in the USDA's Agricultural Research Service. "The work is evidence that the University of Colorado continues to cultivate a cadre of high-caliber graduate students for which it rightfully can take tremendous pride."
Pinyon nuts, the Southwest's only commercial source of edible pine seeds today, were dietary staples of indigenous Americans going back millennia.
###
Contact:
Miranda Redmond, 415-300-6901
Mirandaredmond@gmail.com
Jim Scott, CU-Boulder media relations, 720-381-9479
Jim.Scott@colorado.edu
For more information on CU-Boulder's ecology and evolutionary biology department visit http://ebio.colorado.edu.
-CU-
[ | 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.
Southwest regional warming likely cause of pinyon pine cone decline, says CU study Public release date: 12-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Miranda Richmond Mirandaredmond@gmail.com 415-300-6901 University of Colorado at Boulder
Creeping climate change in the Southwest appears to be having a negative effect on pinyon pine reproduction, a finding with implications for wildlife species sharing the same woodland ecosystems, says a University of Colorado Boulder-led study.
The new study showed that pinyon pine seed cone production declined by an average of about 40 percent at nine study sites in New Mexico and northwestern Oklahoma over the past four decades, said CU-Boulder doctoral student Miranda Redmond, who led the study. The biggest declines in pinyon pine seed cone reproduction were at the higher elevation research sites experiencing more dramatic warming relative to lower elevations, said Redmond of CU's ecology and evolutionary biology department.
"We are finding significant declines in pinyon pine cone production at many of our study sites," said Redmond. "The biggest declines in cone production we measured were in areas with greater increases in temperatures over the past several decades during the March to October growing season."
Temperature and precipitation were recorded at official long-term weather stations located near each of the nine sites. Overall, average temperatures in the study areas have increased by about 2.3 degrees Fahrenheit in the past four decades, she said.
A paper on the subject by Redmond, Assistant Professor Nichole Barger of CU-Boulder and Frank Forcella of the United States Department of Agriculture in Morris, Minn., appeared in a recent issue of the journal Ecosphere, published by the Ecological Society of America. The new study was funded primarily by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to Redmond.
The cones in which the pinyon seeds are produced are initiated two years prior to seed maturity, and research suggests the environmental stimulus for cone initiation is unseasonably low temperatures during the late summer, said Redmond. Between 1969 and 2009, unseasonably low temperatures in late summer decreased in the study areas, likely inhibiting cone initiation and development.
The study is one of the first to examine the impact of climate change on tree species like pinyon pines that, instead of reproducing annually, shed vast quantities of cones every few years during synchronous, episodic occurrences known as "masting" events. Redmond said such masting in the pinyon pine appears to occur every three to seven years, resulting in massive "bumper crops" of cones covering the ground.
In the new Ecosphere study, the researchers compared two 10-year sequences of time. In addition to showing that total pinyon pine cone production during the 2003-2012 decade had declined from the 1969-1978 decade in the study areas, the team found the production of cones during masting events also declined during that period.
Some scientists believe masting events evolved to produce a big surplus of nut-carrying cones -- far too many for wildlife species to consume in a season -- making it more likely the nuts eventually will sprout into pinyon pine seedlings, she said. Others have suggested masting events occur during favorable climate conditions and/or to increase pollination efficiency. "Right now we really don't know what drives them," Redmond said.
"Across a range of forested ecosystems we are observing widespread mortality events due to stressors such as changing climate, drought, insects and fire," said CU's Barger. "This study provides evidence that increasing air temperatures may be influencing the ability of a common and iconic western U.S. tree, pinyon pine, to reproduce. We would predict that declines in pinyon pine cone production may impact the long-term viability of these tree populations."
Wildlife biologists say pinyon-juniper woodlands are popular with scores of bird and mammal species ranging from black-chinned hummingbirds to black bears. A 2007 study by researchers at the University of Northern Arizona estimated that 150 Clark's Nutcrackers cached roughly 5 million pinyon pine nuts in a single season, benefiting not only the birds themselves but also the pines whose nuts were distributed more widely for possible germination.
For the new study, Redmond revisited nine pinyon pine study sites scattered throughout New Mexico and Oklahoma that had been studied previously in 1978 by Forcella. Both Forcella and Redmond were able to document pinyon pine masting years by counting small, concave blemishes known as "abscission scars" on individual tree branches that appeared after the cones have been dropped, she said.
Since each year in the life of a pinyon pine tree is marked by a "whorl" -- a single circle of branches extending around a tree trunk -- the researchers were able to bracket pinyon pine reproductive activity in the nine study areas for the 1969-1978 decade and 2003-2012 decade, which were then compared.
Pinyon pines take three growing seasons, or about 26 months, to produce mature cones from the time of cone initiation. Low elevation conifers including pinyon pines grow in water-limited environments and have been shown to have higher cone output during cool and/or wet summers, said Redmond. In addition to the climate-warming trend under way in the Southwest, the 2002-03 drought caused significant mortality in pinyon pine forests, Redmond said.
"Miranda's ideas and accompanying results will be of value to ecologists and land managers in the deserts of the Southwest and beyond," said Forcella, now a research agronomist in the USDA's Agricultural Research Service. "The work is evidence that the University of Colorado continues to cultivate a cadre of high-caliber graduate students for which it rightfully can take tremendous pride."
Pinyon nuts, the Southwest's only commercial source of edible pine seeds today, were dietary staples of indigenous Americans going back millennia.
###
Contact:
Miranda Redmond, 415-300-6901
Mirandaredmond@gmail.com
Jim Scott, CU-Boulder media relations, 720-381-9479
Jim.Scott@colorado.edu
For more information on CU-Boulder's ecology and evolutionary biology department visit http://ebio.colorado.edu.
-CU-
[ | 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.
Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, learned an important skill when dealing with other people: try to make them laugh, even if you're bad at it, because it distracts everyone from the negative aspects of your personality. Craig explains:
Web browser company Opera Software, now 300 million users strong, caught the world off guard the other week when it announced that it would be 
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Public release date: 12-Feb-2013
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