New York City-based Enigma is trying to help users make sense of it all. And it?s raised $1.1 million in seed funding to get it started. The company, which is still in beta, looks at publicly available and proprietary data sets across multiple providers, including government, real estate, and finance records.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/8J9SPLVAVvs/
bagpipes aspirin aspirin 21 jump street illinois primary results acapulco mexico hines ward
(Reuters) - Barnes & Noble Inc reported a net loss for the holiday quarter, hurt by a sharp decline in sales in its Nook device and e-books business, at the same time that Chairman Leonard Riggio is trying to buy the company's profitable bookstore unit.
The company said earlier this week that Riggio plans to make an offer for the bookstore business, but not its Nook and e-book business and its college bookstores.
Revenue at its Nook business, including e-books and devices, fell 25.9 percent to $316 million in the fiscal third quarter that ended January 26, as it sold fewer e-readers and tablets and had to cut prices. The loss on the Nook business more than doubled to $190.4 million.
The poor results put into question Nook's long-term viability.
"It simply doesn't have the assets to make its tablet a useful productivity tool the way Apple and Google do," Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey said in a note.
Still, Barnes & Noble Chief Executive William Lynch said the company "remains committed" to the Nook devices.
Last year Barnes & Noble carved out Nook and its college bookstore business into a new unit called Nook Media. That has attracted investments from Microsoft Corp and Pearson LLC, but Barnes & Noble still owns 78 percent.
The Nook and college bookstore business has been financing itself since October, rather than needing cash from the retail business, helped by the Microsoft and Pearson investments and cash from the college bookstores, Lynch told analysts on a conference call. That business has about $240 million in cash and no debt, he said.
Digital content sales rose 7 percent in the holiday quarter even though Nook device sales fell, and Barnes & Noble is in discussions for partnerships to sell the digital content it owns, he said.
The company's shares fell in early trading but were up 7 percent after the conference call.
Barnes & Noble, the largest U.S. bookstore chain, launched the first iteration of the Nook e-reader in 2009. At first the device was a hit, winning the retailer as much as 27 percent of the U.S. e-books market.
But more recently, the tablet version of Nook has struggled against rival devices from Amazon.com Inc and Google Inc, which offer far more apps and content and have improved their e-reading functions.
The disastrous holiday performance puts additional pressure to find other investors for Nook.
"The window of opportunity to sell Nook is closing," Morningstar analyst Peter Wahlstrom told Reuters.
Barnes & Noble said that at its namesake book superstores, sales at stores open at least 15 months, excluding Nook products, slipped 2.2 percent in the latest quarter.
At its college bookstores, same-store sales fell 5.2 percent.
The company posted a net loss of $6.1 million, or 18 cents per share, compared with a profit of $52 million, or 71 cents, a year earlier.
Revenue was down 10.3 percent to $2.23 billion, below the $2.4 billion Wall Street was projecting, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
(Reporting by Phil Wahba in Toronto; additional reporting by Brad Dorfman in Chicago; editing by John Wallace)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/barnes-nobles-nook-ebook-sales-fall-25-9-135001554--finance.html
florida primary 2012 super bowl matthew broderick tax refund calculator huntington disease west memphis three taxes
Marie Albiges/The Captain?s Log
Make way, varsity sports?intramurals are quickly becoming the go-to physical activity for students with any ounce of athleticism and competition.
Intramurals, run by the Recreation Services Department, are friendly athletic competitions between the students of Christopher Newport University in the sports of basketball, dodgeball, softball, kickball, volleyball, flag football and soccer. Popular among sororities and fraternities, former athletes and club sports members, former high school athletes and fans of sports, you can be sure the sports fields and Freeman Center are highly populated during any weeknight.
Students form teams or sign up as ?free agents? to be randomly placed on a team, for the cost of $20 per team. A team can have up to 15 players, and there are five weeks of competition, with one by-week so the students can rest. The games are played weeknights from 7-11 p.m. on the athletic fields and in the Freeman Center. During playoffs, a numbered system is used so that the top seeded teams play against the lowest seeded teams. Seeds are determined by the winning record of each team and the strength of the schedule in a division. Each sport is split into divisions and time slots.
Joy Kearney, director of recreational activities since 2008, says that intramurals and the Recreation Services Department have grown tremendously, with an average of 1500 students participating and forming teams each year.
?Every sport is extremely popular,? Kearney says.
Students arrive for registration at the beginning of each semester up to an hour early to ensure their team gets a time slot. Kearney tries to offer as many spots as possible, even adding in a 7 p.m. time slot for soccer and dodgeball.
Many teams make multiple appearances in different sports, racking up points for the Captain?s Cup, a competition to see which team can win the most intramurals in a season. Teams that Kearney has seen repetitively in the past few years include SigEp Raiders, the Rainmakers, the English Muffins and the Jumping Jackalopes.
Kearney, the supervisors and the program assistants stress the importance of sportsmanship in every game. Although competition can get pretty intense, Kearney wants to maintain a friendly, manageable atmosphere. Teams get rated on their level of sportsmanship during every game and cannot advance to the finals if they do not have a score above four.
Tyren Johns, who has worked with and played intramurals for two-and-a-half years, is currently the supervisor for basketball and flag football. He has also played on teams for flag football, basketball and dodgeball and is a two-time basketball intramural champion.
?It?s a good way to get away from schoolwork, have fun and be competitive with other students,? Johns says. ?I love the atmosphere that intramural recreation brings to the students.? He says that students take a lot of pride in their team and thrive from the competition. ?It really is all about the shirt,? Johns says, referring to the coveted intramural champion shirts that each member of the winning team receives. Rec Services? new slogan, which is the design of the shirts this year, is ?I got 99 problems but my game ain?t one.?
Prospective plans for the future of intramurals include adding the sports of floor hockey and ultimate Frisbee in tournaments along with the current tournaments of badminton and table tennis.
The playoffs for this season?s intramural games begin the week after Spring Break.
Source: http://www.thecaptainslog.org/2013/sports/intramurals-changing-the-face-of-competitive-sports/
national weather service weather channel Rivals beyonce Kaepernick Eddie Vanderdoes finish line
Feb. 26, 2013 ? Scientists have long been dreaming about building a computer that would work like a brain. This is because a brain is far more energy-saving than a computer, it can learn by itself, and it doesn't need any programming. Privatdozent [senior lecturer] Dr. Andy Thomas from Bielefeld University's Faculty of Physics is experimenting with memristors -- electronic microcomponents that imitate natural nerves. Thomas and his colleagues have demonstrated that they could do this a year ago. They constructed a memristor that is capable of learning. Andy Thomas is now using his memristors as key components in a blueprint for an artificial brain.
He will be presenting his results at the beginning of March in the print edition of the Journal of Physics published by the Institute of Physics in London.
Memristors are made of fine nanolayers and can be used to connect electric circuits. For several years now, the memristor has been considered to be the electronic equivalent of the synapse. Synapses are, so to speak, the bridges across which nerve cells (neurons) contact each other. Their connections increase in strength the more often they are used. Usually, one nerve cell is connected to other nerve cells across thousands of synapses.
Like synapses, memristors learn from earlier impulses. In their case, these are electrical impulses that (as yet) do not come from nerve cells but from the electric circuits to which they are connected. The amount of current a memristor allows to pass depends on how strong the current was that flowed through it in the past and how long it was exposed to it.
Andy Thomas explains that because of their similarity to synapses, memristors are particularly suitable for building an artificial brain -- a new generation of computers. 'They allow us to construct extremely energy-efficient and robust processors that are able to learn by themselves.' Based on his own experiments and research findings from biology and physics, his article is the first to summarize which principles taken from nature need to be transferred to technological systems if such a neuromorphic (nerve like) computer is to function. Such principles are that memristors, just like synapses, have to 'note' earlier impulses, and that neurons react to an impulse only when it passes a certain threshold.
Thanks to these properties, synapses can be used to reconstruct the brain process responsible for learning, says Andy Thomas. He takes the classic psychological experiment with Pavlov's dog as an example. The experiment shows how you can link the natural reaction to a stimulus that elicits a reflex response with what is initially a neutral stimulus -- this is how learning takes place. If the dog sees food, it reacts by salivating. If the dog hears a bell ring every time it sees food, this neutral stimulus will become linked to the stimulus eliciting a reflex response. As a result, the dog will also salivate when it hears only the bell ringing and no food is in sight. The reason for this is that the nerve cells in the brain that transport the stimulus eliciting a reflex response have strong synaptic links with the nerve cells that trigger the reaction.
If the neutral bell-ringing stimulus is introduced at the same time as the food stimulus, the dog will learn. The control mechanism in the brain now assumes that the nerve cells transporting the neutral stimulus (bell ringing) are also responsible for the reaction -- the link between the actually 'neutral' nerve cell and the 'salivation' nerve cell also becomes stronger. This link can be trained by repeatedly bringing together the stimulus eliciting a reflex response and the neutral stimulus. 'You can also construct such a circuit with memristors -- this is a first step towards a neuromorphic processor,' says Andy Thomas.
'This is all possible because a memristor can store information more precisely than the bits on which previous computer processors have been based,' says Thomas. Both a memristor and a bit work with electrical impulses. However, a bit does not allow any fine adjustment -- it can only work with 'on' and 'off'. In contrast, a memristor can raise or lower its resistance continuously. 'This is how memristors deliver a basis for the gradual learning and forgetting of an artificial brain,' explains Thomas.
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Universitaet Bielefeld.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
chicago marathon Johnny Depp Dead college football rankings Steel Magnolias Niels Bohr the Rumble 2012 Columbus Day 2012
In the latest episode of my Foundation video series, I talk with Smitten Ice Cream Founder Robyn Sue Fisher. Robyn Sue explains how she built a solid alumni network at the Stanford d.school, why she turned down a job with the FBI to become an entrepreneur, and the secrets behind the Kelvin, her one-of-a-kind instant ice cream freezer.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/CI7KDmWBLSE/
the river dr dog ke$ha earl csco big bend national park leon russell
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 26-Feb-2013
Share ] Contact: Kea Giles
kgiles@geosociety.org
Geological Society of America
Boulder, CO, USA - As manuscripts for this new contribution to GSA's Reviews in Engineering Geology series were about to be submitted for publication, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation turned off the generators to the Elwha Dam in Washington State. Editors Jerome De Graff of the U.S. Forest Service and James Evans of Bowling Green State University write, "It seems fitting that publication of this volume and the actual start of restoration on the Elwha River should coincide."
River restoration is a societal goal in the United States. This collection of 14 research papers focuses on what is currently known about the impacts of removing dams and the role of dam removal in the larger context of river restoration.
In their preface, De Graff and Evans write, "It would be easy for people who are only familiar with dam removal and river restoration from the popular media perspective to see these issues as a new controversy arising from environmental concerns. The first paper in this volume, 'Dam removal: A history of decision points,' by Laura Wildman, convincingly demonstrates that controversy over dam removal and construction has a very long history in the United States."
The books' 14 chapters, say the editors, "collectively illustrate that construction, modification, and removal of dams represent a continuum of overlapping human interactions with the environment. The longevity of most dams, and the magnitude of the hydrological and sedimentological response to these human interactions with the environment, make these case studies outstanding examples of the concept of humans as geological agents."
Chapters are grouped by topic: (1) assessment of existing dams, strategies to determine impounded legacy sediments, and evaluating whether or not to remove the dams; (2) case studies of the hydrologic, sediment, and ecosystem impacts of recent dam removals; (3) assessment of river restoration by modifying flows or removing dams; and (4) the concept of river restoration in the context of historic changes in river systems.
Case studies include the Elwha River Restoration Project, northwestern Washington State; San Clemente Dam in Carmel, California; Klamath River Dams in the U.S. Pacific Northwest; Merrimack Village Dam, Souhegan River, New Hampshire; Munroe Falls Dam on the Middle Cuyahoga River, Ohio; Palisades Dam on the Snake River, Idaho; Savage Rapids Dam, Rogue River, Oregon, USA; urban stream restoration in Springfield, Ohio; low-head dam removal on the Ottawa River, Ohio; small dams along Chileno Creek in central California; and the "rise and fall" of mid-Atlantic streams.
###
Individual copies of the volume may be purchased through The Geological Society of America online bookstore, http://www.geosociety.org/bookstore/default.asp?oID=0&catID=11&pID=REG021, or by contacting GSA Sales and Service, gsaservice@geosociety.org.
Book editors of earth science journals/publications may request a review copy by contacting April Leo, aleo@geosociety.org.
The Challenges of Dam Removal and River Restoration
Jerome V. De Graff and James E. Evans (editors)
Geological Society of America Reviews in Engineering Geology Volume 21
REG021, 203 p., $80.00; Member price $64.00
ISBN 978-0-8137-4121-5
www.geosociety.org
[ | 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: 26-Feb-2013 Share ] Contact: Kea Giles
kgiles@geosociety.org
Geological Society of America
Boulder, CO, USA - As manuscripts for this new contribution to GSA's Reviews in Engineering Geology series were about to be submitted for publication, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation turned off the generators to the Elwha Dam in Washington State. Editors Jerome De Graff of the U.S. Forest Service and James Evans of Bowling Green State University write, "It seems fitting that publication of this volume and the actual start of restoration on the Elwha River should coincide."
River restoration is a societal goal in the United States. This collection of 14 research papers focuses on what is currently known about the impacts of removing dams and the role of dam removal in the larger context of river restoration.
In their preface, De Graff and Evans write, "It would be easy for people who are only familiar with dam removal and river restoration from the popular media perspective to see these issues as a new controversy arising from environmental concerns. The first paper in this volume, 'Dam removal: A history of decision points,' by Laura Wildman, convincingly demonstrates that controversy over dam removal and construction has a very long history in the United States."
The books' 14 chapters, say the editors, "collectively illustrate that construction, modification, and removal of dams represent a continuum of overlapping human interactions with the environment. The longevity of most dams, and the magnitude of the hydrological and sedimentological response to these human interactions with the environment, make these case studies outstanding examples of the concept of humans as geological agents."
Chapters are grouped by topic: (1) assessment of existing dams, strategies to determine impounded legacy sediments, and evaluating whether or not to remove the dams; (2) case studies of the hydrologic, sediment, and ecosystem impacts of recent dam removals; (3) assessment of river restoration by modifying flows or removing dams; and (4) the concept of river restoration in the context of historic changes in river systems.
Case studies include the Elwha River Restoration Project, northwestern Washington State; San Clemente Dam in Carmel, California; Klamath River Dams in the U.S. Pacific Northwest; Merrimack Village Dam, Souhegan River, New Hampshire; Munroe Falls Dam on the Middle Cuyahoga River, Ohio; Palisades Dam on the Snake River, Idaho; Savage Rapids Dam, Rogue River, Oregon, USA; urban stream restoration in Springfield, Ohio; low-head dam removal on the Ottawa River, Ohio; small dams along Chileno Creek in central California; and the "rise and fall" of mid-Atlantic streams.
###
Individual copies of the volume may be purchased through The Geological Society of America online bookstore, http://www.geosociety.org/bookstore/default.asp?oID=0&catID=11&pID=REG021, or by contacting GSA Sales and Service, gsaservice@geosociety.org.
Book editors of earth science journals/publications may request a review copy by contacting April Leo, aleo@geosociety.org.
The Challenges of Dam Removal and River Restoration
Jerome V. De Graff and James E. Evans (editors)
Geological Society of America Reviews in Engineering Geology Volume 21
REG021, 203 p., $80.00; Member price $64.00
ISBN 978-0-8137-4121-5
www.geosociety.org
[ | 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/2013-02/gsoa-tot022613.php
the third man 2012 nfl draft order mohamed sanu chris polk chicago bulls st louis blues rueben randle
Facebook boosts iOS SDK With better analytics. RightScale to offer first level support for Google Compute Engine. Plus: Google launches Sign In with Google Plus, Dribbble API gets a jQuery plugin?and 11 new APIs.
The latest update include additional usage metrics, ad optimization, enhanced error handling and integrating web dialogs,?Feed Dialog and?Requests Dialog, without invoking deprecated headers.?The latest SDK can log additional usage metrics like iOS 6 native share sheet and built-in native UI controls usage. The team is also working on Conversion measurement to help measure and optimize the return on investment of?Facebook Ads by reporting on the actions people take after viewing those ads.?The iOS Dev Center is also revamped to enable quick access to resources to build out apps.
Google Compute Engine, which was released in June last year is widely seen by many as having the infrastructure to challenge Amazon Web Services. To help companies transition to their infrastructure, Google has appointed RightScale as the first partner to provide first level support. RightScale, which provides a monitoring solution for public and private clouds is well positioned to service this need. ?People can come to us for onboarding and for full 24 /7 support to add to [support options] that Google just offered,? said RightScale CEO?Michael Crandell. RightScale can also help companies design and architect their solutions.
we had 11 new APIs added to our API directory including a bookkeeping software for entrepreneurs, telephone call tracking service, community music service, promotional chat service, event search service, taxi fare estimate service, text analysis service, site metrics service, online payment system, free text translation service, yandex-specific search engine optimization tools, . Below is more details on each of these new APIs.
Billy?s Billing API: Billy?s Billing creates bookkeeping software for small businesses and startups. The Billy?s Billing API provides a RESTful interface for developers to automate the manipulation of bookkeeping resources. Resources include invoices, contacts, payments, products, schedules, transactions, accounts, and more. Requests and responses are JSON formatted.
Call Tracking Metrics API: The service provides telephone call tracking for marketing and promotional campaigns. It associates a phone number with each campaign and routes any call properly while linking the caller to the campaign distribution list so a representative receives full information about that person while handling the call. Call logs also help with campaign performance analysis and measurement of ROI for marketing expenditures.
API methods support linking incoming phone calls to marketing campaigns that initiated them and individual callers. Methods return customer information and other data related to the call and the campaign to guide representatives in interacting with the caller. Reporting functions support retrieval of call logs and related data for measuring campaign effectiveness.
ccmixter Sample Pool API: ccmixter is a community music remixing site that contains remixes and samples licensed under Creative Commons licenses. The Sample Pool API allows two media hosting servers to keep track of when one uses samples from another. The services uses REST calls and returns XML. The returning XML is in the form of a feed (RSS or Atom) with enclosures for downloading media.
Gaglers API: The service provides chat functionality specifically intended for sales interactions and product promotion. It emphasizes quick, responsive contacts during the purchase decision process to increase the effectiveness of e-commerce and online marketing. The service also includes email capabilities.
API methods support initiating a chat session and managing message exchanges via Javascript that embeds the service with e-commerce system displays. Methods also support managing email exchanges between buyers and seller representatives. The API supports the GTalk and XMPP/Jabber protocols and emphasizes integration with mobile device platforms.
LairOut API: LairOut is a web based event directory. It is a simple and only requires two search criteria ? location and date. The use of homepage maps instantly allows the user to view all events of interest in an area. The LairOut API allows the user to call LairOut for event information. The service uses REST calls and will return XML, JSON, or JSONP. An account is required with service.
TaxiMe API: TaxiMe is a cost estimate service that uses Google Maps to calculate cab fare. The site is based in Canada but provides cost and trip information for major U.S. cities. The TaxiMe API allows users to get cab contacts and rates for different cities. The services uses REST calls and returns JSON.
TextRazor API: The service provides analysis of selected text passages to identify named entities and statements of fact with disambiguation to distinguish similar text strings. It applies machine learning algorithms and natural language processing to connect a text sample with a knowledge base and identify known elements and their relationships.
API methods support submission of a text sample to be parsed. Methods identify text strings associated with known named entities and detail the relationships and dependencies between them by type. Methods also identify synonyms for identified terms and topics or themes referenced in the text sample.
Yandex Metrica API: Yandex is a major Russia-based internet company and search engine with the stated mission of answering any question internet users may have. In 2012 Yandex handled the majority of all search traffic in Russia.
Yandex.Metrica is a free website metrics service. Metrica enables site owners to analyze user behavior, evaluate advertising efficiency, and monitor effectiveness indicators. The Yandex.Metrica API provides developers with an interface to automate Metrica services such as acquiring visitation statistics, creating counters, and setting goals.
Yandex Money API: Yandex is a major Russia-based internet company and search engine with the stated mission of answering any question internet users may have. In 2012 Yandex handled the majority of all search traffic in Russia.
Yandex.Money is an online payment system allowing merchants and customers to sell and purchase goods and services. The Yandex.Money API provides a developer interface for automating manipulation of Yandex.Money accounts. Exposed resources include payment, payment history analysis, and transaction history synchronization.
Yandex Translate API: Yandex is a major Russia-based internet company and search engine with the stated mission of answering any question internet users may have. In 2012 Yandex handled the majority of all search traffic in Russia.
Yandex.Translate is a free online text translation service. The Yandex.Translate API provides developer access to text translation services including language detection. Six language pairs are currently supported, including English-Russian. Responses may be JSON, JSONP, or XML formatted.
Yandex Webmaster API: Yandex is a major Russia-based internet company and search engine with the stated mission of answering any question internet users may have. In 2012 Yandex handled the majority of all search traffic in Russia.
Yandex.Webmaster is a service allowing website owners to notify Yandex of new or deleted pages, improve the site?s search results representation, and configure site indexing. The Yandex.Webmaster API provides a RESTful interface for developers to automate Yandex.Webmaster user data manipulation.
Washington Election Results drudge report Presidential Election 2012 Incumbent politico Tammy Baldwin house of representatives
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Syria is ready for talks with its armed opponents, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said on Monday, in the clearest offer yet of negotiations with rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.
But Moualem said at the same time Syria would pursue its fight "against terrorism", alluding to the conflict with rebels in which the United Nations says 70,000 people have been killed.
Assad and his foes are locked in a bloody stalemate after nearly two years of combat, destruction and civilian suffering.
"We are ready for dialogue with everyone who wants it...Even with those who have weapons in their hands. Because we believe that reforms will not come through bloodshed but only through dialogue," Russia's Itar-Tass news agency quoted Moualem as saying.
He was speaking in Moscow at a meeting with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Russia is a staunch ally of Assad.
Moaz Alkhatib, head of the opposition Syrian National Coalition, said in Cairo he had not had held any contacts about talks with Damascus, but had postponed trips to Russia and the United States "until we see how things develop".
Syria's government and the political opposition have both suggested in recent weeks they are prepared for some contacts - softening their previous outright rejection of talks to resolve a conflict which has driven nearly a million Syrians out of the country and left millions more homeless and hungry.
But the opposition has said any political solution must be based on the removal of Assad, whose family has ruled Syria since 1970. Rebel fighters, who do not answer to Alkhatib, are even more insistent that Assad must go before any talks start.
Brigadier Selim Idris, head of a rebel military command, demanded a complete ceasefire, the president's departure and the trial of his security and military chiefs as preconditions for negotiations. "We will not go (into talks) unless these demands are realized," he told Al Arabiya Television.
Damascus has rejected any preconditions for talks aimed at ending the violence, which started as a peaceful pro-democracy uprising in March 2011 inspired by Arab revolts elsewhere.
"SYRIAN COLLAPSE"
The two sides also differ on the location for any talks, with the opposition saying they should be abroad or in rebel-held parts of Syria. Assad's government says any serious dialogue must be held on Syrian territory under its control.
Adding to the difficulty of any negotiated settlement is the lack of influence that Syria's political opposition - mostly operating outside the country - has over rebels inside.
"We are following the development of events ... with alarm," Lavrov said. "In our evaluation the situation is at a kind of crossroads. There are those who have set a course for further bloodshed and an escalation of conflict. This is fraught with the risk of the collapse of the Syrian state and society.
"But there are also reasonable forces that increasingly acutely understand the need for the swiftest possible start of talks ... In these conditions the need for the Syrian leadership to continue to consistently advocate the start of dialogue, and not allow provocations to prevail, is strongly increasing."
Lavrov's warning that the Syrian state could founder appeared aimed to show that Russia is pressing Assad's government to seek a negotiated solution while continuing to lay much of the blame for the persistent violence on his opponents.
Russia has distanced itself from Assad and has stepped up its calls for dialogue as his prospects of retaining power have decreased, but insists that his exit must not be a precondition.
Itar-Tass did not report any other comments by Syria's Moualem on the chances for talks or on any conditions attached.
"What's happening in Syria is a war against terrorism," the agency quoted him as saying. "We will strongly adhere to a peaceful course and continue to fight against terrorism."
The Syrian National Coalition said on Friday it was willing to negotiate a peace deal, but insisted Assad could not be party to it - a demand that the president looks sure to reject.
U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said Assad had told him he intended to remain president until his term ends in 2014 and would then run for re-election.
The political chasm between the government and rebels and a lack of opposition influence over rebel fighters has allowed fighting to rage on for 23 months in Syria, while international diplomatic deadlock has prevented effective intervention.
Moualem's comments echoed remarks last week by Minister for National Reconciliation Ali Haidar, who said he was ready to meet the armed opposition. But Haidar drew a distinction between what said might be "preparatory talks" and formal negotiations.
Assad, announcing plans last month for a national dialogue to address the crisis, said that there would be no dialogue with people he called traitors or "puppets made by the West".
Moualem made his remarks a day after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry began a nine-nation tour of European and Arab nations in which the Syria conflict will be a main focus.
Kerry plans to meet Lavrov in Berlin on Tuesday and Syrian opposition leaders at a conference in Rome on Thursday, although it is unclear whether all will attend amid internal rows over the value of such international meetings while violence goes on.
(Additional reporting by Yasmine Saleh in Cairo; Writing by Dominic Evans; Editing by Alistair Lyon)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-government-says-ready-talk-armed-opposition-agency-091612112.html
Joey Kovar Expendables 2 Pussy Riot National Hurricane Center Zeek Rewards vanessa bryant vanessa bryant
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan security forces shot dead at least one would-be suicide bomber on Sunday in a high-security area of Kabul, home to government departments and diplomatic missions, police said.
Violence across the country has increased over the last 12 months, sparking concern about how the 350,000-strong Afghan security forces will manage once most foreign troops withdraw by the end of 2014.
The attack, one of four in Afghanistan early on Sunday, happened near a construction site that was stormed by Taliban gunmen in April last year. That assault triggered a nine-hour attack in which the insurgents fired rockets at western embassies and nearby hotels frequented by foreigners.
The man shot dead on Sunday was in a stationary four-wheel-drive vehicle in the suburb of Sherpur when officers from the country's intelligence agency, National Directorate of Security (NDS) fired at the car, killing him.
The would-be bomber was carrying a gun and wearing an explosive-laden vest when he was shot dead, Kabul police chief General Ayoub Salangi told Reuters.
The car was also packed with explosives. Security forces were still attempting to defuse it an hour later.
The attack came on the same morning as bombings in the eastern provinces of Nangarhar and Logar.
In the capital of Nangarhar, Jalalabad, two NDS guards were killed and three others wounded when a car carrying explosives was detonated at a compound used by the intelligence agency.
In Logar an attacker detonated a van packed with explosives at a highway checkpoint, wounding three police officers.
Later on Sunday morning, a man in a suicide vest blew himself up outside a district police office, wounding another police officer.
No one has claimed responsibility for the Kabul incident but the Taliban took credit for the attacks in the eastern provinces via text message.
In January six suicide bombers attacked an NDS compound in downtown Kabul, killing two guards.
Less than a week later, attackers stormed the headquarters of Kabul's traffic police and engaged in an eight-hour gun battle with security forces before being killed.
(Reporting by Hamid Shalizi; Writing by Dylan Welch; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bomber-killed-near-afghan-capitals-diplomatic-zone-police-071922255.html
Meteor Russia jay z Oscar Pistorius Carnival Triumph charles barkley valentines valentines day
'It's going to be different,' the 'Harry Potter' star says of his special, surprise role in Sunday's ceremony.
By Kevin P. Sullivan, with reporting by Josh Horowitz
Daniel Radcliffe attends the 2013 Film Independent Spirit Awards
Photo: Getty Images
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1702496/oscar-2013-daniel-radcliffe-presenter.jhtml
academy awards 2012 albert nobbs a star is born oscar nominees oscar nominations 2012 kombucha tea separation of church and state
Public release date: 24-Feb-2013 Share ] Contact: Genevieve Maul
gm349@admin.cam.ac.uk
44-012-237-65542
University of Cambridge
Psychogenic diseases, formerly known as 'hysterical' illnesses, can have many severe symptoms such as painful cramps or paralysis but without any physical explanation. However, new research from the University of Cambridge and UCL (University College London) suggests that individuals with psychogenic disease, that is to say physical illness that stems from emotional or mental stresses, do have brains that function differently. The research was published today, 25 February, in the journal Brain.
Psychogenic diseases may look very similar to illnesses caused by damage to nerves, the brain or the muscles, or similar to genetic diseases of the nervous system. However, unlike organic diseases, psychogenic diseases do not have any apparent physical cause, making them difficult to diagnose and even more difficult to treat.
"The processes leading to these disorders are poorly understood, complex and highly variable. As a result, treatments are also complex, often lengthy and in many cases there is poor recovery. In order to improve treatment of these disorders, it is important to first understand the underlying mechanism," said Dr James Rowe from the University of Cambridge.
The study looked at people with either psychogenic or organic dystonia, as well as healthy people with no dystonia. Both types of dystonia caused painful and disabling muscle contractions affecting the leg. The organic patient group had a gene mutation (the DYT1 gene) that caused their dystonia. The psychogenic patients had the symptoms of dystonia but did not have any physical explanation for the disease, even after extensive investigations.
The scientists performed PET brain scans on the volunteers at UCL, to measure the blood flow and brain activity of both of the groups, and healthy volunteers. The participants were scanned with three different foot positions: resting, moving their foot, and holding their leg in a dystonic position. The electrical activity of the leg muscles was measured at the same time to determine which muscles were engaged during the scans.
The researchers found that the brain function of individuals with the psychogenic illness was not normal. The changes were, however, very different from the brains of individuals with the organic (genetic) disease.
Dr Anette Schrag, from UCL, said: "Finding abnormalities of brain function that are very different from those in the organic form of dystonia opens up a way for researchers to learn how psychological factors can, by changing brain function, lead to physical problems."
Dr Rowe added: "What struck me was just how very different the abnormal brain function was in patients with the genetic and the psychogenic dystonia. Even more striking was that the differences were there all the time, whether the patients were resting or trying to move."
Additionally, the researchers found that one part of the brain previously thought to indicate psychogenic disease is unreliable: abnormal activity of the prefrontal cortex was thought to be the hallmark of psychogenic diseases. In this study, the scientists showed that this abnormality is not unique to psychogenic disease, since activity was also present in the patients with the genetic cause of dystonia when they tried to move their foot.
Dr Arpan Mehta, from the University of Cambridge, said: "It is interesting that, despite the differences, both types of patient had one thing in common - a problem at the front of the brain. This area controls attention to our movements and although the abnormality is not unique to psychogenic dystonia, it is part of the problem."
This type of illness is very common. Dr Schrag said: "One in six patients that see a neurologist has a psychogenic illness. They are as ill as someone with organic disease, but with a different cause and different treatment needs. Understanding these disorders, diagnosing them early and finding the right treatment are all clearly very important. We are hopeful that these results might help doctors and patients understand the mechanism leading to this disorder, and guide better treatments."
###
For additional information please contact:
Genevieve Maul, Office of Communications, University of Cambridge
Tel: direct, 44-0-1223-332300
Mob: 44-0-7774-017464
Notes to editors:
1. The paper 'The functional neuroimaging correlates of psychogenic versus organic dystonia' will be published in the 25 February edition of Brain.
2. The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation dedicated to achieving extraordinary improvements in human and animal health. It supports the brightest minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities. The Trust's breadth of support includes public engagement, education and the application of research to improve health. It is independent of both political and commercial interests. www.wellcome.ac.uk
3. About UCL (University College London)
Founded in 1826, UCL was the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to admit students regardless of race, class, religion or gender and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine.
We are among the world's top universities, as reflected by our performance in a range of international rankings and tables. According to the Thomson Scientific Citation Index, UCL is the second most highly cited European university and the 15th most highly cited in the world.
UCL has nearly 25,000 students from 150 countries and more than 9,000 employees, of whom one third are from outside the UK. The university is based in Bloomsbury in the heart of London, but also has two international campuses UCL Australia and UCL Qatar. Our annual income is more than 800 million.
www.ucl.ac.uk | Follow us on Twitter @uclnews | Watch our YouTube channel YouTube.com/UCLTV
[ | 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: 24-Feb-2013 Share ] Contact: Genevieve Maul
gm349@admin.cam.ac.uk
44-012-237-65542
University of Cambridge
Psychogenic diseases, formerly known as 'hysterical' illnesses, can have many severe symptoms such as painful cramps or paralysis but without any physical explanation. However, new research from the University of Cambridge and UCL (University College London) suggests that individuals with psychogenic disease, that is to say physical illness that stems from emotional or mental stresses, do have brains that function differently. The research was published today, 25 February, in the journal Brain.
Psychogenic diseases may look very similar to illnesses caused by damage to nerves, the brain or the muscles, or similar to genetic diseases of the nervous system. However, unlike organic diseases, psychogenic diseases do not have any apparent physical cause, making them difficult to diagnose and even more difficult to treat.
"The processes leading to these disorders are poorly understood, complex and highly variable. As a result, treatments are also complex, often lengthy and in many cases there is poor recovery. In order to improve treatment of these disorders, it is important to first understand the underlying mechanism," said Dr James Rowe from the University of Cambridge.
The study looked at people with either psychogenic or organic dystonia, as well as healthy people with no dystonia. Both types of dystonia caused painful and disabling muscle contractions affecting the leg. The organic patient group had a gene mutation (the DYT1 gene) that caused their dystonia. The psychogenic patients had the symptoms of dystonia but did not have any physical explanation for the disease, even after extensive investigations.
The scientists performed PET brain scans on the volunteers at UCL, to measure the blood flow and brain activity of both of the groups, and healthy volunteers. The participants were scanned with three different foot positions: resting, moving their foot, and holding their leg in a dystonic position. The electrical activity of the leg muscles was measured at the same time to determine which muscles were engaged during the scans.
The researchers found that the brain function of individuals with the psychogenic illness was not normal. The changes were, however, very different from the brains of individuals with the organic (genetic) disease.
Dr Anette Schrag, from UCL, said: "Finding abnormalities of brain function that are very different from those in the organic form of dystonia opens up a way for researchers to learn how psychological factors can, by changing brain function, lead to physical problems."
Dr Rowe added: "What struck me was just how very different the abnormal brain function was in patients with the genetic and the psychogenic dystonia. Even more striking was that the differences were there all the time, whether the patients were resting or trying to move."
Additionally, the researchers found that one part of the brain previously thought to indicate psychogenic disease is unreliable: abnormal activity of the prefrontal cortex was thought to be the hallmark of psychogenic diseases. In this study, the scientists showed that this abnormality is not unique to psychogenic disease, since activity was also present in the patients with the genetic cause of dystonia when they tried to move their foot.
Dr Arpan Mehta, from the University of Cambridge, said: "It is interesting that, despite the differences, both types of patient had one thing in common - a problem at the front of the brain. This area controls attention to our movements and although the abnormality is not unique to psychogenic dystonia, it is part of the problem."
This type of illness is very common. Dr Schrag said: "One in six patients that see a neurologist has a psychogenic illness. They are as ill as someone with organic disease, but with a different cause and different treatment needs. Understanding these disorders, diagnosing them early and finding the right treatment are all clearly very important. We are hopeful that these results might help doctors and patients understand the mechanism leading to this disorder, and guide better treatments."
###
For additional information please contact:
Genevieve Maul, Office of Communications, University of Cambridge
Tel: direct, 44-0-1223-332300
Mob: 44-0-7774-017464
Notes to editors:
1. The paper 'The functional neuroimaging correlates of psychogenic versus organic dystonia' will be published in the 25 February edition of Brain.
2. The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation dedicated to achieving extraordinary improvements in human and animal health. It supports the brightest minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities. The Trust's breadth of support includes public engagement, education and the application of research to improve health. It is independent of both political and commercial interests. www.wellcome.ac.uk
3. About UCL (University College London)
Founded in 1826, UCL was the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to admit students regardless of race, class, religion or gender and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine.
We are among the world's top universities, as reflected by our performance in a range of international rankings and tables. According to the Thomson Scientific Citation Index, UCL is the second most highly cited European university and the 15th most highly cited in the world.
UCL has nearly 25,000 students from 150 countries and more than 9,000 employees, of whom one third are from outside the UK. The university is based in Bloomsbury in the heart of London, but also has two international campuses UCL Australia and UCL Qatar. Our annual income is more than 800 million.
www.ucl.ac.uk | Follow us on Twitter @uclnews | Watch our YouTube channel YouTube.com/UCLTV
[ | 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/2013-02/uoc-pft022213.php
justin timberlake taylor swift taylor swift Ed Sheeran Fun carrie underwood jack white
Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.
Source: http://www.geordies.net/story.php?title=football---saints-pair-ready-to-return
blake griffin pau gasol marlins park marbury v. madison 2013 lincoln mkz burger king mary j blige google project glass
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Some dressed down in jeans and hoodies. Others looked camera-ready in suits or chic dresses and spiky stilettos.
But all of the stars who rehearsed Saturday for the 85th Academy Awards seemed excited about being a part of the big show.
They paraded through the Dolby Theatre in 15-minute increments: Meryl Streep. Ben Affleck. Reese Witherspoon. Richard Gere. Jennifer Aniston. John Travolta. Nicole Kidman. Jack Nicholson. And dozens more.
Each practiced their lines in front of an audience of show workers and awarded prop Oscars to rehearsal actors. They also scanned the theater from the stage, searching for their show-night seats.
"Oh, wow. That's a very dramatic picture of me," best-actress nominee Jessica Chastain said after spotting her seat-saving placard. "I'm looking at everyone's headshots. It's kind of incredible."
Affleck confessed his excitement from the stage as he looked out at all the famous faces expected Sunday.
"This is like the most memorable aspect of the Oscars," the "Argo" director said. "You see all these place cards (at rehearsal), then you come back and they're all here!"
Affleck also chatted backstage with the college students who won a contest to serve as trophy carriers during the ceremony.
"I love that," he said. "It's super cool."
Travolta also took time with the students.
"I was there when that idea was born and I said it was the best idea they could possibly come up with," he told the aspiring filmmakers backstage. "And here you are!"
Travolta plans to bring his 13-year-old daughter, Ella Bleu, to the ceremony.
Kidman made rehearsals a family affair. Husband Keith Urban and their eldest daughter, Sunday, watched from the audience as Kidman ran through her lines.
She looked impeccable in a wine-colored dress and tall, metallic shoes, but other stars were decidedly more casual. Kristen Stewart arrived in jeans, sneakers and a backward ballcap. (She also limped on an injured right foot.) Renee Zellweger also opted for comfort in jeans and running shoes.
The cast of "Chicago," including Gere, Zellweger, Queen Latifah and Catherine Zeta-Jones, injected their rehearsal with silliness. Latifah purposely over-enunciated her lines, and when a pair of rehearsal actors claimed an Oscar onstage and gave an acceptance speech, Zeta-Jones started to play them off with an imaginary violin.
"Get outta here!" Gere said with a smile.
Octavia Spencer, who won the supporting actress Oscar last year for her performance in "The Help," also had a little fun.
"I'm going to do a soft-shoe," she said, shuffling off stage.
Streep and Jane Fonda were each wowed by the set design. Fonda snapped a photo of it with her iPhone, and Streep marveled at how far the walk to the microphone was.
"All the way to here?!" she asked. "Oh my God."
Halle Berry literally stumbled during her first rehearsal, her pointy heel catching on part of the stage. She insisted on trying again.
"Woo hoo," she said. "Made it."
___
AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen is on Twitter: www.twitter.com/APSandy .
___
Online:
www.oscars.org
Jane Fonda even took a picture of the stage with her iPhone.
The Academy Awards will be presented Sunday and broadcast live on ABC.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dozens-stars-spend-saturday-oscar-rehearsals-122038692.html
Dicks Sporting Good office max office max jcp Sports Authority Hollister old navy
LINCOLN, Neb. ? The narrative to Iowa?s men?s basketball season now has gone to press.
Only an epilogue erasing the entire campaign can rewrite the season ? or a game ? like Saturday?s 64-60 tragic collapse at Nebraska. The latest installment of epic defeats featured the Hawkeyes (17-10, 6-8 Big Ten) blowing a 19-point, first-half lead on the road against the Big Ten?s worst scoring offense. It featured a stunning reversal of execution, energy and effectiveness.
It was the loss that likely will keep Iowa from the NCAA tournament for the seventh straight season. But it was just like all the others.
Saturday, Nebraska point guard Dylan Talley nailed a 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock with nine seconds left to give the Cornhuskers (13-14, 4-10) a 63-60 lead. Iowa?s Mike Gesell tried to tie the game with a 3-pointer of his own, but the shot went long and bounced over the backboard. Nebraska inbounded, Ray Gallegos was fouled and knocked down one of two free throws to seal the win.
Players line up for the presentation of colors and playing of the "Star-Spangled Banner" on Saturday at Devaney Center in Lincoln, Neb.
?It hurts,? Iowa senior Eric May said. ?I expected to win this game.?
The outcome fit into a similar mosaic of Iowa?s season. The Hawkeyes led by 12 in the first half and inside of two minutes against Michigan State before losing by three. Iowa blew a four-point lead and a last-second chance to win in overtime at Purdue. The Hawkeyes allowed up a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left to give up the lead and ultimately the win 62-59 at Minnesota. Iowa led Wisconsin by nine with six minutes to at Kohl Center before a late 3-pointer tied the game, and the Badgers won in double overtime.
?If you look down at the schedule, all of those close ?games have an impact on the NCAA tournament chances,? Iowa sophomore Aaron White said. ?You don?t think about that now, but obviously when you look back, you look at the resume at the end of the season, we?re going to look at it frustrated because what is it, five possessions in six games, maybe??
?Out of all the shots, that one was the most difficult one,? Iowa junior Devyn Marble said. ?At least we made him make the shot. At Minnesota, it was kind of an open shot in with a good shooter in Hollins. Wisconsin, it wasn?t as bad, but it wasn?t as good of defense as today was. We try to give credit.?
But Saturday?s damages Iowa?s NCAA hopes more than any of the others. Nebraska already had clinched a losing Big Ten season. In three consecutive possessions, May and Marble (two) sank 3-pointers to put Iowa up 41-22 with 48 seconds left in the half. Nebraska?s Shavon Shields got to the rim on the next possession and was fouled by Iowa?s Adam Woodbury. Shields made the basket and the free throw, but Iowa was up 16 at halftime.
That?s when the game changed. Nebraska?s focus, center Brandon Ubel said, was increasing the energy level. Iowa instead slipped into complacency. Nebraska shot 62.5 percent in the second half, while Iowa sank just 28 percent from the floor.
?The second half, we just weren?t ready to play,? said Iowa guard Mike Gesell, a South Sioux City, Neb., native. ?Coach (Fran McCaffery) emphasized at halftime that we?ve really got to come out and play tough the first four minutes, and I think we did the exact opposite. We blew our lead right away. That?s something that you can?t do.?
Nebraska trimmed at Iowa?s lead before cutting its deficit to 53-50 with 7:17 left. Marble twice answered with a pair of jumpers to keep the Hawkeyes in the lead at 57-52 with 4:45 remaining. But the game?s momentum had swung toward the Cornhuskers, based on Iowa?s sluggish play and Nebraska?s offensive rhythm and defensive persistence.
?We got tentative trying to hold on to it,? McCaffery said. ?You can?t hold on to a lead in a seven-possession, eight-possession game for 20 minutes. You?ve got to go attack the same way you got the 16-point lead. We didn?t do that.?
Nebraska then scored eight points on four consecutive possessions to take a 60-57 lead. White drilled a 3-pointer to knot the game up with 1:29 left. The Hawkeyes forced Talley to miss a shot off the glass, and Josh Oglesby pulled down a rebound with 1:11 left. Marble dribbled into a double team in front of the basket and was called for a change. That gave Nebraska one final chance, and Talley took advantage.
With an RPI hovering at 79 Saturday, Iowa?s chances for an NCAA tournament bid could rest with either an upset at No. 1 Indiana next Saturday or a deep run in the Big Ten Tournament. White isn?t giving up hope.
?I?m not going to say it?s slipping away,? White said. ?We still have got four games left, Big Ten Tournament. It?s not over with.?
Only the epilogue remains.
Source: http://thegazette.com/2013/02/23/iowa-blows-19-point-lead-ncaa-hopes-at-nebraska/
masters golf tournament the replacements how to hard boil eggs new nfl uniforms easter derbyshire the matrix
Swift partied backstage at the Brit Awards with singer/songwriter.
By Jocelyn Vena
Taylor Swift and Tom Odell
Photo: Getty Images
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1702423/taylor-swift-tom-odell.jhtml
donald trump Election 2012 map Election Results Map Early voting results BBC Dick Morris Daily Show
The Weston boys basketball team is set to take on Bethel Saturday afternoon in the SWC quarterfinals at Masuk.
However, the Trojans will do so without Mike Hvizdo, the second-year coach who resigned on Feb. 6 amid controversy over his participation in a short film from 2003 which was posted online and sent to school administrators.
Weston High administration said, "Forbidden Fruit," the nine-minute black-and-white film while not "illegal," was inappropriate and compromised his position as head coach of the Trojans in a letter mailed to parents on Feb. 10.
The Internet Movie Database lists minimal information on "Forbidden Fruit," aside from listing it as a comedy as well as naming Hvizdo in the credits.
"This film is vulgar, contains offensive sexual language, and depicts sexual acts among multiple partners in which Mr. Hvizdo is a participant," the letter said. "Unfortunately, material posted on the Internet takes on a life of its own, and there is no way to guarantee that this video will not be viewed by our entire community and most importantly, by our student athletes, now and into the future."
Weston athletic director Mark Berkowitz said he was unsure who sent the email, which contained a link to the video, but that it was viewed by school principal Lisa R. Wolak.
School officials met quickly after watching the video. They then spoke with Hvizdo, who promptly resigned citing "personal reasons," as first reported by the Weston Forum earlier this month.
"The administration had to make a decision that was best for all parties involved," Berkowitz said. "It's just an unfortunate situation and an unfortunate event. In the world of education, our leaders are held to higher standards than other walks of life."
Hvizdo plans to release a statement through his lawyer early next week in attempt to get his side of the story out to the community.
"All I want to do right now is clear my name and let everyone know the truth," Hvizdo said when reached Friday afternoon. "I just want everybody to hear it from the horse's mouth. I need to clear my name."
Hvizdo graduated from Bunnell in 1991 and played a post-graduate season at Milford Academy. He then played at Sacred Heart University, graduating in 1997.
Weston was his first head coaching position when he accepted the job in 2011. Prior to taking the Weston job, Hvizdo spent two seasons as an assistant at Wilton.
"I definitely want to coach in the future," Hvizdo said.
Jamaal Gibbs has coached Weston since Hvizdo's resignation. The Trojans finished the regular season 10-10, 7-9 under Hvizdo, whose two-year record at the school was 20-19.
Weston also held a parents forum to discuss the issue, but the administration says the decision to accept Hvizdo's resignation is final.
"The one thing I will say, as shocked and distraught as I've been, the support from people reaching out to me has been amazing," Hvizdo said. "I'm not asking anybody to do anything. People are outraged. People know the truth. The support has been phenomenal, not just from Weston. Anyone who's gotten a whiff of this story has reached out to me."
mcardillo@ctpost.com; @CTPostCardillo
mark zuckerberg mark zuckerberg maurice jones drew Yash Chopra George McGovern braxton miller braxton miller
AP
Once dubbed by prosecutors as the government's most wanted deadbeat parent, Robert Sand pleaded guilty Thursday to owing more than $1.2 million to three children.
By Frank Eltman, The Associated Press
A New York man once dubbed by prosecutors as the government's most wanted deadbeat parent pleaded guilty Thursday to owing more than $1.2 million to three children from two failed marriages.
Robert Sand, 50, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Central Islip on Long Island to two counts of failing to pay child support. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Bode said in court that the child support orders, which were issued on Long Island, have been in arrears since at least 2002.?
The figure cited by Bode includes interest and penalties. The prosecutor declined to comment to reporters after the court proceeding.
Sand told the judge he fled first to Florida and then to Thailand. Sand's attorney, Glenn Obedin, said his client had grown tired of living on the run and contacted authorities late last year.?
Sand left Thailand, where he had worked in an assortment of odd jobs, and flew to the Philippines. He was arrested and then deported from the Philippines in November 2012 because he lacked proper identification, prosecutors said. He was sent to Los Angeles, where he was arrested by federal marshals, and then extradited to New York, where he has been held without bail since December.?
"He had enough and wanted to come back and have the opportunity to make it right," Obedin told reporters after the court proceeding on Long Island.?
Sand faces up to four years in prison when he is sentenced in May.?
"Neither court orders nor the familial bond meant anything to him as he fled to avoid his obligations," U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch said in a statement.?
The two mothers of Sand's three children were not in the courtroom for Thursday's proceeding, but Obedin has said he has contacted them and claimed their priority is for Sand to be free to earn a living so he can repay his debt. As part of the plea agreement, Sand is required to make full restitution. He waived his right to appeal the guilty plea.?
Obedin said Sand has worked in the past as a car salesman and has an offer to work in that field when he is released.
? 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
sugarland 16 and pregnant ludwig mies van der rohe jamie lynn sigler mega millions jackpot black panther party frank martin
A Mexican citizen was arrested on suspicion of trying to sneak in nearly 37 pounds of cocaine at a border checkpoint in Calexico, federal authorities said Thursday.
The cocaine, worth an estimated $440,000 on the street, was sealed in 15 packages hidden in the quarter panels of the red 1999 Jeep Cherokee, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The 29-year-old Calexico resident driving the jeep was stopped Tuesday morning after a customs officer "noticed the driver was nervous," the department said in a statement.
Officers used drug-sniffing dogs and X-ray equipment to find the coke.
The man was turned over to federal investigators and was being held at the Imperial County Jail, authorities said. His name was not released.?
ALSO:
Hotel resident disgusted after tourist's body found in water tank
O.C. shooting: Business owner recalled as 'a friend to everyone'
Carl Washington, a former assemblyman, to plead guilty to fraud
? Robert J. Lopez
twitter.com/LAJourno
Photo: Confiscated cocaine. Credit: U.S. Department of Homeland SecurityHansel and Gretel LGBT Giovanna Plowman martin luther king jr quotes Inauguration 2013 Tony Gonzalez Richard Blanco
NAIROBI, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Three Kenyan athletes have been suspended after testing positive for banned substances, Athletics Kenya (AK) Secretary General David Okeyo told reporters on Friday.
Marathon runners Wilson Erupe Loyanae and Nixon Kiplagat Cherutich will serve two-year bans, while Moses Kiptoo Kurgat was suspended for a year.
A fourth athlete, Francis Kibiwott, who finished 45th at the 2007 world half marathon championship in Italy, was cleared after his case was reviewed by the medical commission of world athletics governing body the IAAF.
The east African nation, famed for its middle and distance running prowess, has been on the defensive following reports of widespread doping among its elite athletes.
"Loyanae is a top marathoner who is in the top 30, but we will not spare anyone," said Okeyo.
"We are taking doping seriously. But in most of the cases in this country, like Kiplagat's, they say that they are sick.
"We have been telling them (athletes) that when they are sick, they should let us know what (medication) they are being given so that we can present their cases since the rules are very clear," he added.
Earlier this month, three-times world 3,000 metres steeplechase champion, Moses Kiptanui said doping took place in Kenyan running camps ID:nL5N0BFD15] and similar allegations were made by German television broadcaster ARD before last year's Olympics.
Athletics Kenya have rejected the allegations.
"Those are the athletes we have banned in the past two months. But that still does not mean doping is widespread among our athletes," said Okeyo.
"We have nothing to hide. As soon as we establish any athlete has doped, we shall expose them."
"The procedures involved require a lot of time and the athletes must state their case before the medical commission so the issue of AK not taking any action does not arise." (Editing by George Obulutsa and Alison Wildey)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/athletics-three-kenyans-banned-doping-130748042--spt.html
dixville notch Remember Remember The 5th Of November African painted dogs What Time Do Polls Open Krysten Ritter v for vendetta Time
